Page 115 of The Unwanted Wife

My wife stiffens, then giggles. “I think we’re embarrassing everyone.”

“I’m kissing my wife; what’s there to be embarrassed about?”

She slaps at my chest. “Everyone is watching us,” she hisses.

“Let them.” I try to keep kissing her, but she pushes at me.

“Please, Nate.”

I sigh, then press my forehead into hers before whispering, “I have a raging hard-on. Maybe you could?—"

“—nope.”

“Under the cover of the tablecloth.”

“No way,” she gasps.

“No one will know.”

“Everyone will know.” She shoves at me again, and I release her.

I look up to find—sure enough—every gaze at the table is on us. Edward and Mira beam at us, Summer laughs, and Sinclair gives me a thumbs-up sign from where he’s rocking his kid.

Every gaze, that is, except the rest of the Davenports. Connor looks bemused, Brody is frowning, and Tyler looks bored. When does Tyler not look bored? The exception is Arthur, who looks pleased. To his credit, he doesn’t have an I-told-you-so expression on his face. Not that I’d care, even if he did. It doesn’t matter that I was pushed to see my wife before either of us were ready. The fact is, I did, and she’s mine and I’m hers. End of story.

“Argh”—Knox makes a gagging sound—“get a room, guys.”

Quentin rubs his chin. “For once, I second him.”

Knox looks at him in surprise.

Quentin notices it and raises his glass. “We might yet find common ground, nephew.”

Arthur raps his knife against his water glass, and silence envelopes the room. Even the baby respects Arthur. “I am so happy to have my family in my house today. When I started on this mission of seeing my son and grandsons settled down, I hoped to see them happy. And seeing Edward and Mira, and now, Nate and his beautiful wife Skylar here today, my heart is full.” He looks around the faces at the table. “While change is constant, the only other constant is the love of this family. As long as we have each other’s love and support, we can weather anything.” He raises his glass. “I’m excited to see what traditions we cook up together in this next chapter as a family. I?—"

Before he can finish, Otis walks over and whispers something in his ear.

Arthur nods, then lowers his glass. “—we have someone new to the family who will be joining us.”

“Another long-lost uncle?” Knox scoffs.

“Or another half-brother, maybe?” I smirk.

A man walks toward the only empty chair in the room, which is next to Arthur. I’d assumed it was because no one wanted to sit next to him, but apparently, this was planned. He’s tall, dark-haired, and dressed in a dark suit with a blood red tie which stands out against his crisp white shirt.

On the other side of Nathan, Knox draws in a sharp breath. “Motherfucker,” he hisses.

Arthurs shoots him a sharp look. “Language.”

“Really, that’s all you have to say for inviting a Whittington to the table?” Knox growls.

Toren Whittington looks around the table, then nods in my direction. “Davenport.”

“Whittington.” I nod back.

“Since our companies are now partners, I thought it would be good to invite Tor here, to join us for our weekly lunch meetings.”

“And is he going to weigh in on the future of the Davenport Group?” Knox tilts his head at Arthur.