Chapter Twenty-Six

Brandy

I ran my hand across the top of the cold burners on the stove. I hated to cook, but in all the time we had been together Nate never cooked for me, not the way Wyatt did anyway. He didn't take initiative like Wyatt did. Wyatt didn't ask me what I wanted or needed, it was like he just knew. That kind of confidence was sexy and something I didn't know I wanted in a partner until this weekend. Until Wyatt showed me.

Wyatt took control of situations and made me feel secure. He made me feel safe. And like I was the only woman in the world that mattered. Like there was nowhere else he'd rather be or no one else he'd rather be with. That was a feeling I had never felt before. With Nate, there was always something more important, something else he wanted to do, somewhere else he wanted to be. I was second to everything in his life, only I'd never noticed it before.

For too long, I defended Nate to my mother, to Laurel, to everyone. I convinced myself that it was because I loved him, that there was no other man for me. That Nate and I had a future. I thought I was happy and in love. I knew couples had their problems, but Nate and I had so many that I ignored. It took me finding him in bed with another woman to see what was right in front of me all along. It was never Nate. We weren't meant to be.

I deserved better.

Wyatt was right and I chuckled to myself at the irony.

I walked over to the couch where I all but threw myself down. It wasn't my fault. I blamed myself because it was the easy thing to do, but it was his fault. I was done making excuses for him. There was no excuse for why he did what he did. And I wasn't going to try to justify it anymore.

I lifted my phone from my coffee table and pulled up my photos. Wyatt wasn't one for taking photos, but I convinced him to take a few with me. I couldn't help but smile at the memories.

I knew last weekend was fake, that it was all for show. I also knew that it was going to come to an end. I just didn't know my heart would hurt this bad when it did.

I placed my hand on my chin to hold up my head, while I held my phone in my other hand and continued scrolling through the photos.

I stopped when I came across a selfie I took with Wyatt at the pool party. It was one of the first ones I insisted on taking. I was smiling at the camera, but Wyatt was looking at me. I tilted my head and continued staring at it. I didn't know he was looking at me when we took the photo. I zoomed in, though, and caught a look in his eye I hadn't seen there before. He looked at me with a certain affection I hadn't seen him look at me with in real life.

How had I missed that? Oh, it didn't matter.

Maybe it wasn't all in my head.

Maybe Wyatt felt the same way about me.

I put the phone down next and stood up. "That's it," I said aloud to myself as I went in search of my purse and car keys. "I'm going to see him."

As I headed out the door with all my stuff and walked to my car, I continued to think about it. The truth was, I couldn't stop thinking about Wyatt. We had only had that one night together and yet he was stuck in my head. He was consuming my thoughts day and night.

I wanted more than that one night.

I wanted more than one long weekend with him.

I wasn't going to be able to get over this.

I had to see him. Had to look into his eyes and tell him what was in my heart.

If I didn't, I feared I would regret it. And I didn't want to have any regrets. I questioned that note he left me months ago for far too long. I didn't want to do that again, didn't want there to be any doubt in my mind. This time, I needed to see this through.

We had another chance to make this right, and I couldn't speak for Wyatt, but I sure as hell wasn't going to let it pass me by. I had to seize the moment. It was now or never, I decided, as I drove the rest of the way to his hotel.

In a perfect world, Wyatt would come to see me, he would show up on my doorstep and tell me all the things I desperately wanted to hear. But I wasn't going to wait for that to happen.

It turned out, I wanted him more than I thought I did. Enough to fight for him. For us.

And I knew that I shouldn't be falling in love with him, that I shouldn't be wanting him this bad, but I did. I needed him like I needed air in my lungs and this weekend made me see that I didn't want to go another day without him in my life.

Maybe we weren't meant to be. Perhaps we'd date for a while and decide we were better off as friends. But the uncertainty, the not knowing whether or not that was true was too much for me. I had to know, period.

I probably should have talked myself out of it, but next thing I knew I found myself outside the door to his hotel room, my fisted hand a mere fraction from connecting with the wood.

All I had to do was knock.

Then I could speak my truth. That I didn't want this to be it.

I shook my head and ran my sweaty palm on my jeans. "You can do this, Brandy," I said to myself. "You got this," I continued to give myself words of encouragement.

I didn't know why I was so nervous. Oh, probably because after you slept with him and had one of the best nights of your life, he acted like it meant nothing to him.

But I knew that wasn't true.

Standing my ground, I decided I wasn't going to go down that road. It was now or never. I was going to do this. I had to do this.

I knocked on the door and took a step back, waiting for the inevitable. Moments later, the door swung open and there he was, standing in the doorway, his eyes searching mine and it was like time had stopped.

"Brandy?" he questioned. "What are you doing here?"

Full of nervous energy, I bit my lip to keep from saying something stupid. I pushed my hair to one side of my head and smiled. "Wy, I miss you."

His expression softened and he leaned his arm on the door. "Brandy," he began, but I put a hand up to stop him.

"Please," I cut him off. "Let me get this out."

"I wish you wouldn't," he got out faster.

I quirked a brow. "You need to know this," I tried again. "Can I come on?"

He rubbed his forehead, looked down for a moment, and then exhaled. "I don't think that's wise. You should go, Brandy."

"But I just drove all this way and I think you're going to want to hear what I have to say."

"Enough," he said curtly. At my frown, he added, "I'm sorry, but you're wrong. I don't want to hear it."

I smacked my lips together and backed up more. "All right," I said, slowly, as though waiting for him to change his mind. He did not.

I ran a hand through my hair and let out a nervous laugh. "I don't know why I came here. This was stupid." Then before he could change his mind and stop me, the guilt getting to him, I turned around and left, running to the elevators.

I heard him shout my name, but it was too late. I no longer had the courage to say what I wanted to say and I no longer wanted to.

* * *

Returning to work after a few days off didn't feel all that much like work. Today Laurel had the day off, so we just sat in her penthouse and got caught up on our lives.

I told her all about Nate and the wedding, skimming over most of the details relating to Wyatt, which might have been a mistake. Clearly, I needed to talk about it with my best friend.

I mean, here she was going on and on about the security breach that brought Wyatt into my life again and I could barely focus on any of that.

"So yesterday they figured out it was a drone that got the letter on my terrace, could you believe it?" she asked, coming to the end of her story.

I nodded, catching the important parts. At least she was safe now. Whoever was behind it tried again and Wyatt's firm caught the guy in the act. They upped their security and were looking into the background of the creep with the drone. "That's great," I admitted. "I'm so happy for you."

"That he tried it again?" she asked, her eyebrow hitched in the air.

I laughed. "You know what I mean. You're keeping them on, the security firm, I mean?" I asked to confirm.

She nodded her head. "Absolutely. I have a rotation of guards at all times. Today, Frank is here. He's in the second bedroom right now working on something. I can call him out if you want, introduce you."

I shook my head. I really wasn't in the mood. "That's okay. Later."

Laurel clicked her tongue and put her hands in her lap. "Okay, what's up?" she finally asked. "You've been somewhere else since you got here. I know you're listening, but you're not acting like yourself."

I shook my head and placed my hands over hers before putting them back in my lap again. "What? No! I'm listening, I swear."

"I know you are," she repeated. Then she raised a brow. "Why don't you tell me what's bothering you? Because we both know something's bothering you."

I sighed and stood up. "We're going to need something to drink for this conversation."

She got up with me and grabbed two glasses and a bottle of wine. "Will this do?"

I nodded and took the glasses from her as she set the wine down, opening it up. "This will do just fine."

She poured it and I took a sip of mine before speaking. Dropping my voice, so Wyatt's employee couldn't hear in the other room, I confessed, "I think I'm falling in love with Wyatt."

"You think?" She arched a brow.

I waved my hand in the air and took another sip. "No, I'm definitely falling in love with Wyatt."

She squealed and jumped up, covering her mouth with her hand. "That's amazing! So what was fake just became very much real."

"That's the thing." I brought my finger to my lips. "I tried telling him how I felt, but he shut me down."

She narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean he shut you down?"

I told her what happened at his hotel room to paint her a better picture and then added, "I don't think there's ever going to be a Wyatt and Brandy."

"Oh, Dee," she said, sympathetically.

I brushed it off. "Don't feel bad for me. I feel bad enough for myself as it is. I just wish things were different, you know?" I shrugged my shoulders. "I didn't know I could feel this way, Laur. It feels like there are butterflies in my stomach every time he's near and no amount of time we spend together is ever enough."

She smiled as she listened and then pointed at me. "Girl, you have got it bad. You're totally blushing right now."

I felt the heat in my cheeks and smiled. "I know. What am I going to do?"

"Give him another chance. Maybe you caught him at a bad time."

I shook my head and put the glass down on the coffee table in front of us. "Laur, you didn't see him. He looked pained when I told him I had something to tell him. It was like he knew what I was going to say and the very idea of me saying that I was falling in love with him made him sick." I leaned my head back and groaned, frustrated. "I don't know." I decided, "Let's talk about something else."

"Are you sure I can't help?"

"What are you going to do? Maybe it's not meant to be."

"But the stars aligned twice for you to meet. How is that not fate or something?"

I licked my lips and sighed. "Maybe it's just a coincidence."

She gasped. "You don't believe that!"

"I think I have to believe just that. Because if I keep thinking it's more than it is, I'm only going to find it harder to move on."

Crossing her legs under her, she leaned toward me. "Do you really want to move on, though?"

"What other choice do I have? I'm not going to continue pining after a man who clearly isn't interested." It was wrong, all so wrong.

She frowned.

"And you know what's funny?" I laughed at the irony of it all. "I told him not to fall in love with me. Ha!" I could hardly handle it. "I should have known this was never going to work. What was I thinking? Fake dating a guy I so clearly liked from the very beginning." I almost slapped my forehead at how stupid I was.

"It was my idea," she reminded me. "I thought it would be harmless."

I shrugged. "Oh, you didn't know."

"I wish I did. At least one good thing came out of this."

"Yeah, and what's that?"

"You got rid of Nate."

I laughed. "Yeah, kicked him to the curb."

She laughed, too, and then brought me in for a hug. "You're going to find the right guy."

"I wish I knew where to look," I said, leaning over and onto her shoulder.

"Hey, I have an idea."

I pushed off her, found a new leaning spot against the couch cushion and grabbed the glass again, taking another sip. "Sorry, Laur, but no more ideas. Please, I'm still healing a broken heart over your last great idea."

She threw her hands up. "Enough said. No more ideas. Why don't we make a toast instead?"

"To, what?" I couldn't see how there was anything to toast to. Certainly nothing worth celebrating.

"To dodging another bullet. If Wyatt can't see how great you are, then he doesn't deserve you," she explained.

I raised my glass, just barely, and she clanked hers against it.

The thing was, I saw the man he was in Destin and if everything he said was true, then he thought I deserved better than Nate, that I deserved the best. Well, Wyatt was it. He was the best. I knew it. So why couldn't he see that he was it for me?