Charming Hannah (Big Sky #1)(55)

“It’s mostly empty,” I murmur.

“Max is single,” Brad reminds me. “And he’s here about six months out of the year.”

“A woman should be using this closet. I need to set him up with someone.”

He laughs and tucks my hair behind my ear. “He does fine by himself. We’ll take the smaller master suite on the other side of the condo. It also has a sweet bathroom and an ocean view. I’m not going to have sex in my brother’s bed.”

“Ew. No.” I laugh and follow him back to the living room. “This is just amazing. Thank you for bringing me here.”

“There was no way you’d survive a whole week off at home,” he says with a laugh.

“I’ve taken weeks off before.”

“Not unplanned,” he points out and I have to nod in agreement. “This way, you’re really on vacation. No need to feel guilty for being lazy or indulgent.”

“You’re good to me.”

He simply smiles and kisses my forehead. “What would you like to do first?”

“I’m putting my bathing suit on, grabbing my iPad, and parking my ass by the pool to read a book.”

“Excellent,” he says with a smile. “Let’s do it.”

***

“I can’t believe I fell asleep by the pool,” I grumble later that evening at dinner. It’s a bit early, but I woke up starving, so Brad took me back to the condo to change clothes so we could eat at one of the resort restaurants. Our table is by the window so I can look out at the water. “Thanks for pulling the umbrella over me.”

“I know you say you tan, but that much sun can’t be good for a redhead.” He spreads some butter on a piece of bread and passes it to me. “Here. Eat.”

“Yes, sir.” I take a bite and close my eyes in happiness. “Oh, it’s fresh out of the oven.”

“Keep making that face,” he says quietly.

My eyes fly up to his in confusion.

“I’m already hard,” he says and takes a bite of his own bread. “You’re about three seconds from me carrying you out of here.”

I smirk and take another bite. We ordered pasta, and I can’t wait. If it’s half as good as this bread, I’ll be in heaven.

“Did I miss anything good during my nap?”

“No,” he replies with a smile. “And you looked sexy as hell with your sunglasses on, your iPad resting on your chest.”

“What did you do?”

“I got a little work done. I took a call and sent an email on my phone.”

Our food is delivered, smelling absolutely delicious. I take a bite and decide on the spot that I want to live here all the time.

“This is so good.”

“Delicious,” he agrees, but I shake my head no.

“All of it. The plane, the condo, the ocean. Being here and doing it all with you. It’s amazing. And I know that you didn’t have to take time from work, and that doing so at the last minute was probably stressful, so thank you. I won’t complain or say you shouldn’t have because frankly, it’s all too fantastic. I’m so happy that you did. But I know it wasn’t easy.”

“I haven’t taken time away in a long time myself,” he admits. “Too long, honestly. My crew was happy to see me go, and I know they have everything handled. I just had a few things to wrap up, and you napping gave me the opportunity to do that. But you’re welcome. It was a spur of the moment idea. I’d been up on the mountain at the tree house project with Jenna and Max, and after our meeting, I was talking about you with Max.”

“What were you saying?” I smile innocently, bat my eyelashes, and take a sip of my water.

“That’s classified,” he says. “But then it occurred to me that Max is always offering the plane and condo to Jenna and me and we never take him up on it. You have time off, and it’s not hard for me to take off for a couple of days. So here we are.”

“Was Max surprised?”

“Oh yeah. But pleasantly so. I mentioned earlier that he’s generous. It’s true, he is. He’s paid for our parents’ winter place, so they didn’t have to sell the Cunningham Falls house to pay for it. Now they have both.”

“That’s awesome.”

“He’s funding the tree house project, but that’ll pay him back within a couple of years. Jenna’s vision for it is amazing. She won’t have any issue with drawing in tourists.”

“She’s so smart.”

He nods. “So while my brother is a pain in the ass a lot, he’s also a good man. And he’s generous with his family.”

“He’s a pain in the ass because he’s your brother.”

“Of course.”

I laugh and sit back, finished with my dinner. “This was so good.”

“I’ve heard the dessert menu in this place is ridiculous.”

“Well, we’re going to have to sit here for a minute so I can hold it. Because I’m totally getting some.”

He grins and then looks up when the waiter approaches.

“I have binoculars for you,” he says and sets them on the table. “There seems to be some whale activity.”

He points outside, and I immediately reach for the binoculars, in complete awe of the enormous humpback whales that are jumping out of the water.