The Future of Love (Bachelor Billionaire #6) (16 page)

Once
all of the ladies were done talking about her gifts, Kyle handed her
a card. She opened it and the room went quiet while she read it. When
she looked up at Kyle, she had a picture in her hand that she'd
gotten from inside the card and a confused look on her face.

“
I
don't understand,” she said.

Kyle
took a step toward her, reached into the pocket of his jeans, and
pulled out a set of keys. Then he reached over and handed them to
her.

“
How?”
she asked.

“
You
needed your own,” he said. “You're making me nervous.
Please tell me you're happy.”

“
I
can't,” she said.

“
You
can,” he said. “I have someone taking care of it when
you're not there. I'm taking care of everything. All you have to do
is enjoy it.”

“
Really?”
she asked with tears streaming down her face.

Kyle
nodded. She jumped from her chair and wrapped her arms around his
neck.

“
Happy
Birthday, sis,” he said. “I love you.”

“
I
love you too, Kyle.”

“
I'm
going to watch the kids for a weekend so you and Eric can go alone.”

“
What
are the keys for?” Sandy asked.

Kelly
handed the picture over to Sandy.

“
Seriously?”
Sandy asked.

Becky
took the picture from Sandy's hand and looked down at it. Then she
burst into laughter and looked up at Jenny. She handed it to Jenny,
and she burst out in laughter as well.

“
What's
so funny?” Kyle asked.

“
You
tell him,” Becky said.

“
When
we were in Hawaii, I was talking to Becky about the house that was
for sale. We were joking that the poor people who moved in would only
have one house between them and all of you crazies.”

Jenny
was trying her best to talk through her giggles.

“
You
know what this means?” Becky asked Kyle.

He
shook his head.

“
There's
no buffer between all of us and the poor, unsuspecting people that
buy that huge house. They won't know what hit them when we all show
up at once. The house you bought Kelly wasn't for sale when we were
there. How did you get it?”

Everyone
else had joined in laughing with Becky and Jenny.

“
At
least Kelly's not crazy like the rest of you,” Jenny said. “At
least they won't be next to Julie and Ethan with their fifteen kids.”

“
I
will not reveal my sources,” Kyle answered Becky's question.

“
Hey,”
Julie snapped at Jenny. “We only have four and a half. Soon
we'll have five.”

“
You're
having six,” Gavin said.

“
Wait
a minute,” Julie said, as she looked over at Ethan. “You
blamed me for the twins. Kelly has them. Your niece has twins. It
could have been your fault.”

“
Keep
trying, woman,” he said with a smile.

“
I
wasn't thinking about them being on both sides of your family,”
Gavin said. “I will laugh so hard if you two have twins again.
You gave me and Becky so much crap when we had the girls.”

“
Enough
about us,” Julie said. “It's Kelly's day. Get the
attention back over there.”

Everyone
was laughing and joking around. Kyle watched Jenny with his family
and all of their friends. He pulled out his phone.

Kyle:
Meet me at my house when we leave here. I missed our morning run.

Jenny:
I did too.

Kyle:
I'll put my key in your purse. I have to help my mom clean up a bit.

Jenny:
I'm not going into your house without you there.

Kyle:
Yes you are. Don't give me lip, woman. :-) You know where everything
is. Turn on the stuff in basement if you want to play the games or
sit and watch television. Whatever you want. There's soda in the
fridge.

Kyle
walked out of the room. He knew everyone was talking and wouldn't
notice. Jenny's purse was right by the front door. He grabbed her
keys and hooked his house key onto her ring. When he stood back up
and turned around to go back to where they were all at, he jumped.
John was standing in the doorway with a smile on his face.

“
Not
a word,” Kyle said. “Don't say anything to any of the
guys or ladies, John.”

John
just stood silent with a smirk on his face.

“
What?”
Kyle asked.

“
I
knew it,” John said.

“
We're
just friends. You knew nothing. If Gavin knew we were even friends,
he'd be an ass about it. It didn't start until we were in Hawaii.”

“
I
won't say a word to anyone,” John said. “Wait a second.
Was she the one your mom heard that day?”

Kyle
let out a breath and nodded. John nodded before turning and walking
back to join the others. He put his arm around Kyle's shoulder.

“
Great
job on the gift for your sister,” John said. “Is that all
you have up your sleeve?”

Kyle
laughed but didn't say a word, as he walked back into the room filled
with laughing and chatter. His phone buzzed in his pocket.

Jenny:
I forgot that I drove here with them. I'll leave as soon as I get
home.

Kyle:
Bring your swimsuit.

Jenny:
What?

Kyle:
We are getting in that hot tub. I need to relax. I'm not sure you
really want to get in there naked. I wouldn't complain. I just wanted
to give you the option.

Kyle
heard her laugh from across the room.

“
What
was that about?” Becky asked.

“
Sorry,”
she said. “It was just a text from a friend of mine.”

“
What's
up with that?” Gavin asked. “You've been spending an
awful lot of time away from the house lately. You've been laughing so
damn loud at your desk too. I'm curious who these friends are.”

“
How
is that your business?” Ethan asked.

“
I
don't want anyone to hurt her,” Gavin said.

“
That's
not your place, brother,” Ethan said. “She's not your
daughter. I feel so damn sorry for your kids when they grow up. Those
poor girls are going to have to sneak around you.”

“
Bullshit,”
Gavin growled out. “I just care about her.”

“
That's
fine, but she's not your child. She's a friend and part of the
family. I get that, but you need to back off a bit.”

Kyle
wasn't sure if he should have appreciated that Ethan was sticking up
for Jenny or if he should have been aggravated about it.

“
I
have to agree,” John said.

“
Me
too,” Becky said.

Kyle
heard his phone buzz.

Jenny:
These people are crazy.

He
laughed as he typed another message. The guys were going back and
forth with Gavin.

Kyle:
You're right about that.

Kyle
saw Becky looking at him. Then he saw Becky look over at Jenny as she
checked her phone. He saw Becky's eyes go wide, as she turned to look
back at him. He shook his head slightly and looked at her as if
begging her to let it go. She had a smirk on her face. Then she stood
up and looked at Gavin.

“
I'm
sure whoever her friend is, that she won't let them do anything to
hurt her,” Becky said. “Come on, babe. We need to get the
kids home. Are you ready, Jenny?”

“
Yes,”
she answered.

Before
long, everyone was leaving. Kyle was still there helping his mom and
John clean up. His sister pulled him aside and told him she
appreciated the house but couldn't accept it. She knew she couldn't
afford to pay for all of the utilities and someone to keep it up
while she wasn't there. Kyle let her know again that she was to do
nothing but enjoy it. He had it all taken care of. She would never
have to pay a dime. He told her he'd even pay to fly her family there
once a month. Kyle knew John offered Kelly money and everything she
needed, but she wouldn't take it. She was just happy to have her
father in her life. Kyle also knew that John would make sure she flew
out as well.

John
pulled Kyle outside to talk after Kelly and her family had left.

“
Jenny,”
John said.

“
We're
friends. She's been coming over on the weekends. Nothing has gone on
between us. I've liked her since the day I met her. I'm not going to
lie. Gavin's made sure to tell me over and over that I needed to stay
away from her. She's never liked me like that. She got married and
everything. It's been nice having someone to spend time with. We run
together almost every morning. She meets me somewhere between Gavin's
house and mine. She plays my games for hours at a time. I've even sat
down and taught her some stuff. She likes to cook too. We've come up
with some good shit together. It's nice to have a friend. She doesn't
care about what I have or what we do. We haven't done one thing
outside of my house. Don't say anything to my mom. She'll say
something in front of her or Gavin that will ruin it. Jenny's an
amazing woman, John. I care about her a lot. She'll never know that.”

“
Maybe
she will,” John said. “I think she's liked you as long as
you've liked her.”

“
She
married another man,” Kyle said.

“
That
doesn't mean anything, Kyle. You're mom married another man too. Was
she happy? I know that man is your dad. I'm not saying anything bad
about him. I'm just saying that I loved her the entire time. Even
when I didn't know where she was or who she was with. You can't help
who you fall for, son. Don't judge her just because of that. I've
seen that girl look at you with that look in her eyes.”

Kyle
thought about what John said his entire drive home. It was pretty
late by the time he finished helping his mom. When he walked in the
door, he couldn't see Jenny, but he heard the television. He walked
into the living room, and his heart melted when he looked down at the
couch. She had a blanket on and had fallen asleep leaning on her
hand. He knew she was beautiful, but seeing her like that made him
see it even more. Kyle scooped her up into his arms and carried her
up the stairs to the guest room. He covered her up and looked down at
her, as he thought about what it would be like for her to snuggle up
in his bed instead of the guest bed.

He
turned everything off and went to his room. Kyle showered and changed
into a pair of sweats. He'd just gotten under the covers and was
sitting against the headboard when he heard a soft knock on his door.
She opened the door and looked in with sleepy eyes.

“
Can
I come in?” she asked.

“
Of
course,” he said.

Kyle
pulled back the covers, and she crawled in beside him.

“
Have
you been home long?” she asked. “I'm so sorry. I swear I
didn't mean to fall asleep. How did I get in the bed?”

“
I've
been home long enough to shower. I didn't mean to be gone so long. My
mom had a ton of things she wanted me to do. You know how it is. I
carried you up to bed.”