Page 107 of Falling for the Billionaire Best Man

40

KAISEN

Iadjusted my grip on the club as I lined up my shot. The others were scattered across the course—Cullen muttering something about his swing, Liam laughing at Marcus’s terrible joke. But I wasn’t really there. Not fully.

I swung, the club slicing through the air, but the ball veered off course, landing somewhere in the rough. Cullen let out a low whistle.

“What’s going on with you today, man?” he asked, stepping up to the tee. “You’re usually better than this.”

I shrugged, forcing a smile. “Just off my game, I guess.”

My mind kept drifting back to last night—to her. The way she’d looked at me when I gave her the earrings, the way she’d smiled even as her eyes searched mine for answers I couldn’t give. I hated that I pulled away, but something had shifted in that moment, something I couldn’t quite put into words.

I followed the guys around the course, counting down the holes. I wanted to go home.

“Earth to Kaisen,” Marcus called, snapping me out of my thoughts. “You planning to take this shot or just stare at the ball all day?”

“Yeah, yeah,” I muttered.

I finally finished my round of golf with the guys. I may as well have been sleepwalking through it. I hadn’t slept at all last night. I let my dad get in my head. That stupid little sketch Dorie had drawn—the one of us, with Rick in the middle—had hit me harder than I expected. It was so simple, so her, and it made me realize how serious this was. How serious I was. I’d marry her. Honestly, I would. But then my dad’s voice would creep back in, his warnings echoing in my head, and it felt like I was free-falling.

“Want to get lunch?” Cullen asked.

“No, thanks. I need to go home and make sure Dorie got the cakes.”

“Yeah, I heard about the oven,” Cullen said. “Eliza was having a freak out. Dorie promised her it was all okay.”

“I think it is,” I said. “She said we got them all baked and now it’s just icing or decorating or whatever the hell you call it.”

“Cool. Thanks for stepping up.”

“No worries. Part of my duties.”

“Hey, let’s go out for drinks,” Marcus said.

“I’ll see you guys later,” I said.

When I got home, I opened the fridge to grab a drink. I noticed Toby had forgotten to grab the icing for the groom’s cake from the fridge when he had picked up the cakes. She needed the icing. I had played around with the cake, but I knew she was going to make it right. Which meant she would need the icing.

I grabbed the bowl and headed out to my car.

As I pulled up to the bakery, something hit me like a punch to the gut. It was like a sudden realization just whacked me upside the head. It was a physical reaction.

Dorie would be the loser in this situation. Not me. Her. She’d be the one making sacrifices—putting up with my late nights at work, dealing with the public scrutiny that came with being with me, living a life that wasn’t entirely her own. And what if I turned out to be exactly like my dad? What if I hurt her, broke her heart, and left her wondering why she ever trusted me in the first place?

I was me. I had the reputation she would pay for. People would question her and why she was with me. They’d call her all kinds of names. They’d insinuate things I couldn’t begin to guess. She wasn’t from my world. She didn’t have thick skin. I saw what happened with a few mouthy bridesmaids. Dorie was a good person that preferred to fade into the woodwork rather than cause any drama. She wouldn’t defend herself. She would prefer to let people say what they wanted than defend herself.

I couldn’t do it. The realization wrecked me, but I knew it was true. I couldn’t put her through that. I couldn’t risk her losing all the things I loved about her. She would have to crawl into herself. Her light would be dimmed by vultures hoping to pick her apart.

I walked into the bakery. Toby was busy with a customer. He jerked his head, telling me to go ahead into the kitchen. Dorie was in the middle of cutting Eliza’s cakes to size. She looked up and smiled.

“Hey!” she said, setting down her knife and wiping her hands on her apron. “What are you doing here? I thought you had golf.”

I held up the container of icing, forcing a smile. “Toby forgot this. Thought I’d drop it off.”

She grinned, taking the container from me. “You’re a lifesaver. I didn’t even realize it was missing. I’m still trying to work on Eliza’s cake.”

“Yeah. No problem.”