The Future of Love (Bachelor Billionaire #6) (2 page)

Ethan's
phone rang, and he looked down at the screen.

"The
wifey calls. Call your mother. I'm going home."

"I'll
make sure to call her when I get home, Uncle Ethan," Kyle said
in his best toddler voice.

Ethan
gave him a dirty look, as he put his phone up to his ear and turned
to walk away.

"What's
up, woman?"

Kyle
sat back in his chair and looked around his huge office proud of what
he had accomplished in five years. He joked around with his uncle and
gave him a hard time, but he was so thankful for everything Ethan had
done for him.

Everything
he learned was because of Ethan. He'd taken him to meetings with huge
clients, taught him so much about the business, and shown him more
about gaming than he could have ever figured out on his own. Whatever
Kyle created on his own, Ethan let him keep the rights to. He even
helped him on weekends when Kyle was stuck on what he was doing.
Ethan's company bought a few of Kyle's personal games from him. He
owed every bit of his success to Ethan. For five years, Ethan worked
beside him and molded him into the man he had become. It was the best
decision he'd ever made going with Ethan's company. When he
originally was made to choose between Ethan and Gavin, John was the
one to help him decide. He had no idea that Ethan would end up being
his uncle.

When
Julie got pregnant the last time, Ethan decided it was time to make
some changes and be home to help her. Slowly, he began cutting back
his hours. Kyle knew it was to see if he could handle things alone.
Julie and Ethan had already had Little Ethan and a set of twin boys.
The whole group gave them so much shit for having twins. They had
messed with Gavin and Becky so much over their twins. It was right
there biting them in the rear. The twins were only nine months old
when Julie ended up pregnant again. That was when Kyle noticed Ethan
cutting back slightly on his hours. By the time she had their
beautiful little girl, he was only going into the office three days a
week.

Ethan
made Kyle an equal partner in the company even though Kyle didn't
feel he deserved it at all. His five years didn't at all compare to
the time Ethan had put in to build it into what it was. Kyle knew he
would put in as many hours as it took to build the company even
higher and show Ethan he had made the right decision believing in
him. Nobody had ever believed in Kyle like that before. His dad was
pretty good to him growing up, but he hadn't talked to him in over
five years. Not since he found out what he'd done to Kelly, John, and
his mom. John was a great guy. He took Kyle in right along with Kelly
and did everything Kyle needed to be able to build his future. He
treated him as his own son. The belief Ethan had in him was
different. They had the same passion for the same things. There was
an instant bond between the two of them. They spent hours upon hours
working together. Julie never gave them a single bit of grief over
any of it. She really was amazing. He always called her Aunt Julie.
It irritated the shit out of Ethan which gave Kyle even more joy
doing it.

Their
little girl was already six months old and Ethan was still going into
the office here and there. He never stayed long, but it freaked Kyle
out every time. Kyle knew he was just doing it to keep in touch with
his people and partly because he needed to get out of the house a
bit. Ethan still had a room in his house devoted to his work. Julie
could joke all she wanted, but she still found time to play their new
games.

Ethan
never made Kyle feel like he was less than him. He always told Kyle
how proud he was and encouraged him in everything he wanted to do.
For some reason, Kyle felt the need to always prove himself to Ethan.
He wanted to make him proud.

Kyle
stood up and looked around his office one more time. With a huge
smile on his face, and a sense of accomplishment, he grabbed his
stuff and headed home for the night.

Kyle

Kyle
pulled his car up his long driveway with a smile on his face. He'd
recently moved out of the apartment that he had lived in for five
years. It was the same apartment his mom had first lived in when
she'd moved back to Pennsylvania. He thought about how nervous he was
accepting a job with Ethan and moving to a place he had never been to
other than a very short visit. His mom was moving in with John, and
Kyle was able to afford the rent with his new job. The two-bedroom
apartment had enough space for him and the computers he needed. Most
of his time was spent at the office or Ethan's house, so Kyle never
felt a need to own anything bigger. He was able to keep it clean and
used his second bedroom for his home office.

When
Ethan made the decision to bring Kyle in as a partner, Kyle decided
it was time for an upgrade. He'd be able to have people from the
office over and couldn't wait to have more room for his computers and
gaming equipment.

The
house he found was beautiful. It had a nice area of land surrounding
it and was totally secluded. When he had first been to Heath's house,
he knew he wanted something similar. The house he found had a very
long driveway and was surrounded by woods. There was a huge garage, a
wrap-around porch, and a hot tub on an awesome deck.

Kyle
got out of his car and let himself in. It was very quiet. That was
the only thing he wasn't fond of. In the apartment, he could always
hear people coming and going. He knew once he was used to the
privacy, he was going to wonder why he hadn't moved sooner. His main
floor had a living room, dining room, family room, huge kitchen, and
two doors leading to a sunroom. The door on the other side of that
room led out to the deck and hot tub. The upstairs had five bedrooms.
One of them was made into his home office. There was a huge basement
that was finished but completely open. That was his space. He'd
worked on it for over a month. All of his computers and gaming
equipment were set up perfectly. He had televisions that covered an
entire wall. It was a true man cave.

Heath
and John spent so much time helping him get everything done the way
he wanted it. John enjoyed spending time with Kyle. They had really
built a great relationship over the years. Kelly had the twins and a
little one to keep her busy. She ended up having a little boy that
they named after his grandpa. John played the proud and very
protective grandpa to all three of the kids. Kyle knew if he ever had
kids, John would be the same way with his. He really was an amazing
man. With Sandy being the only one living with John, he seemed to
enjoy the guy time he got with Kyle. Between pizza and beer, the
three guys really had done a great job on the house. Heath was happy
to work with Kyle on changing certain things with the house to fit
his needs. It had come out looking perfect. Kyle knew he would
forever owe Heath for all of his hard work, even though he never
expected a single thing in return for what he had done. Kyle and
Heath had given each other shit here and there, but they got along
really well.

Kyle
put his bag down as soon as he walked through the door and kicked his
shoes off. He took his suit jacket off and hung it over a chair with
his tie. He undid his sleeves and rolled them up before heading to
the kitchen for a beer and throwing a frozen dinner in the microwave.
Kyle ran upstairs and turned on his laptop while he waited for his
food. He sat down at his small kitchen table to eat in silence, as he
looked down at his phone.

Kyle
was excited about his new place and his accomplishments. He'd worked
his ass off for five years. The entire time was spent concentrating
on his work. He hung out with some guys from the company from time to
time and spent an evening with a woman here and there, but he never
put time into having a relationship. His goal was to establish a life
he could be proud of before finding someone to share it with. It
helped that the one woman he wanted had always been off limits.

Her
name was Jenny. She was Gavin's assistant. When he'd laid eyes on her
at Becky's baby shower, Gavin made it clear that he was not to go
anywhere near her. Kyle walked away after telling Gavin he had no
intention of talking to her. Who the fuck did Gavin think he was
anyway, Kyle wondered? He was one of John's best friends, that's who.
There was no way he wanted to do anything to upset John or any of his
friends. They had all been so good to him.

Still
looking down at his phone, he knew he needed to call his mom back.
She was probably upset with him. John was probably still pestering
Ethan about having him call her. He hit the call button on his mom's
number and walked into his living room to sit in comfort. He was sure
it was going to be a lengthy conversation. Sandy answered on the
second ring.

"It's
about time," she said. "I was worried about you."

"I
had some work to get done and planned on calling you once I was home.
I'm working more now, mom," he said.

What
did it matter that he wasn't in a relationship when his mom wouldn't
get off his back, he thought? He might as well have perks to go along
with the nagging.

"I
know you've been very busy, but I wanted to talk to you about
something. We're all taking a vacation, and we want you to come,"
he said.

"Who's
we all and where are you going?" he asked.

"Me,
John, Kelly, Eric, the kids, and all the guys' families," she
said.

"All
of them?" he asked.

"All
of them," she said. "The guys haven't gone on a vacation
together in at least seven years, probably longer. It was the cruise
they went on where Becky met Gavin. We're going to Hawaii together.
Josh finally got a house, and we all want to celebrate. It's only for
a week."

"A
week," he said. "I'm not sure about that."

"Ethan
said there's no reason you can't go. We didn't want to ask you if he
wasn't going to be happy. He's going and said he'd help with any work
you had to do while we're there. Sarah's asked me four times if
you're coming. The kids miss you. We really want you there, Kyle."

"Do
you know how many kids that is?" he asked.

"You'll stay
with us. You know we have enough room for you to have privacy while
you're there. You can go down the beach and have fun. There'll be so
many young ladies there for you to hang out with. It's a popular time
to go."

"Do
you think that's making me want to go more? Hang out with the ladies
with my mom, stepdad, and sister's family right there. Come on, mom,"
he replied.

"I
don't ask much of you, Kyle," she began. "This is very
important to me. Your sister has her family and you have your big
time life now. I want my kids together. It's only for one week."

Kyle
didn't feel like being around everyone but knew his mom would be
upset if he turned her down. He made a mental note to thank Ethan the
next time he saw him. When his mom got her mind on something, there
was no changing it. Especially when everyone else was involved as
well. They would all take turns calling him until he finally caved
in. He knew he would save himself so much time by giving in right
away.

"Fine,"
he said. "I'll go."

His
mom was super excited and kept going on and on about how happy she
was. It had been too long since he'd spent time with his niece and
nephew, and he barely ever saw his newest nephew.

Once
he was finally able to get his mom off the phone, he turned on his
television to try and unwind from the day.

He
was tired from working so much, but his mind still found time to
wander to Jenny. After seeing her five years earlier at the shower,
he'd seen her many times since. She was funny, sweet, caring, and
absolutely beautiful. Ethan took him to Gavin's office more times
than he would've liked to have gone. He hadn't realized they worked
that closely to one another. The fight to get him to work for them
made more sense than it had before. He'd see Jenny sitting at her
desk outside of Gavin's office each time he was there. She'd jump
right up and offer them coffee or soda. She was very polite and never
took the smile off her face. He'd catch her watching him and even
busted her looking him up and down, but he never said a word. He knew
there was a smile on his face just for her, but that was it. Gavin
would glare at him or call him out once they were in the office where
she couldn't hear. Kyle rarely had the opportunity to have a real
conversation with her. She appeared to be his age. He figured she had
started working with Gavin shortly out of high school. Kyle wondered
if she'd gone to college and a million other things about her. He'd
catch himself watching her as Gavin and Ethan talked. Over the years,
Gavin went into the office less and less, which meant Kyle didn't
have to spend as much time there. He looked forward to each time just
so he could see her. He knew it was ridiculous, but he couldn't help
it. Just seeing her made his day brighter.