Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 78894 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 394(@200wpm)___ 316(@250wpm)___ 263(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78894 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 394(@200wpm)___ 316(@250wpm)___ 263(@300wpm)
Rolling my eyes, I sat down across from him at my little kitchen table. “I know. But I’ve already spoken to Harlee, and she said I could move in with her until I find another place.”
“Harlee?”
I chewed the bite I took and nodded.
“You’d move in with Harlee?”
Swallowing, I asked, “Yeah, why? What’s wrong with Harlee?”
His expression was blank, but I saw something in his eyes I couldn’t put my finger on. “Nothing’s wrong with Harlee. I was simply surprised for a second.”
I let out a humorless laugh. “Why would you be surprised? She’s my friend. Or more like a sister.”
He sighed. “I know that, Palmer. I guess I figured she was dating Thomas and…”
I raised a brow. “And?”
“Nothing, it doesn’t matter. You can always move in with me if you need to.”
“Oh God, no!”
He frowned. “What do you mean by that?”
“I’d have to listen to all the endless women you bring home to have sex with. No, thank you.”
“Excuse me,” Brax said, putting his fork down. “I don’t bring home endless women to have sex.”
Laughing, I said, “This is me, Brax.”
He shook his head, and I could see the frustration on his face. “Palmer, I’m not a manwhore. First off, I don’t have time to endlessly hook up with women. Second, I’m not…”
The way my brother’s face had suddenly gone serious made me set my own fork down and look at him closely. “You’re not what?”
“As much as everyone wants to think so, or how I make it seem, I don’t sleep around like that. I like to flirt but…I don’t know. I wouldn’t mind finding someone and settling down and having kids.”
I dropped back in my seat and stared at him. “Wait, are you being serious?”
“Of course, I’m being serious,” he said with a frown. “You don’t think I want to settle down and have a family someday?”
Clearing my throat, I replied, “I mean, sure, I think you do, but I thought you were enjoying being single.”
He shrugged. “I do enjoy being single. That doesn’t mean I don’t want to find someone to love.”
I blinked a few times and then leaned forward. “Is there someone you’re serious about?”
For the briefest moment, something moved across my brother’s face. It almost looked like regret. “No, there isn’t.”
The sadness in his voice made me wonder if there had been someone. Before I could dive in deeper, the doorbell rang.
I jumped up. “That’ll be the guy who’s buying the house from Doug and Alice. I really hope he’s not a dick.”
“What about dinner?” Braxton asked as he stared down at his plate.
“Keep eating. I doubt this will take long. He’s probably some investor who’s going to tell me to push off.”
Braxton laughed while I stopped at the door, drew in a deep breath, and then plastered on a fake smile. I opened the door and started to say hello—but then froze.
The man standing on the other side of the threshold was clearly as shocked as I was.
“Palmer?”
“Mason?”
I heard a loud boom of laughter come from Braxton as he made his way over to where Mason and I stood simply staring at each other. “Holy shit, did this get good or what!” Brax said.
I snapped my head to the right and glared at my brother. “Brax, weren’t you just saying you didn’t want your food to get cold?”
“Did I come at a bad time?” Mason asked, taking a few steps back.
“No!” Braxton said, at the same time as I snapped out, “Yes.”
“I can come back or…um…”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “You’re the guy who’s buying the house? I can’t believe this.”
Mason pushed his hand through his hair as he said, “This makes so much sense now.”
“What does that mean?” I asked.
His eyes looked glazed, and for a moment it appeared as if he’d forgotten I was there.
“Your sister…I, um, I think she knew where I was talking about when I said I was going to buy this house. And Alice and Doug said… It doesn’t matter. You live here?”
I dropped my hands to the side of my body, suddenly feeling so tired. Tired of fighting my feelings for the man standing in front of me. Tired of the way everyone felt like they had a say in my life. Tired of feeling…lost.
Our eyes met, and I couldn’t ignore the way my body heated simply from his gaze on mine.
“Palmer? Are you going to answer Mason?” Brax smirked.
I shot my brother a dirty look. “Will you please go eat your spaghetti, Brax!” Turning back to Mason, I replied, “Yes, I live here. Are you really buying the house?”
He nodded, and my stomach dropped.
“Will you be…will you want me to move out?”
“No,” he said, a little too quickly. I could hear Braxton chuckle, but I ignored him. “I mean, I thought maybe I could use it for…”