Page 9 of Coming Unraveled
“I’ve been busy and I’m not interested. If you’ll excuse me.”
He turns to walk away, hating at how callous he sounds, but he knew from experience that you had to be mean to get those types of women to listen.
“Well, that didn’t take as long as I had expected,” Austin jokes from behind the beer glass tilted to his lips.
“Thanks for the vote of confidence. Hey man, can I get one of these,” he says to the bartender, gesturing towards Austin’s beer.
An hour passes as the guys ask him questions about his time playing baseball before Logan knocks Brooks on the shoulder.
“I think you’re in trouble.”
“Why do you say that?” he responds to Logan.
“Because my sister-in-law just walked in and she is heading straight for you.”
Brooks turns on his stool and observes as Everleigh stalks across the bar, an irritated expression on her face causing her lusciously plump lips to pinch together. As she comes closer, her mouth opens as if she is about to start sprouting her monologue, but Brooks shuts her down quickly.
“Well, hello, gorgeous. Miss me already?”
Chapter Two
SHE HAD LEFT THE pharmacy at six on the dot expecting to find Brooks waiting to confront her about the papers she had served him. When she had gone a month without hearing much from him after they arrived back home to Carson, she had assumed this is the path he had wanted them to take. Their quickie wedding must have been a mistake. After seeing the anger on his face as he stormed into her workplace this afternoon she had begun to second guess her actions. But this is better for both of them. She didn’t need to burden him with her past and he deserved someone that could give him everything he wants, and that woman isn’t her, as much as she wishes that it was.
He hadn’t been waiting for her as she had assumed he would be and that had puzzled and annoyed her further. Her body tingles as the emotions manifest deep within and she storms up to her tiny apartment above the shop, refreshes her makeup, and then decides to confront him at his office.
Luckily for her, she runs into Dr. Long just as she turns the corner from the alleyway separating her pharmacy and the hardware store next door. Everleigh had asked her if she knew where Brooks had gone and she had pointed across the street to Horizons.
Perfect.
She has a plan in her mind and as she stepped through the heavy wooden door she is determined to get Brooks to settle their problem as soon as possible.
And that’s what this marriage is, a problem. Not for her, but it would be for him. Brooks is one of the sexiest men she had ever seen. He stands over a foot taller than her with bulging muscles cascading down his body. She had been witness to those muscles back in Vegas and every night when she closes her eyes she can still picture how they rippled beneath her touch. He possesses the combination of tall, dark, and handsome that most women dream about, and she knows from experience that she won’t be enough to keep him by her side. Men like that needed and craved the attention of multiple females.
Her eyes focus in the dimness of the room until she begins to make out the figures surrounding her. Prickles erupt on the back of her neck and she knows that her body is responding to his presence. He has had this effect on her since he had first shown up in her life a year ago. Scanning the room once more she finds him sitting at the bar with her brother and brother-in-law. His inky black hair curling at the bottom of his neck and the waves glisten under the dull light hanging above the bar.
Shaking away her goose bumps she stomps towards them, hoping to keep her fear of confrontation from showing for everyone to see. Logan must alert Brooks to her arrival because as she takes a deep breath, ready to make him a victim of her wrath, he spins on his stool taking her by surprise.
His bright blue eyes crinkle on the edges as he takes her in, every minute detail, scanning her from head to toe. Everleigh’s mouth hangs open as her mind goes blank, instead focusing on the shiver that travels down her spine at his perusal. She has to stamp down her desire to reach up and run her fingers through his hair and scratching her cheek against the scruff residing on his jawline; that perfect mix of sexy and dangerous. And she is in serious danger of melting into a puddle at his feet.
“Well, hello, gorgeous. Miss me already?” he asks as his eyes gleam in delight.
Momentarily stunned, Everleigh can do no more than stand still, slack-jawed expression marring her face.
“Uh, I…” she begins before her brother saves her by standing and wrapping her in his arms, squeezing her tightly, but her eyes never leave the magnetic pull of Brooks’.
The bartender places another round of beers in front of the guys, causing Brooks and Logan to turn on their stool, the captivating pull finally broken.
“Hey, Austin, Logan,” she greets them, purposefully leaving out Brooks’ name which doesn’t go unnoticed by her brother as he narrows a confused glare towards her. She rolls her eyes in response before addressing the man leaning back on his stool against the bar, sipping his beer. “Brooks, you said we needed to talk and I waited for you after I closed.”
“Oh, did you?” he asks innocently. “I got the impression earlier that it could wait.”
“Brooks,” she grunts in agitation, practically stomping her foot in response like a sullen teenager.
“Beautiful,” Brooks replies, the corner of his lips tilting upward in a sexy grin she had come to love about him.
“Hey, man,” her brother bellows with a punch to Brooks’ shoulder. “That’s my sister.”
She watches as Logan laughs, shaking his head as Brooks replies, “Not sorry.”
