“She’s the one,” I bit out, not liking any hint of suggestion that I just wanted to fuck her. “Though I haven’t explicitly told her that. She’s gun-shy. Don’t want to scare her off. But maybe I already have.”
Braden grinned, shaking his head. “You of the younger generation lack something quintessential when it comes to women.”
“Aye?” I raised an eyebrow. “Enlighten us, Obi-Wan.”
He cut me a dry look. “Patience. And then if patience doesn’t work, I found that bulldozing your way through a woman’s defenses does.”
“Bulldozing?” I shook my head. “That’s sounds red-flaggish. I’m a green fucking flag, mate.”
“I’d agree if I knew what you were talking about. I don’t regret what I did to get past Jocelyn’s mile-high defenses. I ended up with the kind of marriage most people could only dream of having.” He shrugged arrogantly.
Curiosity had me asking, “What did you do?”
His grin was wolfish. “Jocelyn didn’t want to care about me beyond sex. I used sex to get past her defenses. Got her to talk to me, confide in me. When I knew what I was dealing with, I played dirty. Made her jealous so she’d see that one day I might not be around and that the thought of me with someone else was painful. Woke her up to admitting she was in love with me. It pissed her off, but making up afterward was fun.”
“Did you cheat?” John asked curiously.
Callan tensed. “I don’t think I should be hearing this.”
Braden’s expression hardened. “No, I didn’t cheat. Iflirted. We weren’t exclusive, so I might have lied about being with someone else just to get a reaction.”
“That’s brutal.” Callan gaped at him.
“It was, but with Jocelyn it was necessary. And it worked. So while I felt like an arsehole at the time, I can’t regret it now.”
“Baird is good at flirting with other women,” John stated the obvious.
I shook my head. “Trust me, flirting with other women will only push Maia away.”
“Then don’t. Know your audience. Maia … I assume you’re aware of her past?”
I nodded.
“Then you know why Maia has walls up. She has good reasons. Whatever you do, you don’t give up with someone like Maia because that’s what she expects. To not be worth the effort when we both know she is. Even if it hurts your pride, you keep at it until you win her trust. Otherwise, you don’t deserve her or her trust.”
“Pride?” John sought to defuse the sudden tension. “McMillan has no pride when it comes to Maia.”
I shrugged. “He’s not wrong.”
Braden chuckled and relaxed in his seat. “Good. Anyway, I had a reason for bringing the subject up. Is the wedding venue booked for the campaign?”
“Pennington’s booked Almondbrae. August 27. Also, you can’t tell anyone what I told you, or me and Maia will both be in deep shit legally.”
“Do I look like I gossip with the ladies over tea and crumpets?”
I felt it was safer to just shake my head.
“Right. Can Pennington’s get out of that contract with Almondbrae?”
I raised a brow. “Why?”
“Because I think we can get the ballroom finished in time for the wedding. You could have the ceremony in there. The reception out here.” Braden gestured around us. “All for free in exchange for being featured in the social media campaign. We’ll have our system up and running to take bookings eighteen months in advance.”
Eighteen months was when we expected to open.
“That’s genius.” Callan nodded. “What do you think, Baird?”
“I wish I’d thought of it,” I agreed. “But it’ll be up to Pennington’s.”
