Page 17 of Hideaway Reunion

“One second!” she called out, giving chase. “What about…”

She lost the power of speech, her mouth going dry as he turned. He’d stripped off his shirt and unbuttoned the top of his cargo pants. His entire stunning torso mocked her claims of being only friends.

The man was just too gorgeous to be ignored.

“What about what?” he prompted.

“Dinner,” she finished, a little too breathless. “You’ve been gone for hours.”

“Yeah. That’s the job. I was here on the property. You weren’t alone.”

Not at all her point. Something had happened and she wanted the update. “I’m not irritated with you,” she began. “I’ll order Parker’s for dinner while you get your shower.”

“You don’t feel like cooking?”

Fair question. She usually preferred cooking over take out. “Some days call for being nice to myself. And you too by association. This is one of them.”

Spending the day with her sisters had drained her. That alone was deflating. She’d rescheduled all of her clients outside of Brookwell and then thrown herself into the plans they were making to prevent a disastrous hit to their reputation. The response was great, but the underlying reasons were taxing. Add in their disapproval and anger—momentarily on hold—and she was wiped out.

Brayden only grunted, walking into the bathroom and closing the door. As much as she wanted to press, there was no possible way she’d breach that boundary. Whatever he was processing, he’d share it when he was ready.

She could only hope he wasn’t mad at her too. She wasn’t sure she could handle that right now.

After placing the order for delivery, she started to head outside and hesitated. Now she was angry. Having doubts about her safety in this house, in this community, was infuriating. She’d always felt safe and secure here, even when they’d decided to use the family vacation home for business.

Waffling between facing her fear and defying her promise to Brayden, she popped open a sparkling water and went upstairs to her old room, curling up in a chair near the window to think.

The view of the ocean beyond the fire pit soothed her. That steady roll of the tide made her troubles seem inconsequential. In the grand scheme, she and her sisters would get over the hurt. Someday the construction next door would be over. She closed her eyes, imagining the view unchanged and the natural sounds of the island prevailing.

“Veronica!” Brayden’s strident shout cut into her reverie. “Roni!”

“Up here,” she called out, scrambling out of the chair. At the doorway, she waved at him where he stood at the bottom of the stairs, his expression as dark as a summer storm cloud. “Is dinner here?”

She knew the answer as he stalked closer, his long legs taking the steps two at a time. Why was that sexy? Why was she finding everything about him so appealing? She thought back to that surprise encounter on the beach months ago. For a couple of years, they hadn’t shared more than text messages and the occasional video call and then—wham—one day he was running down the public beach totally unannounced.

It had been the worst kind of awkward reunion. From a distance, she’d been ogling him before her mind registered she was gawking at her friend.

“No.”

“You look mad,” she blurted when he stopped in front of her. “Or hungry?”

“You could’ve left a note,” he snapped.

“Just to come upstairs?” His glowering, the looming had to stop. “Joined at the hip. Right.” She folded her arms, instantly defensive after the day she’d had. “If we’re so close and sharing everything, what happened to put you in such a foul mood?”

The temper drained out of him and he pushed a hand through his damp hair. Her fingers tingled. She ordered her body to behave.

“A potential problem,” he replied. “The team and I handled it. Truthfully, the less you know, the better.”

His mind was set, there would be no changing it. “Okay.” She turned, returning to the chair by the window. “You’ll fill me in when you can?”

“Yes.” He followed her into the room, stopping in the middle. His gaze slid over the bed, then to the window. “Your old room?”

She nodded. “I keep telling myself that the forest will continue to grow and blot out whatever Indigo Reef decides to build.”

“We’ll make sure of it.” He stuffed his hands into his pockets. “Did your sisters lighten up?” he asked, his gaze on the view.

“Only for the sake of the mission.” She sniffled. “I really screwed up.” The emotion she’d stuffed down deep suddenly erupted. “It’s not like I tell him everything about us. I mean, I’m mad about the way he’s blown us off, too. He was good with Mom while she was sick, but he left her care to Celeste and the home health nurses. I’m not blaming him. It was hard to watch cancer steal her away day by day. We all knew he loved her.”