Page 22 of Borrowing My Bestie's Brothers

“Of course. I came by to see if you wanted lunch…”

I didn’t get to hear the rest of that because Hayden ushered her out the front door of the garage and out onto the street where his ute waited.

“I’m guessing that didn’t go to plan.” Gary had come to stand beside me, and I shot him a sharp look before watching my brother and my girl drive away, feeling like my heart was being crushed in their path. “Mouse… Jamie, she’s a funny little thing. Skittish as a colt and just as spirited, but…” He stared into my eyes. “That’s the way it works, mate. You’ve gotta work out what’s got her spooked and then try and make clear you’re gonna help her get past those fears. On her timeline.”

He was my employee. I could’ve fired him on the spot for what he was saying, but he said it anyway, staring at me meaningfully. I didn’t, nodding instead, because it was all true. This was a misstep, but I wouldn’t make the same mistake again. Jamie hated an audience, so whatever happened, it needed to be away from prying eyes.

“Thanks, Gary,” I said, slapping his shoulder before I walked back into the break room. I sat down and ate food I didn’t taste, filled my belly until I was full, my mind whirring. I could make this right tonight and all the nights after that, until she was mine.

Chapter 11

Hayden

What the fuck had my brother done?

Jamie marched out of the garage like her arse was on fire, and I shot Brock a dark look before taking her over to my ute. Her body slammed into the side as she sucked in one breath then another.

“Hey… Hey…” I moved in close, closer than I’d ever dared and shoved aside that feeling of pleasure, focussing on her. “What did he do? What did Brock do?”

She blinked, looking like someone who’d just emerged from a deep sea dive, but she seemed to come to quickly. A smile was there to cover for her little lapse, but I wasn’t convinced.

“I’m fine, I just…” She started to pull away, but I put a hand down on the side of the car, hemming her in. “I just need to get away from the garage.”

“Well, jump in. I was coming to see if you wanted some lunch anyway.” She went pale at that and I wondered what the hell I’d done wrong. “I mean, just to talk strategy, for when your mum arrives?”

“Oh, yeah, right.” She nodded sharply and when I unlocked the car, she climbed inside, filling the cab with the scent of flowers and engine oil. I breathed it in as I put the key in the ignition and started it up.

“Lunch at Kendall’s Bakery work for you?”

It was a place all of us had started to frequent since it opened. The bread, the pies were to die for, the little bakery always packed because it’d won national awards for its baked goods.

“That’d be perfect,” she replied.

“So…” We were out on the main road now, surrounded by trucks and cars, houses and shops a blur as we drove past. “Want to tell me what’s got you looking like you’ve seen a ghost? Brock lose his shit again because someone put the toilet roll on the wrong way?”

“He used to get cranky about that when he still lived at home?” she asked.

“About that, dropping dishes in the sink when he was washing them, if you didn’t clean the mop bucket out at least two times when doing the floors.” I felt a little disloyal bagging out Brock as I smiled her way, but the colour coming back to her cheeks had me continuing. “He’s tightly wound, my big brother.”

“Yeah…”

She stopped gripping the oh-fuck handle by the doorway and let her hands fall loose into her lap.

“But that usually means he doesn’t make a lot of mistakes,” I said. “Left that to us, I think.” She smiled then, really smiled. “So what did he do?”

“What I asked.” Some of the tension was back, but I had to think this was necessary. “That’s the stupid thing. I need him to be my fake date, so of course he’d bring me coffee in the morning, do PDA in front of the other guys.”

Public displays of affection, the thought of that was a gut punch. No, make that two. One, because he’d taken upon himself to touch my girl, and two, because he’d dared to. My eyes slid sideways, taking in the way her hands started to turn to claws. With my heart in my throat, I grabbed one, giving in a squeeze. Her hand felt so damn small inside mine, delicate and utterly feminine, despite the grease caught under her nails.

“So he bought you a coffee and held your hand?—?”

“Held me,” she corrected and then, I could just see it. Her pressed against him, nothing ever having felt as right as this. His nose dropping down, wanting to breathe that scent in deeper. “Put on a big show for the guys.”

Yeah, a ‘show.’ Brock would’ve loved every damn moment of it.

“We talked through how we’d do things and… I thought I was OK with it all, but then I walked into the break room. It was actually clean for once, and everyone knew he did that for me, then food started arriving. The guys were taking the piss, telling me what to make Brock order next time and I… I…”

She frowned and I waited patiently, unable to work out what had her running out of the garage.

---