Page 29 of Hitched

“Well, I don’t like your da, so mine, of course.”

I roll my eyes. “That’s not the point, Laney. It doesn’t matter if you like a person or not.”

“Well, maybe not to you. But I wouldn’t want to be anywhere alone with your da, Caleb.”

“Alright. Fair enough.” I pause. “If you had the choice of being stranded on a deserted island with me or with my da, who would you choose?”

She laughs. I smile.

“Answer the question.” I coax gently.

“Well, seeing as I seem to have more fun with you, I’d choose you.”

I’m still smiling, but now I kiss her. “So, now you think I’m fun, do you.”

“You’ve managed not to piss me off in the last ten minutes, so for now, you’re fun. But if you ever embarrass me in public like that again, I’ll give you another red mark to match that one already on your face.”

“Gotcha.” I stare at her beautiful blue eyes a moment more. “So, do you think you want to marry me now? Now that you know I can hold up in the bedroom?”

She rolls her eyes and scoffs, unimpressed. “God, Caleb.”

“What?”

Laney rises, pulling the afghan that’s sitting, folded, on top of her coffee table, open, and draping it over her shoulders, wearing it like a cape. “Even if I did like you that way, or even if I loved you…Caleb, I’m never getting married.”

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t want to.” She licks her lips. “I am not the marrying type. I always knew that I wasn’t. I love my career. I don’t have the maternal instinct that most women have, and my family is fine with that. My sisters and brothers will all carry on the family legacy.”

“But none of your siblings are married or have bairns.”

She lifts a finger. “Yet.”

“And your da is seriously not setting any of you up with marriage?”

She’s flabbergasted. “Of course not. Never.”

“But…why not?”

“Because my da doesn’t use his bairns for profit, Caleb.” She says, not trying to take the sting out of her words, but at the same time being matter-of-fact, acting like this is something that I’ve needed to hear for some time.

My eyes hood as I look down, considering her statement. For all intents and purposes, she’s right. That’s precisely why my da wants me to marry her. That, and he doesn’t want me knocking any slut off the streets up, despite the fact that I’ve never had a scare like that before. “I love the company as much as he does, Laney.”

“Of course you do. If you didn’t, you would never have come after me. I just want you to know that no matter how much fun you think that we’re having, I will never marry you, nor want to.”

My jaw muscles are working as I nod, understanding her. “Then I’ll leave it alone, Laney.”

“And what are you going to tell your da?” She asks, with her hand on her hip, standing indignantly, even though her face is soft.

“I’ll handle it.”

She takes it down a notch, sitting next to me. “How are you going to do that? Isn’t your da already pissed at you for the murder investigation?”

I shake my head no. “He doesn’t care about that, actually. He knows that it’ll all come out in the wash.”

“Really.” She scoffs. “Your da doesn’t care that his son is being questioned for murder, compromising every business deal he has with the company, and all he cares about is pairing him up with the daughter of his most rival business.”

I shrug. “Da knows what he’s doing. He’s seen enough scandal in his time. You, like everyone else, knows what sort of reputation my da has. And it’s not by accident, either, Laney. Da figures that to be known as a hardass means that nobody will try to take advantage.”

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