Lucky in Love

by Kelly Elliott

  “It’s…it’s…it’s bigger than the cottage we live in!” I nearly shouted.

  “Oh, it is not.”

  I gave her a look.

  “Well, we can scale it back a bit if you’d like.”

  “A bit? Mom, there’s a drawbridge!”

  My father laughed. “That one was my idea.”

  I rolled my eyes.

  “I can’t afford something like this,” I stated, my hands shaking as I held onto the drawing. It looked oddly familiar, but I couldn’t place where I had seen it before.

  “That’s why your mother and I are paying for it.”

  “Daddy, I don’t want Liliana getting spoiled right off the bat.”

  My mother took a step forward, her arms crossed over her chest. “Excuse me, but we haven’t gotten to properly spoil our only grandchild at all yet. A few trips up to visit her and go to an amusement park is nothing. This isn’t just for Liliana, someday Ryan will have kids, and you’ll have more.”

  “That is the last thing on my mind, Mom.”

  “Then let’s focus on little Liliana. Look how happy she is!” my mother said. The three of us looked down at my daughter who was standing there, staring up at us with a wide smile on her face. She hadn’t seen the drawing, but as soon as she heard the word playhouse, she wanted to go to it right that moment.

  “Paygound! Where is my paygound, Mommy?”

  When I glanced up and saw the triumphant grin on my mother’s face, I felt a bit of anger returning. I already knew the answer, but I had to ask. “Who’s set to build this?” When I glanced back down, I saw a stamp. Imaginations Unlimited. Slowly, I lifted my gaze to my mother. She had that look on her face. She was up to something.

  I smiled softly, but of course I already knew it was Truitt’s company. I will admit I had looked him up on Facebook after I separated from Tim. “What is Imaginations Unlimited?”

  “A local company that builds custom playgrounds. Honey, you should see what they can do!” my mother gushed.

  With a nod, I pressed for more. “Who’s the owner? If they’re local, I’m sure I know them.”

  The woman never flinched; she even smiled brighter. “Of course you know him! He’s a friend of your brother. Y’all went to school together. Well, he was a year older, like Ryan.”

  “You hired Truitt Carter to build Liliana’s playhouse?”

  She widened her smile. It was a full-on grin, ear to ear.

  My father cleared his throat and glanced over to my mother.

  Momma nodded and then had the nerve to go on about like nothing in the world was wrong with this picture. “Yes. He’s very well-known and has won many awards. Not to mention, he does so many wonderful things for the community.”

  “That is true,” Daddy added. “He built the community playground free of charge.”

  My eyes bounced back and forth between the two of them. “Did you also know that he’s in the ER all the time because he’s accident prone! I don’t want that type of man building my daughter’s playhouse!” Not to mention that having Truitt build something damn near in my backyard, showing off those muscles, would make me go insane. I might lose my mind and jump him.

  “You snob!” my mother said, folding her arms over her chest. “You’re going to judge the man’s work because he’s had a few…incidents? His work is top notch! I made sure.”

  I already knew Truitt’s reputation at his job. It was exactly like my mother said. He was good. Very good. He’d even made a few playhouses for famous people. But there was more to this. I knew what my mother was up to. This wasn’t simply about the playhouse. She was butting her nose in already. “Fine, so he does good work. But why him? Why not just find some contractor to build a simple playhouse?”

  My father chuckled. “Saryn, this is your mother we’re talking about and our only grandchild. You can’t blame her for wanting to give Liliana something amazing.”

  I sighed. “I understand that. But look at this thing! It probably costs more than my car!”

  Momma waved her hand at me, brushing off my comment. “It’s our money and this is what we want to do. Let us spoil her this one time! I promise to rein it in with all the other gifts we give her in the future.”

  I looked down at the playhouse. I had to admit, my heart jumped at the sight at it. When I was Liliana’s age, I would have died to have a playhouse like this. It looked like a medieval castle with three turrets and bridges connecting them all to the main keep. Off one of the towers was a swing set. It looked adorable. And expensive. The drawbridge led to another small area that was set up like a little patio.

  Before I had the chance to tell my mother I could be on board only if we scaled it back a bit, she spoke.

  “Now, Truitt is a delight to work with. I knew you would want to meet with him to discuss the finer details. I didn’t want to be the deciding factor on the interior. No one knows your daughter better than you, sweetheart. So, I arranged for the two of you to meet for dinner tonight.”

  And there it was, my mother meddling in my love life, or lack thereof. “Excuse me?”

  My father rubbed the back of his neck. “Oh, hell. We were almost in the clear.”

  “What? Would you rather I have the entire say?” Momma asked, acting as if she was truly giving me a say in any of this.

  I forced myself to take in a slow, deep breath. After I exhaled and pushed the anger back down, I looked directly at my mother.

  “You made dinner plans without consulting me?”

  She smiled, and I had to keep my hands fisted at my side.

  “You need a night out, sweetheart.”

  Daddy shook his head and stepped closer to my mother. “Evie, wrong thing to say,” he said with a roll of his eyes.

  “Now it’s a night out? Momma, I don’t need a night out, especially with Truitt Carter! I thought it was business. If it is business, I can speak with him over the phone, or he can come here.”

  “Or, you could go to his office on Main Street,” my brother Ryan said as he walked in and made his way to my mother. After he kissed her on the cheek, he took the drawing out of my hands and whistled. “Wow, fancy AF.”

  “A F?” my mother asked with a confused look.

  Ryan whispered, “As fuck.”

  Liliana was too busy playing with her toy dogs to be paying any attention to the adult conversation going on around her.

  I pointed to my brother. “See, if Ryan thinks it’s too much…”

  “Wait, is this for Liliana?” he asked, then laughed when my mother smiled and nodded.

  With a sigh, I grabbed the paper back from him, reached down, and picked up my daughter.

  “Where are you going?” my mother asked, following close on my heels.

  “To Imaginations Unlimited. I’m going to nip this in the bud right now,” I stated as I spun on my heels. “You are playing games, Momma.”

  She scoffed. “I am not. I merely wanted my granddaughter to have the best possible playhouse available. Can I help it if the man who builds those happens to be your age? Handsome, I might add. And rich. And single.”

  “Ugh! You’re impossible!” I yelled before stomping out of the house like a child.

  I walked straight to my car, put Liliana in her car seat and then pulled up Truitt’s business on my phone. After I put the address in my maps, I set off to let Mr. Carter know he would not be building my daughter’s playhouse.

  Thirty minutes later, I was walking down Main with Liliana on my hip. I stopped outside a larger, newer building. It appeared there were a few different businesses, all of them with the same last name.

  Carter.

  My pulse quickened as I read each sign.

  Ryan Carter, Esquire.

  Nick Carter, Southwest Land and Cattle Company.

  Truitt Carter, Imaginations Unlimited.

  I pulled in a deep breath and walked into the main door. To my left was the law office. On my right was the Land and Cattle Company, and straight ahead, Imagi
nations Unlimited.

  “Okay, Liliana, we can do this.”

  “Payhouwse!” Liliana screamed as we walked toward the door. On the wall outside the office was a picture of the cutest playhouse I’d ever seen. It looked like a gingerbread house. For a moment my heart melted.

  “Mommy! Look!” Liliana exclaimed.

  “Yes, Mommy sees the playhouse.”

  I walked in. Sitting to the right was an older woman. I smiled and she returned the gesture.

  “Hello, may I help you?”

  “Um, yes, I was wondering if Truitt, I mean, if Mr. Carter was in?”

  She looked me over slowly and raised a brow. “Do you have an appointment with…Mr. Carter?”

  “No. But I need to talk to him about this.” I handed her the architectural drawing of the over-the-top castle.

  The older woman smiled. “Well, Mr. Carter is in the office today, which is rare, but he doesn’t like people to show up without an appointment.”

  I wanted to roll my eyes. “Please, Ms.…?”

  “Townsend.”

  “Ms. Townsend, I’m supposed to meet with Mr. Carter this evening to discuss this project, and…”

  Her eyes lit up. “You’re Evie’s daughter!”

  My stomach dropped. Oh Lord, what was my mother up to? She had inside help on this one.

  “Yes, I am.”

  Before I got the words out, she picked up the phone. “Mr. Carter, Saryn Night is here to see you.”

  Her smile disappeared as she listened to him speak. “Oh…well…yes, but wouldn’t you rather…yes. Of course, Mr. Carter.”

  She hung up the phone and this time her smile was forced. “He is unable to see you right now, and he also wanted to tell you that he will not be able to join you and your family for dinner tonight.”

  I frowned. “My family?”

  Her gaze dropped away from mine. What in the hell was going on here?

  “I need to speak with him. Now.”

  Ms. Townsend opened her mouth, then closed it. Then opened it again, only to snap it shut.

  “This is insane,” I said, turning and walking down the hall. “Which office is his?”

  I didn’t need to wait for her to reply, although she was now up and trying to walk in front of me.

  “Mrs. Night!”

  “Ms.,” I corrected.

  “Ms. Night! You can’t go into his office!”

  Ha! Watch me, lady.

  The large oak door at the end of the hall had the cowboy’s name on it. Truitt Carter. I reached for it and pushed it open, only to come to a halt. My eyes nearly popped out of my head at the sight before me.

  Standing before me was Truitt Carter, wearing next to nothing. My insides melted like butter on a hot biscuit. Slowly, I let my gaze move over his body.

  His almost naked body.

  Truitt

  THE DOOR TO my office flew open as I pulled up my boxers. One of the things I loved about my office was that I had my own private bathroom, shower and all. After working out in the gym doing upper body—since my ankle was still a bit swollen—I had jumped into the shower and was in the process of re-dressing.

  “Oh my gosh, you’re naked!” Saryn nearly shouted.

  “I’m so sorry, Mr. Carter, she just walked back here on her own!” Ms. Townsend said, panic etched in her voice.

  I smiled. “It’s okay, Ms. Townsend.”

  Three sets of female eyes were now on me. Saryn’s daughter was in her arms. I nodded to my assistant and said, “I’ll see Ms. Night since she’s already shown herself in.” With a nod, Ms. Townsend quickly shut the door.

  I swung my eyes back to the other two. Bright blue eyes locked on mine, and I couldn’t help but smile. Brown curls bounced as Saryn’s daughter fought to get out of her mother’s arms.

  “And I’m not naked,” I said as Saryn went to speak but closed her mouth, instead.

  “Down pwease! Down, Momma, down, pwease!”

  Reaching for my jeans, I quickly slipped them on, then pulled my black T-shirt over my head. Saryn watched my every move, her eyes filled with something I hadn’t ever seen in a woman’s gaze before. It wasn’t lust. Or desire… It was confusion. Most likely because she had walked into my office and I had been wearing nothing but my boxer briefs. Five seconds earlier and she’d have seen a hell of a lot more.

  “You must be Liliana!” I said to the little girl who was now making her way to me. I bent down to her level and took the little bear she was holding out for me.

  “Is this your bear?” I asked.

  Liliana nodded. “Muke!”

  “Muke?” I asked, glancing over toward Saryn who was still standing in the same spot. “I’m sorry, I just finished working out and took a shower. That’s why I couldn’t really see you right now.”

  “A shower?” she asked, still confused and with a dazed look in her eyes.

  “Yes, we have a gym in the building. I have a bathroom with a shower over there.” I pointed toward the door that led to the private bathroom. “Since my father and brother also have offices here, Dad thought it would be easier to have a gym in the building.”

  Liliana reached up and touched my damp hair. Then she giggled and a strange sensation rushed through me. It was something I’d never experienced before, so it took me by surprise. I stilled, and that caused Saryn to rush over and take her daughter’s hand.

  “I’m so sorry. Normally she has boundaries, but I guess she liked what she saw, too.”

  My eyes snapped up to her.

  “No, I mean, I liked what I saw…no, wait. Hold on a second. I came in here with the intention of firing you, and you have me all flustered. Since you were naked.”

  The corners of my mouth lifted slightly. “I wasn’t naked.”

  Her throat bobbed with a hard swallow. “You might as well have been. I saw everything!”

  “Everything?” I asked, mock shock in my voice.

  “Not everything,” she mused, “but it was…shocking.”

  “Yes, that’s obvious from the way you’re stumbling on your words.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “I’m not stumbling on my words, Mr. Carter.”

  “Call me Truitt.”

  “No, thank you.”

  Liliana reached up and took my hand, then led me over to the small play area I had set up in my office. All of my clients had children, for obvious reasons, and when I met with them, I liked having a place for the kids to be entertained while the grown-ups talked business.

  “You have a playground in your office?” Saryn asked.

  “Don’t make it sound like it’s a bad thing. When I meet with my clients here, they most always bring their kids.”

  “Oh, that makes sense,” she said. I held Liliana’s hand while she climbed up the steps to the slide.

  “I’m going to be frank, Mr. Carter. We don’t need you to build Liliana’s playhouse.”

  I gave her a puzzled look over my shoulder. “Did you find someone else?”

  Her eyes widened in panic. “No! It’s just. Well, you see…”

  Her voice trailed off. Liliana giggled and shrieked as she slid down the slide.

  “I see she likes slides. I’ll make sure to incorporate two: a straight slide, and every princess has to have a twisty-turny slide.”

  Liliana looked up at me, those blue eyes sparkling with sheer bliss, before she raced over to the little swing.

  “Push me, pwease!” she said as she ran back and grabbed my hand, tugging me over to the swing.

  “My goodness, I’ve never seen her take to someone like she has to you,” Saryn said, trying not to smile.

  “I have that effect on women.”

  She snarled her lip at me and seemed to come back to her senses. “As I was saying, we don’t need such a fancy playhouse, and my mother’s motivations may not have been one-hundred percent in the right place.”

  My brow rose. “Meaning?”

  Saryn twisted her fingers together nervously. “When you said you had
to cancel dinner with my family this evening, you weren’t expecting to have dinner with just me?”

  “Your mother said it would be the whole family.”

  She nodded. “Well, she told me it was just going to be you and me.”

  “Ah, I see,” I said, trying not to show the amusement on my face. “So your mom wants the playhouse, and is also hoping for something more.”

  Her cheeks went red. “Which is exactly why you’re not doing the playhouse.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong, Ms. Night, because I am most certainly doing the playhouse.”

  When her eyes flashed with something that looked like heat, I noted it. It quickly faded away to anger. Pure anger, and it was hot as hell.

  “Excuse me?” she said, her hands going to her hips. I let my gaze take her in quickly. Not as slow as I did when she was standing on the side of the road last week.

  “I’m building your daughter’s playhouse.”

  “No, you are not.”

  “Yes, I am.”

  Her mouth fell open, and she let out a disbelieving laugh. “You’re incredible. I’m firing you, Mr. Carter.”

  “With all due respect, Saryn—”

  “Ms. Night.”

  This time it was me who crossed my arms over my chest. “Ms. Night, with all due respect, you are not the person who hired me. Your name is not on the contract I signed, nor is the property where the playhouse is to be built yours. So, you cannot fire me.”

  She laughed, but it was far from a happy laugh. “I can’t?”

  I shook my head. “No. So, I suggest we move forward and figure out what it is about the design you don’t like.”

  “It’s not that I don’t like it, it’s just a bit over the top.”

  “We can scale it back some, but I think once you hear my ideas for the interior, you’ll want to keep the extra room.”

  I could tell that piqued her interest.

  Then her eyes drifted down my body and she stared at…of all things…my bare feet. I glanced down at them, then back up at her.

  Her eyes closed and she pressed her lips together tightly. “This isn’t going to work, Truitt.”

  “Why not?” I asked.

  Saryn’s gaze jerked back to mine. There was something in her eyes that held me captive. “Truitt, my mother is trying to set us up.”