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Should he be honest and tell her about Merry? Not naming her specifically, but that there was someone else he was interested in?
Dating Merry would complicate his life on a professional level as well as personal, but he couldn’t stop thinking of her. This morning, he’d been lying in bed, relaxing, and he’d thought about Merry’s soft, full lips. Her soft mouth under his, kissing him back as he slowly undressed her, and then rolled her beneath him, coming into her with a sigh.
Clark wanted to get through this first season without a hitch and fantasizing about his boss’s daughter was bad enough, but dating her? The woman who would potentially become his boss in the future? It seemed like a recipe for disaster.
Even if she did give the sweetest hugs and made him laugh and smelled like she’d rolled in a basket of Christmas cookies.
Clark stomped into his house to grab a beer and a bag of chips, hoping to get an hour in his woodworking shed to blow off some steam, but his brother caught him as he was walking out the door.
“Clark, I need to talk to you.”
Clark stopped in the doorway and turned, his tone coming out harsher than he meant. “Can it wait until later, Sam? I’ve got a lot on my mind.”
Sam sat down at the kitchen table, rubbing a hand roughly over the top of his head. “I do too, which is why I think we should talk.”
Clark finally registered the slight slur in his brother’s words and the beer bottle dangling from his fingers. “It’s five in the afternoon.”
“I know that.”
“Why are you drunk?”
“It’s my night off. I thought I would partake in some debauchery after I unburden my soul.”
Clark sat at the table next to him, frowning. “Sam, are you all right?”
“No, my dear brother. I am very much not all right.” Sam took a long pull of his beer and swallowed. Hard. “And I don’t have anyone else to talk to about this.”
“What is this?”
“Why I came back. My life has been dragged through runny shit lately and I can’t fix it.”
“I thought you had a great life in Oregon. Lots of friends. Girls.”
Sam chuckled bitterly. “I did, until I didn’t. I trusted the wrong man. Had a handshake agreement with the guy I worked for, known him for years. I was paying him monthly installments to buy the business from him because I couldn’t get a loan with my credit. But he sold it out from under me and left town like a coward. I have some savings left, but not nearly enough to buy anything outright. So I came back here, tail between my legs, to be near the only family I have.”
Clark pulled Sam into an unexpected hug and thumped him on the back. “I’m glad you told me.”
Sam returned his hug, burying his face in his shoulder. “It’s humiliating to realize your little brother has his life together and I’m still a train wreck in my thirties.”
“Train wreck or not, I want you here. You are my brother and I love you. We can hire a lawyer and go after him, try to get some of your money back—”
“It wouldn’t be worth it. Besides, I don’t have enough in the bank to fight.”
“I can help you. I have money saved—”
“No. Your money is to take care of that boy and I’m not letting you waste it on an asshole like me. I should have never trusted him and I’d bankrupt myself and you chasing him. It will take some time, but I’ll get enough saved for a down payment and go through the right channels next time.”
“It’s my money. And if I want to use some of it to help my brother realize his dream, then I’m going to do it and you cannot stop me.”
Sam chuckled wetly. “I think I can still take you, bro.”
“I’m a lot stronger than the last time you tried.”
“Fair enough.” Sam ran his hands over his face with a deep breath. “You’re a good man, Clark. I’m proud of you.”
“Thanks, but honestly, don’t be too hard on yourself. I’ve trusted the wrong person before and while it feels like someone threw a pallet of bricks at you, you learn from it and will listen to the little voice telling you to be cautious.”
“We’re talking about women now, huh?” Sam said with a sheepish grin. “I know you’ve got a date tonight. You taking out Merry?”
