Page 27 of Moonstruck Kiss

“What are you talking about?” I ask with an incredulous look. “It was just static.”

“Nah. It felt different and you know it.”

I smirk despite my heart pounding hard in my chest. “How could you possibly know what I felt?”

“Joey,” he says in a soft, non-goading tone that surprises me. “I’m so terribly sorry for everything I said last year.”

My brows fly off my forehead. “Foreverything?”

He nods. “Cutie just told me how you Mooners helped my parents solve their financial problem and that your family organised it.”

I inhale sharply. “So you just learned about it?”

“Yes. I didn’t mean to insult you or Moonstruck Cove. I was just too worried about my parents and I let my emotions get the better of me. But that’s not an excuse.”

I press my lips together. As far as I’m concerned, hedeeplyinsulted my hometown and its people. “What was it you said apart from telling me what a meddler I am?” I ask quietly.

Brax grimaces.

“Let me repeat it to you. You said that your family deserves better than being stuck in thisbackwater shitholefull of meddlers who lack boundaries and tact.” My heart compresses as I say the words out loud.

He covers his face with his hands. “Oh, God. So I did say them.”

“What do you mean?”

“Believe it or not, I didn’t remember saying—” He sighs. “I didn’t remember saying backwater shithole until a few minutes ago.”

I snicker. “You’re kidding me, right?”

“No. Those words didn’t stick in my head. When I apologised to you and you asked me to take back everything I said, the reason I ignored that request was that, at the time, I believed I wasn’t exaggerating when I commented that this town was…well… full of meddlers lacking in boundaries and tact. I was honestly sorry I hurt your feelings, but I was also still angry because I thought Mooners were merely concerned about stopping developers coming into town rather than caring about my parents’ very real problems. I see now that I'm just a big ignoramus. I’m so, so deeply sorry foreverything.”

I stare at him. He truly looks horrified and remorseful. “You know, if you didn’t add those other two words, I probably wouldn’t have been as mad. We’re generally relaxed about non-locals perceiving us as nosy and meddlesome because we know they just don’t have a good grasp of how well-meaning we are. But to call Moonstruck Cove a backwater shithole? That really hurt, especially when we pride ourselves on being a clean, friendly, breathtakingly beautiful town.”

He sends me a pleading gaze. “That goes to show I didn’t even know what I was talking about. I’m so, so sorry. I wish you’d told me then that your family had a plan to help my parents. That would have shut me up there and then.”

“Well, your mum told my mum that they weren’t at all comfortable discussing their financial problem with their children. They felt it wasn’t your job to worry about it. Besides, you were trying to fix it with a solution they didn’t agree with.”

“I guess that’s true,” Brax says with a mirthless chuckle. “I’m such an asshole. I’m so ashamed of myself.”

He sounds so sincere, and I’m not sure how to respond. If I’m honest, though, I’m quite happy with how miserable he looks.

“I also want to thank you for keeping what I said to yourself,”he continues softly. “I know you were trying to protect other Mooners’ feelings. In doing so, you saved my skin from everybody’s wrath. Everyone here is treating me and my son with such care and respect, which I truly appreciate even if I don’t deserve it.”

I blink. Okay, those were quite heartfelt words. Does he mean them?

“I wouldn’t have minded if you slapped me when I said what I said,” he adds.

A weak snicker comes out of me. “Too bad I’m not a violent person. It was just obvious to me that you weren’t prepared to listen to my explanation. You were being a typical, arrogant city slicker...” I clamp my mouth with my hand. “Oh, my God. I was just as bad as you.”

Chuckling, he moves closer. “No. I was the one in the wrong. But you think all of us city slickers are arrogant, huh?”

“No. Just the too-handsome-for-their-own-good, high-flying executives like you.” Geez, did I have to say that? I gesture in the air as if erasing what I said. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to generalise. Most city folks who come here are truly very nice.”

“But are they too handsome for their own good?”

“You heard that, huh?” I ask with an embarrassed laugh. Funny how the resentment in me is fast dissolving.

Brax takes another step towards me, contriteness painted all over his features. “I’m really terribly sorry. Please believe me when I say I hate myself for saying those words. I was very, very wrong.”

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