Page 41 of Broken Roads
Bradley nods, a single, certain movement. "All of it. We need to change to survive." His fingers tap against the edge of my marketing plan. "Your ideas... they don't strip away what matters. They highlight it."
I stare at him like he's grown a second head. This man, this stubborn, infuriating man who's fought me at every turn, is suddenly endorsing my vision without reservation? It doesn't compute. Doesn't align with anything I know about Bradley Walker.
Afternoon sun streams through the office window, the golden light softens the hard angles of his face, illuminating features I've been desperately trying not to notice—the strong line of his jaw, the fullness of his lower lip, the depth in those dark eyes that see too much and reveal too little.
And there, the change I couldn't pinpoint earlier. His expression, usually carved from granite and just as unyielding,has softened. Just enough to be noticeable. Just enough to transform him from adversary to... something else entirely.
He stands his ground, holding my papers, waiting for my response. Patience isn't a quality I've associated with him before, but he exhibits it now, letting the silence stretch without rushing to fill it. Without pushing for the answer he wants.
My fingers tap nervously against my thigh as I struggle to find words that won't reveal how deeply his sudden support has affected me. "Who are you and what have you done with Bradley Walker?" The question comes out half-joking, but the tremor in my voice betrays my uncertainty.
A hint of a smile, an actual smile, tugs at the corner of his mouth. It transforms his face in a way that makes something flutter dangerously in my stomach. "Still me. Just... with my eyes open for the first time in a while."
I circle my desk slowly, maintaining a safe distance from him as I try to process this seismic shift. "So just like that? After fighting me on every suggestion since I arrived, you're suddenly Team Hailey?"
"Not suddenly," he admits, setting the papers down with unexpected care. "Your... feedback this morning hit home. Made me realize some things." He takes a breath, shoulders rising and falling with the effort. "Then I came in here, saw your work, really saw it, and understood what you've been trying to tell me."
I study him, searching for any crack in this newly constructed facade. But all I find is that same raw honesty from before, unfamiliar but undeniably real.
"You went through my desk?"
"I did." No excuses, no justifications. Just acknowledgment. Another surprise from a man who's been nothing but predictable in his opposition until now.
My hand reaches out, almost of its own accord, to touch the edge of the marketing proposal he was reading. Our fingers endup inches apart on the paper, close enough that I can feel the heat radiating from his skin. Neither of us moves to close that final distance, but we don’t pull away either.
"If this is some kind of strategy," I say quietly. "Some way to make me lower my guard so you can undermine me later..."
"It's not." His response comes instantly, cutting through my doubt. His eyes lock with mine, and for a breathless moment, everything else falls away—the office, the ranch, our short but complicated history. There's just his gaze, steady and certain. "I give you my word, Hailey."
The way he says my name, soft where everything else about him is hard, sends an involuntary shiver down my spine. I want to believe him. Heaven help me, I want to trust this version of Bradley that stands before me now, humbled but somehow stronger for it.
"Okay," I finally say. "We'll try this. Together." I pull my hand back from the papers, needing distance to think clearly. "But I need to know this isn't temporary. That tomorrow you won't wake up and decide I'm the enemy again."
He straightens and his full height makes the small office feel even smaller. "I can be stubborn," he admits, and I can't help the short, surprised laugh that escapes me at the understatement. A smile flickers across his face in response, gone almost before it forms. "But when I commit to something, I see it through. No matter what."
The intensity in his voice sends another wave of heat through me, one that has nothing to do with the afternoon sun and everything to do with the man standing before me. I clear my throat, desperate to regain solid footing in this conversation that's shifted the ground beneath me.
"Well then," I say, gesturing to the chair across from mine. "I guess we should get started."
As he sits, his knee briefly brushes against mine beneath the desk. The contact, though fleeting, sends electricity racing up my leg. I shift back slightly, creating space between us. Not because I want to, but because I need to. Because whatever is happening between Bradley and me is dangerous in ways I'm not prepared to face.
"Where do we start?" he asks, his voice carrying a new note of deference that I'm still not used to.
I take a deep breath, centering myself in the work; the one area where I feel confident, where emotions and attractions can't interfere.
"We start," I say, pulling out my laptop. "With understanding exactly what makes Walker Ranch special. Not just to guests, but to you." I look up, meeting his eyes directly. "Tell me what you love about this place, Bradley."
His expression shifts, vulnerability and passion warring for dominance. When he starts speaking his voice is low and reverent about the land that's shaped him, and I realize I'm seeing the real Bradley Walker for the first time.
And so help me, I like what I see.
Chapter 17
Bradley
Sleep clings to me like a second skin, my muscles heavy with the kind of exhaustion that comes after a night of tossing and turning. My mind refused to quiet after yesterday's conversation with Hailey. The memory of her face, the surprise when I told her I was all in, the cautious hope that replaced her usual defensive stance, replayed on an endless loop behind my eyelids, keeping me awake long after I should have surrendered to unconsciousness.
Rolling my shoulders, I try to work out the knots that have formed there, evidence of too many hours spent overthinking a pair of hazel eyes and what they might see in me now.
