Page 26 of Fall for You
Fred-slash-Frank broke the silence first. “Your father wants?—”
“My father is not here.” Eric’s tone was cold as ice. “My father is not the one making this decision.”
That wasn’t entirely true, and they all knew it. His father still had a say. A big one. But at the end of the day… “He left me in charge, and what I say goes. Understand?”
No one spoke.
“No one makes a move against the Kings…unless I say so.”
Chapter Ten
Dallas had sunk so deep into the armchair in front of the inn’s fireplace, he was starting to wonder if he’d ever get out.
“Yeah. Uh-huh. Got it.” He ended the third tedious work call of the morning and let his head fall back.
Then his eyes closed. And then…
He sat up straight before he could drift off to sleep.
This was a mistake. More and more often he’d been tempted to take a nap at work, but it was Monday morning, and he wasn’t even at the office.
So instead he stood and stretched.
“It’s just Monday,” he muttered to himself, so he was surprised when an answer came from behind him.
“It might just be a Monday for you, but some of us have rooms to clean and yurts to repair.” Bailey crossed her arms over her chest, and Dallas automatically did the same.
“I wasn’t even talking to you,” he said.
She looked around pointedly.
Yeah, okay. Point taken.
Her eyes narrowed on him. “I’m surprised you’re still here. I thought you were heading back after the long weekend.”
He shrugged, mostly because he had no answer. He’d also thought he’d just stay for the long weekend, but when he woke up this morning…
“I can do my job from here, for the most part. So I figured I’d stick around for a little while longer.” At her frown, he added, “Is that a problem?”
Yes. The answer was clearly yes. An age-old annoyance flared to life.
For two people born from the same womb, only minutes apart, one would think they’d have figured out a way to stand each other’s company by now.
She shifted from foot to foot as if maybe she felt slightly guilty about the fact that she clearly didn’t want her brother here. “Look, if you’re sticking around because you think I can’t handle this?—”
“That’s not what I’m doing.” And just like that, some of his anger ebbed. Just a little. When she still looked doubtful, he huffed. “I’m not.”
She turned her head and gave him some serious side-eye. “Did Dad ask you to do this?”
“Dad doesn’t even know I’m here.” He arched his brows.
She blinked. “Oh.”
He let himself gloat. Served her right for jumping to the worst possible conclusions all the time—when it came to him, at least.
Granted, he had come here with an ulterior motive. But being concerned for Willow and whatever secret she was hiding wasn’t a crime. If anything, it made him a good big brother.
“What did I miss?” Drew asked as he entered. He was looking between his girlfriend and Dallas like they were two sparring boxers about to launch into the next round.
