Page 18 of Stay for Me
“Melanie wants a horse.”
“Good choice. Tractors are slow.”
Sebastian laughs. “I have my pole and lures all ready. Do I just hop on?”
I’m not sure what the protocol is, but I’m pretty sure I need to talk to his mother first. “We’ll head out in a few. I just want to let your mom know where we’ll be and how to reach me.”
He nods once as if this is a good idea, which is encouraging.
When we get to the door, Brenna is making her way toward us. Jesus, there goes my whole bullshit line of thought regarding her. She’s even more gorgeous than the last time I saw her. Her auburn hair is down, falling in soft waves past her shoulders, and when she looks at me, I want to fall at her feet. I’ve seen her three times, each time has been a drastically different side of her, but the feeling when I see her is the same. “Good morning,” I say, keeping my voice even.
She’s a widow. She’s a single mother, and I will not think about dipping my stick where it doesn’t belong. Get a goddamn grip, Jacob.
“Good morning, Jacob. I see that Sebastian found you quickly.”
I run my hand through my hair, feeling a little off balance. “He did. I wanted to let you know where we were going and give you my number in case you need to get a hold of us.”
“Oh, yeah that would be great. I probably should’ve asked for that, but Sebastian has a phone and . . . I’m rambling—again.” She stops herself with a laugh.
“Can I have your phone?”
She hands it over, and I type in my number into a new text thread and then tap out a message. Before I hit send, I need to make sure that she understands how vital it is to never share this. “Now, this number is mypersonalcell phone.”
“Okay,” Brenna says with confusion.
“I mean that, only ten people in the world have this number. It’s very confidential.”
Understanding seems to strike her as her eyes widen. “Oh, so this is like top secret.”
“Very much.”
“I see. Don’t worry then.”
I send the message so she has it and also now I have hers. That shouldn’t make me happy, but it does. I hand the phone back to her. “There, that’s my number in case you need anything.”
“I appreciate this. I mean, if I sold this to the tabloids, I could probably pay off my mortgage, right?”
I don’t say anything as I try to think of the right response. I hadn’t pegged her as that type, but I don’t know her.
“Jacob, I’m kidding! God, you should see your face. I would never. Not only because I’m not an asshole but also because that would be incredibly horrible after you’re taking my kid out, which leads me back to my not being an asshole.”
I laugh as though I knew she had been kidding the whole time. “I know. I didn’t think you would. I knew you were kidding.”
“You didn’t, but that’s okay. I promise not to share this with anyone, but I do suggest not giving it to Sebastian.”
“Why not?” he asks from beside me.
She looks down at him with one brow raised. “Well, let’s think back to a few weeks ago when you told everyone at school a secret about your sister that you weren’t supposed to?”
Sebastian waves his hand at her. “Please, that was different.”
“How so?”
“It’sMelanie! No one cares about her! She’s annoying and stupid and deserved it. I like Jacob, I wouldn’t do that to him.”
I cough to cover my laugh.
Brenna rolls her eyes. “Right, well, until you prove to be trustworthy no matter the situation, I don’t trust you, and neither should anyone else.”
