Seducing the Bridesmaid

“Yeah, you do. Deep down, a girl always knows.” She’d kissed plenty of guys, and not a single damn one had made her feel a portion of what Brock did. Of course, look where she ended up—hiding in the bathroom, doling out relationship advice like she was Dear Abby. The truth was, she had no right to tell Sophie to go get her man. Regan couldn’t even stick with the plan she’d relied so heavily on. She’d known going off the deep end with Brock would bite her in the ass, but she never would have guessed that he’d sucker punch her like this.

God, it hurt.

Realizing Sophie was still waiting for her to explain, she dredged up the last strength she had. “Look, sweetie, that man is crazy about you. Take off the underdog cape you wear around like a security blanket, because it doesn’t fit at all. You caught Logan’s eye all on your own, and now you need to decide if you want to keep it. But if you ask me, only an idiot would let him get away just because the idea of being with him is scary. I don’t know you very well, but you don’t strike me as an idiot. Don’t prove me wrong.” She stepped back and held open the door.

Sophie stared up at her, positively shell-shocked, and Regan didn’t know whether to laugh or strangle her, but at least the little brunette was moving toward the door. She almost groaned out loud when Sophie paused at the threshold and looked back at her. “You coming?”

“I’ll be along.”

Sophie narrowed her eyes. “Are you okay?”

Regan raised her chin and forced a smile. “Always.” Now leave so I can have my breakdown in solitude.

It was only when she had sole ownership of the bathroom that Regan let herself slump down onto one of the chairs situated in the corner.

As she thought back, replaying the conversation with Brock, word for word, the pain inside her only got worse. He hadn’t been willing to talk, hadn’t stopped to wonder if maybe he was overreacting, hadn’t even paused when he accused her of using him to get with Logan. Maybe she had been to begin with—and she’d been pretty honest about it—but her plan went up in flames the second they had sex.

It just took her a few days longer to realize it.

But Brock didn’t care. He looked at her and saw every single person who’d ever accused him of being lazy, stupid, and less than his brother. So he’d thrown the baby out with the bathwater, because he was more willing to walk away than realize maybe there were people in the world who actually found him amazing in his own right.

There wasn’t a damn thing she could do to convince him of that, though. He’d played judge, jury, and executioner on their fledgling relationship, and she hadn’t even been given a vote. She’d begged him not to do this, and it hadn’t make a bit of difference.

This never would have happened if she’d just stuck with her damn plan.

Chapter Seventeen

Brock had never been as grateful for a 6:00 a.m. flight as he was the morning after the wedding. His goddamn brain was rebelling, offering him dozens of images of Regan and Logan wrapped up in each other. Would she make the same noises for him that she did for Brock? Would she beg him to touch her, too? Would they lie in bed and laugh about what a fool he’d been to think he actually had a chance with a woman like her?

He rubbed a hand over his face. Fuck. He was making himself crazy over this shit. She was just a woman. What did it matter if she preferred Caine 2.0 to him? He needed to let it go and move on with his life.

Except he couldn’t stop obsessing about it.

By the time his plane landed in Nashville, he was ready to volunteer for a lobotomy. Anything would be better than the memories plaguing him, mixing in with the images he was so sure were happening right now.

He made it to his car before he broke down and grabbed his phone. It only rang once before a sleepy voice answered. “What do you want?”

“Colton, I…”

Instantly, all sleep was gone from his friend’s voice. “Give me a second.” He murmured something to Kady and there was a rustling sound as he got out of bed.

Holy shit, he was the worst friend ever. Colton just got married last night, and here he was, calling him because he couldn’t turn off his fucking brain. “Never mind. Call me when you get back from your honeymoon.”

“Nice try. You wouldn’t have called for nothing, so spit it out. What’s going on?”

Now that he had Colton on the phone, he didn’t know how to put the clusterfuck of the last few days into words. “I fell for her, man. Regan. And she was only using me to get close to Logan.”

“Yeah… I don’t think so. Pretty sure Logan only has eyes for my little sister.” His tone conveyed exactly how thrilled he was with his friend hooking up with his little sister.

Brock shook his head, trying to catch up. “Then he’s an even bigger piece of shit than I’d guessed because he was with Regan yesterday morning.”

“Uh, no he wasn’t. Where the hell did you get an idea like that?” Colton sighed. “No, don’t bother answering. I have my suspicions. You heard something you didn’t like and took off without getting the full story.”

Because she said being with him was a fucking compromise. Like he was a goddamn runner’s up trophy. “I—”

“Can I ask you something?”

Knowing he wasn’t going to like the coming question didn’t change anything. He had called Colton, and he had to listen to whatever it was his friend had to say. “Yeah.”

“When are you going to grow the fuck up and get over your shit? Seriously, Brock. You’re thirty-two, and the majority shareholder in one of the most successful nonprofits of our generation. And you’re still so butt-hurt about your dad being a dick that you hide behind your underachiever mask and pretend you don’t give a fuck about anything. Well, I’m calling bullshit.”

Brock stared at the dashboard, gripping the steering wheel with his free hand so tightly that his knuckles were white. Was Colton right? He hadn’t exactly put himself out there, but it was because every time he had in the past, he got kicked in the teeth for his efforts. After a while, even he was smart enough to stop trying. “I don’t need his approval.”

“You’re right. You don’t. So why are you still letting his opinion of you rule your life? Your brother does that and how happy is he? I know what it takes to run a corporation—Logan is living that shit right now—and he’s drowning. I’d bet a hell of a lot that it’s doing the same to your brother.”

He’d never thought of it like that. Caine was the lucky one, the one who lived the charmed life. He’d never counted the potential costs before. “He seems happy enough.”

“Maybe he does, but so do you.”

The messed-up part was that Colton was right. He’d been playing at being happy for a long time. Faking it. Hell, the only thing in his life up until the wedding that kept him going was the Blue Boat Foundation, and he operated under total secrecy there. “She doesn’t want me. Not really. She must have realized Logan was interested in Sophie and compromised.”

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“Jesus Christ, will you listen to yourself? I might not know her that well, but even I know Regan Wakefield doesn’t compromise for anyone. If she was with you, then it was because she wanted to be. Take some fucking responsibility and stop with the pity party. Do you care about her?”

It was on the tip of his tongue to deny it, to take the safe route. But he’d been doing that his entire life. Maybe Colton was right and it was time for a change. He took a deep breath and told the truth. “So fucking much.”

“Then go get her. You think Kady and I had an easy go of it? We didn’t. We had to fight to get where we are, and I had to decide that I wasn’t willing to let her walk out of my life. Are you willing to let Regan walk out of yours? Because that damn well would be a compromise for her. Hell, maybe she’ll settle down with some CEO type who will want her to be a stay-at-home mom and pop out kids for him.”

A life like that would kill her, slowly and surely. She loved her work, lived for her work. She needed a man who appreciated that and supported her. A man like him. Not to mention the thought of her with someone else made him want to rip the steering wheel off and toss it out the window. “You’ve proven your point.”

“Good. Then I’m going back to bed with my beautiful wife. Call me and let me know how everything turns out.”

“Will do.” He took a deep breath. “And…thanks. I know it’s not always easy to tell the hard truths.”

Colton paused. “In that case, I have one last piece of advice. Tell Reed about the foundation. He deserves to know.” He hung up before Brock could come up with a response. It was just as well. He had a lot of thinking and planning to do. He might be falling hard and fast for Regan, but he knew better than showing up on her doorstep without some kind of plan in place. She was a woman who lived for plans, which meant he needed one of his own.

…

Regan finished her presentation and turned to the man at the conference table. “Those are the top three candidates I have for the job. Is there one who caught your eye?”

The CFO of Geofit Enterprises stroked his mustache, staring at the now-blank screen. “Bring them all in.”