Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 77611 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 388(@200wpm)___ 310(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77611 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 388(@200wpm)___ 310(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
“Since I’m singing in it and you’re baking for it, I think they’d notice.”
I tangle my fingers in his hair and kiss him again until he’s pressing into me and moaning against my lips.
“This isn’t over.”
He nods and pats me on the chest in a daze. “Got it. We should probably go now.”
When we exit the laundry room, I ignore the knowing look from my brother and start to pull out the empty containers I stored under the sink. I need to pack up my tools and filling for transfer to the lodge. “Should I drive, or do you have enough space for all of us and my boxes?” I point to the other plastic tote full of choux puffs on the counter.
“The main road was cleared but not the entrance to the cabin,” Jake answers. “We brought two snowmobiles so we could take Win or both of you back with us. They have racks and bungee cords on the back, so it shouldn’t be a problem.”
I nod. “I’ll be ready as soon as I get this together.”
“I’ll ride with Jake,” Win says, and my eyes narrow as they meet his. He wants me to ride with Bellamy?
“Fine. You can ride with Jake and take the dogs. I have a sling for them that can go beneath your jacket.”
Win gasps. “They have slings? Are you saying I could have been wearing them this whole time?”
When I give him a look to remind him just how inconvenient that would have been, he turns away, flustered, and claps his hands. “Okay, puppies, time for one last walk before we head out!”
I keep my eyes on him until he disappears with Jake and the dogs, needing to soak in every last moment we have here together.
“I’ve been there, man.”
I finally look away to focus on Bellamy, who’s standing beside me now. “I doubt that.”
“Believe me, I did some crazy shit after seeing Seamus for the first time.”
“You did some crazy shit before you met him too,” I say wryly.
“That was a different kind of insanity.” He runs a hand through his hair and sighs. “I’m still not over the fact that no one told me about you. That you knew and never reached out.”
“I’m sorry.” And I actually mean it.
He hesitates and then says, “If he were alive, I’d tell him that keeping us separate was a mistake.”
When I don’t respond, he puts a hand on my arm. “If you don’t believe anything else, believe that, Michael. I would have loved knowing I had a brother, and I would have done everything in my power to get to know you. Unfortunately, we can’t fix what’s finished—we can only deal with what’s in front of us. Right now, we have an anniversary to attend and a cousin to destroy, and you need to tell me everything about you and Win, starting from the night you met and ending with that breakfast make-out session. I hear brothers talk to each other about these things.”
I look at him. He’s our father’s son, but it’s so easy to see the differences now. He’s genuine about wanting to get to know me. Have I been making all of this harder than it needs to be? Would I have kept holding myself back if Win hadn’t shown me the error of my ways?
“Fine, we can try talking. But don’t expect details. I’m not telling you everything.”
“Why don’t we just cover the highlights?”
CHAPTER TWENTY
WIN
Has my sabbatical become a real-life soap opera?
That’s what I’m wondering as I climb off the parked snowmobile, my butt still vibrating from the short ride and the M&M sisters cozy and warm against my chest. I slide my borrowed goggles up and stare at the lodge I wasn’t sure I’d see again.
It’s only been a few days.
A lot has happened, so you’ll need to give me a minute. I went missing. There was a snowstorm. I had transformational sex and played house with the man of my dirtiest dreams. And Michael’s dad wanted him to marry some heiress so much that he tried to coerce him into it from the grave.
“So fucked up,” I murmur to myself.
The amount of money he turned down when he quit and refused to be a part of the scheme must be substantial. Like, renovate all the housing in our old neighborhood, feed every child and fix every pothole before buying an island—that kind of substantial.
When I think about what Bellamy and his husband did for our city even before his father passed and he inherited? It blows my mind that Michael was willing to walk away from that. He’s a genuinely principled man, which is miraculous considering the bad examples he was surrounded by for years. His father, the cheater. His superior, the manipulative scheming cousin. The job he was so good at, where he dug up all the evil men do for and with their money. He was surrounded on all sides, and yet he managed to come out of it relatively unscathed. Or at least uncorrupted.