THIRTY-SEVEN
SHE’D NEVER FEARED her grandfather and still didn’t. They rolled up the driveway and Baer ducked to look out the side window, taking in the view.
“This place is bigger than our vacation one.” Yep, and it wasn’t split into smaller apartments either. “Does he know we’re coming?”
“No.” Maybe. Sometimes, he just knew things. “He always works from the house on a Sunday.”
The car stopped, and she immediately tugged his arm to get his attention. “Hound, you don’t have to come in with me.”
“I have to come in with you.”
With a hold of her hand, he opened the door and led her out. No, she never feared her grandfather, but since Kinloch, she’d never been with a man so willing to confront him. Most wanted her grandfather’s favor, and going in shouting the odds might not make the best first impression. Except Baer’s potential actions weren’t what preoccupied her.
Truman could say anything, do anything, threaten anything. This would be the real test of Baer’s feelings for her, of whether their relationship could survive.
Inside, she took off her coat to hand it off to the valet while Baer ventured deeper into the foyer, absorbing it all.
He whistled. “This is some… We’ll have to put trackers on the twins, we’ll never find them in here.”
Good. That was good. He was talking about their families merging, that was important… if her grandfather allowed it.
“Do you want to wait here? John can give you a tour or get you something to eat or… there’s a billiards table downstairs. You can play some… Or there’s my bedroom but…”
Might not be a good idea to hole him up in her room when her grandfather could be volatile.
Baer’s focus came back as he did, and he held out a hand to the valet. “John?”
“Yes, sir,” the valet said, looking to her for a smile of permission before he shook Baer’s hand.
“Baer Claymore. You’ll be seeing a lot of me. We’ll teach the kids about loyalty to good staff, so your job’s secure.”
She laughed and took his arm, coiling hers around it. “I doubt he wants to be working here in fifty years.”
“Never know, baby.”
The wide corridors and thick carpets gave the place gravity, like God himself couldn’t shake these foundations. Though, with her grandfather in charge, that was probably true.
They stopped at the closed door to Truman’s office.
“Stay here a minute.”
“Lil’—”
“Just a minute, okay? Let me… if we go in hard, he’ll get defensive, no chance of him being reasonable then.” And they needed at least a glimmer of that. Pushing to her tiptoes, she pulled him down for a quick kiss. “A minute, that’s all.”
“One minute.”
He kissed her again and brows high, backed away a step.
This was her cue; it wasn’t familiar to hold such trepidation. Still, shoulders back, she marched into her grandfather’s office.
Always bold and proud, he was standing behind his broad desk.
“You did it again,” she said, tossing her purse to the chesterfield.
“Gentlemen, excuse me,” Truman said, though there was no one else in the room. “We’ll reconvene later.” He leaned over his chair to press a button on his phone. Right, the phone. “I didn’t expect to see you today; this is a nice surprise. How was your vacation?”
“If you didn’t expect to be seeing me today, you have no idea the severity of what you’ve done.”
He smiled, resting his hands on the back of his chair. “What did I do?”
“What you always do, you interfered in my life. How many times do I have to tell you that I make my own choices? You can’t get involved. This is my life. Mine.”
“I do what I do to protect you.”
“How does paying off my boyfriend’s debts protect me?”
His mouth opened in a silent “ah.” “The gigolo. With his debts paid off, he has no need to pursue you.”
Well, at least the escort thing was a conversation she didn’t have to instigate. “His name is Baer.”
“His real name?” Truman asked with a smile that became mocking. “Or is that his stage name?”
“Why can’t you let me run my own life?”
“You’re far too old for teenage rebellion, and I can’t, for the life of me, decide if this is fright or insanity.”
“Fright? What are you—”
“The right man will come along when it’s appropriate. If you would allow me to introduce—”
“I am not going to marry a man you choose; I’ll marry a man I choose. You can’t butt in and take over—what was it supposed to achieve? Throwing money at him like that? I suppose I should be grateful you didn’t just wrap it in an envelope and mail it to him.”
“A man in his profession likes money, craves money, and I did consider paying him off direct, but it wouldn’t have been wise to give him another avenue to manipulate you. I assume that’s what he did, given his parents’ health issues, he manipulated your sympathies. He has what he wants and no longer needs you. I removed the problem.”
“And you think by doing that, he’ll drop me?”
“He’s made his choice. I don’t see him here, do you?”
That satisfaction was short-lived.
“Look harder,” Baer’s voice rose behind her.
Okay, so that wasn’t a minute… maybe it was a minute, but she didn’t expect him to time it to the second.
Her grandfather immediately hardened in concern. “You brought him to our house?”
Not exactly by choice, but she wouldn’t say that. “We’re together. Regardless of your interference, because we trust each other, we communicate.” She didn’t hear Baer approach but appreciated his hands sliding onto her shoulders. “Baer, this is Truman Dere. Truman, meet Baer Claymore.”
“The man she’s going to marry.”
Okay, so they hadn’t discussed that far, but she wouldn’t object. In fact, the house might make a good venue for—and she was getting ahead of herself. What was with that?
“You’re a tenacious man, but there’s a time to leave the stage,” her grandfather said and turned his chair to sit down and retrieve his checkbook. “Every man has a price.”
“Not this man,” Baer said. “You heard about my job and assumed I was with Freya for the money.”
“You had considerable debt.”
“That didn’t need to be paid by you. Freya and I will make our own way, we don’t need your money.”
“Oh, really?” Truman asked, sinking back in his chair, spine still straight. “He wants you to cede your trust, your security, isolate you from those who—”
“I don’t want to isolate her from anyone. You’re her family, which means you’re mine. And if you’ve done so much digging, you know that’s why I did the work I did, to support my family.” Discernment narrowed her grandfather’s eyes just a fraction. “There’s nothing I wouldn’t do to keep my family safe. I don’t have addictions or dangerous habits; I wasn’t fueling anything that could hurt Freya. I made my money, I paid my bills. I wouldn’t abandon my family, just as I wouldn’t abandon Freya. She’s my everything now.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah, you better get used to this face because it’s gonna be around a lot, ‘specially on birthdays, holidays, and not just mine, you’ll get used to my little brothers’ faces too because my family is now yours.”
“And you’ll expect us to support them—”
“Stop it,” she said. “Listen to what he’s saying. We could storm out of here and tell you to keep your money. It wouldn’t change anything, Baer and I will still be together, tough times or not. You shouldn’t want the people you care about to suffer, like Baer did in supporting his own. He gives his everything to his responsibilities, and all we need from you is acceptance.”
Slowly, her grandfather examined them both. “He’s the first man since Peake to face me direct.”
“I know.”
“You should’ve married Gramercy-Peake.”
“Well, Granddaddy, if I’d done that, I’d be living in some log hut in oblivion with twenty kids and you’d never see me. With Baer, I stay in the city.”
Come on, respond to the tease, he loved her, he had to see what this meant to her.
“Is that your plan?”
“Our plan is to get married,” Baer said before she opened her mouth. “I love her, very deeply, and nothing will shake me from my conviction to be with her for the rest of our lives.”
“You love her?” Oh, and her insides were doing a happy dance. “Yet you go out every night and sell—”
“I’m not selling anything,” Baer said. “I quit.”
Even she didn’t expect that and glanced over her shoulder. “You quit?”
“This morning. I can’t be with anyone else, it’s not possible anymore. It’s us, no one else.” Oh, thank God, and she’d thought she was happy before that admission? “Freya and I are going to be together, Truman. You talk a big game about protecting her, what is it you’re protecting her from? Heartache? Because you have enough dough that my financial troubles mean squat to you. It’s a drop in the ocean, right?” Truman nodded once. “So it’s not about money, and you have no reason to suspect me of being a physical threat to her.”
“Baer—”
“All that’s left is emotional pain,” Baer said, intent on Truman. “You don’t want her heart broken.”
“It’s an honorable purpose.”
“No,” Baer said, surprising them both. “It would be, if you weren’t the cause of it.” That startled her grandfather, not something that happened often. “You love her and you want her to be happy. I’m standing here telling you I will dedicate the rest of my life to that purpose. And if you refuse us your blessing, if you rail against our marriage, what happens to her heart then? You are her family, her history, her future, it’s all wrapped up in you. She worships you.”
“And I her.”
“Then don’t break her heart. She’s picked me and I’m not going anywhere. Freya is warm and kind, she’s open and vulnerable. Those qualities came from somewhere and you raised her. That tells me all I need to know about you as a man. I love her and I know you do too, troubles and celebrations, we’re a part of each other’s lives now. Trust her to choose. Trust her heart.”
Trust her. Would he do that? Would Truman Dere acquiesce for her?
Her grandfather exhaled. “My blessing?” She could only hope. Truman looked at her. “This is your pick?” She nodded. “You’re sure?”
“Roxie likes him.”
Or she would when she got to know him.
“Then I suppose it’s time to meet the rest of the family,” Truman said. Her heart could’ve stopped. “Bring them here, and we’ll see what we can do about that blessing.”
Rushing around the desk, she threw her arms around her grandfather, tears already staining her cheeks. “Thank you.”
“Yes, yes, now if we’re having guests, I’ll need peace to finish here.”
She kissed his cheek and hurried to join Baer who guided her back into the hallway.
“Did you mean that?” she asked as he closed the office door. “What you said about getting married and giving up Squires?”
“I haven’t been with anyone since you.” He slung an arm around her. “Though I may need to pick up a few clients to buy you the kind of ring you deserve.”
Smiling, her hand landed on his stomach. “There’s always the sixty-thousand-dollar check.”
“That should about cover it. Now you said something about a bedroom…”
Together. Families united. Who could have thought bumping into a guy while beating a retreat would lead to pure happiness? Faith… Hope… A lifetime of false starts brought her to that moment, to Baer, and she wouldn’t trade him for anything.
THERE’S MORE TO COME FROM THE ROXIVERSE…
~~~~~~~~~~
Did you love Nothing to Deny?
Then you should read Nothing to Beat (Nothing to…, #13)!
Second Chance (Grumpy/Sunshine, Breckenridge Billionaire Romance)
“You…” he said, separating their lips only to kiss her again. The fog of their need crowded the humidity aided the instinct of their undulating bodies. “Never need a pretense.”
“I know.” The thick locks of his hair warmed her fingers. She pulled him in for another kiss, another, and his hand trailed to her breast. “I need you, Bold.”
The frenzied kissing sped their hearts and their passions.
“So much for not doing this anymore,” he panted with her.
“This isn’t that.”
“Then what is it?”
Thank God he’d asked. “I’m ovulating.”
The motion of their kiss halted. He didn’t pull away, didn’t take his mouth back, he just breathed. Good, yes, Bold, process. He needed a minute, as expected. She’d wait.
Silence couldn’t last forever and eventually he met her eye, taking nothing but his mouth from her.
“You’re ovulating.” She nodded. “And we’re doing this because you want…”
“To have a baby.” He’d know better than to expect her to be anything less than blunt. Raising her head, she kissed him again. “I need you.”
He resisted her next shot at a kiss. “You don’t need me, you need my…” On an exhale, his quick mind brought him up to speed. “You want to have a baby.”
Warning: Contains explicit language and imagery. Suitable only for ages 18 and over.