Before she could answer, their father said, “Stop baiting your sister, Marcus. Besides, it’s normal for couples to have disagreements. You’ll find that out when you get serious about someone.”
“That’s not going to happen any time soon, Dad.”
“And why is that?” Chance asked.
Tiffany smiled when her father winked at her. He had intentionally shifted the conversation off her to Marcus, who was now giving them his spiel—something they had all heard before -as to why he didn’t intend to get serious about a woman until his mid-forties.
She glanced over to where she had left Gary moments earlier, and he was gone.
**
An hour later, Gary surprised her by showing up to walk her to dinner. “I wasn’t sure you would be coming to dinner,” she said, closing her room door.
“I’m sorry if I seemed a little moody earlier, but I told you about that call I had to place into the office.”
“Yes, what about it?” she asked.
“There are some work-related issues that set me off.”
She glanced at him. “No harm done, but you’ve been moody a lot lately. Are you sure you want to be here?”
He raised a brow. “If I told you that I didn’t, would you leave with me?”
“No.”
“I didn’t think so.”
Tiffany stopped walking. “It seems you have issues regarding my family, Gary. I understand they can be overwhelming, but-”
“If I marry you, do I also marry your family?”
“No, but there’s no reason for you not to try to get to know them.”
“Okay, I will do better.”
She decided not to remind him that he had said that very same thing yesterday. “Thanks. That’s all I ask.”
He took her hand in his. “Tomorrow is Christmas, and I don’t want us to spend the day upset with each other.”
“We won’t,” she said, leaning over to brush a kiss on his lips. “Several Steeles got married on Christmas Day, so we will be getting together later to celebrate their anniversaries.”
“Sounds like fun,” he said, smiling.
She returned his smile. “It will be.”
**
Later that night, after the men had helped the women place all the kids’ gifts under the huge Christmas tree in the lodge’s massive indoor pavilion, Sebastian asked York, Quade, Morgan, and Donovan to meet with him. To ensure total privacy, they were meeting in an empty cabin on the premises, far from the other buildings.
“Okay, what’s up, Bas?” Quade asked.
“Well, if we find out that Gary Palmer is up to no good, I might have a possible motive,” Sebastian said.
York lifted a brow. “Really? What?”
“It’s got to be something connected to the Steele Corporation.”
“What makes you think that?” Morgan asked.
