be trying to hold on to something from the father I knew? The man who’d taken Joe and me camping and fishing? The man who had taught me…how to be a man?
For he had. He’d been a good father to me, and somehow I had to reconcile that with what I now knew he’d done to innocent people.
Including Colin Morse.
Including Talon.
I sighed.
I didn’t know why I did half the things I did these days.
In the rearview mirror, I watched Talon get in his truck and take off to the main road to pick up the boys at the bus stop. He wouldn’t be gone long.
I started the engine and looked behind me—
I jolted slightly when the passenger door opened.
Marjorie Steel sat down beside me. “Hey.”
“What are you doing?”
“Nice car.”
“It was my dad’s.”
“I know.”
Did she really hijack me to talk about the car? I opened my mouth to say as much, but nothing came out.
“What are you doing, Bryce?” she asked.
“I’m going to sell the car,” I said.
“You think I’m talking about the car?” She shook her head, perplexed. “I mean what are you doing?”
“Leaving. So if you’ll excuse me…”
“Cut the crap. You know what I’m talking about.” Her lips were beautifully red and swollen from our kiss only moments ago. Her dark eyes were serious.
Shit.
She wanted to talk.
Beware when a woman decided she wanted to talk. It never led to anything good.
“It was just a kiss, Marjorie.”
“You really want to go down that road?” She shook her head. “I should have known.”
“Does everything have to have some great meaning? Does everything require a conversation?” I huffed. “Women.”
“Women? Really? You’re going to play that card? You’re better than that, Bryce.”
She was right. I did know better than that. My mother had been a traditional housewife, but she’d also taught me how to treat and respect women.
And my father had backed her up.
Man. He’d had two distinct personalities. Had he suffered from a dissociative identity? Probably not. He’d just been a major psychopath. Psychopaths were notoriously good at hiding who they were. My father had been a master at it.
“I’m sorry,” I said to Marj. “Truly.”
And I truly was.
She trailed her finger over my forearm. Just that little contact had me tightening and tensing, in a majorly good way.
Except it wasn’t a good way. Not for us. Not now.
“Listen to me,” she said, her tone serious. “Don’t start something with me that you can’t finish.”
Her red lips trembled slightly. The urge to touch her, kiss her, take her right here in my father’s car overwhelmed me. My cock was throbbing, aching to be set free from confinement.
I’d already told her I had nothing to offer. Nothing to—
Finish what you start, son.
Damn! My fucked-up father had given me good advice over the years. Good fatherly advice. What a time for that particular advice to pop into my head.
I’d take what I wanted, what I yearned for.
And I’d finish it.
Once and for all.
Chapter Twenty–Nine
Marjorie
“I can’t offer you anything past today,” Bryce said to me. “I wish I could. You have no idea how much I wish I could.”
“Fine,” I said, not caring at the moment whether it lasted past the next thirty seconds as long as I got to kiss him again. “But don’t kiss me unless you mean it.”
His blue eyes softened. “I’ve always meant it.” He touched my cheek, his fingers making me tingle.
“I can’t be your escape, Bryce, no matter how much I want to be.”
“I know that. Why do you think I’m trying to stay away? You deserve better, and an escape is all I’m after right now.”
“An escape probably doesn’t include moving into the guesthouse and working for my brothers.”
He was silent then.
“Have you seen the guesthouse?” I asked mischievously.
“A time or two, when Ryan lived there. But I didn’t visit him often.”
“Want a tour?”
“Now?”
“Do you have somewhere else to be?”
Silence again.
“Start the engine,” I said. “We’ll drive over.”
He sighed and obeyed. “All right.”
A few minutes later we parked at the guesthouse. “Come on,” I said, opening the car door. “It’s still fully furnished. Ryan and Ruby chose all new stuff when they moved into their permanent home.”
Yes, still fully furnished. Including the master bedroom.
Not that I was thinking about that…
I unlocked the door and entered. Bryce kept a safe distance behind me. Wow. He was doing everything he could to resist me. I should leave him alone, let him deal with the issues he felt he needed to. I was a nice person. A good person.
But I wanted