Cruel King, page 15
But I did. I did like it. We’d only been officially dating for a few weeks. I’d only been back in New York for a matter of months. Still, my world felt upside down. Yes, we were having a fake wedding. But the very real dating, the very real wooing, was utterly unexpected. I liked every bit of that.
Gavin stopped at a sandwich place, and we grabbed things to go, heading into Central Park.
“While I have you,” I said after chewing a nice giant bite of my lox on an everything bagel, “I have some things we need to nail down.”
“Oh? Like you?”
I rolled my eyes at him. “I wish. That’d be more enjoyable than wedding planning.”
“I thought the girls were in charge of most of it.”
“They are. Most of it. Which means I still have some decisions to make.”
The only thing we’d really talked about for the wedding before he left for Midland was how we were going to pay for it. I insisted, since it was my wedding, I would foot the bill. Plus, my parents had a wedding fund for me. But he scoffed at the suggestion and said he was paying. No questions.
It was a tremendous argument, but in the end, he won. I didn’t even know how it had happened. I never let anyone win in an argument, and yet Gavin had. He’d pushed me into this with the fake proposal. He’d suggested we go through with this. He was more at fault than I was for this turning out this way. And anyway, he had more money. Like a lot more money. And he argued, if I didn’t let him, he would probably pay everyone before I could get there.
So, I’d conceded. Bastard.
“Okay, English already decided on the color pattern. We’re going to figure out bridesmaid dresses. I’m having English as my maid of honor, Katherine and Lark as my bridesmaids. You’ll need three groomsmen.”
“Done. I’m going to have Court as my best man, Camden and Sam as my groomsmen.”
I checked that off my list. I’d already figured but thought I might as well ask.
We went through the rest of the long list English had given to me. It was easier, walking through the gardens and sitting by the lake, discussing it with Gavin, than doing it at home, alone. It was definitely more fun.
“Okay, last item,” I told him. “We need to figure out a prenup.”
He did a double take. “What?”
I blinked. “What?”
“What?” he repeated.
“I don’t know what you’re what-ing,” I said with a laugh. “A prenup. You know, a legal document that says the money you had before the wedding and the money I had before the wedding stay separate if we divorce.”
“I know what a prenup is. I’ve never met a woman who wanted one.”
I arched an eyebrow at him. “I don’t want your money.”
“I know, but …”
“But what? A prenup is just a legal agreement that we’re not going to be dicks about the money we made before we decided to make our own shit legal. It’s not a big deal. Why do people make it a big deal?”
“Guess I was only dating gold diggers,” he joked.
But I could see that he was actually put out by this. He’d been made to think that even asking for one was a horrible idea. I could see it all over him.
“Did Margaret and Locke have one?”
“Yeah, but … that was different.”
“How?”
He shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. You’re sure about this?”
“I’m frankly shocked you would marry someone without one.”
“No, no, I want one. I’d just never thought that someone I was marrying would suggest it.”
I shot him a mystified look. “You really have been dating the worst sort of people, haven’t you?”
He grinned and tugged me in for another kiss. “Not anymore.”
I swatted at him, but that thing happened in my stomach again. “Oh, shush. Do you want me to get a lawyer, or do you have one on staff?”
“I know a guy.”
“Good. Do the thing, so I can mark it off the list.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Don’t ma’am me,” I said, wrinkling my nose at him.
He laughed and threaded our fingers together as we headed back toward his work. “You can call me sir.” He winked at me. “In bed.”
“Yes, I gathered that’s what you were referring too,” I said with a shake of my head. But I was smiling … and considering it.
When we made it back to my work, Gavin drew me in for another long kiss. “I missed you while I was gone.”
“Well, I am very missable.”
“You are. And my mom and aunt say hi. They’re excited for the wedding. Mom wanted to throw you a bridal shower in Midland, but there’s not a lot of time.”
I bit my lip. “Is it a faux pas to accept a bridal shower for a fake wedding?”
“It’s still a real wedding, Whit.” He curled a lock of rainbow hair around a finger. “I’d take you with me if you wanted to do it.”
“Put it on the list.” I hadn’t thought about things like bridal showers. I loved his family. I’d rather do one there than with my family and their friends.
“We could go to Dallas after that to check on your dad too,” he suggested.
I swallowed and nodded. “Okay. Maybe.”
“And I have another request.”
“What else?” I asked with fake exasperation.
“The opening of the summer season in the Hamptons is next weekend.”
“So?”
“So … Camden has a house, and normally, I show up whenever I can get drunk. But I thought we could go. Think a vineyard event and a cupcake gala for LGBTQ+ youth and beach parties.”
I snorted. “That’s not really my scene.”
He leaned into me and ran his thumb along my bottom lip. “Bonfires and late-night pool dips and sex in Camden’s mansion.”
“Now, you’re speaking my language.”
“It could be fun. Just me and you and the high society of Manhattan on vacation.”
“You have a way of making it sound appealing and ridiculous.” I touched my hair. “They’re all going to sneer at the rainbow.”
“So what? Like we care what anyone else thinks. Come get drunk and have lots of sex with me all over the Hamptons.”
I couldn’t help it. I laughed. “Fine. You win. I’ll go with you. But if someone acts like a bitch, I’m probably going to get in a fight.”
“And I’ll be there to back up my feisty little pixie. But since we’re staying with the king and queen of the Upper East Side, no one will say anything … to your face at least.”
“Real reassuring, King.”
“You’ve already agreed. Pack a bag. We’re going.”
“Fine.”
He kissed me again, long and hard. “I like winning. It’s fun.”
“Get out of here before I change my mind.”
Still, he kissed me again. “I really did miss you.”
Then, he stepped back onto the sidewalk and headed to work. My stomach flipped traitorously.
What was Gavin King doing to me?
22
Gavin
Opening the social season in the Hamptons was a pastime that I didn’t think could be improved. Then, I stashed Whitley Bowen in the passenger seat of my black Jaguar convertible with the top down and blasted music, and we sang at the tops of our lungs the entire way out of the city. Her sweet voice the tune for the drive. Her mermaid hair blew wild and free as we turned toward the Hamptons.
“You’ve really never been here for the start of the season?” I asked her as we crawled through the busy streets in Friday afternoon traffic.
“Never. I’ve been out here a few times over the summer, but I usually decide to work instead.”
“You’ll love it. Bringing Manhattan to the Hamptons is always a treat.”
“If it’s all the same people, I don’t get what the big deal is.”
“Mostly to escape the oppressive city heat and retreat away from the peons.”
She snorted. “You’re an elitist dick.”
“Joking,” I said with a wicked grin. “It’s just nice to go to the beach and party away from work.”
“Fair.” She stuck her hand out the side of the window and wove it through the air. “It is beautiful out today.”
My gaze swept over her. She was beautiful. Over the last couple of weeks that I had gotten to spend alone with Whitley, my already-unprecedented need for her had only grown. The look on her face when I spent a few days out of town had proven to me that she felt the same. Even if she wasn’t ready to admit as such. She’d told me she missed me, and that had felt like a step in the right direction.
When we finally reached our turn, I pulled off the road, drove up to the gated house, and entered the code. The gates slowly withdrew to reveal the Percy property. I’d long since given up on being awed by the extravagance of the Upper East Side, but this house was giant, even for a Texas home. In the Hamptons, it had to be worth tens of millions.
I parked out front and popped the trunk. Whitley took her time, surveying the house as I dragged our two suitcases out of the back. I snapped the trunk shut, and she jolted back to reality.
“I can take mine.” She held her hand out.
“Don’t worry about it. Get the door.”
She jogged forward and pushed open the enormous door that led into a foyer. Katherine and Camden must not have been too far in front of us because there was still staff running around, preparing rooms and finishing their dusting. Katherine looked annoyed as she held her son, Beckett, in her arms. Their two-year-old daughter, Helena, was the spitting image of her mother. She held the hand of their nanny and turned with excited eyes as Whitley and I came inside.
“Aunt Whit!” Helena said, throwing herself into Whitley’s arms.
“Hey, punkin.” Whitley hoisted her up onto her hip and bounced her. “How are you getting this big? I can barely hold you.”
“Tell me about it,” Katherine grumbled. “They both are growing so fast. That’s what I get for having Camden’s giant children.”
Helena just beamed. “I’m so big because I have a giant brain, and I’m going to be a genius.”
“Is that so?” Whitley asked. “What are you going to do with your genius? Are you going to be a doctor like your aunt Whit?”
Helena wrinkled her nose. “I don’t like blood.”
“Oh, that is a requirement generally.”
“I could be an astronaut!”
“You could,” Whit agreed.
Camden stepped into the foyer like a thunderstorm with a phone pressed to his ear. He waved at us and then kissed his wife. “Can you handle the rest of this? I have to take this call.”
“Of course.”
“Daddy!” Helena called.
Camden grinned, taken with his daughter. He pressed a kiss to her cheek as well and then disappeared down the hall. Helena’s bottom lip stuck out as her daddy left.
“Daddy should come play!” Helena decided.
Katherine smoothed her dark hair. “Daddy has to work. You can go play with Nanny Kimberly or see if you can cajole Aunt Whit into it.”
Helena dropped down, wobbly on her two feet, and looked between Kimberly and Whit. “Both!”
Kimberly smiled at us. She was young, maybe her early twenties at most, with shoulder-length blonde hair and kind, clear eyes. She didn’t seem to be the kind of person Katherine would be okay with hiring.
“I can take her upstairs. You don’t have to come,” Kimberly told Whitley.
“I want to.” Then, Whitley had Helena’s hand in hers, and they traipsed upstairs.
“All right,” Kimberly said. “Would you like me to take Beckett too?”
Katherine shook her head. “I’ll hold him. He’s almost asleep anyway. If I disturb him, who knows if he’ll go down?”
“As you wish.” Then, she followed Whitley and Helena upstairs.
“She seems nice,” I told her. “A little pretty for a nanny position.”
Katherine shot me a devilish grin. “Are you insinuating that my husband has wandering eyes?”
“Not if he wants to keep all of his limbs.”
Katherine’s smile only widened. “Well, at least you know me. Anyway, Camden has never had interest in the help. Unlike some people.” Her face was suddenly furious, and then it disappeared when she looked down at her son. She ran her hand over his tuft of hair. “I trust him.”
Which was bold, considering their past problems. But I was happy for them. They seemed to be doing better than ever.
“And you and Whitley?” Katherine asked. “Are you keeping your hands to yourself?”
“With Whitley? Definitely not. She’s in my bed every night.”
“Good. Keep it that way, King. Or you’ll find yourself without certain parts as well.”
I winced at those words. “No worries there.”
Katherine shot me an assessing look. “You’re serious about this, aren’t you?”
“Yes,” I told her at once.
“Hmm,” she said.
“What?”
“Whitley is going to need some convincing. She’s been hurt too many times by every person in her life. That laugh and the crazy stories are defense mechanisms. I hope you’ve realized that.”
She arched an eyebrow, and I nodded. I had noticed that. The bad girlfriend bit wasn’t even close to reality in the weeks we’d been together.
“Do you feel like you’re up to the task? Because if you hurt her …”
“I won’t.” I couldn’t even fathom it at this point. We were finally on the same page. I didn’t want to do anything to disrupt that. “I won’t,” I repeated more firmly.
Katherine nodded, taking that as the promise it was. “I’m going to try to get Beckett down. You have your regular room upstairs. We’ll head to the vineyard in a few hours. Feel free to use the house like it’s yours.”
She headed into the first-floor master bedroom. It was strange to see Katherine as a mother, and it also somehow made perfect sense. Before I’d seen her with her two children, I never would have suspected she’d make a great mother. She’d never been the mothering type, but she was absolutely a great mom. And Camden, despite his years of abuse from his own father, was just as amazing. Their love for their children was unconditional.
I hauled the bags upstairs and deposited them into a suite, then went in search of Whitley. She was in the nursery, having a tea party with Kimberly and Helena. I watched for a few minutes, admiring the way that Whitley seemed entirely invested. She glanced up once and saw me watching and then grinned.
I waved her off and headed back to the room. A half hour later, Whit found me on my laptop at the desk in the corner. She wrapped her arms around my neck and pressed a kiss to my cheek. “Hey.”
“Hey. How was the tea party?”
“Delightful. Helena is a ball of joy. She wants to come to the vineyard and drink grown-up drinks. Or so she told me.”
I laughed. “That sounds right.”
“Do you need to work more?”
“No, I’m off the rest of the weekend. Want to tour the house and raid the fridge before we have to go?”
“Absolutely.”
I took her hand, and we ran back down the stairs like we were kids. Whitley had stayed at the Kensington house before, but never the Percy home. I did the tour, culminating with the massive pool and hot tub. We took drinks out by the pool and basked in the sun.
“Maybe I could get a house out here. It’s the perfect escape.”
“It’d be an outrageous expense. The Percys have had this home for generations.”
“Well, then I’d be getting it for future generations, right?” I reached for her hand and pressed a kiss to her palm. “Wouldn’t you want to come here with me?”
Her eyes went distant for a moment. As if she were thinking about that inexplicable future. Then, they snapped back to reality, and something like fear rocked through them. I was talking about a future that I wanted her to be in. That must have been terrifying.
“I would,” she finally said. “I like it here. I always enjoy the water.”
There was a but on the tip of her tongue, but she never voiced it because Katherine interrupted us by saying it was almost time to go.
We changed into something more presentable for the vineyard. I offered to drive, but Camden insisted we take his black Range Rover. Camden wasn’t the type of person who let anyone else have control. I never knew how he had a driver in the city, except that it was a necessity with traffic. No way was Camden Percy taking the subway.
The vineyard was already packed when we arrived. A long table was laden with a vibrant display of flowers. Each place setting had a name written on it for dinner. Fancy wine vintages were offered upon entrance with a tasting of their latest varieties from the vintners available at tables around the venue.
Whitley and I each grabbed a glass—hers white, mine red—and then found our place settings. I startled when I saw that the setting next to mine read Margaret King.
“Maggie is here?” I asked in surprise.
“She is?”
I pointed at the table setting as my eyes scanned the room. My cousin was back from the honeymoon—a week on the Amalfi Coast at a five-star villa. But I hadn’t seen her since her arrival in New York City, where she now lived full-time with Locke.
“Oh, there she is,” Whitley said.
I followed her finger and reared back in confusion. She was with a Locke, but not the one she’d married. Micah Locke stood at her elbow. She laughed at something he said, and he grinned like the weaselly predator I knew him to be.
“That is not Locke,” Whit pointed out.
I narrowed my eyes. “No, it’s not. Let’s go say hi.”
Whitley took my hand, and we walked across the vineyard lawn toward my cousin. Margaret startled when she saw us heading toward her. Then, her smile brightened, and she detached herself from Micah’s side. She collided with Whitley, giggling and jumping in a circle.
“Oh my god, you’re here! I had no idea!” Margaret gasped.
“I’m so glad to see you. Tell me everything,” Whitley said. “How was the honeymoon?”
