Page 25 of Secret Baby Daddies
She gasped and wildly shook her head.
“No! No, you don’t. That bouquet probably cost more than my car, which I still need to pick up from Club Devil, by the way.It would be so wasteful to throw them away. We just won’t eat them. I’m assuming the three of you don’t go around taking bites out of flowers. Right?”
“I still don’t like it.”
“More importantly, I wanted to tell you that I make my own bouquets. I love it. It’s a fun outlet for me. Sending me one that was already perfect was really, really kind, but save your money. I could probably buy a cheap little greenhouse for what you paid for those. Not that I have anywhere to put a greenhouse.” She shrugged. “Oh! You don’t have pets inside, do you? If you do, we should get rid of the flowers.”
I don’t think any of us wanted to admit that we did have a pet. Bubbles was embarrassing. We were three middle-aged men with a cat that had to be dressed in clothes because it didn’t have a touch of hair. It wasn’t one of those hairless cats, either. It was just…weird.Hewas weird. We’d inherited him from a ranch hand who’d inherited him from his sister and her five kids. Apparently he scared the shit out of her kids.
“What’s that look?” Harley looked back and forth between me and Maddox. “Isthere a pet?”
Maddox groaned. “Yeah. There’s a pet.”
Her eyes brightened. “What kind?”
“A cat.” I waved it away like it wasn’t a big deal. “We’ll get rid of the flowers. And from now on, we won’t buy you expensive bouquets. We’ll just buy the flowers and let you do the work.”
Her eyes didn’t lose that brightness. If anything, they grew brighter, filled with a quiet excitement that she tried to tamp down. “
You don’t have to do that.”
“We do what we want, little bunny.” Luc pulled off the highway and onto the series of roads that led home.
Harley plastered her face to the window.
“Where are we? I’ve lived in Texas my whole life and I don’t recognize this at all.”
Maddox smirked. “Silver, Texas. Our family land.”
CHAPTER 21
Harley
If I had any doubts about the wealth of the men around me they were vanquished upon seeing the rolling hills of farmland and pastures which stretched as far as I could see. Everything was so luscious and green, completely untouched by the wilt of the Texas sun. My stomach grew tighter and tighter as we passed massive barns, fields of cattle that told me just how large the operation really was.
Then I saw the house. Twisted in knots, my stomach sank through my feet and got left somewhere along the brick-paved driveway. It wasn’t a house, really; it was a mansion. A huge, white farmhouse mansion that was two floors stretching wide, with a deep wraparound porch and rocking chairs. The circle drive surrounded an island of perfectly manicured flowers which blew in a breeze so gentle I would’ve believed they’d paid for it. The decor and vibe of the house read humble farmhouse but nothing could hide the fact that it was a mansion.
They had to be richer than god, richer than almost all of the people I’d grown up around, maybe even richer than my dad.No. Fear clawed its way up my throat. Was history was going to repeat itself? Was walking in my mom’s footsteps? I put my hand over my stomach protectively, already trying to figure a way out.
“Are you okay?” Jace ran his knuckle over my cheek. “You just went pale. Does something hurt?”
I licked my suddenly very dry lips.
“I… Um, no. No, everything’s fine.”
He didn’t look like he believed me but the SUV stopped and when everyone started getting out, he let it slide. When I didn’t exit the vehicle, though, he came around and opened my door.
“Do you need me to carry you again?”
I took a deep breath and blew it out slowly.
“I can’t stay here.”
Luc growled from behind him and shoved his way closer so he could grab me and toss me over his shoulder.
“Of all the women in the world, we found someone who won’t listen to us to save her life.”
I struggled against him, using all my core strength to straighten my body so I could put my hands on his shoulders and glare down at him.
