Page 20 of The Biker's Brother

“You’re welcome. Music or story. Your choice.”

“You’re kind of confusing. You say something nice and dovetail that with blackmail.”

“You’re stalling, Rose.”

“Okay. Okay.” She unzipped her jacket and aimed the warm air vent away from her body. “I told you he was good-looking. And successful. Well, add charming and sophisticated to that.” Brandon felt the muscles in his throat tighten. “The reason I’m telling you all this is so you won’t think I was crazy to fall for somebody like him. He pushed every button. Metaphorically speaking.”

“Why do you care if I think you’re crazy?”

“I don’t,” she said a little too quickly and a little too defensively. “Never mind. It was one of those whirlwind romances you hear about. At least that’s what I thought it was.

“Three weeks after I met Trey, we were having dinner with my family to announce the engagement and show off my obscenely showy diamond. He didn’t ask me what kind of ring I wanted. Now I recognize that as an early warning sign, like foreshadowing in books. You know? But at the time I thought it was kind of romantic that he wanted to surprise me with the ringhewanted.”

“Hold on. I may be off on this, but don’t a lot of guys just go out and buy rings?”

“Maybe they used to. These days, I’m pretty sure most consult with the bride-to-be about what she wants to wear twenty-four seven for the rest of her life.”

Brandon nodded. “When you put it that way…”

“Anyhow. My family was more than okay with it. Especially my mother. And, well, why not? He looked good on paper.” She let out a bitter little laugh. “He looked good in person. Gave every appearance of being the catch of the century. So they gave us their blessings and my mother spent the next nine months planning a society event to remember. I don’t know how much it cost, but my dress alone was nutty expensive. The wedding was at St. Paul’s Cathedral. We’re Episcopal.”

She looked at Brandon for a reaction, but there was none. She studied his handsome face reflected in the dashboard lights for a second before continuing.

“One thing about St. Paul’s. We got our money out of the train on that dress because it’s like a mile down that aisle. Every little girl’s dream. We had the reception at the Copley because the club wasn’t nearly big enough for Mom’s guest list.” She made a derisive sound. “She couldn’t even get everybody into St. Paul’s. So some people were invited just to the reception.” She slumped down further into her seat and leaned back, looking out at the dark rainy night. “What a waste.”

She suddenly turned her whole body in the seat so that she was partially facing Brandon.

“After we got back from our honeymoon my maid of honor told me that Trey had propositioned one of my bridesmaids at the reception. Tried to get her to say yes to a clandestine quickie.

“I’ve always wondered what I would have done if I’d found out on the spot that night. Would I have thrown the whole thing over or would I have given him a chance to explain it away and let the whole thing play out? I don’t know.”

CHAPTER FOUR

Kentucky

She turned back toward the passenger window. “I need coffee.”

“First place we come to, we’ll stop.”

“Promise?”

Brandon smiled.

“Yeah. I could use a jolt of Joe, too. Maybe a donut.”

“You can’t be serious.”

“About donuts? I’m deadly serious about donuts. I could do a whole Bubba Gump list on fried bread and the wondrous things that can be done with it. There’s only one thing in the universe more amazing than donuts and that’s peanuts.”

“How do you keep from turning into massive love handles?”

“You been checking me out, Rose?”

She couldn’t read his expression very well in the dim light, but his tone sounded teasing.

“I can tell the difference between you and the clerk at the Stop and Go if that’s what you mean.”

He laughed.

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