Brody (13 page)

“But you do wanna stay,” I said, hazarding a guess. “Especially since Kane will be here.”

Macy turned her back before donning oven mitts to take out the bread. She covered the bread with a clean tea towel, then turned to face me, crossing her arms. “I should never have told you I had a crush on him. You’re never gonna let me live it down, are you?”

Since Macy still had a boyfriend she would never cheat on, I wasn’t overly concerned about her interest in Brody’s brother. It was probably just a harmless flirtation, but I wouldn’t mind witnessing their interactions, just to be sure. As her big sister, it was my job to look out for her, and as much as I loved Kane, he had a reputation as a player. Definitely not the kind of man I’d want Macy to get mixed up with.

“Kane’s a great guy,” I said, covering the pasta with foil so I could pop it into the oven later. “He’s just not the relationship type, ya know? I think it’s because of his job.”

“Why would that stop him?” Macy reached under the towel to break off a piece of the warm bread.

I gave her a chastising look before frowning at the bread. “I guess most of the women he’s dated have had a hard time with his career.” I shrugged. “At least that’s what Brody told me.”

“Then he’s dating the wrong girls,” she said, stealing an olive off the antipasto platter I’d prepared.

Steering her out of the room by her shoulders, I pointed at the sofa. “Sit while I make some coffee.”

“Why can’t I stay in there with you?” she asked, pouting.

“Because if you do, there’ll be nothing left for the guests,” I said, trying to hide my amusement. My sister had always been a grazer, snacking all day, mainly because she didn’t see the point in wasting time to sit down for a meal. “You go sit, and I’ll bring in a few of those cookies Mom sent over with you.”

“Okay.” She crossed the room and sank into the sofa. She pulled her phone out of her pocket when it pinged and sighed when she glanced at the screen. “It’s Brendan. He wants to know when I’m coming home.”

Since the kitchen was partially open to the living and dining areas, I asked, “What did you tell him?”

“The same thing I told him the last time he asked—I’m not sure.”

I could tell she was struggling with her decision to return to Nashville, and I knew it wasn’t the city or her decision to pursue a music career that had her second-guessing herself. It was her boyfriend.

When I returned with a platter of cookies and coffee, I said, “Why don’t you tell him the truth, that you need a little break from the relationship?”

“That’s easier said than done since we’re living together. Both of our names are on the lease, and it would be tough for him to pay the rent without me. He’s still got those student loans to pay off, not to mention a car payment now.”

Macy had told me he’d recently bought a new Corvette he couldn’t really afford, simply because he’d always wanted one and something about turning thirty made him think it had to be now or never.

“Ugh.” She tossed her phone on the chair as she reached for her mug. “I don’t want to talk about him anymore. Tell me how things went in Vegas. What’s Brody’s dad like? How about his brothers and stepmom? Are they cool?”

So typical of my sister. She wouldn’t ask just one question when she could fire half a dozen at you instead.

“His dad isn’t at all what I expected,” I admitted, reaching for my coffee. I had a feeling I’d need a few of these babies before the day was done.

“How so?” Macy asked, reaching for one of our mom’s ginger cookies.

“I don’t know.” I reached for a cookie and two paper napkins, then handed one to Macy. I’d just vacuumed and didn’t want crumbs all over the furniture and floor. “I guess I had this picture of him in my mind, and he was nothing like that.” I bit into the cookie as I thought about how best to describe Jack Steele. “He just seems like a normal, hard-working guy who loves his family.”

“So he’s changed?” Macy devoured her first cookie before reaching for a second.

“Yeah, I think even Brody was surprised. He wanted to go on hating him, I think because he has for so long. He doesn’t know any other way to interact with the man.”

“But you don’t think all that hatred and resentment is warranted?” Macy asked. “He did bail on them when they needed him most. That’s not an easy thing to forgive or forget.”

“I know.” Forgiveness had been on my mind a lot lately, since that was what Brody seemed to be asking of me. “I’m sure they’ll figure it out.” I took a sip of my coffee. “Telling his brothers about it will no doubt help. He’ll have people to talk to who understand how he feels better than I ever could.”

“Yeah, but he told Kane, right?”

“He did, but I think the fact that he hasn’t told everyone else is weighing on him. It’ll be good for him to get it all out there tonight.”

“He’ll be okay,” Macy said, curling her hand around my knee. “I know you want to be there for him, but you need to think about yourself first, girl. Don’t be too quick to let your guard down with him. I don’t want to see you get hurt again.”

This seemed like a good time to tell her about our conversation in Vegas. I needed my little sister’s input. “So we, uh, kinda slept together while we were away.” I avoided her gaze as I set my cup on the table.

“You didn’t!” Covering her eyes with her hand, Macy said, “I don’t know why I’m surprised. You never did have any self-restraint when it came to that man.”

“But that’s not the big news,” I said, replaying his words in my head. “He said he wants to marry me, Mace.”

She gaped at me as she dug her nails into my forearm. “Shut up! Are you telling me Brody Steele is finally ready to put a ring on your finger?”

“It seems that way.” I took a deep breath. “But it’s too soon. I’m just not ready to trust him again.”

Macy giggled. “Too soon? You’ve been with the guy on and off for twenty years.”

“You know what I mean. We haven’t been a real couple for a long time.” There had been moments of ecstasy when Brody was my boyfriend, but there were also moments of misery, and those were the ones I wasn’t anxious to relive. “He says he’s changed, or at least he wants to, but I don’t think this is the time for him to be making life-altering decisions about his future.”

“You mean because of his dad?”

“Yeah.” I pulled my phone out of my pocket when I heard the chime indicating I had a text. Groaning, I set it on the table.

“What’s wrong?” Macy asked, glancing at it. “Work problem?”

“No.” We had a small wedding scheduled for today, but I was confident my staff could handle that. “It’s a text from Stephan.”

“Stephan?” she asked, frowning. “I didn’t know you guys were still in touch.”

“We’re not really,” I said, trying to play it off. “When we broke up, I told him we could still be friends. In the beginning that meant getting together for the occasional cup of coffee, but when I realized he saw that as a chance to win me back I told him it would be best if we didn’t see each other anymore.”

“And?”

“He’s still calling and texting me.”

Peeking at my screen, Macy said, “Are all of his texts like that?”

This one simply asked me how I’d been. “Most are. Sometimes he tells me he misses me or asks to see me.”

“How do you respond?” Macy asked, sounding concerned.

“I tell him it’s not a good idea, that we both need to move on with our lives.”

“Has he tried to see you?” Macy asked. “You know, stopped by your work or anything?”

“No, but we did run into each other at the café down the street from my office last week. He claimed he was in the neighborhood, but it was eighty thirty in the morning, and since he knows I’m always there at that time, I wasn’t really buying it.”

Brody walked in, leaving his liquor haul by the door. “Hey, Mace, I didn’t know you’d be here. You staying for dinner?”

“No,” she said, reaching for her coffee mug as Brody leaned over my shoulder to plant a kiss on my cheek. “It’s a family thing. I wouldn’t want to impose.”

“You are family,” he reminded her. “How the hell could you be an imposition?”

“Aren’t you sweet?” Macy patted his cheek when he squeezed in behind me on the sofa. “Are you trying to score brownie points with my sister by chance?”

“Is it working?” Brody asked, grinning as he dropped a kiss on the side of my neck.

“Where’s the stuff?” I asked, smiling. “You got my text about stopping at the grocery store, right?”

“No, sorry. My phone’s out of juice. I can run out again.” He grabbed my phone. “Let me just see what you need.”

Macy’s eyes widened when Brody spotted the text from Stephan. “Uh oh,” she mouthed.

“Why the hell is he still contacting you?” Brody asked, holding my phone up in front of me.

“Uh, I think that’s my cue to leave,” Macy said, sliding off the sofa. “If you’re sure you’d like me to come for dinner, Brody—”

“I am,” he said, never taking his eyes off me.

“Okay, in that case, I’ll just run home to shower and change. Can I bring anything, sis?”

“No, thanks.” I was trying to decide how best to explain Stephan to Brody. He was still a sore spot, since he was the reason I’d stopped seeing Brody in the first place. “Just be back here by six.”

“You got it.” Macy grabbed her phone and purse before dashing out the door.

“What the hell, Ri?” Brody asked, jumping up. “Why’s he still texting you?”

“I don’t know,” I said, trying to act calm as I finished the rest of my coffee. Repeating the same story to him I’d just told Macy, I added, “I think he’s just having a hard time getting over it. The man did propose to me, Brody. For him, it was a serious relationship.”

“And for you?” he asked, staring at me as he stopped pacing.

I felt as if I was stepping into a landmine. There was no right way to answer that question. I couldn’t lie to him, but I didn’t want to hurt him either. “I wouldn’t have slept with him if it wasn’t.”

“Goddammit, Riley! How many times do I have to tell you—I don’t need to be reminded that you slept with that dirtbag! Especially now that you’re sharing a bed with me again!”

We’d been sleeping together ever since we returned from Vegas, and he apparently thought that gave him the right to dictate what I could and couldn’t do and who I could talk to. I was trying to be reasonable, knowing I would feel the same way in his position, but I didn’t appreciate being made to feel as though I’d done something wrong. Stephan had texted me. I hadn’t responded.

“Take a closer look,” I said, holding the phone up so he could see the screen. “I didn’t text him back, and I don’t intend to.”

He sank into the chair he’d been standing in front of, taking off his backward ball cap. He thrust his hands through his hair before replacing the cap. “I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t mean to yell at you. It’s just…”

“What?” I knew we had to get used to sharing our feelings, something Brody had never been very good at. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”

“I get this pit in my stomach every time I think about that guy.”

“Why? I broke up with him before you were back in my life. That should tell you all you need to know. With or without you, I don’t want him.”

“Yeah, but you did once.” He looked me in the eye. “And how do I know you won’t again?”

Shaking my head slightly, I said, “You’re not making any sense.”

“I’ll never forget hearing you say those words to me.”

“What words?”

“I’ve met someone else.”

Those were the words everyone in a committed relationship dreaded, but Brody and I hadn’t been in a committed relationship when I said them. “But we were just having fun, spending time together when you passed through town. We—”

“I lived for those moments with you,” he said, his voice raspy. “They may not have meant anything to you, but they meant everything to me.”

“How can you say that?” I asked, hurt and offended. “You know they meant something to me.”

“I don’t think you get it. When you told me you’d met someone else, my world bottomed out. I never, ever thought that could happen, that you’d meet a guy who meant so much to you that you’d want to shut me out of your life.”

He was trying to make me feel guilty, and it was working.

“What was I supposed to do?” I shouted. “Be happy with whatever scraps you were willing to give me? Stephan wanted to be with me. Only me. I was enough for him. He didn’t need to traipse all over the world looking for thrills. He got his thrills with me!”

His hand flew out, knocking the lamp off the table, and I gasped, jumping back as ceramic flew in the opposite direction. “You think I need to be reminded of that? You don’t think I close my eyes every night knowing that bastard slept where I’m sleeping? That he had sex with you on the very same sheets?”

I couldn’t believe he was still so worked up about my relationship with Stephan. I thought we were trying to put the past to rest, but he seemed determined to resurrect it. “You’re asking me to forgive and forget, yet you can’t do the same. I have nothing to feel guilty about. So I fell in love with someone else. Is that a crime?”

His eyes narrowed, and I realized what I’d said a moment too late.

“So you were in love with him?”

“I was…” I didn’t know what to say. I wasn’t sure if what I’d felt for Stephan was love. How could it have been if I couldn’t accept his marriage proposal?

“Forget it! I got my answer!”

Unable to believe what had just happened, I watched in shock as he stormed out the door.

Brody

As I sat in the parking lot, staring at Riley’s bedroom window, my gut churned as I replayed the whole ugly scene in my mind. I’d snapped when I realized her ex wasn’t over her. That meant he might show up on her doorstep one day and beg her to take him back. And maybe she would…

I pressed my thumb and forefinger into my burning eyes. I’d made a mess of everything. Made her out to be the villain just because she’d… fallen in love with someone else. It still killed me to think about it. How could she love someone else? How could she forget everything we meant to each other, even for a little while? But it made perfect sense. Riley would never have slept with someone she didn’t love.