Needing Happily Ever After - Elena Aitken Page 0,18
make polite conversation for the next ten minutes or so before Katie was able to extricate them from the situation after declining a refill of their drinks. And they’d just about made their escape when his father threw one last obstacle at them.
“Are you both staying at your ranch, Katie?”
“Oh no.” Katie laughed. “My mother is a little old-fashioned for that.”
“I have a room at the Big Rock Inn,” Damon said.
“That’s crazy. I have so much house here and you two should be together. I know you think some of my ideas are a little out there, but I’m not completely old-fashioned, you know? You should both stay here.”
Next to him, Katie, who had somehow managed to stay calm and relaxed throughout the entire afternoon, stiffened and shook her head. “Oh no, Mr. Banks. We couldn’t—”
“I know it might feel strange,” his father said, not looking at him at all. “So what about the cottage? It’s been recently redone and it’s really quite comfortable. There’s a full kitchen and really, it has everything you need.” The cottage, as they’d always called it, was really the pool house, or the guesthouse that had very rarely been used for actual guests.
It was Damon’s turn to object. “It’s a really nice offer, Dad, but—”
“But nothing. It’s far enough from the house that you’ll have your privacy and there’s lots of peace and quiet up here for Katie to get her studying done. Besides, with the wedding so quick, it doesn’t make sense to stay anywhere else.”
As much as he wanted to, he couldn’t argue with that. And judging by the look on Katie’s face, she couldn’t either.
“Well, it has been pretty hard to get work done around my place lately.” She shrugged and looked at Damon. “Maybe it’s not a bad idea.”
“It’s a great idea. Here.” Anthony handed them each a key and grinned. Damon couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen his father smile so much in one afternoon. “Now, I promise I’ll give you your space, but if you need anything at all, please let me know.”
It wasn’t until they were in the truck driving out of the gate that Damon finally spoke. “We don’t have to do this, you know.”
“This?”
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Katie turn in her seat and stare at him but he kept his eyes on the road in front of him. Both for the safety of driving, and because he knew if he looked at her, he would want to kiss her again. And as much as that might be a momentarily good idea, it was definitely not a solid long-term plan. Not considering the mess they currently found themselves in.
“By this, do you mean the engagement?” Her voice was tightly controlled, which Damon knew from experience was dangerous. “Or the fact that we just committed to actually getting married in only three days? Or maybe you meant that as of five minutes ago, we’re living together now too?”
Her voice wavered and now that they were safely beyond the gates of ElkView, Damon pulled over and put the truck in park.
“What exactly don’t we have to do, Damon? Because it seems to me that we’ve just committed to a whole lot.”
Katie’s bottom lip quivered, but she bit it quickly. He knew her well enough that she was struggling not to cry.
“Hey.” Damon turned and reached across the seat between them to grab her hands.
Was that his imagination, or was there some sort of spark between them when he touched her? He froze momentarily, but shook the feeling off quickly. He had to focus and, more importantly, he had to remember that the kiss they’d shared earlier wasn’t real. It wasn’t real.
“I meant it, Katie. We don’t have to do this,” he said. “Any of it. If it’s too much, we can just break it all off right now. Actually getting married wasn’t ever part of the plan.”
She shook her head. “No. It wasn’t.”
“I know it’s a huge ask and—”
“Are you asking me?” She stared at him, her brown eyes wide with innocent question. “Are you really asking me to marry you? Is it that important to you? ElkView, I mean.”
Of course. ElkView. She wasn’t talking about them. Damon shook his head. He didn’t even recognize what was happening to him. He never behaved like this with a woman, and Katie wasn’t even…well, she was Katie.
“Is ElkView that important, Damon?” she asked again before he could respond. “Because if it is, I will