"I'm sure she'll understand if you're late." Smiling to myself, I replay the last eighteen hours, beginning with the moment we kissed in the driveway last night and every moment in between.
We barely slept last night. Every time I thought I was on the verge of losing her to blissful slumber, I'd roll on top of her and wake her in the most delightful way. She was kind enough to repay the favor a few times as well.
Angela escapes my grasp and slides out of bed. My eyes never leave her body as she slips into the bathroom. The shower turns on and the dull pounding of water lulls me to sleep.
Angela's there. In my dreams. Naked in the shower. Naked in my bed. Walking toward me in a white wedding dress.
My entire future is playing, and Angela is the star.
I'd prefer it no other way.
Except, when I wake, she’s gone. There's a note for me on the kitchen counter.
Ty,
Went to meet Em and talk wedding plans. Call you later.
XOXO
Future Mrs. Tyler Dixon
Damn, my woman knows how to turn me on. She's not here, but I can smell her. The scent of her shampoo lingers in the air. Pineapple and coconut. It smells like the beach. It smells like heaven.
ME: How goes wedding planning Mrs. Dixon?
ANGELA: Good. BTW you can't call me that yet. Not until I say I do.
ME: You already agreed to marry me. You're mine. A piece of paper won't change that. And neither will saying I do.
ANGELA: I love you.
ME: Love you too. Dinner?
ANGELA: Sure. See you about five.
Tossing my phone on the counter, I look around the kitchen and imagine the two of us here, growing old together. Just like in my dream. Our future is in front of us, and I'm ready to grab it by the reins and take hold.
First things first, though.
Ang needs to move in with me. There's no place I'd rather have her than in this house, in my bed, every day and every night. She'll have her hands full planning the wedding. I'll take care of this. It'll be one less thing for her to worry about.
Before that can happen, I need to make a few calls.
First, my parents. They've always loved Angela, especially my father. I'm sure they'll be excited to know that I'm finally making her a part of the family. Another daughter to add to the ones they never had, but always wanted.
My mother wanted a large family. Dad used to joke and say she wanted an entire football team of kids. After Ryder came along, she changed her mind. The daughters she always wanted, probably so she could dress them up in pink tutus and oversized headbands, were no longer a priority.
After all, she had three rough and tumble boys to handle. We kept her on her toes from day one and we still have our moments, only they're fewer and far between now that we've all matured a bit.
When Hunter and Brianna married, I saw the light in her eyes. She finally had a daughter. Then Ryder and Megan were married. The light only grew brighter, especially after Amara came along. She spoiled them rotten, all three of the girls.
Then shit hit the fan.
Brianna became withdrawn. Megan turned into a cheating liar. Amara is the only one she had left. Until today.
Today I'm going to bring back the light in my mother's eyes. In order to see it, I have to go there.
"Tyler!" my mother exclaims as I walk into the kitchen.
The kettle on the stove whistles loudly until she pulls it off the burner, pouring the steaming water into a cup she's set out on the counter. Without asking, she reaches into the cupboard and produces a second cup, filling it with hot water and dropping in a tea bag as I take a seat at the island.
"So, what brings you to our side of town?"
"Is Dad home?" I ask, ignoring her question.
"He's in his office. Why do you ask?"
My mother. Always questioning everything. For good reason, of course. She doesn't believe in secrets and right now, it feels like I'm carrying one around. She probably senses it. Mother's intuition and all that shit.
"I was hoping to talk to you both. Together."
Setting a cup of tea in front of me, she nods. Her signature nod. The ‘I know something is going on, but I'm going to let you tell me about it’ nod.
Hitting a few buttons on the wall panel, my father's office is pulled up on the screen and his voice booms through the speaker.
"Tyler's here. He wants to talk to us. Do you have a minute?"
"Sure," he replies. There's a distinct lack of emotion in his voice. No hesitance. No curiosity. In fact, the only sound is the shuffling of papers until my mother shuts off the panel.
"I'm guessing this is good news," my mother finally says as she blows across the surface of her tea.
"Why do you say that?"
"Well, your knee is bouncing in anticipation. If you had bad news, you wouldn't be smiling like an idiot, and you wouldn't have wanted to talk to us together. When you have bad news, you tend to separate us, talking to your father first. Not that he doesn't tell me everything later, even the things you leave out when we talk. There are no secrets in this house, young man. You know how I feel about them."
My mother. The wisest woman I know. She can read me like an open book. All three of us in fact. When we were younger, she saw through all our lies. Sneaking out was impossible. Sneaking back in... you knew you were caught before you even stepped foot on the property.
"Son," my father says from behind me, clapping me on the shoulder as he takes a seat next to me at the island. "How are you?"
"I'm good, Dad. I have some news."
"Good news, I assume."
How the hell do they do that? It's like they have ESP or some shit.
"It is. Mom, why don't you have a seat," I say, motioning to the chair on the other side of my dad.
She smiles at me before shaking her head. "I think I can handle whatever it is you have to say."
Of course she can.
"Well, last night I asked Angela to marry me-"
My mother throws her arms around my neck before I can finish, squealing with joy.
"Oh, Tyler. I'm so happy for you." She whispers in my ear.
"We're proud of you, son. Angela's a great girl. We're happy to have her as part of the family. Officially now."
My father's words mean a lot to me. His praise, his approval. It's something most men strive for and I'm no different.
There are few things in life that I'm certain of. My father being a good man is one of them. If I end up half the man he is, I'll consider myself lucky. Half the husband. Half the father.
When people tell me I remind them of my father when he was younger, I take it as a compliment. At my age, he was married, with two kids and one more on the way. Making a name for himself in the advertising industry in Chicago. All with his endgame in mind.
Dixon Advertising.
He put in the work to make his dreams come true, all while never sacrificing time with his family. My mother is his best friend, the love of his life. He still looks at her with nothing but love in his eyes.
"So what did she say?" my father asks after my mother releases me, holding me at arm’s length while she waits for me to answer.
"Really, Dad? She said yes."
My mother lets out another squeal of excitement and pulls me back in. An hour later, I'm on my way back to "my side of town" to wait for my bride-to-be to get there. As the gate to my parents’ estate closes behind me, an idea slaps me across the face.
Why not get married here?
On my parents’ property.
There's plenty of room, and I know Ang wants an outdoor, spring wedding. That's as much as I got out of her last night. Having it here would give her plenty of time to plan, almost eighteen months. Not that I know how long it takes to plan a wedding, but I can't imagine it's an easy thing to do.
Brianna and Hunter were engaged for two years before they even set a date. Megan... well she's not like most women. She somehow convinced Ryder to elo
pe. For as smart as he is, I'm still not sure how that happened. If I had to guess, she tricked him into it somehow. That seems like her.
Walking through the front door, I feel light on my feet. Things are good, great even. Almost too great.
I'm going to marry my best friend. The love of my life. The one woman who makes me feel whole.
I've never been a glass half empty kind of guy. In fact, I've never really thought much about the glass at all unless I was in the process of refilling it. At the moment, I feel like the glass is full and about to run over.
It's a great feeling. One I'd like to hold onto as long as I can.
Moving down my mental checklist as I begin preparations for dinner, I snag my phone off the counter and put it on speaker.
"What's up?" Ryder asks.
"When are you moving Em's shit in?"
If Em and Ang are both moving out, might as well do it together.
"Saturday. I talked to Paul this morning, and he's sending a crew to take care of it. Why?"
"Can you have him pack Ang up too? Bring her shit over here?"
"I don't see why not. I'll shoot him a text to make sure."
"Cool. Let me know tomorrow."
"Sounds good." Ryder pauses. There's a hesitance in his voice letting me know he has more to say. "So, congrats again."
"Thanks. Why do I get the feeling you're only saying it because you feel like you have to?"
"No, man. Really. I'm happy for you. Angela is a great girl. You two make each other insanely happy."
"But?"
With Ryder, there's always a but. Something he holds back because it's not something he wants to say.
"No but this time. I swear. Just wondering why you decided to propose all of the sudden. Last time we talked about it, you weren't in a rush. What changed?"
And there it is. The tone of his voice giving away the fact he's leaving out important details he doesn't want to share with me.
"Nothing changed. I love her. She loves me. It felt like the right time, that's all. But if there's something you know that I don't, please tell me."
Ryder clears his throat but doesn't say anything.
"Fine. Keep your secrets."
"It's not a secret, Ty. I just overheard Ang telling the girls about dinner with her parents and it made me wonder if you were trying to make up for it or something."
Ah. So he thinks I'm making the big move so she isn't mad at me. What a dumb-ass. He should know me better than that. Plus, he wasn't there. He doesn't know how things went down or the fact that what I did, what I said to her siblings, was necessary.
Well, maybe not necessary, but I don't regret it.
"Look, I'll admit I bought the ring after dinner with her parents, but what happened that night wasn't why. Her brother and sister were out of line, and I stepped in. Did I overstep? Maybe, but that has nothing to do with the fact I love Ang and want to spend the rest of my life with her."
"Good to know. I'm happy for you as long as you're happy, bro."
"Good, because if you're going to stand up for me at the wedding I need you to be on board with all of this."
"You know I am. Did you set a date?"
"Are you kidding? It hasn't even been a day yet. We haven't talked about details at all. We were a little busy last night."
Ryder laughs and starts ribbing me for having a one-track mind. Like he's any better than I am. He won't admit it, but I still think him and Emerson gave the security guards a show in the elevator. At least Ang and I were alone, in private, without a camera when we christened the conference room table.
God that was a good time. I may have to bring her to work with me again soon.
Chapter Five
My girl is amazing.
Last night as we crawled into bed Ang told me about every detail she and Emerson have already worked out. Had I known spending the day with her best friend meant basically planning an entire wedding in an afternoon, I never would have let her go.
They looked at three venues.
Talked to a bakery about the cake.
They even met with a photographer.
Nothing is set in stone.
Not until we set a date.
I contemplated working a half day today and joining her this afternoon to look at another venue, but my schedule is booked, and I only have Justine in the mornings right now. My father is in the process of hiring her a replacement, but he's not working fast enough in my opinion.
My personal assistant is my lifeline. Justine is a godsend when it comes to keeping me organized. Without her, I'm lost. I have no idea who I'm meeting with or when. She's going to need to leave me lists of what to do, who to meet, and when.
Her replacement better be good. I know Justine plans to personally train her, but training can only take her so far. She needs skills. She needs to learn the ins and outs of the business. Most importantly, she needs to be able to anticipate my needs, before I even know what I need.
Justine's been my assistant for almost two years. We have a rhythm. We work flawlessly. I'm going to miss working with her, but I'd never hold her back from moving forward. Not only with her life, but with her career, and I think this opportunity, although it presented itself at an odd time, will be good for her.
Good for Emerson.
Good for Dixon Advertising.
Justine ducks her head in my office to let me know she and Emerson are headed to lunch. I give her a thumbs up and start printing the pieces of the media kit I've been working on. Reading it over, I can see exactly where I stopped. As I'm about to get started again, my father calls me into his office.
Knocking first, I open the door to find a pretty brunette sitting in one of the chairs in front of his desk. He motions for me to take the other one and introduces me to the girl.
"Tyler, this is Macie. She's going to be joining the team as your new executive assistant."
Thank fuck.
"Nice to meet you," I say, turning to face Macie and extending my hand to her. "Welcome to the team."
"Thank you, Mr. Dixon," she replies.
"Please, call me Tyler. There are too many Dixon's around here to know who you're talking to otherwise," I joke.
She doesn't laugh. She doesn't even crack a smile.
Fifteen minutes later, I'm showing Macie her desk and giving her a short tour of the office. I don't really have time to show her around, but who else is going to do it?
As we enter the break room, I spot Allison and Hunter’s new assistant, Kimmie, sitting in the corner. Their conversation is hushed but when they see me, they stop talking altogether.
Great.
I can only imagine what they were talking about. I'm sure Allison is filling Kimmie in on all the gossip around here. Hopefully my name wasn't mentioned.
The fucking rumors that run rampant through this place give me a headache. I've never understood why people talk about other people behind their back.
Want to know something? Ask.
Don't assume. Assuming makes you look like an ass.
Don't spread accusations you know nothing about.
I want to say something, to call Allison out on her gossiping ways, but I don't. Instead, I walk straight over to her, Macie at my heels.
"Allison, Kimmie, this is Macie. She'll be my new assistant starting tomorrow morning. Kimmie works for Hunter and Allison works for Ryder. Allison has been with us for a few years, so if you need anything, I'm sure she'd be happy to help if Justine's not around. Right, Allison?"
"Of course. Always happy to help," she coos.
Fake.
So fucking fake.
This chick irritates me so much sometimes.
She can be nice and kind and a good friend when she chooses to be. Or she can be the exact opposite.
Spiteful. Sneaky.
Never to your face, always behind your back.
There are two sides to her, kind of like Jekyll and Hyde. You never know which side you'll get.
I leave Mac
ie to get acquainted with the girls. I have other things I need to get accomplished before I can leave today. If I don't start now, I'll be here all night, and Ang and I have a dinner date at my house.
Ang is sitting at the dining room table, takeout containers in front of her when I finally get home. She looks as irritated as I feel right now. My days feel longer without Justine's help. Unorganized and almost painful.
I wonder why she's on edge. What's the last thing I said to her today?
Why in the hell does she look like she wants to kill someone right now?
"Hey, babe," I say, bending to kiss her on her forehead before quickly backing away.
"Don't take that sweet tone with me. I'm angry with you." Crossing her arms over her chest, Angela's stare penetrates me to my core. She's not upset. She's not angry. She bypassed both of those and went straight to livid.
"I can see that. I have no idea why, but I'm sorry for whatever I did."
Taking a seat at the opposite end of the table, I watch her watching me. She's debating. Her jaw loosens, her shoulders sag forward slightly, but she keeps her lips pressed together.
"Can I get a hint?" I ask after a few minutes of uncomfortable silence.
"This weekend."
"What about it?"
"You tell me. What's happening this weekend?"
Shit. Shit. Shit.
I knew there was something I was forgetting to talk to her about.
"Babe—" Her glare cuts me off.
Okay, let's try another approach.
"Ang, I'm sorry. I really am. I meant to talk to you about it yesterday, but you were so excited about all the wedding stuff you and Emerson had done, it slipped my mind. Nothing is set in stone. I'm guessing Emerson mentioned something to you because I talked to Ryder."
"You'd guess right," she says, uncrossing her arms and reaching for a set of chopsticks and a container, popping the lid.
"Angela, will you move in with me? Soon? Maybe this weekend? I don't like the thought of you living in that apartment alone when you could be tucked in my bed, with me, every night."
Rumors: Angela & Tyler Page 3