With everything she’d said last night. What she’d confessed to him.

  Did he understand what she was trying to say? He did.

  He wouldn’t say he didn’t find pleasure in sex after her. But he could say no one made him want to commit to anything more than the physical act.

  He knew exactly what Marissa was trying to say because he felt the same way.

  And now he knew that he still had it in him to feel more. That it was possible and he was damn well going to make sure she knew it.

  He threw the covers back and went into this bathroom to shower and get ready for the day. When he walked out of the master suite he realized the house was too quiet and looked at the clock on the wall. It was only six. Guess his internal clock was letting him get up like normal even though he was exhausted.

  When he got to the other side of the house, he moved into Tommy’s room and saw him still sleeping. He popped his head into the bathroom and it looked like it hadn’t been disturbed, so he moved to the guest room and saw Marissa in bed on her side.

  He leaned over and kissed her on the forehead. “Hey,” he said. “Want me to join you in this bed?” He’d have no problem calling in sick for the day or working remotely.

  She blinked her eyes open and smiled. “That’s a nice thought, but I don’t want Tommy to see anything. I figured I should come back here in case he got up looking for me. And I could hear him. I should go check on him.”

  “I just did. He’s out like a light.” He was trying not to get upset over her words that she didn’t want their son to see them in bed together. His feelings were going to have to be put aside.

  “Thanks,” she said. “I’ll get up and shower. I should get an early start on work anyway if he’s sleeping.”

  “Sleep if you want.”

  “There is no way now that I’m up.”

  She threw the covers back and stood up. She had on shorts and a tank top. “I like you better naked.”

  “I could say the same about you,” she said, her hand moving down his chest. It didn’t matter he had a shirt on, it still felt like a match striking fire.

  “You’re going to get me worked up to the point I’ll throw you over my shoulder and carry you to the other end of the house.”

  She laughed. “Sorry. I find I can’t help myself.”

  He gave her a kiss. “I like hearing that. Go get ready and I’ll get breakfast going.”

  By the time she walked out in shorts and a T-shirt, her hair slightly damp and hanging around her shoulders, he was making her coffee and setting it on the island. “Omelets coming up,” he said, sliding hers on a plate, then his.

  “You made two different ones?” she asked, looking at them. “And at the same time?”

  “I’m pretty handy to have around. I know you don’t like peppers and I do so I added them to mine but kept them out of yours.”

  She picked up the fork and knife and cut it in half. “Mushrooms, cheese and ham. Damn you. How do you remember these things?”

  He smiled softly and reached his hand out to run across her cheek. “I remember things when they count. Time makes no difference.”

  She dipped her head down and started to eat and he tried not to be disappointed she didn’t say anything else but told himself to dial it back a few notches. Just because he wanted to start the marathon in a sprint didn’t mean she was conditioned to do the same.

  “What time do you have to be in this morning?” she asked. “You aren’t dressed yet.”

  He’d thrown on a T-shirt and athletic shorts after his shower. “I’ll leave around seven. I figured if I get an early start then I’ll take off earlier. I was going to work from home but then remembered I’ve got a meeting off site this morning and then an office one this afternoon, so I’ll split after that.”

  “When will you be home?” she asked. “I could cook dinner for us tonight. You’ve been doing most of it.”

  “That’d be nice. Just help yourself to whatever you find in the freezer or fridge. I hope to be home by four the latest.”

  “I can work with that,” she said. “Will you let me have the kitchen to myself and not help me? You’re not the only one that knows how to cook.”

  “Sure. I’ll entertain Tommy for you while you cook for your men.”

  She laughed and it was a better reaction than a frown.

  Thirty minutes later he was walking out of his bedroom dressed. “Whoa. You’ve got a tie on.”

  “I’ve been known to wear one before.”

  Not daily. Not unless they had an important meeting with a client and he did. A first time one with his father and Drake for a development they were working on in a neighboring town. Drake and his father were going in with the road and sewer and grounds layout, he with common area buildings they’d asked to be constructed. Pool house, gym, and gathering rooms for sign out usages of the homeowners. This was a massive project that they’d won the bid on, but until everything was approved they were still showing up more professional. His father would have it no other way and it’s not like he and Drake didn’t mind dressing up, they always did.

  “It’s a sexy look on you. Is that a suit or just a shirt and tie?”

  He liked the way her eyes were looking him over. More arousal tied in and he was going to have a damn hard time leaving soon. “Suit. I’ll grab my jacket and put it in the car. Once the meeting is over, the tie and jacket will be off. How about you? Do you normally dress like this for work?”

  She laughed. “If I’m home I do. If I’m on a call remotely, I put a nice shirt on. In the office, it’s much more professional. Not a suit, but nice pants or skirt and shirt.”

  “Do you wear heels?” he asked, looking down at her small feet. “Man, I’m thinking of you in a dress and killer heels. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you really dressed up before. I might have to change that.”

  “I do wear heels but not all the time. Depends on the outfit. You’ve seen me all casual and even though I saw you at work that first day, you weren’t dressed like this.”

  “If I’m in the office all day it’s normally jeans and a nice shirt, outside of it, my father and uncle expect a professional appearance and we’d never let them down.”

  His father and uncle worked hard to get the firm the reputation it had and neither he nor his cousins were going to do anything to ruin it but rather would build it higher and better in the years to come. It was their legacy, and if he had his guess, his son was going to be working right beside him someday in some capacity.

  By the time seven rolled around he was walking out the door with his laptop, jacket, and a lunch Marissa made for him. He’d thought it was sweet when he was looking around and she caught on to what he was doing and said she’d put it together for him.

  He gave her a kiss as he left and told himself he could get used to starting his days that way.

  What he wasn’t sure he could get used to was his father coming in his office a few minutes after he’d sat down. “You’re early. Everything okay at home? Tommy okay?”

  “He’s fine. I couldn’t sleep and knew we had a busy morning so I thought I’d get a jump on it. I’ll take off after the meeting this afternoon and give Marissa a break to entertain Tommy while she cooks dinner.”

  “Dinner you say?” his father asked. “You’re letting someone cook in your kitchen?”

  It’d always been the running joke he secretly wanted to be the next Bobby Flay and no one touched his stuff. The truth was, joke or not, no one did in his kitchen other than his mother, but he had no problem with Marissa being in his space.

  Now the question was, did he tell his father what was going on? Yeah, he would.

  “She’s not just anyone. She’s the mother of my child. And if I have my way she’ll be more.”

  “Really? Things are going well?”

  “They are. I think we’ve turned the corner in the past few days. We’ve decided to try to work things out on more than one level.”

  “Meaning you’re going to start a relationship?” his father asked.

  “We’ve got a relationship already and will for the rest of our lives, but we are going to try to have a committed one. Not just co-parenting, but an actual relationship.”

  “Is she willing to move here?” his father asked.

  “We haven’t gotten that far. I think it goes without saying I’m not leaving. I’m trying to have patience when I don’t normally. We’ll figure it out as it goes.”

  His father nodded, then said, “Meeting at nine. We’ll ride over together. I’m sure Drake will be driving.”

  “That’s fine,” he said and watched his father leave.

  “Garrett, thank God you are here,” Grant said.

  “Of course I’m here. I’m always here early like you. What’s going on?”

  “I just left Ryder’s office. He and Marissa are going to give their relationship a chance.”

  “What?” Garrett said. “He told you that?”

  “He did. I asked why he was here so early and he said he couldn’t sleep. I thought there might have been problems, but he said no. He’s smiling and seems happy. Then he said he was leaving early because Marissa was cooking dinner and he wanted to entertain Tommy while she did.”

  “Ryder is letting someone else in his kitchen?”

  “I know! We did have the go ahead to tell the kids about what we did. Do you think we should let Drake and Jade know now? We need to work fast.”

  Garrett laughed. “My daughter knows so no shock there. I’m a little nervous about Drake, but I think our wives would appreciate us landing on the blade for this one.”

  “You’re probably right.”

  “What are you two talking about in here?” Jade asked. She’d walked by and popped her head in. “What’s going on and why are you whispering?”

  He looked at Garrett and then shrugged his shoulders. His niece was aware so there was no reason to hide this and maybe it would be better to start with her anyway.

  “When Drake gets in your father and I need to talk to you two,” he said.

  “Without Ryder?” she asked, lifting her eyes.

  He dropped his shoulders and looked at Garrett who said, “Yes. You know darn well what we are going to say and it’s better to not say it in front of him.”

  “Oh,” she said. “You’re going to admit what you guys did? This is great. I can’t wait to see Drake’s face.”

  He ground his teeth. “Don’t say anything, please.”

  Jade laughed. “I won’t. But I saw Drake and Kara pull in after me. They are probably in their office. Want them both? I’ll gladly go get them.”

  “Just Drake,” Garrett said. “Everyone can choose to tell their own spouses.”

  Jade grinned. “I’ll be right back with my brother. Don’t you two chicken out now,” she said rubbing her hands together.

  “Are we doing the right thing?” Garrett asked.

  “It’s too late now,” he said.

  Two minutes later Jade was back with Drake. “What’s going on?” Drake asked.

  “Dad and Uncle Grant have a confession to make.”

  “Jade,” Garrett said. “Behave.”

  “What?” Drake asked.

  “Now don’t get mad at us,” Grant said. “We had everyone’s best interests at heart when we decided to do this.”

  “No,” Drake said. “Don’t even say it.”

  “Say what?” Garrett asked his oldest son.

  “You set us all up like Uncle Gavin and Aunt Jolene did.” Drake turned to his sister and saw her big grin. “And you knew and didn’t tell any of us?”

  “I didn’t really suspect it until Wyatt,” Jade admitted. “I had some questions with Sam and Bryce, but Aunt Diane was fast to shoot it down. You and Kara work here and I saw how you were, but I know you were pushed together on some projects and it did make me wonder. I don’t know how you had a hand in Noah and Paige,” she said to her father. “I’m dying to hear that one. Wyatt was easy. Mom admitted she got the ball rolling there. And we know Aunt Jolene and Uncle Gavin put the bug in your ear about me and Brock.”

  “And you fell for it?” Drake asked.

  “She didn’t,” Garrett said. “She played us right back and you know it. You heard what she did about her engagement announcement.”

  “Which all makes sense,” Drake said. “So why are you admitting this to us now?”

  “Ryder is all that is left. He just admitted he and Marissa are going to try to give it a go. He’s going to need our help,” he said of his youngest child.

  “Marissa has no clue what he’s been up to in terms of dating the past nine years,” Jade said. “That might cause issues when she finds out.”

  “Exactly,” he said. “So we need to do our best to make sure we support Ryder so that he can get his family back together.”

  “Is it what he wants though?” Drake said.

  “Of course it is,” Jade said. “You see how he watches her when they are in the same room. I’m in. Anything to not deal with another Baywatch Babe.”

  “That’s the spirit,” he said.

  “I’m still trying to take this all in,” Drake said. “When are you telling the rest of them?”

  He looked at his twin. “Soon,” he said.

  When Jade and Drake left, Garrett said, “We better be prepared to get a bunch of calls. Noah will know before Drake is even back in his office. Jade probably already told Wyatt too, which means Wyatt will track down Sam, who will get in touch with Bryce.”

  “It’s great our family is so close, but now we might be losing some skin on our asses.”

  “It will all be worth it in the end. It has been so far.”

  “You’re right,” he said. “Nothing to be upset or embarrassed about.”

  “Nope. We should be damn proud of our work.”

  25

  No Hiding It

  “So you’re looking a little light in the loafers today,” Drake said to Ryder when they got back from their first meeting.

  It’d gone as well as he expected; everyone’s plans got approval and then they could get to work finalizing things.

  “Meaning what?” he asked.

  “Come on. My father and yours confessed everything to us.”

  “Confessed what?” he asked.

  “Oh man. Did they not tell you?” Drake asked, grinning wide.

  “Tell me what?”

  Drake seemed to hesitate and finally said, “They admitted they pulled an Aunt Jolene and Uncle Gavin with us all. You’re left.”

  Ryder started to laugh. “You’re joking. No way.”

  “Call your father and ask right now. Why don’t you seem that shocked over it?”

  “Because Marissa seemed to think something was going on. She told me that. I thought she was crazy, but some of it made sense even if I couldn’t figure out how it was done. But even Aunt Jolene never admitted it though it was common knowledge.”

  “That’s true. But it seems everyone wants to help you with Marissa and for that to happen I think they felt we all needed to be on board with the truth.”

  “I don’t need help,” he argued.

  “Shit yeah, you do. Dude. Do you really think your dating history is going to remain a secret? Not in this town. You’re going to start to run into exes left and right and you damn well know it.”

  “Fuck,” he said.

  “You made your bed and you need to lie in it,” Drake said.

  “That’s not me anymore. And I had a reason for it.”

  “We can all see it and maybe understand.”

  “Are you two talking about the confession and how we are going to help Ryder?” Jade asked.

  Drake grinned. “Ryder said he doesn’t need our help.”

  “Ryder is delusional. Any woman is going to be upset or annoyed if she finds out where your taste has been and how often you switched partners and you can’t hide it all. You can downplay it, sure, but there is no hiding it.”

  “I can’t believe this is going to matter to her,” he said.

  “Oh, Ryder,” Jade said, patting his arm. “Don’t say we didn’t warn you. But we’re here if you need our help. Just remember that.”

  “Thanks, I think. But I’ve got it covered. And why aren’t you upset over it, Jade? Of everyone, I thought for sure you’d throw the biggest fit at discovering you were played.”

  She laughed. “Because I knew all along. And I called them on it. I even threatened to tell everyone if they did it to me. Or threatened to tell you and we know you’d just bring home women worse than you were. Now we know why and hopefully it’s a thing of the past. But our parents didn’t want that risk.”

  “Knowing they set you up with Brock, you went along with it?” Ryder asked.

  “I didn’t suspect it at first, but slowly did. Put it this way, it wasn’t a shock when it was verified is all. Not like it is with you guys.”

  He watched his cousins walk out of the room and shook his head. He’d give Marissa credit for seeing what he didn’t see or what his cousins didn’t either. At least he didn’t feel too duped.

  And when his afternoon meeting ended, he left for the day. He parked in the garage and came in the side door. The house was quieter than he’d thought it’d be. The TV wasn’t even on.

  He moved to the front of the house and saw Marissa on a call in his office, so he just waved and walked out, but when he was moving around the house he couldn’t find Tommy and was starting to panic.

  There was no way the kid would have left the house. But he wasn’t in his room or on the couch. He wasn’t in the guest room or the bathroom either.

  He was almost at a run to the master wondering if his son was just exploring when he caught sight of a movement on the deck.

  He slowed down and opened the door to see Tommy in shorts in a chair in the shade with his phone in his hand and earbuds in his ears.

  Tommy turned and looked up and then pulled a bud out, Ryder hearing the music blaring. “Should you have it that loud?” He almost cringed knowing he sounded like his own father back in the day.

  “Sorry. I’m watching something on YouTube.”