Meant for You

by Michelle Major

  Maybe that had something to do with why Owen never fit into his family. As a girl, Jenny had spent hours gazing into the mirror trying to figure out which features she’d inherited from the father she never knew. What was it like for Owen to be like a changeling child among his siblings? Something niggled at the back of her mind and she sucked in a breath at the sudden realization surging through her brain.

  Owen went rigid next to her, obviously misinterpreting her reaction. She took a closer look at his brother. Jack Dalton was handsome, his thick hair a little longer than a military cut and his features chiseled. He was as broad as a bodybuilder, with muscles corded through his arms and bulging under the black T-shirt stretched tight across his chest.

  “There’s the whiz kid,” he said as his gaze landed on Owen. His voice was so deep and rumbling it almost sounded forced.

  “Hey, Jack.” Owen smiled but didn’t move forward. “Congratulations.”

  Jenny’s stomach took a nosedive as Jack held open the screen door for the tall, leggy raven-haired beauty following him into the house. She’d imagined Owen’s former fiancée as a mild-mannered wallflower, but Kristin was a knockout.

  The pale yellow sundress she wore stopped just above her knees and hugged curves that made Jenny think the woman either had a body a supermodel would envy or she’d invested heavily in shapewear. Unfortunately, she doubted it was the latter.

  “Owen,” Kristin said with so much affection Jenny hated her on principle. “I’m thrilled you’re here.” Unlike Gabby, Kristin had no problem launching herself at Owen and hugging him tightly. “We have a ton of things to catch up on,” Kristin told him, her voice a breathy trill.

  “You look great, K,” Owen answered, and Jenny swallowed down the growl that formed in the back of her throat. He had a nickname for his ex-fiancée.

  “I’m Jenny,” she said, snaking her hand around Owen’s waist and pressing herself to his side. “Owen’s fiancée.”

  Kristin’s hazel eyes dimmed slightly but her smile remained in place. “You two sure kept a low profile. It’s difficult to believe Owen got engaged without any of us even knowing.”

  “He did. To me.” She reached up on tiptoe to plant a smacking kiss on Owen’s cheek. “We’re mad about each other. Isn’t that right, pookie?”

  She couldn’t read the look he gave her, but his mouth quirked at the sides as if he was amused. He hooked an arm around her neck and pressed a kiss on the top of her head. Even though she knew it was for show, she felt it straight to her toes. Just a simple touch of his lips and he could wreck her.

  Jack moved forward and took her hand. “Welcome to the family,” he said, pumping her arm. “You’re not my brother’s normal type.”

  Jenny couldn’t stop her gaze from darting to Kristin, and a few moments of awkward silence descended on the group.

  “Jenny is perfect for me,” Owen told his brother as Jack continued to study her.

  The burly man nodded. “Kristin’s got a lot crammed into this week, but let’s plan a night to go out for drinks. We’ll hit the Red Hornet. We’re having the rehearsal dinner there, too.”

  Kristin’s smile grew bright again. “They named a drink after Jack,” she said. “The JKrita. It’s their featured special this week. Isn’t that the coolest?”

  “It’s great, K,” Owen answered.

  Every time he called her “K,” Jenny’s temper flared. “You know in Denver—” she began.

  “Signature drinks are a big trend,” Owen interrupted. She’d been about to tell them that the hospital on the south end of the city had just named their new surgery wing for Dalton Enterprises after Owen’s foundation made a large donation to the facility’s capital campaign. Why wasn’t he shouting his accomplishments from the rooftops to these people?

  Kristin nodded. “People might think Hastings is just a tiny dot on the map, but we’re up on the latest styles.”

  “Let’s go see what’s going on out back,” Owen suggested. “I want you guys to meet Jenny’s son, Cooper.”

  “I thought it was just the two of you this week,” Kristin said with a frown that Jenny would have described as petulant.

  “There was a mix-up with the camp he was supposed to attend,” Jenny told her. “If it’s a problem adding another person to the guest list for the reception, I’m sure he’ll be fine at the rental house for a few hours.”

  “No worries,” Jack answered for his fiancée. “We’ve got plenty of room.”

  Kristin didn’t look convinced, so Jenny added, “You can sit Cooper and me wherever. I’m sure Owen will be at the head table with the bridal party.”

  Next to her, Owen cleared his throat, and Jack dropped his gaze to the floor.

  “What?” she asked.

  Kristin’s smile brightened in a way that made Jenny’s hackles rise. “We’re having a small bridal party and there was only room for Jack’s high school friends and a few guys from his squad. Being a marine bonds them, you know, like family.”

  “Except Owen is family,” Jenny said.

  “It’s fine, Jenny.” Owen gave her shoulder a little squeeze.

  “Is Gabby a bridesmaid?”

  “Well, yes,” Kristin admitted. “But—”

  “Owen understands.” Jack’s unwavering tone was an exact replica of his father’s.

  “I understand,” Owen agreed, but his voice sounded hollow.

  “Let’s have some dinner,” Jack said, chucking Owen on the arm a little too forcefully for Jenny’s taste.

  As he and Kristin moved toward the kitchen, Jenny tried to pull Owen aside.

  “It’s fine,” he repeated, not meeting her eyes.

  “Your family—” she began, but he shook his head.

  “I don’t want to talk about them now, Jen. Yes, they have issues. But you and I have no room to talk. Our relationship is a sham. The whole week is for show. Can we just get through this evening and head to the rental house?”

  She fought the urge to flinch as his words cut through her. She wanted to argue, but that wasn’t her place.

  Their engagement was fake. His feelings for her were pretend. Given those two things, she had no right to intervene in his family’s dysfunction.

  “Fine,” she agreed, and feeling more alone than she had in years, followed him toward the back of the house.

  Money might not be able to buy happiness, but it could arrange a stocked refrigerator in a rented house with no problem.

  Owen was eternally grateful as he pulled out a beer and dug in one of the drawers to find an opener. It had been nearly ten before they’d gotten to the rental. Jenny had immediately gone upstairs to unpack and get Cooper settled.

  He hadn’t thought dinner at his parents’ would last so late, but Jack had suggested a game of badminton after dessert. Although his mother had never participated in family game nights, everyone else had mile-long competitive streaks.

  For Owen, that meant growing up had been the equivalent of being picked last in gym class each time they started a backyard game of whiffle ball or badminton or even H-O-R-S-E at the basketball hoop. His father and Jack always did a round of rock, paper, scissors to decide who got Gabby on their team and who was stuck with Owen.

  He’d become so desensitized to the continual insult that he hadn’t even realized how fucked up it was until Jack made the suggestion again tonight. With an outraged gasp, Jenny had immediately shut Jack down, claiming both Owen and Cooper for her team. His father had decided to sit out, so that left Gabby, Jack, and Kristin as a team.

  Cooper wasn’t much more athletic than Owen had been as a kid, but Jenny shouted encouragement for every shot her son took. Owen had never found her more beautiful.

  Even his father had cheered the boy from the sidelines, which Owen found difficult to believe given how hard Hank had ridden him as a kid.

  Maybe it was the long-overdue indignation that spurred Owen on, or the fact that he’d grown into his body and athleticism as a man. He no longer felt like the w
eak link in every sport. Although it was a simple lawn game, Owen took it as seriously as if they were playing for an Olympic medal.

  Jack was no different, and the match became a heated contest complete with trash talking, a few elbows through the net, and general unsportsmanlike conduct on both sides. Gabby and Kristin took the whole thing in stride, used to the competitive nature of everything the Daltons did.

  Owen had expected Jenny to get into the fray. He had felt her anger at the dynamics of his family attempting to bubble up to the surface most of the night. But while she’d first been amused, in the end she’d seemed more than a little annoyed. She’d missed an easy lob over the net that cost them the final point and allowed his brother to triumph. Owen had a sneaking suspicion she’d whiffed on purpose.

  To Owen’s surprise, his father had cut short Jack’s typical gloating victory dance, chastising both Owen and Jack for setting a bad example for Cooper. Jack had seemed shocked to find himself on the receiving end of Hank’s blustery temper. As was her way, Owen’s mother tried to smooth over the rough waters, quickly bringing out old photo albums to show Jenny and Cooper.

  Of course, that hadn’t done much to rectify the situation since Owen showed up so infrequently in the images.

  “I always thought I wanted a big family.” Jenny’s voice cut into the quiet of the darkened kitchen. “Yours makes me grateful I didn’t have one.”

  He took a long drink of beer, then reached back into the fridge and handed one to her. “I’m pretty sure we take dysfunction to new heights.”

  “Or lows,” she murmured.

  “How’s Cooper?” The boy had been silent most of the drive to the rental house and had immediately gone up to his bedroom. “I bet he regrets bailing on summer camp after tonight.”

  She shook her head. “He’s just tired. Although it’s hard to watch someone get treated the way your family treats you, Owen. It’s so blatant.”

  He didn’t want to acknowledge the truth of her words and did his best to ignore the pain that squeezed his heart. He’d become accustomed to the dull ache of tacit rejection that always accompanied his visits home, but having witnesses made it like feel like a knife blade.

  “It was a mistake for you to come here,” he said quietly.

  She studied him as she drank her beer. “Because I cut into your quality time with your future sister-in-law?”

  He laughed. “I don’t want time with Kristin. But I’m also not sure I want witnesses to my fucked-up relationship with my dad and brother. When I’m here by myself, it just feels normal.”

  She moved closer and he backed up against the counter. His emotions were strung too tight to let Jenny into his space. “It’s not normal,” she said quietly.

  “It’s my normal,” he countered. “It’s what I know. When you challenge them, I notice it in a different way.”

  “Isn’t that why I’m here?” She eased another inch toward him, placing her beer on the counter. “To make some waves.”

  “I thought so.” He shook his head. “But now it’s screwing with me as much as it is my family.”

  “You haven’t been back in a while,” she answered. “Maybe what’s different isn’t me. It’s you. You’re not the same person you were as a kid.”

  He set his beer next to hers and scrubbed a hand over his face. “Why is that so damn hard to remember when I’m in that house?”

  Her hand brushed his arm and the touch felt particularly electric. He should walk away right now. He was in no shape to handle Jenny or hold himself back from anything she might offer.

  She was toe to toe with him now, so close that her citrusy scent enveloped him. But her touch remained feather light, one finger tracing small figure eights along his arm. The only sounds were their breathing and the hum of the refrigerator.

  “Do you want to remember?” she asked after a moment, her voice pitched low. “Or do you want to forget?”

  “Forget,” he said, and before he could talk himself out of it, he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close. The fact that she didn’t hesitate only made him want her more. He couldn’t hide the raw desire he felt. He claimed her mouth, deepened the kiss, and left no question about what he wanted.

  She met his need with her own, and it wasn’t long before nothing mattered except this woman and the way she made him feel. She pulled at his shirt, and he tugged it over his head as she did the same with hers. Lifting her, he turned to seat her on the edge of the counter. Then he bent and licked her nipple through the delicate lace of her pale pink bra.

  She let out a little whimper and arched toward him, and he cupped her other breast in his palm.

  “Remind me why we didn’t do this before,” he said as he pulled her jeans down over her hips and peeled them from her legs.

  “You wanted to think I was a good girl,” she told him, her voice a throaty rasp.

  His fingers stilled, and she whimpered in protest. “I’m not going to talk if it makes you stop.”

  “You,” he told her, claiming her mouth again, “are good for me.”

  “We both know that isn’t true, but I’m not going to argue. For the love of God, tell me you have a condom.”

  He pulled his wallet from the back pocket of his jeans and took out a packet. “Are you sure, Jenny?”

  She met his gaze, her eyes so dark he couldn’t see where the iris ended and the pupil began. “Now, Owen. I can’t wait any longer.”

  He ruthlessly shut down the part of his brain screaming a warning that this was too much. He was a guy, for Christ’s sake. He could handle no-strings sex with a woman. He welcomed no-strings sex.

  He shrugged out of his jeans and boxers, then rolled on the condom. As he moved closer, Jenny grazed her nails over his shoulders and back. It was enough to almost send him over the edge, and strings or not, he refused to go there alone. He drove into her and set the rhythm hard and fast, spurred on by every moan and whimper that escaped Jenny’s beautiful mouth.

  When he lifted his hand to gently squeeze her taut nipple, he felt her shatter in his arms. It was the most powerful thing he’d ever experienced and sent him reeling into his own oblivion.

  He held her as their breathing returned to normal, but when he started to nuzzle her neck, she pushed him away.

  “We had rules.” She hopped off the counter and tried not to make eye contact with him, suddenly far too self-conscious.

  He moved to the trash can to take care of the condom, put on his jeans, then picked up both of their shirts from the floor and held out hers.

  She grabbed at it, but he didn’t let go. “Jenny, look at me.”

  When she did, her brown eyes were fierce but he could see the hint of vulnerability she worked so hard to keep buried. The fact that it was there soothed him as much as her touch, and he made his voice gentle as he spoke.

  “You and I were friends before anything else, and we can be again.”

  She let out a disbelieving laugh.

  “We both know there is no future for us.” The words felt like sandpaper across his throat, but he forced himself to keep going. “This is you doing a favor for me.”

  “That wasn’t pity sex. I wanted you, Owen.” Her eyes blazed. “I want you.”

  “I wasn’t talking about what just happened,” he told her, letting her have the shirt and shrugging into his. “But my ego appreciates you clarifying that. I meant this week. When it’s over, we’re going to end our engagement.” Now he barked out a harsh laugh. “At the rate my family is showing their crazy, you’ll have the perfect excuse for not wanting to tie yourself to me.”

  “I wouldn’t do that.”

  “But you’re going to,” he countered. “Because this is all pretend.”

  She stilled for a moment as she buttoned her shirt. “All of it?”

  No. A piercing denial ripped through his body. Even now, he wanted to prove exactly how real this was for him. Minutes after pulling out of her, he was already hard again.

  “You k
now it’s how it has to be,” he said as an answer. His heart beat a thunderous rhythm in his chest, as if that traitorous organ was conspiring with the rest of him to once again turn his world upside down for this woman. He marveled at his lack of self-preservation instincts.

  She stared at him for a moment, then gave a sharp nod. “So the sex means nothing?”

  “It means we’re physically compatible.” He used the tone he employed when speaking to his board of directors. It was distant, precise, and the exact opposite of the riot exploding inside him.

  But Jenny seemed to take it in stride, which meant he was doing the right thing. He wasn’t going down this road with her only to end up with his heart in a messy pile on the floor. Despite what his body wanted, his brain was in charge and it was going to keep him safe.

  “At the end of the day,” he said dully, “I’m paying you to be my fiancée, which means—”

  “That this was a one-off,” she said, her voice as matter-of-fact as his. “The rules still stand.”

  “Fine.”

  “Fine,” she repeated.

  There was nothing keeping her there, but she didn’t move. Was it as difficult for her to break the connection between them as it was for him?

  After almost a minute of silence, he said, “Go to bed, Jenny. We’re fine.”

  She opened her mouth as if to argue, then shut it again and hurried past him.

  The kitchen was suddenly too quiet, much like his life when Jenny wasn’t a part of it. He opened the refrigerator, the light making him squint, took another beer from the top shelf, then headed for the family room. He couldn’t stand to walk upstairs into the master bedroom knowing Jenny would be sleeping across the hall.

  He’d spent most of the first two years after he founded Dalton Enterprises sleeping on an old sofa in the corner of his makeshift office outside the lab space he’d leased. The overstuffed couch in the rental house looked just as comfortable. It was just what Owen needed to remind himself that no matter how far he’d come, he would always be the man struggling to find his place in the world.