Page 79 of Nothing to This
Until that moment, he hadn’t admitted to himself that he was embarrassed.He’d lay watching her sleep thinking they were starting something real, and she’d woken up and slapped him down.
In retrospect, he hadn’t tried to make her see that he wanted more, he’d just accepted her first no.But he’d been younger too, more conceited, less willing to put himself out there.Experience, age, and maybe parenthood, had made him humbler and more aware of what was important.
The more he reflected, the more he wondered if that night had been a catalyst for him deferring settling down.He’d been rejected, maybe more hurt than he’d realized, and so had buried himself in business.
It was easy to speculate when there was no way of knowing exactly how it would’ve played out.Even if he’d gotten what he wanted, who was to say his relationship with Rylee would’ve gone past a few months of fun?The obsession may have dwindled when trying to juggle the reality of a long-distance relationship and they wouldn’t have had the twins to hold them together.
Except at some point, Rylee would’ve found out she was pregnant.Would they have discussed abortion or adoption?Would they have hated each other so much by then that Rylee withheld the truth?He couldn’t imagine it of her, but who knew?
Brenna’s phone rang, shattering his thoughts, and she leaped up, pulling her phone from her pocket.“Babe?Yeah, I called… where are you?”Nodding, she held up a hand to him, though he hadn’t said anything.“No, Jamie says it’s okay… I need you to come to the party place with me, finalize things for tomorrow…” She smiled at him.“He says you’ve to take the whole afternoon off.”Shaking his head, he wasn’t really saying no, just judging his grinning sister.“Yeah, we’ll deal with the party, and then go to the spa… He’s nodding his head right now.”
He wasn’t nodding his head.
Narrowing his eyes, he angled toward her, reaching for the phone.“Let me talk to her.”
Brenna edged a little closer.“He wants to talk to you, but I don’t think you should talk to him.I think he’ll say something inappropriate.”A beat or two passed.Brenna laughed and handed over the phone.“She wants you to say something inappropriate.”
He knew better than to believe his sister and took the phone without rising to her bait.“Ry?”
“I don’t need the entire afternoon.”
“Take it,” he said, sitting back.“This time five years ago you were less than a day away from giving birth, this is your day too.”
“It’s taking advantage,” she said.The smile in her voice prompted his, though he tried to subdue the instinctual reaction; Brenna scrutinized his every nuance.“Will you pick up the kids?”
“Yes,” he said, finding something comforting and appealing about making such ordinary plans.
“And I’ll pick up dinner.”
Glancing at his sister, he lowered his chin and his volume.“Just us tonight, okay?”
“Okay,” Rylee murmured.
Brenna wasn’t shy about coughing and traversing one long stride that brought her up against the front of his desk.“You inviting me to dinner, brother?So sorry, I promised my girl candlelight, you know?”
Proving she must’ve overheard, Rylee laughed down the line.“We’ll probably have to invite the kids, you know.”
It took him a second to click in with Rylee’s teasing.When he did, he relaxed, feeling so much better just to be back in the groove with her.Maybe Brenna was wrong about them getting weird and the necessity of space between them for the sake of sanity.He heard her take the slightest of breaths and his thoughts flew straight to the bedroom.
Damn.Brenna was right.Just Rylee’s breathing was enough to turn him on.
“Those little freeloaders are always hanging around,” he said.“We should put ‘em to work, start charging them rent.”
“Kye pays in secret cuddles,” she said.“And Sky’s probably the best security we could get.She’s always at the forefront of any mystery… But we can start setting them chores, they’re five now.”
“You mean like cleaning the bathroom with a toothbrush kind of thing?”
She laughed again.“How about we talk about it at dinner…?Maybe we could get them a pet.”
“What kind of pet?Isn’t my sister enough?”he asked and shook his head.“We’ll talk about it later, Brenna’s waving at me for her phone.I’ll grab the kids and meet you at home for dinner.Have fun today.”
“Thank you.”
“And Ry,” he said.“Great job on squeezing them out.”
“Five years later and I’m only just starting to recognize my body again,” she said.“Speak to you later.”
She hung up and he handed the phone to a grinning Brenna.“Jamie and Rylee sitting in a tree—”
