Chapter Twenty-seven – I Can Love You Like That
Chapter Twenty-seven
Beckett
I CAN LOVE YOU LIKE THAT
Performed by John Michael Montgomery
ONE YEAR AGO
HIM: Dinner and drinks?
HER: Careful who you text that to. Some people might consider that a date.
HIM: You deserve a date, my Maisey-girl. Too bad there aren’t better options for you in Swift Rivers.
HER: The dating pool is more pitiful than I remembered. Maybe I should have stayed in Bakersfield. I was working in L&D, like I’d always wanted, and I had guys asking me out. I haven’t had a single date since I came home.
HIM: You couldn’t stay away. You missed me too much.
HER: That ego of yours is ginormous. I missed ALL my friends and family and my horse.
HIM: Admit it. I’m your favorite.
HER: Puh-lease. Titan ranks higher than you.
HIM: Wanna bet?
PRESENT DAY
It was a cruel kind of torture, knowing I had hours to go before I could take Maisey upstairs and divest her of that dress.
The gown was a masterpiece of temptation, hugging her like it was made for sin, showing off just enough to ruin a man’s concentration, all while hiding enough to drive him wild.
It was graceful, elegant, almost demure, and still the sexiest thing I’d ever seen.
I wasn’t an idiot. I knew the stares that followed us as we made our way through the ballroom were ninety percent about her, about the utter perfection that was Maisey, while the remaining ten percent were waiting to see which of the rumors about us were true. Were we real? Were we fake?
I couldn’t wait to set them all straight.
I was lucky to be the one escorting her tonight, and I promised myself I’d never forget that.
She was a gift, and I’d nearly let her slip through my fingers.
From here, we would succeed or fail simply based on what we put into this relationship, and I was determined to do whatever it took to keep her happy for the rest of our lives.
As we neared the DJ’s booth next to the tables piled with auction items, Chief Nattingly intercepted us with Delilah on his arm.
His blue uniform was snug over his rounding belly, but everything else about him was fastidious, from his neatly clipped dark hair with its hints of gray to his manicured nails.
His eyes matched his daughter’s, a bright blue that stood out against his uniform.
Delilah wore a red dress, glittering with so many sequins it was almost blinding.
It kissed the floor in an elegant swoop but was cut low at the bodice and back so that it left little to the imagination.
While it was elegant, it leaned more toward the sex-kitten look she wore when out on the town than her business persona.
Some people would consider her glamorous. But, to me, she didn’t come close to Maisey’s beauty. Delilah was missing the inner shine, the glow of goodness that radiated from my girl. Add in my recent doubts about her and the attacks on Maisey, and any friendship or empathy I’d once had disappeared.
I scoured her face for any hint she was behind what was happening to us as she took Maisey in, but all I saw was typical Delilah—a smile that didn’t always reach her eyes and an act that ensured people overlooked how smart she really was.
The chief gave Maisey a small smile, “You look lovely, Maisey.” Then he glanced down at Delilah and patted her hand. “But I think I have the prettiest girl on my arm tonight.”
Del gave him a smile she reserved for her daddy. Sweet and tolerant. “You have to say that because you’re my dad.”
“It doesn’t make it not true. Right, Beckett?”
I inhaled sharply. Did he actually expect me to say Delilah was prettier than Maisey? Prettier than not only my date but my fiancée? Screw that. Even if it were true, which it absolutely was not, I would never hurt the person I loved like that.
I ground my teeth together before doing my best to ease the situation while still speaking the truth. “Delilah always looks beautiful, but we’ll have to disagree on who’s the luckiest man tonight, because my Maisey-girl will always be at the top of my charts.”
Maisey squeezed my arm, and when I looked down at her, I saw gratitude and love wash over her face.
“Delilah, why don’t you take Maisey to get a drink—my treat—while I talk with Beckett?”
“It’s an open bar, Dad,” Delilah said with a little laugh. “But we women can take the hint. Right, Maisey?”
She looped her hand around Maisey’s free arm and tugged her away from me.
Panic slid through me. An alarm that was reflected on Maisey’s face for a brief second before she hid it. But then I reminded myself, even if it was Delilah who’d attacked Maisey last night, she could do nothing to her here, in a sea of people.
“Don’t go far,” I told Maisey. “I need to dance with my fiancée.”
She understood the warning.
“The bar is right there.” She pointed to the far corner where a line of firefighters had gathered, many with glasses already in hand. “Come get me when you’re done.”
I watched as the two women attempted to make their way through the crowd to the bar but were stopped every few feet as people greeted them.
Delilah’s expression was pleasant, smooth, and professional, the flirty airhead tucked away.
But it was Maisey’s smile that held people’s attention because of its charming authenticity.
I wondered if Delilah realized she paled in comparison to Maisey as she’d once paled in comparison to Chelsea.
Worry scoured through me. Was Del really behind this?
Was there any way to force her hand and prove it?
The more the attacks had escalated, the less and less it felt like Delilah, but I couldn’t be sure.
I’d never be sure until we caught the person red-handed.
“We haven’t had a chance to talk one on one since you heard I was retiring,” Nattingly said, drawing me back to him.
“You’re retiring?” I said it as if it were a question, but we both knew it wasn’t.
“Don’t be ridiculous, son. We both know you’ve heard about it, just as you heard the unofficial condition the city council has placed on the job description.
I made sure you heard they wanted a married man to take my place.
Except, I had a different vision in my head for how you’d solve the problem. ”
It infuriated me all over again, just as it had that first day at the station when I’d heard him talking on the phone.
I’d known what he wanted, and I’d panicked, trying to find a way out, but what he didn’t know was, in finding a way not to play the game by his rules, I’d finally broken free of the prison I’d locked myself in.
I’d finally taken what was always supposed to be mine.
His gaze followed the two women like mine did. They’d almost made it to the bar.
“The city council is going to choose the next fire chief based on my recommendation,” he said, drawing my focus back to him. “I’d like to give that recommendation to the man who makes Delilah’s dreams come true. This little show you and Maisey are putting on isn’t going to get you what you want.”
It wasn’t blackmail, but it was close. Too bad for him I’d already made my choice.
I wouldn’t give Maisey up for a damn job.
I could get another position as a firefighter.
It wouldn’t be as convenient, nor would it be in the town I loved and wanted to serve, but it would ensure I kept the most important thing in my life. It would allow me to keep Maisey.
“I hate to break it to you, Chief, but this isn’t a show. This is me finally claiming the woman who’s always been mine and her claiming me back. Nothing less and nothing more. If loving and marrying Maisey means I don’t get the position I’m more than qualified for as you retire, so be it.”
Surprise drifted over his face.
“Don’t be hasty, Beckett. We can all still get what we want here.”
“You’re wrong. If I gave up Maisey for a job, neither she nor I would have what we want.”
He huffed out a laugh. “Everyone in town knows this engagement is just for show. I backed you into a corner, and you swerved. It can still be fixed the right way.”
I stared at him for a few seconds, letting anger eat away at my insides, but then it hit me.
If he made me choose, and I didn’t get the job, it would prove to Maisey, once and for all, that I was with her not because it helped me get my dream job or because she and her dad had needed a place to land, but because there was nothing I wanted more on this Earth than her. Nothing.
It would be the ultimate grand gesture. I hoped I wouldn’t have to give up the job I wanted, but I would. Readily. Easily. No questions asked.
For now, I’d give her the gesture I’d already planned.
Instead of responding to the chief’s comment, I whirled around to the DJ booth. Leaning in, I asked, “Excuse me. Can I borrow a mic for a moment?”
The guy raised a brow, shuffled around, and came up with a microphone. He stopped the music, and at first, the chatter in the room seemed amplified.
“What are you doing?” Chief Nattingly demanded.
I ignored him, shouldering my way to stand in the middle of the dance floor and whistling to get everyone’s attention.
“Sorry to interrupt your night, folks,” I said. The room grew quieter but wasn’t silent yet. “This will just take a moment, and then we’ll move on to dinner and dancing and your generous bidding on the items in our auction for the fallen firefighter’s family fund.”
As I continued across the dance floor, people parted for me with ease. As I neared Maisey, the room became so quiet you could almost hear a waterdrop land.
“There’s been a misunderstanding in the rumors circling town lately. While Chief Nattingly has confirmed he’s ready to retire, the timing of it has very little to do with the changes I’ve decided to make in my life.”