The Naughty List Bundle - Kylie Adams [161]
“I don’t think so. Actually, he told me he wants to meet my husband. Sawyer is afraid he’s going to bring up his will again, and you can just imagine how that’d go over.”
Misty nodded. All her life, her father had claimed to want a son to carry on the family name. Since their mother had died without giving him one, he’d decided that Honey, as the oldest child, would have to supply a husband to fill the role of masculine heir.
Sawyer had flatly refused to accept anything from him. And their father had been peeved ever since. He hadn’t even attended the wedding.
“Father said he was intrigued by the notion of men who would blindly turn down money and power. When I mentioned to him that he should have come to the wedding, he actually said he regretted missing it. Can you believe that?”
“Uh…no.”
Honey softened her tone. “He also said he was worried about you.”
“Since when?” Misty couldn’t help but feel bitter over her last conversation with her father. He’d been very disappointed that she’d gotten pregnant, and he hadn’t bothered to try to hide that disappointment.
“Here’s what I think.” Honey pulled her feet from the water and stood, then looked at Misty. “I think I’m so happy that I don’t mind hearing him out, seeing what he has to say. Sawyer told me that not everyone is as capable of expressing love as we are. He asked me about Father’s upbringing, our grandparents, and you know, I think he might be onto something there. Father was always a cold, detached man, just as his parents were and as they expected him to be. After Mom died, he was all alone. That couldn’t have been easy for him, Misty. I’m not saying we have to be all loving and hugging.” She shuddered, then laughed. “That would be too weird after all this time. But I’d at least like to make my peace with him. And you’re going to be giving him a grandchild. Maybe he’ll look at things differently, but either way, I want to know that I gave our relationship every chance.”
Honey walked away, leaving Misty to think things over. True, her father had never been the type to hug or even give a quick compliment. But he’d made certain they were always well dressed and well fed, and they’d never wanted for anything material. Just the fact that he wanted to meet Sawyer and the brothers showed a bending on his part, a sort of olive branch. She supposed it wouldn’t hurt to listen to him.
As she walked up to the house, dodging stones on the ground and the occasional bee feasting on clover, she smiled. She couldn’t begin to imagine her father’s reaction to the brothers. They were overwhelming and dominating and they spoke their minds without hesitation.
Her father would be in for a surprise.
EARLY the next morning, Morgan stared at his bedroom ceiling, a habit that had replaced sleeping in the past few days. No matter how hard he worked, no matter how he exhausted himself, he couldn’t sleep. He was so damn tired he could barely see straight, but when he closed his eyes, all he could think of was Misty.
Hell, even with his eyes open, she was all he could think of. He alternated between fantasies of making love to her until she begged him to marry her and throttling her for turning down his proposal in the first place. Not that he would ever really hurt her, he thought with disgust. Hell, no.
There was one bright side to all his recent labors; his house was done. He could now move in and live in comfort—and solitude. But he didn’t want to. He’d come to think of the house with Misty in it. Without her, it didn’t seem complete no matter what he did to it.
Sawyer was right, he was a miserable bastard. He never should have given in to his needs. He should have avoided her instead of finding out for a fact how sweet she was, how right it felt to be inside her, holding her, talking with her, loving her. Now she was still here, a damn relative, and he had to look at her and know she was close, but she didn’t want him.
He closed his eyes and groaned.