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I’d wanted what everyone did, someone to love and a family, but it just wasn’t in the cards for me. Ever since, I kept relationships casual so I wouldn’t get hurt. Everything with Natalie already felt too intense. I didn’t want to get more tangled up in her.
“Thanks for the talk,” I said to Sam as I made my way through his house to the front door.
“I don’t feel like I helped you.” There was regret in his tone.
“It was good advice. Otherwise, I would have taken what I wanted without a thought to the consequences.”
“But that’s not you,” Sam said solemnly as he opened the front door.
I knew what Sam was trying to say. Underneath everything, I was still the same hopeless romantic. But he was wrong. I had to resist Natalie. I didn’t have a choice.
I thanked him again as I got into my truck and headed to my house. I’d built it recently when I concluded a wife wasn’t in my future. I didn’t need to wait to build the perfect house with someone else. I didn’t have anyone to build that future with. I was alone.
Unfortunately, the large house on three acres near my parents’ place was cold and empty. I unlocked the door, but no one greeted me. And no one ever had. Maybe I needed to get a dog.
I’d resisted before because I worked long hours, but maybe it was time. It would give me an excuse to cut out of work early and get home. No more late nights at the B&B. I didn’t need any more temptation.
CHAPTER3
NATALIE
Iwondered if Mac heard me take a bath with my vibrator the other night because he’d avoided me ever since. He was polite, even ma’am-ing me, which had me gritting my teeth. I wasn’t that old. Sure, I was a mom, but it made me feel ancient. Was that how he thought of me after he saw me in wet lingerie?
Maybe our encounter freaked him out. Either he wasn’t interested in me, and I’d imagined the heat in his eyes, or he wanted nothing to do with a single mother. When Carter broke things off, I figured that might be the case with some guys.
Not that I was interested in anything serious. I was supposed to be focused on my daughter and the B&B, not on its hot contractor.
Instead, I worked at the front counter, pretending not to notice how his ass looked when he bent over, or the way his biceps bulged when he lifted something over his head. He was sexy. I noticed he worked alongside his crew, not afraid to do the heavy lifting or get his hands dirty. It was admirable. Since he was the foreman, I was sure he could have gone about things differently and taken a more hands-off approach.
I was lost in thought while watching him hang drywall in the foyer when someone said, “Good afternoon.”
I blinked at Sam, Mac’s youngest brother and single dad of an adorable four-year-old named Maggie. He smiled wide, his gaze going from me to Mac.
“What are you doing here?” Mac asked, setting the board on the ground and wiping his hands on a cloth that hung out of his back pocket before he joined us.
“Just wanted to check on your progress,” Sam said, his lips tipped up.
“Since when are you the foreman?” Mac asked.
Earlier on, these two worked together. But I rarely saw Sam around anymore. He was busy with the new branch of his business. But I remembered how they bantered like brothers, teasing each other and joking around. As an only child, I’d found it amusing and heartwarming. I knew they had a third brother, and I wondered how his mother had managed to raise them without losing her mind.
“I’m still a part of this company.” Sam turned to me and smiled warmly. “I was curious how things were going.”
There was a glint in his eyes that made me think he knew something. My gaze darted to Mac, who shifted on his feet. Had he told him? If so, that would be interesting. It would mean he thought it meant more than an awkward encounter with a woman he wasn’t interested in.
Instead, Mac quipped, “I got the pipe fixed in the kitchen,Dad.”
Sam punched him in the shoulder, hard enough for Mac to grunt. “Don’tDadme.”
Mac grabbed the spot. “Hey. Don’t hit me.”
Sam shook his head. “What are you going to do? Tell Dad?”
Mac pulled out his phone and held it up. “Nope. I’m going to tell Mom.”
“You wouldn’t,” Sam grumbled.
I couldn’t resist smiling at their antics. This was the kind of tight-knit family I’d wanted growing up. They reminded me a little of my best friend Kylie’s older brothers.
