Cruel King, page 6
Whitley was still staring at her ring as we walked out toward the Dorset & King plane. She pulled her phone out and snapped a picture of it on her finger with the plane in the background.
“What are you doing?”
“Sending a picture to the girls.”
I arched an eyebrow. “Is that wise?”
She shot me a calculated Cheshire cat smile. “They’re going to freak.”
“Again, is that wise?”
“Guess we’ll find out.”
I read the text over her shoulder. Sunlight bounced off my grandmother’s ring, and the plane was blurry in the background, but it was very clear what was happening.
Don’t freak out but …
I snorted. “Oh, you’re courting trouble. Katherine is going to kill you.”
“English,” Whitley said, putting her phone purposely on airplane mode and following me onto the plane. “She’ll hunt me down and murder me for not telling her what I’m doing.”
“You’ve been friends a long time. I’m sure she’d expect you to tell her you got engaged in person.”
“Oh no, she absolutely would be offended if I got engaged and she wasn’t there to witness it happening.”
I tucked that tidbit away. “But you weren’t there when Court proposed.”
“Nope, but it’s English. That’s kind of her job. She’d feel like she failed in her friend duties.”
We climbed onto my private plane. Whitley’s eyes roamed the interior before settling on the champagne that I’d been sure to have on ice before we got there.
“For the future Mr. and Mrs. King,” the flight attendant said, handing us each a glass of bubbly.
Whitley’s cheeks heated, and she looked over at me accusingly. “You told the staff?”
“We’re about to tell everyone, darling,” I joked, pulling her into me.
Her eyes widened in surprise at how forward I was. But this was what we were going to have to pull off for the next few days. With my family, who knew me better than anyone. It was easier with Whit because none of it really felt like pretending.
Having her pressed against my chest with my hand at the small of her back brought back a riot of memories. And no matter how fake this was, I couldn’t stop the desire that shot through me at her nearness.
“Well, to us then,” she said, lifting her glass.
I clinked mine against hers, and we tipped them back. She stayed in my embrace with her eyes on mine, assessing me for the trick in all of this, but she didn’t know that the trick had already happened. I’d wanted her here. I had gotten her here. Everything else that happened along the way would just be icing on the cake.
8
Whitley
Midland, Texas, was a desolate, dusty mess of a place with oil rigs as far as the eye could see. Despite the sight from the airfield being less than ideal, I took a deep breath of relief. Texas. I’d refused to say it was home, but it had a different smell than the rest of the country. Like bluebonnets and longhorns and BBQ and Friday night lights and big oil. It smelled like home.
I hated admitting it. When I went back to Dallas, which was rare to start with, I focused on getting in and getting out. But here in West Texas—where the land was flat as a pancake that stretched across the entire world, the cerulean skies had not a cloud in the sky, and the air was dry and clean—it was hard to remember why I hated it so much. Why I’d stayed away for so long.
“Not much to look at,” Gavin said quickly. “It’s nicer in town.” Then, he paused and reluctantly added, “Sort of.”
“You don’t have to convince me. I’m from Texas, remember?”
“Yeah, but Dallas isn’t Midland.”
“No.”
Dallas was … chock-full of bad memories. Midland was a blank slate.
“But I like it.”
He gave me a disbelieving look. “If you say so.”
We stepped off of the plane directly to an awaiting car service. Once I was safely out of the dry heat, I turned my phone back on. Immediately, the thing lit up like a Christmas tree. Gavin laughed, watching over my shoulder as the messages flooded in a cascade and the missed calls and voicemails racked up.
“I told you,” he said.
“Yeah, yeah,” I said with a laugh.
I clicked through the wave of texts in the group chat first. Katherine, Lark, and English were going insane because of the ring. And how could I blame them?
I’d gone out of my mind at the sight of it. Of Gavin fucking King proposing to me. Fake proposing. Whatever. My brain clearly could not tell the difference.
My breath had gone short. My mind all fuzzy. And tears had nearly come to my eyes. Not only was it utterly massive, but it was also stunning. Maybe the prettiest ring I’d ever seen in my entire existence. It fit perfectly, like it was mine. Except it wasn’t mine.
Gavin had made a joke out of it, like we both always did, but it wasn’t a joke. In that moment, it had felt so very real. I couldn’t stop staring at it. Even as we flew across the country. I continued reading the crime novel Gavin had interrupted the night before. But I’d kept getting distracted by the weight of the ring on my finger and the way the diamond cast rainbows across the room when it caught the light.
“They are really freaking out. Should I put them out of their misery?”
“It’s the right thing to do,” Gavin said with that sly grin. He was tapping away at his phone.
I pulled up the group again and selected video chat. A few seconds later, all three of my friends were on the screen, shrieking at me.
I held my hand up. “Oh my god, hold on. My eardrums, Christ. Not all at once.”
“What in the fuck was that picture, Whitley?” English asked first.
“Yeah. What is going on?” Lark asked.
Katherine tugged little Beckett closer and shot me an imperious look. “Explain yourself.”
“Well, I might have done something rash.”
English snorted. “That’s your MO.”
“When he asked, I said yes.”
“Who?” they all asked as one.
Gavin leaned into the camera and waved. “Hi, ladies.”
The phone went deathly quiet. All three girls had wide eyes and shocked expressions.
I couldn’t keep my face neutral. “You can all breathe. It’s a joke.”
“What the fuck, Whit?” English snapped.
“I don’t get it,” Lark said.
“You’re at the wedding,” Katherine guessed intuitively.
I pointed at her. “Bingo. I flew with Gavin to Texas for his cousin’s wedding. He needed a plus-one.” I grinned at them. “I just wanted to raise your hackles.”
“You’re a bitch,” English grumbled. “I actually went to your apartment to try to yell at you.”
“Sorry, airplane mode. I missed all your calls.”
Gavin leaned over again. “Don’t worry. I’ll take good care of her.”
Katherine smirked. “I bet you will.”
I snorted at Katherine’s quip. Typical Katherine.
“Okay, I’m going to let you all go now. We’re almost to the hotel.”
English shot me a look. “Call me later, okay?”
“Love you.”
Then, I hung up.
Gavin chuckled. “They were having a fit.”
“I knew they would. Especially when I sent them a picture of the ring.”
“I thought you were going to tell them our grand scheme.”
“It might have been too much, even for them.”
English had still looked pissed. I was probably going to get an earful when I finally called her back. She wouldn’t want to rage in front of Gavin. That was more Katherine, but she’d just smirked, as if she had known this was all going to happen.
“I’ll tell them how it all turns out when I get back.”
“You and your stories.”
“Hey, I have good stories,” I argued.
“Ah, yes, The Crazy Adventures of Whitley Bowen™.”
I arched an eyebrow. “You’re the one who brought me here to be another crazy story, King.”
His smile was genuine. “I never said otherwise. And I like the stories anyway.”
That look told me he was telling the truth, but I still felt wary. The girls always thought my stories from my ill-conceived relationships were a riot. But the people I dated thought they were a time bomb, waiting to blow up in their face. Not that Gavin and I were dating …
“Here we are,” Gavin said as the car rolled up to the front of a fancy hotel downtown. “Everyone from out of town is staying here.”
I followed him up the stairs as a bellman dealt with our luggage. The hotel looked like something straight out of New York. Maybe not as nice as Percy Tower, but still swanky.
I had to remind myself that this was a Texas oil dynasty. Of course they’d put everyone up at the nicest hotel in town. And they had done it because they wanted to, not to keep up with the Joneses, like my parents.
Gavin checked us in and then passed me a key. We took the elevator to one of the top floors, and he opened the door to a massive suite. There was a balcony overlooking the city and oil fields beyond. A king-size bed was set back into its own bedroom with a bathroom that made me want to crawl into the enormous tub and live there permanently.
“Wow,” I muttered. “Nice digs.”
Gavin peeked into the bedroom, and a slow smile came over his features. “It’ll do.”
I shivered at that look. One bed.
I’d be lying if I said that I hadn’t considered that I’d be in a hotel room with Gavin King, all alone for a couple of days. I wasn’t sure that I’d considered the fact that there would be only one bed.
But of course, there was.
I sauntered past him, brushing his shoulder. “I call the right side. I always sleep on the right side.”
He laughed. “You’ll have to fight me for it, Bowen.”
“I’m scrappy. I’ll win.”
“Maybe,” he said with that unrelenting smirk. “I look forward to you trying.”
I rolled my eyes at him to keep back how good that inviting quality sounded in his voice. “What’s next?”
“My aunt and uncle are throwing a party tonight at their place.”
“Time to meet everyone.”
“Are you ready?” he asked sincerely.
I popped open my suitcase and withdrew a pink sundress. “Going to be fine. I’m great with parents.”
He chuckled. “I have no doubt.”
Sometimes, I thought I was better with parents than I was with my dates. Maybe because I’d been raised to say yes, ma’am and no, sir until it was ingrained in my very being. When I saw an authority figure, my entire body snapped right to attention. This was a hundred percent nurture, and I’d never found a way to get around it.
It was probably the reason that Dr. Varma had decided I should take over his business when he wanted to retire. All those yes, sirs had really stuck with him. Even though I might or might not have broken the heart of one of his daughters.
As we drove up the winding drive toward Gavin’s aunt and uncle’s house, that same thing started to happen to me again. I sat up a little straighter. I checked my hair and makeup in the mirror of the Wrangler one of his cousins had dropped off for him to drive around while I was getting ready.
“I never thought I’d see you in a Jeep,” I told him as I snapped the visor back into place.
“I used to drive a truck.”
I leaned my chin on my fist on the center console. “Was it lifted?”
He winked at me. “Not a true West Texas boy without a lifted truck, Bowen.”
“Do you have pictures? I must see this.”
“I hope they burned them all.”
“Aww, I bet you were adorable. Did you have boots and a hat and belt buckles and shit?”
He huffed. “Of course. Who do you think I am?”
“Do you still have them?”
“We don’t talk about that.”
I laughed. “Oh my god, you do. Please tell me you’ll wear boots and a hat for me.”
“Why? So you can make fun of me?”
“Hey, I was raised in Texas. I can appreciate a man in his Sunday best jeans and a hat.”
Gavin shot me a conspiratorial grin. “Are you saying you’re hot for cowboys?”
“As if you aren’t,” I said with a wave of my hand.
“It might shock you to learn that I’ve never hooked up with a cowboy.”
I shot him a filthy look. “Oh, I have.”
“I bet you ate them alive.”
“Good ole boys make for tasty treats. As long as you don’t stick around long enough for the misogyny.”
Gavin choked. “You’re something else.” Then, he nodded his head toward the drive. “We’re here.”
I faced forward again, and my jaw dropped. I’d known that Gavin was of the King oil dynasty. I’d known. Obviously if he fit in with his other richie rich friends in New York. My richie rich friends. But Upper East Side was different than Texas. This was acres of land without an oil rig in sight and a three-story mansion on flat property with its own river and horses grazing freely. This was Texas rich. Exactly the kind of family my parents had wanted me to associate with all those years ago.
“Whoa.” I popped open the door and jumped out of the Jeep.
“Yeah,” Gavin said, coming to stand at my side. “Last chance to back out.”
I glanced up at him in surprise. “You’re the one who begged me.”
“I know. But I’m still a gentleman.”
“A gentleman?” I asked with a laugh.
Gavin King was a rogue and a rake and a playboy. Gentleman was the last thing that anyone would ever call him.
“That’s adorable, King. Let’s do this.”
He tucked my arm into his, and we headed up the drive together.
As we got closer, I noticed the white roses blooming from verdant bushes all around the house. The scent was so sweet, almost cloying. Someone had an incredible gardener to get roses that stunning to grow.
“What’s with the roses?”
Gavin grinned. “It’s my family flower. White roses. The Dorsets, who my family runs the oil business with, they’re red roses. Sort of a long-standing rivalry.”
“Well, they’re beautiful. Whoever they hired to do them has a great touch.”
“That would be my aunt Susannah,” he said. “She has a green thumb.”
We climbed the stairs, and Gavin knocked once. A second later, the door swung open, and a woman of undetermined age appeared.
“Gavin!” she said, pulling him into a hug. “Honey, we’re so glad you’re home.”
“Hi, Aunt Susannah. This is Whitley. She was admiring your roses.”
“They’re beautiful, ma’am.”
“Ma’am,” Susannah said, winking at Gavin. “I see you got a good one here. I’m so excited to meet you, Whitley. We’ve all been dying to meet Gavin’s girlfriend. He never brings anyone home, and he’s too wonderful not to have someone good for him.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” I said easily at Susannah’s gushing.
“Come. Come inside,” Susannah said quickly. “Your parents are already here. I know they can’t wait to see you and meet Whitley.”
We let Susannah pull us through her enormous house and out onto an outdoor patio that should have been on some TV show.
There was a fireplace and several mounted televisions with elaborate patio seating. All of it looked over an oasis in the middle of the otherwise dry land. Her gardening skills were on display, surrounding a massive pool with an actual lazy river and diving board. It looked like something out of a resort. And sounded like it with a few dozen people floating in the water, sitting under covered cabanas, and laughing over drinks.
The patio had an outdoor kitchen bigger than most indoor kitchens with two built-in grills and a grilling egg. A man was manning one of the grills, and the smell of hamburgers wafted toward me. I tried to keep my face neutral, but, fuck, it was hard.
He stepped away and drew Gavin into a hug. “You’re home.”
“Whitley, this is my uncle Richard.”
“The lady of honor,” Richard said genially. “A pleasure.”
“My baby,” a woman said, jumping out of her seat and sloshing her margarita as she rushed toward Gavin.
“Hi, Mom,” he said with a laugh.
They hugged, and then his father was there, giving him a hug as well. Without waiting, his mom scooped me up into a hug too.
“You must be Whitley. Oh, we’ve heard such good things about you.”
“So nice to meet you, ma’am.”
What exactly had Gavin said about me? I glanced at him, but he was just beaming at his family.
“Oh, please call me Julianne,” his mom said. “And this is my husband, Edmond.”
“We’re so happy to have you here.”
I laughed and drew back with surprise. They were all so nice. So fucking nice. Wow. My parents’ friends were all that fake nice. That sugary-sweet, backstabbing nice that put you on edge. These people weren’t like that at all.
“Sit. Sit,” Susannah said. “Whitley, can I get you a margarita?”
“Actually,” Gavin said, clearing his throat, “before we get to drinks, we have news.”
He wore a wide smile as he turned to face me, taking my hand in his. A shiver of anticipation ran down my spine.
He held my hand up so that everyone could see the ring on my finger.
“We’re engaged.”
9
Gavin
The next several hours went by in a sort of blur of delight. My family was ecstatic. To put it mildly. My mom cried at the sight of my grandma’s ring.
Suddenly, Whitley and I were whisked around the backyard, and I was introducing Whitley to all my King cousins, plus dates and friends and children. It was an overwhelming number of people on a first visit. Whitley handled it like a champ, laughing and greeting everyone like this was a common occurrence.
“Okay, remind me of names again,” she said with another secret grin.
