Page 1 of Guarded Love

1

EVELYN

There I was.

Fucking furious when I should’ve been admiring the view from the spacious, genteel lobby of a gorgeous resort in the Hamptons, with sparkling water spread out beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows lining the far wall. Yachts and sailboats bobbed on the bluest water, gleaming in the sunlight. An entire week of activities was planned, all leading up to the wedding of my brother, Barrett, to the love of his life.

And we were in a holding pattern since my wedding partner decided schedules didn’t apply to him.

It seemed like Magnus Miller was determined to get on my last nerve, the way he had been since we first met. The man found a way to rub me raw. This morning was no exception. Getting a jumpstart on the day was Lourde’s suggestion. She wanted to maximize our time sailing on the yacht Barrett had rented. So, we arrived last night to set sail early today. It just seemed like the logical thing to do.

The worst part was everybody else was so busy being wrapped up in wedding excitement and each other that they didn’t seem to mind. For them, it was enough to hang out together, joking, laughing, and looking forward to the week ahead. Maybe they were used to him treating schedules like suggestions.

Not me.

Apparently, I hadn’t spent nearly enough time with him.

I looked around, trying to find him in the small clusters of people moving in and out of the hotel’s café and the restaurant a little further down from the lobby. Maybe he’d come down for a quick bite before heading out. It would be easy to spot him as tall as he was, but he was nowhere to be found. Selfish, immature, narcissistic asshole.

Every minute he kept us waiting without bothering to let anyone know if he was even on the way down from his suite made me less inclined to want to spend that time.

The most infuriating thing about him, really, was his intelligence. It would have been easy to dismiss him as nothing but an empty-headed playboy and move on. I’d met plenty of men like him in the years since my brother’s hard work and success had moved us both up the social ladder. More money than brains, always looking for the next good time. Eye candy.

Why couldn’t Magnus have been one of them? Instead, we had plenty to talk about when he was sober and acting like a human being. Discuss. Debate.

I liked the debating way too much.

“He can meet us down at the launch.” Barrett was too busy floating on cloud nine to care much about schedules and planning. I wanted him to get angry at Magnus when he eventually showed, but really, Barrett was so completely happy—he had every reason to be. A beautiful fiancée who would be his wife by week’s end and a baby on the way.

With Lourde at ten weeks, there were no visible signs yet, but she had a way of resting her hand on her flat belly. I doubted she knew she was doing it. In the same way I would sometimes touch the scars on my thigh from my wound and subsequent surgeries without thinking about it. They were always there, always present in my mind.

It was Barrett’s turn to drape an arm around her waist and place his other hand over her stomach. “You sure you’re going to be okay? The boat won’t make you nauseous or anything?” Love dripped from his voice, making me smile despite my bitter state of mind.

We had certainly grown up with full-color examples of a terrible marriage.Putting it mildly. The fact that he was willing to take a chance and was being rewarded so richly should have given me hope. But my smile was hollow. Even a little forced. That would never be me.

“Where is Magnus?” I must have voiced my question a little too loudly since all eyes turned to me.

“Hey.” Olivia turned away from her boyfriend to touch my arm. “Are you all right?” she asked, and Ari, who stood behind her, frowned my way.

I didn’t have a chance to give her an excuse before Barrett turned his full attention on me. “Come here for a second,” he ordered, leaving no room for choice, gently pulling me away from the group.

“You don’t even have to ask,” I whispered.

“But I will,” he argued, and for a younger brother, he had a way of protecting, caring, and even overpowering, making anybody wonder which one of us was older.

“I’m fine.”

“Are you sure about that?” His forehead wrinkled with concern that was touching, making me feel awful for being so grumpy.

I forced myself to take a deep breath, loosening the tension that crept into my muscles when I wasn’t paying attention. “I’m positive,” I reassured him. The last thing I wanted was for him to be worrying about me.

“Because if you’re having pain, you don’t need to come along. You can hang back here, go to the spa, go for a swim.” As if I would go for a swim. As if I would let anyone see my wounded leg. “You could just get some rest,” he concluded. “Are you sure this isn’t too much for you?”

I loved him. I loved his concern. And I couldn’t pretend he hadn’t taken care of me—no, he had gone above and beyond in every way. I could never begin to pay him back. There was no way I would live long enough to balance the scales.

I was not an invalid, dammit.

I wasn’t some pitiful creature who needed to hang back while everybody else had all the fun.

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