Deadly Coincidence (Brantley Walker Off the Books #4) - Nicole Edwards Page 0,35

had been fucking fantastic. Phenomenal, in fact. And for a few moments, he’d even believed some of those walls were coming down and JJ was letting him in.

He should’ve known better, but he’d been blinded by his feelings for her. What he felt for her … well, it had taken him completely by surprise. He’d never fallen for a woman so hard, never wanted to spend every waking moment with anyone.

“Baz.”

Pulling himself out of his thoughts, he stared into her eyes. “I’ll wait for you, JJ,” he repeated.

JJ shook her head, took a step back.

Baz had no choice but to drop his hands, to stare at her and wait for her to decimate him one more time because that was what she did to him when she continued to push him away.

“We can’t do this,” she said softly. “We can’t. It just doesn’t make sense, you and me.”

He could feel his heart shredding in his chest, but he didn’t move, didn’t speak.

“I’m not in a place where a relationship makes sense. It just doesn’t. Not right now.” She lifted a finger, pointed at his chest. “And you can’t put your life on hold for me. I’m not worth it.”

That was more painful than anything. The fact that this woman honestly believed she wasn’t worth anyone’s time. Someone had broken her heart. The question was who? He doubted it was a romantic interest who’d broken her down. JJ wouldn’t let a man do that. But someone had.

“JJ—”

“Please don’t,” she rasped, her eyes glassy with tears.

That was the only reason he backed off, didn’t push the issue. He wasn’t sure he’d survive seeing her cry.

“Okay,” he finally said. “Okay, JJ. You win.”

As he was walking out of the barn, he heard her sob, and it was like a two-by-four upside the head.

Chapter Eight

Trey stepped into Moonshiners not knowing what to expect for the night.

He’d never been a big fan of New Year’s. To him it was celebrating just another day, so he didn’t quite understand the rationale behind it. He figured some people needed a reason to party, and this was just another in a long list.

He was not one of those people.

Not to mention, aside from the occasional beer, Trey didn’t drink all that much. Had something to do with how he’d overindulged a few years ago, right after his split from his ex-husband. He’d teetered damn close to becoming an alcoholic and it worried him, so these days he shied away from booze.

Granted, he wasn’t usually one to pass up a night out, some time to hang with both family and friends, having some laughs, enjoying conversation. Unfortunately, he wasn’t feeling it tonight, but he wasn’t quite sure why that was. Something just felt off.

However, he wasn’t going to give his brothers or his cousins a reason to give him shit, so when they invited him to Moonshiners to ring in the new year right, he had graciously accepted.

And here he was.

“Hey, Trey!”

At the sound of his name, he peered over, saw one of his many cousins waving him over. Holding up a finger in the universal sign for give me a minute, Trey went to the bar, waited until the bartender glanced his way.

Tonight, the bar was being manned by Rafe Sharpe rather than by Moonshiners’ owner, Mack. That had been the case a lot lately, almost as though Mack was handing over the reins. Whether or not that was true, or if it was simply because Mack was now happily married and spending a large portion of time with his husband, Trey didn’t know, nor would he ask, because it wasn’t any of his damn business.

Maybe he should pick up the superstitious ritual of making New Year’s resolutions. If he did, that would be his main one for next year: mind his own damn business. Starting right now.

“Beer?” Rafe asked.

Trey nodded, figuring he couldn’t be heard over the din of conversation anyway.

He waited patiently while Rafe retrieved a bottle, flipped the top off, passed it over.

“Put it on my tab.”

Trey’s head swiveled around, triggered by the familiar voice, but he quickly turned back to Rafe. “No. My own tab, thanks.”

“It’s good to see you,” Cyrus said kindly.

Yeah, well, Trey wished he could say the same. But it wasn’t good to see him. Probably wouldn’t be for a while. Not until Trey got over the fact Cyrus had up and moved to California, letting him know by way of text message. Not even an attempt to speak directly to