AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“When we spoke last night, you seemed amenable to the arrangements.” Wilson’s tone dripped with condescending assholelery. The same voice he had taunted me with that first day when he found me skinny-dipping after the rat. All my female parts perked up, loving that memory and how he looked at my brother like something he might scrape off his shoe.
Down, ladies. I’d made the final decision. We’d not be revisiting Wilson’s sexy man bits.
“Of course, I was amenable to you.” Colton shrugged and dismissed Wilson with a wave of his hand. “You’re not family.”
“This is not the time or place for this.” I pitched my words low and growled at Colton. People had started to arrive. My reserve of patience was officially at zero. The headache that had only been a twinge minutes ago had bloomed into a doozie that throbbed behind my eyes, making me squint.
I’d like to revise my prior assessment of the situation. It would be better if he and Lara were grousing at each other and I could referee. That was the status quo. Not a soul in Elmer would find it interesting. And I could play my role without even trying.
“Sheriff—or, ah, Coach—I think she’s right.” Wilson looked meaningfully at the handful of parents spilling into the booth with more goodies for the bake sale. An audience was not what we needed. That unpleasant tingle between my shoulder blades returned as I cataloged the members of our audience who craned their necks to get a better view.
“Well, let’s give my sister a point for discretion this morning. It’s not like she earned any yesterday.” Colton licked the tip of his index finger and pantomimed making a mark on an invisible scoreboard.
I could grab his finger, bend it backward, and have him on his sanctimonious knees begging to apologize in seconds. His gun was at home; I’d be in no danger. But I’d outgrown that kind of childish behavior, at least when in public.
Wilson rubbed a hand over his jaw and looked at me, searching my face for some kind of permission. Nope, he wasn’t getting it. I didn’t need or want Wilson involved in my family drama.
My brother and his ideas were my problems. I didn’t relish getting dressed down by my younger brother in front of my almost lover and biggest client, but I also didn’t have the mental capacity to deal with a scene today.
“Colton!” I snapped his name, flawlessly imitating our mother’sdon’t try me, young mantone. He might have started this, but I was ending it. “My life. My child. You don’t get a say in how I live one or raise the other.”
“I’m your brother.” He pounded his chest dramatically, like Tarzan or something, and dared to look hurt.
The gall of this man was stunning. I blinked at him, my heart pounding. An unpleasant cocktail of anger, astonishment, and confusion flooded my body. He enjoyed playing the big man. I glanced behind him; people had started staring.
“Exactly, her brother, not her mother,” Wilson muttered under his breath.
My brother spun and poked a finger in the middle of Wilson’s chest. “You’re just a client. Stay out of it.”
At the word client, I got nauseous. Jude would lose his mind if he heard about this little altercation. My brother and my most important client trading insults and possibly blows at the Elmer Arts and Oddities Festival. He’d fire me. The TV show people would sue me. Even the Texas Realtors might kick me out of their organization.
“She’s a grown woman,” Wilson fired back.
They squared off toe to toe. The expression ‘slow motion train wreck’ had been something I’d joked about before today, but now I was living it. I braced for the inevitable impact. My brain short-circuited. Life didn’t compute anymore.
“Enough.” Lara shouldered between them, her hands curling around Colton’s tense shoulders and pushing him back. He stumbled over his feet, not taking his eyes off Wilson even as Lara whispered something to him. He shook his head, not wanting to listen to her.
Train wreck avoided, something loosened, and I could function again. I stalked to Colton, who scowled at Wilson over Lara’s shoulder. Back ramrod straight, I met his glare. He needed to grow up and butt out. He was an officer of the law and should behave like one.
“He is my client. My biggest, most important client. And thankfully, he doesn’t treat me like an idiot, unlike you.” My voice stayed deceptively steady and soft as I spoke. Inside, I seethed with regret. This morning’s events could ruin everything. I wasn’t only thinking about my brother’s actions, but my own. A time bomb ready to blow.
I spun on my heel to face Wilson. A veil of numbness settled over me like a protective shield. “We need to talk. How about a beer? Or is it too early to start drinking?”
“Today, it’s not.” He didn’t sound any better than I felt.
Chapter 19
Wilson
Weneedtotalk.The most feared phrase in the female lexicon. Shit.
I wanted to blame her brother for the turn of events, but that was shortsighted. It was all me. I’d forgotten my rules about mixing business and sex, lust, pleasure, infatuation... whatever. In the past, I’d paid the price, learned my lesson. I should have left it alone, and by it, I meant my sexy real estate agent.
Yeah, I needed a beer for this conversation. Best idea of the morning.
The last few weeks’ interactions replayed like a movie montage projected onto my mind’s eye, starting with her skinny dipping and ending with the words we need to talk, as I walked. Neither Cameron nor I spoke as we navigated across the fairgrounds, dodging the first arrivals to the festival. Around us, colorful booths offered everything from local honey and simple handcrafts to high-end antiques and junk yard finds.
If I weren’t so pissed at myself and the situation, I’d be halfway interested in wandering around to see everything. Instead, I focused on that damning phrase: just a client. It made my skin crawl. My vision of paradise was unraveling. I should have anticipated it. Mixing business and infatuation was a recipe for mutual destruction.
