“Well, this was a nice end to lunch.”
“Don’t worry,” Cheyenne muttered around my fried chicken. “I’ll finish this for you.” She moaned as she tore off the crispy outside. “Mmm, don’t tell your mom this, but Roy makes the best fried chicken.”
“He got the recipe from her,” Lizzy said proudly. “It’s Liam’s favorite, so of course she makes it all the time.”
She was just about to grab a fry when she realized what she said.
“And because of that, I’m going to tell her never to make it again.”
Shoving to my feet, I grabbed my Coke. “Well, this has been fun, but I’m going to get back to work.”
“But what about all this food?” Cheyenne asked.
There was hardly any left. The two of them had devoured most of it.
“I’m sure you’ll find somewhere to put it.”
Spinning on my heel, I walked out holding my head high.
Until I actually made it out the door. Then I slumped against the wall and let my emotions get the best of me for just a few minutes.
“Enough feeling sorry for yourself, Bailey. He’s just a stupid man.”
Pulling myself together, I headed back to work, repeating those words over and over in my head.
But no matter how many times I said it, I just couldn’t bring myself to believe it.
27
LIAM
I madeit about halfway through the day before I felt his menacing presence behind me.
Glancing over my shoulder, I tossed the hammer down on the workbench and faced Bailey’s brother.
“Tell me the rumors around town aren’t true,” he snarled.
Lying to him might save my ass for today, but he’d be back tomorrow to kick my ass, and I’d let him.
“What exactly do you want me to say?”
Taking a menacing step forward, I’d never seen him so pissed in all my life. But I had it coming, even if I hadn’t considered Brody in all of this.
“Tell me that you didn’t let another woman hang all over you at The Beaver last night. Tell me that my baby sister didn’t show up at your house this morning, only to find that skank practically naked in only your shirt.”
His voice got louder with every word spoken. Hell, at this point, I couldn’t blame him at all for wanting to kill me.
“Tell me that you did not give the impression that you wanted to spend the rest of your life with my sister, only to drop her after less than a fucking week!”
The anger rippling off him didn’t scare me. Hell, I’d been around worse men in my life, but this was Bailey’s brother. We’d always gotten along pretty well, and I’d gone and ruined that. Things would never be the same again.
“Not that it’s any of your business, but it was never going to work out.”
He barked out a laugh, taking another step forward. “Is that what you told yourself when you decided to let her down by having another woman sit on your lap?”
“I already told her,” I snarled. “I fucking told her to leave. She wouldn’t just walk away.”
“So you found another way,” he scoffed. “You broke my innocent sister’s heart all because you wanted to prove a point?”
