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The master bedroom is bright and airy, a California king bed beneath a canopy against the wall opposite an electric fireplace. Floor-to-ceiling windows cover the length of one wall, and a set of double glass doors lead out to their private balcony. It almost seems criminal to put the bottoms of my heels on the plush, white carpet, despite them never having been worn outside before.
“Maybe you don’t know me as well as you used to,” I say, knowing damn well I’m spouting nonsense.
Braxton’s harsh laugh tells me she knows it too. “This reaction is just telling me everything I need to know already.”
“Perfect! I’ll keep my secrets to myself, then.”
She pinches the back of my arm and pushes me to sit on the edge of the bed, my heels forgotten. When her hands find her hips, I sigh. “What gives? You never deny me gossip. Especially not boy gossip.”
Again, my cheeks flush, and I reach up to cover them with my hands before stopping, remembering the makeup I spent an hour applying. They fall to my lap as I tip my head back and stare at the ceiling.
“I’m a bit out of my depth with this one,” I mutter.
When I look forward again, I find Braxton staring at me in disbelief. “What do you mean? You’veneverhidden a guy so hard from me before.”
“I’m not hiding him.”
“You just left the room in order to keep from talking about him. Is something wrong with him? Did he hurt you?” The protectiveness in her voice rings loud, nearly making me flinch.
I shake my head, exhaling heavily. “It’s nothing like that.”
“Then explain it to me.” She sits beside me and takes my hand in hers. “You can tell me anything. Always.”
“You have to promise that you won’t be weird.”
“I promise.”
“Do you know who Brody Steele is?”
A pause. She blinks slowly, lips parting and closing before she manages a nod. “You’re kidding.”
“I’m dead serious.”
“How?”
My heart skips a beat. “He’s from Cherry Peak. We met at a bar and got off on a very wrong foot, but now . . . now he’s just everything. He’s been driving me to and from work every day because I don’t feel comfortable enough driving on the winter roads, and on top of that, he’s constantly making sure I’m taken care of. We get along so well that it’s almost creepy, and he even took me to his family’s ranch and introduced me to his grandparents.”
I leave out the part about Bo because it would only lead to more questions that I don’t have the answers to yet. They’re questions I need him to answer face to face.
Her expression gentles alongside her voice. “So, why did you try to hide him?”
“I wasn’t hiding him; I just wasn’t planning on telling you about him yet,” I defend myself.If ever.
“That’s just as bad. I would have thought you’d want everyone to know about him if he makes you so happy.”
My chest tightens as I say, “He’s leaving soon. Going back to Nashville. Cherry Peak was only a pit stop for him.”
She makes an angry noise in her throat. “I refuse to accept that.”
“There’s nothing to accept, Brax. It’s the truth. AndI’veaccepted it.”
Braxton drops my hand and shoots to her feet, glaring down at me. A fierce determination lights her eyes. “You know, I waitedthree yearsto hear that emotion in your voice when talking about Stewart, and I never did. We have one conversation about Brody, and it’s already there. That’s all I need to know.”
“It’s not that easy, and you know it. It was never that easy with you and Maddox,” I argue.
“Maddox and me were different, andyouknow it.”
Fair enough. “Please just let me do this my way.”
