by Elena Aitken
Jeremy shook his head and scoffed. “I guess I should have guessed,” he said after a moment. “You two were always…” He looked to Damon and then back at Katie. “Close.”
Before she could say anything more, Jeremy turned and walked away from them. She wanted to call him back and explain things differently. Or at all. But she couldn’t. What would she say? Instead, she dropped her head and shook it slowly from side to side before Damon wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close.
“Well, you certainly didn’t tell me about that.”
It was obvious he was trying for humor, but something else laced through his voice as well. Katie stiffened in his embrace and pulled away.
“Anything else you need to tell me?” Damon’s eyes were serious.
Yes. There was definitely something going on.
She swallowed hard and glared at him. “You have no—”
“Not here.” He glanced around. They stood in the middle of the busy Main Street. And although no one was watching them yet, or at least not obviously because surely they’d attracted some attention with Jeremy, there was no doubt that if they had a public argument, word would get out.
Katie swallowed hard and nodded her understanding.
Damon slipped his hand in hers and led her the short distance to the Big Rock Inn.
The moment they were behind closed doors in his room, he dropped her hand and spun around to face her. “Jeremy?” It was less of a question and more of an accusation. “You’re sleeping with Jeremy? I thought the two of you had been over since high school.”
She shrugged and walked across the room to the desk where he had a laptop and a pad of paper. “It started up again.”
She wasn’t looking at him, but she could hear Damon sigh. No doubt the lack of details was driving him crazy. Damon was always detail oriented. It’s what made him so damn good at design…and faking engagements.
“Why didn’t you tell me about him?”
“There was nothing to tell.” That was a lie. Obviously there was something to tell.
“So are you guys dating?”
Katie shook her head. “No. Not really.”
“Not really?”
Finally, she turned around. “No, Damon. Not really. We tried it a few years ago, but we’re better as friends.”
“Friends who fuck?”
The force of the word had Katie taking a step back, as if she’d been physically pushed. “Pardon me?” There was no way she’d heard him correctly. Was he really judging her for sleeping with Jeremy? The thought angered her, and she crossed the room so she was right in front of him.
He shrugged, but there was nothing casual about him. “I guess I just thought you weren’t the type to sleep around, is—”
She cut him off with a hard slap across his cheek. “Don’t you ever speak to me that way again. I don’t care who you are or how long I’ve known you. Nothing gives you the right to try to slut shame me.” Damon’s hand flew to his cheek, his eyes wide in shock, but she didn’t care. Her entire body shook. “I am a grown ass woman, Damon Banks. I can choose who I want to sleep with and when. There is nothing shameful about being a consenting adult in charge of her own sexuality. I do not sleep around. And even if I did,” she continued, working hard to keep her voice from shaking, “it’s none of your goddammed business.”
Finally, Katie stepped back to give him space, and mostly to keep herself from hitting him again.
“Katie, I…” Damon dropped his hand to his side. “I didn’t mean that the way it came out.”
She tipped her head and opened her eyes in faux surprise. “And in what way did you mean it, Damon?”
He shook his head. “Okay, I get that it doesn’t sound good.” He inhaled deeply and rubbed his hands through his hair, leaving it sticking up at wild angles.
For the first time, Katie noticed that he was dressed in running shorts and a tight T-shirt that showed off every one of his muscles. And dammed if he didn’t have a lot of them. She forced herself to look away. She was mad at him. Not attracted to him.
“I’m sorry, Katie,” Damon tried again. “I really am. I didn’t mean to be an asshole, because you’re right. You’re a grown woman. It’s none of my business who you sleep with because I know that you are fully capable of making your own decisions and there’s nothing wrong with them.”
She waited to see whether he might add something else to dig himself deeper, but all he said was, “Katie, I’m so sorry.”
She exhaled slowly and nodded but before she could accept his apology, he added, “I don’t know what came over me. I just saw you standing there with Jeremy, and then when he said…well…I got jealous, Katie. Really jealous at the thought of you with him and…well…it doesn’t matter.” He looked her in the eye. “I really am sorry.”
Jealous? Damon was jealous? Of Jeremy? With her?
What the actual hell?
Chapter Four
“Are you ready for this?” Damon snuck a look at Katie in the passenger seat of his new truck the next afternoon.
It was at least the tenth time he’d snuck a look at her, mostly to reassure himself that she was in fact sitting next to him and had actually agreed to all of this. Especially after the day before. He’d really stuck his foot in his mouth when it came to the way he’d treated her with Jeremy. In fact, he probably owed Jeremy an apology too. Maybe that one could wait until after this was all finished with. Either way, Jeremy wasn’t likely to be okay with it.
But Jeremy wasn’t nearly as important as Katie forgiving him. He’d been an asshole and even Damon couldn’t believe the things that had come out of his mouth. He never spoke like that. Especially not to a woman. And extra especially not to a woman he cared about.
But he had been telling the truth when he said he was jealous. In fact, jealous was an understatement for what had gone through him when he’d learned that Katie had a relationship with Jeremy. His entire body had burned with the need to grab her and kiss her. To claim her. Never in his whole life had he felt anything remotely like what had surged through him at that moment. He wasn’t proud of it, far from it, but he also couldn’t help but question what was really going on in his head and heart that he’d feel that way about her in the first place.
“I’ve met your dad before, Damon.” She laughed and her smile was so perfect that Damon smiled too. “It’s going to be fine.”
It would be a lot of things, but having drinks with his father after years apart and with his new fiancée who he was using to try to trick him into selling him his childhood home was not likely to be fine at all.
“You’re right.” He might as well fake some optimism. “Thanks again for doing this. Really. I mean it.”
“I know you do.” Her smile was so sweet that it once again made Damon feel badly for the way he’d behaved the day before.
“And Katie?” He flicked his glance between her and the mountain road.
“It’s okay, Damon,” she said, reading his mind. “You don’t need to apologize again. Really.”
Damon inhaled deeply as they pulled up to the gate of ElkView. He turned to look at her. “I mean it, I’m sorry. Please believe me when I tell you how sorry I am.”
“I know.” She chuckled a little. “And I do. Now, please believe me when I tell you it’s okay. I’m not mad anymore. We’re good.” He opened his mouth to object again, but she cut him off before he could. “I mean it, Damon. But we won’t be good if you keep trying to apologize.”
He couldn’t help but smile at her faux sternness.
“Okay, okay,” he conceded. “But I really do appreciate all of this.”
“It’s all good.”
There was something so genuine about her that there was no other choice but to believe her. Katie was really okay with all of this. He hated asking her to lie for him, but it would be easy. A quick meeting; his dad would agree to the deal and everything could go back to normal. No big deal.
“Okay.” Spontaneously, he pick
ed up her hand and kissed the back of it. “Let’s do this.”
He punched in the code and waited as the heavy timber gates swung slowly inward to give them passage.
They drove slowly up the windy drive, through the pine trees until finally the thick tree coverage opened up to ElkView. Just as it always did, the view over the valley took Damon’s breath away. There was a brief time when he was a kid when he hadn’t appreciated the view, but it had only lasted a few years. Even as a teenager, he’d never failed to stop and take it all in.
“It’s so gorgeous,” Katie whispered next to him. “I don’t think I’ll ever get sick of it.”
Damon couldn’t agree more with her. He parked the truck along the side of the house next to the garage and moved quickly around the side to open Katie’s door, but she’d beaten him to it. She gave him a strange look. “Don’t go acting all weird on me now that we’re engaged, Banks.”
“Who, me? Weird?” He winked and extended his hand, helping her down from the cab. “Have I told you how pretty you look today?” He knew he had because she did. She was dressed in a simple summer dress, white with pink flowers on it. She had on strappy sandals that made her taller, but still so much shorter than he was. And her dark hair fell in soft waves over her bare shoulders.
“You have,” she said. “And thank you. You look very pretty, too.”
They were both laughing, her hand still in his when Damon heard his father’s voice. “Welcome home, son.”
Home. Son.
It was crazy that two simple words could evoke so much emotion in him. Katie squeezed his hand in support and it was just what he needed to be reminded as to why they were there. Damon swallowed hard and nodded. “Dad. It’s good to see you.”
Together, they walked across the yard and stopped short in front of Anthony Banks. There was an awkward moment where Damon wasn’t sure whether he should shake his hand or hug him. When was the last time he hugged his dad? Still, it felt strange to do either.
Katie saved the moment by smiling brightly and holding her arms out. “Mr. Banks, it’s so good to see you. You’re looking well.” He matched her smile and they shared a quick hug. “When was the last time I saw you?” Katie was still chatting. “It must have been at the bakery.” She pretended to think and finally nodded and grinned. “Yes, it was definitely at Sweetie Pies. A few months ago now, wasn’t it? You were trying to decide between the rye bread and that new sunflower flax that they’ve been making.”
Anthony chuckled. “I went with the rye, of course. Seeds have no place in bread.”
“Oh, but they do, Mr. Banks. You really should give it a try next time. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.”
“Well, maybe I will, Katie.” Damon looked between the two of them, his gaze landing in wonder on the smile on his father’s face. “If you recommend it so heartily, it must be worth a shot. Come on in, you two. Let’s have a drink.”
His father led the way into the house and Damon stared in a pleasant state of shock at his dad and his fiancée. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all.
Katie had no idea what Damon had been so worried about. Drinks with his father had gone perfectly. Anthony had been nothing but pleasant and welcoming. With the exception of a little bit of tension between the two of them after the situation the day before, everything was fine. And even then, the tension was completely on Damon’s side because as far as Katie was concerned, she was over it. She genuinely didn’t think that he’d meant anything hurtful about his comments regarding her relationship—or whatever it was—with Jeremy. He’d been jealous. He’d admitted as much. Still, that idea was ridiculous.
What did he have to be jealous about?
The thought had popped into her head a few times since she’d left Damon’s hotel room the day before. But as soon as it crossed her mind, she’d tried to dismiss it again. After all, this was Damon she was thinking about. He didn’t get jealous. Not when it came to her. And there was zero reason to think that anything had changed. Well, except for the whole fake fiancée thing. But that wasn’t a reason to be jealous.
“Katie?” Damon elbowed her gently, bringing her back into the conversation. “You okay? My dad asked you a question.”
She shook her head a little and smiled as widely as she could. “Sorry. My thoughts drifted for a moment. What was your question, Mr. Banks?”
He smiled amiably and sipped at his gin and tonic. “I was just asking about your schooling, Katie. You’re taking a degree in business, I understand? How’s that going? It must be challenging to do that correspondence.”
“It hasn’t been easy,” she answered honestly. “But I’m almost done. Just a few more finals and I’ll be graduating in a few weeks.”
“That’s great news. Getting that degree is something you’ll never regret.” He shot a look toward his son, and Katie hoped that Damon had missed it. But judging by the sudden tension in his body next to hers, he hadn’t. “I tried to tell Damon that, but he just wouldn’t listen.”
“I had a buyer for the microchip, Dad. I didn’t need—”
“Nonsense. One always needs a degree. Buyers come and go.”
Everyone in the room knew that wasn’t the case in Damon’s situation. He’d dropped out of college, sure, but he’d also sold his designs for more money than he could ever possibly need. It might not have been the decision that his father had wanted to see, but no one could argue that it hadn’t worked out well for him. Still, it didn’t seem like the proper time to have that particular conversation.
Katie took one more look at Damon and directed her attention to his father. “Well, I know I’m excited about graduating.” She forced as much cheer in her voice as possible. “In fact, I’m really excited about using that knowledge and one day starting my own adventure center here in town.”
That got Anthony’s attention. He once more turned his focus to her. “Adventure center? What is that exactly?”
Katie spent the next few minutes telling him her plans to have a rental and retail space where she could offer tours and equipment for the blossoming tourism in Glacier Falls to take advantage of.
“I think that’s a great idea,” Anthony said when she was finished. “Good for you.”
“Well, it’s still a dream right now. But one day.” She didn’t bother getting into the details about how she’d need to save for years before she’d have enough capital to even think about getting started. “First things first. I still have some exams to write. I will say, the one thing about going to school via correspondence is I’ve been able to work at my own pace, but sometimes I wonder if it wouldn’t have been easier just to move into the city.” It wasn’t the first time she’d wondered about it. Not that it was ever an option, but Katie had definitely missed out on the whole college experience by staying at home. “But,” she continued, “I did the best thing I could at the time and what with my dad just…well…”
“I really was so sorry to hear about your father, Katie.” Anthony’s smile dipped as he realized exactly what had transpired to keep Katie from moving away from home, at least recently. “I’m sorry I didn’t say so before.”
“Oh no, Mr. Banks. No need. My family got your flowers. Thank you.” Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Damon’s surprised look and remembered she hadn’t told Damon that his father had recognized her own dad’s death earlier in the year. “And I know I’ve already said so, but your own loss…I’m so sorry.”
Anthony dipped his head for a moment and nodded. When he looked up, his eyes shone with unshed tears. “It’s been hard these last few years without Leona. You don’t realize just how hard, do you?”
“You really don’t.”
“Well,” Anthony said with a lift in his voice. “At least Leona’s dream will come true now. She always wanted a big family to fill this house. We weren’t able to achieve that ourselves, but it really is a house that deserves a family, don’t you think?” He asked the question to Katie, but there was no doubt who it was
actually directed at.
Next to her, Damon nodded slowly. “It’s a perfect family home,” he said carefully. “I didn’t realize that Mom wanted more children.”
Katie reached her hand across the couch and laced her fingers through Damon’s.
“It was a long time ago,” Anthony said. “It just wasn’t meant to be for us. But maybe for…” He grinned and tilted his head in their direction.
Instantly, Katie felt terrible for lying to the man. But she’d promised Damon.
She’d promised.
And she cared way too much about him to risk everything now just because she had a flash of doubt.
“One day.” She shrugged noncommittally. The last thing she wanted to do was start talking about fake children to go along with her fake engagement.
“Speaking of ElkView and families, Dad. Maybe we could talk about the details for the sale.” Damon kept his voice even, but Katie knew on the inside he was working hard to control himself. “I mean, I’m prepared to meet your asking price, and I know the stipulation was that you sold to a couple.”
“A married couple,” Anthony corrected him. “Preferably already with a family.” He looked to Katie and softened his voice. “But for you, I will overlook that little detail for the moment.”
“The detail of us being engaged and not yet married?” Damon asked, bringing his father’s focus back.
Anthony’s face once again hardened, completely in business mode. “No,” he said simply. “The detail of not having a family. But the marriage,” he continued. “That’s not a detail I’m willing to budge on.”
“So you mean—”
“Married. The two of you need to be married. Legally. Only then will we discuss the paperwork.”
Next to her, Katie could feel Damon begin to vibrate. She knew that when it came to his father, he didn’t have much patience on a good day. And this was turning out to be not a very good day. She squeezed his hand and before Damon could say anything to get himself into trouble, she made a split-second decision that she hoped like hell he wouldn’t object to. “Well, that works out perfectly then.” She didn’t look at Damon as she spoke. “Because I told Damon that I just couldn’t wait another minute to make it official. After all, we’ve waited our whole lives, right? I mean, it seems silly to drag it out any longer. Besides, I never did want the big white wedding with all the pomp and circumstance.”