“I have two eyes. That’s all I need.” Not speaking, Brett sought Anna out again. She was still across the room with Cole and Wyatt, and her back was to him. When Mr. Hamilton noticed where his focus was, he smiled. “Go on, if you’d like. Go say good morning to my girl.”
“I will,” Brett said, still watching Anna. “Thank you, sir.”
As he left the older man’s side, Brett fought the urge to uncharacteristically hug him. He could just imagine the surprised look on his face if he did so. Hell, on everyone’s faces. Everyone but Anna. No one else knew he had an emotional side, after all.
Her brothers thought he didn’t have a heart.
He used to think the same thing.
Sometimes, he still did.
He crossed the room, his eyes on Anna the whole time, his nonexistent heart speeding up the closer he got to her. As he approached, she shot him a warning look and gave him her back. He faltered, his heart twisting. Had he just been reminiscing on how he’d thought he didn’t have a heart all of these years? Now he knew better, because a man who couldn’t feel anything wouldn’t feel like his heart had just gotten ripped out and stomped on.
She saw him coming…
And she rejected him.
Why?
He stopped walking halfway across the room, uncertain of how to proceed in a world where she made love to him, then didn’t want him to approach her. He clenched his fists and closed the distance between them anyway. “Good morning.”
Anna turned around slowly. “Good morning, Brett. How are you this morning?” she asked, her voice cool and neutral.
“Excellent.” He gave Wyatt a quick nod. “Wyatt.”
Wyatt narrowed his eyes. “Brett.”
Brett turned his attention back to Anna, giving her a small smile. Hopefully he was reading into things too much. Putting too much stock in a simple gesture. “Can I borrow you for a second? I have a quick question.”
Anna nibbled on her lower lip. “Certainly. Ask away.”
“Alone,” Brett amended. “It’s private.”
Cole stepped in front of Anna. “I think you should go say hello to Chris instead. He’s watching you quite closely. Too closely, if you catch my drift.”
Brett curled his hands into fists. “I don’t give a damn if the fucking pope is watching me. I need to talk to Anna. Alone.”
He held his hand out to her, catching her gaze and not letting go.
He would give her one chance to show him his suspicions were not correct. That she wasn’t brushing him off now that she’d conquered him and gotten him into her bed. He never would have thought Anna, his Anna, would’ve done that to him.
And yet…she still hadn’t moved.
Hadn’t taken his damn hand.
Chris seemed to come out of nowhere, stepping in front of Brett as if he materialized out of thin air. His jaw tight and his back straight and stiff, he quietly asked, “Why does everyone look so tense over here? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing is wrong. No one is tense,” Brett said calmly. “I just need to talk to Anna for a second.”
“Can’t it wait?” Christopher asked, his eyes far too shrewd. “Come into the library with me instead. I wanted to talk to you anyway.”
Brett’s jaw twitched. Was it time for another round of stay away from Anna already? It must be ten o’clock. “No, thanks. I’m good.”
“Oh for God’s sake.” Anna shoved past Chris, shooting him a dirty look. “Me and Brett are going to go talk. We’ll be right back, and then he can talk to you when we’re finished, if he wants to.”
She finally grabbed Brett’s hand and tugged him up the stairs.
Brett glanced over his shoulder, and three of her four brothers glowered back at him. Though he would have to answer to them later, he didn’t give a damn right now. He needed to know what Anna was feeling…
Even if he didn’t really know how he felt yet.
Once they were inside his bedroom, she crossed her arms over her chest. The stance didn’t bode well for their upcoming conversation. “If you’re worried I want more from you than last night, you don’t have to be. We’re cool.”
Brett’s heart shattered, but he forced his face to remain impassive. “We are?”
“Of course.” She tossed her hair over her shoulders, finally looking him in the eye. “We agreed to one night, and that’s all we’ll have. It’s fine. I’m fine. You don’t need to seek me out to check on me.”
He sank down on the edge of the bed, his body going weak and yet tense at the same time. “I wasn’t checking to see if you’re okay.”