“Good, I’m glad you and he are saying good-bye properly.”
“I’m not sure when I’m leaving.” Brad wasn’t sure why he’d said the words, because he’d already decided it was best to get out of Howling, but they came out of his mouth anyway.
“I understand that you’d want to spend time with your brother, Brad,” Macy said, “and what happened between us was great and all, but there won't be a repeat of it.”
Great? It was fucking amazing.
“I’m sure we covered that last night, Macy. Both of us were aware it was a onetime thing.”
“I just don't need this getting awkward, Brad. So while I am grateful to you for last night, you have to understand that I have a young, impressionable child, and I won't allow him to be hurt because his mother is loose. So we need to be adult about this.” The words had tumbled out of her mouth quickly, as if they tasted off.
“Loose?” She was so far removed from loose it was ridiculous.
“And I'm grateful, really,” she said again. “But I can't let anyone realize what happened last night.”
“Grateful?” Brad felt the anger that had eased, return.
“I explained that you were my first since—”
“Right, got it,” Brad said softly. “I was the experiment, and it worked out just fine for you, so no need of a repeat performance.”
“That's not what I meant, Brad, and maybe it came out wrong.”
“You think?”
“It was a wonderful night, but it can never happen again.”
“And you believe I want it to? That I'd do something like that here at my brother's house, with your little boy a few feet away? Jump you now, like some kind of animal?”
“No.” She shook her head. “I never meant—”
“Whatever, and you're right. I don't do repeats either. So thanks, but no thanks,” Brad said, wondering why her words had pissed him off when they followed the philosophy he'd always lived by.
“Don't.” She touched his hand, and the shock of awareness was not a pleasant experience. “I handled this entire conversation wrong, and hurt you, and I'm sorry.”
“You didn't hurt me,” Brad looked over her head. “And you're right, so let’s just leave it at that, okay. Polite and distant will work perfectly. Besides, I won't be here long, and then we won't see each other again.”
“No.” She shook her head, sending soft curls in all directions. “That's not what I want. I want you to get to know your brother and stay here as long as you need. I handled this conversation all wrong, and I'm sorry, I was nervous when I saw you because I've never been in this situation before. I would like for us to be friends, Brad, so we can talk if and when we see each other. I just wanted you to know I can't repeat last night, even if I want to.”
“Hell of a night,” he said, throwing her a bone because he could see she was genuinely upset.
“Oh yes.” She sighed. “It was wonderful.”
Brad watched her walk back outside. He needed to regroup. It was the sigh that had started heat traveling through his body again. That soft sound reminded him of the ones he'd kissed from her lips last night.
Macy watchedBrad Gelderman walk out onto the deck and take a chair several feet from hers. His hair was damp, T-shirt creased and displaying all those wonderful muscles she’d touched last night. Worn jeans molded the thighs she’d straddled. His sunglasses shielded his eyes, but the flash of pain she had put in them earlier still sat heavy on her shoulders.
Macy hadn't meant to say what she had, but seeing him so soon after the night they shared had rocked her back on her heels. He'd said he was leaving, so she'd believed they would not meet again. Well, at least not for some time, but then there he was. Macy didn’t have a blueprint for this. Had never been in this situation before. She knew people thought she’d slept around, but Brian had been her first, so this, the day after the night of sex, was a new experience.
Brad may have accepted her apology, but he’d fired a few verbal shots of his own before she’d seen the shutters lower in his eyes. He would keep his distance from her now, and wasn't that exactly what Macy wanted?
“I think the first thing we need to do is find out everything we can about this proposal,” Ethan said, interrupting her thoughts.
Annabelle had filled her in on what they had learned about the Buchanan land, and while she wasn't happy, like the others, she also knew Nadine Buchanan.
They had been friends once, well, as friendly as two nasty, spoilt girls could be, and Nadine had told Macy years ago that even though her parents wanted their land kept in the family, she wouldn't hesitate to sell it if someone offered. She’d hated living there, so far away from everyone and everything. The only house for miles. Her favorite saying had been, “The world’s about money, Macy. You and I know that, and it’s up to us to go and get some any way we can.”
“We also need to find out exactly what is being proposed,” Newman added.
