If I don’t act now?
It will never happen.
Kelly won’t come to me.
She’s not even aware of how I feel.
And even if she did know?
She’s too proud.Too stubborn.Too determined to carry her own weight even when it’s crushing her.
She thinks survival is strength.
She doesn’t yet understand what it feels like to have someone stand beside her—not in front, not over her—but beside her.
I adjust my cufflinks and watch her from across the reception.
She looks tired.
Not weak.
Just tired.
And there’s a difference.
Her laugh doesn’t quite reach her eyes tonight.She keeps scanning the crowd like she’s bracing for impact.
I’ve lived my life without regret.
I’ve taken risks in boardrooms and on construction sites that would make lesser men sweat through their suits.
I’ve signed deals that shifted entire industries.
But there is one thing I haven’t done.
One risk I haven’t taken.
And that’s claiming the woman I’ve wanted for decades.
Because as sure as the sun rises over this mountain and sets behind it—Kelly McCrae is mine.
She just doesn’t know it yet.
But I’m about to correct that mistake.
Chapter1
Kelly
Iam sitting at Greyson & Clara’s wedding and Leonard J.T.Lawrence—multi-millionaire construction mogul—just offered me the first and only indecent proposal I believe I am ever going to get.
And I have no idea what to do with it.
The mountain air smells like pine and cake frosting and hope.
Clara is glowing beneath the twinkle lights strung between the old maples, her cheeks pink with happiness, her hand tucked into Greyson’s like she never plans on letting go.Greyson keeps looking at her like she hung the damn moon.
Like she’s the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen in his life, and he still can’t believe she chose him.
