Page 16 of Talulah's Back in Town

“You don’t want to?”

“Youdon’t want to!” she clarified.

He blinked at her. “I invited you, didn’t I?”

“Yes, but...you’ve never liked me.”

“That’s not true,” he said. “You just...got in the way sometimes.” He grinned. “And now you’re not in the way anymore. Are you seeing anyone?”

Talulah thought of Paul. She knew he’d like a commitment, and she hoped she could give him one eventually. But after breaking as many hearts as she had, she was going to take it slow. Maybe evenveryslow. She didn’t want to end up in another relationship that progressed toward a wedding she couldn’t follow through with. “I’ve recently started seeing my business partner,” she said.

“Are you...exclusive?”

“No, it’s a brand-new development.”

His gaze lowered to her white tank, and she realized he could see the outline of her nipples through the thin fabric. “So you wouldn’t be hurting anybody...”

Paul wouldn’t be happy about it, of course. But she didn’t see why he’d even have to know. He could be out with another woman right now; they had no claim on each other.

“You’re thinking about it...” Brant said.

She nibbled on her bottom lip. “I’m looking for pitfalls.”

“You’re only here for, what...a few weeks? You won’t be around long enough for this to go wrong.”

That sounded like a reasonable argument...

“And I’m pretty sure we’d have one hell of a good time,” he added, his smile widening.

His blue eyes, with those thick black eyelashes, were so beautiful she told herself not to look at them. She didn’t need to complicate her life by sleeping with her old archenemy.

Then again... Ifshedidn’t expect anything to come of it, andhedidn’t expect anything to come of it, would it be so terrible to have a last hurrah before going back to Seattle and trying to devote herself to a more serious relationship with Paul, who’d make a wonderful life partner?

“If you get in this shower and you’re not enjoying yourself, you can always change your mind,” he offered.

Her heart was pounding so hard she was afraid he could hear it. She wondered why she’d never felt this excited about Paul. Maybe it was because she and Brant hadn’t seen each other in years and had once been adversaries. Or maybe it was the temporary nature of a fling—the taboo of it. It could even be simpler than that. Raw lust wasn’t a minor consideration with a man as virile as Brant. “You won’t tell anyone...”

“It’ll be like it never happened,” he said. “So...what do you say?”

She didn’t say anything. She shimmied out of her pajama shorts and panties. Then she paused, suddenly feeling a little panicked, even though the length of her shirt meant he couldn’t see anything quite yet. Did she really want to do this and then possibly run into him in town over the next few weeks?

She didn’t have an answer for that, but before she could change her mind, he pulled the curtain back the rest of the way, taking the risk of baring it all first.

After gathering her nerve, she lifted her shirt over her head and dropped it on the floor.

Although Talulah had always been attractive, with a smattering of freckles across her small, upturned nose, thick honey-blond hair and wide, hazel eyes, Brant had never let himself think too much about her. She’d been with his best friend. That had put her out of bounds.

But it’d been fourteen years since her relationship with Charlie. And when he’d spotted her at the diner with no makeup and her hair piled loosely on top of her head, a few long strands falling around her face, he’d realized she’d gotten even prettier.

Not only was he attracted to her in a physical sense, he was beginning to like her. She’d been kind, gentle and diligent in taking care of him. Of course, that didn’t absolve her of standing his best friend up at the altar. But he wasn’t looking for anything long-term, so it wasn’t necessary to heed that warning sign.

As he helped her into the tub, he couldn’t take his eyes off her face—even though there were a lot of other beautiful things to look at now that she wasn’t wearing any clothes. She seemed hesitant and uncertain, which concerned him.

“What’s wrong?” he asked. “If you don’t want to do this—”

She shook her head. “That’s not it.”

“Then what’s going on?”

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