Bliss Brothers: The Complete Series Boxed Set, page 56
“For half the year. And you could fall. Embrace the possibility.” I slip my foot under the table and rock his chair back another inch.
Huck lets the chair fall forward, the legs smacking down hard on the floor. “For half the year,” he agrees. “It’s the best of both worlds. And you are kind of the antagonist in this situation.”
“For now,” I hedge.
“For now you’re the antagonist? Honestly, after the other night, I’m going to make you wear a bell around your neck.”
“Don’t—don’t.” I take a deep breath and let it out as slowly as possible. The way he screamed the night I went to see him at the boathouse keeps me up at night. If I so much as think of it—for one fleeting instant—my body convulses with laughter and it wakes me up. From a dead sleep. “Hoooooooo,” I say. “For now, splitting our time between Ruby Bay and Seattle seems ideal.”
Huck twists the Twizzler into a knot on his tongue and shows me. It’s so gross, but also, he’s very sexy, so I let it slide with only the slightest look of disapproval. Then my words sink in. “What do you mean, for now?”
“I mean, when we have kids, how are we supposed to spend half the year in two different places?”
Huck leans back in his chair, hand over his chest like I’ve shot him with an arrow. “Did you just say kids?”
“Yes.” I sit up straight. “Small humans, made from our DNA. Hopefully smarter than we are on the second gen.”
“Katie.”
“Yes?”
“You can’t do that to me. It’s worse than the staring. I am not ready to be a father.”
“I didn’t say tomorrow. I said eventually.”
“Not so much. You said when we have kids. That’s definitive.”
“You’re definitive.”
He shrugs, a big movement that seems more for his benefit than for mine. “I guess that’s the beauty of having a future. We can just…roll with it. See how it turns out. Not make any crazy decisions while we’re sitting at the library.” He leans forward again. “Are we done negotiating now?”
“I think so. Why?”
“Because.” Huck pushes his chair back and stands up, then looks around and leaps over the table, his feet landing once, softly on the surface. He hops down next to me, puts two fingers under my chin, and raises my face to his for a kiss. “I’ve been wanting to do this. We don’t have to negotiate on that, do we?”
“This wasn’t really negotiating, anyway. We were listing what we wanted,” I whisper into his mouth. “Just kiss me.”
He does, long and slow and deep. When he pulls away, I can see it in his eyes—everything. Past. Present. Future. My entire life, wrapped up in one person. It takes my breath away.
“You’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen,” he says, and I feel the shock of pleasure down to my core. This is never going to get old. Never, never, never.
Huck hesitates. “But…”
“But what?”
“But I’m starving, and I can’t eat beauty. I’m sorry, toots. It doesn’t work that way.”
“Toots?” A burst of laughter way too loud for the library slips out from between my lips. “Take me out for pizza, you weirdo.”
“I’ll take you out for the rest of my life.”
“I’ll hold you to it.”
“Oh, and afterward? We’re going to…” He leans in close, and my body gets ready to hear something completely filthy. “…go to a meeting at Bliss.” His voice picks up the pace, excitement ringing through. “I think Charlie has news about Asher. Or Roman figured something out. I don’t know. What’s important is that you can wait for me in the hot tub.” He pauses, lifting his eyebrows in a way that should be ridiculous but ends up being sexy nonetheless. “Naked.”
“Gross.”
“Gorgeous.”
“The hot tub, not my body.
Huck offers me his hand, and I take it and stand up from my seat. When I was younger, I always thought that settling down with someone would feel like a thousand other doors closing. Now—here in the library especially—it feels like the only door that matters is swinging open wide. And there’s a butler on the other side, in a nice suit, beckoning me through. Drinks and appetizers.
Fine. I’m hungry, too.
“Did I tell you I met Wilder Felix? That day we had the fight. He and his wife came to rent a boat.”
Huck lets out an exasperated sigh. “And you didn’t call after me? Every single time that guy stays at the resort, I miss it.” He narrows his eyes. “Wait. Are you telling me you’re in love with Wilder Felix?”
“No. Just one-upping you, as usual.”
He winds his fingers through mine and leads me through the stacks. I’m looking forward to the meeting. No—I’m looking forward to the naked part, afterward.
My stomach rumbles, audible in the library hush. “Pizza?”
“Now and forever, baby. Now and forever.”
Epilogue
Asher
It’s been a long time since I was back at Bliss.
It’s been even longer since my father slipped me a slim file of papers, his eyes urgent. It wasn’t long before he died. A week, maybe two weeks. “I just couldn’t tell her about it.” Those same blue eyes—exactly like mine, like all of my brothers’ except Huck’s—begged forgiveness.
“Dad, what?” I didn’t open the folder. “Were you in the mob? Did you have someone killed?”
He barked a laugh. “God, no. If I was in the mob, we wouldn’t still live in New York. We’d live on a private island somewhere.”
I’d shaken my head, hard. “You love it here.”
“Yes, son, I do love it here. Ruby Bay has been our home for many years. But I love tropical weather more. Who wouldn’t?”
“So you’re handing me this big secret,” I’d prompted. “And I’m supposed to do what with it, exactly?”
“What you’ve been doing all these years,” he said. “You go, you make sure everything’s all right, you come back. You’re the man behind the curtain, Asher. Surprise.”
It was a surprise, because the man behind the curtain—the heir apparent, the king in waiting—that was always Roman. Roman wanted to be in charge of Bliss. Roman wanted to take over Dad’s big office someday. Roman wanted all of it, and me?
I wanted something else.
It clicked into place, then. All the trips across the country, and around the world. Those things had less to do with Bliss than I thought, but they were all connected. They all lead back to the resort my father took over and made his own. I find myself here over and over, always coming home, always going.
This time is different.
I don’t know when I’ll leave again, because I don’t have any more directives from Dad. That was the last one.
“Are you sure you’re not going to back out?”
Oh, yes. I’m not making the return trip alone, either. Her big brown eyes lock in on mine, and not for the first time I feel that strange flicker of emotion. There should be nothing there—this is supposed to be a business deal, a way out of a loophole—but I still can’t make up my mind about how I want it to play out.
I still can’t stop myself from thinking—
No. I don’t have time for those thoughts. Not now. We’re almost at the back entrance, about to go through the lobby.
“I’m not sure,” I tell her, because at least I can be honest about that.
Nobody looks at us in the hall, or through the lobby. Nobody notices when we turn down the next hall and go through to the offices. It’s spruced up in here. Roman’s done a nice job. I stop at the receptionist’s desk, and when she sees me, her mouth forms a perfectly round O.
“Asher.” She shakes her head, blinking hard. “Your brothers have been waiting for you.”
“I know. Are they in the office?”
“Roman’s called a meeting.” Sara’s eyes dart from me to the lady next to me, but I don’t offer her anything. I can’t. Not yet. They’re back there.
I lead her through the bullpen, my pulse so loud in my ears that I can’t hear the whispers. I’m assuming there are whispers, anyway. I can’t imagine the staff here has no idea about everything that’s been going on.
Ten feet from the door, I hear him—Charlie.
“I’ve tried everything. And if we can’t find him, we’re going to have to go another route. That’s the bottom line. We can’t have a mysterious expense line. It puts our entire livelihood in jeopardy.”
Beau pipes up. “Alex, what is calm down because this isn’t going to get solved tonight?”
A stifled laugh—must be Beau.
“Can somebody tell me when we’re going to quit discussing this? I’m planning a trip.” Driver.
“I’m planning to trip balls,” adds Huck. “Just kidding. God, you’re a tough crowd.”
“Guys, I’m telling you, we just need to give it a few more days.” Roman’s voice is calming, but Charlie’s had enough.
“I’m done with waiting. I’ve run a thousand miles over this.”
“We know,” says Huck.
I go to the door.
I take her hand in mine,.
We step through.
The silence reigns.
My brothers stare like I’m a ghost.
Finally, Huck breaks the silence.
“Uh, this might be a dumb question, but…who’s that?”
“Hello to you, too.” I raise her hand up in mine, holding it tightly. Jump. Just jump, and we’ll see where the chips fall. “I’d like all of you to meet my wife.”
Thank you so much for reading LOVE ON YOU! But, as always, there’s more.
Asher Bliss is back at the resort, only this time he’s the one with the biggest secret of all. One that could blow up the Bliss Brothers forever…
Turn the page to read Asher’s story now!
Need to know the story behind Wilder Felix, the rock star hero who visits the Bliss Resort? You so do. His love story should never have worked. A hot single dad. A forbidden virgin crush. A candy shop…
➤ Download SUGAR RUSH now and meet Wilder Felix!
SUGAR RUSH
I can’t be like this anymore.
She could mean a million different things. She could mean that she’s aching for my cock, that her own need has become unbearable. She could mean that she can’t wait another moment to be mine. But something about the way she says it makes me pause. It’s not the kind of thing that women say. This isn’t an oh, Wilder, please, fuck me. Can’t be like what anymore?
She bites her lip, her hips rocking slightly in my hands. She’s slick with want and I’ve never been harder in my life, but I can’t do this if it’s going to be some fucked-up thing. I’ve had enough of life being fucked up without hurting Shira.
“Be like what?” I say it again, urgency pulsing through my veins.
She can’t meet my eyes. “A virgin.”
➤ Read SUGAR RUSH today!
Wish on You
1
Asher
Of all the bars in Montana, I had to walk into hers.
My hand is still on the worn handle of the door when I see her perched there at the bar, dark hair picking up the pink neon from the margarita light hooked to one corner of the mirror.
She’s bowed her head gracefully over a half-full highball glass. That specific tilt of her head drives its fist into my heart. She looks like she’s praying.
What’s she praying about? My newly knocked-out-for-no-reason heart wants to know. I’ve never been a guy who prays much. I’ve thought about it. There are times when I’m on a red-eye heading back across the Atlantic, looking out at that little light blinking on the edge of the wing…
I have that same feeling now, looking at her.
She fidgets with the highball glass, spinning it between her fingers. The song Marry Me, which is, bizarrely, a country song I recognize, competes with a replay of a baseball game. The glass goes around, then back the other way.
Then, down into her drink, so softly that the sound doesn’t register above the background noise, her lips form the word fuck.
I let go of the door and let it swing shut behind me. It sticks when it shuts, too, but I don’t turn around and force it. This girl, alone at the bar, is too magnetic to turn away from.
She lifts her head from her drink—what’s she drinking?—and the hairs on the backs of my arms stand up. This mystery woman could be here with someone.
But her eyes settle on me.
Big, dark eyes, with a hint of pink just like her hair. One eyebrow arches. It takes an effort to resist turning around and pointing at my chest like an idiot.
Instead, I take one step, then another, and then another until I can slide onto the barstool next to hers.
She looks me up and down, totally shameless. “You’re not from here.” Her tone is half-question, like we’ve been in conversation, and the odd familiarity of it strums a string instrument that seems to have taken the place of my ribs.
“You’ve got that right.” The bartender makes his way over and I order a beer. My brother Beau would be appalled at how plain it is, there in its chilled glass, but Beau is probably drunk in upstate New York, and I’m in Montana. “Do you come here often?”
She tilts her head back. “Oh, my god. That line is so bad.”
“I know. I’m fresh out of good ones. I’ve been on a plane.” It sounds stupid, but it’s true.
“What do you mean? Like, you’ve been on a plane before?” She tips her head back and laughs at her own joke. “I’m sorry. I’ve had one and a half of these.”
I take in the lime wedge on the edge of the highball glass. “What are you drinking?”
She makes a face at the drink like it came up to her grandmother at a party and whispered something offensive. “A cosmo.”
“Out of a highball glass?”
Those dark eyes narrow. “What are you, the cocktail police? I don’t like martini glasses.” She thrusts her wrists out toward me. “Take me to jail, if that’s what you need to do.”
“If that’s what I need to do.” A laugh rises in my chest. “You want to be in jail over a martini glass? Sounds desperate.”
“Do you think so? Because it’s worse than that.” She whispers the last three words in a high-pitched hiss. “It’s way worse than that…stranger.”
I stick my hand out for her to shake. “Asher Bliss.”
“Asher Bliss,” she repeats, testing out the words on her tongue. “No, you’re definitely not from here.”
“I definitely never said I was.”
“Where are you from, then? Did you fall out of a crop duster?”
She’s so weird. “A place called Ruby Bay.”
“Asher Bliss from Ruby Bay. And where’s Ruby Bay?”
“Upstate New York.”
“Oooh.” She leans back on the barstool and I start to reach behind her on instinct, then tuck my hand back into my lap. “Very luxurious.”
“You have no idea.”
“Idea me.” She hiccups. How many drinks did she say she’d had? “I mean, give me an idea.”
“Well…the lake is nice.” Saying that my home base is a five-star resort feels like overkill for someone who just whispered fuck into an alcoholic drink, but nice is a lame understatement. This is going well.
“Wow. I’m wowed.” This is delivered so flatly I can see that she’s not wowed.
“It’s probably not as exciting, considering the bay you’ve got here.”
“I’ve only got this bay while I’m at the bar. When I’m at home, you can only see a tiny sliver.” She pinches her thumb and forefinger together and squints. “But that doesn’t matter much now, because I’m not going to have a home much longer.”
“What do you mean? Is the lease up on your rental?”
“Oh, that’s—” She giggles, and the giggle cascades into a full-on belly laugh. “That’s the best way I’ve ever heard anyone explain it. Kind of, Asher Bliss. In a way, the lease is up on my rental.”
“And in another way…?”
“In another way…” She looks me straight in the eye. “In forty-eight hours, I lose the farm. Literally. No. Not literally. I lose the ranch. My ranch. My…dad’s ranch. Which is now mine. But not for very long.”
I take the first sip of my beer. It’s still cold, and the taste on my tongue reminds me of sitting poolside at Bliss, which reminds me that I am not in Montana—Paulson, Montana, of all places—to meet women at the bar.
I’m here because my father sent me here ten days before he died.
He didn’t tell me to go, not right then. He didn’t know he was going to have a heart attack. But he did give me the instructions to come out here. To Montana. To a town I’ve never heard of in my life.
I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Not at first. I was too busy with all the other things that had to be done in the event of his death. None of my brothers had any idea of the extent of that to-do list. He’d been giving it to me in bits and pieces for years—pretty much every time I went overseas, or to California, or anywhere else he had me go.
“Roman’s got enough on his plate,” he’d say with a wave of his hand. “You handle this, and he’ll run the resort. Everybody’s happy.”
Roman’s been happy, as far as I know. From what I’ve heard, and what I’ve seen on their social media posts when I bother to check, Roman’s found the love of his life. All of my brothers have, except me, and I don’t know if that’s because the love of my life is waiting for me at Bliss or because she’s somewhere else on this planet.
A rush of cool like the crisp fall breeze outside brushes against the back of my neck.
“Why are you going to lose your ranch?”
She sighs, her head bowing over her cosmo-in-a-highball again. “Would you believe me if I told you my father had the most screwed-up will on the planet?”
