Page 11 of Playboy Husband

CALLUM

Ispotted her on the bleachers right away, her legs crossed and a takeout coffee cup clutched between her hands like it was life support. She stared at me, and as soon as her eyes met mine, it was like time slowed.

Across the distance, I saw her inch forward a little, but the movement was almost instinctual, as if she wasn’t even aware she was doing it. A gorgeous, pink flush bloomed across her cheeks, but then the boards rattled with some kid crashing into them and her gaze darted back to the ice.

My heart was doing strange, potentially worrying things in my chest as I climbed the steps toward her. I was torn between calling up the family cardiologist and accepting that this might just be what actual nerves felt like.

I couldn’t even pretend anymore that the conversation we were about to have didn’t matter.

Now that it was Maisie Morgan I might be marrying, I didn’t want it to be anyone else.

Not anymore. Business arrangement though it might be, I suddenly couldn’t envision myself making those vows to anyone else.

When I dropped down beside her, I grinned and readied my smoothest opener, but before I could say anything, she beat me to it. “I’ll marry you.”

I choked on absolutely nothing, my heart rate skyrocketing and my jaw slack. She was still staring down at the ice, gaze tracking the team as they skated from one side to the other, and her voice had been as flat as a ref’s whistle.

“Excuse me?”

Her cheeks pinked again, but her gaze stayed locked on the ice. “Don’t make me say it again.”

“Just like that?” I leaned closer, half-grinning, half-trying to figure out if I’d stepped into some alternate universe. “No dramatic pause, no build-up, no flowers? Just, I’ll marry you?”

She finally shot me a look. “You don’t really strike me as a flowers and candlelight kind of guy. You put an ad in the paper after all. Don’t start demanding romance now.”

All around us, the rink was buzzing with activity. Gage and the other coaches shouted instructions from below and laughter rang out from some kids waiting their turn. On the ice, the boys were a blur, their sticks crashing and their own shouts ringing out into the cold air.

I was barely aware of any of it. I just stared back at her, her dark chocolate hair pulled up into another high ponytail that she’d braided and wrapped around itself to make a bun. It was sexy.

I swallowed hard, doing my best to forget about the lust zapping through me. “I’m not usually a candlelight and romance kind of guy, but I thought I’d at least get a warning before you accepted my proposal. Maybe a drumroll? Or a mariachi band?”

Maisie rolled her eyes, but I saw the corners of her mouth twitch. “Sorry, the mariachi band was fully booked and the drummer was averse to carrying his whole drum set up the bleachers. What are you gonna do?”

“Well, I mean, there’s a drumroll app for that,” I joked. “Seriously, though, you’re saying yes?”

She held my gaze for a long beat before she nodded. “It’s business, right? You made an offer and I’m accepting it. We don’t need to pretend like there are hearts or romance involved. I don’t need any of that. All I want is stability for Brody. If you can provide that, we’re good.”

Her son’s name dropped like a gavel, a stark reminder of why she would even consider this madness.

“Okay,” I said carefully, but inside, my chest felt lighter than it had in weeks. “Then I accept your acceptance.”

She huffed out a laugh. “You’re ridiculous.”

“Guilty.” I kept looking at her, drinking in her casual jeans and sneakers combo and wondering what the catch was.

“Let’s talk T’s and C’s. Terms and conditions.

Like you said, this is business. There will be contracts involved, so what are your terms?

I’m assuming your acceptance isn’t unconditional. ”

“Absolutely not.” She didn’t even blink. “If you’re serious about this, you’re moving into my house. Brody’s routines don’t change. My job doesn’t change. My life doesn’t just vanish because you have a fancy apartment.”

“Wow. You didn’t even pretend to consider moving in with me.”

She shrugged a shoulder. “I’ve learned not to waste time pretending. The reality is that the house is a deal-breaker for me.”

I couldn’t help the grin that spread across my face. Damn, I like her.

I always had, even if I hadn’t let myself think about her in so many years that I hadn’t even recognized her at first. She leaned in as she spoke.

Her eyes were bright and a lock of her hair brushed against her cheek.

I caught the faintest trace of vanilla as she got closer to me, and it was distracting enough that I almost missed her next line.

“One more thing,” she said. “I’m not signing anything until Brody has spent some time with you. If he doesn’t like you, we don’t go through with it.”

My eyebrows shot up. “Harsh.”

She shook her head. “Practical.”

I sat back, pretending to mull it over like it was a high-stakes negotiation, but my decision was already made. “So what you’re saying, basically, is that I’ve got to win over a seven-year-old hockey player to get the girl and the inheritance.”

Her lips quirked like she was fighting a smile. “Something like that.”

I raised my coffee cup. “Challenge accepted. You do remember that I played in college, right? I’m sure you also know that you don’t get to D1 unless you’re actually kind of good at the game and just maybe that you’ve put a decent amount of time into it.

You might as well start practicing your vows, Morgan. I’ve got this.”

Her laughter warmed the cold air and I chuckled, but then I remembered that she wasn’t the only one who had to run this by someone else. I sighed and scratched the side of my neck, wishing I didn’t have to tell her this, but it was important that she was aware.

“I’m going to have to talk to my dad about it,” I finally admitted. “There will also have to be a prenup, contracts, all of that. Once I’ve had them drawn up, I’ll send them to you so you can look them over. There will be room for negotiation. It’s not a forced, take it or leave it kind of deal.”

Her jaw ticked, but she gave a short nod. “Of course. I expected all of that.”

Suddenly hating how stiff her voice had become, I shifted gears. I wasn’t ready for this conversation to end and definitely not on such a sour note. “Alright, then. That covers the T’s and C’s. Tell me about him. Brody. What else do I need to know to win him over?”

That got her. As I watched, it was almost like flipping a switch. Her eyes softened and her whole face lit up.

“He’s… all boy,” she said, laughing softly as she gave her head a quick shake. “He loves golf almost as much as hockey, but hockey’s better because it actually wears him out. That’s my main goal these days, to keep him moving until he collapses.”

I smirked. “That sounds like a familiar strategy. I think my mom employed the same one.”

“It’s necessary. Without it, he’s climbing the walls by the time we get home in the afternoons.” She shook her head again, but her smile didn’t fade. “We’re practically on a first-name basis with the urgent care staff.”

“Frequent visitors, huh?”

She nodded emphatically. “So frequent that I owe all the nurses Christmas cards, but I definitely won’t be getting one from our health insurance.”

“Already?” I chuckled, all of this sounding so familiar, it was like she was describing my own childhood. “How old is he again?”

“Seven going on seventeen.” She sighed, but it wasn’t an annoyed sound. “He’s smart too, though. Too smart sometimes. And he’s so stubborn. He’s only calm when he’s asleep, so you’re going to have to be ready for that.”

Something in her voice pulled at me, making it sound like she was barely hanging on.

For the first time since she’d blurted out that she would marry me, I realized that this really wasn’t about money or who I was to her.

I’d known it before, but it was like it was fully dawning on me now just how personal this was for her.

The long and the short of it was that she needed help, and I leaned closer without really even thinking, gaze hooked on hers. “I’m ready for it.”

She arched an eyebrow at me. “That might only be because you don’t really know him yet.”

“Not yet, but I’d like to,” I said. “Boys can be a lot. Trust me, I know. I have three brothers and I’m a boy myself, but shit, our house was so damn chaotic when we were growing up that even I had to just hide sometimes.

I think that’s part of the reason why I took up every sport I could.

It gave me a reason to not be at home so much. ”

As I spoke, I let my gaze wander to the ice, where the little monsters were still tearing around. My stare latched onto Brody. The kid was fast even in comparison to some of the older boys, already sharper on his skates than half of them.

He suddenly glanced toward the glass, obviously seeking out his mom, and something tugged at me as I studied his features. Damn. What the…

I blinked hard and sat forward a little as I realized what had been nagging at me. I hadn’t really looked at him before, but now that I was?

Brody had that sharp jaw, the straight nose, the same too-serious brow I’d seen in the mirror my whole life, but it wasn’t me I thought of first. It was Sterling. My oldest brother. People said I looked most like him.

I swallowed hard, but the more I looked at the kid, the more I seemed to notice the Westwood stamp written all over his face.

No one else had seemed to notice. Gage had been working with this kid a while and he hadn’t said anything, at least. Hell, I hadn’t even noticed it at first, but despite his eyes being green instead of blue, there was an undeniable similarity to my brother’s features.

My mouth itched to open. I desperately wanted to crack some joke about whether she’d had a fling with any billionaires in San Francisco back in the day. The words were right there, loaded and cocked, but for once in my life, I shut the hell up.

Instead, I decided to be a touch more tactful about it. If I pissed her off now, she’d inevitably run again and decide it really had been a mistake. I still wanted it to be her, so I kept my voice as even as I could.

“Is, uh, is Brody dad going to be an issue?”

Her hand jerked just a little on the coffee cup. “No, he’s never been part of his life.”

The way she’s suddenly refusing to meet my eyes and that little jerk of her hand? Something was definitely off. My chest tightened with a suspicion I couldn’t quite name, but the whistle blew and practice wrapped up before I could puzzle through it.

The kids came off the ice, sweaty, laughing, and helmets askew as they shouted their goodbyes to the coaches and shoved each other like playing puppies. Maisie rose and waved to her son. He waved back.

I stood too, watching him sit down on the bench to take off his skates. “Hey, before you go, would you guys like to go golfing this weekend? You said Brody likes it. I’m a member at a country club upstate, near my parents’ place. It’s a great course. Maybe he’d like it?”

She glanced back at me, cautious but polite. “A country club? Are you sure it’s kid friendly?”

I shrugged. “It’s whatever I tell them it is. You won’t have to worry about a thing. What do you say? It’ll be fun.”

Her eyebrows lifted, but she gave me the tiniest smirk. “Well, I said you needed to get to know him.”

“Right? Doesn’t that sound like a nice way to ease into it?”

“Yeah. Okay. We’ll come. Saturday?”

“Saturday. I’ll text you the details.” I felt my chest loosen just a little, like maybe I’d just won something important.

Important enough that if I played my cards right, it might even result in marriage one day soon.