Page 60 of Ever With Me

She sighed, then went up to the front mat. Cormac had waited by the end of the driveway, waiting for her to arrive, and had handed her a slip of paper with the door’s code. He hadn’t said much, but from the worry on his face, she was glad she’d come.

Maddie typed in the code on the keypad. Opening the door, she blinked in the darkness.

Maybe Cormac was wrong. Maybe Brooks had just gone to bed, and a checkup wasn’t necessary.

“Brooks?” she called out softly. Audrey was probably asleep, so she couldn’t be too loud.

No answer.

“Brooks Kent, where are you?”

She checked the first floor, including his bedroom suite, then went upstairs.

Man, the bedrooms upstairs are bigger than my entire apartment.

Still, nothing.

Going to the basement, she looked around, then let herself out the back door to the yard.

There he is.

Brooks stood at the end of the dock, staring out over the lake.

Maybe he’s fine. Maybe Cormac was worried about nothing.

But there was a half-empty bottle gripped in his left hand.

Maddie’s heart pitched forward, then she started toward him. Her trek across the grass was noiseless, but the grass was already soaked with dew and cold, and she shivered. When she reached the dock, she slipped her soaking wet slides off her feet, then padded onto the wood.

Brooks turned at the sound of her footsteps.

Even in the dim light of the moon, his scowl radiated from his face. “What are you doing here?”

She slowed her approach. Cormac had called because he assumed they were something they weren’t—that she’d had some right to be here.

Brooks wouldn’t see it that way. Neither did she.

“Cormac said?—”

“Of course he did.”

She took another step, then took the bottle from him gently. “Did you drink all this yourself?”

He cocked a brow at her. “You here to parent me, too?”

“What are you doing, Brooks?” He oddly didn’tseemdrunk. Who knew what he’d had to drink?

A smirk crossed his lips. Had she never noticed the hint of a dimple in his cheek, or was it just the deep shadows from the moonlight? “I could ask you the same thing. I didn’t call you to come over here, you know.”

“Consider this completely off the clock.” Maddie hugged her arms to her chest, the chill stronger by the water. Her feet were freezing too, the hems of her jogger pants damp.

She might not have Pops’s experience dealing with people at the pub, but the last thing anyone liked was to feel judged. Setting the bottle to her lips, she took a small sip. “What are we drinking to tonight?”

Brooks continued to stare her down. “You didn’t come today when you were supposed to. Or bother to text me back.”

That couldn’t be what this was about—could it? Maybe he was more of a celebrity diva than she’d realized.

“I told my sister about you. And the wreck.” She’d already decided whether she was going to be honest, she was going to be honest all around. Lies made for a bad situation. “She was understandably upset. She asked me to tell my grandfather and my other sister, whose boyfriend towed your car.”

---