Page 249 of By His Vow
“Anyway, as I was saying. Your boy’s little sister is off-limits, as is your sister-in-law’s bestie. Couldn’t even go there if I wanted to, man.”
“Right,” I mutter around a wing. “Because you’ve always followed the rules.”
“Mother fucking Teresa sitting right here, and you know it.”
I shake my head, choosing to give the wings more attention than my moronic brother.
“Maybe Lorelei had a point. Why did you feel the need to follow me here?”
He smirks. “Hot girls. Scotch. Wings. Where else would I be on a Friday night?”
“Trying to pull a woman you stand a chance with?”
He throws the bones in his hand at me before reaching for another.
“Why have we never been here before? These are insane.”
“You know, Mom was right all those years ago. It is vital to always have a packet of baby wipes when you’re around.”
I eat a handful more wings while Kian devours a farmful of chickens before Tatum and Lorelei reappear, ruining the possibility of following my wife to the bathroom again like the last time she was on a night out with her friend.
I smirk. Good times.
“Jesus,” Lorelei mutters the second she lays eyes on my brother. “I didn’t realize they let animals in here. You know what these are for, right?” she asks, thrusting a stack of napkins at him.
He looks up before throwing more bones on the now wingless plate and grinning at her with sauce smeared around his mouth and covering his teeth.
“And girls actually want to go here?” Lorelei asks, wagging her finger in Kian’s direction with her top lip peeled back.
“You really should take more time to appreciate who you’re sitting with, babe.”
“Oh no you didn’t,” Lorelei sasses, much to Tatum’s amusement. “I am no one’s babe. And I am certainly not yours.”
“Sit down and drink your cocktail,” Kian mutters, unamused and unfazed by her attitude.
Lorelei might not follow his orders, but Tatum does.
I lean over as she practically chugs her cocktail.
“Don’t get wasted, baby. I have plans for you tonight.”
She shoots me a look and electric bolts shoot straight to my dick, although I’m not sure if the look is less desire and more “I will end you with nothing more than a chicken bone if you don’t shut the fuck up.” To be fair, I’m happy with either.
I just want to spend some time with her. I’ve missed her this week, but as much as I’ve wanted to get home at night to hang out with her, work and Miles needed me.
We always knew this week was going to be a shitshow, but it was worse than we could have predicted. And next week is going to be even worse as we begin to roll out our changes.
And it’s not just Warner Group stealing time away from my new wife. I might have stepped up to stand beside Miles, but that doesn’t mean that my role at Callahan Enterprises has become any less demanding.
I’m being pulled in a million different directions right now when, deep down, all I want to do is go home and fall into bed with my wife, remind myself why all this stress is worth it.
I thought I was all about the business growth and our future. I mean, I wasn’t wrong, our arrangement is about our future—but I never thought it would beourfuture. As in, mine and Tatum’s, not Callahan Enterprises’.
I stare at my wife as she chats to Lorelei, appreciating her beauty while being totally oblivious to it.
The things I said to Miles yesterday come back to haunt me.
I know what I said was true. In order for her to find her place here, the place she truly belongs, he’s going to need to let her go. She’ll never find her way back, on her own terms, if she never leaves.