Page 36 of Light Up My Life (Forbidden Heat 3)

Now I was curious. “What do you mean?” I asked.

“I’m going to make you an offer. If you get married and have a child within three years, then I will include you in the will. I’ll leave you the bulk of the company left over after your mother’s share. If you do that and give up these playboy antics, I will gladly include you. Otherwise, I will have no choice but to disinherit you. I’m not leaving this in the hands of some fuckup who can’t grow up and run his own life. That’s what this is about.”

I thought about what he said as I sat there. I was watching his expressions, his eyes, his hand gestures and I was filled with the urge to beat him senseless. But I let it pass. That would not solve anything. To get the money that was rightfully mine, I would have to be married with a child? That was the most preposterous thing I’d ever heard of.

I was so mad I was gritting my teeth. This prick was going to tell me how to run my life? He really thought he could do that? That motherfucker. I wanted so badly to just gouge his eyes out with my fingers.

I sat there and said nothing for a good minute, appearing deep in thought. My fists were clenched so tightly, it took all of my self-control to keep from punching his lights out, but eventually I came out of it.

“So, I have to get married and have a child within three years?” I asked.

“That’s right.”

“Fine. Anything else?”

“No. That’s it.”

“Ok,” I said. “Is that all you had to say?”

“Yes,” he replied.

“Good. I’ve lost my appetite.”

I got up and left the restaurant.

I could not believe how absurd my father was being. Who was he to tell me that I had to be married to collect what was rightfully mine by birth? My hands slammed against the steering wheel as I drove. I was so angry. I wanted to turn the car around and go back there and smash his head in. I’d never felt so enraged in my entire life. I shouldn’t have been behind the wheel, but I made it home in one piece.

Once inside, I poured myself a whiskey and sat down to think. I just had to cool off. What was I going to do? I didn?

??t want to be married. I’d said that to myself so many times over the years that it had become an actual mantra. I would not get married. But now I had no choice.

And I also needed a child to be on the way at least by then. Wow, this was rushing things. Shit. “What the hell am I going to do?”

I finished the drink and poured me another. As I sat back down with the drink, my phone buzzed. It was a text from Kat. “Hey, just wanted to let you know what a wonderful time I had last night. I hope we can do it again very soon.”

Yes. She’d texted me. And she wanted to see me again. I had not reached out to her all day. I’d kept myself busy with other things and I’d almost put her out of my mind by this time, but it was so good to hear from her. I needed that comfort right now.

I texted her back. “Hey, just got back from dinner with my father. Great times lol”.

That was when the idea hit me. What about Kat? Yes… that could work…

What if we got married soon and then had a kid together? That was crazy, right? Yes, it was, but I could offer her some of the money. I could give her a substantial payment. And as far as having a child, I thought she might be a great mother. The kid could be cared for by a nanny or left with my parents’ staff a good portion of the day when we were both working, but with that type of money, Kat wouldn’t even need to work. She could quit that soul crushing job of hers and just work on making her dreams come true. Hell, she could buy her own softball team.

That would be perfect. I had to ask her. But what would she say? I imagined she would have to think it over, a lot. Or the whole thing might be so bizarre that she’d say no right away and never want to see me again.

I couldn’t bear to think of that happening. I was really starting to have strong feelings for her. I couldn’t imagine what I would feel like if I proposed something this silly to her and she told me to get lost. No… I would have to approach this delicately.

I supposed I could have called up one of my exes and asked them, but I didn’t have enough of a connection with any of them to think that I could convincingly pull this off with any sort of believability. My father was shrewd. He would see right through all of that.

I would have to ask Kat. She was my only option, but I would have to go slowly and explain everything to her in person. That was the only way to do it. And it was going to be a big decision.

Chapter Twelve

Kat

“I told you that was going to happen,” Kayley said before spooning a big bowl of oatmeal with peanut butter into her mouth.

We were sitting in the kitchen chatting about my date the night before. It was dinner and neither of us felt like cooking, so we just kind of improvised something to eat. I warmed up some hot dogs in the microwave and Kayley went with her favorite breakfast. It was a bizarre sounding combo, but the oatmeal with the peanut butter actually was one of my favorite foods now. I’d been skeptical to try at first, but I’d come around to it. The thing tasted like a big bowl of no bake cookies. It was amazing.

---