There with You (Adair Family 2)

“Lachlan started spending all his time with her, and I was hurt and jealous, even though I tried to tell myself they were just friends. But knowing they had history … well, to me it looked like he had realized how he really felt about her.”

“That must have sucked.”

“No, what sucked was walking into his bedroom to find Lucy in silk lingerie lying on his bed while the two of them watched movies, like that was perfectly acceptable.” I could hear the residual anger in my sister’s voice, and I didn’t blame her.

My jaw dropped. “What?”

“I told you, emotionally constipated. I left, he followed me, and we got into it. Turns out he”—she flicked me an unreadable look—“thought it was me who’d been taken, that it was me he’d find in the fridge. When it wasn’t, when it was Lucy, he felt—”

“Relieved,” I guessed. I saw the way the guy looked at my sister. She was his world. He must have been terrified that night.

“Yeah.” Robyn raised her eyebrows. “Yeah, he was relieved. And he felt—”

“Guilty,” I guessed again.

She quelled a grin for a mock stern look. “Am I telling the story, or are you?”

Chuckling, I waved her on. “Continue.”

“Anyway, my point is, he hurt me by choosing her when I needed him, and even though he did it out of guilt, I didn’t know that. And I didn’t cover up my feelings to spare his or hers or anyone’s during a difficult time. I just let it all hang out. I told you I never would have made the first move with Lachlan, and that was the truth. But once I was in it with him, I couldn’t lie about how I felt. And I believe it was my honest reactions throughout our whole affair that allowed things to progress naturally and for Lachlan to slowly but eventually work out his own feelings about me.”

“So you’re saying I should react honestly?”

“Yes.”

“What if my honest reaction is to be so mad, I can’t even look at or talk to him?”

“Then do it.”

“It’s not very mature.”

“Neither is punching someone, but I was this close”—she squeezed her forefinger and thumb together—“to punching Lachlan in the junk that night.”

I chuckled. “I don’t blame you.” I wanted to say it was also a big red flag about Lucy. Hanging out on Lachlan’s bed in her lingerie when she knew Robyn was sleeping with him? Yeah, no true friend did that to another friend. I, of course, didn’t say that to my sister because that would be incredibly insensitive considering how badly she’d been blindsided by Lucy.

We sat in silence for a moment, eating dinner, sipping wine, and then I said softly, “This date with whoever this woman is … You can’t say now he isn’t deliberately trying to hurt me, Robbie. Maybe it’s time to walk away. I don’t want to work for someone I don’t like.”

“Is that honestly what you want to do?”

Despite my sympathy for what he’d been through, at the moment, dislike for Thane clouded everything. “Maybe. It’s like what you said about how you felt about Lachlan at first. Just because you were physically attracted to him didn’t mean you liked him.”

“You used to like Thane. More than, I think.”

Hurt was an angry burn in my chest. “That’s when I used to think he was one of the good ones.”

Robyn sighed. “Is he going about everything the wrong way? Absolutely. But I don’t think he’s deliberately trying to hurt you. He is one of the good ones.”

I scowled at her.

She gave me a sympathetic look, and I knew I was about to get a brutal dish of honesty from her. “I don’t think he has a spiteful bone in him. He probably just thinks this is the best way to move forward. I mean, was he a dick about the date? Not really. Did he apologize for last weekend? Yes. Maybe this is just his way of clarifying that he wants you both to move forward in a professional capacity and that nothing romantic is going to happen between you. If he’s in denial about that, there’s not a lot you can do. I told you to act naturally. And do that. Who knows how things will turn out? So consider where Thane really might be coming from on this before you decide how you’re feeling.”

I slumped, knowing I needed to listen to her.

Needed to move on.

But I didn’t care if Thane’s behavior seemed rational to everyone else. I’d considered it. I got it. But I also knew what was between us. He knew! And I was hurt. And mad as hell.

“You’re right.” I nodded. “And I promise once I have a handle on them, I won’t hide my emotions.”

17

Thane

Dimming the headlights before he swung into the driveway, Thane took a sobering breath. He parked and switched off the engine but made no move to get out.