Chapter 7
CHAPTER SEVEN
MILLIE
T hank all the gods for busy mornings.
I didn’t sleep worth shit last night. I kept thinking about the fact that a very sexy Holden was just mere yards away from me, likely not wearing much, and my body was on fire.
Stupid body.
And then, to make matters so much worse, after spending all freaking day with him yesterday, I actually miss the son of a bitch today. Like, truly, physically and emotionally, miss him.
What kind of fucked-up shit is that? I’m not supposed to like him. But damn it, I’m having a hard time resisting him already. Because he’s been so nice to me. Like, sincerely kind. The way he was before… before. Before he tore my heart out and burned it to ash.
There’s a quick lull between customers, and I yawn as I tie my hair up high on my head.
“You okay?” Candy frowns at me as I yawn again. “Not sleeping well?”
“Like shit,” I confirm with a shrug. “I’ll be fine. Thanks for covering yesterday.”
“It was no problem,” she assures me. “Plus, the friends I was telling you about? They’ll be here next week, and they plan to come in to talk to you.”
“Great.” I grin at her. “I also hired a high school girl who wants some weekend work, and she starts Saturday. Can you help me train her? She’s worked as a barista before.”
“Of course, that’ll be great.”
The door opens, and the bell rings, and I look up to see Bridger striding in, and I smile.
But he doesn’t smile back.
In fact, he looks good and pissed off.
“What’s wrong? Is it Birdie? Oh, shit, do you need me?”
“No, she’s fine,” he says with a shake of his head. He looks around, seeing if anyone’s close by, and then he leans in, and with an angry, low voice says, “Did you marry Holden?”
His eyes jerk down to my hand, but I took the band off this morning before coming to work.
“Who—”
“Yes or no, Mill.”
I feel the blood drain from my cheeks. I know that Candy’s standing nearby, and she can hear everything.
“I’m your fucking best friend, and you’d better tell me the truth.”
“Yes.” It’s a whisper. “I’m not embarrassed or keeping it a secret, but we haven’t told our families, Bridger.”
“For fuck’s sake!” His voice raises, and several heads turn our way, and he swallows and quiets again. “Do I need to remind you that your brothers might very well kill him?”
“No, they won’t. They won’t be happy, but they won’t hurt him.”
“Jesus Christ, Millie.”
I reach for his hand and hold it firmly in both of mine, pleading up at him with my eyes.
“Please. Keep this quiet for now so I have time to tell them myself. Please, Bridger.”
“Do you love him?” he asks, his voice still low. “Or did he force you?”
“Jesus, how would he force me?” I roll my eyes. “No, and no. And that’s all I can say for now. I’m sorry you didn’t hear it from me. Where did you?—?”
I break off when the door opens again, and this time, it’s Holden striding through. His eyes drop to where I’m holding Bridger’s hand, and they darken; his jaw clenches.
And I’m suddenly breathless.
“I’ll talk to you later,” Bridger mutters, pulling away. “I can’t do this here and make a scene in your shop.”
“Later,” I reply as he turns and stalks out, shoulder-checking Holden on his way. I huff out a breath. “Why are men so dumb?”
The man who’s lived rent-free in my head all morning calmly strides over to me, watching me with those hot blue eyes. In front of literally everyone in my shop, he reaches over the counter and closes his hand over my throat, then leans in and plants his lips at my ear.
“Hello, wife.”
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, I’m wet. Just like that. Why does that word turn me on?
“You told Bridger,” I whisper as his thumb brushes over the line of my jaw before he pulls away and removes his hand from me altogether.
“It’s not a secret, Millie.”
“No, but I’d like to tell my family ,” I hiss at him. People are staring now. They’re definitely looking and starting to talk, and I shake my head. “And now I have to call an emergency meeting. Right now.”
“You go,” Candy says kindly, her cheeks red, since she heard everything. “I can handle this.”
“Are you sure?” I ask her.
“Totally. Go figure this out. And, uh, congratulations.” She winks, and I blow out a breath and stomp back to my office, Holden hot on my heels.
When I get the door closed, I pull my phone out of my pocket and send a text to the family group chat. It has everyone , including the girls and my parents, and we use it for really important things like this.
Me: Hi, gang. I need an emergency meeting right now. Like, ten minutes ago. Do not take any calls from anyone in town before you talk to me. Please tell me everyone is available.
I chew on my bottom lip, very aware of Holden standing against the wall, his arms folded over his chest, watching me with those blue eyes that seem to see everything.
Why do I suddenly feel like I need a hug? I don’t even like hugs. Sure, the one in my kitchen last night was nice, but I’m not really a hugger.
Or a toucher.
Within seconds, I get responses.
Dad: Come to the ranch.
Rem: Meet you at the farmhouse.
Ryan: Are you safe?
Okay, that one brings tears to my eyes.
Chase: Summer and I are headed that way.
Me: I’m safe. Just need to talk.
Brady: Abbi and I are at the property. We’ll meet you there.
Me: No kids, if possible. Please.
Still biting my lip, I look up at Holden.
“I hate it when you cry.” His voice is low and rough, which doesn’t help the whole needing a hug thing.
“This isn’t going to be fun.”
“I’m sorry. I really am sorry for that, Mill.”
I swallow hard and nod. I believe him. He sounds completely sincere.
After blowing out a long breath, I pocket my phone. “I guess I’ll go handle this, then.”
“No, we will go handle it.”
I scowl at him. “There’s no way you’re going out to the ranch.”
“There’s no way I’m not going,” he counters and moves forward, catching my chin in his fingers. “You’re my wife. Where you go, I go. You don’t have to do anything alone anymore.”
I raise my hand to circle around his wrist, but I don’t shove him away. His eyes narrow in on my finger, and he scowls.
“Where’s my ring?”
“In my pocket.”
“Why isn’t it on your goddamn finger?”
I swallow hard, at a loss as to why all of this turns me on. Maybe because everything Holden Lexington does turns me the hell on. “Because we hadn’t told anyone yet, and I didn’t want everyone to talk and ask me questions that I wasn’t ready to answer because we haven’t talked to our families yet, Holden. Do I need to remind you that this is a small freaking town ?”
He pushes his hand into the pocket of my jeans and comes out with the ring, then takes my hand and pushes it back on my finger.
“It doesn’t come off again, Mill. That’s a deal breaker for me. ”
“A rule?” I ask.
“Yep. A rule. Now, let’s go get this over with.”
“Do you have a gun in your truck?”
He smirks as he takes my hand and leads me out of my shop and to his truck, which is parked out front. He opens the door for me and makes sure I’m safely inside before he walks around and climbs behind the wheel.
I’m regretting some of my life choices right now.
Because while I knew that I’d have to come clean to my family, I didn’t really let myself think about how this was going to go down.
How can I just bring Holden onto our ranch and announce that he’s my husband?
What have I done?
As he heads out of town, Holden reaches over and takes my hand, brings it up to his lips, and kisses my skin, and it helps my stomach settle just a bit.
I mean, the murder hornets are way fired up, but this contact helps.
“I’m not really a physically affectionate person,” I whisper, watching as he places another kiss on the back of my hand.
“You used to be.” He glances over at me and frowns.
“Yeah, well. I used to be . ” But I don’t pull my hand away when he sets it on his thigh and covers it with his own. As we get closer to the ranch, I feel more and more like I’m going to throw up.
So, I breathe.
And square my shoulders.
This is my family. They may not love the situation, but they love me, and I know without a doubt that, although it will be uncomfortable, it’s going to be okay.
Everything is going to be okay.
“Why aren’t you affectionate now?” he asks, clearly trying to distract me.
“I’m just not touched very often, so it makes me uncomfortable.” I frown, not happy that I just shared that. “I hug the kids all the time, and family is fine, but for the most part, I’m not the touchy-feely type.”
“Hmm.”
Holden turns onto our road, and I punch the code into the gate, and it smoothly opens for us. When he pulls around to the farmhouse, I see that everyone is outside, sitting on the big porch on the front of the house, waiting for me.
And we’re the last to arrive.
When they see the truck, everyone stands, and my dad’s face reddens.
Oh, shit, I’m going to give my dad a stroke.
“Park there,” I say, pointing at the spot next to Ryan’s Aston Martin. We both climb out of the truck, and when I meet Holden at the front, I take his hand, and he gives mine a squeeze.
“What the fuck?” Remington asks, his eyes narrowed on our clasped hands.
“Uh, hi.” I clear my throat and look up at Holden. He doesn’t look nervous or scared at all. In fact, he takes his hat off and nods at all the girls.
“Ma’am,” he says to my mom.
And she offers him a tentative smile.
“Hey, guys,” Erin says, trying to sound happy. “What’s up? What’s going on?”
Chase is holding baby August, and he turns to Summer. “Here, Blondie, take the baby.”
Once he’s passed the baby off, all my brothers and my dad walk down the steps, while the girls stay up the five steps on the porch.
“John,” Mom starts, but Dad holds up a hand, stopping her, and I frown. He never does that to her. Normally, she’d skin him alive.
“What the fuck are you doing on my property?” Dad addresses Holden, and I instinctively move in front of my husband to shield him from the shit storm about to come.
All my brothers notice. Ryan’s jaw ticks.
But Holden gently takes my shoulders in his hands and moves me to the side, then kisses my temple, and I swear to God, Rem growls.
“I got this, Mill.” I look up and see that he’s smiling softly at me. His eyes are hard, but that’s not for me, and my murder hornets take it down a notch. “We’ve got this. Don’t worry.”
“I’m worried about murder ,” I remind him with a hiss.
“Nah. Don’t be.” He turns back to my father. “Sir, Millie and I wanted to come out here to announce to you all that we’ve gotten married.”
There’s a gasp.
Someone mutters, “Holy shit.”
“Congratulations,” Summer says with a bright smile, rocking her son side to side. “I want to know everything . This is so exciting.”
But then her smile falls when literally no one else says a word.
Dad’s gaze falls to me, then down to my finger where my ring sits before he looks me in the eye again. I’ve never seen him this angry. My hand reaches out for Holden’s again, and I hold on tight as he rubs his thumb soothingly over my knuckles.
I feel like I’m going to throw up.
“I’ve never been so disappointed in you in my life.” Dad’s voice has never been this firm . So damn hard.
Chase moves forward with blood in his eye, and I’ve had just about enough, so I stomp my foot and scowl, making him come up short.
“Enough,” I growl. “What in the hell is wrong with all of you?”
“Do you see who you’re standing next to?” Remington asks, looking like he has homicide on the brain.
I look up at Holden, but he still looks perfectly calm. Although, I can see a little hurt in his beautiful blue eyes, and that just pisses me right off.
“Yeah.” I turn back to my oldest brother. “I do. And you’re all being a bunch of jerks. Holden is a good person. He’s not his father. He’s done nothing but work hard, be good to his employees, and love his sisters. He raised his sisters. He’s well-liked in this town, and there’s no reason at all for you to treat him like he’s a piece of cow shit on the bottom of your boot.”
“He’s a Lexington,” Dad spits out, and I see red.
“Yeah, and guess what? I now share that last name, Daddy. That makes me a Lexington, too.”
“Honey,” Mom starts, but Dad shakes his head, cutting her off again.
“Let her speak, Dad, Jesus.” Brady shakes his head and rubs his hand over the back of his neck in agitation.
“How dare you?” Dad’s voice is lethal now, every word like a razor blade. “How. Fucking. Dare you?”
“Okay,” Ryan begins. “Dad, that’s enough. I know you’re pissed, but come on. Holden is a nice guy.”
“Yeah, let them talk,” Brady adds, and I could kiss them with gratitude. “It’s not that bad.”
“He’s not welcome here,” Dad says, ignoring my brothers, and the murder hornets are back to being good and pissed off. Holden’s grip tightens on my hand, as if he’s silently telling me that it’s okay.
But it’s absolutely not fucking okay.
“If he’s not welcome here, then I’m not welcome here,” I reply, my voice softening. But there are no tears because I refuse to fucking cry. “Because where I go, he goes. We’re a team. So, if that’s really how you feel, we’ll be going.”
I let my gaze skim over the rest of my family. The girls all have tears in their eyes. Erin has to wipe her cheeks, and I can see the pain in her eyes. Polly mouths, I love you.
I grin at her.
“See you around.”
I turn to leave, but Holden doesn’t move with me, and I frown up at him.
“Before we go,” he says without any hesitation in his voice, “I want to make it clear that any and all of you are always welcome in our home. Millie loves you. You’re her family. This doesn’t change that.”
He nods and helps me into the passenger seat, and then he climbs into the truck, starts it up, and with all of those eyes trained on us, we pull away.
I can’t help but watch in the side mirror as my home gets smaller and smaller until we turn the corner toward the highway.
When Holden turns off of Wild property, the floodgates open, and I let the tears come.
“Th-that was so much w-worse than I expected.”
“Hold on, baby girl,” he says as he turns away from town, toward his property.
“I’m so fucking pissed! How dare I ? How dare they ! What a bunch of jerks! They’re my family. They’ve always told me that they’d be here for me, no matter what. Well, what a bunch of bullshit that was. What a bunch of assholes. Where are we going?”
“To the only safe spot on my ranch,” he growls, and takes me on a dirt road that doesn’t get much use.
Finally, he comes to a clearing and stops, and I lose my breath.
It’s the same view that I have on my ranch. My happy place, with a view of the mountains, and I cry even harder. Because this is exactly where I would go when I needed to be sad, and it’s as if Holden just knew.
He jumps out of the truck and comes around to my side and opens the door, unclips my belt, and turns me sideways to face him, but he doesn’t pull me out of the vehicle. With his hands on my thighs, he just watches me, and I lean forward and rest my forehead on his chest as I let the tears come.
God, I’m so angry and sad and disappointed in them.
I knew it wouldn’t be great, but I wasn’t expecting that. To see my dad stare at me with so much contempt, I don’t know if my heart can take it. And I also don’t know if we’ll ever recover from it.
“Aww, Rosie,” he whispers, and that just makes me cry harder.
I told him not to call me that.
But I can’t get the words out.
“I’m so sorry.” He’s crooning to me as if I’m a wounded animal that he’s trying to comfort. And I do feel wounded.
I feel wounded down to my soul.
“Please don’t cry, baby girl. They don’t deserve your tears.” He kisses the top of my head and rubs his hands up and down my arms as I cling to his T-shirt and cry into his chest. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your f-fault,” I manage to get out. “My dad was so mean. He’s never, ever looked at me like that. And I l-l-love him so much.”
“I know.” He kisses my head again. “I know you do. He needs some time. That’s all. This was a shock for him, and he just needs a little time.”
I shake my head and take a deep, shaky breath. When I finally look up at him, Holden is staring down at me with hard blue eyes, and it makes me blink in response.
“Now, we need to get some things straight, baby girl.”