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“You want me to call him?”
“No, I want you to call the police.”
“Let’s just take a minute and breathe, Bex. Alex will eventually get the message or he’ll find someone new to harass.”
“So you admit he’s harassing you?”
“Yes… I mean, no. Look, I don’t want to end up on some tacky gossip show, and that’s exactly what’s going to happen if I make that call.” Bree tried to reason with her friend. Bex knew from experience how persistent the paparazzi could be.
“I don’t know, Bree. Alex sounds a little unhinged right now. What if his behavior escalates?” Bex folded her arms, her eyebrows drawn together.
“If things get worse, I swear you’ll be the first to know.”
“What time does your flight leave tomorrow?”
“Ten.”
“You should, at least, tell Wes about this guy.” Bex frowned.
“It isn’t his problem. It’s mine. It’ll be okay. I promise. Now, let’s see those logo samples.”
Bree opened Bex’s laptop and studied the artwork proofs as if they were the only worry she had in the world.
* * *
Wes stepped outside his door as Bree descended her front stairs.
“Good morning, Wesley.” She offered a polite wave.
Her willingness to speak first was a good sign, despite the formal address and schoolteacher tone.
“Hi.” He caught up with her and fell in step as she walked toward the main building, where the meeting was being held. “Wasn’t sure you’d be here in person for today’s meeting.”
“It’s the last one before Liam goes on his honeymoon. So I thought I should be here.”
“I’m glad you’re here, Bree. I’ve missed you.”
Bree didn’t break her stride or in any way acknowledge his words.
Maybe Bree had found someone else. Someone who wasn’t afraid to commit. Someone with less egregious sins in his past.
“I’m sorry about before. I was an ass—”
“On that we can agree.” Bree gave him a quick glance.
“But not for the reasons you might think,” Wes said quickly. “It’s just that when you said…well, what you said, I panicked. Relationships aren’t my usual MO. I wasn’t sure how to respond.”
She stopped and turned to him. “You seemed sure about it being a mistake for us to have gotten involved.”
When Wes lowered his gaze, Bree walked away.
“Bree, I’m trying to explain how I felt…how I feel.”
She stopped again and glared up at him. “I’ll admit, maybe I said it too soon. But the fact that you seem incapable of saying the words doesn’t bode well for us.”
Bree checked the time on her phone.
“Look, if you want to talk about what went wrong with us…fine. But let’s do it after the meeting. I need to have a clear head right now and this isn’t helping.”
“I’ll throw some steaks on the grill, and we can talk over dinner.” That would give him time to get his thoughts together. He couldn’t afford a repeat performance of his blabbering-idiot show.
She shrugged her agreement.
It wasn’t an enthusiastic acceptance, but at least she hadn’t turned him down.
CHAPTER 21
Bree kicked off her heels and unzipped her skirt. It’d been a long, but productive meeting. They’d sold out of the majority of their sponsorships and were at nearly three quarters of their registration capacity.
They’d gotten the local shop owners onboard by opening the vendor opportunities up to them first at a special rate. Everything was organized and running smoothly and many of the local townsfolk had signed up to serve as volunteers for the event. They were in excellent shape.
Bree changed into shorts and a tank, then grabbed her phone to respond to a few emails before dinner. She opened the patio door and let the cool breeze drift in. The smell of charcoal indicated that Wes had already fired up the grill.
She opened the front door to get a nice cross breeze in the guest house.
“Hello, Brianna.”
Bree froze, a chill running down her spine. Her hands trembled and her heart raced. She didn’t need to look in those icy blue eyes to know whose voice it was.
