by C. M. Owens
Shit. I really don’t need to be thinking about pink lacy underwear on her right now. My balls ache enough as it is, and my dick is growing just because I can see the top swells of her tits.
“You’re looking,” she hisses, slapping me on the arm while I laugh and turn my eyes back to the road.
She drops the shirt into place, and I grin, silently letting her know my peripheral works just fine.
“Ass,” she mumbles, but she can’t help but smile.
My shirt swallows her, but she looks comfortable and at ease in it. Not to mention, much too sexy.
“Your shirt smells good,” she says when I catch her inhaling against the collar.
She can’t say shit like that. It makes me want to push her down and pick up right where her dream left off. I’m dying to know what she was dreaming.
Before I know it, we’ve reached Uncle Paul’s, and my fucking dick is hard again. I really don’t need this to be happening right now.
Allie’s jaw drops when we roll up to the massive gates that lead to the ungodly Colton Estate. If she’s impressed with this place, then she’s going to love the house we’re going to tonight—even though I’ve soured the memories of it with my stupid fucking wedding. Maybe having Angel there will help me enjoy that home again.
“This is seriously where Kade and Raya live?” she asks in a rasp whisper.
“No,” I say, chuckling. “This is where Kade’s dad lives. Kade won’t own anything this flashy, but Kade and Raya are staying with them while they’re in town because his mom is planning their wedding. Her mother is planning the food portion, because she’s not really into the whole wedding scene.”
“Ah. Okay. So… Wow.”
Laughing, I pull through the gate once the man opens it, and we head toward the front, parking beside one of the elaborate fountains.
She sits still in her seat, acting as though she’s too scared to get out, and I make my way to her door to open it.
“Uh-uh,” she says while shaking her head. “I’m not going in there wearing your shirt while my hair is wet and destroyed.”
She looks sexy as hell in my opinion.
“If you don’t come in, they’ll come out and get you. Come on. No one is going to care what you’re wearing.”
She glares at me, looking pretty damn cute, and climbs out of the car. Her eyes go up the tall home, taking in the intricate designs all over the structure. It’s meant for royalty. Of course, in Sterling Shore, Paul Colton is royalty.
“He work from home, too?” she asks dryly, and I can’t help but laugh.
I wait until we’re inside, ushered in by Henry—the newest butler—before answering her.
“Nah. He owns Colton Fashion.”
She tries to plant her feet in the ground, but I tug her hand in mine, forcing her to move or lose her arm.
“You can’t seriously mean that Colton,” she hisses while stumbling, following me against her will when I keep tugging. “I can’t be here looking like this in front of a fashion god. It’s—”
“Wren,” Uncle Paul says, grinning when he sees the struggling girl at my side, “I thought you were here. And I take it you abducted someone?”
Allie stops struggling while her cheeks beam a glowing red. “This is Allie Thrash. Angel’s mom.”
Allie tries smoothing her wet hair into place, and Uncle Paul grins while closing the distance between them and extending his hand toward her.
“I take it you’ve been to see Rye and Brin already?” he muses, which earns a grin from Allie as she quickly shakes his hand and releases it.
“Yeah. Got sucked in.”
He laughs while nodding. “We drove by earlier while they were filling up water balloons on either side of the house. Margaret decided we’d keep driving instead of stopping.”
“Wise,” Allie says under her breath.
“They’re definitely entertaining. We were going over there to talk to Rye and thank him for getting his father out of the house more. I’ve always respected Rygan, but he got a bad hand. Rygan came over earlier to talk to me, which is good. He’s coming to the Christmas party this weekend because Rye asked him to. It’s really great to hear.”
Allie looks a little out of the loop, so I make a mental note to explain what I can later.
“See?” I ask, smiling. “Everyone knows you went to see Rye and Brin if you show up looking like you just went to war.”
She grins while blushing deeper, seeming shy now.
“Raya and Kade are in the middle of, well, a bit of drama right now,” Uncle Paul says with that enigmatic grin just before we hear yelling.
Allie quickly gets closer to my side when the sounds get louder, and she wraps both of her arms around one of mine just as Kade walks in with Raya over his shoulder.
“Kade Colton, don’t you dare! It’s December! You cannot just toss me in the pool!” Raya yells, pounding on his back ineffectively while hanging upside down.
Her hair flops against him while he smiles like a smug bastard. He continues moving toward the pool that is just through the glass doors on our right, leaving the doors open as he stomps through.
“When you cool down, come and find me,” he says as he starts to toss her, but the crafty girl grabs his shirt, forcing him forward when he loses his balance, and they both topple into the heated pool.
Water splashes high as a yelp and a squeal echo through the house.
“Damn. What happened?” I ask while snickering.
“Raya wants to elope now, but Kade refuses to let her get married without a wedding that she’ll love for the rest of her life. Yep. Margaret has driven her so crazy that Raya wants to sneak away and elope.”
My laughter rolls out, and Allie eyes me curiously, clearly amused. Shaking my head, I try to remember the task at hand. We have a lot to do.
“Mom said you had her Christmas cards.”
He walks over to the side table, pulls back the drawer, and retrieves several stacks of cards.
“My secretary mixed them up with mine when she picked them up from the store. Apparently Melanie put ours and hers all under her name when she had them ordered without realizing that would cause confusion. You heading over there now?”
“Tag’s place first. He asked me to stop by and check out a new deal he’s signing. I’m a silent partner in the business with him, and he wants to make sure I’m good with all his notes before we sign on the dotted line. Then we’re heading back to Rye’s to reattempt our original mission, then to Mom’s.”
I thread my fingers through Allie’s when Kade and Raya start splashing each other in the pool, their laughter replacing their anger. Allie leans against me, watching the couple as though she can’t look away, and a small, thoughtful grin plays on her lips.
Kade pulls Raya flush against his body, sucking her bottom lip before pulling her into a kiss that has me turning away. The second things start getting heated in a new way, we back away from the patio doors.
“Bye,” I tell my uncle through a laugh. He laughs and waves before shaking his head and heading back through the house.
Allie sighs happily, glancing back as though she’s looking for Raya and Kade one last time, and I swallow hard while pulling her with me to the car. Why the hell am I holding her hand?
“I’m not sure I want to see Tag,” she says under her breath when we get inside my car.
I grimace, but quickly try to recover. “He’s as different as I am. More so. He has a wife and a kid he loves more than life. And he has another little one on the way.”
Her eyes grow wide. “I saw them at the school, but I didn’t realize he was married. Or that the child was his.”
I fill her in on the reformed Tag, omitting the drama that got him there. She doesn’t need the closet secrets to know about the happy ending.
It doesn’t take us long to get there, but my eyes narrow when I see we’re not alone. Corbin Fucking Sterling is here, too.
His tall, broad-shouldered body steps out
of his car, and his shoulder-length hair gets tossed around by the wind, catching Allie’s attention. This isn’t good.
“Damn,” he says in a loud breath as we get out. His eyes leisurely rake over Allie until she reaches my side.
Hell, I forgot to get her one of Raya’s shirts.
“What’s going on?” I ask, considering Corbin doesn’t hang out with Tag very often unless Dane is here.
“Came over to drop off Dane’s Christmas present for Rain.” He holds up a bag. “He has to hide shit well from her. She has no problem snooping through mine or the other guys’ houses, but she won’t snoop through Tag’s.”
Ah.
“You going to introduce me to the girl in your threads?” he drawls, letting his eyes fall on Allie again.
Trying not to grind my teeth, I motion between the two. “Allie, this is Corbin Sterling. Corbin, this is Allie Thrash.”
I make sure to annunciate her name slowly, letting the jackass realize she’s not just some random girl. Which is almost stupid, considering I don’t have random girls hanging on me. Hell, I just got divorced a few months ago.
Corbin’s smile grows. “Ah, Angel’s mom. Makes sense now.”
Allie tilts her head in confusion, and I groan inwardly before stupidly asking, “What does that mean?”
“She’s wearing your shirt, very little makeup, and just-fucked hair, but still looks tempting to me. She’s off-limits. Like I said, makes sense.”
Allie gasps, and I curse myself for opening the door for that one. Between him and Maverick, I don’t know who is worse. At least Corbin acts a little better around Rain, and she’ll be there this weekend.
“Sorry,” I mumble when Allie clutches my arm tighter.
“I have just-fucked hair?” she asks in a raspy voice. Now that it’s been mentioned…
“No. It looks nothing like that,” I lie, slipping my arm around her shoulders to keep her away from Corbin.
“You’re lying,” she hisses. “I do look just-fucked. You said everyone would know it was Rye’s fault!”
I can’t help myself; I burst out laughing just as Corbin does.
“Sorry,” he says, catching on. “I just assumed… Yeah. I’m going to go stash this in the room Tag told me to. See you guys later.”
He walks through the front door without knocking, still laughing, and I snicker to myself.
“Everyone is going to think we’ve had sex?” she asks, her voice quieter this time as she follows me into the house.
“Nah. Just Corbin. He’s like that. Don’t worry.”
“Do they think we’re… together?”
They would if they had seen her grinding on me this morning. “No. Most everyone knows the deal, but things around here also change daily, so they don’t put anything past anyone.”
“Damn water balloons,” she grumbles, kicking at an imaginary rock on the elegant stone-tiled floor.
I’m still laughing when we round the corner to Tag’s office to see him struggling with a laughing Trip. Tag mutters a few censored words that sound so foreign coming out of his once filthy mouth. He peels his jacket off while Trip lays sprawled across the desk without a diaper on.
“What’s going on?” I muse, prompting Tag to glare at me.
“I just got pissed on. Again. Third time today.”
And this day just keeps getting funnier. My laughter soars free, and Tag’s eyes narrow.
“I thought they grew out of that within the first couple of months.”
Tag grabs a fresh diaper from his bottom drawer before pointing a commanding finger at Trip. “No more,” he warns the little guy who laughs as though he finds Tag’s agitation amusing. Then he answers me while trying to situate the new diaper under Trip.
“He only does it to me. I swear it’s intentional.”
Allie smiles as though she’s enjoying his struggle, and I snicker while saying, “Definitely just like his father.”
Tag covers Trip’s eyes with one hand before flipping me off with the other, and I grin while sitting down.
“I hate these stupid snappy things on all these clothes,” he grumbles.
“Here,” Allie says while coming over to take Trip away. “I’ll handle this while you two do your business.”
“Thank you,” he says in relief, sagging onto his massive chair.
He lets her take him, and I watch her while Tag assembles the paperwork.
“Where’s Ash?” I ask, curious.
“Sleeping. Trip was up half the night. I think he’s teething or something. She stayed up with him, so I’m taking over and making her get some sleep. Her parents are coming by to steal him for a few days. We’re finally getting a few nights alone. They’re staying at one of my homes while they’re visiting.”
Allie talks softly and sweetly to Trip as he gurgles and coos at her, smiling as though she’s a familiar face, even though he still refuses to say the few words he knows. She’s good at this—really good. Though that doesn’t surprise me, because Angel is an amazing kid.
But seeing her finish dressing him and bouncing him while he makes sounds he believes are words… It makes something inside me falter. I missed all of this with my own daughter.
Tag starts going over the key points we’ve already discussed. Numerous meetings have been held on this matter, so I know everything already on the document. Which is fortunate, since my head isn’t really here right now.
I sign the paperwork just as Marvin Walters, our joint lawyer, walks in to make it all official. We say quick goodbyes, and Allie hands a happy Trip back over to Tag who effortlessly shifts from powerful businessman to happy father within seconds, making it all seem easy.
Allie rejoins me at my side as we walk out, and I look at her the second we get in my car.
“Will you do me a favor?” I ask her quietly as I pull out of the driveway.
“Sure. What?”
Taking a deep breath, I try to think of how to ask this without pissing her off. I don’t have a right to ask this of her.
“I want to know.”
That didn’t make any sense.
“If this is about my dream—”
I grunt out a laugh while interrupting her. “Not about that. It’s… I know I don’t deserve to know anything about the years I missed, but I want to know. Every detail you can think of. One day, maybe you can come over and tell me everything I didn’t get to see.”
I look over to see her eyes watering, but she averts my gaze quickly while nodding. “I’d like that.”
Relaxing in my seat, the feeling of control starts coming back to me for the first time in so long. But it’s eclipsed by the weight of the guilt that will never subside. I’ll always know I missed those years because of how I acted. Because of how I handled everything.
Allie is the exact opposite of Erica. Erica would be using this as a weapon against me right now, but Allie seems… Touched? Maybe that’s the wrong word. But that’s not the only thing different between the two.
Allie hates attention about as much as I do. She keeps herself next to Bella all the time because Bella tends to steal the spotlight, even though Bella doesn’t mean to. Allie intentionally hides in her shadow.
It’s the same thing I’ve subconsciously done over the years—surround myself with powerful, shiny people the world loves to see.
Allie’s complicated personality draws me in, which is… confusing. The second Erica got complicated, I was done. She went from being a seamless part of my life to being a pile of wrinkles in my way at every turn. She went from easy-to-appease to demanding and needy.
And I never forgave her for destroying what little bit of a relationship I had with my brother. I doubt I ever will.
“Can I ask another question?”
Allie turns her head to me with a small smile on her face, looking content and peaceful as we make our way into the heart of Sterling Shore traffic.
“Sure.”
The only thing easy about Allie is how effortless it s
eems to be in her presence now. What’s difficult is how much I’m starting to want to be around her. It’s not a feeling I’m used to, because it’s not something I’ve ever had.
“Do you… Again, I have no right to ask this. I won’t judge you no matter what you say.” She waits patiently while I summon up my courage. “Do you think you can ever forgive me for what I did?”
The last person in the world who should ask for forgiveness is someone who wasn’t able to give it when the roles were reversed.
She blows out a breath, but then she reaches over and squeezes my elbow, a motion that means something, though I’m not sure what.
“I already did, Wren. All I ever wanted was for Angel to have the love I never felt. I wanted to be enough for her, but I wasn’t. She wanted a father and a mother. Just like most kids. A lot of children never get that. The day you made her dreams come true, I forgave you—even though I didn’t realize it at first. Because she’s my heart—she controls it. And she loves you.”
Shivers run up and down me, because tears are pricking my eyes. She just gave me something of myself that I didn’t know was even missing.
Her phone rings, which fortunately kills some of the heavy air, and she pulls it out of her pocket.
“Ms. Prize,” she says by way of greeting my mother. Then she grins shyly. “Sorry, Melanie, I mean… Umm…” Her voice trails off as she looks at me, and then she looks back front. “I’m with him right now… No, it’s my day… Oh. Well, sure. I think Angel would really like that… Okay… You, too.”
She hangs up, and I tilt my head curiously. “Is my mother hassling you about anything I should talk to her about?” I ask, worried. Mom is nosy and meddling by nature, and I usually allow it, but I’ll—
“No. She was asking if I had talked to you because she tried calling and you didn’t answer.”
I glance at my phone to see one missed call from her and roll my eyes. I forgot I put the ringer on silent when I went in to speak to Tag.
“Silent,” I say, shaking my phone.
“She wanted to know if she could pick Angel up from school and take her dress shopping for the party. She also wants to pick her up early the day of the party. She said she’d love to get her ready if I was okay with that. She mentioned hairstylists, makeup artists, and something about princess treatment, so obviously I said yes. It’ll make Angel’s night.”