Unexpected Bond: Unexpected Arrivals #4

by Kaylee Ryan

  “I’m not changing it. I’m painting the walls so Finley will feel more at home here.”

  “So, you popping the question or what?”

  “Not yet. At least not the marriage question. I am going to ask them to move in here. We’re either at her place or mine. No point in her paying rent when I have more than enough space for all three of us here. We just re-did Finny’s room, and I know she’s going to counter with that. Finny loves her room. So I’m going to create it here too. Not to mention, the bedrooms here are much larger than Mark’s rental.”

  “Where is your woman today? What does she think you’re doing?”

  “I told her you were coming over and we were going to hang out. She’s with Kendall, Reagan, Dawn, and Amelia. They’re all having a girls’ day/play date for the kids over at Mark’s.”

  “Are those jokers coming to help us?” he asks.

  “Yep. They’ll be here soon.”

  “All right, boss, put me to work.”

  That’s what we do. Between the two of us, we have the room taped off and ready for paint when Ridge, Tyler, and Mark show up. Within an hour, the five of us have the room painted.

  “What else is on the list?” Tyler asks.

  “Pizza and beer. Thanks for your help,” I tell them as the doorbell rings. “That would be our pizza.” Rushing to the front door, I pay the delivery guy and compensate him with a generous tip. Seriously, pizza delivery is the best invention ever.

  “Going all-in, huh?” Ridge asks after our appetites are satisfied and the six-pack of beer is all but demolished.

  “Is there any other way?”

  “Nope,” Mark says. “Happy for you, brother.”

  “It’s different, you know? Caring so much about them that I wonder how their days are going. I find myself texting at random times just so she knows I’m thinking about her. I’ve watched the three of you and knew it was different. I could see it change you, but I never really understood it until Mara.”

  “You just hadn’t found the one,” Tyler comments.

  “Find them! Hell, they seem to fall in y’all’s lap,” Kent chimes in.

  “Your day’s coming,” I tell him.

  “Nah. I think I missed that train. It left the station without me on it.”

  “I thought I was going to a barbecue with family. Then I walked around the side of the house and there she was. You never know when it’s going to happen.”

  “So when are you asking her?” Kent asks, clearly changing the subject.

  “Tomorrow probably. My parents are taking Finley to the aquarium, so we have the day to ourselves.”

  “Good luck, man.” Mark slaps me on the back. “It’s not always easy, but once you get there, to where you’re both on the same page, nothing’s better.”

  “That’s the plan.”

  “Hey, sweet girl,” Ridge says, drawing our attention. “Okay. We’re heading out too. You need me to bring anything home?” He waits for her answer. “Sounds good. Drive safe. I love you.” He hangs up and stands. “Kendall’s on her way home. The kids are all worn out so your women are headed home too.”

  “I’m out,” Kent says, standing. Mark and Tyler do the same.

  “Thanks, guys. I never could have gotten this done while they were gone without your help.” They wave off my thanks and make their way to the door. Kent is pulling out, the last one to leave just as Mara’s Pathfinder pulls into the driveway.

  “Hey,” I say, racing down the steps to greet them.

  “Hi. I hope it’s okay that we stopped by. Finley was asking for you.”

  “Just Finley?” I ask, leaning in and pressing my lips to hers.

  “We missed you.” She shrugs.

  “Go on inside. I’ll grab our girl.” I walk to the passenger side and open the back door. Finley gives me a sweet smile and holds her arms out. I don’t care what else is going on in life, a smile from this little girl will always light up my world. “Hey, sweetheart. Did you have fun today?”

  “I pwayed.”

  “You did? That sounds like so much fun.”

  “I see fishes?” she asks.

  I chuckle. Mara was right; we never should have told her until the day of our visit. “Yes, tomorrow you’re going to the aquarium. You’re going to see lots of fish.” I bounce her on my hip all the way to the house. She’s giggling when I set her on her feet.

  “Have you been painting?” Mara asks.

  Damn. I was so excited to see them, I forgot all about the evidence of my surprise. “Yeah, want to see?” Might as well go for it. Maybe it will help if Finley sees her room and is on my side.

  “Finley, let’s go see what I’ve been painting.” She hops off the couch where she was settled in and more than likely ready to crash after her eventful day. She reaches me and slides her tiny hand in mine. Bending down, I scoop her up in my arms and hold my hand out for Mara to take. Together, the three of us walk down the hall and stop at the spare bedroom. “Go on in,” I tell Mara, following her.

  “Seth.” She gasps as she stands in the center of the room and turns a full circle.

  “Mine,” Finley says, taking in the room that looks just like hers.

  “That’s right, sweetheart. This is your room.”

  “Seth?”

  “I want you both to feel at home here.” She continues to stare at me with a confused look, so I push forward. “We’re never at my place or yours without the other. I own this place free and clear. I bought it when it was worn down, and I rehabbed it with the guys’ help. There is no point in you paying Mark rent when you and Finny can stay here.”

  “What are you saying?” she asks, her voice wobbly.

  “I’m saying I want you to move in with me. I know Finny loves her room, and I thought maybe making it the same would ease the transition.”

  “Seth, we can’t just move in with you.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because that’s crazy. It’s crazy, right? I mean, it’s been what, two months, that’s— No, we can’t do that.”

  “It’s been two of the best months of my life.” Finley is resting her head on my shoulder; poor thing has had a long day. She snuggles into me as we get closer to Mara. Reaching out, I slide my hand behind Mara’s neck and make sure I have her full attention. “I’m in love with you, Mara. Both of you. I want you here. I want this to be our home. If you hate it, we can find something new. You can change anything you want. I don’t care as long as at the end of the day, we’re all under the same roof. Permanently.”

  Her eyes well with tears. “Seth— I….” She stops and swallows back her emotions.

  “I’m going to love you no matter what your answer is. Take some time to think about it.” Leaning down, I place a kiss on her forehead, then drop my hand to my side. “How about a movie, Finny?” I ask. She’s going to be asleep in minutes. “Take all the time you need.” I turn and walk out of the room.

  In the living room, I grab the remote and pull up Netflix to find a movie for Finley. As I suspected, she’s sound asleep within ten minutes. I settle her on the chaise longue section of the couch, prop some pillows around her, and cover her with a blanket before going to find Mara. I find her sitting in the middle of the bedroom that I painted for Finley.

  “Are you doing this so I’ll sleep with you?” she asks, sensing my presence.

  “What?” I take a step further into the room.

  “How do you know you love me? We’ve never even had sex.”

  “Mara.” I want to laugh at how ridiculous that sounds, but I can see she’s 100 percent serious. I take a seat next to her on the floor. “I love you. Not because of what I think those three words will give me, but what you give me. I miss you as soon as you walk out the door. I think about you and that little girl in there twenty-four hours a day. I think about a future with you. More babies. Finley on Christmas morning. I could go on for days. The heart of that matter is just that. My heart. There is a huge tattoo across it that reads Mara and Fi
nley.” I stop and collect my thoughts as her eyes well with tears. I keep going. “We haven’t slept together, but that’s okay. I know what you mean to me, and when we do add sex to that, it’s going to increase tenfold. I love you both for the happiness you bring to my life. I want you here. I want us to start our life together.”

  “We hardly know each other,” she counters.

  There is only one thing she doesn’t know about me, and now might not be the best time to bring it up, but I’ve been putting it off and I need to tell her. I can’t let her decide to move in here without her knowing. “There is only one thing in my past that I’ve never told you.” Her worried eyes find mine. “Something happened. I don’t even remember it, but it happened all the same. I’ve avoided telling you because I didn’t want to lose you. However, I can’t let you move in here without knowing everything.”

  “Tell me.”

  “I’m going to tell you, but you have to promise me you’ll stay. That we’ll talk about it.”

  “I’ll stay,” she agrees, although hesitantly.

  “I remember the day I first laid eyes on you. You were sitting on the deck, Finley was in your lap and you were laughing at something one of the girls had said. I remember that it felt as though the air had been knocked out of my lungs. You were beautiful, the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen.” I take a breath and begin again. “I pulled Ridge aside to ask who you were. ‘Amelia’s friend,’ he said. ‘She’s here for a job interview.’ He didn’t tell me that it was for Beckett Construction.

  “I watched you that day. The way you were with Finley, the way your hair would blow in the breeze. I memorized as much of you as I could. I remember we made small talk about the weather, and I fought to memorize every word of our conversation. The sound of your voice, all of it. I wanted you then. However, you were a single mom and I know what that means. I know that it’s not just your heart on the line, but that little girl’s as well. So, regardless of how bad I wanted you, I kept things friendly. I went to bed that night with my cock in my hand and memories of you. I woke up the next day still thinking about you.”

  “I thought about you too. I remember wanting to run my fingers through your hair.” She reaches out and does just that.

  Grabbing her hand, I pull it to my lips and kiss her palm before gripping it in mine. “I thought maybe it was a fluke, but then it happened every day for the next two weeks. You were all I could think about. So I managed to steal your number from Amelia’s phone and sent you a bullshit text asking how the job interview went. It’s not that I wasn’t interested. I was hoping you would get the job, so I could see you again. I took a chance, and over the next few months, your messages were what I looked forward to. I didn’t go out. I didn’t look for anyone else because I knew it was you.”

  “I looked forward to those messages.” She smiles softly. “And the few times we actually talked, I would hear your deep voice for days after.”

  “I wanted you. I knew that for certain. Mark and Dawn were in the middle of gaining custody of Daisy, and I gave him this big lecture on the importance of knowing what he was getting into dating a single mom. I was projecting, but in a way, it helped me see that you being a single mom wasn’t a burden; it’s a gift. Finny is an extension of you, and that little girl—” I tap my hand over my chest. “—she’s right here next to you. I wanted to be certain this was what I wanted. I didn’t want to come into your lives only to turn around and leave. Then I found out you were moving here. That first day, I knew there was no going back. I knew you and Finley were my future.”

  “Is that so bad?”

  “No. It’s not bad, but what comes next is.” I take a deep breath and just go for it. “New Year’s Eve, Mark and Dawn had a get-together. It was just us, the family. I was torn up because I wanted you, but you lived so far away. I had all kinds of things running through my head. I was still pissed you didn’t get the job that would have brought you closer to me. At the time, I still didn’t know it was Ridge who was hiring you. If I would have known, I would have given him shit for it. Anyway, I was pissed that you didn’t get the job. I was considering leaving Beckett Construction and finding a job near you, to see if we could make it work. My head was all over the place, and I know that sounds crazy because you had no idea. I never told you that I had fallen for you.”

  “Seth.” Her eyes soften.

  “Anyway, the kids were all with the grandparents so the adults could kick back. I watched my friends with their wives, and the more I watched them, the more I drank. I was jealous of what they had. I wanted that… with you. I drank until I couldn’t remember.”

  “That’s not so bad.”

  “That’s not all.” I take a deep breath, keep my grip on her hand, and force myself to continue. “We all stayed there. There was more than enough space, and we had a couple of air mattresses. Anyway, I woke up in the basement in the bedroom on an air mattress.” I pause, fighting off the urge to be sick as I put the nail in my coffin. “With Amelia.”

  “With Amelia?” she repeats. I nod, giving her time to let my words sink in. “Oh my god.” She tries to pull her hand from mine, but I hold strong.

  “Neither one of us remembers what happened. We were naked, and the uh, the condom was there.”

  “You slept with my best friend?” she murmurs.

  “She’s one of my best friends too, and it didn’t mean anything. Hell, we don’t even remember it happening. It’s not like that between us. Kent said we were both out-of-our-minds wasted. We ended up in the downstairs bedroom and crashed. None of them know what happened because it was a mistake. One she and I both regret.” I hold tight to her hand, letting her process my words.

  She’s quiet, too quiet as a single tear trails down her cheek. “I have to go. I need to process this.”

  “No, you said you wouldn’t go. We have to talk about this.”

  “Damn it, Seth. I just… I need a minute.”

  “Finny’s sleeping,” I say in an attempt to keep her here.

  “Can you keep an eye on her for me? I just need to go. I’ll be back, I promise. I— Please, Seth. I just need some air.”

  “I don’t think you should be driving when you’re upset.”

  She wipes at her cheeks. “I’m okay to drive. Trust me. I would never do anything that would leave my daughter alone in this world. I never want her to feel what I did growing up.”

  “Okay.” What else can I say? “I’ll watch her. Take all the time you need, just… come home to me.”

  “I’ll be back. I just want to take a drive and clear my head. I need to process all of this.” She pulls her hand from my grip, and this time, I let her. She stands and I follow her down the hall and to the living room. She peeks in on Finley and then grabs her purse, coat, and phone before sliding her feet into her boots.

  “I love you, Mara. Please be safe. Check in with me, okay?” Fuck me, I don’t want her to leave, but she’s leaving Finny with me. That’s a good sign. At least I hope so. Regardless, she’ll have to come back for her.

  “I’ll be back.” She turns and walks out the door. It’s not a declaration of love, but I’ll take it. She could be running away with Finley.

  Through the window, I watch until I can no longer see her car. Making my way to the living room, I settle on the couch and watch Finley sleep. I love this little girl as if she were my own. I can’t imagine my life without Mara or Finley in it. I’ll fight for them. Every day of forever I’ll fight for them. After all, they’re my heart.

  Chapter Ten

  Mara 10

  * * *

  He slept with my best friend. The man I love, the one who treats my daughter as if she were his own, the man who just asked me to move in with him. He slept with my only friend. I’ve been driving around for almost an hour, and I still can’t seem to wrap my head around this new information.

  My phone vibrates from its spot in the cupholder. I assume it’s Seth, but a quick glance at the screen tells me I’m wrong. It
’s Amelia. Taking a deep breath, I swipe at the screen and place the phone to my ear. “Hello.”

  “Mara, we need to talk.”

  “Yeah,” I say, because I know it’s true. I’ve just been in denial and wasting gas.

  “Seth called me. Are you okay?”

  “Fine.”

  “Where are you?”

  “Out driving.”

  “I’ll meet you. Where do you want to go?”

  “My place.”

  “I’ll be there in ten.”

  “I’m about twenty minutes away.”

  “Okay. I’ll stop and grab us a couple of coffees. We’re going to need them.” She ends the call, and I sigh, dropping my phone back into the cupholder and turning around, pointing my car toward home.

  Eighteen minutes later, I’m pulling into my driveway. Amelia is sitting on the front step with a carrier holding two coffees and a small bag next to her. “It’s freezing out here. Why are you not waiting in your car?” I call out as I walk toward her.

  “I’ve only been here for a minute or two. I knew you had to be close. Besides, I like the fresh air.”

  “Get inside before you get sick,” I admonish. She mumbles something I don’t catch and follows me inside. We take off our coats and sit on opposite ends of the couch. Amelia leans forward, grabs a coffee, and hands it to me, taking the other for herself.

  “It meant nothing. If anything, I’m a little disgusted. It’s like sleeping with my brother.” She shudders.

  “I want to believe that, but come on, Amelia. You don’t sleep around.”

  “I drank way too much that night. I remember dancing in the basement, but after that, things go black… until we woke up the next day.”

  “That’s not like you. You never drink that much. What’s going on?”

  “Nothing. Just had some things on my mind lately.”

  “Like sleeping with my boyfriend?” I ask snidely. I know it’s rude, but I can’t help it. She’s hiding something from me, and I can’t help but think that it might be her true feelings about Seth.