Her Fiance’s Father

1. Katie

KATIE

“I can’t believe you’re getting married before I am.”

“Gee, thanks, Deena.” I snort, making a face back at my friend. She’s twisting a lock of her blond hair around her index finger, something she always does when she has more to say.

I glance at her across an enormous table that’s completely covered with printouts of floral arrangement ideas, place settings, bridesmaid gowns, and countless other things.

Who knew planning a wedding was such a major event?

But this room I’ve been assigned at Kyle’s house—Kyle’s mansion, has been completely taken over with pamphlets, printouts, samples. It’s like a bridal tornado hit.

“I didn’t mean it that way,” she says, trying to hide the disappointment in her voice, but I hear it. I know her too well. “Just…when is someone gonna ask me?”

I can’t believe she’s even remotely upset. Deena has always been more popular with the guys than I have. She’s the girl that’s hot and sexy and everyone wants to be around, and I’m the awkward one that can’t make conversation and needs a crowbar to get out of the house.

“You do realize this is basically a Game of Thrones wedding, right?” I ask, raising an eyebrow. “I’m marrying Kyle because our families want us to. Because it will ‘solidify our business interests.’”

Deena shrugs. “Could be worse, though. He is super sexy…”

I scoff, tearing up a printout of the ugliest dresses I’ve ever seen in my life. “I don’t think he even knows my birthday.”

Deena rolls her eyes and nods. “You expect too much out of men.”

“Well, that’s encouraging.” Sighing, I slump back in a chair and chug down half of my iced tea—a black tea with peach. All this planning is driving me insane.

I don’t even know why I’m going along with this.

I want to help my dad out, and according to him, marrying Kyle Reed will scale his business up by millions.

But deep down, I feel like I’m just giving up.

Like I’ve suddenly become a prize mare rather than an adult woman who can make her own decisions.

“My whole life, I’ve always wanted to meet the one,” I muse, more to myself than to Deena. “That guy who makes your heart blossom and your chest hot and your whole body tingle.”

“Wow! What are you, a romance novel writer?”

I sigh again, deeper this time. “But I’m eighteen years old now, and I haven’t even met a guy who makes me feel a tiny bit nervous.”

Deena shakes her head and comes over beside me. “Ignore all that movie fantasy crap. That’s all it is.”

I drop my hands into my lap and tuck my head forward. I love Deena, but it feels like she’s painting the rest of my life black and taking out any possible color there once was.

“You know what will be fun?” she asks, raising an eyebrow. “Having Kyle take you to pound town.”

I almost choke on my tea. “Pound town? You did not just say that.”

“Katie-babes, I know you’re eighteen and still have yet to let a guy touch your hoo-ha. But it’s fun! Believe me!”

“I believe you,” I reply. “But I want it to be with someone I actually care about. And cares about me.”

“Yeah, and I want a Birkin bag.”

I launch to my feet. My chest is hot, and my whole body feels heavy. “Oh, a decent guy is as rare as a luxury designer bag?”

I glance down at all the wedding planning stuff, and a wave of nausea comes over me. In six days, I’ll be marrying a guy I don’t know and don’t like, and I’m sitting here thinking about the possibility of true love.

Tears begin to well up in my eyes. The last thing I want right now is to let Deena see me cry, so I grab my glass and head for the door.

“I’m gonna get some more tea.”

I’m already starting to cry as I step out the door. I need to be alone for a few minutes. Then I can come back and dive back into the insanity of planning a wedding to a man I apparently shouldn’t even care about.

My heartbeats feel like punches as I descend the stairs. My brain is spinning like a tornado. Finding a thought is nearly impossible.

Is it really that much to ask to meet a guy who actually likes you? And who you actually like?

A strange sound tickles my ear as I reach the bottom of the stairs—a woman laughing. But how could it be? Deena’s upstairs, the cleaning staff is gone for the day, and Kyle’s mom moved out and left his dad years ago.

I pause and listen.

Yep. Definitely a woman laughing, and the sound is coming from the closed bathroom just a few feet away.

Slowly, I creep across the marble floor to the enormous oak door. The giggles grow louder, along with a rhythmic pulsing sound that I can feel in my feet.

My heart is racing as I press my ear to the door, and I almost have a stroke when I hear Kyle’s voice from inside.

“Oh, yeah, you like that, don’t you?”

My jaw drops. More giggles.

“You know just what I like, big boy,” the woman replies.

Okay, so Kyle, my fiancé, is fooling around with another girl. What do I care? He doesn’t like me, and I don’t like him. I should just turn around, get some more tea, and go back upstairs to hang out with Deena.

But I just can’t help myself…

Even though neither of us likes each other, I still can’t shake that feeling of betrayal that sinks deep through my flesh and down into my bones. It’s bad enough that I’m marrying this guy, but he can’t even respect me enough not to cheat on me while I’m upstairs planning the wedding?

A rush of adrenaline hits me, and without thinking, I grab the handle and yank the door open. What I see inside almost knocks me over.

Kyle’s standing right there. I was expecting that. That’s not what shocks me.

What causes my breath to catch is who he’s with.

“Katie!” Clarice’s eyes go wide, and she scrambles to hide her half-naked body behind Kyle, whose pants are around his ankles.

Clarice isn’t just some girl; she’s Kyle’s dad’s new girlfriend.

I know this, because Kyle himself told me…

“No…way,” I manage to utter. Kyle scrambles for his pants, and Clarice snatches a towel from the rack to cover herself.

“It’s not what it looks like!” Clarice blurts out.

My cheeks flame hot from secondhand embarrassment. “Oh, sure it isn’t.”

Kyle struggles with his belt buckle. I’ve never seen him so uncomfortable before. He looks like a kid who just got caught taking extra candy at Halloween.

I shouldn’t care. This guy means nothing to me.

But still. Something about walking in on him cheating on me this brazenly really stings. He’s so arrogant he thinks the world belongs to him—along with his father’s girlfriend.

“Is nothing in this world sacred to you?” I blurt out before grabbing a roll of toilet paper and hurling it at him. He ducks, and it hits Clarice right in the nose. I hear her shouting at me as I stride for the front door.

A hand tightens around my arm, and I’m tugged around to find myself staring into Kyle’s face. He looks pissed, as if I’m the one who did something wrong here.

“This is your fault!” His voice grates my bones like nails on a chalkboard.

That does it. An anger I never even knew I had in me comes shooting out like a cannonball.

“My fault!?” I snap back. “How is you having sex with your dad’s girlfriend my fault?”

“Well, if you would have actually put out, then I wouldn’t have had to fuck Clarice!”

His words actually stun me. It’s like I’ve been hit by a taser. My jaw drops, and I stare at him for at least ten seconds, unmoving. When I finally come around, my voice sounds like an angry alien from a Marvel movie.

“No way you just said that…”

Kyle scoffs with some newfound confidence. “You’re damn right I did.”

Clarice steps up behind him, now wearing some sweatpants and a T-shirt, and hangs off his shoulder. She whispers something I can’t hear, and he smiles.

“I am leaving.” I start to turn away but quickly turn back. “Oh, and the wedding? It’s off.”

Kyle grabs my arm again and pulls me back, only this time, his grip is so tight it feels like his fingers are piercing my flesh. I cry out as he yanks me roughly back to him. I raise my arms to slap him, but before I can, a voice cracks like thunder behind me.

“Get your hands off her!”

The whole world freezes, especially Kyle and Clarice, who look past me like they’ve just seen God.

Slowly, I turn and find myself staring at a man so stunningly handsome I’m having a hard time believing he’s real. I’ve never seen him before—not in person at least—but I know who he is.

Robert Reed… Kyle’s father.

His eyes are dripping with fierce anger and disappointment as he stares at his son. But when they move to me, a softness appears, and a sense of protection sweeps over me.

“Dad, I—” Kyle starts to speak, but Robert cuts him off.

“Just when I think you couldn’t sink any lower.” Shaking his head, he turns his eyes to Clarice. “And you. Don’t even think about calling me again.”

His hand finds mine, and a warm, melting sensation spreads through my middle. Tiny pin pricks spread over my arms as he leads me out the front door.

What is this sensation? I’ve never felt anything like it before.

Is this what…lusting after someone feels like?

This is the first time I’ve set eyes on this man, the first time we’ve touched or even been in the same vicinity as each other. Yet I already feel so comfortable. Like I know him already. It’s like a gravitational force is pulling us together.

“Robert, wait!” Clarice calls after us, but he completely ignores her. All his attention is on me as he leads me out to a shiny red Porsche parked out front. He opens the door and like a rugged gentleman, helps me into the passenger seat.

I take a deep breath. Everything smells brand new. Fresh.

My lips don’t work as Robert gets in beside me. My tongue feels like a piece of boiled chicken in my mouth.

He looks like Superman. Strong cheeks, chiseled jaw, brown hair swept back with a haircut that probably cost a thousand dollars. He’s wearing a pair of linen pants and a white button-up that’s bursting open at the collar, showing off a massive muscular chest beneath.

It’s a good thing I never saw him before. I would have fainted.

The engine revs, and the car lurches forward, leaving the house behind. I glance in the rearview, watching it grow smaller and smaller, then look at him. “Where are we going?”

“Away from here,” he replies firmly, placing a comforting hand on my thigh. “You don’t need to be around people like that.”

No. But I wouldn’t mind being around you.

THE END

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