Page 105 of The Rebel

She’d held her own—there was no doubt about that—but it had gotten to the point where I wanted to step in and shut that motherfucker up.

“Because I stood up for her—is that your issue? Because she happened to be right?” I sighed, letting him know what I thought of this. “Come on, Brady. You were lighter on her than you are with her brothers, but your intentions were obvious to everyone in this fucking room. You just wanted to fight.” I pushed myself higher in the seat and squared off my shoulders. “Let’s be honest here. If I’d been the one who presented those ideas, you wouldn’t have said shit. In fact, you probably would have clapped.”

He shook his head, like he was disgusted. “She presented nothing special.”

“And this is where I’m going to have to disagree with you.” Macon looked from me to Brady. “Given the circumstances, she came up with some solid options. More than our own fucking brother came up with.”

“Truth,” I joked.

“That doesn’t mean I like the Coles,” Macon continued. “But Rowan proved herself today, and it’s only fair to give her credit for that.”

“Let’s cut the bullshit, shall we?” Jo voiced. “This isn’t about the options she came up with and presented. She could have solved every issue the Spades ever had, and we’d still have an issue with her. And if I’m being completely transparent with you guys, I don’t like that about us or myself. We need to grow up.” Jo linked her hands together and placed them on the table. “Rowan seems nice. Dedicated. Knowledgeable. And she isn’t afraid to put Brady in his place, and I commend her for that.”

“Fuck off,” Brady groaned.

“She’s all of those things,” I said.

Brady leaned further into the table, his eyes squinting as he stared at me. “Why the hell are you so pro-Cole right now?”

I dragged my teeth over my bottom lip. “I’m not.”

“Then, you’re pro-Rowan,” he clarified. “What, did you get fucking sweet on her while the two of you were in Canada this week?”

The second I showed any kind of softness, Brady would start digging. I had to choose my words carefully.

“Are you forgetting that before Walter and Ray gave us this company, I was told I had to partner with Rowan on the Lake Louise build-out?” I leaned back in my chair. “I could do that in one of two ways. I could fight her on everything and make things miserable for myself.” Which I’d done very well. “Or we could somehow come together for the sake of the company and build the best hotel possible. Just like Jo said, I needed to grow up, and I’d be a goddamn idiot not to take the latter.”

Brady continued to stare at me. “Do me a favor, brother. Look at Jo.”

“What?”

“You heard me. Look at Jo,” Brady repeated.

I glanced toward my cousin, unsure where he was going with this.

And then I heard, “Macon, do you see what I’m seeing?” from Brady.

I looked back at my older brother, trying to figure out what he meant. When I couldn’t, I shifted my gaze to Macon and finally said to him, “Tell me you don’t know what the hell he’s talking about either.”

“Oh, I know just what he’s saying.” A cockiness grew over Macon’s face, which he then directed at Brady and said, “When Cooper looks at Jo—or probably any woman for that matter—he has a different expression on his face. But the second Rowan walked into the conference room this morning, he lit up likea fucking Christmas tree. He couldn’t take his eyes off her the whole meeting.”

They’d seen right through me.

Fuck me.

There was a vibration in my pocket. Hoping this would give me a break from this conversation, I took out my phone and read the text on the screen.

Rowan

Thank you for today. I don’t think I said that before I left. But I want you to know I appreciate you.

“It’s her, isn’t it?” I heard.

I slipped the phone back into my pocket and replied to Brady, “Who?”

“Rowan,” Brady said. “Because that smile is on your face again. The one Macon was just talking about. You had it when she walked in this morning, and it stayed until she left, reappearing when you just looked at your phone. But you know when it really peaked? When she grabbed your shoulder.” He smiled at me, something my brother rarely did. “Yeah, you thought we missed that. We didn’t.” He pounded his fist on the table. “Why don’t you tell us what this is really about, Cooper?”

“Jesus Christ,” I groaned.

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