One and Only (Wilder Family, #1)

by Karla Sorensen

My hand tingled when I pulled it away from hers. I wanted to flex my fingers, shake the sensation free from my skin.

The server joined me in the hallway. “You all right, man?” “I have no idea,” I said. “She seems to have that effect on everyone who’s sat in that booth with her tonight, if that helps.” I gave him a dry look. “It doesn’t.”

Olive’s eyes darted back over to Greer, who simply smiled. “If you need a third person to play catch with, you just wave me over, okay?” She leaned in. “I’m really good at making Parker miss.” Parker scoffed. “Yeah, because you can’t aim for crap.” When Olive smiled back at Greer—only the slightest curl to her lips, but a smile nonetheless—my heart stuttered over a few beats.

My daughter wasn’t looking at me. She was looking at the beautiful woman at my side. And she waved.

Greer stepped back, waited for Parker to take off running, and then did a little hopping step back, stepped forward, and threw a perfect spiral, which Parker pulled in with one arm. Olive bounced on her toes and smiled. Wide. Happy.

He took a step closer. “Any addictions I should be aware of?” I nodded gravely. “A weakness for baked goods and the never-ending quest to find the perfect dry shampoo.”

Taking a chance, I tilted up and placed a featherlight kiss against his cheek. I didn’t look at his face as I walked toward Josie and Olive, and I didn’t look at his face as I picked up the box of samples and took a seat on the couch to show them some of my ideas. But I felt him staring at me the entire time.

I sighed. “Because he’s trying to provoke me.” “My sister,” Parker said. “I haven’t seen you show any interest in any woman since I’ve met you, and you have to go for my sister.” Reyes whistled under his breath. “Got it.”

He huffed a laugh. “Not for you. I think Greer is going to eat you up and spit you out, and then I’m going to have to deal with your mopey ass. You’ll stop working as hard, and you won’t catch for shit, and we’ll lose all our games, all because my sister broke your heart.”

“I know I’m not her usual type,” I told him. He snorted. “No.” I chose my words carefully—I hated lying. It was the worst part about this entire thing. “Sometimes that doesn’t matter, though,” I told him. I pulled my clean shirt on, tossing the towel from my shower into the laundry container just past the bench where he was sitting. “You ever met someone who’s just … a game changer?” Parker sat back a little at the gravity of my words. “Game changer,” he repeated slowly.

“But…” I scratched the side of my jaw. “Your favorite food is something you’d have for a meal.” “You’ve clearly never had leftover pie for breakfast, and it shows.” She patted me on the stomach. “I found you just in time, Beckett Coleman.” “In time for what?” I asked, undeniably intrigued by her, unable to resist the pull of her energy. “To teach you everything I know.” There was a glimmer in her eye as she said it, and she tugged my hand between hers and pulled me into the house.

“No,” I said quietly. “I wouldn’t call her sweet.” Her cheeks blushed a pretty pink, but she kept her gaze on mine. “What would you say, then?” she asked. “She’s fearless,” I said. “Some people are too afraid to love that way, undaunted by whatever might come next, which might look like sweetness to some. But I just see a big, brave heart.” I blinked away, shocked by what I’d said. Based on how Greer’s hands fidgeted under mine, she felt the same way.

I snagged her finger in mine, and with a crooked smile, I pushed the rainbow-colored metal fidget past her first knuckle. It was horribly ugly as a ring. Too big for the graceful length of her finger. “Will you still marry me next week, Greer Wilder?” The breath caught audibly in her throat at the sincerity of my words.

After coffee, I searched the pantry, grinning when I found a new box of oatmeal next to his very healthy, very boring options. It hadn’t been there the day before. I pulled it out and laughed. Apples and cinnamon. On it was another note. Now you can have apple pie for breakfast.

She was in black leggings, a Voyagers tank top that hugged her chest, her hair braided back off her face, a blue-ish green ribbon threaded through the ends of the braid, and a gleam in her eye as she looked around that should have terrified anyone meant to line up against her. Me. It terrified me.

“Do you like it?” she asked. Olive didn’t answer. She let out a shaky exhale, then turned to Greer, throwing her arms around her neck in a tight hug. Then she nodded into Greer’s neck. “You gave me butterflies,” she said. My eyes burned when a tear slid down Greer’s face unchecked. She carefully returned the embrace and let out a huge, shoulder-dropping exhale. “I did.”

I crossed my arms and watched as he let himself in the house. His eyes landed on me and his mouth curved in an adorably crooked grin. “Wife,” he said in greeting. My eyebrows arched slowly. “Husband.” “Where’s Olive?” he asked. I pointed upstairs. “Reading. We had a fun night.”

As I buckled myself in, a hysterical laugh fought to break free at how very much the opposite I was. “I think I might get in trouble with your dad for that,” I told her. She met my gaze in the rearview mirror. “I’ll stick up for you, Greer.” Well shit. My throat went all tight and achy. “Thanks, Olive.”

I winced. “It wasn’t my finest moment, I know. I was just so … angry. And it really is okay if you’re upset. I overstepped.” The muscle in his jaw flexed. “I’m not mad,” he said again. His eyes were on fire. “I’m trying very hard not to kiss you right now.”

I could be patient. I could wait this out. Give him time to say what he needed to say, for good or for bad. Except after about five more seconds, I heard myself say, “What are you doing here?” Patience, as it turned out, might be a work in progress for me. When he took a few steps closer, I saw the fire roaring in his gaze. “I’m here to get my wife.”

“When did you come to this conclusion?” she asked in a shaky voice. “About an hour after you left.” I wanted to reach for her. Wanted to cup her face in my hands and feel her curl up against my chest as my fingers sank into her hair.

“No, Greer,” I said again, “I’m not okay about her. And I’m not okay about you leaving either.” Her lips twitched, but nothing else. She was afraid to smile. Afraid to trust it. But I could see that kindling of hope in her eyes, and it was enough to have me take another step.

“Can we start over?” I asked, stepping fully into her, allowing one hand to cup the back of her head, the other to wrap tight around her back. Greer sank into my embrace, her arms coiling around my middle as she pressed her face into my neck with a weighty exhale. “Start something real with me, Greer Wilder. You’re the only person who I want it with.”

Beckett sat up and laid a hard kiss on my gaping mouth. “I had this gorgeous woman living in my house, and I wanted to do something nice for her. That’s all.”

His smile was gentle, his eyes bright. “Yeah. I think maybe I was falling in love with you a bit earlier than I was willing to admit.”

“Beckett Coleman,” I whispered. “You are the perfect man.” “Because I made you coffee?” he asked. I shook my head with a laugh. “No. Because I didn’t even know how to dream you up. You’re better than … everything.”

“You ready to do this?” he asked me quietly. “Me and Olive and Clarence and all the rest of it?” I turned in his arms, my eyes closed and my heart so full that I could hardly believe it was real. It was the easiest truth I’d ever told in my life. “I’ve always been ready for this. I just hadn’t met you yet.”