“Oh, so we’re worse than the counselors and the chaperones coming with them from the homes?” She wriggled her nose at me. “I don’t think we would bother them. We’re cool, right?”
I smacked a kiss on her forehead but shook my head. “No, we’re not cool. The camp counselors and chaperones are necessary to make sure they don’t get hurt. We’d just be here because we’re after their food.”
“Well, if you put it like that,” she grumbled, then winked up at me. “I have some pretty fond memories of a cookout at your place, though. We could always have one of our own.”
Her words spoke right to my cock, and it stirred at the thought of those memories of our first cookout together. I breathed through it, reminding myself that now was not the time.
“We’ll have one of our own,” I promised.
A quick tour of the cabins and mess hall proved that everybody was doing what they were supposed to and that we were ready to receive our first guests. The kids were coming from various orphanages and group homes in and around the city. It was important to me and to Keira that their stay here was both memorable and educational.
When I’d really started thinking about what I wanted to do after the company had been sold, the only thing I’d been sure of was that I wanted to do something with the space I had. It had gotten me thinking about some of the stories Ashton had told about teaching people how to ride. His wife had even been an instructor in town when they’d been young.
One thing had led to another, and here we were. Doing something good in his memory. Something I was sure he would’ve approved of, even if he hadn’t been the biggest fan of people.
Someone shouted from behind us, and when we turned around, the buses became visible in between the clouds of dust they were kicking up. Keira turned to me and grinned.
“Well, are you ready to go welcome the kids to Ashton’s Riding Ranch?” she asked, looping her arm through mine.
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” I said. “Let’s just pray this goes well. If it doesn’t, I’m going to owe Ashton a lot of explanations and apologies for linking his name to a failure.”
I glanced up at the sky as we walked, taking in the clear, perfect blue without a cloud in sight. This is for you, old man. Thanks for teaching me everything I know. Let’s hope I live up to your standards now that I’m trying to pay it forward.
Epilogue
KEIRA
One year later
“I did it,” I squealed into the phone as soon as I got to my car. “I got the promotion.”
Harrison chuckled at the other end of the line, the sound warm and rumbling. “I knew you would. You’re taking that place by storm. You’ve been rising through the ranks like a woman on a mission.”
“I am woman on a mission,” I said, smiling as I climbed in behind the steering wheel and shut the door behind me. “My boyfriend turns everything he touches to gold. I can’t be seen as the old lady behind him who just rides his coattails, now can I?”
“You could, but that’s not really your style.” He laughed. Then I heard the telltale crinkling of his hand over the receiver and his muffled voice talking to someone else for a second. When I came back, I was pretty sure he was walking away from the barn. “Come home so we can celebrate. I’ve got a surprise for you.”
“I’m on my way,” I said, turning the key in the ignition. “Do I need to pick up anything while I’m here?”
“Nah, we’ve got everything covered for the campers this weekend,” he said. “I’ve got some surprises in store for them too, considering that it’s the anniversary weekend of the riding ranch opening.”
“I can’t wait to see what you have up your sleeve,” I said. “I’ll see you soon. Love you.”
“I love you too,” he replied easily. “Drive safe, baby. See you when you get here.”
A wide smile spread on my face as I eased out of my parking spot and settled in for the drive. Every inch of the road to the farm was so familiar to me now that I couldn’t believe I hadn’t been making the trip for my entire life.
In the past year, my relationship with Harrison had grown by leaps and bounds. One of our first orders of business was coming clean to my parents. We’d wanted to start fresh after the truth came out, and that meant being honest with my parents.
My mother had been disappointed we’d lied to her, but after I’d explained why, she’d apologized for putting so much pressure on me that we’d felt it was necessary to deceive her. Since Dad hadn’t even had the opportunity to meet Harrison at the wedding before everything went belly up, he’d said he was just happy I hadn’t gotten engaged without them meeting the guy first after all.
We’d spent some time with them since, and they’d both grown to love the man I loved. They already considered him as part of the family, even if we hadn’t started making plans for a wedding of our own.
Hailey and Nick had been out to the farm a few times as well. After I’d set my prejudices aside and had gotten to know him, I’d grown to love my brother-in-law as well. He was so incredibly good to my sister that it was difficult not to love him.
He and Harrison also got along surprisingly well. Hailey and Harrison had a good relationship too, but they struggled to find things to talk about when the rest of us weren’t there to provide a buffer.
Overall, the happy family vibes we had going were bordering on unbelievable to me. I’d never have thought that Hailey and I would’ve been able to build a strong relationship again as adults, but I also never could’ve imagined that anyone I would choose for myself would get along so well with someone she had chosen for herself.
Add my parents into the mix, and I’d have thought that every get-together would end as a blowout. But they didn’t. In fact, every time we all got together, we had so much fun that we organized the next one for a shorter period of time than the previous one had been.
Harrison and I split our time between the city and the farm, but we were definitely on the farm more often than in the city. We both preferred it out there, much to Jamie’s horror. She came out to visit me on the farm whenever she could, but she much preferred the times we could just grab coffee or lunch in the city.
I hadn’t formally given up my apartment yet, but I hadn’t been back there for months. Harrison had been telling me for a while now that it was time to let it go, and I was actually feeling ready to do it.
We’d never really discussed it, but we’d ended up living together either at the brownstone or in the main house on the farm. That last one was like a dream come true.
One week, I’d had to stay in the city for a seminar. When I’d gotten back to the farm on the weekend, Harrison had moved us into the main house. He’d said that he hadn’t chosen that one for himself because he hadn’t needed the space, but that he wanted us to make it our home.
Together.
He’d even talked about filling all the extra bedrooms we had with children. I was all for that plan, but I’d asked him to give me some time. It wasn’t that I wasn’t ready to marry him and start a family together. I was. I so was.
There had just been some professional goals I’d set out to reach, and it was important to me to achieve them before my focus shifted. The last one of those goals was the promotion I’d just been handed.
I didn’t know if Harrison remembered what I’d told him about those things I’d wanted to achieve. I didn’t know if he knew that after today, I’d scream “Yes” at the top of my lungs if he proposed.
We’d cross that bridge when we got to it, though. I wasn’t going to push him into anything just because I was ready now. He’d respected when I’d asked for time, and now it was my turn to wait until he was ready.
Neither of us had expected this promotion to come so fast. It had taken me by surprise when Damian had called to ask me to come into the office today.
Since I’d been splitting time between the city and the farm, I wasn’t at the office every day anymore. The firm had embraced the idea of remote working, a
nd they let me do my thing from the farm as long as I hit my targets.
Along with work, I also helped Harrison and the others with the camp. It had become something of a booming business. We still organized the camps for the kids who were in the system, but we’d also become a destination for school camps, church camps, and all sorts of other camps. Recently, we’d even had a corporate retreat booked and had our first adults stay.
Harrison no longer opened the place up for regular weekend guests, like Hailey and I had been. The house he used to stay in was still furnished and we’d used it for tourists once or twice, but he wanted to focus on the camp. And I’d agreed.
A little over a year ago, there was no way I’d thought this was where I would be only a year later. Sometimes, I still felt like I was stuck in a daydream where every wish I never even thought of making had come true. But I wasn’t.
This was just my life now, and I was more than grateful for it. Every single part of it.
Dottie ran out of the house when I pulled up, coming around to my door to greet me like she did every day. I ran my fingers through her soft fur when I got out, smiling as I cooed to her.
“Hey, pretty girl,” I said. “How’re you doing? Did you have a good day?”
Her tongue lolled out and she leaned into my touch, so I was assuming that was a yes. Harrison appeared in our open front door, closing the distance between us fast with his long strides. He looked so darn yummy in his washed-out jeans, fitted white T-shirt, and the dark stubble dusting his jaw.
The greens and golds of his eyes lit up when he looked at me, pulling me into his arms and holding me against his strong, broad chest as he stroked my back. “Hi, superstar. Congratulations.”
“Thank you.” I kissed the underside of jaw, breathing in his woodsy, masculine scent as I melted into him. “I don’t think I could’ve done it if it hadn’t been for you.”
“Of course, you could have,” he said, pulling back to look into my eyes. “Come with me. I’ve got something for you and Dottie.”
“One thing for both of us?” I cocked my head, curious and suspicious at the same time.
He laced our fingers together, then brought our joined hands to his mouth to kiss the back of my hand as he nodded. “Yep. One thing for both of you. Sort of.”
We walked into the house, and my gaze zeroed in on a ball of fluff lying on a blanket on one of the couches. She picked up her tiny little head when we walked in, and I instantly fell in love.
“Harrison,” I sighed, dropping his hand to rush over to the puppy. “She’s beautiful. It’s a she, right? What’s her name?”
“We need to decide on that together,” he said, coming to stand next to me as I scooped her up into my arms. “And yes. It’s a she. Dottie needed a friend, and you told me once that as soon as you had the space, you wanted a dog of your own. So here she is.”
Reaching for Dottie, I stroked her back so she wouldn’t think I’d forgotten all about her just because there was a puppy in the house. “What do you think of her, girl? Do you like your new friend?”
“She was skeptical at first, but she’s warmed up to her quickly,” he said. “Do you want to put her collar on her? I’ve only had our address engraved on the tag so far, but we can add her name once we’ve chosen it.”
“Sure,” I said, my eyes rooted to the Labrador in my arms. She had the biggest brown eyes I’d ever seen, and I wanted to hold her forever and ever.
I was so wrapped up in her that I didn’t even look at the collar when Harrison handed it over. It was only once I had to undo the clip fastened in the center of the brown leather that I noticed there was a ring attached to it. A really large, really shiny ring with a diamond the size of a small river stone and a platinum band with smaller diamonds encrusting it.
My fingers froze and my heart stuttered in my chest. Tearing my gaze away from the puppy’s, I spun around to look for Harrison. He’d already gotten down on one knee, grinning up at me where I was still dumbstruck and holding a ring in my hands. I twisted around to put the puppy back on the blanket before I dropped her, then brought my gaze back down on his.
“You told me once to give you time, and then you told me what you wanted to achieve before we could talk about marriage,” he said. “I’ve been keeping track, and by my count, today is the day.”
His eyes were locked on mine, and the emotion swimming in them brought tears to my eyes. “I know you were probably expecting a conversation about it and not this, but I thought I’d risk it.”
I clasped my hands over my mouth, but he reached up and took my left hand in his. “I’ve loved you from the first second I saw you, even though I didn’t realize what it was at the time. It was never fake for me. I loved you then and I love you now. For real and forever. Will you marry me?”
“Yes,” I whispered. Then I remembered what I’d been thinking about in the car. Flashing him a smile, I screamed it as loudly as I could before throwing my arms around him. “Yes! I love you too, Harrison,” I said, holding him close before I pulled back so he could slide the ring onto my finger. “For real and forever.”
***
If you loved this book, don’t miss out…
Check out Bad For You!
His mother hates me with a passion. No peasant for her perfect son.
She made sure to boot me out of his life when we were in high school and falling quickly in love.
So I did what any respectable girl would do—I broke his heart and let him leave.
Now the handsome billionaire is all grown up and back in our hometown where I never left.
Seems the military did some good with him. He’s a hotshot pilot with a playboy attitude to boot.
Being the heir to the most revered aviation company in the world doesn’t hurt either.
However, he’s very different when it comes to me.
That same flame that burned bright when we were kids is there, scorching me all over again.
And he’s one of the good ones. He’s helping raise money for the local school I teach at.
Unfortunately, my current boyfriend is the principal at the school—my boss.
I can’t seem to shake my first love no matter how hard I try.
But I need to. His mother was right—I’m bad for him.
I gotta have this!
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About the Author
Hey there. I'm Weston.
Have we met? No? Well, it’s time to end that tragedy.
I'm a former firefighter/EMS guy who's picked up the proverbial pen and started writing bad boy romance stories. I co-write with my sister, Ali Parker, but live in Texas with my wife, my two little boys, a dog, and a turtle.
Yep. A turtle. You read that right. Don’t be jealous.
You're going to find Billionaires, Bad Boys, Military Guys, and loads of sexiness. Something for everyone hopefully. I'd love to connect with you. Check out the links below and come find me.
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The Parker’s Wicked Playground
Not Fake For Long
Copyright © 2021 by Weston Parker
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
The novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and plot are all either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons – living or dead – is purely coincidental.
First Edition.
Editor: Er
ic Martinez
Cover Designer: Ryn Katryn Digital Art
Not Fake For Long Page 24