“So?”
“So your mom might be cool with us now, but my mom is still getting used to the idea. Let’s just take it slow. Besides, there are still a few things we need to figure out with them.”
I could see the conflict in his eyes, sensing that he was thinking that my mother should just go screw herself. After what she’d done, I didn’t blame him. Those two were going to need time to learn how sit around the same table, but as his eyes bored into mine, I knew he was committed to trying.
“Like what?” he asked finally. “What do we need to figure out with them?”
“Well, they’re going to want to know what our plans are. Where we’re going to live. If I’m going to start working for W&S in January. They’re questions we’re going to have to answer.”
The corners of his eyes tightened. “Wewillanswer them. When we’re good and ready.”
“Why don’t we just move in here?” I asked then, glancing up and down the hall. I’d been toying with the idea all night. “This place is already starting to feel like home. It’s where we got married and I love your townhouse, but here? This feels right.”
“It would also appease my parents,” he said slowly, tilting his head as his eyes sparked with something I couldn’t quite place. “It’s funny you should mention it actually, because I’ve been thinking about all that too. I just didn’t expect us to be talking about it right now.”
“What have you been thinking?” I asked, my gaze flicking from one of his eyes to the other. “We’re talking about it now because we were meant to sit down and try to figure it out yesterday, but you can bet your fine ass our dads are still going to come sniffing around for answers tonight. That’s why we were going to try to hammer it out yesterday, remember?”
“Yeah, I remember.” He paused, making sure I was looking at him and only him. “What if we start another branch of W&S in New York? Cover the east coast, the parts the family branch in Chicago doesn’t cover? We could move there for a while. Just the two of us. Give ourselves a year or so to be on our own, building something great together.”
My heart leapt so hard I almost laughed, but instead, I whispered against his jaw, “That sounds perfect. Do you think your dad and Sterling are going to go for it, though? And what about your Chicago cousins? Won’t they mind?”
It was something Harrison and I had been talking about, sure, and after everything that had happened, I wanted it now more than ever. Some space away from our families. Some timeto focus on us, on learning and growing together in a way we would never be able to do here, with both of our dads and all six of our brothers in the same industry, the same town.
In New York, we would have the chance to see what Harrison and Aurelia Westwood could become. Who we were when we stood together, but alone, and that? Going out there by ourselves and making a success of it was something no one could ever take away from us.
It would prove to everyone once and for all that we weren’t just a baby and an afterthought, taking a random stab at a life together. We would establish ourselves as players in our own right, a married couple who could have it all.
The marriage, the kids, the careers, and the lives we’d never let ourselves dream would ever actually be ours.
CHAPTER 45
HARRISON
While I was very much ready to take my wife and blow this popsicle stand, I knew Aurelia was right. At the very start of all this, our marriage had been arranged as a business partnership, and despite all the things that had changed between us personally, our dreams for our careers had remained the same.
We both had something to prove and the wheels were in motion. Stopping now would be stupid.Strike while the iron is hot and all.
Back at the party, I made my way over to my dad and Sterling, rehearsing the words in my head. This wouldn’t just be some casual chat over bourbon. It was my shot at finally making the kind of move I’d been thinking about for months.
“Gentlemen,” I said, trying to sound casual even though my pulse was hammering. “Have you got a minute?”
Harlan gave me a surprise smile and Sterling nodded, fingers wrapped loosely around his glass. “What’s up, little brother? Am I even still allowed to call you that, now that you’re married and whatnot?”
I rolled my eyes. “No matter how old I get, you’re always going to be ancient to me, big brother, so sure. Go ahead and call me whatever you want.”
Sterling laughed, a spark of knowing in his eyes. He swallowed the sip of whiskey he’d just taken. “You’re about ready to get out of here, aren’t you?”
“Yep, but I wanted to talk to you guys first,” I began, my heart now pounding in my ears. “I have a pitch for you and I’d appreciate if you’d hear me out.”
“You want to do this here?” Dad asked, brow furrowing in surprise. “At your wedding reception?”
“There’s only about a week until the new year and we know you’re expecting both of us over at HQ soon, so?—”
“Don’t tell me you’re still thinking about leaving,” he said. “Honestly, Harrison. You’ve got a place right here. You don’t have to leave the family to start your own empire. I thought we’d moved past that threat.”
Sterling blinked rapidly. “You’re leaving?”
“No.” I shook my head quickly. “Well, yes, but not in the way you’re thinking. We don’t want to leave the firm anymore.”
