She knew this family well.
“We can’t help it. It’s in our blood.” Cam gave her a grin. “Anyway, she gives as good as she gets.”
“Just remember she’ll be doing the voiceover,” Mia reminded him. “So she’ll have the last word.”
“But we get approval, right?” Two tiny lines formed in Cam’s brow. “I swear it said that in the contract.”
“You get to see it. Not approve it.” Mia wanted to laugh at his expression. “It’s okay. I won’t let you come across as a complete asshole.”
It had been her idea to film the Hartson siblings without a script. Give them topics to talk about while being filmed, that could be cut to make both a long form movie advertisement, as well as a shorter one for television. They all held a glass of the international blend as they spoke, occasionally sipping it, which she was certain wasn’t helping their general behavior.
Once this part was filmed, it would be interspersed with shots of the distilleries here in Virginia, Scotland, and Tokyo. Then Becca would record the voice over, explaining that G. Scott Carter’s blend was about family, international cooperation, and being yourself in a world where too much could be expected of you. She’d talk about her own family, as well as her experience of creating the blend. Mia was excited to see how it would turn out.
“Okay, we’re ready for the next take,” the assistant director called out. “Can you all take your seats?”
Cam gave her a quick squeeze, then ambled over to the group of chairs.
From the corner of her eye, Mia could see Becca come out of the house. She looked beautiful, her long hair shining in the spring sun, her skin glowing from a fresh application of make up. She was wearing a blue and white dress that brought out the color of her eyes, the soft fabric clinging to her curves in a way that made her brothers’ eyes narrow.
“You sure you’re not cold?” Gray asked as she sat down with them. “Maybe you should put a sweater on.”
Mia had to cover her mouth to stop a giggle from exploding. Poor Becca. No wonder she never brought guys home. Or barely dated. Having four growling older brothers had to be such a pain.
“Okay. So now we’re going to talk about your individual families,” the director reminded them. “Gray, maybe you can start off by talking about your twins. We’ll go on from there.”
When the assistant called for the cameras to run, Gray leaned back on the chair and took a sip of whiskey. “I guess things have changed, huh? We’re all grown up now.”
“It’s not often we get to talk without being surrounded by kids,” Tanner agreed. He looked at his wife, Van, who was standing with Courtney out of the camera’s range. Van had a hand on her swollen stomach. Their first child was due in three months.
Maddie was inside the house with her boys. They’d watched the recording for a while, but the rambunctious twins kept tugging at her arms, desperate to join their dad and uncles. In the end, she’d taken them back to the kitchen and put on a TV show to keep them quiet.
“Now you’re gonna be a dad,” Logan said to his youngest brother. “You want any words of advice?”
“Not really.” Tanner grinned. “I think I’ve got this.”
All three of his brothers started laughing.
“What?” Tanner asked. “How hard can a baby be?”
“Come talk to me in four months,” Gray suggested. “You can tell me then.”
“How about you?” Tanner asked, turning to Cam. “You’re kind of a dad already, right?”
“I’m a friend. That’s better than being a dad.” Cam grinned, his eyes glancing at Mia. “But yeah, I’d like to think I’m a parent figure, too. Or I will be.”
“When will you be?” Gray asked, his eyes dancing with interest.
Cam slid something out of his pocket. “When Mia agrees to put this ring on her finger.”
“Whoa.” Tanner leaned over to look at the box in Cam’s huge hands. “That’s big.”
Mia froze as everybody turned to look at her. She waited for the director to call for a cut, but instead he was looking at her, too.
“Should we stop recording?” she asked, her voice thin.
The director grinned. “We’re kind of in on this whole thing..”
“I’m catching it all,” Van said, holding her phone out in front, recording Mia as she stared at Cam.
From the corner of her eye she saw Michael and Josh standing in the doorway of the house, along with Maddie and her twins. They were all grinning at her.
Cam stood and walked over to where Mia was frozen in place, dropping to his knee in front of her. “I’ve been carrying this ring around for two months,” he told her. “Waiting for the right time.”
Mia’s breath caught in her throat. Tanner was right, it was huge. The square cut diamond glistened in the sunlight. She opened her mouth to say something, but Cam shook his head. “I’m not finished yet.”
“He’s turning into a blabbermouth like you,” Tanner told Logan.
“Shut up.”
Cam smiled up at Mia, his eyes full of love. “From the moment you came into my life, I knew everything had changed. You’re everything I’ve ever needed. Everything I didn’t know was missing from my life. And I want to spend the rest of it with you. You and the boys.” He glanced over at Michael and Josh, sending them a wink. “They helped me pick the ring. In Josh’s words, it needed to be ‘the biggest ring you’ve ever seen’.”
It was pretty close, that was for sure.
“Will you marry me? Be my wife. The mother of my children. The ones we already have, and the ones we haven’t made yet?”
She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. They’d already talked about a family. She was still young, and she knew that Josh was desperate for
