Chapter 23
CHARLOTTE
Ididn’t see Trent for the rest of the day. Or the next day. Or the day after that.
After he’d left Alex’s office, he’d disappeared and, eventually, after going around in circles with my brothers for a few minutes, so had I. The fact was that there was nothing any of us could do to change my father’s mind.
Alex, Nate, and I were equally powerless in this situation, so I’d been staying at Stella’s loft apartment, a safe distance away from my dad’s house, away from the impossible expectations and the suffocating scrutiny.
With everything up in the air, I’d thrown myself into my charity work, sorting through donations, answering emails, and catching up with the girls.
Every time my phone buzzed, I wanted to throw it across the room. I didn’t want it to be him, but I also didn’t want it to be anyone else, a conundrum I had no idea what to do about.
Stella called me out on my sour mood on my third morning with her. “You’ve been avoiding him like the plague. Why?”
“I’m not avoiding him,” I lied.
“Uh-huh,” she said, her eyebrows raised as high as they could go. “Sure you’re not.”
I groaned, hiding my face in my hands. “I don’t even know what you’re talking about. Avoiding him would mean that he’s tried to reach out to me, which he hasn’t. I’m just studiously ignoring the fact that he lives in the world.”
“Please, you’re thinking about him every other second and you’re mad at yourself for it. Why don’t you just call him?”
I tried to shrug it off, but it was impossible.
Thoughts of him consumed my every waking—and sleeping—moment.
Try as I might, I couldn’t push them away.
The sudden, tense silence between us, the not hearing from him, was suffocating.
One minute, he’d been kissing me in the stables, and what had felt like the next, he’d stormed out of Alex’s office without a word, and now he was gone.
Finally, I looked up into Stella’s big, knowing eyes, and just came out with it.
The truth had been begging to be spoken aloud for days and she already knew anyway.
I might as well admit it. “I, uh, I think I might have feelings for him. And it’s ridiculous because it’s totally one-sided.
He doesn’t even, uh, he probably doesn’t even care. ”
Stella leaned back, smirking as she crossed her arms. “One-sided? I don’t think so. You guys spent a week alone on a million-acre ranch. Are you honestly telling me he didn’t make a move or do absolutely anything to make you feel the things you’re feeling?”
“We weren’t alone,” I said automatically. “His parents live on the same ranch. Although, come to think about it, I never even saw his dad. That’s weird, right?”
She rolled her eyes. “First, on a ranch the size of the one I’ve heard they have, one other couple counts as being alone. Besides, you said he has his own house, in which you were, in fact, alone. Second, parents are just weird. Don’t overthink it, and third, none of that answered my question.”
I sighed, but my cheeks heated when I thought about that kiss. The way he’d held me like I was precious, how his lips had brushed against the top of my head and how he’d instinctively pulled me into his side whenever we’d gone out.
“Fine.” I covered my face in my palms and shook my head. “We kissed. Once. Barely.”
She squealed. “I knew it! What happened? Don’t be shy with the details, lady. I need to know absolutely everything. That cowboy is so hot. Please tell me he kisses like he knows it.”
Before I could stop myself, I was nodding emphatically and she let out another squeal, grabbing a scatter cushion and hugging it to her chest. “Okay. Go. I’ve got something to hold on to. Tell me.”
I felt a goofy, stupidly girly smile spread on my lips. “We got into an argument, and before I even ran out of steam, he just came up, pulled me into him, let me get tears and snot all over his shirt, and then, when I was calm, he walked me back until I hit the wall, penned me in, and kissed me.”
Even Stella was blushing now, a dreamy look in her eyes as she sighed. “God, of course he did. I knew the sexy cowboy would have sexy cowboy moves. That sounds hot for sure, but also, for the record, it definitely doesn’t sound one-sided to me.”
“It doesn’t?”
“It really doesn’t.” She tilted her head, her eyes wide and shimmering with some kind of meaning as they held mine.
“Let me break it down for you. A boy isn’t just going to hold you until you calm down even though you were just yelling at him and then kiss you like that.
” She frowned. “Actually, scratch that. A boy might. A man won’t.
If that’s how it went down, he didn’t just kiss you to shut you up or confuse you. He did it because he wanted to.”
I wanted to argue, to insist it was just me and that he didn’t feel the same way, but her words lingered, uncomfortable and undeniable.
The thought that he might have feelings for me in return was intoxicating, but as much as I wanted to drift away on a cloud of unrealistic dreams of a happily ever after with him, feelings didn’t really matter anymore.
“Either way,” I said eventually, not arguing or agreeing with her. “This isn’t about what might’ve been if we’d had time. We don’t. My dad is serious about this. I’m walking down the aisle. I just don’t know yet if it’ll be Trent or Gregory I’ll be meeting at the end.”
“He really didn’t say anything after you told him what your dad said?”
I shook my head. “Nope, but I also don’t want him to marry me just because he feels like he has to. On the other hand, if he doesn’t? Well, then I’m going to England. That’s just how my world works. I’ll stuff my face with bangers and mash while watching footy on the telly.”
“Stop using nonsense words.” Stella’s frown deepened. “Are you serious right now? You’re just going to lie down and take it?”
“I don’t have a choice, Stell. At this point, the best I can do is try to rationalize it,” I said, sinking back in the couch cushions.
“Gregory is uppity, narcissistic, and a little insufferable, but maybe he won’t make that bad of a husband.
And I want kids. I can still have as many as I want.
Isn’t that all that really matters? I can still do my charity work overseas, help people. ”
Stella shook her head like she was deciding whether to laugh or cry. “You’re crazy, Lottie. Absolutely crazy.”
My phone rang before I could tell her that in order to survive as a Westwood, one had to be a little crazy. The shrill sound of my ringtone cut through the tension like a knife and my breath caught in my lungs when I looked down at the screen.
Trent.
My heart stuttered, but against all my best reasoning, I swiped to answer. “Hello?”
“Where are you?” he asked without any prelude, that usual Texas drawl sharp and urgent. “Alex says you haven’t been home since we got back, so where are you?”
“Uh, Stella’s place,” I managed, my words trembling. “Why?”
“Text me the address,” he said, and I could hear an engine revving in the background, or maybe that was just my imagination. “I’ll be there soon. I’m already on my way.”
The line went dead and I pulled the phone away from my ear to frown at the screen. Stella raised an eyebrow when I looked back at her. “What was that all about?”
I shrugged, unsure, but I sent a quick text with the address, then realized I had no idea why he was coming. Is it to end things officially? To wish me good luck? Or to save me?
My stomach twisted. I didn’t know if I could live with myself if it turned out to be the latter, but I desperately didn’t want it to be the former. Stella looked at me, worry and fear suddenly creeping into her eyes, but then she leaned forward, set her coffee down, and threw her arms around me.
“Good luck, babe,” she murmured as she hugged me.
“I’ll be in my room if you need me, but as soon as he gets here, I’m going to give you some space.
I can’t even pretend to understand this whole arranged marriage thing and the last thing you two need is someone else’s opinion on top of all the rest of it. ”
I jerked my head in a nod, waiting on pins and needles to find out just what the hell had been going on. Nate didn’t know. Alex had been vague, but not in a way that made me feel like it was deliberate. It just didn’t seem like he knew much either.
Trent arrived only a few minutes later, and as soon as he stepped into the loft, the air charged around me. My heart was hammering so loudly I was sure he could hear it, but God. After not seeing him for a few days, he just seemed so big again.
A towering giant in the doorway, he was wearing his usual jeans, boots, and a white T-shirt.
No hat but still every inch a cowboy. There was dark red stubble on his jaw and his hair was just a touch messy, like he’d styled it when he’d woken up, but it’d refused to play along once he’d left his apartment.
“I’m sorry I didn’t get back to you sooner,” he said, those blue eyes fixed intently on mine. “I had to go to Dallas to tie up some loose ends.”
I opened my mouth to respond, but he reached into his pocket and pulled something out. A small box. My stomach lurched when he strode over and held it out to me. I blinked hard, knowing what generally came in this kind of box but not wanting to jump to any conclusions. “What is that?”
He popped open the top with his thumb, eyes still locked on mine, and revealed a simple, elegant ring. It looked like an antique, the design an intricate vintage knot with a massive diamond inlaid in the gold, smaller diamonds on either side of it.
My throat went dry. “I… I can’t—”
“You can.” He didn’t let me finish, just gently taking my hand and slipping the ring onto my finger. It fit perfectly, like it had been made for me.
My pulse was chaotic, but Trent’s hands were steady, everything about him entirely calm and certain.
“Where are we going?” I managed when I realized he had already turned to start gathering my purse.
“Vegas,” he said. “Don’t worry about the rest of your stuff. We’ll buy what we need when we get there.”
I blinked at him, the weight of the ring on my finger foreign but exhilarating. He couldn’t possibly mean what I thought he meant. “Vegas? You can’t be serious.”
“Douglas didn’t agree to my terms,” he said firmly. “To put it mildly, he rejected my offer, but we’re doing it anyway.”
This was insane, reckless, and completely unplanned, but when he stepped closer to me, his gaze intense and unwavering, any arguments I might have formulated died an instantaneous death on my tongue.
“Charlotte,” he said, softer now, almost pleading, “Who are you going to say yes to, me or Gregory? Because I know this isn’t ideal, but those are the options you have available. That much, at least, is your choice.”
My breath caught and the world suddenly felt impossibly small. Choices, consequences, and duty all blurred into one simple question. Am I going to trap Trent in a marriage he doesn’t want simply because I want him, or am I going to marry Gregory because he wants me?
“I’ll marry Gregory if it means you get a choice this time,” I said, the words tasting bitter on my tongue. “You’ll get to marry for love and not some kind of arrangement.”
Trent’s jaw tightened and his eyes darkened in a way that made my stomach drop, his pupils dilating as he rolled his lips into his mouth.
For a second, I thought he was going to nod, take the ring back, and leave again, but he didn’t.
Instead, he took another step closer, the clean, woodsy, masculine scent of him wafting to my nostrils.
“No,” he said, his tone deadly calm. “I’m marrying you. That’s final.”
I laughed nervously, shaking my head. “No. I’m not—”
Before I could finish, he bent, effortlessly lifted me off my feet, and hoisted me over his shoulder like I weighed nothing. My protests caught in my throat as I realized just how little chance I had of getting free if he didn’t want to let me go.
From the kitchen, I heard Stella stifle a laugh and then full on cheered as I squirmed, kicking lightly, but the grin on Trent’s face told me it was useless.
“You’re ridiculous,” I finally managed just as he reached the door.
“And you’re mine,” he shot back, his voice teasing but resolute. “You might as well get used to it, Charlotte. That’s my ring on your finger and it’s staying there.”