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Was he in trouble?
No. There was no need to panic. She’d been back in town less than a week. No one fell in love that fast. That kind of thing only happened in the movies.
He waited to see what Talulah would do next, but she didn’t do anything. She’d already drifted off to sleep. That kiss on the hand was probably her way of expressing gratitude for his help—except he couldn’t see her doing that to just any man.
As he listened to her breathing even out, he let his lips move lightly over her bare shoulder and up under her hair. He loved the smell of her almost as much as he loved the feel of her.
She stirred, so he stopped. After what she’d been through, he didn’t want to wake her. But having her bare body against his made him hard. He wanted to make love to her again, couldn’t seem to get enough. She did something to him no other woman ever had, which made him worry about how he was going to feel when she returned to Seattle. Chances were good she’d never even look back, not after her most recent experience in Coyote Canyon.
He’d put some distance between them once he knew for sure she was safe, he decided. He’d pull back, stop seeing her.
But no sooner had he made that decision than she turned in his arms and sleepily found his mouth with hers—and that kiss quickly escalated into a desperate desire to get the rest of their clothes off.
Twelve
Talulah woke up alone. She’d spent an incredible night in Brant’s bed, enjoying his body—both when they were making love and when they weren’t—and had all but forgotten about her injury. It was the pull of her stitches as she started to stretch that reminded her. “Ouch,” she grumbled, quickly drawing her arm back in.
She checked the bandage and was relieved when she didn’t see any blood seeping through. That was fortunate. So was the fact that as long as she could stave off any infection, she wouldn’t have to return to the doctor to have the stitches removed. She’d been told they’d disintegrate as the wound healed.
Leaning up on her elbow, she reached for the alarm clock. It was nearly nine. She hadn’t planned on sleeping so late. She still had a lot to do to get ready for the funeral tomorrow.
Instead of jumping out of bed, however, she took a second to listen for Brant.
She couldn’t hear anything. He didn’t seem to be in the house and neither did anyone else. She assumed he and his brothers had gotten up and gone to work.
After she used the bathroom, she started to search for her purse. She’d taken it to the hospital last night so she’d have her insurance card with her, but it didn’t seem to have made it into Brant’s house. Assuming she’d left it in the seat when he lifted her out of the truck, she got dressed so she could go out and grab it. She needed her phone. Her sister might’ve gone into labor. Or maybe her parents had been trying to call to see how things were going with the funeral arrangements.
Planning to shower as soon as she got home, she didn’t bother combing her hair. It would’ve felt slightly intrusive to go through Brant’s bathroom drawers looking for a comb. Why she’d be hesitant, when he’d helped himself to her toothbrush a few nights ago, she didn’t know.
Since he was probably out on the ranch somewhere, she decided to ask Jane to come get her. But as soon as she stepped out of the house to see if she could get her phone, she found him standing in the drive arguing with someone. He was saying that what Charlie had done wasn’t cool, but she couldn’t see who he was talking to until the sound of the door prompted him to look over—and Averil peered around the vehicle that’d been hiding her.
This was the first time Talulah had seen her childhood friend since she’d moved away from Coyote Canyon. Her heart jumped into her throat and she tried a tentative smile, hoping that after so long Averil would be at least slightly happy to see her. But the hostility on Charlie’s sister’s face let Talulah know nothing had changed.
Tempted to avoid the confrontation altogether, she nearly went back inside. She wished she’d at least combed her hair. But that wouldn’t have made any difference. It was obvious she’d spent the night.
Refusing to be a coward, she forced a smile to replace the one that’d wilted beneath her former friend’s scorn and walked over. “Hello, Averil.”
“Don’t you dare approach me,” Averil snapped. “Every time you come around someone gets hurt.”
“Averil!” Brant’s voice was filled with irritation. “Shewas the one who got hurt last night. She needed seventeen stitches to close up her arm, yet you’re acting like it was nothing.”
“I’m sure when Charlie threw that rock he wasn’t thinking she’d be standing in front of the window!”
Talulah felt her fingernails curve into her palms at such an easy dismissal of what Charlie had done. “He could see me,” she clarified. “His headlights were pointed right at me.”
“And he could’ve hurt her much worse than he did,” Brant added. “The shard that cut her arm could as easily have landed in an eye.”
Averil threw up a hand to indicate she wasn’t remotely concerned. “She shouldn’t have come back. She knows she’s not welcome here.”
“All because she wouldn’t marry your brother?” he asked, but Talulah spoke at the same time.
“Averil, I know you think the worst of me. I apologizeagainfor walking out on the wedding. But you and Charlie and your parents should be glad I didn’t go through with it. Our marriage would never have lasted. I wasn’t mature enough to marry, and I wasn’t in love, at least not enough to make it work.”
“Because it’s all about the chase for you, isn’t it?” Averil said. “As soon as you own a man’s heart you don’t want it anymore.”
“That’s not true. I have a problem with commitment,” Talulah said. “I admit that, but—”
“You have a problem with a lot more than that,” she interrupted. “And now you think you can wrap Brant around your little finger and play him like a puppet? Come between him and his best friend?”
