Did he care about her like she was beginning to care for him?
That was dangerous for both of them. Neither wanted a relationship. He’d explained his reasons, and she’d explained hers.
It wasn’t worth the risk.
But he was just so kind.
“You didn’t have to do this,” she said. “I would have asked the contractor.”
He tensed, then turned toward her. “I wasn’t sure. Thought you might start swinging the hammer yourself.” He clenched a hammer in one of his hands.
She chuckled and shook her head. “Not with the ache I already have in my side.”
He dropped the hammer and moved closer to her. “Are you okay?”
She nodded. “Just the ligament-stretching thing that made me think I was having the babies early.” She patted her belly. “They’re just trying to get more room in there.” Meanwhile, she felt like if she stretched any more, she might break. And not just physically…
Emotionally, she’d already been through so much that if she let her heart stretch to include Brett, she was afraid that it might burst.
“Uh, what did Frankie say to you?” she wondered aloud.
He chuckled. “Coward. You took off.”
She chuckled, too. “Guilty.” Then her smile slipped away. “I saw the look on her face. She was pretty appalled.” Or had she been jealous? Frankie and Brett were very close. But Trish had figured that it was a familial, sister-brother relationship they shared. Maybe because they were so much alike, both determined to stay single.
He rubbed his hand along his jaw, making her remember how her lips had tingled when she’d moved her mouth across it. She’d started that kiss, but she’d let him take the heat for it from Frankie.
He sighed. “She warned me not to take advantage of you.”
Trish felt more like the one taking advantage of Brett. She’d kissed him the first time. And she kept letting him help her even though she knew he wasn’t a fan of any of her plans for the ranch.
He continued, “She pointed out that you’re recently divorced, pregnant and very vulnerable.”
“Oh,” she said. “I don’t know whether that’s sweet, or if I should be offended.”
“She was being protective,” Brett said. “She loves you.”
“She loves you, too,” Trish said. “And maybe she knows that you wouldn’t be happy with me, with an instant family.”
But part of her, her heart, wished that he could be happy with her, with them. However, she was all too aware of what happened when two people wanted vastly different things. There was no way to compromise on whether or not to have children, especially since hers would be here soon.
She’d left her husband because he’d lied about what he wanted and had tried to manipulate her into changing her mind. At least Brett had been honest with her. She was the one who wasn’t being entirely honest with him and with herself. Because while she’d been convinced she wanted to raise her kids alone, she could imagine how it would be to raise them with someone else. As long as that person was as in love and as committed as she was.
Maybe she needed to be committed to even entertain the idea of marriage again so soon after ending one.
“She doesn’t want either of us getting hurt,” Brett agreed. “She also doesn’t want things to be awkward in the partnership of the Four Corners.”
“It won’t be,” Trish said. “And that—”kissing“—won’t happen again.”
Was that a flash of regret she caught passing through his dark eyes? Had he glanced at her mouth like she found herself looking at his?
She forced herself to look away. She’d already caused enough problems with the ranch. She would make certain to keep her attraction to Brett from affecting anyone else. If only she could stop it from affecting herself…
* * *
Blake was goingto have to propose soon. He hated leaving Maci so much that he kept coming home late to the Four Corners. But usually when he came home, he found Brett still awake, like he was now, poring over something in Frank Dempsey’s den.
“What are you working on?” he asked his older brother.
