Joining Walter in his office a few minutes later, Devil hesitated outside the door and waited for the older man to invite him inside the room. A man’s office was his castle, and a guy just didn’t go marching into somebody else’s kingdom without being asked.
It was one of the first rules that Walter had ever taught Grant and him when they were younger.
“Get in here and close the door behind you,” Walter ordered gruffly without looking up at him.
Stepping inside the dark, paneled room, Devil shut the door behind him as he watched the only father he’d ever really known close the file he’d been perusing. Walter Ramsey had been one hell of a stockbroker before he retired, and Devil knew the man still played the market to keep himself sharp.
“Sit down, Dev,” the older man ordered, peeling his glasses off and indicating one of the red leather chairs in front of his cherry wood desk. “I think you and I need to have a come to Jesus, son.”
Nodding, Devil took the offered seat. He’d known this wouldn’t be a walk in the park. Molly was Walter’s only daughter… his youngest child. The other man would want to grill any man that waltzed into his house and announced his intention to marry his daughter. The fact that Walter’d had an active hand in making him into the man he was today would only make the older man more determined to ensure his little girl would be well cared for and loved.
“So, you and my baby girl,” Walter drawled, leaning back in his swivel chair and clasping his hands over his thickening waist. “How long’s this been goin’ on underneath the family’s nose, boy?”
“Not long, Walter,” Devil answered truthfully, well aware that the older man would pounce on any lies. “The relationship between Molly and me is a very new development, but I’ve been in love with her for quite some time.”
“Is that so?” the older man asked as he scratched his jaw and considered the man across from him. “I’ve got a stack of newspapers over there in the corner that indicate it hasn’t been too long, if the photographs in the society pages are anything to go by. You wanna try again?” Walter queried, narrowing his intelligent grey eyes on the man that claimed to love his cherished daughter.
Glancing at the pile of Atlanta newspapers Walter pointed to in the corner of the room, Devil sighed, his shoulders sagging slightly. He was ashamed of his actions. Not for anything he’d done with any woman he’d escorted around Atlanta, but for the fact that he’d used them as a distraction. Trying to ignore what he’d felt for Molly had been a cowardly, foolhardy thing to do. Flaunting those women under her nose had just been plain stupid, but he’d been grasping at straws, desperate to do anything to keep him from acting on the attraction he’d felt for her. Now, how exactly did he explain that fact to her father without sounding like the son of a bitch he truly was? “That isn’t what it looks like, Walt. I swear to God that it wasn’t.”
“Devil, I won’t have a man that can’t keep his pecker in his pants married to my little girl. I realize that you’re a single, successful, and attractive guy. You’ve had the right to play the field as you saw fit. All men sow their wild oats before they take a bride, but…”
“I didn’t,” Devil stated softly, meeting Walter’s gaze evenly and determinedly. “I haven’t touched any woman intimately in over a year. Not since your daughter came to work for me. That’s the God’s honest truth,” he confided with brutal honesty.
“A year,” Walter echoed, lifting one bushy gray eyebrow heavenward.
“Yes, sir.” Devil nodded, shifting in his seat as he leaned forward. “Nana and Pap taught me not to lie. You and Miss Anne reinforced those lessons. I’m telling you the truth. I know that it appears that I’m quite the ladies’ man in the press, but I never touched one of those ladies in anything other than a platonic way.”
Walter sighed as he tapped his finger against his desk calendar. “Well, as crazy as it sounds, I believe that, son. You’ve never been a liar. You were always too afraid of your grandmother’s wooden spoon to cross her rules. I also believe that you love my daughter. A man can’t fake the way you look at my girl. I certainly never saw you staring at any of the women in those newspaper pictures the way you’ve spent the last hour watching Molly. I thought you were gonna jump across the table at the poor pastor more than once.”
“It was a definite possibility a couple of times there,” Devil admitted with an internal sigh of relief, thinking back to how he’d felt watching the younger man flirt with Molly. Man of God or not, he’d wanted to strangle Travis Davis.
“What I’m trying to understand is why you wasted a year pussyfootin’ around Atlanta with other women if it was our Molly you wanted. What changed for you, Devil? Why’re you rushin’ toward the altar now, boy?” Walter questioned, leaning forward in his chair to prop his elbows against the desk, his keen eyes boring into Devil’s.
Jesus, Walter Ramsey had missed his calling. He would have been a killer prosecutor, Devil thought, shifting uncomfortably as Molly’s father stared at him. “It’s complicated, Walter,” Devil mumbled as he gripped the arms of the leather chair.
“Dumb it down for me,” Walter advised, his weathered face inscrutable as he continued to gaze at Devil. “You aren’t getting my permission for anything until I understand what’s going on inside your head, William.”
Ah, hell. That was a bad sign. Using his given name meant Walter was serious as a heart attack. And Miss Anne had already used it once today, too. Together, they’d make sure Molly never walked down the aisle with him if they weren’t completely convinced that he was the best man for their daughter.
And Molly’s dad was no fool.
Only the unvarnished truth would set him free now.
“I thought Molly deserved better than me, Walt,” Devil confided quietly, staring at his hands as he forced out the words. “I’m years too old for her, way too jaded to be considered emotionally healthy, and her polar opposite in most every way there is.”
“And you want me to sanction your marriage, do you?” Walter asked dryly, shaking his head. “You just gave me three very good reasons to say not only no, but hell no.”
“There’s a small problem with that,” Devil replied, meeting Walter’s gaze with somber eyes.
“Yeah?” Walter prompted, tilting his head.
“I don’t think I can live without her, Walter. I know I don’t want to try,” he confessed gravely, forcing the words out in quick succession before he lost his sudden nerve.
Walter smiled and ran a hand over his silver hair. “Well, son, you sound like every lovesick man I’ve ever come across. Don’t worry. It’s natural.”
“Not for me,” Devil grumbled, rubbing his jaw.
Chuckling, Walter sighed. “That’s only because your heart was waiting for the one you really wanted. Alright,” he declared with a nod, “You’ve told me why you’re wrong for my daughter. Now, tell me why you’re right.”
This part was a bit easier and the words came without any thought. “No man will ever love her as much as I do, Walt. I’ve watched her grow up and turn into a beautiful woman. I’ve stood by while that jackass, Barlow, broke her heart. I helped pick up the pieces and put her together again after he was done with her. And I can tell you that I’ll never hurt her like that. She’ll be safe as my wife. Not just financially, but emotionally as well. I’ll treasure her the way she deserves to be treasured.”
“Sounds good in theory,” Walter admitted, folding his hands behind his head as he leaned back in his chair. “Although, I know from experience that it’s not in my daughter’s nature to ever make anything easy on anybody.”
“No, it most definitely is not,” Devil agreed with a low chuckle. “She keeps me on my toes every minute of every day.”
“That’s my girl.” Walter grinned. His smile faded after a moment and he offered the younger man a hard look. “Molly doesn’t know how you feel, does she, Devil?”
Surprised, Devil stared at Walter. “How did you know?” he asked softly.
“I’ve got a better question. How did you convince somebody as hard-headed as Molly to agree to marry you without telling her that you’re in love with her? Something doesn’t smell right here, Dev. I want the complete truth.”
“You won’t like it,” Devil warned uneasily. He’d already promised himself that he would never lie to Molly’s father; he had no choice but to continue being honest. “Just know that the way this started doesn’t change anything I’ve already told you, okay?”
“I’m not getting any younger over here, boy,” Walter growled impatiently. “Start talking.”
Over the next several minutes, Devil explained the situation with Nana and the plan he’d conned Molly into undertaking. He spared no detail. He even shared that he was allowing Molly to believe the marriage was a short-term arrangement, that he’d dropped a small fortune into her accounts, and that it was his hope that Molly would fall as deeply in love with him as he was with her.
At that, Walter Ramsey bent double in his chair and laughed hysterically, the booming sound bouncing off the paneled walls of the room.
Pressing his lips together as Molly’s father chortled at his expense, Devil shook his head. “I didn’t think it was all that funny, sir. I do have a few good qualities.”
“Son, for such a smart man, you are a real schmuck,” Walter retorted, wiping his eyes as he finally drew in a deep breath. “Or blind. Are you blind, Devil?”
“You’re starting to sound a lot like your daughter, Walt,” Devil muttered, clamping his jaw together as a man he admired deeply broke into deep belly laughs again.
Shaking his head, Walter pressed a hand against his chest, wheezing.
“Oh, God, please don’t have a heart attack,” Devil prayed, lunging to his feet as he stared in horror at the older man. “Molly will swear I killed you to get my way!”
“I’m not having a heart attack, you moron! I think I pulled a muscle laughing so hard. Devil, sit down, son,” he ordered the pale, shaken man. “I’m fine.”
Sagging back into the leather armchair, Devil closed his eyes for a second as he willed his own heart to slow down.
“She loves you, boy.”
Devil’s eyes popped open. “What?” he asked faintly.
Exhaling heavily, Walter leaned forward in his chair. “My daughter is already in love with you. That battle is already won. Your challenge is going to be convincing her that she’s the only one for you.”
“Molly loves me?” Devil asked weakly as his heart began to pound in his chest. Of all the things he had expected to hear in this little heart-to-heart, those words had never even crossed his mind. Elated, he surged to his feet. “Are you sure, Walt?”
“I’m positive. I know my little girl. And for what it’s worth, you’ve got my blessing to marry her. Just know that if you ever hurt my baby girl, I’ve got a bullet with your name on it and a plot of ground where nobody would ever find the body. I love you like another son, Devil, but that won’t save your life if you ever harm my Molly. Just remember, she was mine first.”
“Yes, sir,” Devil whispered automatically as he tried to come to grips with what Walter had said. She loved him. How had he missed the fact that the woman that he was trying to convince to fall head over heels in love with him was apparently already there?
“And I wouldn’t share any of this business about your Nana with Anne. She wouldn’t find it nearly as amusing as I do.”
“No, sir,” Devil agreed. Molly loved him. He still couldn’t wrap his mind around that fact, but he trusted Walter. If the older man said it was so, then it was gospel.
“And you need to let Molly tell you how she feels in her own time,” Walter advised sagely. “Pushing a woman that’s trying to hold onto a secret never goes well for a man. Just try to tell her how you feel before you say I do. We don’t cotton to so-called pre-nuptial agreements in this family. Once married, always married, Devil.”
“I’ll never willingly let her go, Walter,” Devil replied huskily, the truth flowing freely. “She’s it for me.”
“Good enough,” Walter returned, nodding once. Rising from behind his desk, he circled it to stand in front of Devil. “You’re already a part of the family, son, but it will be nice to make it official,” he remarked, pulling Devil into his arms for a hug.