Page 93 of Untethered Heart
“I’m torn between proud and so very disturbed,” Claire says as I hide my giggles behind my glass.
“If her drawers look anything like yours, Claire, I’d go for disturbed,” I manage to squeeze out in between my gasps of laughter.
“Pimping my mother out aside,” Claire says, turning her nose in the air and trying to redirect the conversation so she’s not squirming in her seat. “What I meant was I’ve done the sleeping around thing, and now I’m doing the relationship thing. There’s a difference. Every time you’re together, you’ll feel it in your soul. There’s a comfort there that just isn’t present if it’s just casual fucking. And I know you know that. Don’t be scared like I was. You and Caleb are just as inevitable as Leif and I were.”
“And I’m so happy about that.” Freya returns to the conversation with a beaming smile.
“I agree,” Margot says, surprising Claire. She puts down her fork and picks up her wine glass, holding it in the centre of the table for a toast. “To Leif, for loving my baby right down to her soul.”
“Thanks, Mum,” Claire whispers.
Margot was badly hurt when Claire’s dad revealed he was already married with kids by the time she’d found out she was pregnant. It completely killed her ability to trust men. She doubted her judgement and threw every ounce of energy she had into showing Claire how to be an independent woman. It also meantboth of them would slam the door on love before it even had a chance to breach the threshold.
Lee continues to show Margot how much Claire means to him by being open and honest with his love, since he knows how much both women need honesty. He makes sure to include Margot in all his family’s gatherings, but Freya also does that on her own.
The power of a good friend by your side is invaluable. As I raise my glass and toast with the other ladies, I smile at Claire. I’m so proud of the way she’s softened her rough edges over the last few months.
She’s a good reminder of what can happen when you give yourself permission to fall. I need to listen to that guidance now. It’s not fair to Caleb, after all the ways he’s been open with his affection, to ask him to be quiet when it comes to my brother. Dylan has already noticed how much more I’m smiling, so the man responsible for that deserves to be recognised.
I need to come clean to my brother.
Chapter forty-five
Having Lex join the weekly Heart family dinner has only proved to me just how much she belongs in my life.
My mother and Beth immediately swept her up in conversation. My eyes wandered over to them every time I would hear them laugh. Around the dinner table, she joined the conversation or listened with intent. Lex offered up any information my siblings or parents would ask. She would look at me every time Grams or Mum would compliment the way we were together, particularly the way I was around her. Or the ways I’ve changed since she’s come into my life. More settled, more relaxed.
Apart from those first few weeks after meeting Lex, and not understanding my want for her, now that we’ve settled into a rhythm of being partners, I’m actually working better. I’m focused and excited for work, I have this new zest for life, and I’m not spending all my time in the office because I know I have a beautiful woman waiting at home for me, or keeping my seat vacant at the club until I can sit with her while she works. Because yes, I’m an obsessed fucker who watches his girlfriend work. Ugh, girlfriend. Doesn’t have the same effect aswife. Oop, there goes my cock twitching in my pants again.
I shift in my seat, willing the semi to go away until I can get Lex back home.
“I’m so glad we finally have another woman around.” Beth sighs. “Thank God I encouraged your little workplace fling.”
“You encouraged it?” Gage scoffs.
“You force two people who are attracted to each other together, and sparks are bound to catch fire.” Grams nods, sipping at her pear cider.
We’re almost in February, right in the thick of Heart City summer, when the nights are still warm. Barbecues in the garden and crisp, cold ciders are just as comforting as the way Lex is snuggled against me right now. Tucked under my arm after she shifted her chair right up against mine once we were all done eating.
“That’s what happened with you and Grandpa, right, Grams?” Mason asks.
“Indeed, my dear. It was quite exciting.” Grams looks at Grandpa with a smile, which he matches with a wink, and throws his arm over her shoulder.
“Working together?” my mother asks.
“No! Sneaking around.”
Lex gasps and smothers a giggle into my chest.
“What do you mean, sneaking around?” I ask.
“I was newly working at H&H Mining. Henrietta is seven years older and worked very hard to prove that a woman could run things. The first task I was appointed to was being the representative on a big commercial project we were sponsoring, which Grandpa’s company was also an investor in. I was attracted to him the second I saw him at that first meeting. But could you imagine the headlines if it were found out we were dating? I didn’t want to tarnish the reputation my sister had built as a woman in a male-dominated field.” She tuts, shaking her head.
“I pushed back, tried to hide my feelings, but your Grandpa just loved to push my buttons.”
“I would never.” Grandpa shakes his head, purposely stirring Grams up.
“Eventually, the sexual tension just burst,” she says, smiling over at him. He picks up her hand and kisses the inside of her palm. Lex nuzzles further into my body, and my chest feels like fireworks are exploding. “We were working late one night, and I finally decided I couldn’t take it anymore. I kissed him in the way I’d been dying to, and with that came the realisation: Who says I can’t have it all? I’m the daughter of a millionaire. I’ll have my business and my happiness. I don’t have to pick one or the other. We snuck around until the project was finished, and the day after, we were married.”
