Worth the Wait(17)

That was another thing those stupid parenting books never taught you. Kiddie shows were the devil. Those damn songs would get stuck in your head forever. I let out a sigh of defeat and turned back to the stove making breakfast. I’d decided on a compromise. No pancakes or cereal.

They were getting French toast and they’d better damn well like it.





When I arrived at work the next morning, Brett and his men were already at the salon working on the new rooms Trevor was having built for Lizzy. Our eyes met briefly when I walked through the door, but he turned and continued hammering without so much as acknowledging my existence.

I understood that he was still mad, and part of me was too. We’d both said some pretty shitty things to each other, but I couldn’t stop thinking that I needed to apologize for my part in the whole mess. Just because we’d had a night of naked debauchery before everything went south, didn’t mean we needed to be enemies. We’d made a mistake by hooking up, but I desperately wanted to put it behind us in the hopes of salvaging some sort of friendship. Brett was a nice guy and I was already starting to form relationships with the people in his tightknit circle. It didn’t need to be messy. I mean, guys did this kind of thing all the time. One-night stands were practically invented by the male species. Just because we’d had sex didn’t mean we couldn’t be friends, right?

Right?

I’d spent hours surreptitiously watching Brett every chance I got and preparing my speech for when I was finally able to get him alone. My window of opportunity finally opened when I saw him walking down the hall to use the restroom. Deciding that was the perfect time to take a quick break between appointments, I waited a minute then headed to the break room down the same hall to grab a much needed soda from the fridge. I’d timed it perfectly. Just as I was walking back out of the room, Brett was exiting the restroom.

“Hey,” I started, trying to sound as casual as possible.

“Hey.” His tone was brusque and it was obvious he had no plans to stick around seeing as he was already turning to head back down the hall. My window was quickly slamming shut.

“Can I talk to you for a second?”

He faced me and leaned one massive shoulder against the wall, effectively blocking the way from the hall back into the main part of the salon. His arms crossed over his chest accentuated his bulging biceps and flashes of being wrapped up in them a few nights before as he thrust into me flooded my system. I had to shake my head to clear it of the erotic memories and concentrate on the here and now.

“I…uh,” I began to stutter, having to clear my throat and start again. “I wanted to apologize for…you know…the other night.”

One of his brows quirked up as he asked, “You want to apologize for having sex?”

“What? No! No, not that part…” Gah! I was losing my mind. Why couldn’t I sound like a smart, confident woman when I was in his presence? I was turning into a bumbling idiot.

I rolled my eyes at him as his lips tipped up in a smirk. “What I’m trying to say is I know I was acting like a bitch the other night, and you weren’t completely wrong for pointing that out. But let me just add, it’s never cool for a guy to call a woman a bitch. Even if she’s being one. Just saying,” I rambled nervously. “Anyway…my point is I had no right to treat you that way. I was wrong for how I reacted and I just want you to know that I really am sorry,” I ended softly.

His frosty demeanor changed, his face softening as he took a step toward me and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.

“It’s okay, beauty,” he spoke quietly. “All’s forgiven.”

A weight lifted off my chest and I let out a relieved sigh. “I was so worried this was going to be awkward. I’m glad we can be friends.”

“Yeah, we can be…wait. What?” His hand paused mid-stroke on my cheek as his entire body grew rigid. “You want to be friends,” he stated dryly.

Unease crept through me as the tension in the hallway grew palpable.

“Well…yeah. Or at least I’d hoped that we could. I mean, we hang out with some of the same people. It’d just make things so much easier if we got along, you know?”

He dropped his hand to his side and took a step back, his anger practically radiating off him.

“So what happened the other night doesn’t matter for shit, then? Are you serious right now, Kenzie?”

“Brett,” I sighed. “What happened the other night was a one-time thing. We can’t get involved.”

“Why the fuck not!”

“Because! I have two kids I’m raising all on my own and a life I’m trying to build for us!” My temper turned up a notch at having to explain myself and as I shouted at him, the words just started pouring out without any thought, revealing things I’d have preferred to stay locked up. “I’ve made some bad choices in the past. I fucked up a lot, and I’ll be damned if I do that again. I’m not putting a man before the welfare of my children, Brett. Why can’t you understand that?”