AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Pardon?” His voice was low and warm—too close.
She sucked in sharply, holding up a hand as she stepped back a fraction. “You can’t. You were dating Brielle. This is just a ploy to get closer to her, isn’t it? You still have a thing for her and you want to—”
“No,” he bit out a little too sharply. “This has nothing to do with Brielle.”
Eloise laughed. “Your tone of voice begs to differ.”
He closed the distance between them. “I know you’ll find this hard to believe, but it’s completely true. I want to get to know you on a more…personallevel. That’s why I didn’t want you to get too serious with Marc. The second I heard you were going to see him, I… got jealous.” He shut his eyes tight, then his stiff shoulders relaxed and he peered at her. “I’m just asking you to give me a chance.”
“What about Brielle?” That was probably the only thing that she shouldn’t have said. She grimaced the moment the words escaped her lips.
Shane’s attention shifted toward the door that Brielle had slammed. He turned a sad smile toward Eloise. “It’s true that Brielle was the one to break up with me, but we both knew it wasn’t going to work out. I cared for her. I always will to a certain degree. But we’ve both gone our separate ways. I can’t help who I’m attracted to. Besides, it’s completely possible that nothing will come of this.” He reached his hand toward hers, grazing her fingertips with his own but ultimately dropped it back to his side. “One date. That’s all I want.”
Eloise’s mind was completely muddled. Normally she would have turned him down by now. She would have told him that she wasn’t interested in dating her boss. Not only that but she wouldn’t be caught dead dating her sister’s ex.
What was she thinking? Was she actually considering his offer? No way. That wasn’t who she was.
“I’m flattered, truly, but—”
A car pulled up to the house, and Eloise’s attention was momentarily drawn toward it. Shane followed her focus, then let out a groan. Marc materialized out of the car and gave them both a little wave.
He headed toward them, a confident smile etched on his face. “Hey there, beautiful.” His eyes swept over Shane. “Cousin.”
Shane worked his jaw, stepping back to put distance between himself and Marc. Eloise’s eyes locked with his when Marc pressed a soft kiss to her cheek. He slipped his arm around her waist to pull her closer to him, but the gesture felt foreign and forced. She stiffened, suddenly uncomfortable with the demonstration of his interest in her. It was only because she had an audience. If Shane wasn’t here, she wouldn’t mind his affection at all.
Marc released her, then crossed his arms. “What are you doing here? Madeline said you visited late last night. Everything okay?”
Shane’s eyes didn’t leave Eloise as he spoke. “Just peachy. She was telling me about your interest in the ranch property next to mine. I was giving her my advice.”
A smile played at Marc’s lips. “Always quick with the unsolicited advice.” Marc nudged Eloise. “Shane here seems to consider himself the only smart investor in our family.”
Eloise tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, shifting a step away from both of them. “Well, he’s been quite successful in his personal and business investments. I’d say anyone would be grateful to get advice from him.” It took everything in her power to tear her eyes away from Shane. His confession continued to run laps in her head.
The way they continued to size each other up was getting to her, and she didn’t know how much longer she could take it. Eloise clapped her hands together. “Well, Marc and I are going to head out for breakfast or whatever he planned and—”
“Mind if I tag along?” Shane cut in. “I haven’t had anything to eat yet, and we could catch up.”
“I think that’s a great idea.”
All three of them turned to find Brielle standing in the now-open doorway. Her eyes were studying Marc, scanning him up and down. They flitted to Shane, then finally landed on Eloise. She didn’t say anything, but Eloise had a feeling if she did, it would be to remind her about thatfeelingshe had about the man she had never met.
Had they been alone, Eloise would have chewed her sister out. She had no intention of getting close to Shane. Three was a crowd, and she wanted to get to knowMarca little better. Before she could voice her opinion, Marc beat her to it.
“Sure. We could make it a double date.”
Brielle held up both hands, her gaze immediately locking with Shane. “I’m involved with someone else.”
Eloise gaped. This was news to her. Brielle wasdating? No. She would have said something. This was an excuse to stay away from Shane. Eloise couldn’t blame her for it either. But to refuse to tag along would make this breakfast nearly intolerable. Already Eloise felt stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Marc nodded. “Too bad. Maybe another time then.” He turned toward Shane and Eloise, then motioned toward his car. “Ready to go?”
Shane offered her his arm. “May I?”
Eloise glanced from one to the other. This was ridiculous. She spun to face Brielle. “I’m taking your truck. Give me your keys.”
Without a degree of hesitation, Brielle dug the truck keys from her pocket and held them out. A smile tugged at her lips, and she didn’t break eye contact for even a second as she murmured, “Don’t wreck it.”
Though she didn’t see them, Eloise could hear the men head down the porch steps and presumably toward their cars. At least they could take a hint.
