Braydon(44)

“What are you talking about?” he asked, but Jessie knew he caught her meaning.

“You can’t stand to look at me until you need someone to help you make her jealous.”

Brendon glanced over his shoulder, proving right then that she had nailed his motive.

“If you wanna buy someone a drink, you should try her. Ugghhh!” she growled and pushed past him. Jessie couldn’t believe the audacity he had. He couldn’t so much as talk to her, couldn’t give her enough respect to try to talk about what had happened between the three of them or even to tell her that he hoped they could be friends. But he could try to manipulate her to get what he wanted.

What in the hell had this woman done to him that would make him stoop so f*cking low?

Jessie knew Brendon. He didn’t have a vindictive bone in his entire body. Sure, he was aloof and a little rough around the edges—unlike Braydon. But he wasn’t a womanizer. Yet he—

“Are you okay?”

Jessie stopped trying to push through the crowd when she heard Braydon’s voice.

“No. No, I am not f*cking okay,” she yelled back at him, and then shrugged him off.

Unfortunately, the bar was so crowded, she couldn’t make her way through the people fast enough on her own. It wasn’t until Braydon stepped in front of her and began shouldering his way through with his massive body that she stood half a chance of getting to the door. She stayed right on his boot heels, doing her best not to reach for the belt loop on his jeans. She’d done that plenty of times in the past when she had wanted to remain close to him. But she couldn’t do it now.

As they stepped out onto the main porch of Moonshiners, humid, gasoline-tinged air mixed with cigarette smoke hit her face, making her feel nauseous.

“Jess, wait,” Braydon said, grabbing her arm as she tried to leave. Where she was going, she had no idea. She didn’t have a car. She didn’t even have a friend who could drive her home. Her sister was in there absorbed in conversation with her family, so Jessie was left on her own.

Which meant she was going to have to walk after all.

“Hold up,” Braydon growled.

Jessie stopped and spun around to face him. “Leave me alone, Braydon Walker. I’m not going to help Brendon and I’m not going to help you, either. I refuse to be used to help you or your brother land women. Using me to make her jealous ain’t gonna work because I’m not gonna let it.”

“What the f*ck are you talking about?” he exclaimed, fury blazing in his eyes.

For the first time since she had met him, Jessie actually took a step back when Braydon’s voice rose. She fought the instinctive urge to flinch at his heated reaction, but just barely. His eyes glittered with anger, and his hands were balled into fists. She was immediately put on guard, wondering just what the hell he was going to do.

Not that she would ever think Braydon would hit her.

“Just leave me alone,” she said, lowering her voice a little. “Let my sister know that I walked home, would you?” she asked as she walked backward, keeping her eyes on him as she tried to put some distance between them.

“The hell you are.”

Jessie ignored him, continuing to walk until there was a safe enough distance for her to turn around. If she had been in Dallas, she would’ve called for a cab. But the chances of getting a cab to come all the way out to Coyote Ridge were slim, if not impossible.

The sound of boots crunching on gravel told her that Braydon was still behind her, still pursuing her. But she didn’t stop. She didn’t want to.

Jessie was still fuming over the fact that Brendon thought she was naive enough to let him use her to piss off that woman. And Braydon had come to save the day. Probably planning to take her back in and pretend to be her friend while the two of them plotted how to get Cheyenne into their bed.

Her stomach lurched and she had to stop. It was the heat. That’s what it was. The unusually high temperature was making her sick to her stomach. It had nothing to do with the fact that thinking about Braydon with another woman actually made her sick.

“Jess, wait. Let me take you home.”

Jessie didn’t bother to look up at him. He had moved around in front of her as she stood there, trying to keep from losing her lunch. Yes, lunch. Because that was the last time she ate anything. She did eat lunch, right?

“Let me take you home and we’ll let Kylie know.”

Jessie shook her head.

“Come on. You can’t walk. It’s ten miles out to the house.”

Jessie slowly lifted her head until their eyes met. The black Stetson he wore tonight shielded his eyes, casting his face in shadows. In the dim light from the distant street lamp, the silhouette of his big body was surrounded by a yellow glow.

She didn’t say anything. She wanted to tell him fine, he could take her home because otherwise, she was either going to have to go back inside and endure seeing Brendon and Braydon with Cheyenne, or she was going to have blisters on her feet from walking ten miles in her boots.

Neither sounded like fun.

When Braydon’s hand slowly slid down her arm, Jessie stared at it. He continued until he linked his fingers with hers, all while he continued to stand way too close.

His voice was calm, soft when he said, “Let me take you home. I’ll even drop you off. You won’t have to worry about me trying to talk.”