Thrill Me (Fool's Gold #18)(51)

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BY NOON THEY were done with their interview. Maya had a meeting at City Hall, so dropped Del off in town. He was about to head home for some lunch when he spotted Aidan walking toward Brew-haha. His brother looked a little pale, considering the time of day and season. Del turned toward him.

“Hungover?” he asked as he approached.

Aidan sighed. “Yeah. There was a blonde and there was tequila. I’m not sure which was more deadly.”

“Maybe it was the combination.”

They walked into the shop and got in line. Aidan went first and ordered a large black coffee. Del got a latte. While he and his brother had both had the same outcome of their weekend, for Del it had only mellowed him.

He’d been telling the truth when he’d spoken with Maya earlier. Being together had been better than he’d remembered. They’d always had chemistry, and that hadn’t changed. But now there was an added element. Maybe experience, maybe maturity. Either way, he’d spent all of Sunday with a stupid grin on his face. It had been a long time since he’d felt the need to grin after sex, and he planned on enjoying the feeling for as long as possible.

He waited for his latte, then joined Aidan outside. His brother sat at a table covered by a patio umbrella, carefully out of the sun. Del sat across from him.

“How much did you drink?”

“You don’t want to know.”

“I guess not.”

He’d seen Aidan with a different woman every weekend. The man was into volume. Del considered asking why Aidan didn’t want something more. After a while, the whole “all cats are gray in the dark” thing got old. There was more to life than getting laid. There was caring, connection. Maybe that was why being with Maya had been so good. They had a past and now they were friends who worked well together. He knew her, understood her. Genuinely liked her.

Making love under those circumstances was about as perfect as it got. If he had his way, they would be naked together right now. Because he still wanted her. Not that he was going to get his way. The rest of what they were doing was too important. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t think about it.

“What?” Aidan demanded, his voice a growl. “You have a stupid grin on your face.”

Del chuckled. “I’m a happy guy.”

“Go to hell.”

Del ignored that. “How’s business?”

“Good. Busy.”

“You’ve done a great job growing the company, Aidan. You should be proud of yourself.”

“Like I had a choice.”

Del put down his coffee and pushed back his chair. “Okay,” he said, knowing they’d been moving toward this moment from the second he’d gotten back to town. “You win. We’ll do it, right here, right now. I’ll give you a free first punch.”

Aidan’s bleary-eyed stare sharpened. “What are you talking about?”

“Settling it. You’ve wanted to have it out with me since you saw me. So let’s do it.” Del allowed himself a slight smile. “I’ll go easy on you because of the hangover.”

Aidan shook his head. “I’m not fighting you.”

“Why not? You’re pissed. Let’s deal.”

Aidan put down his coffee. “I’m pissed? Is that what you call it? Fine. I’m pissed. I’m pissed and angry that you betrayed me, you selfish bastard. You took off. I was eighteen years old and you didn’t even bother to give me a heads-up. You disappeared, leaving me to take care of everything. I didn’t have a choice. You took that away from me.”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

Aidan glared at him. “That’s not good enough.”

“That’s all I’ve got. An apology. I can’t go back and change the past. To be honest, I don’t know if I would. I couldn’t stay, Aidan. Not after what happened. At first I was running from Maya, but then I figured out I wasn’t cut out for a life in Fool’s Gold. I never would have made it.”

He drew in a breath. “But how I did it was wrong. I should have talked to you. I should have explained what was going on. And I should have checked on you. I was wrong about all of that. I handled the situation very badly. I hope, with time, you’ll be able to accept my apology.”

His brother leaned back in his chair. “I will if you’ll stop talking,” he grumbled.

“Hurting your head?”

“You have no idea.” Aidan rubbed his temples, then turned to Del. “You were a total shit.”

“Agreed.”

“I’m doing better with the business than you ever could.”

“I won’t argue.”

“Did I mention you’re a shit?”

“Yup.”

“Fine.” Aidan’s mouth turned up. “Want to hear something crazy?”

“Sure.”

“I like running the business. The way it’s growing, the new tours. They’re fun. I like the tourists. I have great people working for me. I didn’t plan on this being my life’s work, but now that I’m stuck, it’s turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me.”

Del stared at him. “What? Then why have you been acting like such a dick?”

“To mess with you. You dumped everything on me without asking. That was cold, bro.”