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“Nothing. It would help if I could give him a good explanation as to why this happened. But...I can’t even say it was just a one-night stand. Is there such a thing as a three-night stand?”
He scratched his neck. “I think I’d steer clear of the numbers.”
“I agree. Maybe I could say that I was intimidated by all my enemies here and...and I felt like I needed a friend.”
“Is that true?” he asked, sounding slightly crestfallen. “Is that all it was?”
“Not really. At least I don’t think so.” She put down her phone and finally looked at him. “But what else can I say? That I wanted you so badly I couldn’t help myself?”
“Ilike the sound of that.”
She made a disgruntled face. “That’ll only hurt him more. I knew him for years before I agreed to sleep with him.”
His eyebrows slid up. “That’s a long time to chase a woman. Why didn’t he give up?”
“Because not every man has your take ’em or leave ’em attitude.”
“Why weren’t you interested in him sooner?”
“I don’t know. I wasn’t ready, I guess. But...you see the problem.”
“Yeah, I see it.” With a sigh, he put the truck back into gear and started driving, more slowly this time. They said nothing during the last mile, and the moment Brant pulled down the driveway, Talulah opened the door.
He caught her by the arm, well above where she’d been hurt, before she could get out. “I suppose this means you don’t plan on seeing me anymore.”
He sounded disappointed. She was more disappointed than she felt she should be herself. They’d spent some incredible nights together. But the fact that Charlie told Paul what was going on had been a huge wake-up call. If she didn’t clean up her act, she could lose everything. “I think we’ve done enough damage to each other’s lives, don’t you?”
“Maybe that’s true, but...” He released her arm and took her hand instead. “I’d rather put the pieces back together after you’re gone. It’ll be a lot easier.”
She was tempted to agree. But she couldn’t head any farther down that road, and she knew it. “I can’t wait that long, Brant. By then it might be too late to save what I’ve built.”
Letting go, he straightened. “Okay. I don’t want to push you into anything that might make things worse for you.”
“Thank you.” She slid to the ground and turned to take one last look at him. “Being with you was...good,” she admitted. “Actually, it approached fantastic.”
“I feel like it was fantastic all the way,” he said.
She offered him a smile in lieu of goodbye, closed the door and started toward the house. She was under so much pressure to try to fix everything that was wrong she felt the need to hurry—and yet, at the same time, she dreaded each step, because she knew she’d have to phone Paul as soon as she got inside.
Paul didn’t answer when she dialed his cell. Talulah tried three times before calling the store instead.
“Talulah’s Dessert Diner.”
Talulah recognized the voice as the woman they’d hired to work behind the counter during the week. “Beth? It’s me.”
“Oh, hey,” she said.
Talulah dug nervously at her cuticles. “Have you seen Paul today?”
“No. He had all the baking done when I arrived, so he must’ve been in earlier, but I haven’t seen him since I got here. Have you tried his cell?”
Of course she’d tried his cell. But she didn’t want to make it obvious that he wasn’t answering for her. The last thing she needed was for their employees to pick up on a potential problem between them. “He’s probably out on a hike,” she said. “How’s everything at the diner?”
“It’s been quiet this morning, but it’s always slow before dinnertime. Then we getcrusheduntil closing.”
“We need the slow times to prepare for the busy ones.”
“That’s what I’m doing—getting ready for later,” she said and covered the phone to tell someone she’d be right with them.
