“Of course,” he says easily.
I force my attention on my laptop, but the quiet stretches thin between us. The air feels charged. It’s ridiculous, the way my body reacts, the way the silence in the room feels heavier with him sitting across from me.
He’s not really working—I can feel it. The clicking of his keyboard is too broken, and I can feel his eyes on me without even looking up. I don’t know what his deal is—why he’s pretending notto remember me, if he’s just trying to get in my head. It’s unnerving, but I’m not about to ask him. I just want him to stand up, walk away, and vanish into one of his million meetings so I can breathe again.
No such luck.
The tension finally breaks when a voice calls out from the doorway.
“Winters.”
Jesse’s head lifts, and I glance up to see a man walking casually into the room. He’s tall—taller than Jesse but otherwise he looks so much like him. He has that same easy confidence, but with a quieter kind of energy. He’s dressed in dark jeans and a charcoal Henley, the faintest trace of dark stubble shadowing his jaw.
“Wes,” Jesse says, surprise flickering across his face. “Didn’t know you were coming by.”
“Yeah, well.” Wes’s grin is pure mischief. “You stopped answering my texts, so I figured I’d stop in and make sure you’re still alive. Noah mentioned you’ve been having some late nights at the house.”
I push away the question that immediately pops into my mind—late nights doing what, exactly?—and keep my attention fixed on the screen in front of me.
Jesse exhales a laugh, the tension in his shoulders loosening. “Yup, still kicking. And I’m actually working at the moment,” he adds, gesturing to the laptop in front of him.
“Are you?” Wes asks, eyes darting to me for the first time. “Because it kind of looks like you’re sitting around getting to know the new girl.”
My fingers freeze on the keyboard, and I glance up just in time to see Jesse give his brother a warning look, that kind of easy irritation that only siblings can pull off. “Wes, this is Madeline,” he says without looking at me. “She started today.”
“Madeline.” Wes nods, his grin widening a fraction as hesteps forward to shake my hand. “Welcome to Cove. I’m Wes. I’m the brother that doesn’t actually work here, but I do consult when they need me. I do my best to stay out of boardrooms.”
I huff out a nervous laugh. “Wes…I believe you’re the brother who flies, correct?”
He seems surprised, then smiles. “Yeah, that would be me. I used to fly commercial, but I got tired of being gone half the year. Now I handle private charters and scenic tours up and down the coast. Any excuse to stay in the air.”
“That sounds incredible, seeing the world from that perspective. It must feel like an adventure every day.”
“Please don’t encourage him,” Jesse mutters, pushing back from the table. “Next thing you know he’ll be talking about some pod of Orcas he saw, and you won’t be able to shut him up.”
He looks to Wes. “So, are you just here to distract me or what?”
Wes’s attention flicks from me back to his brother, and there’s something sly in his expression, a spark of curiosity that makes the back of my neck warm. “Yes, but I also wanted to drop off some notes from that campaign review last week. Let me know if you have questions.” He sets a folder on the table, right in front of Jesse, and then grins at me. “Nice to meet you, Madeline. And good luck working with this guy.”
“Thanks,” I say, smiling before I can stop myself.
Jesse groans, running a hand through his hair. “You’re not helping, Wes. Don’t feel like you need to stick around.”
“Didn’t come here to help,” Wes replies with a wink, backing toward the door. “Came here to entertain myself. Mission accomplished.”
He disappears down the hall, silence sliding back in to take his place.
Jesse lets out a quiet laugh, half under his breath. “Sorry about him. He likes to test boundaries.”
“I noticed. You should probably get back to work before he decides to come back and check on you,” I tell him as I force my attention back to the document in front of me.
Jesse smiles faintly, that same curve of his mouth that started this whole mess at the brewery. “Got it,” he says, but he doesn’t move.
For a few moments, the only sound in the room is the hum of the lights and the muted click of my trackpad. Then, softly, almost like he’s thinking out loud, he says, “You really didn’t think I’d forgotten you, did you?”
I freeze.
Slowly, I lift my gaze, eyes narrowing in his direction. “So, you do remember me.”
