Built Over Time (Middleton Hotels 4)

“That’s wonderful, Bryce.” I hung up the phone and saw the shocked expression on her face.

“What’s the matter, Harper?”

“Um, what are they going to think of me?”

I climbed back on the bed, pushing her down and leaning over her with the small box in my hand that I’d tucked under the pillow. “They are going to love you. If you’re what I want, they’ll be happy.”

“But I work for them.”

“No, you don’t. As of today, you don’t anymore. And let me tell you how my parents met. He walked right into the Inn before it was called that, and told her she was his. He left and came back three months later when she turned eighteen, then dragged her off to get married.”

She gasped. “But they may not want that for you.”

“Ha. You didn’t hear what my mother said. She’s already planning the wedding.”

“Wow, not much pressure for you.”

“There’s none at all. I want you and just put my seed in you. I think I told you what my goal was, so you’ll need this.” I opened the small box that I’ve kept for three years. The one I’d gotten when she turned eighteen. In fact, when I looked at her record I’d noticed her birthday was August 18th. The same day I bought the ring.

She gasped, clapping her hands to her mouth. After taking her left hand, I slid the three-carat diamond on her finger. Harper glanced between the ring and myself several times, making me smile with her awed expression.

“Bryce, I don’t know if I can accept this. It’s too much,” she argued.

“What, is it too big? You don’t like it?” I asked, looking at her for confirmation. It stood out on her hand, but she deserved even more than that.

“I love it, but you shouldn’t have spent so much on a ring for me.”

“There’s no one else I’d spend it on. Besides, that’s not your concern. If you like it, then it stays. I plan to spoil you until our dying day.”

“I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve you,” she confessed, her hands closing around my face. “But I will be forever grateful,” she finished, kissing me and pulling me down over her, which started another bout of slow love making.

Chapter 9

Harper

I could barely walk as we exited the car at his parents’ house. Bryce worked my body to the point of pleasurable pain. I had my favorite heels on and yet, I couldn’t stay steady. My nerves were shot. I had no clue how I was going to make it through dinner. The Middleton name was synonymous with wealth and class. For years, my mother talked about the three brothers and how it was a pity they were all happily married. She seemed to be rooting for a divorce or for one of the wives to die. I hadn’t mentioned it to Bryce yet, but I didn’t want a big wedding or for my mother to be there. In fact, I didn’t want any of my family there.

The door opened before we made it up the steps. I plastered an uncomfortable smile on my face. His mother smiled genuinely at me. It did nothing to soothe my emotions. It only made me feel like a fraud. Not because of my feelings for Bryce, because those were as real as they come, but for the family I brought along in my genes. I hated my mother and did everything I could to avoid speaking to her. If it wasn’t for my need to see Bryce, I wouldn’t have visited her at all. Her latest husband had the bankroll to help me get a nice place in Reese until I could pay it back.

The life I was living to get here was fake. I took a job I was overqualified for and had a place that wasn’t me. All for a chance to see Bryce and hope he remembered me. It was the best decision I’ve ever made, even though I was embarrassed of who my mother was and her general need for more.

“Welcome, Harper,” she said, pulling me in for a hug and into the house. Damn, the woman was strong. Bryce followed behind, closing the door and chuckling.

“Mom, you can let her go,” Bryce muttered.

She blushed as she unhooked herself from me. “Sorry, I’m just so excited.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Middleton,” I replied, sheepishly ducking my head as Bryce hauled me to his side.

“Goodness’ sake, let them come in, woman. I’m glad it’s not snowing,” his dad said, coming into the room with a jovial presence. This family was more welcoming than I deserved. “Hello, Harper.”

“Hello, Mr. Middleton,” I replied back. “And actually, I would have found the greeting to be warm in the middle of the winter.”

“See, Jacob,” his mom snipped and scrunched her nose at him.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. See what you’re going to have to deal with?” he told Bryce.

“I’m going to feel bad for the men who marry my