Master in Shining Armor (Masters Unleashed 4)

Then again, having to deal with extended family at all—parents, siblings, and even a set of grandparents—was completely foreign to him.

“Do you see what I have to put up with?” Sadie asked Will. She looked back at her husband and shook her head in disgust. “Scotty, if you and Juliet had had any chemistry, I wouldn’t have had to date you to find out how big your dick was.”

Will burst out laughing, and Scott narrowed his eyes.

“Oh, admit it. You’re ecstatic that you’re stuck with me. You told me I was the hottest guy you’d ever met.”

“That was after I came home from the bar with Juliet, wasn’t it? Do you have any idea how drunk I was?” she teased, her eyes sparkling with mischief.

“How could I forget? I had to help you into the house and then listen to you sing for half an hour before you finally settled down for bed. The next morning, I felt like I was the one with the hangover.”

She picked lint off of the baby’s shirt. “It was fate,” she replied. “If I hadn’t gotten so drunk, I never would have called Will to nudge things along with Juliet, and then she wouldn’t be here with a date and looking happier than I’ve seen her in years.” She slid a sly look at Will. “She’s finally met a man who’s convinced her sex doesn’t have to involve total darkness and a modesty sheet.” She giggled, and to his horror, Will found himself blushing.

What the hell? He owned a BDSM club. He had no business getting embarrassed by vanillas.

“I had to mug my mom to get Beau back,” Juliet said as she rejoined the conversation, her pretty mouth twisted in feigned disgust. She held his sleeping baby against her shoulder. The sight of them together—so relaxed with each other—made him want this indefinitely.

Maybe it could work?

Juliet was so good with her and really seemed to like her. Maybe she’d gotten over not wanting kids and just didn’t want to admit it? She didn’t seem to resent her, and more and more often she was taking over parenting tasks—being helpful and loving. There’d been a few times when he’d spotted Juliet with that typical mom look, and he could have sworn she loved Beau the way he did.

It was amazing how it rarely crossed his mind now that he and Beau weren’t genetically related. It put a new spin on every Jerry Springer Show he’d ever watched. All those men trying to dodge being responsible for a child had no idea what they were missing. If the child could have been theirs at all that should have been enough. Who cared whose sperm had ultimately reached the finish line? Why did men get to walk away when women didn’t—and more important, why would they want to? He couldn’t imagine there being anything else he could be doing with this time that would be more important than Beau, or that would be more entertaining and fulfilling than raising her.

Juliet kissed the top of the baby’s head, and his heart ached to have this—the three of them together. A family . . . with her.

Even if Beau was their one and only, he could live with that if he got to keep Juliet.

Keep her.

Juliet was gazing up at him, a contented smile curving her beautiful mouth. He loved that expression—her sweet face.

Maybe it was true that when someone met their other half, they just . . . knew.

She broke eye contact almost shyly—as though she could tell what he was thinking. She nuzzled Beau’s hair and let her gaze drift to her parents, who were slow dancing together and looking as in love as newlyweds.

They could have that.

Somehow, instinctively, he was certain of it.

He needed to marry this woman before she got away.

* * *

* * *

“How long is Tabitha going to be gone?” Juliet asked with a casualness that Will hoped meant it didn’t bother her one way or the other.

Why he’d never thought to hang out on the roof of the club before now he’d never know. With a blanket and some lanterns, it was lovely up here. Or maybe it was just the company.

“Just until she gets her grandmother settled into the nursing home. She has to go through her things and help her decide what to keep. It doesn’t help that her gran’s knee isn’t feeling the way it should.” It was going to be weird not having Tabitha around. She was very quiet and unobtrusive, and yet so helpful it was like having a house elf. She had a wicked sense of humor if you could get her to chat for a while, but she preferred reading and crochet over socializing.

“You know I’ll help,” Juliet said without hesitation, taking a sip of her beer. It was one from Dex’s new line. For some reason, the sight of Juliet drinking beer from a bottle was highly distracting.

This woman. How did he even deserve her?

He took a deep breath and felt surreptitiously for the ring in his pocket. He’d had to force himself not to blurt out his proposal as soon as she’d sat down, and now he was looking for an opening and feeling like he was playing Frogger—one wrong move and he’d get squashed. This was coming out of the blue for her, and if he didn’t get the phrasing or timing quite right, she was going to think he was pulling a prank or something.

Hopefully, she didn’t secretly fangirl over YouTube videos of flash-mob proposals. He wasn’t artsy enough to pull off something so over-the-top.