“Katie? You out here?”
“Oh shit. It’s Hunter,” I said in a whisper.
Wyatt put his finger to his lips before he stood and grabbed my hand.
“Katie? Where the fuck are you?”
I could hear his footsteps walking heavily toward the stables. Wyatt guided me out the back doors and walked me around the corner, urging me to run for the resort as Hunter entered the front doors. I took off as fast as I could, my heart thumping in my ears as Wyatt stayed behind to field my brother. A smile bloomed across my face, adrenaline pumping through my veins as my body slowly freed itself from its shackles.
The idea of getting caught made what Wyatt and I had experienced that much more memorable and exciting. The only problem was my brother actually finding out what happened. If he knew what we’d just done, he’d have Wyatt’s head. I’d never hear the end of it, and the little bit of family I had left would be destroyed.
As much as it pained me to think about, it had to stay a secret.
What happened with Wyatt could never get back to anyone.
And, if I wanted to be really careful, it could never happen again.
CHAPTER 8
DYLAN
Looking at these friggin’ numbers was a pain in my behind. I was excited about opening this new place in South Carolina. Always loved the state. Especially Charleston. That was a town I could get behind. The higher-class pace and the lilting accents. The horse-drawn carriages and all the lovely places to eat. I could live in a town like Charleston, and I was excited to be opening a resort on the outskirts of it, but the numbers were rough. Crunching finances month by month to make sure we had the room to foot something like this was causing more headache than the payoff was worth. But I knew the company could stand to make a boatload of cash from a place in a city like that if I could get the numbers to fit.
The issue? I was distracted.
When Katie called here asking to book us for her wedding, I was more than happy to oblige. I knew us brothers could throw her a wedding she’d never forget. I offered to host the wedding, go all out on the reception, and book her guests up the entire resort and reserve it for themselves for a few days. It would be a nice getaway for everyone, and if there was one woman on this planet that deserved the best, it was Katie.
And I knew we could give that to her.
But after I saw how that good-for-nothing jackass was treating her, it boiled my blood to see her around him. I watched them like a hawk during that rehearsal dinner. I watched him ignore her as the light drained from her eyes. I watched him flirt with other women around him while she was off trying to figure out what in the world had gone wrong. He was nowhere near good enough for Katie, and I applauded her when she called off the wedding herself.
I couldn't get her out of my mind, and I wasn’t sure why. Yeah, I was worried, but it was more than that. I kept having flashbacks to that damn birthday party. Her eighteenth birthday bash we threw her at my house. The way we danced together and the way she was dripping with a desire to kiss me. But my dumbass hadn’t taken the bait.
I continued crunching numbers on my calculator as I moved some things around. Wyatt still hadn’t gotten me blueprints and logistics or anything like that, so there wasn’t much I could do until I had all that at my disposal. The only thing I could do was save as much money as I could until Wyatt could get his part together, then I’d be able to make some projections and work with him on how and when we were going to start construction on the land we purchased.
I sat back in my chair and rubbed my hands over my face. I kept seeing Katie in my mind’s eye. She seemed too relieved for a woman whose wedding just fell through. The light in her eyes when Michael had turned around and announced the wedding was off had shocked me. I figured she’d cry or run off, maybe get angry and storm up the stairs. But she’d smiled.
She’d smiled like she was happy with the outcome.
I was glad she did it. I wasn’t sure if I could stand around anyway and watch her marry that douchebag. He was a piece of shit. A man who wasn’t worthy to be the dirt on the bottom of her soft little foot. Our Katie deserved better after the bullshit hand of cards she’d been dealt all her damn life.
Language, Dylan. Take a breath.
I drew in a deep breath as a knock came at my office door. I looked up and saw Caleb
with his arms crossed over his chest, just staring at me like an idiot.
“What?” I asked.
“Numbers gettin’ to you?” he asked.
“Always. You need somethin’?”
“Yep. A drink. You comin’?” he asked.
“You know I’m in. Andrew or Wyatt comin’?”
“Wyatt’s still holed up in his office down the way, and Andrew’s runnin’ around with this fuckin’ family reunion shit.”