Page 36 of Playboy Husband

CALLUM

By the time I peeled out of the parking garage at the Westwood and Sons HQ and floored it across town, I’d already run through at least half a dozen disaster scenarios in my head.

Dad had collapsed. The mansion was burning down.

Sterling had finally lost it and had strangled Harrison with his bare hands.

All I really knew was that Mom had called and told me there was an emergency. No details. No elaboration. Her message had been short but clear. Come. Now.

All the way to the estate, my heart raced and the edges of my vision blurred, but when I pushed open the massive front doors, the only thing going up in flames was my mother’s temper.

The mansion seemed fine. I’d called Sterling on my way here, and evidently, he and Harrison were both still alive, and if my oldest brother could be believed, so was Dad.

CC, however, was pacing the marble foyer floors in silk pajamas and a robe that had probably cost more than my truck and my Range Rover put together. She spun to face me the second I stepped inside. “You’re engaged and you didn’t tell me?”

I froze. “Wait, that’s the emergency?”

Her eyes went wide so wide, it was like I’d just slapped her with a wet fish. “Of course, it’s an emergency. Do you have any idea how humiliating it is for me to have heard about my own son’s engagement from the lawyers?”

I dragged a hand down my face. My mother never left her bedroom before she was dressed to the nines and ready to conquer an entire army if she had to. The fact she’d been down here in her pajamas while she waited for me meant she wasn’t actually kidding.

To her, right now, the sky was falling. “You knew this was coming, Mom. It started out as one of Dad’s brilliant little schemes. You knew I would be next. I brought Maisie to dinner. Surely—”

“Oh, don’t you dare try to spin this.” She jabbed a manicured finger at me, her hazel eyes flashing with a surprising amount of hurt. “Why didn’t you tell me it was a done deal? She’s signed the papers, Callum. When is the wedding? Where? Who’s doing the flowers?”

“Holy fuck,” I muttered. “It’s not like that. We’re not rushing into anything. I actually really like her, which is new for me, so, uh, maybe let me handle it at my own pace?”

Her responding gasp was so sharp that it could’ve shattered every crystal chandelier and glass in the house. “You like her? Do your brothers know? Does Dad? Are you ever going to answer me about the wedding?”

I stepped closer, lowering my voice in the hopes of calming her down. “There’s nothing to say about a wedding, Mom. We’ve also got Brody to think about. It’s not just about Maisie and me. He’s only seven. I’m not about to spring a marriage on him and screw it all up.”

Her mouth opened and closed like she wanted to argue but couldn’t find the angle. I gave her shoulders a gentle squeeze and then took a step back, searching those furious eyes for any clues about why she was taking all this so badly.

Dad had been on me about getting married for months. Mom had known about it. She supported the idea of arranged marriages. She’d definitely known it was coming. I just hadn’t told her that Maisie and I had completed the paperwork, but that hardly seemed to warrant this level of disaster planning.

“Besides, since when have you ever cared about what I’m doing?” I asked lightly. “It’s not like I got married without telling you. We just signed some papers.”

Her chin tipped up, that imperious Westwood glare on full display, but her silence told me I’d hit a nerve.

Why, I didn’t know, but I also didn’t really have time to figure it out.

“I should get going, but next time you call me out of the office for a family emergency, don’t be surprised if I ask you to clarify, okay? ”

I turned toward the door and she huffed behind me, the sound as defeated as if she’d been wronged by the universe itself. “Honestly, Callum, you’re impossible sometimes.”

“Yeah.” I grinned at her over my shoulder. “So I’ve heard, but let’s be fair. I drove all the way here not knowing if the house was burning down or if someone had died.”

For a second, she went quiet. Her expression softened, and when she finally spoke, her tone wasn’t sharp or hysterical anymore. “You’ve always been my favorite, you know.”

Shock stopped me right in my tracks. “What?”

She waited until I’d spun around to face her again before her lips curved into the faintest smile. “Why do you think you’re the only one with a C name? Callum. Cecelia.”

I stared at her, completely blindsided. Of all the things I thought might come out of her mouth—not even just today but ever—that had not been one of them.

She smirked. “Don’t look so surprised.”

“Oh, I’m surprised all right.” I shook my head, grinning despite my utter disbelief. “I can’t wait to rub this in the others’ faces, though.”

“No, you won’t,” she said, as if it would be so just because she had decided. “Well, actually, you can if you want to, but the point is that you’re going to give me a real wedding. Jameson and Sadie’s was perfection. I won’t accept less.”

“Yeah, about that.” I shoved my hands into my pockets and allowed a quick grimace to slide across my face. “Maisie and I are doing a civil ceremony.”

“Absolutely not.” She waved her hand like she could erase the very idea of it from existence if she sliced through the air fast enough.

“Sterling made it official in a conference room. Poor Laney rode the trolley to their meeting. I will not subject Maisie to that same treatment, nor will I miss out on the moment when another of my sons vows to spend the rest of his life with a woman.”

I held up my hands in surrender and caught a glimpse of my watch as I put my arms up. “Well, unfortunately, I’ve got to pick Brody up from hockey while Maisie takes her mom to the airport, so I guess this riveting debate will have to wait.”

Her glare followed me as I headed for the door, but I caught that faint flicker of warmth still there, tucked beneath all the dramatics. I walked out of the house feeling somehow warmer. Somehow fuller.

By the time I got to the rink, Brody’s team had just gotten done and he came barreling out the door in his oversized hoodie with his skates slung over his shoulder. When he climbed into the passenger seat of the truck, I ruffled his hair and got the standard, seven-year-old groan of protest.

“Don’t. You’ll mess it up.”

I arched an eyebrow at him, chuckling, and shifted into reverse. “You and me are the same, kid. Our hair is always messed up. No matter what we do. The earlier you learn to stop fighting it, the better.”

Instead of heading straight back to their house, I pulled in at a little burger joint between the rink and their neighborhood. A wide grin split his face. “We’re eating here?”

“Yeah, I figured we could.” I shrugged and parked the truck in the small lot outside. “I’ve heard they have the best fries in town, so I thought you could give me your expert opinion. Plus, I’m not sure how long your mom is going to be or what’s at your house for lunch, but I knew you’d be hungry.”

“Starving.” Another standard response. “We’ve never eaten here. I wonder if the burgers are any good.”

“Let’s go find out, shall we?” I doubted it mattered very much, though. After practice, the kid would eat cardboard and rave about it.

We both climbed out. Once we were inside, we went up to the counter to place our orders. “Double cheeseburger, no onions, extra pickles, fries, and a chocolate shake.”

We froze, staring at each other after placing the exact same order at the exact same time. Brody broke into a grin. “No way.”

“We really do have a lot in common.” I winked at him and ruffled his hair again, but this time, he didn’t call me out on it. “Let’s grab a table.”

He chuckled and followed me to a vinyl booth tucked into a corner next to a window. A waiter brought our shakes over and I leaned my elbows on the table, my gaze steady on his.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Uh, sure?”

“What would you think if I married your mom?” I hadn’t told her that I planned on asking him point blank, but at this point, it just felt like I should.

He tried to smother his smile but failed completely. “That’d be cool.”

I nodded, my mouth twitching the same way as I reached for my shake. “Cool.”

Neither of us said anything for a minute, just sitting there like we hadn’t both just had our entire worlds rearranged.

When the food came, I ordered another round of burgers and fries to go before Brody had even asked.

He didn’t question it, picking up his burger and biting into it like he hadn’t seen food in a year instead.

Once we were done eating, he was quiet for a few seconds before he finally blurted out, “Does that mean you’re going live with us?”

“Yeah,” I said easily. “That’s how it usually goes.”

He frowned. “Okay, but why would you want to live with a girl? Girls are gross.”

I laughed so hard, I almost fell out of the booth. “Yeah, well, just give it about ten years, buddy. You’ll change your mind.”

He scrunched up his nose. “Doubt it.”

I shook my head at him. “Trust me. It probably won’t even take a full ten years.”

For once though, I didn’t mind if he didn’t believe me. I had the kid’s permission to marry his mom and to move in with them, and that was enough for one day. More than enough.

It felt like everything was finally actually coming together, and if I was really lucky, they might even wind up staying that way.