by Haven Rose
He ends the call with a promise to talk to her again soon, then turns to me with a grin. It fades, though not much, as he sees my expression. All I can do is stare at him in almost abject horror. “Do you know what you’ve done?” I ask him.
“Won over your mom,” he replies, snapping his thumb and middle finger together to indicate the ease with which he did so. Despite myself, I can’t help but laugh at him. Honestly, I’m not even really that upset. I’m close to my parents, so the fact he already gets along with one of them is a big relief. Plus, his surety about us turns me the fuck on.
“And that’s important to you?”
Moving closer to me, his eyes never leaving mine, he answers, “Yes. I need her to know I’m smitten by her little girl.” He refers to me as such, but the heat in his gaze lets me he’s fully aware I’m all woman.
“Smitten?” I teasingly repeat. How cute is he?
“As a kitten.” The cutest. I nod, murmuring it’s a good plan. A great one even. “But…?”
I whisper, trying to make my voice sound scary as I remind him, “Your greatest adversary still awaits you.” My man is smart as it only takes him a second to figure it out.
“Your dad.”
**Emmett**
Something tells me I have my work cut out for me with that one. Then again, I could be blowing it out of proportion, assuming the worst because I know the hell I’ll put any boy through that wants to date any daughters we have.
“He own any guns? A cabin out in the woods? A plot of land he uses to ‘get away from it all’ sometimes?” She’s giggling with each question, the sound going through my ears and landing in my heart. It’s then I know no matter what I have to do to get him to accept my role in her life, it’ll be worth every minute of it if she’s mine at the end.
“I’m already yours,” she admits, telling me I said that vow out loud. The thing is, I think I did so intentionally. I want Kenna to know I won’t let one damn obstacle stop me from winning. Her. Not the bet. The deal is merely a means to an end.
That being said, I can’t resist asking, “So you’re saying yes?” She knows exactly what I need to hear, not that she gives it to me.
“Maaaaybe,” she states with a smirk as she takes off, her feet barely making a noise as they hit the wood floor we chose.
I’m only seconds behind her, gently tackling her to the bed and rolling so I cage her in. Threading my fingers through hers, I raise her hands so they’re on either side of her head. “I have you exactly where I want you now.” Isn’t that the freaking truth? My woman is feisty, though, not one to back down. Even when we both know she wants this as badly as I do. She lifts her hips, ensuring I press against the center of her shorts, and I let out an expletive. “You don’t play fair,” I grumble. She laughs as she does it once more. “Game on, baby,” I warn her as I free her hands and wrap her legs around my waist. With my knees gaining purchase on the mattress, I raise her until her back is arched, knowing she can feel my hard cock through the material barely containing it. I’ve never been more thankful I forgot to do laundry, leaving the only clean pair to be what I work out in.
Kenna whimpers and my balls seize, ready to spill from that alone. Need for her surges through my veins, and I give her a hard thrust, letting her know exactly what’s coming. Pun intended.
“Give it to me, Kenna,” I urge her. “I love you; you love me. It doesn’t matter how fast it happened. Speed is subjective when it comes to forever.”
She says something, but I can’t hear what it is. Leaning forward, I realize that was her goal. Now that we’re literally face to face, she drops a quick kiss on my lips, repeating against them, “Yes.”
Time freezes, but my heart speeds up. I can’t do anything but stare at her. Her eyes are twinkling, yet they’re one hundred percent serious. She means it.
Unable to respond any other way, I tell her, “Thank you.” And that’s the last gentle thing I say or do for the rest of the evening as I devour her mouth, my tongue entering hers and setting a precedent for how thoroughly my dick will soon be doing the same to her pussy. Her hands move under the back of my shirt, nails scoring my skin, letting me know she’s enjoying herself.
Cool air hits me as she pushes it up, letting me know she wants it off. I quickly get rid of it, then repeat the process with her own. As we begin baring ourselves to the other, we each seem to lose the ability to breathe.
My finger parts her slit, her cream coating the tips as I enter her. I already know she’s as unexperienced in this area as I am, neither of us ever doing so much as kissing another person, but knowing and feeling her virginity are two different things. After making sure she’s ready for me, her orgasm easing my intrusion, I line my cock at her core, then make her mine.
And continue to do so over and over again until the sun sets, marking the end of the day and the beginning of our future.
Chapter Eight
Emmett
July 2nd…
Today is my interview with Josh, the foreman, at Nailed It Construction. I knew when I set it up that Kenna’s dad owned the company. I could easily get by and then some on what I made while playing thanks to smart investments, but that isn’t my style. I need to work. Prefer it, actually.
Now, that’s not to say I don’t intend to meet with her dad, too, if given the chance. I plan on applying for two positions, though one is non-negotiable, I just didn’t want to put either of us in an awkward place in regards to the job. I was a bit relieved upon finding out it was standard procedure to meet with Josh, who then discussed his recommendations about the applicants with his boss.
I know this isn’t the first time Josh has read my resume, but it is while I’m in the room with him. “You do have experience,” he states, fingers tapping on the scarred wooden desk, “even if it is mostly with your family’s company.”
I nod because it’s the truth, and add another. “At the time, my focus was elsewhere,” not offering what it was, just that it wasn’t this. A hmmm leaves him, not exactly telling me what he’s thinking. When he wants to know why I’m no longer doing that, I look him straight in the eyes and say, “I always enjoyed it and made the decision I did because I knew the years I could do it were limited. This? It’s what I was meant to do for the long haul.”
A flicker crosses his face, an understanding. “You get hired, it’s on a probationary basis.” I assumed that was the case, so I remain silent and let him continue. “Do what you’re told and work hard, there won’t be any issues.”
“Yes, sir.” We talk a few more minutes, mostly questions meant to test my knowledge, see what areas are my strong suit and which I need more training.
Standing, he holds his hand out and says there’s a final step, and that’s meeting with his boss. This is unexpected as I’d been lead to believe otherwise, but I show no outward emotion at the fact I’m about to see my fiancée’s dad.
I’m shown to an office with papers strewn everywhere, though there’s obviously a method to the madness. I walk in, his gaze taking me in and sizing me up. A “harrumph” is his only response, which can’t be all that bad since he doesn’t immediately kick me out. Instead, he points to a chair and plops back in his own. Josh hands him the file that had been in front of him while we were chatting, but Peter barely glances at it. He tosses it down, his eyes never leaving mine.
Josh exits, muttering, “Good luck,” as he passes me.
The door closes behind him, leaving me alone with Kenna’s dad. “So,” he begins, clasping his hands behind his head, no doubt intentionally highlighting the massive muscles in his arms, “you’re the guy dating my daughter.”
“No, sir,” I reply. He raises a brow, mouth open to call bullshit when I correct him. “I’m the guy engaged to her.”
“Wanna run that by me again, boy?” I do so. “Figure you could get in good with her, up your chances of getting hired?”
Gritting my teeth at his insinuation, I calmly reply, “Insult her again like that and you a
nd me are gonna have a problem.” He stares at me, and I tack on, “Sir.”
A slight twitch of his lips is the only reaction to me not only threatening him, but also taking him to task for how he indirectly spoke about his own daughter, though he and I both know it was aimed at me. But this is no ordinary foe. “You think you’re the first to express an interest in her?” While that isn’t a surprise, I still growl, not liking even the implication. “I scared them off.”
“Then they were pussies.” A fleeting smirk comes and goes in a second, his version of agreement.
He shifts a framed photo toward me, Kenna’s smiling face greeting me. “You really think you’re good enough for her?”
“No,” I instantly answer.
“What’s this about being engaged? If you’re asking for my blessing, you’ve got the order of things backwards.”
“Sir, with all due respect, while I’d appreciate it, I don’t need it as she already said yes. Kenna loves me and I her. Your support and acceptance are important only because it would make her happy. You can hate me all you want, but she is mine. Nothing will stop that from happening. Not even you.”
He mutters a “fuck me,” then scrubs his hand through his hair. “Fucking owe my in-laws an apology. Should’ve known that would come back to bite me in the ass. Not that I would’ve done it any differently.” I wait him out, unsure what he’s talking about until he fills me in, telling me how he and his wife met. That her parents were hesitant, questioning him and their entire relationship which had moved very quickly. “Now some punk is doing the same with my little girl and damn, I’m not liking being on this side.” I let the name calling roll off my back, knowing I’ll have plenty for any boy that comes sniffing around my daughter. He glares at me, the room seeming to rumble as if we’re experiencing an earthquake when he informs me, “Hurt her, cause her to cry non-happy tears just once and I will end you. I work with concrete on a daily basis. Remember that.” A tilt of my head, acknowledging his words and that I know he can back them up. “She doesn’t intend to leave Sweetville,” he hedges before flat out asking, “you sure about giving up the big leagues?”
“You know who I am?” His expression clearly says he thinks I’m daft.
“Preferring a simpler way of life doesn’t make us stupid.”
“I didn’t meant to offend you,” I tell him sincerely.
He shrugs, an actual smile appearing. “Didn’t. I thought jerking your chain would be fun. I was right.”
Okay then. “All I wanted was to play ball,” I tell him sincerely. “The rest was a downside to it, not a perk.” He absorbs that, a nod indicating he hears my truth. “Who all knows?”
“The whole town,” he responds as if that doesn’t rock my world as it means Kenna does, too.
“How come nobody ever let on?”
“Why would we? You know who you are, don’t need us telling you.” At that, I laugh, affection for these people flooding me. I knew coming here was the right decision, meeting Kenna only solidified that. But discovering they don’t care about my fame nor what they could possibly get from it, instead accepting the man I am?
That shows me that this is exactly where I belong and I can’t wait to raise a family here with Kenna.
**Kenna**
My ringing phone disturbs my contemplation, scattering my thoughts. Fudge. Choosing a pattern for the backsplash is a hard decision, and now I’ll have to start over as I’d mentally been tossing options out when I couldn’t visualize myself seeing them every day. I knew I should’ve made a list as I went, marking off those I’d decided against.
“Hey, Dad,” I greet my father when the screen shows his picture. Of course, he hates having them taken, so his resting face is on full display in the majority of him. But there’s a happiness in his eyes that’s only present when his wife and/or daughter are near.
“Hi, pumpkin,” he says gruffly. “He’s a keeper,” he informs me without any lead up. While this news makes me smile, his next statement has me laughing. “I like him. Damn it,” he admits grudgingly.
“He’s a good guy.”
“I guess. He seemed shocked we all know who he is.”
“Ahh,” I respond, feeling a bit guilty I didn’t admit to that.
“Don’t,” he tells me, somehow knowing where my mind had gone. “I didn’t say he was mad or unhappy about it. Honestly, I think he was relieved. I don’t get the feeling he’s able to just be himself around many.”
“That’s sad.” And it is. I know those in the public eye essentially invite the attention they receive, but that doesn’t mean they enjoy it. For most, I’d say they view it as the curse to the blessing, so to speak.
“So,” Dad begins, humor clear in his voice, “I’ll do my part to bring him down a peg or ten if needed.”
“That’s not how that goes, Dad,” I remind him, fully aware his word choice was intentional. He comes across as a hardass, ready to pound on you if you piss him off, but mom and I know better. Peter McBride is a teddy bear – a grizzly – yet still one nonetheless.
“I’m a trendsetter.” I barely suppress a laugh at his deadpan response, the verbal equivalent of a shrug in his voice. “Just wait, I bet it catches on.” His confidence knows no bounds.
He’s about to start spouting off examples, I just know it. Needing to cut him off before that happens, I say, “You are not the first man that grew a beard.”
“True, but none of them made it look this damn good either.”
“Eww. I’m texting Mom.”
“Why? What’d I do?”
“Stop playing innocent, Dad,” I admonish him. “It doesn’t work for you.”
“That’s okay,” he states. “Your mom likes it when I’m bad,” he chuckles, then gives an almost satisfied sigh.
“I’m sending you the bill,” I retort.
“For what?”
“The therapy you just ensured I need.”
In the background, I hear my mom call out, asking him if he’s scarring me for life again. He laughs, then tells her he is, not at all ashamed. A rustling reaches my ears, no doubt mom snatching his cell from him, which is quickly followed by a giggle and muted voices. “Honey,” mom greets me, “I’ll take care of your father. You go spend time with Emmett and think about what you want for a wedding. I’ve already got a few ideas. We’ll chat tomorrow.” How does she…?
I just shake my head, having long ago stopped questioning how she knows half the things she does. “Okay, mom,” I agree. But, as I realize she now has it on speaker, I decide a little pay back is necessary. “I’ll see about getting started on that first grandbaby for you.” The noises my dad makes after that statement make me smirk. Of course, he may revert to not liking Emmett, I am his daughter after all, but I couldn’t resist. Maybe the therapist will have a two for one deal we can use.
“That was evil,” Dad mutters, though the words are hard to make out over Mom’s laughter.
“She gets it from you,” she reminds him as we say our see you laters, then hang up. When I was younger, I’d get embarrassed by how affectionate they were with me and each other. However, as I got older, I realized how lucky I am. And how envious when it didn’t look as if I’d find that for myself.
But now I have, thanks to Emmett. The man who is currently walking in my door with a huge smile on his face. I can’t resist teasing him as he moves toward me, his eyes trained on me. “You know it wasn’t locked.” It isn’t as if Sweetville has a lot of crime.
He grins sheepishly and confesses, “I know, I just wanted to use the key you gave me. It was symbolic.” I’d given it to him the night he proposed, which is when I asked him to move in as neither of us wanted to sleep apart after that. Once he kisses me senseless, I lean back and inspect his expression. As if he knows my concern, he assures me, “I’m not mad you’ve known this whole time about my days on the team.” Taking a deep breath, he asks, “Are you that I didn’t tell you?”
“Not at all. I get why you didn’t.�
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“Which is the same reason you didn’t admit you knew.” It wasn’t a question, but I nod as if it was. His lips brush my forehead, a sign of love, of understanding, then we go forward. Because that’s what adults do. They talk things out, give the person they love the benefit of the doubt, and that’s it. “So,” he begins, piecing it all together, “you spoke with your dad.”
“Mmmhmmm,” I murmur. “He likes you.”
That gets a snort out of him. “Then how the hell does he treat those he doesn’t?”
“Oh,” I implore him, glancing around as if someone is listening, just waiting for proof, “we don’t speak of such things.”
“Having met the man…” he shrugs, as if he isn’t sure whether I’m joking.
“Mom is on your side,” I state, “and he is mush where she’s concerned, so you’re golden. Just don’t piss her off.”
He lets out a breath, like he was truly worried. Scooping me up in his arms, he declares, “I’d take on the world for you, baby,” a kiss of possession follows this declaration, “and I’d win.”
Chapter Nine
Kenna
July 6th…
“Mom,” I plead, wishing I had the power of invisibility just once, “we want a simple ceremony.” I turn to Greta, silently asking her for help. Emmett’s parents came in a few days ago, wanting to meet me in person, though I know it was more than that. They’re obviously close to their son and missed him. Even if I hadn’t heard that they’d met with Stacy, Sweetville’s one and only realtor, within an hour of arriving, it didn’t take long after the introductions to guess they’d be moving here soon.
