AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Quickly, he answered. “Everything okay, Linds?”
“Yes, everything is fine. How are you?”
“I’m fine—”
“So why didn’t you answer my call?” Charlie interrupted.
So, the two of them were together? That could only mean one thing—they were up to something.
“What’s going on?”
“We heard something very interesting this afternoon,” Charlie said.
He was tired and irritated and really didn’t want to have this conversation. But he knew his sisters. They wouldn’t stop until they’d said their piece. “What did you hear?”
“That you and Brooke had a fake relationship. I can’t believe you didn’t tell us!” Lindsay admonished.
Stunned, he held the phone from his ear for a few seconds before he could answer. “She’s told you?”
“Over the past week, while she was moving into her house on the ranch, she didn’t want us to mention your name. About a week ago, we managed to tell her you’re not with Sarah, but she had paintings to focus on so we didn’t push it. She’s finished now, so we confronted her this afternoon. And your little secret slipped out.”
Weary, he sighed. “Well, there you have it. And let it be a lesson: don’t try and play matchmaker. If you haven’t kept trying to get us to be together, we wouldn’t have had to resort to extreme measures.”
“You should see the paintings she’s finished, though. Powerful stuff. Rips one’s heart out. Anyway, why we’re actually calling, is to let you know we’re all flying to Seattle on Friday morning for Brooke’s exhibition, so you’ll have roommates for the weekend. She doesn’t know we’re all coming to her big opening night, and of course, you don’t have to go, but you may find her new paintings...interesting. See you Friday!”
And the line went dead.
Cussing a blue streak, Gavin threw down his phone. Damn interfering sisters. They were solely responsible for this whole mess. And of course, Brooke’s mom. She had been the worst.
He went over to the big windows overlooking the city. Fake relationship. Nothing about his relationship with Brooke had been fake, something he’d realized within minutes after kissing her. What he’d felt when he’d been with her was all too real.
Damn it, how could she think he’d leave her for another woman after the night they’d spent together? They’d hardly slept; they hadn’t been able to get enough of each other. How could she even consider the idea he’d go back to another woman?
Rubbing his face, he walked toward the bedroom. He hadn’t bothered much with cleaning up after himself. He’d have to do something about the state of the apartment before the others arrived on Friday.
As he began picking up stuff in the room he’d been using, his thoughts were, as usual, with Brooke. The painting she’d done of two people kissing—was it included in the painting for the exhibition? At the time, she was adamant she was going to paint something else over it. And the other paintings Lindsay had talked about? More kissing?
The damn woman was miles away in another state, but she was still driving him crazy. Where the hell was her phone? If she’d read his messages, she’d have known earlier he wasn’t with Sarah. But damn it, she should’ve known it even without reading any messages from him.
