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“Why?”
“Because there’s no easy answer. I’ve been attracted to you for so long, but I didn’t let myself feel anything. You already know why. Because of the age difference, and because you’re a Steel. But in the last couple of months, without meaning to, I opened myself up. Maybe it’s because both my sisters fell for a Steel, and I saw a side of the Steels that I hadn’t let myself see before.”
I can’t help a chuckle. “That we’re not a bunch of privileged assholes?”
“I never thought you were assholes.”
“But you did think we owned the whole town.”
“I grew up thinking that. Everyone thought it, Bree. It was kind of like the town motto.”
I scrunch my nose. “A motto? More like the town slur.”
“I can see how you would think of it that way, but it wasn’t really meant to be disparaging. It was simply accepted as truth, and then, when it bit me in the ass—by Donny getting MVP instead of me senior year—I began to take it more seriously. I began to resent the hell out of your family.”
I open my mouth to refute his words, but he holds up his hand to stop me.
“I no longer feel that way, Brianna. Besides, now it’s been sorted.”
“True enough,” I say. “It was actually Wendy Madigan who owned the town.”
“A surprise to all of us. But what I never understood was why there wasn’t a lien from Wendy on the Pike property.”
“We may never know,” I say. “Does it matter? Everything worked out.”
Jesse sighs. “I have a lot of questions. Questions I’m probably going to demand answers to from your father and his brothers.”
My heart sinks a little. But I can’t fault Jesse.
“But they’re not here, and right now, holding you, those questions don’t seem all that important.”
I smile against his shoulder. “I’m glad you feel that way.”
He kisses my forehead. “I should get you back to your own room.”
“Will I see you tomorrow?”
“As a matter of fact, you will. I’m going to accompany you, Maddie, Brock, and Rory to the Museum of Scotland in the morning, and then in the afternoon, I made arrangements just for you and me to go to the whisky experience.”
“Really?” I jerk up in bed. “I didn’t know you liked Scotch.”
“I drank it our first night here, if you recall.”
That’s right. He did. He ordered a Scotch…before we… Heat floods to my cheeks.
I smile. “I’m a bourbon girl myself, like my father, but Scotch is its own experience. It’s so different from other whiskeys. That’s so nice of you to think of that for me. It’s something I would love to do.”
“That’s why I thought of it. Brock, Rory, and Maddie have no interest in it. I asked them. When they said no, I couldn’t help but be happy.” He smiles, cups my cheek. “Because that, Brianna, will be our first official date.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Jesse
I’m not a museum kind of guy, but the National Museum of Scotland wasn’t a complete bore, and Brianna seemed to love it. She walked with wide eyes through all the exhibits, especially the natural history displays. She’s a girl of the land for sure, and again I was reminded how I can’t take her away from her future—working her family’s land. I enjoyed the art and design exhibits—especially Rembrandt and Vermeer—but I was disappointed that there weren’t any exhibits pertaining to the music of Scotland.
After lunch at a nearby café, Brianna and I head to the whisky experience. The Scotch Whisky Experience is situated right next to the entrance of the Edinburgh Castle, and Brianna talks nonstop about the castle’s beauty and grandeur. It’s a gorgeous building for sure.
“I wish you could have been with Maddie and me yesterday,” she says animatedly. “We almost missed our bus back because we were loving the castle so much. I kept thinking about how Diana would love to be here and experience all the architecture.”
