“I know you’re not thrilled. I’m not, either. It’s unexpected, and I feel blindsided. Wishing I could change how I feel hasn’t made a damn bit of difference. But I’m still here. I’m loyal to you. We’re going to make this happen. I’ve never asked you for anything—not a promotion, not a raise. Nothing. I’m asking you to let me have her.”
Evan thins his lips, pressing them together until they’re nearly white. I know he’s pissed…but I also know he’s thinking. “Are you working up a prenup?”
I should. Logic tells me it would be smart, just in case. But… “No. I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure it’s not an issue. I don’t want to let her go.”
“She can divorce you at any time, for any reason, buddy.”
“Just like Nia can do to you.”
“My wife loves me.”
“She didn’t always,” I remind him. “She turned you down the first time you proposed, remember? She only agreed to marry you because she was pregnant. The love came later.”
Evan chews on that, but he can’t refute what I’m saying.
I try another tactic. “What did I tell you the day you two got married, do you remember?”
“To just go with it.”
“Exactly. Because I knew you were in love with her, and I suspected she was falling, too. Because I thought you two belonged together. And because I knew you’d never be happy until you figured out your life with her.”
My boss turns even quieter. “You’re telling me to put the shoe on the other foot.”
“Pretty much.”
He lets out a reluctant sigh. “Okay. I get it, but Sloan can’t interfere with our plans to take over Reservoir.”
“She knows she can’t.” Besides the fact I’ve backed her into a corner, that’s another reason she’s pissed.
“And your feelings can’t get in the way of our goals.”
I nod. “Once she’s mine, it will all be good.”
At least I hope.
Evan downs the last of his beer. “I think you’re underestimating her. That woman still has lots of fight. I see it in her eyes.”
He’s right. Sloan is reeling right now. I’ve shocked her…for the moment. But she’ll come out swinging again. And unlike Evan, whose bride was pregnant, Sloan doesn’t have a pressing reason to stay a minute longer than we agreed to. Unless…
No. While I’d love to get Sloan pregnant, she’s so fiercely independent she wouldn’t think twice about cutting me out and single parenting my son or daughter. I’ll have to think of something else.
I have no choice but to make her fall in love with me.
I down the last of my beer, trying not to think about the fact that’s a tall fucking order.
“Want another?” Evan asks, sliding forward in his cozy chair to stand.
I beat him to it, grabbing our empty bottles and heading for the house. “I’ll get them.”
It gives me an excuse to check on Sloan. Nia is too kind to eat her alive—at least in the first ten minutes. But they’re both strong and not shy about saying exactly what’s on their minds. They’ll either be at each other’s throats by the end of the night or best friends.
Slowly, I ease the back door open and tiptoe into the kitchen. They’re not sitting at the nook table or at the breakfast bar, thank goodness. But I hear laughter around the corner, coming from the dining room.
“You handcuffed Bas to his nightstand? He didn’t tell me that part.”
“And then I dragged his suitcase out to the elevator and left it, yeah.”
Nia giggles. “That is hysterical. And well deserved. High five!”