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‘I bet...’
‘But I’m more interested in yours right now.’
His tone turns sombre and I refuse to look at him.
‘Mine?’
‘You haven’t been yourself since you came back here.’
I haven’t been myself since Summer walked back into my life.
He joins me at the window, a glass in each hand. He passes me one as his eyes drift to the view...to his driver, Rufus, Summer...
‘Of course. I understand now.’
‘I doubt that.’ I sip the warming liquid and wish it would quash the churn beneath my ribs.
‘I’ve never seen you like this. Not over work and certainly not over a woman.’
‘I’d love to see how you’d fare being forced into living with one for a year.’
‘I told you I would pull the will apart and get you out of it, but you were the one who put a stop to that.’
‘Because I can’t do it. Gran wanted her to live here—she wanted to give her a home.’
‘She wanted you to have a home too.’
I grunt—a really unbecoming habit I seem to have developed.
‘You forget I’ve read the letter—the will too. She was pretty clear about what she wanted and why she chose Summer too...’
‘Summer was different. She was special...’
‘Special to who? Your grandmother, or...?’
The smallest of smiles touches my lips, and my eyes are lost in the sight of her as I fail to answer him.
‘Hey, don’t get me wrong—I can totally see the appeal.’
A growl tries to rise up within me. It’s a misplaced jealousy that I can’t suppress. ‘She’s off-limits, Juan.’
He lifts his glass to me. ‘Amen to that. I wouldn’t dare.’
I give a choked laugh, throw back more whisky, nursing the burn. ‘You forget I know you and your whole bed ’em and leave ’em reputation.’
‘What’s the alternative? End up like you?’
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
‘Like you need to ask... But, for the record, I’m insulted you think I’d go after someone else’s woman.’
‘She’s not my woman.’
‘No?’ His brows arch, his grin disbelieving. ‘You could have fooled me.’
I say nothing, my eyes still trained on the outdoors, my thoughts far too occupied with her.
‘So, if she’s not your woman, and if she’s nothing to you, what’s the real problem here? Because it’s clearly not the inheritance that you once saw her as undeserving.’
