Page 8 of Falling for the Wrong Guy

“I don’t understand what you’re up to, and I’m sure I don’t want to know.” Kellan’s dark brows lifted, and he tried to form a smile when he saw me, but his face was stiff with anger. “We’ll talk later.” He hung up.

Tension was still rolling off him in waves as he got up to pull out my chair. I was debating whether six months was long enough for me to pry into one of his phone calls. I decided to leave it for now, hoping he’d relax so we could enjoy that romantic lunch he’d promised. He already had a bottle of wine on the table. I wasn’t a big drinker, especially during the day, but I politely sipped the wine he poured.

“Good day?” he asked curtly.

I stared at him as he flipped open the menu. “Uh, not really.”

“That’s good,” he responded absently.

I didn’t drive all the way to Fairview for a very one-sided lunch. I could have been at home with that book and bath. “I fell off the dock this morning,” I said casually.

He nodded as he browsed the menu, then my words finally took hold. His face shot up. “What? Were you hurt? How on earth did that happen?”

I had no intention of telling the humiliating story. I’d just used the rather shocking admission to get his attention. “It’s fine. I didn’t get hurt. I know we don’t usually discuss your business, but that sounded rather abrasive.” I looked pointedly at the phone next to his wineglass. He was one of those people who rarely let his phone out of sight. It usually sat right next to him at the table or on the couch when we were snuggling for movie night, an annoying habit to say the least, especially when he occasionally interrupted our conversation or snuggling to check it.

“Abrasive?” he asked. “Oh, you mean the call you overheard.” He shook his head and took a big gulp of wine before setting the delicate stemware down a little harder than was necessary. “My brother, Declan. He lives to annoy me.”

“Your brother?” I asked. “You never told me you had a brother.”

“That’s because he’s nothing but an annoyance. Most of the time I try to forget about him, but he always manages to creep back into my life, usually when he needs something.”

I sat back, disappointed in the way he spoke about his sibling. “Is he older or younger?”

“He’s sixteen months younger, but he never actually grew up. He was a major source of stress and constant disappointment to our parents. They worked hard to give us everything we needed, even if it wasn’t much.” Kellan rarely opened up about his childhood, the opposite of me. I’d already told him numerous stories about my youth, and I’d talked nonstop about my sisters. He had mentioned, in passing, that his parents had struggled financially. It was what made him go into business as a consultant, so he could help people manage their money.

“I’m sure they loved him dearly, even if he did give them gray hairs,” I said lightly. I’d been loved so greatly by all the adults in my life, I couldn’t imagine anything different. My comment caused his jaw to tighten.

“He had every opportunity that I had, but he always took the wrong path. We never got along.”

I was stunned by the conversation. “Never?”

Kellan shrugged. “Maybe when we were little, like six and seven, but by the time we got to middle school, we’d grown so far apart, we pretended not to know each other when we passed in the hallways. I had my friends, kids who were popular and going places, and he had his, the outcasts, the kids who looked for trouble. I don’t want to talk about him anymore. Where is that server? I don’t have all day.” He lifted his hand and snapped his fingers. It was a habit I hated even more than his phone obsession.

“If you’d rather not eat lunch, I’m fine postponing this date.” I reached for my purse.

His expression softened, but I could still see the earlier tension in his jaw. “No, please. I’m sorry, Aria. His call just set me off … as usual. He always leaves me with flames coming out of my nostrils,” he said with a chuckle. “I promise to put the fire-breathing dragon away for the rest of lunch.” He reached for my hand. “I want to hear about your day.”

I shook my head and smiled. “Nothing really to tell.” I took a deep breath and put my purse back down. Obviously, his brother was a topic best left behind. It was sad to me, as someone who doted on her siblings. “Oh, my sister, Ava, is coming home tomorrow.”

“That’s great. Now, she’s the writer?” he asked with a squinted eye.

“That’s Ella. Ava is the traveler, the scientist. She was in—gosh, I forget—Borneo, that’s it. She’s seen most of the world. She needed a break from work and freeze-dried food.”

“I look forward to meeting the rest of your sisters. I’m still reeling about having dinner with Luke Greyson. He’s way cooler and easier to talk to than I would have imagined. And did I tell you he had some clients to send my way?”

“You mentioned it a few times.” It was more like a few dozen times, but after the start to the lunch, that was better left unsaid.

“We need to have them to dinner at my place. We could cook up something special,” he suggested.

The server came and, without asking me, Kellan ordered the lasagna for both of us. It sounded way heavier than I wanted, but I let it go.

Kellan picked up the bottle to pour more wine, but I put up my hand to stop him. “Oh, come on, it’s a hundred-dollar bottle of wine.”

“I’ll end up with a headache.”

“Just a splash more,” he said. “By the way, I was doing some research on turning your restaurant into a chain and a franchise?—”

“I told you I have zero interest in that. I like my little café.” We’d had this conversation several times, and I was sure I’d put a final end to the topic the last time we spoke, but Kellan had a hard time hearing no. I assumed that was why he was so successful in business. But I wasn’t a client, and I didn’t want a sales pitch or to be steamrolled into doing something that didn’t interest me. The opposite, in fact. I couldn’t think of a faster way to ruin my wonderful business than by forcing it into a franchise. I let his ordering for me go, but not this. I tilted my head. “Maybe this lunch was a bad idea. It seems neither of us are in the?—”

---