Only You (Adair Family #5)(96)

He and Lachlan were pretty certain it wouldn’t take long for the tabloids to grow bored and leave. The village did protect the celebrities who stayed at Ardnoch Castle, and they were getting nowhere with our neighbors. They were also unable to get into the castle or follow me into the school because Anita had asked for a police presence. I’d felt awful creating such a stir, but I had the feeling Anita found it exciting, so I let my guilt go.

After a week of being hounded, however, a politician in London got caught on video snorting cocaine while a half-naked woman, who wasn’t his wife, draped herself over him. Brodan and I were old news, and while it was nice to be catered to in the castle, I was glad to return to our cottage. To not have to be tailed by Jock and Walker wherever we went.

Yet having my love life plastered all over the internet, all the speculation and gossip, and hounding by the media wasn’t even the worst moment during it all.

A few nights ago, while we were still staying in the castle, Brodan was showering and I was on the bed, creating online worksheets for the kids. He’d left his phone beside me and, while he’d silenced all social media notifications, he’d kept his ringer and text notifications on. His phone buzzed a few times, and every time I’d instinctually glance at the screen.

The third time it buzzed, I noted the name Lotte, and the first line of the text was visible on the notification screen.

Hey, sexy. So is the redhead why you didn’t take me up on …

Heart thumping in my chest, I desperately wanted to know what Brodan hadn’t taken her up on. Who was she? I racked my brain and then suddenly, it hit me.

Holy shit.

Lotte Fischer. Gorgeous German American actor who starred in a romantic thriller with Brodan a few years ago.

What was she doing texting Brodan?

The urge to read the rest of the text was real, but if Brodan invaded my privacy in that way, I’d be so disappointed that he didn’t trust me. Still, I’d sat nauseated on the bed, unable to concentrate until he came out of the shower. He was rubbing his hair dry with a towel as he stepped into the main bedroom, wearing nothing but boxer briefs and looking like something out of a Calvin Klein ad. I didn’t want to be jealous of his previous relationships, but what the hell was Lotte Fischer doing texting him?

Whatever he saw in my expression made him pause. “What’s wrong?”

“Your phone buzzed a few times.” I couldn’t help my sullen tone.

“Okay?”

“I didn’t read your texts, but I can see part of them when they come up on the screen.”

Brodan tensed. “What is it?”

“Lotte thinks you’re sexy and wants to know if the redhead is the reason you didn’t take her up on …” I shrugged. “That’s all I saw on the screen, so who knows what you didn’t take her up on.”

He dropped the towel as a muscle ticked in his jaw. Brodan rounded the bed to sit at my feet. He held my gaze for a second before he reached for his phone and unlocked the screen. His eyes moved over it and then back to me. “She wants to know why I didn’t take her up on her invitation to join her in London on New Year’s.”

Hurt I wasn’t sure I was allowed to feel made me draw my knees in. “So a woman asked you to spend New Year’s with her, and you didn’t tell me?”

Brodan studied me warily. “I didn’t think it mattered, since I had no intention of taking her up on it.”

“Is it Lotte Fischer?” I nodded at his phone.

“It is.”

“She was your …?”

“Fuck buddy,” he said bluntly. “Whenever she’s single and we’re in the same place, she calls me up.”

“You had a few of those, then?”

“Aye. I never hid that from you.”

“But you’re still texting with her. With the others? Have they been in contact recently?” Blood whooshed in my ears as I waited impatiently for him to respond.

Brodan sighed heavily. “A few have reached out, and I told them I wasn’t available anymore.”

“But you still text with them? They’re still on your phone?”

He glanced at his phone and uttered a slight huff. “Well … they’re still my friends.”

“Either they’re your fuck buddies or your friends, Brodan, but they can’t be both.”

“Of course they can.”

“Maybe before you were in a serious relationship.”

He narrowed his eyes. “You want to dictate who I can be friends with?”

That he couldn’t see how hurtful this was made me want to scream in his face. Instead, I shoved my laptop aside and pushed off the bed with a scoff of bitter laughter. Shoving my feet into my boots, I skewered him with a dark look. “I’d like to see your reaction if my fuck buddies were still texting me.”

“Roe …” He stood up.

I took hold of the door handle. “I’m going for a walk because if I stay, I might throw something at you. But think on this, Brodan, while I’m gone … what do you think it says to me you need to keep in contact with your fuck buddies? If you can’t guess, let me tell you.” Tears burned my eyes, and I hated him for it. “It tells me that deep down, you think you’ll need them again, and you don’t want to burn those bridges.”