She led the horse back into the barn and he followed, waiting for her to close and secure the stall door. She took her time hanging the rope just so, then finally faced him. He hadn’t kissed her, hadn’t made her smile again the way he’d wanted to that first day.
So beautiful. He could picture her in a castle tower like something out of a fairy tale. And in that same story he’d be the villain. The one who scared small children and dreamed of far worse.
“Stephen!”
They both turned at the sound of a female voice. Camila wobbled on spiky heels next to his car, fanning a bug from her face. “You said a minute. It’s been almost twenty.”
Had it been that long? Didn’t seem like it.
“I have meetings and so do you.”
Stephen turned from Camila back to Hannah, a million possible things to say flying through his mind and none of them right.
“Bye,” she said softly.
Right. He nodded, repeated it, since it was really the only thing to say. And then he walked to his car, feeling like he’d just lost something really important.
Chapter 8
Hannah refused to watch Stephen drive away in his sporty silver car with his red-hot companion. She couldn’t even wrap her mind around the fact he’d wanted to apologize or that he’d even known where to find her. Lizzy, she assumed. And she hated that on top of being shocked at seeing him again, it hurt.
She stepped into the shoe box–size office crowded with large men. Nick was still here, and now Zach as well. She’d heard his truck a few minutes ago as she finished with Roma.
“Wow. I’m so popular today. Three brothers in three hours. Lucky me.” She eyed Nick sitting near the door, then slid her gaze to Zach, leaning back in a metal folding chair in the corner. “What’s up?”
“Just brought you lunch.” Nick tossed her a bag.
She caught the bag, peered inside. “And you?” she asked Zach, knocking his feet off her desk. “No fires to put out? Women to chase?”
Zach grinned. “I heard there was lunch. Plus, chasing women is what usually starts the fires.”
“Right.” She sat in the worn desk chair and took out her sandwich.
Zach grabbed three cans of soda from the small fridge in the corner and tossed her one.
“Don’t throw it like that,” Hannah said. “It’ll spew.”
“Like a spew would hurt this ratty room.”
“It does the job.” Though he was right. Old wood paneling, aged pictures of horses and blue-ribbon cows covered the walls. The flooring was some sort of outdoor carpet so used up it was impossible to discern the original color. Decorating wasn’t high on her priority list. The boarders paid the bills. Any money made from students was invested in special equipment for the kids.
Nick stared at her with his most serious face. “We need to talk.”
Here we go. She lowered her drink and faced him head-on. “No. We don’t. I went to a little girl’s party, end of story.”
“Well, since he was just here, I’d have to argue about the end, but,”—he raised his drink to cut her off—“I won’t. What did he want?”
With her sandwich almost to her lips, she paused. “To apologize.”
Nick went on instant alert. “Apologize for what?”
“For being a guy,” she said pointedly.
Nick grunted. “I don’t like him.”
She eyed the magazine tossed on her desk, an obvious gift from one of her concerned siblings. Stephen McKinney, Norfolk’s Most Eligible Bachelor. “Fine. Neither do I.”
Nick shook his head. “Should have known someone smart enough to head up a billion-dollar company before he was thirty wasn’t so dumb he’d let a girl like you slip away so easily.”
Zach made a noise under his breath. “What a tool.”
“I mean it, Han. You need to stay away from this guy.” Nick leaned forward and tapped a finger on McKinney’s photo gracing the cover.
She already knew. In a weak moment, she’d googled. Had read about his company, seen pictures of his elaborate home, of him, hot and handsome at events with sequined women on his arm. Of course she wouldn’t start out slow, work her way up. No. She’d started “being normal” with a thirty-two-year-old millionaire playboy.
Zach reached for his drink, the legs of the chair knocking to the floor. “Rich, playboy, prick.”
Nick agreed, tossing out his own opinions. She took the opportunity to slide the recent notice from the city under a student’s insurance papers. The one that said her inheriting all this might not have been official. That it might all be taken away. The land, the barn, her home. Everything. But the last thing she wanted was her brothers trying to fix it.