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I shook my head quickly.
“I’ll take another,” Beck wheezed as he held out his glass.
My father raised his brows. “Bring it with you, let’s go to my office.”
As my father started to walk away, Beck looked at me with pleading eyes. My mother walked up and gently took his arm in hers.
“Don’t worry, he’s a pussycat. Just go have the talk, get it over with, and we can all enjoy our evening.”
Beck looked at me once more before he allowed my mother to lead him off in the direction of my father’s office.
“Avery doesn’t seem to want to tell me, but did you use protection?”
I nearly fell to the floor as I watched them walk off, and I heard Beck say, “I forgot, but—”
“Beck! Shut up! Don’t talk unless you have to!”
The front door opened, and Bradly and Mackenzie walked in on the tail end of my words. They both looked at me with confused expressions on their face.
“What’s going on?” my brother asked.
“You look beautiful!” Mackenzie said, the same time my brother asked his question.
I said the only thing that I could think of. “He’s going to die. He could be the love of my life, and he’s about to die.”
Both Bradly and Mackenzie’s gazes followed where I’d turned to look.
“Shit,” Bradly said. “Dad’s office.”
Mackenzie drew in a sharp breath, then wrapped her arm around my waist. And in what I could tell was her fakest, most upbeat voice said, “He’s going to be fine!”
Bradly turned to me, one brow raised. “Should we go listen at the door?”
And without me even replying, I slipped off my heels, and my brother and I ran toward my father’s office.
Chapter Twenty
BECK
The moment his office door clicked shut, I started praying. Merit moved to the side of the desk, where Dirk was currently sitting, and leaned against it. It was a lovely oak desk that looked to be an antique.
“Beautiful desk,” I managed to say.
Merit crossed her arms as Dirk leaned back and steepled his fingers.
“Thank you,” he replied. “You seem to like the word beautiful, since you used the same one to describe Avery.”
Reaching up and trying to loosen my tie, I replied, “Actually, I think I said she was gorgeous.”
Dirk frowned, and I took a step back.
“No protection?” Merit asked.
Dirk’s head jerked to look at his wife. “What?”
“Wait. We did. I mean, Avery’s on the pill. It’s just…we got caught up and…” My voice drifted off, and I looked longingly at the window.
“So you did sleep with her?” Dirk stated, shaking his head slowly. “In my house.”
I held up my hands. “No! It was at the hotel!”
Merit covered her mouth and looked away. I suddenly saw her shoulders shaking.
“Mrs. Littlewood, please don’t cry!”
When she looked back at me, I had to blink to make sure I was seeing correctly.
She was laughing.
Dirk sighed and rolled his eyes. “For the love of all things, Beck, stop talking. You’re digging yourself deeper into the ground. Although, that could be to my benefit…it means the less I’ll have to dig to dispose of your body.”
“What?”
Dirk leaned forward. “In less than a minute, I got you to admit you’ve slept with my daughter, and you forgot to use protection. I ought to kill you.”
I didn’t say a word. But when I looked at Merit, she motioned for me to say something.
“Should I talk now?” I asked in a lower voice, as if Dirk really couldn’t hear me.
“Yes, Beck. You should probably tell us what your feelings are for our daughter.”
“Right. Yes. Um, well. The first thing I should say is, I tried really hard to fight my attraction for her, but that didn’t work.”
“Clearly,” Dirk deadpanned.
“I, well, I…you see…” I scrubbed my hands down my face before dropping them to my sides. “I’m just going to be honest with you. I’ve never in my life met anyone like Avery. The second she smiled at me on that plane, I felt this crazy sensation in my chest.” My hand went to my chest, and I didn’t even realize at first that I was rubbing over my heart. “I’ve never, ever felt the things I feel with Avery. I thought I was in love once…and I can’t stand here and tell you I love your daughter, because it’s only been a few days. But what I can tell you is that I care for her deeply. I feel…different when I’m with her. She makes me feel…”
Frowning, I looked down at the floor, trying to figure out the words I needed to describe how I felt when I was with their daughter.
Finally, I looked up at them and simply said, “Whole. I feel whole when I’m with her. At first, I thought I felt that way because I’d finally found my father’s family, and a part of me does feel that way when I’m with them. But it’s different. Avery has filled something else, and I don’t know how to describe it.
