Millionaire Hero (Freeman Brothers 4)

“I still don’t understand why you didn’t call me,” I said. “I get that it was a lot coming at you, but that seems like even more reason to call me. You shouldn’t have had to deal with all that alone. From that first moment, you should have had me there with you so we could try to figure everything out together. I would think we had built up enough of a friendship at least that you could have done that.”

“That’s the thing, though,” Bryn said. “Had we?”

“What do you mean?”

“Things were going well between us. We were getting along and having fun together. I felt comfortable with you. It was almost too good, and then that’s exactly what it ended up being. Things went too far, we ended up in bed together, then you went radio silent. Everything became about the investments. Which is fine. There was never any expectation that we were together or anything. But that scared me. I didn’t know how you were going to react, or if you would think I got pregnant on purpose,” she said.

“I would never think something like that about you,” I said.

“I wanted to think that. But, again, our relationship was in such a strange place. I didn’t know if we were friends or just business associates. And if one of them would be better than the other in this type of situation. It’s not like I had ever gone through this before. It was completely unprecedented. You had already done so much for me, and I felt like somehow, I had messed things up.”

“You never should have felt that way. I can understand that you were scared. I’ve never been through this, either. But I wish you had talked to me. I wish you had just come to me and let me be there for you. And, damn it, I wish I had reached out and talked to you. If we had just been grown-ups and actually talked to each other, then the last months of us both wanting each other wouldn’t have happened,” I said.

“It wouldn’t have?” Bryn asked, sounding slightly breathless.

“No,” I said, shaking my head. “Because here’s the thing. I didn’t want it to just be one night with you. To be totally honest, I didn’t know exactly what I wanted. Except to spend more time with you. But I didn’t want to push you, or to make you feel like I was putting any type of pressure on you. Considering you had just gotten out of a not so great relationship, and that was actually how we met in the first place, and that we had a business arrangement, I didn’t want things to be uncomfortable for you.”

Bryn laughed quietly. “And I wanted to put the ball in your court. I didn’t want you to feel like I was on the rebound or taking advantage of you. I figured you would let me know if you were interested in anything else. When you didn’t, I decided that meant we were just going to put that night behind us and work together.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Well, at least now we know we need to communicate a little bit better. I promise I will do my best.”

“So will I,” she said. “I’m sorry I hesitated. I really would have liked to have you be a part of it from the beginning. Nobody else knows. So I’ve just been kind of going through the last couple weeks figuring it out on my own.”

“Moving forward, I don’t want you to ever hesitate to call me. I want to know everything. I want to be there through everything,” I said.

“Thank you,” she said.

An idea popped into my head. “So, as you can probably imagine, I’m sure my family is champing at the bit to find out everything they possibly can. We’re having a family dinner tonight. Usually we have them on Sundays, but things got thrown off this week because of different schedules, so we’re doing it tonight. This week it’s at my parents’ house. I’d like you to come with me.”

Bryn looked hesitant. “I don’t know. I don’t think I’m up to something like that quite yet. Not after the embarrassing scene I made at the compound. I feel like I just need a little bit more time to overcome that before I face all of them again. Maybe I could talk to them a couple at a time, rather than having the entire group together like that.”

“I understand,” I said. “They can be a lot. Especially when you’re the center of attention, which I promise you would be. Take your time. They can wait.”

“Are you sure? “Bryn asked.

“Absolutely. When you’re ready, you can see them. And, honestly, after what she pulled, I feel like I should probably have a talk with my mother before you see her again,” I said.