Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 99494 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 497(@200wpm)___ 398(@250wpm)___ 332(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99494 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 497(@200wpm)___ 398(@250wpm)___ 332(@300wpm)
“I wasn’t keeping him a secret. A lot’s been going on,” I remind her of everything I filled her in on during our drive home from the airport, all stuff I didn’t get to tell her when we’ve talked on the phone.
“I get that, but you could have told me that you are seeing Mr. Tennessee.”
“Mr. Tennessee.” I laugh, and she smiles. Taking my eyes off her when there is movement in my rearview mirror, my heart sinks as I watch my brother pull up behind me. At this moment, unless Bax spoke to him today, which I’m pretty certain he didn’t, he doesn’t know about the two of us yet.
“Oh God.” I haven’t thought about how I’d feel being in the same space as my brother and Bax, but as panic overwhelms me, I’m almost tempted to turn my car back on and drive off at a high speed.
“What’s wrong?” Rebecca asks, and I look over at her.
“My brother is here,” I tell her, then quickly fill her in on the situation.
“It’s okay. I’ll distract him. Just play it cool.”
“Right, cool,” I agree, jumping when there is a knock on my window. Spinning my head that way, I meet Liam’s gaze before he opens my door, allowing Gemma—who had been waiting for me—to climb halfway onto my lap.
“Hey, kid.”
“What are you doing here?” I ask him as I rub the top of Gemma’s head.
“Dad called. I wanted to make sure everything was okay.” He looks around me to where Rebecca is sitting and smiles one of his most charming smiles. “You must be Rebecca.”
“I… uh… yes,” Rebecca mumbles, and when Liam laughs, I notice that her cheeks are bright pink.
Great.
I reach behind me and grab my purse from the floorboard behind her seat.
“Do you need help with bags?” Liam asks.
“Please.” I pop the trunk, and he unfolds out of my car door and walks toward the rear of my rental.
“Are you okay?” I ask Rebecca quietly.
“You never told me your brother was hot.”
“That’s because that’s disgusting.” I sigh. Her reaction to him is the exact reason I have never introduced them when Liam made the odd trips to Chicago to visit me. All I need is a friend crushing on my brother, who is a serial dater/manwhore and also unbelievably charming when he wants to be, which is why he’s able to go through so many women.
“Well, a warning would have been nice,” she grumbles, pushing open her door.
Looking past her, I find Bax standing half between the house and my car, with his eyes on me and his hands fisted at his sides like he’s holding himself in place. Rubbing my lips together, I let out a breath and get out of my car while Liam carries Rebecca’s bag up the side of the driveway toward Kourtney’s house, saying something to Bax as he passes him.
As Rebecca and I get closer to Bax, I wonder if she notices the subtle hardness in his jaw and the look in his eyes that I do as his gaze wanders over me. He hates this. It’s written on his face that he’s annoyed, that he can’t kiss me or touch me like he’s done freely for days, and I hate it, too.
After I introduce him to Rebecca, who greets him with a smile and some small talk about her flight, she wanders off to hug my dad, who she knows from when my parents both went to Chicago to visit me.
“Are you okay?” I ask him softly, bending to love on Gemma, who hasn’t stopped being totally excited that I’m here.
“No, I’m pissed that I have to pretend you’re not mine.” The word mine should make me uncomfortable, but all it does is make me hate this a little more.
“Me too.”
I turn my head to Liam when he calls out.
“Did you guys eat dinner yet?”
“I haven’t.” I look Rebecca’s way when she says she hasn’t either.
“How about we order in?” I ask, tipping my head back to look up at Bax.
“Sounds good,” he mutters, reaching out toward me, and my heart speeds up, but all he does is slide my work bag off my shoulder. I took it with me to the airport since I finished with my last client a little after five and didn’t have time to come home this evening before I left to pick Rebecca up. Luckily, I was able to meet the rental car company here at the house while I was on lunch, drop off Bax’s truck, and take the driver back to the rental office. “Did you see Julie today?”
“In passing. She mostly stayed in her office and avoided all of us. I could take that as a sign of guilt for what happened to my car, but I know it was more about what happened yesterday,” I tell him as we walk to where my dad chats with the tow truck driver.