Endeared (The Accidental Billionaires #5) - J. S. Scott Page 0,39

Montgomery that I concocted this whole plan on the fly. I didn’t exactly think it through, which isn’t like me. At all. I’m the type of guy who likes to look at things from all angles before I make a decision on anything. Sometimes, I swear my IQ drops by at least sixty points every damn time I see her. Maybe more.”

Seth smirked. “Get ready, little brother, because if Layla is the woman for you, you’re going to end up doing a whole lot of things that you wouldn’t usually do. And don’t worry about Jax. I think he’s just not used to having Hudson tied up with a woman, so he’s at loose ends, and maybe rethinking his man-whore ways. I’ll make sure he backs off Layla, but his intentions were probably honorable . . . for once. I think he’s pretty tired of one-nighters.”

I started to reel my line in to check my bait since I hadn’t had a single hit. “Well, the bastard can just go experiment elsewhere. Layla is mine. She’s always been mine.”

Maybe I hadn’t known that, or maybe I had since high school, which was why I’d fought my feelings so hard back then.

“Yep. You’re completely screwed,” Seth said dryly. “I think we need to plan one hell of a vacation. Are you chartering an aircraft, or do you want to use mine? No commercial flights, even in first class. You’re going to want privacy.”

“I’ll take you up on your offer to use yours for now,” I said. Seth had gotten himself an amazing aircraft, and I had no idea what I’d get with a charter.

“Good choice,” he answered approvingly. “We have time to hammer out the rest of the details. I’m sure Skye and Riley can make some suggestions about the actual romance part. Whatever Aiden and I did, it must have worked.”

Maybe an hour ago, I would have objected to telling my two sisters-in-law about my predicament, but now I really didn’t care.

I’d been away for ten years, but all of these people were still my family, and I was starting to feel that bond more strongly with every day that passed.

All of them had been with me in spirit during the last decade, even when we weren’t physically together.

I’d worried about all of them, even if I hadn’t known every detail of their lives.

My sister Brooke lived on the East Coast, and she didn’t share every detail of her day-to-day life with everybody here, but it didn’t matter. She and her husband, Liam, fit right into the family, just like she always had.

I guess it wasn’t the physical distance, or the number of times I saw my brothers and sisters face-to-face every week.

It was all about the way we accepted and loved each other when we were together, and when we weren’t.

It wasn’t about the details.

It was all about the heart.

CHAPTER 12

LAYLA

“I think I’m now spoiled for life,” I laughingly told Owen as we stood beside the railing of the boat he’d chartered for a sunset cruise.

Could I really call this monstrosity a “boat”? A cabin cruiser or a yacht would be more appropriate, probably. It was approximately forty feet long, and we’d eaten a fantastic catered dinner at the bow where a table and bench seats were set up for dining. After we’d finished, we’d each snagged a glass of wine and decided to enjoy the scenery.

I’d had no idea where we were going. Owen had told me to dress casually, so I’d put on a pair of white capri pants and a summery pink top to wear with sandals. We’d both showered and changed at the clinic before we’d set off to . . . where? I’d had no idea what he was planning until he’d pulled into the marina.

For the past two weeks, every day had been another adventure. On my days to choose, I liked to take Owen to do something he couldn’t and didn’t do as a kid, like playing endless arcade games, or getting the fanciest, most expensive sundae at an ice-cream shop. Those things on his list had been easy to knock out.

His days were . . . a little bit more unpredictable, and generally more exhausting than mine.

We’d spent all of last Saturday on a VIP tour of Disneyland, which gave us priority access to both rides and entertainment.

As a local, I’d been horrified when Owen had mentioned Disneyland before Labor Day. It was crowded, and all of the lines were ridiculously long,