Page 23 of Playboy Husband

MAISIE

By the time we pulled into my driveway on Sunday morning, the silence in the van was almost deafening. We’d dropped the rest of the boys off at the rink on our way for their parents to collect them, and after a whole weekend with a pack of hyper-energetic kids, the sudden quiet felt almost strange.

Brody didn’t seem to notice. He spotted a cluster of his friends playing street hockey on the cul-de-sac and he was gone before I’d even unbuckled, the door slamming with a loud thud behind him.

Suddenly, Callum and I were alone and I had no idea what to say to the guy. Nerves fluttered in my stomach, the air seemingly humming with electricity now that it was just him and me. That kiss had rewired my body and my mind, but my heart was still stuck on the guilt and confusion.

Thankfully, Callum didn’t seem to have the same problem. He watched Brody sprinting toward the other kids, who immediately stopped playing to give him high-fives and chat for a minute before they continued with their game.

“Your kid is an incredible player,” he said, his voice low, firm, and serious, but there was also a hush to it that sounded a lot like awe. “What he has isn’t just skill. It’s instinct, Mais, and that’s rare.”

That knot in my chest pulsed. Does that mean I really have been failing him? Callum has known Brody for only a couple weeks and already he’s seeing something I missed. Something I might not have valued enough.

I tried to brush it off with a laugh. “He’s seven years old. Let’s not start sending videos of him to scouts just yet.”

Callum turned to face me, his handsome features stony and sharp. “I mean it, Maisie. Brody could have real opportunities. He could go play at a private school with a good program. He’s got that kind of talent. The kind that could open doors for him if we get him in front of the right people.”

“Sure,” I said, shaking my head and trying to suppress a smile. Private school. Of course, that’s where his head has gone. “With what money, though? Tuition at those places doesn’t exactly come cheap.”

“With my money,” he said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, a faint mist of confusion clouding his usually clear blue eyes. “Why would you even worry about that?”

I whipped my head around to stare at him, my body only following to angle itself toward him a fraction of a second later. “Excuse me?”

His mouth tugged into a small smile, but his eyes didn’t soften. “Excuse you for what? Of course, I’d pay for it.”

I crossed my arms, trying to shield myself from the sheer weight of the certainty in his tone. “That’s ridiculous. We can’t just take your money for—”

“I’m serious about this,” he interjected gently, but his voice was edged with something I couldn’t quite name. “Look, I know ours will be a marriage of convenience, but legally, you’d be my wife and Brody will be my son. I am going to take care of you both. That’s not negotiable, Maisie.”

For a second, it felt like I couldn’t breathe. As I looked at him, I realized that he really did mean it. I saw it in his face and I heard it in the quiet conviction in his voice. He didn’t care about the money, but he did care about using it to look after us.

“Thank you,” I finally murmured, lowering my gaze to my lap and picking at the pale pink polish on my nails that was starting to chip off. “I think this could be good for Brody. For instance, I knew he was good, but I haven’t even thought of those things as possibilities for him.”

When I finally looked up, Callum was still watching me, his expression unreadable but intent, like he was seeing past every wall I’d put up.

That was the problem I’d been dealing with since Friday.

I could feel something brewing between us, but it was nowhere near as simple as the arrangement he’d initially proposed.

The air between us settled into a silence that wasn’t awkward, but it wasn’t comfortable either. It was charged, heavy with all the things we weren’t saying, but I knew there was something I should say before he left here today.

“I’ve already reviewed the paperwork with Georgia,” I said, my voice steadier than I felt. “I’m ready to sign it whenever you are.”

Callum’s eyes lingered on mine before eventually he gave a slow nod. “Would you like to come to our family dinner this week?”

“Family dinner?” I echoed, caught completely off guard.

A faint smile curved his mouth. “It’s on Friday. I’ll text you the details?”

“Uh, sure,” I muttered. If we were getting married, then I supposed we had to meet the mighty Westwoods sooner or later. A trickle of nerves ran through me anyway. “What are they like, your family?”

He chuckled, his head shaking as he looked up at our house, but there was a thoughtful glaze to his eyes that made me wonder if he was even seeing it.

“They’re not as bad as most people think.

We’re a pretty normal family, actually. Dinners can be loud and lively, but they’re not always.

It depends on everyone’s moods. Sometimes, they’re strained.

Sometimes, we argue. Sometimes, everyone is on the same page and it’s actually pretty fun. ”

Finally, he turned back to me with a slight smile. “I hope you’re ready for invasive questions and sisters-in-law who’ll try to pull you into everything they do.”

My eyelashes fluttered in surprise. I hadn’t considered at all what it might be like to marry into their family, but before I could even begin to process that, he leaned over and pressed the barest kiss to my forehead.

It was fleeting, hardly more than a brush of warmth against my skin, but it left me frozen in place, my knees threatening to give out even though I was still sitting in the van.

It was such an intimate gesture that I nearly fainted, and by the time I’d blinked myself out of it, Callum was out of the van and he was setting our things down on the sidewalk. I half-climbed, half-stumbled out after him, wondering how someone like him could do something so naturally sweet.

Add that to everything he’d said on Friday night, and I was seriously starting to doubt that I knew who he was at all. Callum waved to catch Brody’s attention, saluting him with a wink and calling a goodbye.

Brody grinned until it looked like his face was about to crack, dropping everything to race over and toss his arms around Callum’s waist. “Bye, Cal. Thank you for the ride and everything.”

Pride swelled through me. He said thank you!

Callum chuckled and ruffled Brody’s hair. “Any time. See you around, buddy.”

When Brody released him and went back to his friends, Callum came over to me, dark hair sweeping across the top of his forehead and those blue eyes much too disarming as they locked on mine.

“We’ll talk later?”

“Yeah,” I said quietly. “Thank you for everything, Callum. Honestly. I have no idea what I would’ve done without you riding to the rescue this weekend.”

He smiled. “You would’ve figured it out, but I’m really hoping you’ll never have to again.”

I looked up at him, seeing nothing but sincerity and openness in his eyes. “You really mean that, don’t you?”

“I do.” He took a minuscule step closer to me.

The strong column of his throat moved as he swallowed.

“If you’ll let me, I’d like to be here for you, Mais.

For Brody, too. I know there’s a lot we need to figure out and that my reputation precedes me, apparently, but you can count on me. I want you to know that.”

“It’d be a good start,” I admitted, but my head was still spinning. Callum had never exactly been known for being Mr. Reliability but the years could change a person. “Brody loved having you there this weekend. It meant a lot to him.”

Callum slid his hands into his pocket, but the gesture was more than just casual.

It almost seemed like he’d done it only to give his hands something to do that wasn’t reaching for me.

I had to be imagining things, though. If he’d wanted to reach for me, he probably just would’ve done it. He seemed like the type.

“It meant a lot to me, too,” he said finally, eyes never leaving mine. “You’re still worried I’m going to disappear, aren’t you?”

I didn’t deny it, but I also couldn’t bring myself to say it out loud after everything he’d done for us this weekend. “Maybe I just need to learn how to rely on someone other than myself. Outside of my family, it’s been a long time since I’ve trusted people to stick around.”

He inclined his chin in a vague nod, those eyes softening to the point that it felt like they were caressing my features as his gaze swept across my face. “I get that, but I’ll prove it to you, Maisie. I’ll prove that you can trust me to stick around.”

I managed a smile and waved goodbye when he backed away and climbed in behind the van’s steering wheel once more. I was still trying to remember how to breathe when he pulled away, the van disappearing slowly down our block.

Brody and his friends tore down the street after it, hollering and laughing as they chased the van like it was some kind of parade float.

I stayed rooted to the sidewalk long after Callum had driven off, my forehead still tingling where he’d kissed me.

My chest ached with the knowledge that, even as much as he seemed to believe I could trust him to stick around, I honestly didn’t know if I could. Not until he knew the truth.

A truth I didn’t know how to tell him without wrecking everything. Gah, how did this even happen? When did it get so complicated?

Eventually, I forced myself inside. The house was too quiet without Brody in it, but I left him to play outside and busied myself with unpacking, pulling dirty clothes from bags and tossing them into the washer just to keep my hands moving. If I stood still, I would think too much.

The rhythmic whir of the washing machine had barely started when my phone buzzed on the counter. My mom’s name lit up the screen. I took a deep breath before I answered, but I couldn’t quite keep my voice from shaking.

“Hi, Mom.”

“Hey, honey,” her voice came warm and easy, just like it always had. “How was the weekend? How’s my grandson?”

I closed my eyes. My heart thudded so hard that I thought she might hear it through the phone. “It was good. Yeah. Brody’s good too. They won, so he’s pretty happy about that.”

“Okay,” she said slowly. “Are you okay? You sound a little bit rattled. Did I catch you at a bad time?”

“Oh, no. No, it’s not that.” I inhaled another deep breath and released it slowly. “Mom, how would you feel if I told you I was getting married soon?”

There was a pause, then a light disbelieving laugh. “Well, I suppose that would depend on who you were marrying and how sure you were about him. You’re joking though, right? I mean, you’re not even seeing anyone.”

I didn’t laugh. My throat was tight, my ears ringing a little. “I’m, uh, I’m not joking. I’m serious, Mama. I’m getting married. Soon. Like, really, really soon.”

Complete silence came from her end of the line, heavy, sudden, and shocked. It took at least a minute before she spoke again, so long that I’d checked—twice—to make sure she was still on the line. “Maisie, sweetheart. What’s going on?”

The words tumbled out of me in response, messy and shaking. “Something happened, and I don’t know what to do. I need advice. Can you, uh, do you think you could come out to California? Soon?”

Her tone shifted instantly, concern threading through every syllable. “Honey, what happened? What is all this about you getting married? You’re not making any sense, baby. Just take a deep breath and talk to me.”

I gripped the phone tighter, my voice breaking as I forced the truth out. “I’ve agreed to marry someone, Mom. Uh, Callum Westwood, actually. You know, from college?”

Her inhale was sharp. “Maisie—”

“He doesn’t know Brody is his son.”

The words hung there between us, raw and terrifying, and I pressed my palm to my eyes as if I could hold myself together while my mother tried to make sense of the truth I’d just unleashed.