Until We Fly (Beautifully Broken 4)

“So, Maria was really nice.”

Brand looks up and grins. “You met Maria? She’s a sweet lady. Don’t let her fool you, though. Her husband died last year. She’s hard as nails.”

I take a bite of lasagna, trying to act casual.

“Yeah, she mentioned that Tony died. She mentioned a lot….about you, and Gabe and Jacey.”

Brand looks up at me, but he doesn’t show any reaction. “She did, huh?”

I nod. “Yeah. She said that Jacey’s ex ran Tony off the road.”

Brand sighs and takes a bite of his food. “Yeah. It was a hard time. Jacey didn’t always make good decisions. But she’s doing better now.”

“Yeah, Maria mentioned that, too. And that’s she’s married to Dominic Kinkaide.”

Again, Brand shows no reaction.

“Yep. In fact, I think they’re in Europe right now. You probably won’t see her this summer.”

This causes my head to snap up. “Why would I see her?”

Brand looks at me in surprise. “This is her cabin. Well, she shares it with Gabe. Like I mentioned, they inherited it from their grandparents.”

He’d mentioned his friends had inherited it. He hadn’t said that one of the friend’s was Jacey Vincent-Kinkaide.

“Oh.” I feel a bit deflated. I don’t know why. He might be in love with Jacey, but she’s married. To one of the world’s most famous actors. And she’s thousands of miles away right now. She’s not a threat to me. Brand can’t have her.

We eat in comfortable silence and after I clear away our leftovers, I turn to Brand.

“There’s no cable here.”

He smiles. “I know. It used to drive us crazy in the summers.”

“I can imagine. But I saw a checkers board in one of the bookcases. Do you want to sit outside and play?”

Brand stares at me in surprise. “Sure. I just never figured you for a board games girl.”

I roll my eyes. “You don’t know me yet.”

Yet.

I set the game up and Brand hobbles out on his crutches. Even injured, his biceps bulge and flex with each movement. I could watch his arms all day. But I can’t. I’ve got a game to play…in more ways than one.

Instead, I look up. “Black or red?”

Brand sits down. “Black.”

“Then you go first,” I suggest. “But I’ve got a caveat…something that will make the game more interesting.”

Brand raises a blond eyebrow. “Oh, yeah? And what’s that? Strip checkers?”

I smirk. “You wish. But no. If one of us gets jumped, the other one gets to ask a question. And we have to answer.”

Brand cocks his head. “Clever. What if we don’t really want to know the answers? Sometimes mystery is better than reality.”

I shake my head. “I disagree. There are things I’m dying to know about you.”

Brand rolls his eyes. “I’m not that interesting.”