Destined To Be A Dad (Welcome To Destiny Book 9) by Christyne Butler Page B

business, but it’d been Liam who’d gone from sales manager to CEO in record time.
    He’d always thought Bryant had been okay with that. Each family member was an equal shareholder in the company, and Liam’s promotion wouldn’t have happened without his brother’s vote.
    Besides, that had been years ago. His brother was still upset after all this time? “Are you saying you don’t like the way I’m doing my job?”
    “Guys...” Nolan’s warning tone cut the air between them.
    Bryant shook his head. “Forget it.”
    Liam took a step closer. “Like hell. First fatherhood and now this. What is going on with you?”
    Bryant opened his mouth, but then Adam strolled into the room with his son, A.J., in his arms, cutting him off. “So this is where you’re hiding out. Dad says to get a move on, he and the twins are drowning in all the estrogen out there. Personally, I think he loves being surrounded by the ladies—”
    Adam paused then, his gaze quickly darting around the room, from brother to brother to brother. “Whoa, what’s going on here?”
    “We’re trying to figure that out,” Nolan said. “Without much success.”
    “Bryant’s evidently got a stick up his butt about Casey—” Liam said, recalling how all this started.
    “This has nothing to do with Casey.” His brother cut him off, his tone quieter now, his gaze on his boots. “Not really.”
    Liam looked at Nolan and Adam, seeing that they were as confused as he was. He pulled in a deep breath and took a step back. “He seems to think life has handed me the world on a silver platter and finding out I’m a dad fifteen years too late is just going to be one more smooth ride for me.”
    “Well, you always were the smart one,” Adam said. “Straight A’s and barely cracking a book.”
    “The most popular and always got the girl,” Nolan added. “And the best rides.”
    Yeah, until a horse had damn near taken his arm off and ended his dream. “Geesh, thanks, guys. I really feel the love.”
    “Hey, you’re a hard worker, we all know that,” Nolan said. “Even Bryant. But you always were a lucky SOB.”
    “You scored again with Casey. She’s a sweetheart,” Adam remarked.
    “I know that,” Liam snapped.
    “But seeing how moony-eyed you’ve been over Missy the last couple of days, never mind the fact those two are only here temporarily,” Adam continued, switching his son from one arm to the other, “I’d say things might not come quite so easy for you this time. In fact, unless I’m reading this situation all wrong, you could be in for the ride of your life.”

Chapter Seven
    L iam had been ready to tell his brothers what they could do with their opinions of his past and what he faced in the immediate future when it came to Missy and Casey, but then Nolan’s twins had barreled into the office, insisting dinner was heading to the table.
    The last one to walk into the dining room, he was still fired up over their simplistic view of his accomplishments. He’d worked damn hard for everything he’d ever gotten.
    So what if he’d known from the age of ten that he wanted a rodeo career? Yes, he had a natural talent for staying in the saddle from the very beginning, but easy? Hell, it had been anything but, and making the choice to walk away from that dream had been the hardest thing he’d ever done.
    Almost as hard as walking away from a future with Missy.
    Thankfully his attention was diverted to the women emerging from the kitchen, in particular one beautiful blonde with sparkling blue eyes and a wide smile. She wore a simple sundress that left her arms bare and showed off her tiny waist, but what caught his eye was the way her hair hung in soft golden waves past her shoulders.
    Missy laughed at something Fay and Laurie said, and the sweet sound caused the stiffness riding across his shoulders to diminish.
    She followed his mother’s lead and placed the heaping tray of fried chicken in the middle of the table alongside the