Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 91373 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91373 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
I felt a smidge of my anger at Theo transfer unfairly to my cousin who was just as messed up when it came to relationships. Didn’t they know there was a drought of good men out there? Why did they all have to be so emotionally unavailable?
Jared raised an eyebrow. “What? What did I do?”
Realizing I was scowling at him, I wiped my expression. “Nothing.”
He turned more fully toward me. “Do you want to talk about it?”
Understanding he meant Theo, I opened my mouth to say no but was cut off by the sound of our gravel driveway kicking up under tires. I frowned. “Expecting someone?”
Jared shook his head and strode past me. Curious, I followed him to the front door.
My cousin wasn’t as tall as Grandpa or Theo. He was five eleven. But he was broad-shouldered and right now, he was using his shoulders to block my view as he opened the door. Noting his tension, I stood on tiptoes to see past, and I swear my heart leapt into my throat at the sight of Theo getting out of a rental car.
“Do you want me to tell him to leave?” Jared asked quietly, stepping aside.
Surprised he wasn’t going all scary protective like he had before, I sighed heavily. “No. I suppose not.”
I didn’t know what Theo was doing here, but I wasn’t going to be a coward. Like him.
“Can you give us a minute?” I asked my cousin as Theo slowed to a stop, determined gaze fixed on me. He looked a bit disheveled and there were dark circles under his eyes.
“Will you be okay?”
I nodded.
Jared glanced between us but said, “I’m going to shower, but I’ll leave my door open. You scream if you need me.”
Theo had the audacity to roll his eyes.
I glared at him, and he primly wiped his expression.
My cousin gave me one more assessing look before he shot Theo a warning glower. It lasted an awkward ten seconds at least, before he turned and took the stairs two at a time. Once I heard the creak of the floorboards above me, I focused on Theo.
It hurt to look at him, but I didn’t want him to know just how much. “What are you doing here?”
“May I come in?” he asked, expression pleading now that Jared was gone.
“No.”
He seemed surprised but accepting. “All right. Freezing my balls off while I say this to you seems like an excellent punishment.”
“I’m not punishing you.” I crossed my arms over my chest protectively. “I just don’t want you in this house.”
Pain slashed across Theo’s face, and he squeezed his eyes closed for a second. “Sarah.” My name was a hoarse plea. “I am so bloody sorry for how I treated you last night.” At my silence, he took a step toward me and stopped when I retreated. Raw agony swirled in Theo’s eyes, and my body trembled at his open vulnerability. “I got back to the flat about an hour after you, and I couldn’t get a flight out until this morning and then I was delayed in Edinburgh. I took the chance that you’d come here rather than the cottage. If I could have gotten here faster, I would have.”
“Why? Why would you do all that … for someone you care so little for?” I swallowed hard, fighting the burning in my eyes. I would not cry in front of him.
Theo flinched. “You know that’s not true.”
“Not really. I tend to judge people by their actions, not by their pretty words.”
Fear flashed in his gaze, clear for all to see. “Sarah … I’d had a visit from my brother while you were at your meeting. He doesn’t know that you’re independently wealthy, and he made it seem like I’m treating you to the good life, using you, only to discard you later … he accused me of being cruel and he brought up things about our past … I’m an idiot and I let him get to me. I let him convince me that I am a selfish bastard to keep you. You deserve to experience life, to get out there, and … and I felt like maybe I was hogging you.”
“Hogging me?”
“Keeping you for myself. Not letting you experience … other men.”
Indignation made me suck in a breath. “And did it ever occur to you that the choice to experience other men is up to me?”
“Yes,” he whispered. “A bit too late, unfortunately.” He stepped closer, and my fingers clenched tightly around the frame of the door. “Sarah, as soon as you left with Scott, I felt sick to my stomach. I …” He glanced away and I realized in astonishment that he was embarrassed. “I had a panic attack.”
Stunned, I could only gape at him.
“Not my finest moment. Any of it.” Theo huffed. That raw gaze returned to mine. “I didn’t sleep with Alice. I didn’t kiss her or touch her. I left as soon as Scott returned to the bar and told me he’d put you in a cab. Then, if I’m to be completely honest with you, I had another panic attack back at the flat when I saw you’d left.”