“Just tell me why you told Brett about the baby,” Carly said.
“The truth?” Sophie propped her sunglasses on her head. “I was worried about you, but it was more than that. I wanted to see how he would react to the news that you were moving on with your life.”
“I don’t follow.”
“For years, Brett’s seen you as available.”
Carly felt a flush creep across her cheeks. It was embarrassing to realize she’d been that girl for so long, the one who was too dense to take a hint. “I’ve had boyfriends. It’s not like I was stalking the guy!”
“No, of course not,” Sophie said, reaching for Carly’s hand. “I didn’t mean to imply that. It’s just that my brother can be a little thick sometimes. Unless someone thrusts the truth in his face, he doesn’t see it.”
“Why would you think Brett would care about my plans? He made it pretty obvious a long time ago that he doesn’t care about me.” When he’d rejected her in a deserted parking lot in the middle of the night, under a mist of rain with the smell of alcohol on his breath, Carly had come to terms with the fact Brett wasn’t the man for her.
“Yeah, but having a baby means your life will never be the same. That baby will become your first priority.”
Carly frowned, trying to figure out where her friend was going with this. “Uh, yeah. That’s what you sign on for when you become a parent, Soph.”
“But I don’t think Brett ever imagined you having a baby or getting married or—”
Carly clasped her friend’s shoulders. “Read my lips. I don’t care what your brother thinks. I’m over him. I’m ready to move on with my life.”
“Then why did you sleep with him?”
“He told you?” Carly felt the betrayal like a punch in the gut, though she didn’t know why she was surprised. Brett had already betrayed her by telling Dylan about her plans to conceive. “When?”
“Last night.”
Carly started toward her car. “I don’t want to talk about this right now.”
“Why would you do that?” Sophie asked, jogging to catch up with her. “You said you were over him, so why would you sleep with him?”
“I was drunk.”
“You don’t sleep with random guys when you’re drunk. You haven’t had a one-night stand since Dylan, and you sure as hell don’t forget about birth control.”
Carly whirled around, almost bumping into Sophie. “Are you accusing me of trying to get pregnant too? You really believe that?”
“No!” Sophie grabbed Carly’s shoulders, shaking her slightly. “I’m just suggesting it was subconscious. Think about it. You want a baby. You’ve loved my brother half your life. Given the chance to make a baby with him, you took it. I have to believe that’s because you still have feelings for him.”
Carly was grateful she was wearing sunglasses. She hoped they would conceal the tears gathering in her eyes. “Then why did I get the morning-after pill?”
“Because Brett broke your heart again.” Sophie embraced her, patting her back and stroking her hair as Carly cried. “He was stupid and callous and insensitive, but was he wrong to assume you might want to have his baby?”
“Yes!” Carly hadn’t walked into that bedroom intent on getting pregnant, but she hadn’t asked him to use protection. She told herself it had merely slipped her mind, but Sophie was right—she’d never been so absent-minded before. “I don’t want his baby. I want a baby, but not his.”
Sophie stroked Carly’s face to dry her tears. “Oh, honey, do you really want a baby with some nameless, faceless man who may or may not have the qualities you’d want your child to possess?”
“No offense, but your brother isn’t exactly the poster boy for responsibility and devotion. I want my child to have a father they can count on.” Carly would have been lying if she claimed she hadn’t imagined having a family with Brett, but those thoughts were rare and fleeting these days.
“I know Brett’s changed a lot over the years and he may not epitomize dependability, but he’s still one of the first people I’d call if I were in trouble. I know I could count on him.”
“Hmmm.” Carly knew Sophie had blinders on where her brother was concerned, but it wasn’t her job to open her eyes. If it made Sophie feel better to believe Brett was a stand-up guy who would never desert those he loved, she’d let her hold on to the fantasy.
Sophie sighed. “I know you may not believe that, but do you remember that guy I went out with, the one who got drunk and roughed me up?”
Carly shuddered whenever she thought about it. “Sure, but—”
“Our parents told Brett what happened, and my brother beat the hell out of him.”
Carly smiled. “Good. He deserved it.”
“And remember when that girl in my building, Janice, was about to get evicted with her three kids because her dead-beat ex refused to play child support?”
“Uh huh.” Carly had a feeling she knew where Sophie was going, but she didn’t want to hear it. Believing Brett was a jerk was the only way she’d been able to get over him.
“Brett paid her rent and had a little chat with her ex-husband. Janice told me he hasn’t missed a payment since.” Sophie smiled. “I’m not saying he’s a hero, but he’s not a monster either. I let you bad mouth him because I knew you needed to believe those things. That was the only way you could move on. But take it from someone who knows him—he’s not as bad as you think he is.”
Carly reached for her car door handle. “Be that as it may, he still has some explaining to do.”
Chapter Six
It was barely noon, and Brett was already downing his third coffee of the day. He’d barely slept a wink thinking about the things Carly had said to him and asking himself if there was a grain of truth beneath her bitterness. He realized there was. He hadn’t been the man his parents raised him to be, and he was struggling to figure out how to make up for his lapses.
“Your assistant said I could come in.”
He looked up to see Carly standing in his open door. “Yeah, of course.” He raised his hand. “Come in. Close the door. I was thinking about ordering some lunch. Are you hungry?”
“This isn’t a social call.” She moved stiffly into the room and took the seat across from him.
“Okay,” he said warily, knowing he wouldn’t like where she was headed. “But I thought you told Dylan you didn’t want to discuss the project with me?”
“I don’t.” She crossed her legs, drawing her short black skirt up her thigh.
Brett knew it wouldn’t help his cause, but he couldn’t help it when his eyes drifted to her legs. His mind bombarded him with his memories of caressing her soft, supple body.
“We have some unfinished business.” She was glaring when his eyes finally met hers, letting him know she didn’t appreciate his unwanted attention. “You told your sister we had sex.”
“No, I think I told her we made love.” He didn’t know why it was important to him to make that distinction, but he couldn’t let her belittle what they’d shared. “If I didn’t, that’s what I should have said, because that’s what it was.”
She seemed taken aback by his claim. “I don’t care what you call it. I asked you to keep your mouth shut, and you couldn’t even do that, could you?”
He leveled her with a look intended to make her squirm. “I kept my mouth shut this morning. Dylan came to see me. I wanted to tell him that you’re mine, that you’d given me your body and heart the other night. That you let your guard down with me and acknowledged, through your actions, that you wanted me to be the father of your baby, not some goddamn stranger.”
She shook her head. “That’s not true. Please tell me you didn’t—”
“No, I didn’t.” He swore softly, lowering his head. “You know what I did? I told my best friend I want him to be happy… with you.”
“You did?”
“Yeah, I did.” He weighed his words before speaking again. “I heard you last night, loud
and clear, and I don’t want to be that guy anymore. I don’t want to be the one who stands in the way of what you want.”
“I appreciate that,” she said, raising her chin. “I don’t want to be your enemy, Brett. I just… can’t be your friend.”
As much as it pained him to hear that, he understood her reasoning. Sitting with a barrier between them felt unnatural, so he moved to the other side of the desk and sat on the edge. “You can deny it all you want, but you still love me.”
“Why are you doing this?”
Ignoring her question, he said, “You told me that night.”
She gasped before shaking her head. “No, I didn’t. I wouldn’t have said that.”
“You may not remember, but I do, word for word.” Searching her eyes, hoping to see some flicker of emotion, he said, “When we were making love, you whispered that you loved me, that you’d always loved me, that you’d thought about what it would be like a thousand times.”
She grimaced as her gaze hit the floor. “I probably said a lot of things in the heat of the moment, things I wouldn’t have said if I’d been sober.”
He reached for her hand, trying to hide his surprise when she took it and allowed him to guide her between his thighs. “But you meant them.” Brushing her bangs off her forehead, he held her face. “I just hate that…”
“What? You hate what?”
“Not seeing it when I look in your eyes anymore.” He’d known pain, both physical and emotional, but something in her shuttered expression took his suffering to a whole new level. “Your laugh used to come as freely as your smile when we were together. You enjoyed being with me. I’d look into your eyes and know how you felt about me. You were an open book, and now…” He held her as though it would somehow make up for all the times he could have and didn’t. “You’re closed off, reserved, and I hate seeing you this way.”
“I had no choice,” she said quietly. “It’s called self-preservation. I can’t continue to offer my love to someone who doesn’t want it.”
“But I do want it. I need it, Carly. Please, just give me another chance.” His behavior was hypocritical and selfish, especially after his talk with Dylan, but he believed if his friend had a chance with Sabrina, he wouldn’t hesitate to take it.
She looked at him, her face stained with tears. “Do you think this is easy for me? It’s not. Letting you go is probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but I can’t love someone I don’t trust, and I can’t allow myself to trust you.”
“You can trust me,” he argued. “Let me prove it to you.”
“I’ve given you numerous chances to prove it to me lately, and what did you do? You told both Sophie and Dylan things you knew I wouldn’t want them to know.”
She was right. She had a strong case for turning her back on him, but he had an equally compelling reason not to let her: he was falling in love with her. If he were being totally honest, he’d admit he’d loved her for a long time, as much more than a friend, but he had always known that admitting that would mean giving up his bachelor status. That was something he hadn’t been ready to do until now.
“You have every reason to doubt me, to be angry with me, but don’t make the mistake of using Dylan to get over me. It won’t work. You’ll just end up hurting him and yourself.” Not to mention me.
“I have to go.”
She tried to extricate herself from his arms, but before he could let her go, he gave in to the impulse to kiss her. He knew it could go one of two ways: either she would slap him or kiss him back. Thankfully, she gave him a kiss that lingered on his lips long after she pulled away.
“You can’t kiss me like that and tell me you feel nothing. We both know you’d be lying.”
“You want to know what I feel when I kiss you?” she asked, swiping a tear sliding down her cheek. “I feel sad that I wasted so many years loving a man who couldn’t give me what I needed. I feel ashamed that I still allow you to get to me like this. I think I’m strong, but you make me feel weak, and I hate that.”
“You think you’re the only one feeling weak and vulnerable?” he asked. “You’re not. I feel that way too.”
“You have no idea—” Carly stopped talking when a knock on the door preceded the sound of Dylan’s voice. “Damn it.” She reached for a tissue from the box on Brett’s desk. “I don’t want him to see me here, not like this.”
If Dylan saw her looking so distraught in Brett’s office, he’d question where he stood with Carly. That could only work in Brett’s favor, but he had to prove to her that she could trust him. “Slip into my restroom. I’ll get rid of him.”
“Really?” she whispered, looking startled by his offer. “You’d do that?”
“Yeah.” He pushed off the desk and straightened his tie. “Now hurry up and get in there before I change my mind and tell him everything.” He watched her scurry off before he took a deep breath and opened the door. “Hey, what’s up, Dylan?”
Dylan stepped into the room, frowning. “I thought I heard a woman’s voice? Are you alone?”
“Conference call,” he explained, taking a seat behind his desk. “I had her on speaker. I’ve got a lot of work to get through this afternoon. Did you need something?”
“Jaxon and Sela invited me over for dinner tonight. I was going to ask Carly to join me, and I wanted to make sure you’d be okay with that?”
Brett stared at the icons on his desktop, searching for words somewhere between truth and deception. “I told you earlier you have my blessing. You don’t have to run your plans past me every time you want to ask her out.”
“Yeah, but this is different.” Dylan looked uneasy. “We don’t usually invite the girls we’re dating into our inner circle until it gets serious. It’s kind of an unspoken code, right?”
“Is that your not-so-subtle way of telling me you’re serious about Carly?” Brett knew she was probably listening to every word, and he didn’t want her to know how Dylan felt about her. Convincing her that Dylan was a mistake she’d regret would be easier if she believed he wanted to keep their relationship casual.
“I wouldn’t be doing this if I weren’t serious about her, man. I know this is making things awkward between us.” He sighed. “And I hate that, but—”
Carly stepped out of the bathroom, a faint smile touching her lips. “Hey, Dylan.”
He frowned. “What are you doing here?” He turned. “You weren’t on a call, were you?”
“No, I was talking to Carly.”
“Why didn’t you just tell me that?” Dylan asked, looking from Brett to Carly. “Why all the secrecy?”
She stepped forward and reached for Dylan’s hand. “Don’t blame Brett. He was just trying to protect me. I told him I didn’t want you to find me here.”
“Why not?” Dylan raked his free hand through his dark hair. “Look, I’m not big on lies, and I don’t like feeling like I’m being left out of the loop. You don’t owe me anything, but if you’re still questioning your feelings for Brett, I need to know.”
Brett held his breath, praying she’d find the courage to tell Dylan what he knew was in her heart.
“I’m not.” She glanced at Brett. “I’ve told him how I feel about him.”
He knew in his gut that what she’d whispered to him just a few days ago was the truth, not the asinine garbage she’d been spewing since then. “She’s right, Dyl.” Brett’s eyes never left hers. “She told me exactly how she felt about me.” As her grip on Dylan’s hand tightened, Brett could tell she was wondering whether he would pull back the curtain to reveal their secret.
“Why do I get the feeling there’s more going on here?” Dylan asked, his eyes darting between Brett and Carly.
“There isn’t.” Carly smiled. “I simply came by to clear the air with Brett. Obviously our paths are going to cross now that I’m working on this project, and I thought it would be better if we aired our grievances like adults instead of trying to run away from our problems.”
; “You can’t run, can you?” Brett asked, his penetrating stare fixed on her. “And you can’t hide.” What you’re thinking and feeling. Not from me.
Dylan frowned. “Why the hell are you being so cryptic, Easton? If you have something to say, say it already.”
There was so much Brett could have said, but he bit his tongue. “I’m going to grab a quick lunch. I’ll see you guys later.”
***
Carly was sitting on a stool at Sela’s kitchen counter, chopping vegetables for the salad, when Sela asked, “So you and Dylan, huh? I have to admit I never saw that coming.”
“Why are you so surprised?” Carly asked, smiling. “Dylan’s a great guy.” She didn’t know Sela as well as she knew Jaxon, but she could tell Sela was a straight-shooter, a quality she admired when she wasn’t afraid of the truth coming out.
“You’re right, he is.” Sela bit her lip, obviously questioning whether she had the right to speak her mind.
“But…? It’s okay, Sela. Whatever you’re thinking, just say it. I won’t be offended.”
“Jaxon told me you’ve had a thing for Brett for as long as he can remember.” Sela looked up when Carly gasped, her eyes widening. “I’m overstepping, aren’t I?” She shook her head as she returned her attention to her task. “I’m so sorry. Forget I said anything. This is none of my business.”
“Jaxon’s right.” Trying to deny it was pointless. “I had a serious crush on Brett when I was a kid.”
Sela looked up, her knife poised over the cutting board. “But you don’t anymore?”
“No.” Carly laughed lightly when Sela gave her a “yeah right” look. “Seriously, I was a teenager. He was my best friend’s hot older brother. We lived in the same house for a year.” She was working too hard to defend herself, which probably only confirmed what Sela already suspected. “He was the football team captain.” As if that would explain everything.
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