Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 115308 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 577(@200wpm)___ 461(@250wpm)___ 384(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115308 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 577(@200wpm)___ 461(@250wpm)___ 384(@300wpm)
I think she was only partly joking.
Once the food was in front of us, Braden took a sip of coffee and eyed me with a glint in his steely blue gaze I wasn’t sure I understood or liked. “So … the social media campaign for Pennington’s is going well.”
John groaned as Callan grimaced.
Braden frowned. “What? Did I say something out of turn?”
John shook his head. “I just … wouldn’t bring it up.”
I’d told the lads about my fight with Maia, mostly because Callan already knew. I’d told them the truth about everything (John had already guessed, anyway) and explained I’d confessed all to her and that Maia was taking her sweet time processing. I didn’t tell them she was also texting me every day out of concern and how much that wasn’t helping me not love her more than I already fucking did.
Braden narrowed his eyes on me. “What did you do?”
“Me?” I huffed indignantly. “Why do you assume it was me?”
“Maia is like a niece to me,” he explained, his tone filled with warning. “Until proven otherwise, you’re the guilty party. What happened?”
Shit. I forgot these people were like a fucking Scottish clan of old. They all saw one another as family, even though they weren’t blood related. I usually thought it was class. But not now because it also meant they all thought they were entitled to know everything that was going on within their clan.
“Just tell him.” Callan shrugged. “You’ve already told her, and she’s probably told her mum and dad.”
“I haven’t told her everything. I don’t want to frighten her off.”
“What have you told her?” Braden asked with a casualness that belied his predatory countenance.
These fucking clansmen.
Ach, well, what did it matter, anyway? “The campaign was fake. Maia got roped into it at work and needed a fiancé fast after she and Will broke up. I stepped up to the plate and agreed to be her fake fiancé and marry her for the campaign.”
“What?” Braden shook his head and turned to Callan. “See what you inspired?” He referred to the fact that Callan and Beth started out as a fake relationship because Beth was trying to deter a bloke who fancied her and could mess with her business if she turned him down. Not that most people knew that at the time. They’d confessed it all later.
Callan snorted before taking a sip of water.
Braden turned back to me. “Being straightforward usually works better.”
“Does it?” I scrubbed a hand over my beard. “I only said yes because I have real feelings for Maia and thought this would finally wake her up to what she and I could have. But I told her I really care about her, and I said she should take time to think about it … and fuuuuuck, is she taking time.”
The older man considered me. “Is Maia just a passing fancy or—”
“She’s the one,” I bit out, not liking any hint of suggestion that I just wanted to fuck her. “Though I haven’t explicitly told her that. She’s gun-shy. Don’t want to scare her off. But maybe I already have.”
Braden grinned, shaking his head. “You of the younger generation lack something quintessential when it comes to women.”
“Aye?” I raised an eyebrow. “Enlighten us, Obi-Wan.”
He cut me a dry look. “Patience. And then if patience doesn’t work, I found that bulldozing your way through a woman’s defenses does.”
“Bulldozing?” I shook my head. “That’s sounds red-flaggish. I’m a green fucking flag, mate.”
“I’d agree if I knew what you were talking about. I don’t regret what I did to get past Jocelyn’s mile-high defenses. I ended up with the kind of marriage most people could only dream of having.” He shrugged arrogantly.
Curiosity had me asking, “What did you do?”
His grin was wolfish. “Jocelyn didn’t want to care about me beyond sex. I used sex to get past her defenses. Got her to talk to me, confide in me. When I knew what I was dealing with, I played dirty. Made her jealous so she’d see that one day I might not be around and that the thought of me with someone else was painful. Woke her up to admitting she was in love with me. It pissed her off, but making up afterward was fun.”
“Did you cheat?” John asked curiously.
Callan tensed. “I don’t think I should be hearing this.”
Braden’s expression hardened. “No, I didn’t cheat. I flirted. We weren’t exclusive, so I might have lied about being with someone else just to get a reaction.”
“That’s brutal.” Callan gaped at him.
“It was, but with Jocelyn it was necessary. And it worked. So while I felt like an arsehole at the time, I can’t regret it now.”
“Baird is good at flirting with other women,” John stated the obvious.
I shook my head. “Trust me, flirting with other women will only push Maia away.”