Seduce Me (Austin Singles 1)

Blake huffed. “Right.”

Tossing him a “go to hell” look, I replied, “I’m not with Charlie because of her money. I have my own money, thank you.”

Nash laughed. “Don’t be jealous, Blake. Charlie was never going to be into you. She has had the hots for Middleton here since college.”

Now it was Blake’s turn to roll his eyes.

Jim clapped his hands together. “Well, I know how much she’s worth, or at least the ballpark figure. Somewhere in the range of $2.4 billion. I believe her father was nine hundred and something on the Forbes list of richest Texans last year, so I imagine our sweet little college buddy will be right up there as well.”

“Jesus H. Christ. The two of you together will be a powerhouse. Dude, isn’t your dad’s communications company worth like $1.2 billion?”

I laughed. “Yeah, something like that.”

Nash shook his head. “Damn.”

“I’m not part of Dad’s business though,” I stated.

“You get a trust fund from it, dude, so don’t be crying poverty,” Blake added.

My eyes darted over to him. “I’m not. Never said I was. What’s your problem anyway?”

He held up his hands. “No problem. Just stating that the two of you are worth billions, that’s all.”

“Yeah well, we all know money doesn’t buy happiness, and Charlie and Tucker are two of the most modest people I’ve ever known,” Jim said.

I had no clue what in the hell Blake’s issue was. His daddy was from the oil and gas business, and we all knew he was worth more than probably both Charlie’s company and my father’s put together.

“Anyway, have y’all decided on when you’re getting married?” Jim asked. “Terri said Charlie hadn’t mentioned anything to her or Lily.”

Every time Lily’s name was mentioned, I couldn’t help but notice how Nash frowned. He’d talked to my sister a few weeks back, and I had no clue what went down between them, but every time she was around, Nash took off. Granted, Lily hadn’t been spending nearly the same amount of time with our group that she had in the past. Most of her days were filled with work and Mark. I knew my sister wasn’t very happy though. Something about her was different, and I couldn’t put my finger on it.

“I need to take a drive to check on one of the fences. You want to go with me?” I asked Nash. Jim and Blake were heading over to the skeet thrower, a bet already in place as to who could shoot the most in a row.

“Yeah, I’ll take a drive with you.”

I jumped into the truck and headed out over the pasture to the west side of the ranch. My family had owned this land for three generations. Five hundred acres just outside of Blanco, Texas. After Charlie took a ride with me out here, she opted for building a house on this land, rather than the land she’d bought in Marble Falls. We’d already met with Nash out here and picked the building site and went over the plans for the house. It meant a lot to both Charlie and me that Nash was the one building our home.

After a few minutes of driving in silence, I spoke.

“So, you ever going to tell me about what happened between you and my sister?”

From the corner of my eye, I saw Nash look at me. “You don’t know?”

I faced him, my brows pulled in. “No. Should I?”

He looked surprised but then turned and stared out the front window.

“I figured you would have known before I did.”

Now I was confused. “Why would I? Dude, I didn’t even know y’all were dating.”

“She’s pregnant. With Mark’s baby.”

Slamming on the brakes, I threw my truck into park and faced Nash. “She’s what? Are you sure it’s Mark’s baby? How far along is she? I thought y’all just broke up after Dad died.”

I threw him a million questions, but I was stunned. Why in the hell would my sister not tell me she was pregnant?

Nash’s forehead creased, and he wore a pained expression. I swore tears shone in his eyes.