“Trust me. I know the difference between you two, Tuck. You’ve always been a mystery to me. Cane isn’t hard to read. Besides, I’m not the kind of girl that crushes on a man who is clearly in love with another woman.”
“You don’t miss a thing, do you?”
“I try not to.” I snag my drink off Josh’s tray. Tucker does the same.
“This doesn’t get old?” He waves his hand toward all the people.
“Better than being alone.” I replied.
“I beg to differ.” I roll my eyes at his response.
“So is being alone working out for you?”
“Of course.” He goes for another one of those buttons on his shirt.
“I’ve been thinking about change.” I take another sip of my drink.
“What kind of change? Have you found someone? Are they here?” His eyes start roaming over the crowd. “Don’t say Sawyer Rose.”
“What’s wrong with Sawyer?”
“He gets around.”
“You saying I can’t tame a bachelor?” I lift a brow, teasing him.
“I suppose you surely could drive a man to change,” he finally says, not sounding too happy about it. I’m not sure what’s going on with him tonight but something is definitely different.
“Not true. I started a whole chess club to get your attention. And you didn’t come one time.” He stares at me in shock, making me laugh.
I really enjoy it when I catch him off guard. I can’t remember the last time I’ve had this much fun at one of my parties. I would have called you a liar before if you told me I’d be having a good time with Tucker Justice. Yet here we are.
“I had no idea.”
“Ego killer.” I laugh.
“I don’t know how that’s possible. You could have almost anyone you want, Cam. I know many have asked for your hand.” They have and for all the wrong reasons. Who asks a girl to marry them when you’ve never even taken them on a date?
“I’m not going to marry someone because it’s what I’m supposed to do. When I marry it will be for love. Not for money or prestige.”
I love my parents. I think they did the best they could for the cards they were dealt. The bottom line is they hate each other, both doing whatever they could to always be away from the other. It made life lonely for me. I, unlike so many, loved boarding school. At least there I had people to talk to and do things with.
“Two things you already have.”
“I do.” Thankfully, my parents saw their mistake. Neither of them pushed me to marry, not wanting me to end up the same way they did. They don’t really push me to do anything. I’m more left alone than anything. “But Daddy always told me two things.”
“Those are?” Tuck leans in closer.
“The first was that if you want something, you go for it head on, and the second was that I don't need a man to do anything.”
“I happen to agree with both of those.”
“Unfortunately, my dad was wrong about one of those.” I turn to fully face Tuck. “I can face things head on, but there are some things I can’t do without a man.”
“What’s that?” Tucker moves even closer now, his body pressing into me. I’m sure to others we look like two lovers having a stolen moment.
“Have you ever thought about marriage?” I ask. I’m surprised by Tuck’s hesitation. “Are you seeing someone?” I’d been so sure he wasn’t.
I might have always put out feelers on Tuck. Sometimes I wonder if I’ve never taken things further with other men because I’m always holding out a bit of hope that maybe one day Tuck will pull his head out of his ass. If he tells me he is with someone then maybe I can finally move on. But now that I wait for him to answer me, I’m not so sure that I ever could.
“I haven’t been with anyone.” I tilt my head at his choice of words. “Why do you need a man, Cam? Tell me. Maybe I could help.”
“I would like that very much, actually.”
“Tell me,” he pushes again. I can tell he’s growing irritated, but it only makes him look more handsome.
“A baby, Tuck. I want a baby.”
CHAPTER 5
TUCKER
I grab her wrist and start walking.
“Wait. Wait. Where are we going?” She tugs at my grip.
“To find a room.” Seems obvious. I stop at the first door and throw it open to find a bathroom. The man taking a shit looks up from his phone. I close the door before the toilet paper roll he throws can hit me. “Sorry,” I yell and move down the hall. My hand’s on the next latch when Cam shouts, “It’s upstairs! Upstairs!”
I look over my shoulder. “And the stairs are?”
She jerks hard. I let her go this time. She rubs her wrist and narrows her eyes. “What’s this all about, Tucker? You can’t just waltz into my party and then drag me by the hair into some dungeon. That’s not how it works.”