She nibbled her lip, her cheeks reddening. He wanted to bite that lip. “Honestly, I want Ana to have a dad she can count on. And I want to know before she’s old enough to miss you if it’s going to work out or not. I wouldn’t want to stay married if we’re miserable.”
“Neither would I.”
She frowned. “Zach…. Chloe said something the other day, and I need to know if it’s true. It won’t change my mind about marrying you, but I want to know….”
“Okay.” He couldn’t imagine what Chloe had said, but if he could ease her mind about something, then he would.
“She said you were hung up on someone and it was complicated. Is that true?”
His gut twisted. Chloe said that? He didn’t have to wonder where she’d gotten it. Dirty had told her.
“No, I’m not hung up on anyone,” he said. And he wasn’t. Yeah, he thought about Kayla a lot. Wanted her. Dreamed about fucking her again. It didn’t mean he was hung up on her, no matter what Dirty thought. “There’s no one in my life right now.”
She dropped her lashes. “I’m sorry for asking. I just wondered.”
“What about you?” he asked, and her head snapped up.
She blinked. “Me?”
“Are you hung up on anyone?”
Color flooded her cheeks. “I, um, no. Of course not. You’re the only man I’ve been with since Ana was born, and that was only once. I don’t have time for men.”
“Fair enough.” He hesitated, wondering about the pink in her face. “If we do this—make a real go of it—I’m not saying we have to share a bed right away. I’d understand if you wanted to ease into that part of it.”
Her eyes widened. “You mean we’d date first?”
“If that’s what you want.”
Kayla ran her palms over her shorts. Her hands were small. Her body was small. She was lovely and vulnerable and he found that he desperately wanted to protect her. Like a frigging caveman.
“Okay, that’s fair.”
He sat back and raked a hand through his hair. On the television, they’d moved on to another car. Somebody else paying astronomical amounts of money for a classic automobile. Must be nice.
He’d pretty much made up his mind, but there was a little more to discuss. “If I say yes, you still don’t want to tell your sister the real reason?”
She shook her head. “Not yet. Not until she has her wedding if at all possible. I don’t want to ruin her happiness. I just want her to have a lovely wedding and honeymoon, and I don’t want her worrying about me and Ana.”
“Do you think that’s fair, Kayla?”
She thrust her chin out. He recognized it for the stubborn gesture it was. “Yes, I do. It’s temporary. Only until she and Alexei get married. I’ve caused Bailey enough trouble over the years. For once I want to solve my own problems and take care of her, even if it’s just letting her think everything is great for a while. Her knowing the truth won’t change anything, so keeping quiet for another few weeks won’t hurt.”
He wasn’t so sure, but Bailey wasn’t his sister. And he wasn’t getting between them. “Okay, but if I have to tell Camel so he can protect her, then I will. You need to understand that. I don’t keep secrets from my teammates if they need to know something important.”
“He’ll tell her.”
“He might not. He might agree with your reasons not to. Did you ever think of that?”
She shook her head.
“He loves her and wants her happy. Same as you. You need to trust him.”
“Okay.”
The word came out as a whisper and he knew she didn’t like the idea of Camel knowing. He didn’t think Camel needed to know just yet, but if he did, then Neo wasn’t keeping it from him.
“One more thing. If we do this and you don’t want your sister to know why we’re really getting married, then we’ll have to sell it to her. That means we have to pretend to be in love.”
She reddened again. “Agreed.”
He’d never been in love before, but he’d been around enough of his teammates who were that he was sure he could pull it off. Plus, it wasn’t a stretch to physically want her. He’d told Dirty a couple of months ago that he thought of her like a little sister, but that had been a lie.
A big fucking lie. Dirty saw through it, but Neo hadn’t been about to admit what he’d really wanted to do to Kayla Jones. How badly he’d wanted to taste her pussy again. If he married her though?
Yeah, Dirty would give him hell. So what? He’d still be the one who got to strip her naked and make her come every night. Eventually, when they got that far. He wouldn’t push her on that. He wanted her to need his cock as much as he needed to lose himself inside her.
“So you’ll marry me?” she pressed. “Or do you need to think about it some more?”
Neo thought of his sister and her kids again. How would he feel if some guy married her to help her protect the kids? To provide security—and health insurance—as well as do his best to be a dad they could depend on?
He’d be wary, but he’d be glad too. If the guy really cared about her and meant to do the best job he could.
Yeah, Neo’s teammates had found women they were crazy for. They’d fallen hard and fast, but he didn’t think it had to be that way to work. Marrying Kayla didn’t mean he was somehow going to miss out on finding his soulmate, the one who completed him. He wasn’t sure he believed in that bullshit anyway. His sister hadn’t had any luck in that department, and neither had his parents.
What he had with Kayla stood as much of a chance of working as anything. They had chemistry, and he cared about her
