Kian (Undercover Billionaire, #1)(36)

Arden laughed before slapping Kian on the back. Kian wasn’t too thrilled about that. He waited to see what his brother had to say.

“I love seeing this humble side of you,” Arden said. “But don’t let it last too long. It sort of freaks me out.”

“I’m being a little bitch, aren’t I?” Kian chuckled.

“Yeah, but I’ll forgive you,” Arden said. “Now quit whining, and you can walk me to class.”

“I’ve got nothing better to do at the moment,” Kian said.

It took both men a few seconds to get out of the table. For just a moment, Kian felt trapped and wanted to break the damn thing, but he might get his brother in trouble if he started smashing school property.

“Did you get a call from Dakota?” Arden asked as they made their way down the hall.

Their little sister had married Ace Armstrong last year. And though all the brothers had wanted to smash Ace’s face in at one point for not only putting Dakota’s life in jeopardy, but also for knocking her up without being married to her, they all really liked the man now, and his entire family. The Armstrongs were good people.

“Not in a few days—why?” Kian asked. He was instantly worried. Their little sister might be married now, but that didn’t mean they didn’t worry about her. If Ace ever hurt her, they’d have to kill the man.

“She’s about to pop at any time,” Arden said.

“It’s unreal how much is changing in such a short period,” Kian remarked. “Now there will be two grandkids for our parents to lavish attention on. You know they’ll be hungry for more.”

A shudder went through Arden as a light of panic entered his eyes. He laughed, as if pushing it aside.

“They have four other children to give them all the kiddos they want. I will focus on the overgrown toddlers in this high school,” Arden finally said.

“I don’t think they will see it that way,” Kian argued.

They reached Arden’s classroom, and Kian propped himself up on one of the kids’ desks as he faced his brother.

“My students aren’t going to like your ass print on their desk,” Arden pointed out.

“I have a great ass. They won’t mind.” Kian winked.

Arden laughed as he sat in his chair and pulled out some papers to be graded.

“Want some help?” Kian asked.

“You’d just give them all As and call it good,” Arden told him.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t actually read that crap. I’ve been through enough schooling to last a lifetime.”

“You’re the one who wanted to go to medical school,” Arden pointed out.

“And every single day, I’m still happy about the decision.” He flashed through the night he’d lost Pamela in his ER and thought he might not be so grateful every day. But he didn’t need to say that out loud.

He chatted with his brother a few more minutes before making a hasty retreat. He definitely wanted to be out of that school before the next bell rang and the halls filled with obnoxious kids. He’d leave the teaching and counseling to his brother.

Right now Kian had one thing on his mind, and only one thing. He had to figure out a way to make things right with Roxie, and he had to do it before he lost too much more time with his beautiful daughter. Just knowing he had a little girl had brought a new optimism to his life he hadn’t felt in a long time.

Kian smiled as he jogged out to his car. Arden really had helped improve his mood.





Chapter Fourteen

There was a mixture of relief and apprehension filling Roxie as she walked from the interview with the emergency department at the same hospital Kian worked at. She’d applied at three other places, and none were hiring, telling her to come back in six weeks. She didn’t have six weeks to find work. She had to do it yesterday. She had a little girl to take care of, and no matter what her sister’s will had said, she wasn’t planning on sharing her with Kian.

He was a doctor, for goodness’ sake, and busy all the time. She would calmly talk to him about Lily being raised by an aunt who adored her, or a nanny who didn’t have anything invested in her at all. Roxie would find a new job where she’d take as many night shifts as possible so she could be with Lily during the day.

Kian, on the other hand, worked a massive number of hours. If the man wouldn’t be reasonable, then maybe a judge would see it in Lily’s best interest to be with family versus nannies. If Roxie truly thought about it, she knew she had no rights, but she couldn’t think that way. It scared her too much.

Luckily, Roxie had gotten Eden to babysit for her while she’d done this job interview, so she hadn’t had to try to juggle her cranky niece while doing it. She wanted to seem more than capable of getting the job. She knew not working would look really bad for her if this did end up going to court. She was desperately hoping to avoid that.

Her entire life, Roxie had always been that girl to look on the positive side of things. She’d correct people when they only saw the bad in any situation, and now here she was fighting to find the positive. She vowed she wasn’t going to do that anymore. She would have a job and a bright future ahead of her. She wasn’t even going to think about the road bump in the way named Kian Forbes. Nope. He was just a blip on her radar. That was all. Nothing more and nothing less.