Dalton, Tymber - Contractual Obligation (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (18 page)

“No, I believe I said something along the lines of ‘fucking asshole,’ but I might have been more polite than that.” He took a pull off his beer. “No one tries to use me to run an endgame around my little girl.” He looked at Doug, tipping the bottle in his direction. “Remember that, son. That’s one of your jobs, to have her back.”

He nodded. “Believe me, sir. I won’t let her or you down.”

Her dad clinked bottles with Doug. “Good man.”

* * * *

By the time the weekend ended and they returned home to Tampa, Doug knew he wanted far more than just a friends-with-benefits relationship with Harper.

He loved her.

He didn’t know exactly when his feelings for her changed, but Saturday night when they lay in bed after making love, he realized the thought of walking away from her after his contract ended ripped holes in his heart.

But did she feel the same way about him?

He’d have to wait and see. He didn’t want to freak her out by admitting it too soon.

It also meant he’d have to put the feelings he still had for Tate on a shelf. He missed him like crazy, would love him forever, but it wouldn’t be fair to Tate to string him along.

If Tate hadn’t found someone else already.

In her sleep, Harper snuggled tightly against him. He pressed a kiss to her forehead as he smiled. He would make her happy. He could make her happy.

Maybe, in some small way, it would atone for breaking Tate’s heart.

Chapter Sixteen

Harper beat Doug to the trunk. She grabbed the casserole dish and wouldn’t turn loose of it.

Truth be told, she was scared witless. She wanted something to hold on to since showing up with a security blanket—or a bottle of Jack Daniel’s in her hand—probably wouldn’t put forth a good first impression on Doug’s family.

He smiled. “You’re not going to let me carry it, are you?”

She vigorously shook her head.

He leaned in and kissed her forehead. She had to fight not to swoon. Dammit, he was so sweet. She only hoped he really felt about her the way she felt about him. There’s no way in hell she’d admit it until she knew for sure. She didn’t want to look like an asshole and get her heart broken, even though the past few weeks with Doug had been perfectly matched teamwork in the boardroom, and fiery, passionate perfection in the bedroom.

They’d even gone shopping three days earlier for a present for his mom. She’d insisted on buying a necklace with a heart-shaped diamond pendant for her. Doug admitted she didn’t have anything that nice, and when he worried about the price, she shushed him. “She deserves to have something nice from her son. She sounds like a wonderful woman. I want to do this.”

She didn’t want to admit she also hoped the gift would make Doug’s mom overlook any issues she might have with their whirlwind romance.

He put both hands on her shoulders and made her look him in the eye. “They’re going to love you, baby. I promise.”

She nearly dropped the casserole dish right there and threw her arms around him. One of the things she loved about him was his ability to accurately read her mood and offer up just the right thing to say or do to put her at ease.

“I’ve never done this before,” she painfully admitted.

“What, go to dinner at someone’s house?”

“Meet someone’s parents.”

He frowned. “Are you serious? But you’ve probably dated…”

She looked down as she shook her head. She felt her body tremble as he gently turned her chin so her gaze met his. “I’m
really
not good at this, Doug,” she softly admitted.

His eyes searched her face. She didn’t know what he was looking for, but she hoped whatever it was, he found the answer he wanted. He leaned in and gently kissed her on the lips. As he did, his hands closed around hers, keeping the casserole dish from dropping to the walk and shattering all over the place. As he lifted his mouth from hers, he pressed his lips to her ear.

“They will love you almost as much as I do.”

She couldn’t feel her feet. She realized he, somehow, now held the baking dish.

She swallowed hard. “What?” she whispered.

“I. Love. You. Harper Wells, I love you. And I’ll sign whatever prenup you want me to just to prove it. I don’t want your money. I only want you.”

She wanted to seriously jump his bones right then and there. “I love you, too,” she managed through trembling lips. No one but her family had ever said that to her.

Then he was looking into her eyes again. Those sweet, deep-brown eyes of his that melted her right to the center of her core.

He smiled. “Let’s go introduce you to the family.”

* * * *

Carl and Sarah Holt were generous and gracious hosts. She was immediately reminded of Gorden and Olivia. Tina and Eileen were also very nice and welcoming, although she couldn’t help but notice a few odd looks Tina gave her brother from time to time.

She blanched when she saw Sarah’s bandaged foot. She realized with some shame that she’d never probed Doug for details about his mom’s illness.

Sarah smiled. “It sucks getting old,” she joked. “I suppose, as everyone keeps telling me, it beats the alternative. The doctors and everyone around here are on me to lose weight, so I’ve started exercising. Dropped ten pounds so far, but it’s hard until that heals.” She pointed to her foot.

“What happened?”

“Diabetes. Fortunately, they only had to take a couple of my toes.”

“You’re lucky, Mom,” Eileen scolded. “What are we supposed to do without you?”

Harper had to fight not to run from the room. She had worked so hard to keep her secret from Doug, and here it was, laid out before her.

I have to tell him
, she realized.
I have to tell him tonight.
Guilt ate at her that she hadn’t revealed it to him sooner, yet she also felt like an idiot for taking great pains to hide it from him. She struggled to not start giggling with relief right then and there. She couldn’t tell him in front of everyone, because it’d be difficult to explain to everyone why she hid it. He would understand, though.

She knew it, even though she felt guilty for holding back that last, miniscule in the grand scheme of things, bit of trust.

Their meal was wonderful. After eating, Doug helped his father get his mother out to the lanai. Harper went into the kitchen to help Tina and Eileen with the dishes. They were talking when she heard a knock on the front door. She couldn’t see what was going on from the kitchen, but she heard Doug’s voice and another man’s voice. Then they disappeared as Doug apparently stepped outside. She heard the front door close.

She was putting away a baking dish in a cabinet when she glanced out the window that looked onto the street. She saw Doug talking with another, familiar-looking man, slightly shorter than him. Blond, probably blue eyes from the light cast to them. She watched as they talked for a moment, then hugged.

Then Harper realized he was the man she’d seen in one of the pictures in Doug’s room.

Tina, who’d stepped behind her, gasped before she whispered, “Oh, no.”

The other man reached up to his face and brushed his hands across his eyes.
He’s crying.
“Who is he?” Harper asked.

Her expression turned sad. “That’s Tate Gillis. Doug’s ex-boyfriend.”

Shock churned her gut. “What?”

“Doug’s ex. He’s bi.” She looked puzzled. “Didn’t he tell you? He broke up with him when he took the job. They were together for a couple of years. We all figured they’d settle down together. Doug told us he didn’t want to put Tate through the crazy schedule he’d have to work.” She sighed as she glanced out the window. “He was a real sweetie.” Then she seemed to remember who she was talking to. “Sorry. I didn’t mean it to sound like that. Tate got a promotion right after Doug got the job with you. He said he didn’t want to take Tate from that. They parted friends.”

Harper thought fast through the sudden flurry of emotions racing through her. “Oh, oh yeah. Right. Tate. Sorry, I…just couldn’t place the name at first.”

Tina turned back to the sink. Doug returned inside, but Tate sat in his car parked on the street, not moving, his head resting on the steering wheel.

Tina and Eileen walked out to the dining room to get more dirty dishes. Before she realized she was doing it, Harper quietly slipped out the side door and raced around to the front yard. She must have startled Tate, because he jumped when she tapped on his window.

He sat up and rolled the window down. Before he could speak, she took a business card from her pocket and pressed it into his hand. “Tomorrow, four o’clock, this address. Ask the receptionist for me, she’ll bring you to my office. You and I
really
need to talk about Doug. Please.”

Her heart racing, she didn’t give him time to refuse. She ran back to the house and made it into the kitchen before Tina and Eileen returned with another load of dishes and cutlery. When she glanced through the front window again, she saw Tate had driven away.

Already, her mind had formed a plan. She needed to get Doug out of town, and fast. This was too much for her to handle at once. Anger and guilt warred within her. He’d told her he was single. He’d damn sure never mentioned Tate.

Had he broken up with Tate out of greed, or sacrificed the love of his life to save his parents’ home?

Then again, he wasn’t the only one with secrets, although in retrospect hers now pinged a lot lower on the guilt scale than his.

* * * *

Doug felt like he’d been sucker punched. He’d never expected Tate to show up.

He also didn’t expect the surge of emotions he felt upon seeing Tate. He wanted to pull him into his arms, kiss his tears away, and confess everything, even though he knew doing so would jeopardize everything he’d sacrificed so much for.

Not to mention he really had fallen in love with Harper. There was something so vulnerable about her buried deep behind the stone-and-iron façade she showed the world.

Then there was the pain in Tate’s eyes when Doug had opened the door and seen him standing there.

The feel of Tate’s arms around him as they hugged by the car.

“I wish I could tell you everything,” Doug had whispered, coming as close to breaking his agreement as he could, “but I can’t right now. I couldn’t let Mom and Dad lose their house. I’m so sorry I hurt you, but I had to do this for them.”

“Can we meet later and talk?” Tate had asked.

“I can’t. I’m sorry. I don’t blame you for hating me.”

“I don’t hate you,” Tate softly said. “I love you. I’ll always love you. I just wish you could confide in me.”

Doug had wanted to walk away from the house, his parents, and even Harper. Just climb in Tate’s car and leave with him. Instead, he stepped out of Tate’s embrace. “I’ll always love you, too. I’m under a nondisclosure clause for a year. If I talk, I will lose my job and my parents will lose their house.”

Tate wiped his eyes. “I wish I could say I understand, but I don’t.”

Doug had returned to the house and forced himself not to stare out the front window. He walked out to the lanai, praying Tate would just leave, praying he didn’t knock again and force him to make a choice between the love of his life and the woman he realized he might possibly have a future with.

He hated himself. He had to be the most selfish bastard on the face of the planet.