by Jamie Magee
“No, Collin has a point,” Silvia said, “Collin, go ahead, dear.”
“A point? So this is not a toast, but a speech,” Garrison said, putting his glass down and leaning back on the table just behind him. He nodded to the wait staff at the side door. When the door opened, the wind was knocked out of Harley.
Wyatt was standing there in a suit that seemed to reach out and grab all the power he had in his soul, the power he used on the farm, the power he used in his career, the power he had to command Harley’s heart to thunder forward. Looking commanding enough to rule the world, the confident glint in his eye underlined the dominance he was emanating.
She could not see anyone or anything past him, but she was sure that Memphis and Easton were standing off to the side outside those doors.
What is he doing here? Oh my God, he knows what they think Collin was going to ask. Why does he not look mad? Those were the thoughts racing through her mind.
“I was told there was someone else who had a speech or a point to make,” Garrison said. “In fact, this young man, in his own way, told me seven years ago that he would need this time right now.”
Conrad was chuckling as he shook his head. His wife Sylvia looked infuriated, but the look on Claire Tatum’s face was priceless, somewhere between rage and surprise, as her classic fake smile disintegrated.
Wyatt stepped forward, holding Harley’s gaze, doing everything in his power to keep her there with him, hoping against all hope that she could see that no one in this room mattered but them, that he had fought for her and won, that this was the end. The ending they dreamed of.
“Can we have a moment?” Claire said to the room. Garrison held his hand out, telling everyone to stay.
“I want to introduce Mr. Doran to my closest friends.” He raised his chin in Wyatt’s direction. “All of you in this room know of this young man; if not of him, his family. This is Rose Ellington’s oldest grandson.”
Everyone in the room seemed to gasp or ah in some way. Stares filled with instant honor and respect were aimed at Wyatt.
“All of you know I have oil in my blood, deep southern blood. The kind that makes men. The kind that gives you the power not only to take what is yours, but protect what is yours.” He stood from his lean. “Mr. Doran comes from the same roots I had - well, minus the oil,” Garrison said with a grin. “Nevertheless, the same drive, fearlessness. A boldness that puts the world at its knees in awe. Mr. Doran comes from a southern legacy that only grows stronger with each generation. His family equestrian estate has hosted some of the most prestigious international guests the world has known. They are the masters of the sport of kings.
“Their reputation, along with my mother’s longstanding respect and honor for the Ellingtons, who became Dorans, is why I eagerly asked for my daughter to be schooled by them. I knew they could bring out that fire, passion, in my daughter. And they did.
“This old man and his horrid health took my daughter away from her passion, away from the Dorans, but earlier this year life brought my daughter and Wyatt Doran together once more.” Garrison chuckled. “Look at me, so damn old that I ramble. I’m getting ahead of myself. Wyatt, you did have something to say, or did you not?”
Wyatt had not let his stare leave Harley’s. He didn’t hear a word Garrison said beyond his name and asking him to speak. The world stopped for him right then, and a shy smile dangled on his lips.
“Harley, there is no amount of time or space that could ever make me feel apart from you. You are the life that breathes into me.” He stepped forward, holding her gaze. “You told me once that in life all you wanted was to ‘be.’ You wanted to exist in a world surrounded by everything that excites you, pushes you, and drives you. You wanted endless passion, a love so deep that your only fear was losing it…I want to give you all of that and more.”
He stepped forward again and carefully fell to one knee.
Harley’s heart was thundering. Logic told her to gauge her father’s expression, to understand if he knew this was coming. Logic was telling her that she should notice that ice cold stare of her mother, or even glance to Collin to gauge his expression. But logic didn’t exist in Harley anymore.
She felt like she was going to faint; every hope she could have had for her life rained down on her all at once.
“Harley, will you be mine forever?” Wyatt said as he spun a silver band on his finger, flashing the three-carat canary diamond.
Claire Tatum gasped. When she looked at her husband, she found a smug grin, a glint of satisfaction in his stare. What kept her silent, what left her speechless was the fact that she knew it was not malice satisfaction; he was truly happy for their daughter.
“I always have been,” Harley said, not even looking at the ring, still holding Wyatt’s ice blue gaze. That instant, he was on his feet, pulling her to his lips. He heard the room clap, heard the clanking of glasses, but he deepened that kiss, kissed her like it would be the last time he’d ever touch her.
If there was anything the hell of being away from Harley had taught him, it was that you do not wait to show someone how much you love them, you do not assume they know; you tell them every day, in every way. You fight with all that you are for them.
“As I was saying,” Garrison said over the clatter. “Life brought my greatest accomplishment back to the legacy of the Doran Estate. Yesterday, I had the pleasure of having dinner with Mr. Doran, and he asked for my daughter’s hand, a request that I was eager to grant.”
Wyatt had slowly ended that kiss, and his eyes lingered in Harley’s for a moment before looking to Garrison, to Claire Tatum.
“I was eager to announce this at this party, eager enough to tell Conrad, and then we understood we had a small issue.”
“I’ll say,” Silva Grant said coolly, doing her best to look calm under all the glances of the room. The Tatums had just humiliated her son, and all she could feel was rage.
Conrad let out a slow smile as he caught Collin’s stare. “Son, in all that glorious grooming your mother put you through, did they not teach you that it is rude to leave your date unattended for more than a moment?”
Collin glanced to Harley to see that she was just as lost, even gauged how Wyatt had pulled her a little closer, not sure what game was unfolding.
The side doors opened again, and there stood Quinn. Even though her gown was elegant and she was simply ravishing, everyone’s stare in the room seemed to fall to her hand.
Collin let a relaxed smile spread across his face and began to speak. “I would like to introduce everyone to the future Mrs. Collin Grant. Quinn Moran.” Collin walked right up to Quinn and landed a soft kiss on her lips, then smiled that classically trained grin and aimed it and his wit at the room. “Clearly, Mr. Doran is the romantic in the room. Me? I proposed at sunset from my balcony, overlooking the city.”
“Your kingdom,” said someone in the room, causing a roar of laughs. Endless congratulations came from every direction at that point.
Gradually, those in the room started to make their way to the party that was blossoming outside, each eager to spread the dramatic, unexpected news of the toast that had just occurred.
Wyatt had never let go of Harley, no matter how many hands he shook. He even made it a point to try and keep himself between him and her mother.
Moments later, after the Grants had moved to one side of the study to meet Quinn, Claire Tatum moved closer to Wyatt and Harley.
She only stared for a second before she spoke. “The Ellingtons. No one thought to tell me of that connection.”
“And why would I do that?” Garrison said from her side. “If I did that, dear, you would continue to see a name and not what lies behind the name. Wyatt and Harley would not have understood that time and circumstance are nothing but trivial matters when it comes to obtaining a dream that you have, in their case a love affair.”
“I only want the best for our daughter. You know that, right, Harley?” Claire said as her gaze met hers. Someh
ow, this proposal had shifted power, Harley could swear she saw some fear in her mothers eyes. It was because she knew how much power Garrison had just handed over to Wyatt; Garrison had given him his legacy and everything that was attached to that name.
“No, I don’t,” Harley said evenly, not expressing a single emotion, just the way her mother had raised her. “If you wanted what was best for me, you would have asked what made me happy; instead, we both failed. I tried to make you happy, be who you wanted me to be. That did nothing but make me miserable. I’m not living like that anymore. Mother, you owe the Dorans an apology for the harsh things you said years ago, and if you give a damn about me, then you’ll give that apology and be at my wedding, one that I will plan to my liking, one that represents us.”
Claire Tatum sucked in a deep breath. Fury was in her eyes now, a cold fury, but she smiled. “Of course. Whether you care to have it or not, you have my blessing, Wyatt.” And with that, she plastered her fake smile, moved past Harley and Wyatt, and started saying things like “Thank you, we could not be happier” to everyone who congratulated her.
Garrison didn’t even bother to acknowledge how shallow his wife’s words sounded. Instead, he said, “Tell that Armstrong boy to come on in. Ballantine, too. This party would be a bore without them.”
Wyatt nodded in the direction of Memphis and Easton. A bit nervously, they came in, but they seemed at ease as Conrad and others started to talk to them.
“I’m guessing you said yes?” Easton said as he reached to hug Harley. He leaned away. “Which means I have to wear a suit again.”
“And dance with me, but I’m good with jeans,” Harley said, pulling Wyatt closer.
“You think Mrs. Camille would be?” Easton said, raising his brow, then shaking his head as he walked away and began to inspect one of the trays of food.
Wyatt and Harley stood side by side and met every one of the people Garrison thought were important enough to meet Wyatt Doran. They sat through the toasts in the main party, every ounce of it, barely finding a moment to say a word to each other, but their gazes, the way they held each other said it all.
Just as Harley wished her father a goodnight, as he told the others to enjoy the party, Harley pulled Wyatt out the side door. She lost her heels before she ever left the patio.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m taking you to my slice of heaven.”
And she did. She pulled him to the stables her father had built for her, the stables that matched the Doran main barn to perfection. She pulled him all the way upstairs to the hay loft and fell with him on the loose straw.
Not caring about any suit he was in, he went to the floor with her, kissing her with raw reverence.
“Did you plan this?” she whispered.
“This,” he said as his hand slid up her thigh. “I’d be a liar if I said no.”
She laughed aloud. “Were you coming here to do this all the while? Did I worry for no reason?”
“I never want you to worry, Harley. If you find a reason to worry about anything, you share that fear with me.” He reached to caress her face. “I didn’t plan it. I just wanted to tell your father that I loved you, that I was always going to take care of you…this came along with that….”
She raised her ring finger. “Do you have any idea how special this ring is to my family?”
“No. Didn’t mean a damn thing to me until you said yes. Now...now it’s priceless.”
She giggled as she felt his hands feather up her sides.
“Your mother is going to freak.”
“She doesn’t know how to do that, but she’s very happy for us.”
“You told her?”
“Last night, after dinner with your father.”
Harley’s eyes went wide as she realized why Collin had never gotten to her father, last night or today; he’d been with Wyatt.
“Clever old man, your father. He has a way with words; never know what he’s going to say.”
Harley held his gaze to say she agreed.
“You’re my world, Harley, my kingdom, my life. I will love you for all of time.”
She reached her hand to his face. “Wyatt…I loved you from my first breath…life came the moment I saw you.”
All at once, their lips connected in a powerful fever of flesh that carried just as much passion as it did love.
Hell was behind them, heaven before them. And no matter what, no matter how hard life ever became, they knew they could withstand it; side by side, they could withstand anything.
Impulsion, as a whole, is the prequel to the lives of the men in Station 32, where we have a chance to meet a few of them as young men.
Friction is the next novel in the Station 32 set. The Release date is April 27th, 2015
For more information or preorder links please visit authorjamiemagee.com
Where To Find Jamie Online:
http://authorjamiemagee.blogspot.com
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Other Books by Jamie Magee
“Web of Hearts and Souls”
Insight (Book 1)
Embody (Book 2)
Image (Book 3)
Vital (Book 4)
Vindicate (Book 5)
Enflame (Book 6)
Blakeshire
See (Book 1)
Witness (Book 2)
Synergy (Book 3)
Redefined (Book 4)
Rivulet (Book 1)
Imperial (Book 1)
I am still eternally grateful for every soul that encouraged me to write/ publish my debut novel Insight.... thank you once again.
I also want to thank my husband, Lem, for listening to my random thoughts and ideas as each of these stories came to life, he is not only the love of my life but the man who keeps me sane on this insane adventure. I want thank my children who inspire me to become more than I am today with a simple glance, and the echo of laughter and joy that surrounds me constantly.
I want to thank all of my wonderful beta readers: Sabrina Wells, Alysia Kurtz, Jamie Love, Jennylynne D’Andrea, Michelle Dain, and Steffini Walker, and Jan Galloway.
GWE along with Todd Barselow for editing my daydreams.
Most of all I want to thank every-single reader for sharing this adventure with me! I love you all and I am eternally grateful for your time and support :)!
About the Author
Jamie Magee has always believed that each of us have a defining gift that sets us apart from the rest of the world, she has always envied those who have known from their first breath what their gift was. Not knowing hers, she began a career in the fast paced world of business. Raising a young family, and competing to rise higher in that field would drive some to the point of insanity, but she always found a moment of escape in a passing daydream. Her imagination would take her to places she’d never been, introduce her to people she’s never known. Insight, her debuting novel, is a result of that powerful imagination. Today, she is grateful that not knowing what defined her, led her on a path of discovery that would always be a part of her.
The fun Bio: I’m an obsessive daydreamer. Lover of loud alternative music. Addicted to Red Bull. I love to laugh until it hurts. Fall is my favorite season. Black is my favorite ‘shade.’ Strong believer in the saying: there is a reason for everything, therefore I search for ‘marked moments’ every moment of everyday...and I find them. Life is beautiful!