Page 22 of Conflagration
I rush to his side and place myself under his shoulder so he can steady himself. “Branson, you have to keep weight off that leg or you run the risk of tweaking something.”
“I’m fine,” he growls, but he accepts my help as we settle him into the recliner, where he can extend his leg out in front of him. He’s tall, so his legs are long and the injured one slightly dangles over the edge, but it looks stable enough. “I fractured my knee, Ariana, not my entire leg. As long as I don’t put too much weight down on it, I’m fine. The cast makes it look worse than it is.”
“You’re a stubborn fool,” I mutter under my breath as I place a blanket over him. As I go to move away, his grabs my wrist, pulling me in close.
“You’re bossy, and I’m stubborn,” he whispers, his lips grazing my ear. “This sure as hell is going to be interesting, isn’t it?”
I turn to face him, my long hair shielding us from his parents. His eyes are dancing with amusement, and I just can’t help myself. This time, I’m the one to make the first move. Leaning in, I press my lips against his in a soft, languid, sensual kiss that has my insides churning, wishing I could deepen it but not wanting to do so with our present audience.
When I pull back, he’s staring at my mouth. Then he brings a hand up to cup my jaw as his thumb rubs over my lower lip. “Oh yeah, very interesting. Although I’m not quite sure that was convincing enough.”
With a wink, I bring my lips to his ear, nibbling slightly. “Don’t worry, handsome. All the convincing will happen without your parents watching.” I place one more quick kiss on his lips then stand up to look at his parents.
They’re both smiling. Hell, Amelia’s practically radiating with joy. The look on her face tells me all I need to know about why Branson went along with this charade. That’s a smile any kid would crave from his mother no matter how old he is.
“Thank you so much for bringing us home. We really appreciate it,” I tell them, and Amelia just waves me off.
“We’ll let you two rest, but again, if you need anything, just give us a call. Day or night and we’ll be here in a jiffy. In the meantime, I hope you don’t mind, Ari, but since you and Charlie are the same size, we took the liberty to pick up some things for you. Clothes and the essentials since your suitcase didn’t survive the fire.”
My heart warms, and I know I have to be careful because I could fall in love with this family so damn easily. Hell, if I’m honest with myself, I probably already am. “Oh, Amelia, you didn’t have to do that, but I appreciate it from the bottom of my heart.” Tears well in my eyes, threatening to spill over if I don’t blink them away. I’ve only known this woman for a week, and she’s already been more motherly to me than Victoria has ever been. This is unconditional love, and it’s from a stranger.
Okay, so maybe I can’t quite classify it as love, but it feels pretty damn close. I start to wonder if that’s why I was so easily ready to settle for Benjamin. Because the only example of love I’ve had is from my parents, which is, let’s be honest, not a great one. Wiping the tears away, I smile at her through watery eyes.
“Sorry. I don’t mean to cry. It’s been an emotional week. Thank you so much. It’ll be nice not to have to make a shopping trip for a little bit so this guy and I can just hang out.”
“Of course, dear. It was no trouble at all. When you’re up to it, we can go shopping together. After raising three boys, it’ll be nice to have a woman to shop with. Now, fortunately, as you know, the master bedroom is on the first floor, so Branson won’t have to worry about climbing any stairs. I emptied a drawer for you and placed your stuff in the master bath. Why don’t I show you where I put it all?”
Warning bells go off in my bed as I register her words. Did she say the master bedroom? With Branson? When I look over at him, an amused grin is on his face, and he cocks an eyebrow up at me. It’s almost as if he’s daring me to challenge her. I swallow hard, and Amelia must see the look pass between us because she laughs and takes my arm.
“Oh, honey, don’t worry about me. I’m not so old-fashioned that I don’t know you’ll share a room together. Now let’s go.”
With one last look at Branson, I find that the panic I’m feeling is nowhere on his face. No, instead, he now looks intrigued, like he wants nothing more than me in his bed.
And holy Christ on a cracker.
I want that, too.
I COULD practically kiss my mother right now. Sure, she’s presumptuous and, at times, pushy, but I’ve never been more okay with her meddling than I am right now. According to the look on Dad’s face, he knows exactly what I’m thinking. I’m not embarrassed that he’s caught me staring longingly after Ari. I’m a red-blooded male and she’s sexy as hell. She’s been in my space, on my mind, for a long damn time, and it’s been even longer since I’ve felt the touch of a woman. The thought of her in my bed? Oh yeah, it’s a damn good one.
Dad takes a seat on the couch to my left, and I force myself to pay attention to him. He swallows hard and lets out a deep breath. His sudden change in demeanor catches me off guard. When he looks up at me, his eyes are watery and I’m even more taken aback. In all my thirty-three years, I’ve never seen my father cry.
“You know I’ve never been very good at this sort of thing. The man-to-man talks, the emotional stuff. Your mom always took care of that, but I think it’s time I step up. Son, I want you to know just how proud of you I am, and I’m sorry, so damn sorry, if I’ve never told you.” He pauses, and I have no idea where this is coming from.
Scooting myself up in the chair so I’m sitting up straighter, I shake my head. “Dad—” I begin, but he holds a hand up.
“No, let me finish or I’m afraid I’ll never say it. Knox told me about your discussion last year. About why you did what you did with Megan. About what you overheard that day in the office. Branson, if I had known you were out there, I never would’ve said those things. I would’ve explained the legacy to you.”
A bitter laugh escapes me. “Yeah, but what good would that have done? It wouldn’t have changed anything. Hell, I don’t even know if it changes anything now.”
He nods, a somber expression crossing his face. “I know. And when he told me, I should’ve come straight to you to discuss it, but you’d already shut down, son. The divorce was underway and you were throwing yourself into your work more than before, and I… I guess I became a coward. And then you slowly but surely started to pick yourself back up off the ground and I kept putting this conversation off until I was sure you were in the right frame of mind. It wasn’t until we got the call from the hospital that all my past mistakes started to come back to haunt me. Because, yeah, maybe you made a mistake with Megan, but I got the whole ball rolling, and I told myself I’d never forgive myself if I lost you without telling you how proud of you I am. That, names aside, there’s no one I’d rather pass the torch on to whenever I retire.”
“I appreciate that, Dad. I do, but I have to ask… What if Knox suddenly decided to leave the Army? Right now, I’m your next best choice because I’m the only Wellington son left to pass it on to. But if Knox were available, would we even be having this conversation?”
He pauses, and I suck in a deep breath because that pause just spoke millions. “Maybe not. I don’t know. Ask me six months ago and no, probably not, but not because of your name. You were spiraling downward so fast, and there’s no way in hell you’d have been able to handle it. But over the last few months, you’ve shown huge growth. Consoling that woman as she went into labor at Knox’s engagement party? Helping Cohen when he stuck his foot in his mouth with Andi? And then this last week? Watching you, broken and bruised… I don’t think I’ve seen you this happy in years. That girl in there has something to do with it. I can tell.”
I want to laugh, to tell him that he’s insane, that this whole thing is fake, but if I think back on this last week, I have been happy. And the only difference is her.
“I appreciate your honesty. And you’re right. Six months ago, I wouldn’t have been in the right place, but Dad, I live and breathe the company. I’d never let you down, I swear.”
