Finally, the last one is done. I whip through cleaning up the kitchen and run upstairs. It’s hot today, and he’s grilling. That might mean we’re outside.
Chewing on my lip, I evaluate my nicer clothing, things I haven’t worn for a long time. I like my sweatpants and loose linen pants, but I also enjoyed the way Cruz’s hungry gaze ate up my fitted jeans and sandaled feet. Deliberating, I stand at my dresser longer.
Loose shorts, or the booty shorts I used to wear years ago?
Impulsively, I grab the tiny pair. Other girls with my curves might skip them, but once upon a time, I used to use those same dips and valleys to get free food and drinks.
Cruz is already offering free food and drinks before he saw anything but my makeup-free face.
“Ugh.” I’m thinking way too hard about this. I exchange the scrap of fabric for a medium-length pair of shorts, the looser fit easing my mind. I’m not going to think too hard about the pale-blue lace-bra-and-panty set I swapped with my tried-and-true plain-Jane ones.
Instead of putting my hair in a clip, I keep it down, finger-combing the long waves. Having a huge curtain of long hair trapping heat around my neck is a foreign feeling these days, but it’s too late to change. I leave my glasses on instead of changing into contacts.
I race downstairs and out the door. I turn to lock the dead bolt and hear footsteps behind me.
Spinning around, my stomach hits my feet and my world stands still. A man approaches. He’s only a few inches taller thanhis brother, my ex-fiancé, and he looks so much like him that I want to run. It’s not like I hid after the breakup, and I really should’ve.
I did nothing wrong. Nothing.
Almost nothing. Definitely not as bad as Dwayne.
Then why is my gut churning enough acid to dissolve this whole town?
His lip curls up when he takes in my half-frumpy appearance, but he smothers it quickly.
My ex’s brother flashes the same charming and aloof smile that Dwayne used to wield. “Well, well, well. Long time no see.”
A phone call wasn’t enough?
He looks the same as when I last saw him, asking me to bail out his brother. Same fake gold watch on his wrist, same most likely stolen designer slacks and dress shirt. His boating shoes make him look like he owns a yacht. He probably can’t afford a discount dinghy. “What do you want, Damon?”
“Just making sure you got Dwayne’s letters.”
“You can tell him to lose my address.”
His laugh is barely more than a puff of air. “Sure. I’ll let him know.” He lifts his chin to the bakery. “Nice place.”
“It’s a family building,” I lie as stomach juices wash into my throat and burn, “so don’t think you have any claim to it.”
“Then what was the lovely article about how you bought a treasured part of Huckleberry Springs and gave it new life?”
Shit. I have to hand it to my ex and his brother. They always do their homework. Not enough to keep Dwayne from getting confronted and speeding away from trouble right into a life-altering mistake, but I should’ve taken all that into account when I fled Denver. “What are you doing here, Damon?”
“Looking at the nice place you bought with my brother’s money.”
It wasn’t his. “The account had my name on it.”
His face turns stormy, turning his ruddy expression redder. “You’re a goddamn thief.”
“If you think I took it, why now?” I snap. I’ve had plenty of time to think about why Dwayne would reach out after so many years. I know too much about all the things he didn’t go to prison for, so why risk riling me up?
“I happen to have a business venture, and that capital you stole from my brother would go far.”
“Listen, Einstein.” My temper’s shot. I always thought Damon was trouble, even before I figured out that Dwayne was not my type of bad boy, but they were a package deal. If I wanted to date Dwayne—and I did for no good reason other than I thought he was everything I wasn’t—then I had to tolerate Damon. “You two weren’t as good as you thought you were. There wasn’t much money, and I only put in a down payment on this place. Read between the lines, dumbass—I have monthly mortgage payments. So if you think I’m some gold mine, you’d have better luck digging around these hills.”
He crowds closer, but I slip out the side and move closer to my car. He spins with me but doesn’t advance. “I came to make sure your payment’s on time.”
Bullshit. I glare at him.
