Obsession(2)
“Have you ever been in love, Ry?”
Ryan raised his eyebrows and swallowed the sip of wine he had taken. “For a man of few words, Talon, that is certainly not a question I ever expected to hear from you.”
I rubbed at my jaw and took a drink of my bourbon, letting the spicy warmth slide down my throat. “It isn’t a question I ever thought I’d ask either.”
Ryan took another sip of wine and set his glass on the bar. “I can at least answer you honestly. No, I haven’t.”
“Not even with Anna?”
Ryan shook his head. “Anna and I had a good run, not to mention some amazing sex, but in the end, we both agreed that what we had wasn’t anything lifetimes were made of.”
“What about Joe? Do you think he’s ever been in love?”
Ryan smiled. “I think you’d have to ask him.”
My brothers were both married to their work—Jonah to the beef ranch and Ryan to the winery.
“There are a lot of women in town who would like to take one of the Steel brothers off the market.”
My brother laughed. “What’s the hurry?”
“Well, none of us are getting any younger.”
Ryan looked at me pointedly, his dark eyes serious. “What the hell is this about, Talon?”
I wasn’t much of a talker, not even to my brothers. They both knew that. What had I been thinking? I was about as uncomfortable as a grizzly in tights. I downed the rest of my whiskey like a shot and set the glass on the wooden bar. “Nothing. Sorry to bother you.” I stood.
“Oh, no, you don’t.” Ryan grabbed my arm. “You’re not coming in here and opening up that can of worms without explaining why.”
I sighed and sat back down. “Jade left.”
“What? Why?”
“I asked her to.”
My brother shook his head. “What did Marj say?”
“She’s not happy about it. She’s probably on the horn to Jade right now, finding out what went on.”
“Well, what did go on, Talon?”
I picked up the bottle of Peach Street, poured myself another drink, and met Ryan’s dark gaze. Time to lay the cards on the table. “I fell in love with her.”
Chapter Two
Jade
I grabbed my cell phone off the night table where it buzzed. Marj. Of course. I couldn’t believe she had waited this long to call, but she had been in Grand Junction last night and most of today in a cooking class. I inhaled. How was I going to explain to her what had happened? We had to have this conversation sooner or later. I just hoped she wouldn’t be too angry with me for keeping my relationship with Talon a secret from her.
“Hi there,” I said to the phone.
“Don’t ‘hi there’ me. Where the hell are you?”
“I’m in a hotel in Grand Junction. I just got back from the Carlton, where I had dinner with my mother and her current boyfriend.”
“Brooke’s in town? How in the world— Oh, no, you don’t. I won’t be sidetracked by Brooke Bailey or anyone else. What the hell is going on, Jade?”
“How was your first cooking class? Is it worth giving up Friday night and Saturday for?” Okay, cheap shot, but Marj was a bit spoiled and might take the chance to talk about herself.
“Nice try.”
“Yeah, well…” I had no idea what to say to her. She was my best friend in the world, and we never had secrets. Until now.
“Jade, this isn’t funny. Why did you leave?”
“Why don’t you ask Talon?”
“I have asked Talon. All he would tell me is that you had to leave.”
“He demanded that I leave.”
“What the hell is going on? Why would Talon ask you leave? I don’t get it. Why would he care one way or another whether you’re at the ranch?”
I let out a heavy sigh. I didn’t want to have this conversation with Marj over the phone. This talk would be best served with a pizza, a bottle of dry red, and a pint of Ben and Jerry’s. “Can you come to the city?” I asked.
“Jade, I just got back from the city.”
“I don’t want to have this conversation on the phone.”
“Frankly, neither do I, but we don’t have any choice because we are going to have this conversation now. I need to know what’s going on with you and my brother.”
If only I knew. What I didn’t know about what was going on between Talon and me could fill up a tome. We were attracted to each other. No, that was way too tame. We had wicked sexual chemistry. No, again. It was more than that, even for Talon. I was sure of it. We had unbridled passion and need for each other. Still not enough. So why not drop a bomb?