When his dad closed the office door, Merit wondered why he even bothered. As many times as he’d been hounded in front of everyone at brunch, why the privacy now? He took a seat as Dad walked around to sit behind the large walnut desk.
“Your credit cards didn’t work this morning.”
“Yeah. A couple of them were declined, but it’s not like I run them up to the limit, so I’m guessing it’s identity theft or something. I’ll call Rob in the morning.” The family finance manager would figure it out.
“Don’t bother.”
“Don’t bother?” he repeated with confusion. “Why not?”
“You don’t bother with a job, why bother with the cards?”
Heavy sarcasm filled his father’s question, so he gave it right back. “Because I need money.”
“Then I suggest you bother with the job first.”
He met his dad’s steely gaze and sat forward on the chair. That funny feeling in his gut from earlier grew heavier. “What does that mean?”
“Your cards didn’t work because I cancelled them.”
He drew back in confusion. “Why would you do that?”
“It’s time to grow up, Merit. You need money—get a job like everyone else.”
Like everyone else. Hot indignation burned along the back of his neck. “Why do I have to do that when I have enough in my trust to last a lifetime? It’s not like I’m blowing through it or anything.”
“You haven’t earned one dime of that money. You went to school, but you haven’t done one damn thing with your degree.”
He had. Dad just didn’t know about it. Wasn’t about to tell him, either. Not now.
Now is exactly the time to tell him.
No. He wasn’t going to beg his dad for anything. All he’d ever done was hound him to be more like his brothers and sisters. Play sports like Asher. Study harder like Bells. Be more serious like Loyal. Get some ambition like Celia. Hell, any day now, he’d probably tell him to join the fucking Army like Grayson. Like he could measure up to that when the guy had done three tours over in the Middle East.
The thing was, he wasn’t any one of them. He didn’t want to be them. And just once, he’d like his dad to acknowledge he was his own person. Ask him what he wanted to do instead of tell him what he should do.
“Are you happy?” his dad suddenly asked.
“I was.”
For the most part, anyway. He wouldn’t tell him he’d been bored lately. Restless. Aimless.
“Better question might be, do you feel good about yourself? Are you proud of the man you are?”
What the fuck is this? Was he not man enough for his own father?
His gut tightened and a heavy weight pressed on his chest as he clenched his jaw.
Dad ran a hand through his silver-threaded hair, then leaned forward to brace his elbows on the desk while clasping his fingers over the calendar. “I’ve given you more than enough time to step up, Merit. Probably too much. But it’s time you stand on your own two feet. Learn what it feels like to earn your way through life. It’s going to make all the difference.”
“What the fuck do you know about that, Dad? You don’t really know anything about me or how I feel.”
“Watch your language.”
“Are you fucking serious right now?”
His father’s gaze narrowed in warning. “Dead serious.”
Mid-senior year of high school, his parents had taken his car away for three months until he got his grades back to straight As. His dad had the same stern expression now as back then. Merit might have glimpsed regret, too, but that didn’t mean a damn thing.
“Fine,” he ground out through clenched teeth. “I’ll start volunteering somewhere, like at the foundation with Loyal and Grayson. Does that count?”
“Only if you can get them to pay you for your work.”
“That would totally defeat the idea of volunteering. That’s not fucking noble enough for you?”
The regret in his father’s face vanished as his expression hardened once more. “Your cards are cancelled and your accounts are locked. Man up and earn a damn living, son.”
“You’re really cutting me off, just like that?”
“I am.”
He rose to his feet, his whole body vibrating with anger. “How long?”
“Until your trust fund matures.”
His pulse skipped and his stomach dropped. “That’s in four years.”
“Yes.”
Merit stared at him for a long moment, reading his dad’s brown eyes that were much like his own and his brothers’. The steely resolution in their dark depths had him spinning for the door with his coffee cup clenched in his fist.
“You’ll thank me for this someday, Merit.”
“Don’t bet on it,” he threw out as he yanked the door open.
He managed to avoid the rest of the family on his way out. He slammed the door of his red Jaguar SUV and gunned the engine to peel out of the driveway. A detour on the way home confirmed every single one of his cards were useless, even his debit card. He had almost seven hundred in his wallet, but that was it for cash. Well, that and a change bowl on the counter in his kitchen, but there wasn’t much in there since he’d only started it the day he moved in three months ago. Maybe enough to buy a beer—or a cup of coffee.
Merit glanced at the cup in his console as he pulled into his garage. Lyssa was not who he really wanted to see, but just like he refused to beg his dad for his own damn money, he wasn’t about to get on his knees for one little crumb of attention from Mae Lockhart. A guy had to have some pride.
Besides, everything had changed in the past half-hour. Mae was the owner of her own construction company, with paying jobs and employees. He’d never worked a day in his life and currently had no source of income. Yeah, she’d be real impressed with him now.
He took the empty cup inside with him, but after he put the barista’s number in his phone, he hesitated sending a text. Restless and frustrated, he left the cup on the coffee table and went downstairs to work out his anger on the weights in the basement gym he’d set up last month when his usual source of stress-relief quit working. Hard to relieve stress when your muse insisted on the subject being exactly the one you were trying to forget.
After a long swim in his indoor pool, he finally sent Lyssa the invite to come over later. He would put a movie on in the theater room, but after the look she’d given him that morning, he doubted they’d even get past the opening credits.
She responded almost immediately and said she was looking forward to it.
After texting her his address, he reached up to rub the back of his neck. Guaranteed sex should make him happier. Problem was, the moment he imagined her dark hair spread out across his pillow, he wanted blond. Just the memory of Mae’s shoulder length waves in sexy disarray around her head as he moved over her had blood rushing to his groin.
“Sonofabitch.”
He shoved away from the doorjamb he’d been leaning against. Upstairs, he changed into shorts and a T-shirt before grabbing his keys, wireless ear buds, and his phone to start his playlist as he went for a run.
Six miles round trip brought him back to the house, and he glanced at his watch to see he had enough time to shower before his ‘date’ arrived. He stripped off his sweaty T-shirt on his way to the sink to gulp down a large glass of cold water. Twin trickles tracked from the corners of his mouth, past his chin, throat, and down over his bare chest. The cool liquid felt good against his heated skin, but he still swiped up a kitchen towel to wipe his face.
The peal of the doorbell jerked his head toward the front of the house before he checked the time. Quarter to seven. He clenched his jaw, then consciously forced the muscles to relax as he strode to the door, towel tossed over his shoulder.
He leaned to grasp the handle, then swung the door open while plastering a smile on his face. “You’re earl—”
Merit broke off at the sight of the woman he hadn’t been able to get out of his mind for months standing on his doorstep. He raked his gaze down over her powder blue T-shirt, cut-off jean shorts, and sparkly sandals revealing red-tipped toes. His breath hitched in his chest as he lifted his gaze back to her face framed by those gorgeous gold-blond locks.
Desire flooded his veins from one heartbeat to the next. She was even sexier than his memory gave her credit for.
“Mae. Hey. I, ah, I…”
Fucking A, man. Get it together. You sound like a virgin teenager.
Felt like one, too. Racing pulse, flip-flopping stomach, short breath. He managed a smile and opened the door wider. He’d been dying for this for the past two months. “It’s really good to see you. Come on in.”
She didn’t return his smile, and she didn’t move. Her blue gaze was fixed on his chest, and her cheeks were flushed bright red. As he watched, he saw her throat work in a hard swallow while he noted her hands clasped tight together in front of her stomach.
Her gaze lifted to his, and this time, he heard her swallow before she said, “I’m pregnant.”