I just hope that my first meeting with my father-in-law doesn’t come to blows – even if I’m willing to go that far for her.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Oliva
I stand nervously looking down the road away from the cabin, trying to remember how to breathe. My chest feels tight with nerves, and I haven’t been able to sit down since I woke up this morning.
How can I possibly relax, knowing that Dad is on his way to pick me up? I had different expectations for this moment when I set off. I thought that I might be sad to leave, either because I was having a great time or because I hadn’t achieved what I wanted to. I thought I might even be happy to see Dad, if I got homesick or the week felt like it stretched on too long. But I never thought I would be so nervous that I almost want to throw up.
It seems to take hours for the car to come, but when I do finally hear the faint sound of an engine, I immediately wish we had more time. I press a desperate kiss to Aaron’s lips – he stands next to me, all of our luggage neatly arranged despite the fact that his car came an hour ago – and then stand apart from him, waiting to see my Dad.
The familiar car appears from between the trees and is parked in front of us in a very short time – too short. Now he’s here and it all feels too fast, and I want to hang on to being alone with Aaron just a little bit longer, but it’s all too late.
“Hey, Olive!” Dad calls as he gets out of the car, using my old nickname. He frowns a little behind his sunglasses to see the other car, and Aaron beside it. “Sorry, am I late? You look like you’re waiting to move in.”
I take the opportunity to dive in before Aaron can answer. “Uh, no, Dad. Actually, Aaron’s been staying here as well.”
Dad looks between us, not comprehending. “I thought this was a private retreat?” he asks.
“It was,” I say. I bite my lip. How to sum up all the amazing things that have happened this week? I go for the simplest possible explanation. “There was a mix-up at the booking office. We ended up both renting the same cabin for the week. In the end, we decided we would both stay, and they refunded my money, so I actually got to stay here for free.”
Dad looks simultaneously disturbed and happy at the clean version of our history. “Well, I suppose it’s good they gave you the money back. But, you both had to stay together? In that little cabin?”
“It turned out for the best,” I say. “Actually, I had a really great time.”
“Well, alright.” Dad moves to start picking up my bags. “Anyway, I suppose we’d better get moving. You can tell me all about it in the car.”
“Actually,” I cut in, holding up a hand to stop him. “There’s more to tell you. The thing is…”
“What is that?” Dad interrupts. He’s staring at my hand.
The hand with the engagement ring.
“Um, it’s an engagement ring,” I say, only able to state the obvious dumbly at the moment.
The frown is back on Dad’s face. I can see him looking back and forth between me, the ring, and Aaron. “And what’s it doing on your finger?” he asks.
“Well,” I say, choosing my words carefully. “You see, the thing is, I had a really good week. And Aaron proposed.”
“Aar…” Dad cuts himself off and pulls off his sunglasses, looking at us both again. “Aaron proposed?”
“I know it’s sudden,” I start.
“Damn right, it’s sudden. Who even is this creep?” Dad asks, wheeling on Aaron. “What kind of man stays with a girl who must be – what – half his age? In a cramped space like that? Instead of being a gentleman and letting her have it? And then proposes in less than a week?”
“If I may,” Aaron says calmly. I don’t think it’s a good idea for him to speak, but what can I do to stop him? “The kind of man that has fallen madly in love with your daughter.”
Dad looks furious. He’s almost spitting as he talks. “This is ridiculous. Olivia, get in the car.”
“Actually,” Aaron says mildly. “I was thinking she could come home with me. It’s good of you to drive all this way, but…”
“But nothing!” Dad wheels and grabs me by the arm. “Olivia, get in the car.”
“Hey.” Aaron takes a single step forward. He’s taller than Dad, more imposing. He’s in great shape with his broad shoulders and muscular arms, and Dad immediately looks intimidated. “Let her go. She can make her own choices.”
“No, she can’t,” Dad snaps. “She’s not even an adult yet.”
“Well, I mean, I am,” I try to interrupt.
Dad shakes my arm to shut me up. “You’re a teenager,” he says. “That’s what the part at the end of your age means. You know? The ‘teen’?”
“She’s old enough to know her own mind, and to legally marry without your consent,” Aaron points out.
This is going very, very badly.
“I don’t care if she’s sixty-five,” Dad shouts. “She’s not getting married to someone she’s known less than a week!”
“I’m not suggesting she should.” Aaron is somehow managing to hold his cool, which I’m grateful for. “We’re engaged, yes. And now Olivia should come and live with me for a while. Get to know each other better. Speaking of which, we haven’t even been introduced. My name is Aaron Stoneforth.”
There’s a small silence. I’m just as shocked as Dad is at Aaron’s words, because I did know his last name until now.
And now everything makes sense. The dinners, the way he could get anything he wanted up here at an hour’s notice. The assistant, the car, the suits.
“Stoneforth?” Dad grunts. “As in, Stoneforth Industries?”
“The same.” Aaron regards Dad coolly. “So, you see, I can give your daughter a very good life.”
“A life that I want,” I insist, seeing my shot. I can’t reel at the revelation that Aaron is a billionaire – I’ve got to force the point now. “Not because of his money, Dad. I only just found out about that myself. We connected here. We’ve spent this whole time in each other’s company with no one else around. We fell in love.”
“This isn’t just a momentary whim,” Aaron says. “I want to make a family with Olivia. I want her to bear my children.”
Maybe I already am, I almost add, but maybe Dad doesn’t need to hear the exact details of what we got up to inside the cabin.
I can see his face beginning to soften. The money, the name, the love, the hint of a family; all of it has sunk into his consciousness.
“There’s nothing I can do to stop you, is there?” he says finally, looking at me. And in that moment, I know he will give us his blessing, because all he’s ever wanted is for his daughter to be happy.
“No,” I say, with a grin that turns into a laugh. “No, there isn’t.”
And when we drive away, Aaron at the wheel, I turn and wave at my Dad, blowing him a kiss. Until now, he was the only man that ever loved me.
But now I have something more, and I couldn’t be happier to start my life with the second man to ever say those words.
EPILOGUE
Aaron
I walk in through the door and drop my briefcase on the side table, happy to be done with another day of work. I don’t call out a hello – just in case the baby is asleep.
I walk quietly through the house until I find them, sitting in the study I redecorated for Olivia’s use. Harry, our son, is burbling quietly to himself in a playpen, looking intently at a plush dinosaur, while his mother works at a table right beside him.
“Hello, darling,” I say, leaning over to plant a kiss on her forehead. She shifts in her seat to draw me in for a hug and a deeper kiss on the lips.
“How’s work going?” I ask, looking at her laptop screen.
“I’m almost done,” she says, turning the screen away from me with a sly look. “You can read it then.”
I growl under my breath, but I give up, turning to pick up Harry and hold him against my chest. He mumbles cheerfully and laughs, opening and closing his tiny fist o
ver and over again.
“Fine, I’ll wait,” I say. “Honestly, Harry. Front row seats to the world’s finest novel ever, and we can’t even get a sneak preview, can we?”
“It’s hardly going to be the finest ever,” Olivia says, closing the file and opening another.
“Of course, it will,” I say. “You better not be disparaging the talents of my wife.”
Olivia laughs and rolls her eyes at me. “Alright, alright. Do you want to see today’s articles or not?”
“Go on, then,” I say, bringing Harry over to perch on the end of the desk and skim-read the news. Olivia’s been writing short news articles for the various different arms of Stoneforth Industries, and she’s better at it than even I would have expected. She has some serious talent as a writer. With Harry coming along so quickly, she had to switch to part-time college student, but she’s been pretty good at using the rest of her time to fit in some work.
“Well?”
I look up into her expectant blue eyes. “Excellent, as ever,” I tell her with a smile. “I don’t know how long we’re going to be able to keep you. Someone with your level of talent shouldn’t be working with me.”
“Well, the good news is,” Olivia says, leaning over to kiss Harry on the nose, “You’re going to be able to keep me forever.”
I laugh, and offer her my hand as I get up from the edge of the desk. “Come on, Mrs. Stoneforth. Let’s get dinner.”
My wife, and my boy; as I lead them through the house to our dining room, where my housekeeper has whipped us up a delicious meal, I can’t think for the life of me of anything more in the world that I could possibly need.
My loves. My life.
EXTENDED EPILOGUE
Olivia
“Don’t go too far!” I yell, watching Harry closely. He waves a hand at me over his head, but doesn’t look back. I shoot a look at my younger brother, Liam, and he sighs and rolls his eyes.
“I’ll keep an eye on them,” he says. He trails after Harry and Alex, my second son, with his hands shoved into his pockets.
I just smile. As much as he complains, I know Liam loves being an uncle. It’s not as though anyone forced him to come on this retreat with us.
“Would you like a coffee, sweetie?” my Mom asks from across at the cabin. She’s holding up a mug, just in case I can’t hear what she’s saying.
“Yes, please,” I call back. I catch a look at Aaron’s face, deep in conversation with my Dad. “And one for Aaron, too.”
He glances over at me gratefully and smiles. I smile back, then jostle our youngest, Sammy, on my hip. He’s not old enough yet to be running around with his older brothers, even if he does squirm and complain in my arms.
Mom emerges with three steaming mugs balanced in her hands, and Aaron quickly rushes over to help. Before long we’re reconfigured, Aaron and my Dad still talking shop while Mom and I sip from our hot mugs and look out over the view.
“It’s really beautiful here,” Mom says. “I can see why you loved it so much.”
“Well, this isn’t the exact view.” I point to the left, further along the edge of the cliff where the trees hide any other settlement from us. “It was around that way a bit. That cabin is far too small for a family trip, though.”
Sammy makes a whining noise and reaches for my mug. With a sigh, I hand it over to Mom, who deftly rearranges her hands in order to hold both our mugs while still leaning on the fence. That’s the thing with growing up with older siblings, Sammy is jealous of absolutely everything anyone else has that he’s not old enough for yet.
“How’s the tour going?” Mom asks, bringing me back to the present.
“Oh,” I laugh. “Well enough, I think.”
My latest book is already topping the bestseller lists, tour or no tour. I opted for virtual appearances so I wouldn’t have to leave my family to go on the road. I’m appearing somewhere right now, no doubt, filmed ahead of time in a studio with my agent.
Aaron moves over towards us and rests on the fence beside me, slipping an arm around my back. “Hey, Moms,” he says, greeting us both.
“Hello,” Mom laughs.
“We were just talking about having a barbecue tonight. What do you think?”
What do I think? I smile at my husband and plant a kiss on his cheek. My boys, my parents – everyone in my life that matters to me, all gathered not far from where it all began, together and relaxed. Happy. “It sounds perfect,” I say.
“Great,” Aaron says. “I was thinking I could call my assistant and get him to send in -”
“No!” Mom and I say in unison, laughing.
“What?” Aaron asks.
“No more shipping things in,” I tell him. “We’ve got everything we need right here.”
Aaron pauses, giving me a long and measured look. He reaches out to cup Sammy's face, our eyes darting together across to the trail as Liam and our older boys come laughing out of the woods. “Yeah,” he says. “I guess we do.”
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A MAN WHO KNOWS WHAT HE WANTS
Book 1: Baby Lust
Book 2: Veteran
Book 3: Built
Book 4: Bambino
Book 5: Rescued
Book 6: Leader
Book 7: Professor
Book 8: Burned
Book 9: Worldly
Book 10: Pistol
Book 11: Policed
Book 12: Driven
Book 13: Lucky 13
Book 14: Lumberjacked
Book 15: Protector
Book 16: Carpenter
Book 17: Italian Stallion
Book 18: Gardener
Book 19: Budapest Billionaire’s Virgin
Book 20: Billionaire’s Babysitter
Book 21: Cocky CFO
Book 22: Fireman’s Filthy 4th
Book 23: Mechanic
Book 24: SEAL’s Secret
Book 25: Police, Pooch, and Smooch
Book 26: Fireman’s Fake Fiancée
Book 27: Billionaire’s Virgin Ballerina
Book 28: Bitcoin Billionaire’s Babysitter
Book 29: Veterans Day Daddy
Book 30: Cowboy’s Christmas Carol
Book 31: Police Officer’s Princess
Book 32: Statham
Book 33: Bodyguard
Book 34: Greek God
Book 35: Billionaire Single Dad's Babysitter
Book 36: Mountain Man
Book 37: SEAL’s Justice
Book 38: Royal Romance
Book 39: Doctor Mountain Man’s Special Delivery
Book 40: Crocodile Dan D
Book 41: Mountain Man’s Secret Baby
Book 42: Doctor Bad Boy’s Secret Baby
Book 43: Cop’s Babysitter
Book 44: Nanny for the Cop Next Door
Book 45: Small Town SEAL’s Saving Grace
Book 46: Cop’s Fake Fiancée
Book 47: Billionaire’s Nanny
Book 48: Cowboy’s Babysitter
Book 49: Steamy
Book 50: Brother’s Best Friend
Book 51: Possessive Professor
Book 52: Firefighter’s Babysitter
Book 53: Soldier’s Secret Baby
Book 54: Ward’s Independence Day
Book 55: Doctor Next Door
Book 56: Possessive Policeman
Book 57: Coached by the MMA Fighter
Book 58: Boss’s Babysitter
Book 59: Virgin in New York
Book 60: Rock Star’s Baby
Book 61: Possessive Protector
Book 62: Possessive Australian
Book 63: Best Friend’s Brother
Book 64: Possessive Cowboy
Book 65: Summer Romanced
Book 66: Possessive Prince
Book 67: Lovers’s Enemy
Book 68: Cop’s Best Friend
Book 69: Possessive Firefighter
Book 70: Football Next Door
Book 71: Doctor December
Book 72: Possessive Canadian
Book 73: Blue Collar Billionaire
Book 74: Possessive K-9 Cop
Book 75: Possessive Brazilian
Book 76: Hockey Obsession
Book 77: Possessive Boston Irish American MMA Fighter
Book 78: Halloween Next Door
Book 79: Possessive Russian
Book 80: Baseball Mine
Book 81: Cop’s Caribbean Captive
Book 82: Instalove Island
Book 83: Dad’s Best Friend
Book 84: Thanksgiving with Dad’s Boss
Book 85: Possessive Italian Neighbor
Book 86: Possessive Portuguese
Book 87: Possessive Christmas Cop
Book 88: Russian’s Obsession
Book 89: Possessive Doctor’s Christmas
Book 90: Possessive Parisian Pilot
Book 91: U.K. Boxing Day
Book 92: Jealous Russian Stalker
Book 93: Italian Mountain Man
Book 94: Aggressive Russian
Book 95: Possessive Valentine
Book 96: Possessive Hunter
Book 97: Dad’s Russian Mafia Friend
Book 98: Russian Teacher
Book 99: Australian Obsession
Book 100: Russian Next Door
Book 101: Dad’s Irish Friend
Book 102: Nanny for the Russian Mafia
Book 103: Best Friend’s Dad
Book 104: Basketball Babymaker
Book 105: Possessive Veterinarian
Book 106: Brother’s Fireman Friend
Book 107: Brother’s Canadian Cowboy Friend
Book 108: Summer Vacation with Dad’s Best Friend
Book 109: Dad’s Italian Mafia Friend
Book 110: Dad’s Irish Mafia Friend
Book 111: Dad’s Football Friend
Book 112: Possessing His Dancing Queen
Book 113: Brother’s Cop Friend
Book 114: Halloween With Dad’s Best Friend
Book 115: Claimed By Her Boss
Book 116: Possessive Rider
His Cabin Obsession Wants Book 195) Page 8
