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Six
Talulah was still shaken by Charlie’s visit when she left Brant in the living room, sweeping up the broken glass, and went upstairs to change. She’d known Coyote Canyon was small enough that she’d probably have to face her ex-fiancé eventually, but she’d never dreamed he’d come to her house, especially at such an inopportune time.
After gathering up her clothes from the bathroom, she carried them into the bedroom and was digging through her suitcase, looking for something to wear, when she heard Brant come up the stairs. She’d closed the door, but he knocked and said, “Talulah? Can I come in?”
She hesitated. He’d already seen all there was to see of her. But that was last night. Today was different—wasn’t it?
“Talulah?” he said when she didn’t answer right away.
“You can come in.” Turning her back to him, she pulled off his shirt and tossed it on the bed where he could grab it, but before she could take hold of her own clothes, he came up behind her, rested his hands gently on her waist and slowly turned her to face him.
“I’m sorry,” he said, and since he was looking into her eyes and not at anything else, she believed him.
“It is what it is.” She was trying to play it off, but he must’ve known she felt crappy inside because he pulled her into his arms and rested his chin on the top of her head.
“Having Charlie show up is definitely not the way I wanted last night to end,” he said.
“It’ll only be a few weeks before I’m gone,” she reminded him, but despite her desire to get dressed after what had just happened, being chest to chest was somehow more comforting without clothes. “Hopefully, he didn’t do too much damage to your truck.”
“I’m almost afraid to go look,” he admitted.
“If you can’t drive it, I’ll give you a ride home.”
“Okay.” He surprised her by pressing a kiss to her forehead before releasing her. “Do you want me to bring that portable air conditioner up here, or are you going to be working elsewhere today?”
“You could put it in the basement for me. I’m going to try to make some progress down there. I’ll wait until this damn heat wave is over before tackling the bedrooms or even the main floor.”
“I was thinking it might make you more comfortable when you sleep tonight.”
She selected a red summer dress from her suitcase and shimmied into it. “I’d rather it helped me through the hottest part of the day.”
“You got it.”
While he put on his shirt, her phone went off and she took it from the charger.
When she immediately set it back down, he glanced over. “You’re not going to answer?”
“Not right now.”
“Why not?”
When she pretended to be too preoccupied digging around in her suitcase to reply, he said, “Was it Paul?”
She was shocked he could remember Paul’s name. She’d only mentioned it once. “Yeah. I’ll call him later.”
He pulled on his socks and picked up his boots while she slipped on a pair of panties under her dress. “Will you tell him about last night?” he asked.
She felt less self-conscious now that she was dressed and somehow emotionally safer, too. Brant didn’t act as if nudity was any big deal. But in the light of day, sleeping with him didn’t seem like the best decision she’d ever made. Given their background, she almost couldn’t believe it’d happened. She certainly hadn’t seen it coming. “I don’t know. Probably not.”
“Because it’ll make him angry?”
“Because it’ll make him jealous.” And it would be an awkward conversation, one that would most likely start a fight. She didn’t need that right now, not when they still had several weeks apart and she was relying on Paul to take care of the diner.
He yanked on his boots. “Is he...possessive?” Brant asked.
“Not really. Or...maybe a little.” Remembering her last conversation with Paul, after she’d finally slept with him, she amended her answer yet again. “Actually, yeah, I guess he is. He’s been pushing harder and harder for us to be exclusive.”
“Do you plan to move in that direction?”
