Page 32 of Cocky M.D.
“Oh wow. Small world,” I said and jiggled my keys. “Guess that’s everything.”
He picked up the box and the picture and followed me. I held the door for him this time. His shoulders tightened as we headed outside. Some of my neighbors were loudly arguing.
I ignored the sound as I locked up and said, “So I guess these are my important mementos.”
After we’d gone down the stairs, we put my stuff in the trunk, and he said, “You’re settled, then, on being my wife?”
I smiled up at him, but then more music blasted from another neighbor’s place. “Tomorrow I’ll tell my sisters, but then I’m great.”
He walked me to my door and held it for me. “Will that be that much of a problem for you?”
I slipped in, and the separation made it easier. Love wasn’t in the cards for us, but I said, “They’ll think we’re in love, like they are, but I don’t know what to say.”
His chin grew tighter. My pulse zipped as I wondered what was wrong.
After he went back around the car, got in, and locked the doors, he asked, “What did they say when they told you about their impending marriages?”
The sound of the motor humming calmed my nerves a bit, though my stomach was still in knots. I hated lying to my family about my life. My hand shook a little as I said, “That they were happy and in love.”
He tapped the steering wheel as he headed down the street. “Are you happy?”
The school I’d worked in rolled past the window, but it was blocked by the strong profile of the sexiest man I’d ever met.
“With you?”
He massaged the back of his neck. “Yeah.”
I wasn’t sure how to tell him so that he would believe me. I took a deep breath as we drove onto his street. Then I lifted my chin and said, “I’m more alive with you. I’m happy, excited, and nervous, but everything with you is somehow bigger and wonderful.”
He turned in to his driveway, and security lifted the gate for him without question., “Good. Now we’re home, where you’re safe.”
Marrying him was the right decision. He needed me, and we were more than good together. We could be happy together, if he was willing to put his heart on the line. Of course, I didn’t say that out loud, as my demands were clear. We parked, and I stared at the huge mansion that had become my home.
Chapter Eleven
Johnny
I finished discussingthe financial agreements with my family lawyers, and the conversation brought me right back to the eternal question I had when it came to women.Does she want me or my money?
I’d certainly used money to get her agreement.
Unlike last time, I’d picked my next wife, and at least Olivia was out of that tiny place where I wasn’t sure she’d been completely safe. And Bradley listened to her. He hadn’t listened to any of the highly recommended nannies I’d brought him. And I’d never been so driven to have a woman again as I felt with Olivia. So the question that was ever present whenever I was near a woman shouldn’t be circling in my brain.
After I left my home office, which I hated working in, I found Olivia and Bradley on the balcony, where she had him painting. My chest expanded. They both looked happy.
I unlocked the door and kissed the top of Olivia’s head. “Did you talk to your family?”
She put her paintbrush down and winked at my son. “Tomorrow. Come and join Bradley and me?”
He finished with his painting and stood.
I put my hand in my pocket and asked, “Where?”
She motioned toward the steps, tugged her shirt off her shoulder to show off her bathing suit strap underneath, and said, “We’re going to the pool and have already set up a bit of a barbeque for a light dinner.”
Once again, she’d proved she was the perfect choice. Happiness radiated off of them. I shouldn’t be feeling jumpy, so I ignored it and motioned toward the paintings and told her that her painting of the backyard was pretty. “So you spent the hour with Bradley?”
Bradley gave her his picture, and she pressed her hand to her heart and smiled. “He seemed tired of baking.”
