“It was after I brought you home from the hospital. I started work on it right away.”
“You bought this place then?”
“No, I owned it already. It was just sitting empty. I used it for clients sometimes. It was an investment.”
“Investment? You have two penthouse apartments in the same building as an investment?”
“I own several apartments in this building and a few others in the city.”
“Huh?” I know he’s got some money, but I guess I didn’t realize how much.
He chuckles. “Let’s get into bed and talk. My leg is killing me.” While I slide into my nightshirt, he slips out of his clothes, leaving only his boxers. We crawl into bed and sigh at the same moment. “I’m a little sore, too,” I admit. I smile at him. This bed is huge.
“Come over here,” he says, reaching for me.
“I don’t have it in me for any hanky-panky, Sam.”
He lets out a deep laugh. “I don’t either, sweetheart. I just want to hold my fiancée.”
Fiancée?I peek down at my ring and then back at him. I scoot over until my head is on his shoulder. He wraps his big arm around me, and I feel safe, warm, and secure. I have to ask, “Do you really want to marry me? We haven’t been seeing each other that long.”
“I really want to marry you. I’d marry you tomorrow if you’d let me get away with that.” He laughs.
“I don’t think your momorLauren would let either of us get away with that. Lauren’s already planning the bachelorette party.”
He chuckles.
“It’s going to be in Vegas, FYI.” I lay my arm over his chest. “Your mom’s paying.”
“Jesus,” he says, laughing ruefully. “I’m going with you. Gill and me and our guys can do our thing there, too. I don’t trust Laurenormy mom in Vegas. Alone. Without male protection. No way.”
I giggle into his chest. “Lauren seems happy.”
“Gill does, too.”
“I’m a little worried, though.”
“Why? Gill’s a good guy,” Sam says, sounding defensive.
“Well, Lauren is so, um, vulnerable right now. Blake really did a number on her. She thought he loved her, but he was just after her money.”
“So, you’re worried Gill is after her for her money?”
“Uh, no,” I say as I run my palm over his hard chest. How did I get so lucky with this man? “Maybe.” I feel him laugh before I hear it. His chest starts to rumble and then he belts out a series of loud laughs. “What’s so funny?”
He wraps his other arm around me and pulls me to face him. “Ever heard of Tillman Oil?”
“Of course. Who hasn’t?”
“Gill’s last name is Tillman.”
I blink and blink. “Gill Tillman is related to Tillman Oil?”
“His great-grandfather started the company. His asshole dad runs it now. Gill’s supposed to be next in line to run it, but he doesn’t want anything to do with it.”
“So, his dad is rich, but because he doesn’t want to work with his dad, he’s poor?”
Sam kisses my forehead patiently. “No, babe. Gill is rich as Croesus. His grandmother made sure of that. Apparently, she knew her own son was a tool.”
