Chapter 38

CHAPTER38

“I’m trying to glare at you,” came the announcement that had her biting back a sigh as she looked up, only to look back down at her phone when a chime drew her attention and-

You could do better!

-had her lips twitching as she read the text message from Johnny. The James brothers were definitely an entertaining group, Cayley thought, only to amend that thought when she looked up to find Sean watching her.

“Bryce bought Thomas House?” he asked as he studied her.

“Last time I checked,” Cayley said, glancing down at her watch, only to bite back a sigh.

She was running late, Cayley realized as she quickly glanced back down at her laptop and finished what she was working on even as she couldn’t help but wonder if she was going to have time to run to her aunt’s bakery before it closed. Tonight, Bryce was cooking her a romantic dinner and she was in charge of dessert, which meant that she really needed to move her butt, finish what she was working on, reply to Connor’s email, grab her bag, race to her car, risk a speeding ticket and pray that her aunt had something suitable for a romantic dinner before racing home, and taking a shower before she spent an incredibly romantic night with the man that she hadn’t been able to stop thinking about all day and hope that she had enough glitter for the night ahead.

“Why would my sister and Connor sell him a house that they already had a buyer for?” Sean murmured, making her frown as she looked up to find him watching her curiously.

“They already had a buyer?” Cayley asked because this was news to her, but then again, she was still going through everything that Rerum Highland Construction had planned.

They were booked solid for two years and had a waiting list that could easily fill up the next five years. It was her job to go through everything, figure out the best way to get everything organized so that they met deadlines and stayed within budget. Right now, she was focusing on the projects that were set to start this spring and work her way through the rest of the projects planned for the rest of the year.

Nodding, Sean said, “They offered all the houses they’d bought to build their portfolio to the waitlist for the Dawson Project.”

“That makes sense,” Cayley murmured as she shifted her focus back to her computer and quickly pulled up the Dawson Project folder, glanced through the files until she came to the file marked “Waitlist” and clicked it open. There were over a hundred people on the waitlist and around twenty of them had an asterisk by their names.

“So, the question is, why would Rory and Connor risk pissing off a client by selling Thomas House to Bryce?”

That was actually a good question, Cayley thought, frowning at the list before clicking out of it and searching for the file of Rerum Highland Construction’s properties and realized that Sean was right. They had a buyer for every property, including Thomas House and-

It was Bryce.

Frowning, she glanced through the rest of the list, noting the familiar names. “Craig is buying the house across from Mr. MacGregor on Dawson Road?” Cayley asked, glancing up to find Sean frowning as he stood up and made his way around her desk.

“What are you talking about?” Sean asked, reading through the list as she slowly scrolled down, noting the properties that had Brian and Johnny listed as the buyers and-

“What the hell?” Sean murmured, frowning when they came to the property with his name listed as the buyer.

“Your sister owns the building for The Firehouse?” Cayley asked, throwing Sean a questioning look because she thought the Anderson family still owned the old firehouse.

She knew there had been talk a few years ago about selling the building, but as far as she knew, it was just talk. Jess mentioned buying the building a few times over the years but decided against it since she wouldn’t be able to handle all the renovations the old building needed between the two apartments upstairs and the restaurant. That had been followed by debating moving the restaurant but decided against it since the location was perfect and she didn’t want to have to start all over again. But that might all change when Jess found out who Rory and Connor were planning on selling the building to, Cayley thought as she watched Sean’s expression turn from confused to…something deeply disturbing that didn’t bode well for her cousin.

Not. At. All.

Clearing his throat, Sean did his best to bite back that smile that had her debating giving her cousin a warning, but this felt like one of those situations where she should probably keep her mouth shut and see how it played out, mostly because it would entertain her. That, and she knew that if she warned Jess that the man currently watching her every move would make her life a living hell.

“You were telling me about what’s going on between you and my brother,” Sean drawled as he leaned back against the wall, appearing bored in a move that she was painfully familiar with.

Trying not to panic, Cayley licked her lips nervously as she struggled against the urge to glance at her office door. “Was I?” she asked, matching his tone as she focused her attention back on her computer, willing her trembling hands to behave as she quickly finished what she was working on.

“You were,” Sean murmured, and she didn’t need to look back to know that he was still watching her.

“There’s really not that much to tell,” Cayley said, shrugging it off as she quickly read through the email that Connor sent her earlier and wrote up a quick reply, and since she had a pretty good idea what was about to happen, she moved to add a plea for help only to watch as a painfully familiar large tan hand reached past her and clicked Send.

“Oh, but I think there is,” Sean said, grabbing hold of her chair and slowly turned it around so that she was facing her best friend.

“I-”

“Why don’t we start with why you thought that my brother was treating you like a fuck buddy,” Sean said, placing his hands on the armrests, effectively trapping her.

“Umm, I didn’t actually use those words,” Cayley pointed out.

“No, you didn’t, did you?” Sean murmured, looking thoughtful as she started to move her hand to grab her cellphone off her desk, only to go still when Sean followed the move. “Does this have anything to do with Kevin?”

“Why would this have anything to do with Kevin?” Cayley asked, unable to help but frown as Sean looked back up and met her gaze.

“From what I’ve seen, he doesn’t look happy about Bryce suddenly being in the picture,” Sean said, watching her closely.

“What does that have to do with anything?” Cayley asked, wondering why he thought that she cared after Kevin made sure that she knew exactly how he felt about her, but even if he hadn’t…

It didn’t change anything.

She didn’t want Kevin and as much as she hated to admit this, she didn’t think that she ever really did. He was just…

Safe.

There was no other way to put it. She’d never worried if he’d break her heart, never found herself worried that she’d lose him one day and that should have clued her into the fact that she’d made a mistake. He’d never scared her the way that Bryce did.

“Seeing you with someone else, especially Bryce, is going to make him panic, Cayley. It’s only a matter of time before he tries to win you back,” Sean said with a heavy sigh as he pulled her chair away from her desk.

“I’m not interested in getting back together with Kevin,” Cayley murmured absently as she thought about what he just said. “What did you mean by ‘especially Bryce’?”

“He knew,” Sean said, shrugging it off as he released her chair and stood up, gesturing for her to do the same.

“Knew what?” Cayley asked, only to roll her eyes with a heavy sigh as she stood up, knowing that he wouldn’t say another word until she did what he wanted.

“What we all knew,” Sean said as he opened her desk drawer and removed a roll of duct tape that definitely hadn’t been there earlier and pulled a long strip free.

“And what’s that?” Cayley asked, trying not to panic as she watched him rip the strip of tape off.

“That you’re in love with my brother.”