Fulfillment (Book 3 in The Temptation Series) by K.M. Golland

spot where he needed to land on the farm that our
facial expressions traded places. Now I was the one smirking smugly
at him, and he was the one displaying agitation, together with
wiping his palms on his jeans every so often and muttering under
his breath ‘friggin’ sweaty palms’.
    As he placed
the chopper down with perfection, I waved to my family, who were
standing not too far from the shed. Bryce jumped out and gave a
kind but subtle wave in their direction, and as he did, I noticed
my mother’s wider than normal grin—she may have been 62, but she
was still a woman. I watched him walk around the front of the
chopper—his eyes meeting mine for a second—forcing a shy smile
across his face.
    He opened the
back door and let Nate and Charli out. They ran towards my parents
and wrapped their arms around them while Bryce came around to my
door and unbuckled my belt. He shot a quick glance toward my family
which I found to be incredibly adorable. I placed my finger under
his chin and directed his face to look at me.
    “Hey, I
thought you said us Blaxlos were going to be putty in your hands,
so why the nerves? Everything is going to be fine; they are going
to love you.” I leaned forward once my buckle was undone and gave
him a quick kiss.
    He reached in
and placed both his hands on my hips then lifted me to the ground.
“I’m not nervous.”
    “Liar. Come
on.” I grabbed his hand and led him to my smiling family.
     
    As we
approached, Olivia was singing ‘riding in a copta...wocka wocka
wocka’. She put her arms out, so I took her from Jen as I kissed my
sister on the cheek.
    “Hello Livy,
did you see the big copta?”
    She excitedly
pointed to the helicopter. “Dere dere”
    “Yes. And what
sound does a copta make?”
    She bounced up
and down in my arms. “ Wocka wocka wocka.”
    I laughed.
“Good girl.” I leaned in and gave a Steven a peck on the cheek too.
“Hi, Steven. Steven this is Bryce. Bryce, my brother-in-law
Steven.”
    They shook
hands. “Nice to meet ya, Mate.”
    “Likewise,”
Bryce said with a smile.
    “And you
remember Jen.”
    “Hi, Bryce,
it’s nice to see you again. So, it would appear you don’t like
driving,” she said with a silly grin. “I’m just kidding.”
    Bryce went to
explain. “I could’ve—”
    I interrupted.
“The kids wanted to fly, so we flew to cheer them up.” I raised my
eyebrows at her. “Anyway, why drive when you can fly?”
    “Yeah, fair
enough,” she replied.
    I gently
placed my hand back in Bryce’s, his grip tightening to let me know
he appreciated my closeness. We moved along the receiving line my
family had created while Olivia kept singing ‘wocka wocka’ into my
ear.
    “Hi, Mum.” She
wrapped her arms around me, squashing Livy at the same time. I
pulled back after kissing her cheek. “Mum this is Bryce. Bryce,
this is my mum, Maryann.”
    She
practically pushed me aside and wrapped her arms around him. “It’s
so lovely to finally meet you, Bryce. Alexis has told me so much
about you.”
    You’re such
a liar, Mum. I haven’t told you SO much
about anything.
    Bryce raised
his eyebrows at me, obviously pleased to hear of my so-called
‘bragging’. “It’s a pleasure to meet you too, Mrs. Blaxlo,” he
said.
    “Oh, you’re so
sweet, but please, call me Maryann.”
    I passed
Olivia to Mum and then approached my Dad who was still eyeing off
the helicopter. “Bryce, this is my dad, Graeme.”
    Bryce shot out
his hand. “Nice to meet you, Graeme—”
    “Please, call
me Mr. Blaxlo.” Dad said, in a stern and mildly intimidating
voice.
    “Dad!” I
smiled at my father’s not so funny joke. “He’s kidding, Bryce,” I
said as I gave my dad a hug. “You’re not funny, Dad.”
    Dad held out
his hand to Bryce while chuckling to himself. He shrugged his
shoulders. “Nice to meet you, Bryce.” They shook hands.
    “Thanks for
letting us land the chopper in your paddock. I hope it didn’t spook
your cattle.”
    Dad