Page 42 of Not That Guy
One year later
Brenner
I stood on the shoreline with Bill, watching Weston and Emily frolic in the waves. Her shrieks of delight rose in the air when he scooped her up and spun her.
“Mommy. Look at me.”
Shading her eyes, Paige sat under an umbrella and waved to them.
With Weston’s father back in the Senate after losing the election, Paige had created a firestorm of her own by filing for divorce and moving out.
She and Emily were spending time with her family in Florida, which happened to be only twenty miles away from Bill’s retirement community.
“Things working out with Weston seein’ his sister?” Bill adjusted the ball cap to keep the sun off his nose. “They look like they’re gettin’ along good.”
“They are. Weston calls them once a week, and when Paige’s family had a birthday party for her, he flew in for the day to be there.”
Bill frowned. “And nothing from his father?”
“No. Paige has custody, and the senator sees her on the agreed-on holidays and part of the summer.” Election night, Weston and I had been at home with a bunch of friends, watching the results, and though we were all thrilled his father lost, it had taken a toll on Weston.
There had been no contact since that night he’d come to the apartment.
“He says it doesn’t bother him, but I try not to bring it up. ”
“That’s good.”
A wet and giggling Emily darted past us, and Weston strolled up, grinning behind his sunglasses and baseball cap.
I couldn’t help but admire him at his approach.
Water dripped down his broad chest, setting off his tanned, glowing skin.
Sun-kissed ringlets of hair lay plastered to his face, and a lazy smile curved his lips.
Thick, powerful thighs filled out his colorful board shorts.
“My two favorite guys.” He slipped an arm around my waist. The past year had given us time to grow more comfortable with public displays of affection. “Paige and Emily are meeting her family a little later on for a barbecue, but what do you say the three of us go to lunch now?”
A certain sparkle in his eyes told me something was up, but I didn’t have a clue. I peered over my sunglasses. “You don’t want to eat on the beach?”
“Nah. I know a better place.” He took my hand. “Come on. Bill, you ready?”
“Yep. I’m starvin’ like Marvin.” He walked ahead and began to pack up.
I held West’s elbow. “What’s going on? Why do I feel like you’re keeping something from me?” One annoying thing about my boyfriend was if he didn’t want to talk, he wouldn’t. Maybe if I got him naked, but that wasn’t about to happen on a public beach.
“Who me?” That guileless grin of his didn’t fool me, and though I narrowed my eyes at him, he merely patted my cheek and kissed me. “Don’t be so suspicious.”
We put our things in the trunk, and West drove north on A1A.
We passed by countless restaurants, but he didn’t stop.
After twenty minutes, he pulled into the circular driveway of a luxurious high-rise on the water.
Palm trees soared to the sky, and I spied the glitter of a huge pool on the side of the expansive grounds, while the ocean beckoned from behind the tall tower.
Bill’s bushy brows drew together. “I don’t think there’s a restaurant here.”
“Nope.” Weston left the car with the valet. “Come and see anyway.”
He greeted the concierge as if they were old friends, and we zoomed to the top. Weston knocked on the only door on the floor, and it opened to a smiling woman in a sleek tan dress.
“Good afternoon. Welcome to Versailles on the Water.”
My eyes bugged out at the sight before me.
Floor-to-ceiling windows faced only turquoise ocean and an endless cerulean sky.
The floors were pale-blond wood, and the furniture was done in neutral tones of beige, blue, and sea green.
The room had to be at least forty feet long, with twelve-foot ceilings.
A chef’s kitchen was dominated by an immense nine-foot island of gleaming white.
Bill whistled. “Man…this is…I ain’t never seen anything like this except in the movies. Who lives here?” He ran a hand over the spotless quartz.
“Nobody now. Five bedrooms and four bathrooms. But…” Weston’s eyes glittered as bright as a rising sun.
“I’d like to buy it. For us.” His gaze met mine.
“We shouldn’t have to stay in a hotel when we visit Bill.
Plus, when we come for vacations, it’ll be nice to have a home base to bring everyone together—us, Bill, Emily, and Paige.
Once the divorce is finalized, she told me she’s planning on living here and coming to New York for the summers.
She’s already looking into schools for Emily.
And for holidays, we can invite Manny and his husband, Grady, Mads and Archer, Christine and Tony if they’re around. ”
“Don’t forget Bailey. He and Grady’s brother, Keston, have been seeing each other.”
Weston chuckled. “There’s a pair I never saw coming. Bailey Marks, lawyer and nice Jewish boy, with the wild-child, motorcycle-riding, tattoo-artist Keston.” His hand crept into mine. “What do you really think?”
I leaned against the counter. “I think it’s beautiful, but what’re the carrying costs? I’m still paying into the practice, as you know.”
“And as you know, I have more money than I know what to do with. I’ll buy it, and you pay the carrying costs. You have the proceeds from the sale of your apartment.”
After several months of back and forth between my tiny one-bedroom and West’s spacious co-op, I’d succumbed and moved in with West. I sold my condo and while it had been at a premium, it still didn’t go far living in the city.
His nonchalance about money was the one thing that always stood between us. “Yeah, but between paying the costs for your apartment and also into the practice, I’m tapped out as to how much I can contribute toward everything else.”
“Can I stick my nose in, if you don’t mind?” Having wandered through the spacious living area, Bill took a seat by the island.
“Opinions are always welcome, and yours more than anyone’s.” West hopped up onto the island and sat. “Lay it on us.”
Despite the seriousness of the conversation, I had to smile. Weston and Bill had a great relationship.
“I didn’t know what to think when Brenner told me he was involved with a guy. And then finding out who you were and how much money you got? Made me wonder if you was just playing at it as something to do to piss off your old man.”
Grim-faced, Weston gazed at the floor. “Anything I can do to shit on my father makes me happy, but I would never, ever have used Brenner for that purpose. I fell for him. Hard. Like face-smashed-into-the-ground-at-a-hundred-miles-an-hour hard. I didn’t plan for it or even think about it.”
“I know that now, son. I can tell the real deal. That’s why I’m trying to plead your case.”
“You are?” West and I echoed each other.
“Listen.” Bill turned his attention to me.
“In relationships, there’s always gonna be someone who’s got more of something—money, patience, smarts…
” His eyes twinkled. “Although God knows both of you are too smart for your own good sometimes.” His tone gentled.
“West isn’t doing this for any other reason than he cares about you. Like what he did for your mother.”
My throat closed, and West slipped off the counter and put his arms around me. “I did it because I love you. And because what I do for you is also for me. Us. She deserved peace, and so did you.”
“I know.” Weston had put some pressure on the police department and found out where my mother had been buried.
He’d bought a plot for her near Pearl’s, and we’d had her exhumed and had held a proper funeral.
West didn’t ever use the power of his father’s name.
Weston Oil had enough influence to move mountains and get results.
“I’ll never forget it. Giving her a proper final resting place means a lot. ”
“And you mean everything to me. So let’s do this together. Your first big bonus, you can give me a chunk of change—whatever you want, I don’t care.” Weston squeezed me. “All I want is us together.”
I took in the sun-drenched space, thinking of long-ago days when I was a kid, first bounced from family to family, then as a teenager, sitting alone in my room while everyone else was at the cool kids’ parties. Never belonging. Always yearning.
“It’s more than I ever dreamed possible.”
“Anything is possible. If we want it bad enough, we can make it happen. This will be something that’s ours—something we do together. It would be putting down roots. Creating a future.” Weston squeezed my hand. “Our future together.”
Bill gave a slight nod. “C’mon, kiddo. Lookit this—it’s gorgeous. We could do all the holidays here, insteada my dinky one-bedroom.”
“Exactly. Imagine Thanksgiving and Christmas, with a tree in the corner,” Weston said, and his excitement was contagious.
“Emily would love it.”
“Yeah. She would. And maybe one day…” He raised a brow, and that lazy, wicked smile sent a rush of heat and anticipation through me. His lips hit my ear. “Say yes. Let’s do it.”
I pretended an exasperated sigh. “Who could say no to you?”
Weston kissed my cheek. “It only took you a year to figure that out?” The devilish grin that never failed to make my heart pound tugged at his lips.
“Ironic, isn’t it, that the boy I couldn’t stand to be in the same room with now becomes the man I can’t live without.”
Our fingers laced together, Weston held up our entwined hands. “And that’s the only guy I want to be. Yours.”