“How did you sleep, sprite?”
“Really good. The best I have in ages.”
“Multiple orgasms will do that for you.”
She rolled her eyes but laughed. “Might be a cure for insomnia, huh?”
“Sh, don’t tell anyone. It’s going to make me millions.” He yawned.
She didn’t really think he needed the money. Not that she really knew. Or cared. But it might be nice to know something more about her fiancée.
Wow, that was going to take some getting used to.
She ran her finger down his smooth chest. “Joel?”
“Hmm?”
“You really meant it?”
Shit. That wasn’t what she’d meant to ask. He rolled onto his side to face her. He tilted her face up so she had no choice but to look at him. Then he kissed her lightly.
“I’m going to marry you, Aspen Lane.”
Happiness filled her. “Sorry. It might take me some time to get used to. I got used to telling myself that this wouldn’t last forever.”
“And that’s my fault. For not working out earlier that you mean everything to me and that I wasn’t ever going to let you or the boys go.”
She was happy he’d included them. It wasn’t every man that would take on a ready-made family.
He ran a finger down her face. “I tried to tell myself that I was responding to the fact that you were a sub in need. That I was just going to show you what you really needed. Instead, you showed me what I needed. Never thought I wanted a family. I fucked mine up good.”
She frowned slightly. “Your family?” She knew about his sister.
“You know that my sister died.”
“Yes, but that wasn’t your fault.”
His smile was tight. “Maybe not. Sometimes I feel like I should have been able to prevent it.”
She shook her head. He was so protective of those he cared about that she understood why he felt that way.
“You couldn’t prevent it.”
“Maybe not.” He looked into the distance. “But maybe I could have done something about my brother.”
“Your brother? I didn’t know you had a brother.”
“I don’t talk about him. We’re estranged. We had a huge argument, not long after Rebecca died.”
“Oh, Joel. I’m sure it’s nothing you can’t repair. You were both hurting after losing your sister.”
He shook his head. “Rebecca wasn’t Cole’s sister. Rebecca and I had the same mom but different dads. Good old Dad was a philandering asshole who completely swept my mom off her feet, got her pregnant then dumped her. My father wasn’t the best role model. He’s part of the reason I didn’t want a family. I didn’t want to be anything like him. He was always working. And when he wasn’t working, he was screwing his latest girlfriend. He never paid any attention to Cole and me. Thankfully, I only had to spend holidays with him. Cole had to live with him all the time. I can’t even imagine how lonely his life was.”
“That sounds horrible.”
“Yeah. It’s no wonder Cole is an uptight dickhead.” He shook his head. “When the old man died, he left me half of the huge empire he’d built. I could tell Cole was put out. He’d worked for my dad, put in many hard years, and the old bastard left half of everything to me.”
“What happened between the two of you?”