Page 212 of By His Vow

“He’s way too ugly to attract that level of attention,” Kian mutters beside me before swallowing down what’s left in his glass.

“Those girls don’t care what he looks like,” Miles points out. “They just want a night with an NFL god.”

“Jesus, don’t call him that to his face. His head is already big enough,” I tease.

“Because you’re so modest,” Miles pipes up.

“Nah, he’s just pissed that his days of hooking up on a night out are over,” Kian points out.

“Says who?” I ask, aware that a comment like that will earn me a death glare from Miles.

“His wife’s older brother, that’s fucking who.”

“From what I heard, there was no stipulation about KC being faithful, and it’s not like you want him tapping Tate, so…”

Miles scrubs his hand down his face. If it weren’t so loud in the hotel bar then I’m sure we’d hear him groaning.

He’s struggling with this. I get it, I do. But he knows as well as I do that Tate doesn’t really have any other option.

Yes, he’d ensure she’s taken care of if she were to walk away, but he also knows that she’s too stubborn for that.

“I won’t be unfaithful to Tatum,” I assure him, needing him to know that he can trust me—up to a point—with his little sister.

“I’m not sure if that makes me feel better about all of this or not,” Miles confesses.

“I’m not going into this intending to hurt her, man. If I have my way, we’ll make it through the next twelve months happily before embarking on the next stages of our lives.”

Kian studies me closely. My stomach knots as I wait for him to say whatever is on his mind. We’ve already had way more to drink tonight than I intended, meaning his tongue will be looser than usual.

“Is that really what you want, though?” he asks.

“Of course. We want Callahan and Warner to finally be joined. That’s the end goal here. Together we can take over the fucking world.” Slight exaggeration.

“That’s not what I meant and you know it,” Kian says, happily accepting another round of scotch from our server.

“That is what this is about. It’s a business deal,” I state, reaching for a fresh drink.

“Is that why you look at her with those sappy eyes? Because she’s a business deal?”

“Jesus Christ,” Miles complains, downing his drink, and then Kieran’s—he’s way too busy to even notice it’s here.

“She is,” I argue, although from the way Kian’s eyes narrow, I’m not sure he believes me.

“I’ll put a thousand dollars on you two not getting divorced in twelve months.”

“Don’t be an asshole,” Miles spits.

“What? Do you really think Kingston isn’t going to fall in love with Tate? She’s beautiful, funny, intelligent. If KC had a type other than desperate, she’d be it and you know it.”

“That’s not my type.” I scoff.

“Oh, come off it. As long as she’s willing, you’ll tap it,” Kian argues.

“Because you’re so different.”

“I’m more than happy to share the love. But this isn’t about me, and that’s not the point. You are going to fall in love with her, and there is no way you’ll let her go and allow someone else to have her after all this.”

Itried to argue with him, I really did. My mouth opened and closed several times, but I couldn’t find the words.