Her Best Men

“Thanks,” Katie said.

“Anytime, doll. You know this.”

She looked up at me with her sparkling brown eyes and her pin-straight hair. She was flattening out her curls, and I found that I missed them. Her hair sat on her shoulders and fluttered around her cheeks, but all I could see were those bouncing curls hanging down her back.

She had changed so much, and it only served to stoke my anger for Michael’s part in all this.

He’d done this to her. Changed her. I knew he had.

“I’m going to go get some breakfast,” Katie said. “You want anything?”

“Already ate, doll. You go enjoy yourself. And your room’s rented out as long as you need it.”

“You didn’t have to do that,” she said with a grin.

I watched a flush taint her cheeks. That same flush that happened just before I’d kissed her.

Fuck, I wanted to kiss her.

“It’s there for you to use. I’m serious. Whatever you need, all ya gotta do is pick up that phone and ask,” I said.

She wrapped her arms around me one last time before she headed to the dining hall. I had no idea what had come over me. It was like my body had picked up where it left off all those years ago. I wanted to follow her and have breakfast with her. I wanted her to sit and get off her feet while I fixed her a plate. I wanted to do all the things for her I knew that asshole Michael hadn’t been doing for her because I wanted her to know what she deserved.

I watched her until she turned the corner, and she chanced a glance back at me. Her eyes sparkled with her smile as I waved at her, trying to find something for my brain to do other than fant

asize about kissing her. She waved at me before she disappeared, and I drew in a deep breath, trying to clear my mind of all the impure thoughts I was having.

CHAPTER 3

CALEB

I was boarded up in my office working on some logistics for a new resort we were opening in South Carolina. It was our first resort out on the East Coast, and so many things needed to get planned. I needed to agree on a layout for the building and figure out how many people we’d need to hire. I needed to figure out how much of a workload it would add to everyone and what kinds of animals we’d have on the resort property. I also needed to plan out amenities and sketch out basic rooms and figure out what was going to set this resort apart from all the other ones.

I liked having something different at each resort we opened. Made it worthwhile for people to visit all of them and pick their favorite.

But I couldn't concentrate. With all the guests pouring past my office, I could hear them snickering and gossiping about Katie. Wondering how she could let a catch like Michael go and whether she had been cheating on him. Theorizing she was a lesbian or a gold digger that couldn’t keep up with the lifestyle or whatever. Made me sick. What kind of people had she fallen in with at college? The city was supposed to broaden her horizons, not close her up into this petty little group.

I couldn’t take it anymore, so I decided to go get myself a drink.

Dylan wouldn’t like the fact that I was drinking on the job, but I didn’t care. My mind kept swirling with how Katie was doing. I hadn’t seen her since we’d helped her get settled into her room last night. I wanted to know how she was, but I was trying to respect her need for privacy.

I doubted she wanted to see anyone after what happened last night.

“Hunter?” I asked.

I watched as Katie’s brother raised his beer in the air.

“What’s got you day-drinking?” I asked.

“It’s celebratory,” he said as I sat down next to him.

“A beer, thanks,” I said to the bartender. “Celebratory, huh?”

“Michael was a fuckin’ prick, and now he’s gone. No more havin’ to pretend I like the son of a bitch just so she could stay longer.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Every time they came to visit, it was on his schedule. And things had to be like he liked them. Shit in the fridge. Healthy food on the table. Nothin’ fried, greased, or cooked in oil.”