The Tough Love Groom: Texas Titan Romances

by Taylor Hart

  He pulled back and grinned. “Dang, Song, you just can’t stay away from me.”

  Pushing him, she laughed. He quickly pulled her back in, surprising her by dipping her back. It was like a scene at the end of a dance, and they were both laughing as he pulled her up.

  When they parted, she searched his face, feeling so much for this man. “You really are, Prince Charming, with a castle and everything.” Her voice was wistful.

  He shook his head. “I’m whatever you want me to be, Song.” He kissed her gently.

  She wasn’t sure how long they had been making out before he ripped away from her and guided her hand down the hall. “We have to get you through the castle.”

  They began walking down a hall with amazing art on the walls featuring different people. He started pointing. "My great-great-grandfather."

  She stopped and searched the walls. The man was blond.

  "I thought he was a Spaniard."

  Kade grinned. “Yep.” He pointed to the woman next to him. A redhead.

  Her heart nearly stopped.

  Kade squeezed her hand. “Don’t read into it, Song. Keep walking." He went down the family tree and got to his dad and his mother, who was a brunette. She was surprised. She wanted to reach out and touch the portrait. Her eyes were just like Kade’s, deep blue pools. Felicity smiled.

  “What?” he asked, as she studied his mother.

  She glanced at him and then smiled. “You have the same eyes. She’s beautiful."

  Kade turned to her. “She is beautiful.”

  There was a portrait of his father in the same majestic style as the rest of the castle pictures. It didn’t boast the usual Texas gallon hat that the press constantly showed him wearing or the mustache.

  Kade let out a light laugh. “No Texas belt buckle. He always said he wants to add it someday." He tugged her along until they were finally at a large ornate door. “Are you ready?"

  “No.”

  He laughed and pushed the door open to a bedroom, which was more modern than the hallways. It was still in the same style, but the carpet was plush. There was more art on the walls, and there were very expensive looking tables and mirrors and a humongous canopy bed.

  “Kade.” The woman lying on the bed smiled up at them. She wasn’t as old as Felicity would have imagined. Her face was soft. Kind. She reached her hand out, and he took it gently. He leaned in and kissed the side of her cheek.

  “Grandma."

  She held her his hand, and Felicity saw tears fall down her cheeks.

  Kade pulled back and grinned and turned to her. “This is Felicity Song, a girl I’m dating."

  If his grandmother hadn’t been there, she would have smacked him in the shoulder. Part of her was in denial. Considering all the kissing though, she couldn’t really deny it. Yeah, they were dating.

  His grandmother’s face lit up, and she put her hand out to Felicity. Felicity noted its fragility, but when she touched it, it felt so soft. It was like one of those old, rare books that should be kept in libraries and only handled in a controlled temperature environment with the right bulbs. Her hand felt like it could go to ashes in seconds.

  “Hello. Dear.” She looked like every bit of speaking took all the strength she had. She smiled again and swallowed painfully. “You’re the first girl he’s brought here, dearie. You must be special."

  Felicity liked the sound of that.

  Suddenly, his grandmother’s hand began to shake, and she carefully pulled it back, keeping her smile pasted on her face. “So nice to meet you.”

  Kade began talking to her, telling her things going on with football. “Would you believe X and Ace are actually dating? They both found girls at that bachelor auction I told you about last time."

  “Looks like you did too,” she said.

  Without being asked to, Felicity backed up. “Uh, Kade, would you mind if I use the restroom?"

  He came to her. “I’ll show you.”

  “No.” She waved him over. “Go visit with her. Just tell me where.”

  He pointed down the hall. "Go where we came from and turn right. Afterwards, you can go toward the ocean and you’ll find the kitchen. I’ll meet you back there."

  The bathroom surprised her by being very modern. When she left, she went toward the ocean and turned south, smelling the kitchen before she actually saw it. The scent was heavenly. When she entered, it shocked her to see a somewhat elderly man working.

  He introduced himself as Henry, the caretaker of the mistress, the cook, and whatever other role was necessary.

  She felt immediately at ease with him, and only a couple of minutes passed before Kade walked in.

  It took her by surprise when he hugged Henry.

  Henry laughed lightly, and as they pulled back, he gently touched Kade’s cheek. “How are ya, young chap?”

  With a sly grin, Kade motioned to Felicity. “I’m great.”

  Henry let out a laugh. “You two go get dressed for dinner.”

  When Kade knocked on her door later, she was nervous. She’d only brought one nice, formal dress, a swimsuit, and some play clothes as she’d been directed.

  Kade wore a white shirt that made him look even more tan. He wore brown, casual pants and clean white shoes.

  It amused her that he always seemed to look like a model from a magazine. His facial hair was perfect. Those eyes, sharp and clear, focused on her now.

  “Hi.”

  His eyes swept up and down her, taking in the green dress.

  “It sets off your eyes beautifully.” He took her hand, and together, they walked down the ornate hallway.

  “I can’t tell if I’m in an episode of Downton Abbey or if it's a Beauty and the Beast kind of thing."

  His eyes twinkled, and they moved out into the courtyard of the castle then down a deck path out to a pier on the ocean. It was all lit up by tiki torches.

  “Do you like the beast?”

  Nervous flutters filled her. “I like what the beast turns into,” she said immediately, without thinking.

  A grin swept over his features, and he looked vulnerable. “Maybe you could like what I could turn into.”

  They got to the beautifully set table with a yellow tablecloth and fine place settings. She met his gaze, and her heart beat wildly. It was so fast she wondered if she would faint, just being near him.

  The moment went sticky and slow, and she didn’t know how she’d ended up here, on a private island. With the man himself who she’d been pretty sure she would definitely hate forever after their first meeting.

  Carefully, slowly, he bent and brushed his lips to hers. “That’s for coming tonight. I would have been, well, I wouldn’t have come if you hadn’t come tonight.”

  Her heart beat wildly again.

  Poignantly, he reached down and very gentlemanly pulled her chair out for her.

  Taking a seat, she let him tuck her in.

  As he sat, one of the guys who had been on the helicopter with them appeared and held a tray of food. Kade waved a hand, signaling for him to put the food on the plates. “Thank you, Hale.”

  She watched while fish, rice, veggies, and a side dish of a chocolate mousse was put on the table, and then ‘Hale’ was gone in a flash.

  She shook her head.

  “What?” He grabbed her hand.

  She let out a light laugh. “Is this the way life has always been for you, Kade?"

  A slight smile came to his lips. “You know it hasn’t. We lived in the suburbs of Dallas until my junior year of high school.”

  It was true. She knew most of his history, but she had missed this.

  “But you summered here?” she asked.

  He looked embarrassed. He nodded. “When we weren’t at football camps, my brother and I were here.” He pointed to an outbuilding. “Tomorrow, if you’re game, we’ll do some snorkeling, paddle boarding, and sand castle building. Anything you want.”

  Letting out another giggle, she shook her head. “Life as the ric
h and famous, huh?”

  His gaze held hers. “No, life with a beautiful woman who I want to be part of my life, even though she’s not sure she wants that yet.”

  Part of her wanted to argue that wasn’t possible, and part of her only wanted it to be possible.

  He put his hand over hers. “It’s okay, Felicity.”

  Feeling more lost than she’d ever felt, she stared at their hands and shook her head. “This has to be a fairy tale because this isn’t my life.”

  He grinned back at her. “For me too, this is the first time I’ve ever felt like I might want the role of Prince Charming.”

  Chapter 22

  When Kade woke the next morning, the haze cleared quickly from his brain, and he remembered where he was. He threw off his covers, literally jumping out of bed, feeling like a little kid. He had Felicity on the island. He thought of the first day on the island when he was little with his brother. They were always the happiest to go dust off their sand toys. He threw on his swimsuit and flip-flops and rushed out of his room.

  He thought of how almost dazed Felicity had seemed the night before. It had been a huge thing for him to bring her here. His grandmother had been right—he didn’t bring women here. He hesitated before knocking, a million questions running though his mind. Why was she different? Why had it been so important to bring her?

  He thought of walking on the beach last night with her, her hand in his, their bare feet lightly pushing into the sand, the moon bright. Her red hair was a stark contrast to the white loveliness of her skin as he kissed her again and held her. He wanted to be with her more than he’d ever wanted anything else. She was different. From the start, he’d known she was different, but now, it was like every complication in her life only left him liking her even more.

  He could sense, because of her heart condition, she held back. It almost seemed like she thought if she touched him or got close to him she would hurt him. He didn’t like it. So what? Technology was improving all the time, right? And look at her, she seemed so healthy.

  He’d dated lots of women in the past. It’d been fun, and it had worked to date lots of women a lot better than it had ever worked to get serious with one. He found most women bored him.

  He thought of what Felicity would say if he actually told her that. She would probably throw daggers at him with her eyes. He grinned and knocked on her door. But there was no answer.

  He knocked again. Still, he couldn’t hear anything. Slowly, he pried the door open and looked around. Nothing. Worry coursed into him. Where was she? He looked at a clock on the wall, only seven in the morning. He rushed from her room and to the kitchen, but there was only Henry.

  “Boss.” Henry pointed out the window.

  He saw her, standing on a paddleboard. He rushed out to the dock, thinking it was funny she was just balancing on the ground without being in the water.

  Her simple one-piece swimsuit with a red halter-top hugged her figure lovingly.

  Beauty. Pure beauty. Her hair was loose, and she had a paddle in one hand and was bracing herself, as though she was out on the water.

  Her head came up, and their eyes met at the same time.

  She laughed. “Go away, Kincaid. I wanted to practice first.”

  His heart nearly stopped. She was so beautiful. He wished for a better term to describe her. He laughed and ran to her. “What are you talking about?”

  He couldn’t stop himself from putting his arms around her and kissing her.

  He felt her give in to him, press herself against him.

  Everything about him wanted this woman in so many ways, on so many levels. His relationship with her was new, but felt so much deeper than any he’d had before.

  Pulling back, she laughed.

  “What are you laughing at?” He picked her up and put her over his shoulder, running into the water.

  They fell in together, splashing in the warm water.

  She giggled and popped up, pushing back her hair. “You can’t manhandle me.”

  He was already next to her, pulling her into him again, kissing her. “I think I can.”

  He felt her surrender.

  As their lips met, life felt complete. It was just like the moment when he was releasing a perfect spiral and in his gut he just knew X or Ace would catch it. The moment between certainty and the perfection of the end zone.

  “Wait.” She stopped kissing him and tugged back.

  “What?” He loved the feel of his arms around her. He loved how she fit perfectly with him. Her height, not too tall, but not short. He loved the feistiness of her. He—it hit him like a ton of bricks—he really did love this woman?

  It rocked him.

  Softly, she pressed her lips to his neck then pulled back and searched his face. “I just had to do that.”

  Everything inside of him hummed with desire for her. He let out a laugh. “Slow it down, Song.”

  She stared up at him. “I wanted to thank you.”

  He didn’t understand. “For what?”

  Reaching up, she carefully put her hand on his chest.

  He tensed, feeling his heart kick up speed. Every part of him felt sensitive to her touch.

  “For not giving up when I pushed you away.”

  The sincerity of her words meant everything to him. He thought about her, about everything she’d been through. About how she put off such a tough exterior, but when it came down to it, her heart was fragile in more ways than just physically. “I’m not easily pushed aside,” he said quietly.

  She beamed at him. “Such an understatement.”

  Gently kissing her, he forced himself not to get lost. He needed to ask this. “I know you don’t want to talk about this, but I want to know more about your heart.”

  She didn’t respond.

  He felt her tense and held her tighter. “Don’t shut down on me, Felicity.”

  Her green eyes fluttered.

  “I’m in this, and I want to know what you hold back from me. I want to know everything, the good and the bad. I want to know the field.”

  Looking extremely annoyed, Felicity quit pushing against him. “I need another surgery soon.”

  This stunned him. He loosened his grip, and his mind whirled in confusion. “When?”

  Looking miserable, she shrugged. “I need to get in and consult with the doctor, but after the last surgery I got, they said it would be roughly ten years before I would need another.”

  Letting her go, but keeping her hands in his, he tried to tamp down his frustration. “Why haven’t you gone in?”

  Anger flashed into her eyes. “I’ve been a little bit busy trying to help my mom and take care of some bratty …” She trailed off, and tears swelled as she looked down. “The truth is I’m terrified of what the doctor will say.”

  Worry coursed through him. “What do you mean?”

  She looked up at him then hesitated and shook her head. “The surgery might not work, Kade.” She exhaled and looked away.

  He felt like he was staring down the field and trying to figure out how to play this obstacle. “So, you need a heart?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know, but I don’t want another surgery. I can’t…”

  Uncertainty was something Kade didn’t like. “Not good enough.”

  Sharply, her head snapped up, and their eyes met. “You have no idea how many failed surgeries I’ve been through. How hard it was for my parents.” Tears bubbled in her eyes.

  His heart beat rapidly, but he realized he couldn’t handle Felicity with force, as his father had handled him and his brother. He softened and carefully put his arms back around her, thinking of how she’d said she loved to be in his arms, to feel safe. “Don’t worry. We’ll figure it out together, Song.”

  For a moment, she relaxed into him. He held her, and he realized this relationship was so different than every relationship he’d had with a woman because she didn’t treat him like the “bratty, selfish, billionaire” he was. He frowned and held her
close. It was also different because it was the only time he’d ever wanted to protect a woman from the harsh world, more than he wanted to protect himself.

  Out of the blue, Felicity pulled back, a smile on her face. “I already built a castle earlier. I don’t think you can build a bigger one." She took off running out of the water and down the beach.

  Watching her go, he couldn’t believe this was actually happening. He was falling in love with her. He took off in a mad dash and let out a whoof as he landed next to her castle.

  She held a bucket of water she was going to mix with more sand, but at the last minute, she turned on him and dumped it.

  “Ahh!” He yelled, the cold shocking him.

  She laughed and took off again.

  He was quicker and caught her easily, putting his hands around her waist and pushing her into the ocean. “Can’t get away from me now, Song!”

  She didn’t try to fight that hard, and he didn’t actually throw her in the water, more or less just got them out there and they both jumped into it.

  She splashed him and swam a bit away.

  All the memories of his brother and him here assaulted him. Of him and Anthony coming and going.

  Suddenly, she was next to him. “Okay, Kincaid, your turn, what are you thinking? What’s with that faraway look?”

  He didn’t know if he liked that she could tell he was thinking something.

  “It’s not so fun, is it?” she asked, and he noticed she had a tiny scar next to her lip he’d never noticed before. “Someone pushing you all the time, demanding they know you. The real you.”

  She was right. He didn’t like it.

  “Kincaid.” She demanded.

  He let out a sigh. “Fine. I was thinking about Anthony.” He pointed to the castle. “We used to go up there and pretend we were going to throw each other off.”

  She turned to look with him. “Your fear of heights.”

  The walls were more than twenty feet high, and he thought of the fun and the fear of it.

  A derisive laugh came out of him. “Dang, I miss him.” He shook his head. “I can’t even imagine never being here with him again.” He sighed. “Bringing our families here, seeing our kids play.” He turned back to her, searching those beautiful, green eyes. Happiness surged inside of him. “Maybe little redheaded kids.” He shrugged. “You could live in the castle with Prince Charming.”