“Dad,” I finally said, “I haven’t dated or slept with Madison Welles in a long time. You and Mom need to let it go.” I sighed. “And could you please never talk about Carrie’s body again?”
He ignored me. “Boy, there’s more than one available woman who would fit in with our family more than this littlecollege cheerleaderwould,” he sneered.
He said ‘college cheerleader’ the same way he would have said serial killer. What was wrong with my parents?
“Knock, knock,” my brother Bryce stuck his head around the corner. “What’s going on in here?”
“Nothing good,” I said.
He must’ve heard how close I was to losing it in my tone. He came in, and I knew from the look on his face that he planned to get Dad away from me. Thank goodness. I just needed some time to myself before the wedding started.
Bryce gave me a quick wink, then said, “Dad, I’m pretty sure Ruby Reynolds isn’t wearing a bra. It’s attracting a crowd out there.”
Ruby Reynolds was the trophy wife of one of Dad’s good friends. She probably had DDD breasts, and the words ‘classy’ and ‘understated’ were not in her vocabulary. “Well, this I have to see,” Dad said, moving faster than I’d seen him go in a long time.
But just before he followed Bryce out of the room, he turned to me and said, “Let me just ask you this, my boy. If Madison Welles walked through the door right now and said she was available and ready to get married, would you still marry your sexy little blonde today?”
I didn’t answer him, and he smirked before leaving. “That’s what I thought.”
He knew the answer. Everyone except Carrie and her friends and family knew the answer. They didn’t even know Madison existed. They had no clue I’d been engaged before.
But if Madison was available?
I would not be marrying Carrie Crenshaw today.
Later, as I said my vows to the beautiful, kind-hearted woman before me, I hated my parents for making me doubt my love for her on this of all days.
CHAPTER ONE
Five Years Later
Carrie
I looked around the new office. I’d never been here when my father-in-law had been CEO. It was… huge. “God. I had no idea it was so massive.”
Thatcher looked at me wryly. “That’s what she said,” he quipped.
I rolled my eyes but smiled.
“Come on. You left yourself wide open for that one.” He looked around the office. “Yeah. Dad never did anything halfway.”
“That’s for sure.” I couldn’t pretend that I would miss my father-in-law. He’d only ever made me feel uncomfortable by staring at my body or treating me like I wasn’t good enough for his son. So, I wasn’t sad he was gone. But I did feel bad for Thatcher. Even though they’d never been close, he’d still lost his father.
“It feels too soon to be moving in here,” he said, walking over to the floor-to-ceiling windows and taking in the impressive view of downtown Buckhead, an affluent area in the northern part of Atlanta.
“It’s been several months,” I reminded him gently. “Your mom says the employees are starting to talk.” I’d never been onmy mother-in-law’s side before, but even I’d seen that she had a point this time.
He sighed. “Yeah. I guess they are. If I don’t move in here, they’re going to start thinking I’m not really the new CEO.”
I walked around, taking in the surroundings. “You can always have it redecorated.”
“I’m definitely going to,” he said, moving pictures around on his massive new desk.
Workers had re-located all of Thatcher’s things to his dad’s office a few days ago, but he was still dragging his feet about working in there.
I peeked into a closed door, thinking it was a bathroom. Instead, my eyes widened when I saw a huge bedroom, complete with a king-sized bed made up with luxurious linens. A large bathroom with a shower and double sinks was located within the suite, as was a massive walk-in closet.
“Um… Thatcher?” I called.
