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After making coffee, I stared out the window at the bright morning sky, determined to figure what the fuck Hank was up to. I had the information on the proposed buyers and planned on learning all their dirty little secrets as well. I’d been a man who’d thought of nothing else but business for so long that the fact my mind continuously drifted to Jessie was confusing. And I was never confused. Ever.
Why did this girl have so much of an effect on me after I’d purposely tried to shut down? I barely knew her. For all I’d learned, she could be someone I’d normally consider the enemy. If that was the case, then why was it that I was still tingling after our morning round of passion? Why was it that I longed to show her that all men weren’t bad or abusive? Shit. I had it bad for the girl.
Somehow, I knew I was in over my head.
Hearing Walter had hired men with prison records on purpose shouldn’t surprise me. He’d wanted to help people, telling me that he’d taken advantage of people when he was younger and he wanted to give back. He’d used the expression paying it forward.
Exhaling, I didn’t care what time it was. The only person I could talk to was my brother. So I dialed his number. It rang four times before I heard his cranky voice on the other end of the line.
“Unless you’re on the side of the road with blood covering your sorry ass, go the fuck away,” Jackson barked.
“Not going to happen, brother. I need to talk to you.”
“Now?”
“Now.”
“Jesus, dude. You never want to just talk to me. This has got to be good.”
“Well, you should be sitting down.”
“How about I’m lying down in my bed in the dark because it’s an ungodly fucking hour? Now, what?”
I was shocked I was about to ask this question, but I had to know. “How did you know when you were falling in love?”
“Hold on. I think my ears are clogged. What the fuck did you just ask me?”
“You heard me correctly. How did you know the ten times you told me you were in love?”
He laughed more than I’d heard in a long time. “Let me sit up for this one. First of all, the truth was that I’ve only really been in love once. The other times were merely infatuation.”
“Okay, fine. Tell me.”
“First, I need to know why.”
I closed my eyes, trying to figure out why it was so damn tough to tell him anything. But it was. Hell, I’d faced my father when I’d lost a business deal without feeling any angst since I knew what the hell I was doing. I’d stood in front of the board of directors of our company, explaining in detail why profits weren’t as we’d expected. Facing an enemy like Casper Jacobs had always excited me, perhaps more than it should. All three experiences had been easy. But this… this was brutal.
“Because I have feelings I’m not used to dealing with,” I admitted.
“For this girl who’s a squatter on the property?”
“Maybe.”
His laugh should have pissed me off, but I cringed instead. “Brother. How long have you been in Colorado and what have the aliens done with my cold as ice brother?”
“I’m not cold as ice.”
“Bullshit. You’ve acted as if what Elizabeth did to you meant nothing. The fact she cheated on you changed you, bro. You know it did. Why lie to yourself any longer?”
“I told you never to mention her name again. Besides, she meant nothing to me.”
“Right,” he said, the single word drawn out. “You forget who you’re talking to. I was there. Remember? I was the guy who you called in a drunken stupor, rambling on about some asshole you found buck naked in your bed. Do you remember that?”
“Vaguely.”
“Do you realize, cold as fish brother of mine, that this terrible experience that turned you into a mannequin was about fifteen years ago?”
“Fourteen years and eight months.”
