Double Daddy Trouble

“No.” He shook his head. “This is my fucking responsibility. She’s counting on me to get it right.”

“By right, do you mean granting her freedom?”

Tyler felt his scowl deepen. He clenched his fist. “Yeah. I guess so.”

“I don’t want her to leave the cabin.”

“Neither do I.” Tyler glanced at the travel package on the corner of his desk. “We’re unveiling the foundation soon. Dreams with Wings needs me to do the right thing. And so does Brooke. But I’ve been thinking about something.”

“Yeah? What are your thoughts?” Lee shoved his hands in his pockets.

“I think it’s important that whoever our designer is, attends the event.” He smiled.

Lee grinned. “I think that’s part of the agreement with our artists, isn’t it?”

Tyler nodded. “Standard. Even if it means we take the smelly French guy with us.”

Lee laughed. “Son of a bitch. We w

ould see her again.”

Tyler felt the burden lift. It wasn’t much, but if he did choose Brooke’s design she would have to debut it at the conference. If he didn’t, she was required to be their cabin companion for the remaining six weeks. It was a win-win.

“Get out of here and let me study these proposals. I’ll let you know the finalist.”

Lee nodded. “I’ll wait. Maybe I’ll go check on her.” He stepped in the hallway and disappeared.

Tyler opened the flap to the first design. He sat back in his chair and studied the lines. This might be one of the biggest decisions he made, but at least he knew he had one more weekend to spend with Brooke. One more weekend to convince her to become theirs. One last chance to make her realize she was where she needed to be.

Fifteen

Brooke

She paced back and forth in front of the large windows in her suite. She tried to focus on the snowcapped mountains in the distance. This was agonizing. She had delivered her design over three hours ago. How long was it going to take Tyler to make a decision? What if he already had and she wasn’t the choice? He had gone with someone else and she had six more weeks with the bachelors.

She closed her eyes, exhaling a long breath. The past two weeks had changed her. She hadn’t had any contact with Niall. She had a new kind of freedom, even though it was under the constraints Tyler and Lee set.

She felt free from the McIntosh world. No more doing Niall’s bidding. No more schemes to make money. She didn’t like to think about the ways she had helped him over the years. Something about her two weeks with Tyler and Lee had taught her the past could really be the past.

She had moved into a new home. Was given a new office. Had a new career, using her passion for art. And every night she dined with the sexiest most eligible bachelors in Denver in their secret fantasy retreat. As much as she had hated how it came to be, she had started to wake up with a smile on her face.

She went to bed feeling safe. She awoke feeling as if she had a purpose. Tyler and Lee had given that to her.

What happened if she did win the bet? Would Tyler throw her out of the cabin into the snow? How did this work? She would win and her freedom would become instantaneous? She shook with nerves, rubbing her arms. Was that really what she wanted? Did she want to leave them and not look back? Could she?

Brooke jumped when her door opened. It was Lee.

“Brooke, Tyler would like you to meet him in his office.”

She tried to read his expression. Did he know the decision.

“All right. Please tell him I’ll be there in a minute.”

“Want me to wait for you?” he offered.

Brooke nodded. “I do.” The butterflies attacked her stomach. She didn’t know if she could walk. This was it. The moment of truth was about to hit her.

Lee pushed the heavy double doors open for her.