With a wink, he stepped away from me, causing me to miss his heat.
“I wouldn’t dream of it. I plan on eating it before I walk into wherever this bachelor party is being held, and I’ll think of you the entire time I’m licking my fingers clean. See ya, Kaelynn.”
Pressing my lips together to keep from begging him to stay, I lifted my hand and forced out the words I didn’t mean and certainly didn’t want to say. “Have fun.”
His dimples went on in full display. “I highly doubt anything will top the last few hours.”
Warmth radiated over my body like someone had placed a warm blanket on me. I couldn’t help but grin like a silly schoolgirl. I stood there and stared at the door after Nash had closed it. My fingertips went to my mouth and my other hand laid across my jumping stomach.
I’d never in my life met a man like Nash Barrett, and the thought of losing him scared me more than I wanted to admit.
MY MIND RACED as I stood on the balcony of the hotel. The bachelor party was going strong in the hotel room, and I was outside thinking of nothing but how fast I could see Kaelynn again.
The door opened and I turned to see Tucker walking out. He handed me a beer and stopped next to me.
“The party is inside.”
With a chuckle, I replied, “Yeah, I know. I needed some air.”
“Want to talk about it?”
I pressed the beer to my lips and took a long drink.
“Or not,” Tucker added.
“I don’t know what I’m doing, Tucker. I’m not the type of guy to play games. I need to just ask her what she’s hiding.”
He turned and leaned against the railing as he asked, “Then why don’t you ask her?”
Shrugging, I looked at him. “Because I’m afraid to hear the truth. I’m afraid to think that I could be setting myself up to be in the same situation as I was before.” I shook my head. “I like this girl. This feeling I have with her is completely different than anything I ever felt with Lily. I thought I loved Lily, but I know now that wasn’t love. All the shit I’ve been through feels like it was just a road I had to travel on to get to her. To Kaelynn. Like she is the gift at the end of a long damn journey.”
I laughed and shook my head, continuing on with my word vomit. “Can you actually fall in love with someone so quickly? We’ve had two dates. Haven’t slept together, and I think she’s lying to me. What in the living hell?”
Tucker chuckled and put his hand on my shoulder. “The first time Charlie smiled at me, something inside of me went off. It was like my heart caught fire. Even all those years when I dated other women, Charlie was always there in the background. I couldn’t commit to anyone because I was in love with her. I was in love with her that first day we met and she tripped over the curb and I caught her. I might not have known it then, but looking back, I sure know it now.”
I turned and looked back out over Lake Austin.
“So what do I do? I don’t want this game.”
“Talk to her; ask her what she’s hiding or let it go. See where this takes you. Jump off the cliff and free fall. Just do something, man.”
My throat grew thick. “I think she was about to tell me everything tonight.”
Tucker squeezed my shoulder. “Take it from me, it’s not worth sneaking behind her back to find out the truth. If I learned anything with the mess Charlie and I got into, honesty has to be a two-way street. You can’t justify what you’re doing because you think she’s doing something wrong. Talk to her.”
“I will.” Turning to face him, I nodded. “I’ll talk to her tomorrow.”
A look of relief crossed over Tucker’s face. “Good. I’m glad. You won’t regret it, and I know you’re worried, but it’s all going to be okay. It’s probably something stupid like her father has a weird fetish or something.”
My brow lifted. “A fetish? Like what?”
“You know, like having his back rubbed with peacock feathers or some weird shit like that.”
We laughed and glanced back to the patio door. “Get your asses in here. We’ve got some planning to do. Jim just left.”
“The bachelor left his own party?” Tucker asked.
Blake rolled his eyes. “Something to do with missing his future bride.” Then he pretended to gag. “Now come on, this is the perfect time to plan our little surprise. Time to draw straws.”
Tucker groaned.
Walking into the hotel room, I let out a sigh and said, “I better not get fucking picked. I always get shafted with this type of shit.”
Everyone laughed as Blake walked around and held out the straws. When I drew mine, the entire room erupted in laughter. I had the shortest straw.
“Dude, this is going to be epic!” Blake said, trying not to laugh his ass off as I glared at him.
The last three days felt like a blur. I hadn’t seen Kaelynn, and it felt like every time I turned around, another problem at work happened.
“Nash, we have a problem.”
My eyes closed and I counted to ten. “Rich, if you say those four words to me one more time, we really are going to have a problem.”
The supervisor on the high-rise we were building in East Austin stood in front of my desk wearing a bleak smile.
“Sorry, boss, but we really do have problem. The city inspector put out an all-stop just now. Said we didn’t have the right permit on file for the work lift with the city.”
I stood, grabbed my cell phone and pulled up the office number. “That’s bullshit. Is it Harrison?”
He frowned. “Yeah, what’s the guy’s beef with you?”
Walking past Rich, I pulled open a file cabinet. What Harrison didn’t realize was I wasn’t my father. I was organized both in the office and at job sites. A copy of every permit was at the ready. Finding what I needed, I pulled the file out and replied, “I slept with his daughter years ago, and he happened to stop by to visit her the morning I was walking out of her bedroom . . . naked.”
“Ouch. Did you know it was his daughter?”
“Considering I’d met her at a New Year’s Eve party he was throwing the night before, yeah, I knew.”
“Damn, rebel back in the day.”
I laughed as I put my hard hat on and started toward the city inspector. “Something like that.” What I didn’t go into was that Harrison and my father were the ones with the beef. I didn’t make things better by sleeping with his daughter, though. Something my father has yet to let me forget.
Extending my hand, I flashed the man a wide smile. “Harrison, how is it going?”
“The city doesn’t have on file the permit for the work lift; you’ll need to shut down until you can get a copy . . .”
I opened the file and handed him the permit. “Here ya go. We don’t need to shut anything down.”
Harrison looked at the permit, frowned, then glanced back at me.
“Unlike my father, I keep the files organized at each location.”
With his lip snarled, he sighed and handed me the file.
“I don’t like you, Barrett.”
“Really? I hadn’t noticed.”
This time he shot me a dirty look. “Don’t play around with me, Barrett. I can make your life miserable if I really wanted to.”
I sighed and glanced out over the worksite. “Listen, Harrison, I get that you’re pissed at me and you don’t like my father, but do you really want to do this? Last I heard, Laney was engaged and happy.”
He glared at me. “Stay away from her.”
Holding up my hands, I replied, “I haven’t even spoken to her in years.”
His anger grew. Fuck. That wasn’t the right thing to say.
“Per her request!” I added. “She saw how angry you were, and we both decided it wasn’t worth the stress for her if we dated.”
Of course, that wasn’t what happened. Both Laney and I wanted a one-night stand. Neither of us wanted anything else; that was made clear when we left the party together. Harrison didn’t need to know
that, though.
He seemed to relax a bit. “Good. I’m glad she came to her senses before it was too late.”
“Sir, listen, we’re going to be working together in the future I’m sure. Can we not move past this now? This is the third job site you’ve tried to shut down on me without success. I don’t know what went down with you and my father, but is this really how to be professional, grown men?”
He frowned and looked away. “Make sure you keep everything in order, Barrett.”
And with that, the man walked away.
Rich sighed next to me. “I really don’t like that guy.”
I laughed. “Neither do I, Rich. Neither do I. Now, what other fires need to be put out?”
It didn’t take me long to wish I hadn’t asked. As we walked the building site, Rich gave me a list of problems. My head spun, and I had a headache coming on. I hadn’t slept very well the last few nights. All I could think about was Kaelynn. Her smile. Her kiss. The way she moaned into my mouth and how easy she came for me that night. Totally clothed with just my cock pressed against her.
Fuck.
“What? Am I going too fast?” Rich asked.
“Come again?” I asked.
“You said fuck. Am I going too fast?”
Christ, I hadn’t meant to say that out loud. “No, it’s just been a long day, and I have a rehearsal dinner to go to tonight.”
“Family? Friend?”
“One of my best friends from college. He’s getting married tomorrow.”
“Nice. Listen, I’ve got all this under control. I know you need to head to another site, just head on out. If anything pressing comes up, I’ll let you know.”
I nodded as I rubbed my neck. “Has my father called you?”
Rich frowned.
“I’ll take that as a yes.”
“He’s not used to not running the show. I’ve worked for him almost as long as you, Nash. I get it. You’re doing a good job, and he’s going to see that. Just give it time.”
“Time,” I said letting my eyes roam up the tall building. “Why do I feel like I’m going to need more than that?”
Rich slapped my back. “Go on, I’ve got this. There’s a reason you put me in charge. Now let me do my job.”
“Right. I know you’re right. I’m going to do what you said and take off.”
“Good. I’ll let you know if any major problems come up.”
“Thanks, Rich. I appreciate it.”
After saying goodbye to Rich, I headed back into the trailer, made a few phone calls, checked in with my father, and then headed home to shower and change for the rehearsal.
With my towel wrapped around my waist, I headed into my kitchen and stopped when I saw Blake sitting on my sofa, a hot dog shoved in his mouth, and my TV remote in one hand.
With a grunt, I walked past him. “Remind me why I gave you a key to my place?”
“In case of an emergency. This was an emergency. My brother came back from vacation early, so I gave him Kaelynn’s information and he started the background check now. The file is on the island with all the information he had on Kaelynn so far.”
I stopped and stared at the file. “Wait, you went ahead and had him start the background check?”
My chest felt like someone was sitting on it; I was having a hard time breathing.
“Yeah, I thought that was what you wanted.”
My feet were frozen on the spot as I stared down at the file. I swallowed hard.
“Nash? Nash, he’s not going to find out anything bad. If anything, it will be what we suspected. She’s from money. And how bad could it be? I mean, Lily was filthy rich. I doubt Kaelynn is anything close to that.”
I nodded, still staring at the file. Using my finger, I dragged it toward me and opened it.
There was a picture of Kaelynn. Her full name. Her approximate age and where she was from.
“How did you get her full name?” I asked, looking up at him.
“I remembered hearing her tell Charlie at the comedy club that night. She mentioned her middle name and that she was from outside Salt Lake City. Not sure exactly where, but Dustin will be able to track it down.”
“This doesn’t feel right. None of it is beginning to matter to me. Not after spending the week with Kaelynn.”
Blake shrugged. “It’s up to you.”
“Yeah, let’s just call it off.”
“I’ll give him a call later and let him know. Meanwhile, if you don’t get dressed soon, we’re going to be late.”
“We? I was picking Kaelynn up, and she was joining us for dinner after the rehearsal. You okay hanging with us?”
“I can be a third wheel. I have no issues with that.”
“Of course you don’t.”
STANDING AT THE end of the aisle, we watched as Terri and her father practiced walking down the aisle.
“Now, the flower girl will be walking ahead of you, tossing down the petals. Dad, your goal is to keep her walking. You’d be surprised how many brides freeze.”
Terri smiled and looked at Jim. “I’ve waited too long for this moment; he’ll be keeping me from running toward Jim.”
Everyone laughed.
Standing up at the altar was Jim, me, Blake, and then Tucker.
“You nervous?” I asked Jim.
“Not at all. I can’t wait.”
I glanced to the back of the church to see Kaelynn. She was walking back and forth across the last aisle with Hannah in her arms. Charlie was matron of honor and was more than happy to let Kaelynn take care of Hannah. It had seemed a bit strange to look over at the other bridesmaids and not see Lily. Terri had told Charlie she had asked Lily and she stated she would be out of town during the wedding. Not sure if that was the truth, but I had to give Terri props for even asking.
Blake poked my back. “Dude, we need to talk. Now.”
I glanced back at him. “Um, we’re all kind of in the middle of something here Blake.”
“Yeah, well, this is important,” he whispered.
“Can it wait fifteen minutes?”
Blake sighed and then started to text someone on his phone. Terri got to the end of the aisle, and the wedding coordinator started talking again.
“Okay, Dad gives you away. Jim you’re going to step here.”
She went through the whole process of the wedding. Blake poked me again, this time harder.
“We need to talk.”
I ignored him.
“Seems simple enough,” Jim said as I turned and looked back at Blake.
“What is going on with you two?” Tucker asked in a harsh tone. “Y’all are being rude!”
“Tell that to him!” I stated, pointing to Blake.
“Then we walk down the aisle and each groomsmen and bridesmaid follows. Do you want to practice that?”
“No, we’ve all been enough weddings to know how it goes. Let’s not put them through that torture,” Terri said with a laugh.
Blake grabbed my arm when we had been given the all-clear and dragged me away from everyone. Tucker followed.
“What in the hell is wrong with you? I know the plan; we don’t have to go over it again,” I said, annoyed.
“Nash, this isn’t about our little surprise for Jim. It’s about Kaelynn.”
“Kaelynn?” Tucker asked, looking between the two of us. “Jesus, Nash, tell me you didn’t go forward with the background check.”
“No. I mean, Blake gave everything to his brother Dustin, but I told him to call it off. You did call him, right?”
Blake rubbed the back of his neck and looked like he was having a hard time trying to tell me something.
“You texted him, Blake. Right?”
“I did. I sent him a text and said you wanted to put a stop on the background check. Before we started the practice run, he texted me back. He said he had already started and can stop, but he found something out that you need to know.”
My heart stated to beat faster in my chest, and I looked at
Tucker, then back to Blake. Did I want to know? Was it going to matter? I glanced back to Tucker who shrugged then bounced my gaze back to Blake and swallowed hard. Fear started to overtake me. “What did he find out?”
“Dotson is not Kaelynn’s last name. At least, he’s almost a hundred percent sure it’s not. He cannot find a record of any Kaelynn Shae Dotson in Utah. He hadn’t started digging deeper, though. He can stop, or he can keep going.”
“Well, are we sure she was born in Utah?” Tucker asked.
I nodded as I searched for Kaelynn. She was standing next to Charlie, who had taken Hannah back and was putting her into her stroller. She must have felt me staring at her because she looked up. Our eyes met and she smiled. I made myself smile in return before I replied to Tucker.
“I’m a hundred percent positive she was born there. At least she told me she was.”
“Okay, so maybe Dustin missed something. For all we know, Kaelynn could be adopted and that’s why she is so scarce about her family.”
“That’s true; I didn’t think about that,” Blake said. “So, what do you want me to tell him?”
The warm feeling in my chest as I stared at Kaelynn gave me the answer. “Tell him to stop,” Tucker said.
Kaelynn glanced down at her phone and sent off a text, then looked back up to me. The way she looked at me made everything clearer. I was in love with her, and I was going to jump. Feet first and see where in the hell this took me. I could see the flush of her cheeks from across the church.
“Nash. Nash, please, don’t do this. Talk to her. Give her the chance to tell you. She might not be hiding anything at all. Nash, are you even listening to me?”
Tucker’s voice pulled me from the trance Kaelynn had over me. Turning, I faced Blake and pushed out a deep breath before I said, “Tell him to stop.”
With a sigh of relief, Tucker placed his hand on my shoulder. “That’s the right thing to do, dude.”
Blake stared at me in disbelief. “Man, are you sure?”
I swallowed hard, and I knew Blake saw it in my eyes. I wasn’t sure, not a hundred percent. But I needed to give Kaelynn the chance to tell me herself before I found something that would change everything.
“I’m sure.”
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