“Most days.” I shot her a tight smile. “The Mrs. Kellers of the world keep it interesting.”
That earned a soft laugh. “She wasn’t as bad as you made her out to be.”
“You’re right. She’s not so bad. I mean, she has the ability to be a pain in the neck, but mostly means well.” I folded my arms across my chest. “Except for pushing her son George on you. I didn’t like that. If you ever see him, walk the other way.”
“Oh?” Her brows lifted. “Is he that terrible?”
“Worse.” I grimaced. “He’s like Randall on steroids.”
My reference to Jackson’s asshole brother brought her up short, the brush in her hand forgotten as she blinked rapidly at a spot over my shoulder. I could’ve kicked myself. We’d been doing so well, dancing around everything that mattered. The conversation was surface level, but at least we were talking.
And goddamn, I’d missed talking to this woman.
“That’s…” it was her turn to grimace, “pretty bad. Randall is the worst of them all. Do you know he started a rating system in his frat house?”
“A rating system?”
“Yeah. He made a fancy chart he’d pinned in their meeting room and had all the brothers rate their hookups based on their ‘talents’ and ‘level of attractiveness.’ I wasn’t supposed to see it. When I did, I threatened Randall’s ability to father children if he didn’t take it down.” Her mouth pinched in disgust. “In hindsight, I should have kicked him where it counted to save the world from his future offspring.”
I barked out a laugh. “Christ, yeah. I can’t imagine more Randalls running around out there.”
“And yet, you were friends with him.”
“I wasn’t.” I shook my head hard. “If anything, we were acquaintances. And only by circumstance.”
She waved that away. “It doesn’t matter. I’m the one who married into the family, even after knowing the depths of his depravity. Who am I to judge?” She tipped her head to the side. “Actually, I doubt I’ll ever truly know how deep his depravity goes, and I’m fine with that. I’d like to forget them all.”
“Seems getting some distance this summer was the right move.”
I finally got her eyes again. Bottomless, black pools that had once been easy for me to read were now akin to trying to find my way at midnight: dangerous and mysterious, flying blind without a flashlight.
She released a little breath, giving me the barest hint of a smile. “I really hope so.”
Chapter Nine
Zara
Cormachungoutwithme while I took care of the horses, pitching in when I asked. He was being nice, just like he’d been during dinner at his parents’ house.
It made me sad.
Not that being nice wasn’t a good thing. This…stiff formality was another reminder we were strangers now, and that sucked.
Forcing myself to stop caring about him had been a lot easier when he was states away. With him so close, his smooth, easygoing voice melting like warm wax in my ears, long legs pitched out in front of him, no troubles in the world…playing it cool was a lot more difficult.
If he kept this up, I might get mad. And then…and then, and then, and then I might say something I’d regret.
Or maybe I wouldn’t regret it. Maybe biting my tongue was what had gotten me here in the first place. Maybe post-divorce Zara was going to say what she thought, and everyone would have to deal with it.
Since that was probably not the best attitude to have at my job, I clamped down hard on my tongue to refrain from screaming,“What did I ever do to make you hate me so much?”
After shutting the last stall, I swiped my hands on my jeans and whirled to face Cormac. He’d stood up and moved to the door, leaning his shoulder against the frame, waiting for me. The sky behind him was bright blue, beams of sunshine radiating around him.
It was sick. Absolutely gross and disgusting how handsome he looked doing nothing special at all. The audacity of this man.
“I’m all done.” I breezed toward him, intending to barrel right through him if he didn’t move. “I need to go check in with Javier, so…”
He shifted aside at the last second, falling into step with me. “I’m headed in the same direction. I’ll walk with you.”
