Page 78 of The Wrong Fiancée

I laughed at that. "What if what we had four years ago was just…I don't know, a mirage? And now we…."

I didn'treallybelieve what I was saying. What we had four years ago had been potent because it stayed with both of us. Sure, it had been a weird and rough start at Hale Moana, what with him being engaged to Felicity—which just proved that life's irony never took a day off! I was just afraid that we wouldn't work out, that I'd get hurt, that was the crux of it.

"Life's short; you have to grab it by the…I heard this on a British show," Elsa paused as if trying to recollect the right words and then triumphantly finished, "grab it by the nipples.Oui?"

I began to laugh and couldn't stop. Soon, Elsa joined me.

I glanced back toward the house, where Duncan had scooped Solène up and was holding her on his lap, and Dean was still talking with his father. For a moment, I let myself imagine it—this as my life. This was my family. The laughter, the easy banter, the way Tate doted on Solène, and the way Duncan, for all his gruffness, melted into putty around his wife and daughter. It felt real. It felt...possible.

After we returned, Dean pulled me onto his lap and kissed the side of my head. "What were you two laughing about?" he asked.

"I told her to grab life by the nipples," Elsa said proudly.

"I'd rather grab your nipples," her husband teased, and I almost fell off Dean because Duncan did not look like one who made jokes.

Elsa pushed him away and picked up her daughter. "I have to take her to bed."

"I'll join you. And then I can grab?—"

"Tais-toi," Elsa squealed and ran away from Duncan, their daughter laughing as he chased them.

I looked at Dean. "She asked him to shut up," he translated for me.

"I never imagined the day would come when Duncan would chase after two women at once," Tate mused and raised his glass of what looked like cognac. I'd worked enough as a bartender to be able to tell.

"She sure changed him," Dean agreed.

Tate shook his head. "No, Elsa didn't change him; she gave him a reason to give life a chance—to do more than just work and make money. Emilia did the same for Damian, and if your Mom and I are lucky, Elika here will do that for you."

"If we're all going to stop making money, what the hell will happen to Archer Arts & Antiquities?" Dean mused.

"We have a good team." Tate waved a hand. "It'll be fine." He then looked around and sighed deeply. "I think we should buy this place. I like it."

"That's what I told Elika, but she wants me to move into her cottage." Dean kissed the erogenous zone beneath my ear.

Tate cocked an eyebrow. "No offense, darling, but that place is a hovel. You should just stay here with us. The rest of the family comes in four days. It would be good for you to?—"

"I can't just stay here." I would've jumped off Dean's lap, but he held me.

"Please tell me she isn't like Emilia and Elsa and has a problem with our money." Tate shook his head as if in disgust. "Most people would be thrilled to marry into a wealthy family. But my sons? They find women who turn up their noses like our money reeks."

I looked at Dean, who was chuckling while he played with the bow of my dress. "I'll work on convincing her, Dad."

"Marcella will be here, and she can do it." Tate gave me a wicked grin.

"Why can Marcella do it?" I asked.

"Everyone is terrified of my mother," Dean told me. "And if she wants something, she gets it. She's going to want you for me."

"Really?" I didn't know whether I should feel flattered or insulted.

"You haven't met my wife, darling. She's a force of nature," Tate said indulgently. His phone beeped then, and he grinned. "Speaking of which," he answered the call. "Hey, my sweetpea."

Sweetpea?

He walked away from us, and I cuddled into Dean.

I hadn't felt this sense of belonging in years. The Archers were offering me a family, a home, the kind I hadn't had since my mother died.

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