Chapter 5

CHAPTER5

“She’s waiting for you, big guy.”

“Go get her,” Craig said, shooting him a wink as Johnny slapped him on the back while Bryce contemplated throwing his brothers over the railing.

“This really is going to be the best Christmas ever,” Sean said with a heartfelt sigh while Bryce stood there, glaring at them.

“It really is,” Brian murmured in agreement as Bryce grabbed another broken board and tossed it down the shoot.

He really hated those bastards.

Sighing heavily, Bryce resigned himself to the long night ahead as he grabbed the shovel and started working on the piles of debris lining the wide second-floor walkway. He should take the rest of the winter off, maybe take a vacation or buy another property to flip, but…

There was too much shit to do, Bryce thought as he dumped another shovelful of horsehair plaster down the shoot and moved to scoop up more when movement below had him pausing to watch the small woman that should have left hours ago as she grabbed a stack of files off her desk and carried them over to the file cabinets that she’d talked Brian and Johnny into grabbing out of storage for her. What the hell was he going to do about her?

Nothing, Bryce thought, moving to shift his attention back to cleaning up this mess only to go still when she bent over and he-

Found himself biting back a groan when her jeans pulled tight over her generous ass. There was no denying that he liked what he saw. Always had. Even when she was a little girl, she’d been fucking adorable with a devious smile that used to drive his brother crazy. As she got older, it became harder to ignore the changes that turned her from an adorable little girl into an incredibly beautiful woman.

He’d be fucking lying if he said that he’d never thought about her and wondered just how good it would feel to-

It was definitely time to call it a night when his thoughts turned to sex with the little pain in the ass, Bryce thought as he placed his shovel against the wall and headed downstairs. He kept his focus on grabbing his jacket and his bag, knowing better than to do anything to encourage the small woman and headed for the door. As Bryce made his way to the large parking lot currently lined with dumpsters and storage containers filled with Rerum Highland Construction’s equipment, he debated stopping off to grab dinner and…and…

“I really hate those bastards,” Bryce said, sighing heavily when he spotted his truck propped up on cinderblocks.

Absently wondering what they did with his tires, Bryce stood there for a moment as he debated his options. He could call his father for a ride, but since that wouldn’t end well, that left walking home, something that he really didn’t want to do at the moment when it was this fucking cold out, which left…

Fuck!

“That’s unfortunate,” the small woman that he’d been hoping to avoid murmured absently as she took in his truck.

“Any chance I could get a ride home?” Bryce asked, forcing the words that felt wrong out of his mouth as he glanced down to find Cayley rummaging through her bag again.

“Sure. Just give me a minute to find my keys,” Cayley mumbled as she shoved her thermos in his hands so that she could tear through her bag while he stood there, biting back a sigh. A moment later, with keys in hand, she stole her thermos back and took a sip with a satisfied sigh as she headed for her car, no doubt pleased by the turn of events that forced him to spend time with her.

Taking another sip from her thermos, Cayley climbed into her car and after a slight hesitation, he joined her. She didn’t say anything as she started the car and he’d never been more thankful for anything in his life. While she drove, Bryce closed his eyes and dropped his head back against the seat as he waited for this fucked-up day to end.

“The building is going to be beautiful once the renovations are done,” Cayley said, but he was too fucking exhausted to play this game with her. So, he settled for a mumbled, “Sure,” hoping that would be enough.

It wasn’t.

“I was looking over the Dawson Project today. There are still three owners holding out, but I’m pretty sure that two of them will sell by the end of the month. Mr. MacGregor, on the other hand, is determined to hold out for as long as he can. I was thinking about calling him in the morning and seeing if he’d be willing to discuss selling, but with Thanksgiving in a couple of days, I thought that it might be better to wait until Monday. And since it’s your project, I thought that maybe you could-”

“Not interested,” Bryce said, cutting her off before this went any further.

Any other day and he would have let her ramble on, but not today. Not after all the bullshit his brothers put him through today. Since the moment that he’d made the mistake of stepping out of his apartment this morning, they’d gone out of their way to make his life a living hell, taunting him every chance they got until he’d finally had enough of their bullshit and shoved Sean down the trash chute.

“You’re not interested in the Dawson Project?” came the question that had Bryce sighing heavily as he opened his eyes and faced the woman that wasn’t going to be happy to hear this, but honestly, at this point, he didn’t fucking care anymore.

“I’m not interested in you,” Bryce said firmly, watching as she frowned in confusion.

“And you’re telling me this why?” Cayley asked as she sent him a questioning look as he told himself that this was for her own good.

“Because I’m trying to let you down gently,” Bryce said, wishing that he had done this years ago.

As much as he hated to do this, it was for her own good. He should have done this as soon as he realized that she couldn’t live without him, but he’d hoped that she’d outgrow it and move on. When she’d started dating the prick, Bryce told himself that it was probably for the best. Then, the prick broke off their engagement and she came running back, more determined than ever.

“I gathered that much on my own, but I’m not sure why,” Cayley said as she pulled into the parking spot that Connor assigned her.

“Because you’re in love with me,” Bryce said with a helpless shrug, not knowing what else to say.

“I see,” Cayley murmured, sounding thoughtful while he sat there really hoping that she’d be able to hold back the tears.

“I’m trying to be nice,” Bryce said, releasing his seatbelt as he tried to think of something that would help her get through this, but…

There was no way to soften the blow, he realized, biting back a sigh.

Frowning, Cayley said, “Let me get this straight, you think that I’m in love with you and-”

“I know,” Bryce said, but she simply continued as though he hadn’t spoken.

“-and you decided that the best way to let me down gently was to blurt it out like that?”

“I was trying to be nice!”

“And it really showed,” Cayley said, nodding solemnly as she opened her door and climbed out, leaving him to do the same and-

“I just never thought it would end this way,” Cayley said with a sniffle, dragging his attention to find her lower lip trembling.

Aw, shit...

“I thought we’d be together forever.” Sniffle. “I just thought you needed time to realize that you couldn’t live without me,” Cayley said as she released a shuddering sigh before continuing. “I always pictured us getting married, moving into a small house with a white picket fence where we would raise our ten children while breeding emus.”

“Emus?” Bryce asked dryly.

Sniffling, she nodded. “We’d make a killing selling emu eggs.”

“And why would we want to do that?” Bryce asked, rubbing his hands roughly down his face, suddenly feeling exhausted.

“How else would we support our ten children?” Cayley asked, frowning up at him.

“Please tell me that you’re screwing with me,” Bryce said, dropping his hands away.

“I would never joke about Fluffy,” Cayley said, blinking up at him.

“Who the hell’s fluffy?”

“Our nearsighted dog, of course. Kids need a dog, Bryce,” she said with a solemn nod, only to follow that up with another shuddering sigh as his eyes narrowed dangerously on her.

“Look, I think I really need to lay down in the fetal position and struggle to fight back the tears that I know are coming while I try to accept that the dream is over,” Cayley said around a yawn that was quickly followed by a mumbled, “Good talk,” as she walked away while he stood there, watching her as he told himself to let it go.