Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 83718 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83718 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
“Your secret is safe with us, brother,” Jake says.
I fold my arms and lean back in my chair. “Meaning you’ve already told Ava?”
He shrugs. “There was a woman’s robe and one of your T-shirts in the middle of the kitchen floor and sounds coming from the pantry. Was I supposed to keep that to myself?”
I just glare at him, and this time it’s Carter who elbows Jake. “I think that’s a yes,” he mutters.
Jake narrows his eyes. “Do you understand how easily heartbroken my pregnant wife is? I can’t risk hurting her feelings by keeping secrets.”
“Try,” I mutter. “And don’t make assumptions about what you saw.”
“What about what we heard?” Carter says to Jake under his breath.
I glare.
“I’m empty,” Levi says, pushing out of his chair.
“I can be,” Carter says. He drains his glass, and Jake follows suit.
“Need anything?” Levi asks Ethan and me.
We shake our heads and watch our brothers head to the bar for more bourbon.
Next to me, Ethan clears his throat. “So, how is the roommate situation going?”
“The house is plenty big enough,” I say. Not really an answer.
“You and Molly . . . get along okay?” He grimaces. “Alleged pantry encounter aside?”
I just stare at him. “Why don’t you ask what you want to ask?”
“You haven’t told her how you feel. The whole of it.”
It’s not a question, so I don’t bother to respond.
Ethan’s quiet for a long time, and I think he’s going to drop the subject completely until he says, “I remember when Nic moved in after we’d, eh, been together.” He smiles, though he certainly didn’t find the situation amusing at the time. Ethan and Nic had met at Jackson Brews and ended up going back to her hotel room. The next day, he found out she was his new nanny. “I had no interest in a relationship, especially with someone Lilly might grow attached to. But I couldn’t stay away from her.”
“It worked out all right.” Next weekend, three days before Christmas, Nic and Ethan will say their vows in front of the Jackson Harbor lighthouse, and Nic will officially be part of our family. Unofficially, she’s been part of it since the first family dinner she attended. She just clicked into place. Not so different than Molly and Noah.
Ethan shakes his head. “I’m lucky I didn’t lose her. I thought I needed to protect Lilly and almost screwed everything up in the process.”
“If Molly ever gave me a chance—and trust me, despite what those assholes made it sound like, that’s a big if—I won’t screw it up. You don’t have to worry about that.”
“Maybe you won’t. But she’s the one with the kid. She’s the one who has the most to lose. The most to protect.”
I stare at him. “I would never hurt Noah.”
“I know that. Hell, she probably knows that too, but parenthood makes us irrational.” He takes a breath, as if weighing whether to say more.
“Say it.”
“Whatever you do, you need to talk to Sara before you start something with Molly. You never got to close that door. Don’t muddy your chances with Molly by missing an opportunity for closure.”
I nod. “I’ve been thinking the same thing.”
Standing from his chair, he stretches, then smacks me on the shoulder. “Why don’t you come with me and see if we can talk our brothers into cutting out early tonight? My fiancée’s at home, and if we leave now, I can have a drink with her before I sweet-talk her into getting naked.”
“Careful. You two already act like an old married couple.”
Ethan shrugs. “Bachelor parties are for celebrating your last night as a free man. I can’t think of a better way to celebrate than with that hot chick I picked up in a bar once.”
“Fair enough.” I follow him to find our brothers. Truth be told, I’m as anxious to get home as Ethan is.
Molly
By the time I park my car in Brayden’s garage, my feet are aching and every muscle in my body is crying.
Tonight went pretty well, but one of my servers got a stomach bug and had to leave in the middle of her shift, meaning the other servers and I had to run ourselves ragged to pick up the slack.
But when I open the door and see tealight candles and rose petals leading a path down the hall, all that exhaustion hanging on me floats away like fluffy snow on a winter breeze. Down the hall, music plays softly beyond Brayden’s bedroom door, and every one of my aching muscles quiets as another part of me wakes up.
I hook my purse and coat on the rack in the hall and follow the candlelit path to the bedroom, my heart hammering.
Brayden meets me in the doorway and hands me a cold glass of champagne. Our fingers brush as I take it from him. “The bath is hot and ready for you.”