Seducing the Bridesmaid (Wedding Dare, #3)(20)
“It’s not a big deal.”
“That’s bullshit, and you know it. Have you told your family?”
And open himself up for what would no doubt be a lecture on how his time and effort could be better spent on McNeill-owned accounts? He was sick of it. McNeill Enterprises wasn’t a bad company by any means, but he was doing so much more useful work with the Blue Boat Foundation. “I think you already know the answer to that.”
“You do realize that you’re a little past the age of teenage rebellion, right?”
Brock laughed. “Say it isn’t so.” He sipped his beer. “I’m doing just fine. And this weekend is about you marrying that beautiful woman before she wises up and calls the whole thing off. Stop worrying about me.”
“Go ahead, turn it around on me like you always do.” Colton finished off his drink. “Thing is, we’re friends. That means I have license to worry about your ass. Me and Reed, both.”
“Just don’t be getting any crazy ideas like an intervention. That shit’s for the birds.”
“You would say that.” He laughed. “Now I’m going to go see what my beautiful fiancée is up to. Try not to have too much fun tonight.”
“I’ll attempt to restrain myself.” He raised his beer at Colton and watched his friend make his way through the small groups of people to the door. It was good to see him happy.
Brock turned around to face the bar and took another pull of his beer. Colton was wrong. He didn’t need to tell his family shit about what he was doing with the Blue Boat Foundation. If he did, it’d reek of him crawling to Daddy and begging for approval. He was better than that. Either his dad was proud of him or not, but he wouldn’t whip this out of his sleeve as evidence that he was a man of worth.
He wondered what Regan would say if she knew, and inwardly kicked himself. He refused to tell her for the same reason he refused to tell his family. Either she saw him for the man he was, or she didn’t, but he wasn’t going to trot out proof to try to convince her.
Disgusted with himself for even considering it, he finished his beer and paid his tab. Obviously he wasn’t fit company for anyone right now. He’d sleep off the mood and regroup in the morning.
Then he’d figure out what the hell he was going to do about Regan.
…
The minutes ticked away, dragging from one hour to the next while Regan watched the clock. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw Brock’s face when he offered to let her run him into the ground so she could shake the fear dogging her steps. He hadn’t had to do that.
That didn’t mean she actually wanted to spend more time with the charming ass, but she could be grateful.
She glanced at the clock, cursing when only two minutes had gone by. “This is ridiculous.” The damn sun wasn’t even up and here she was, tossing and turning and losing sleep over a pretty man. It was like she’d transported herself back to seventh grade.
Annoyed with herself all over again, she shoved off the covers and climbed to her feet. Her muscles tightened in protest, but they weren’t sore enough to keep her from the gym right now. She’d just take it as easy as possible while still burning away thoughts of a certain country boy.
Regan pulled on her last pair of shorts and tank top. If she kept this up, she was going to have to do laundry sooner rather than later. Putting the worry out of her mind—and wishing she could do the same with the rest of the thoughts circling her head—she pocketed her hotel key and marched down the hallway to the elevator. Unsurprisingly, there was no one up and about at this ungodly hour. If she was lucky, she’d have the whole gym to herself.
The elevator took long enough to get to her floor that she actually considered the stairs, but then she was on her way down. A little bit longer and the steady pounding of her feet would drive away everything pricking at her. She wished she could blame the edgy feeling making her twitchy on the scare during the scavenger hunt. It had been years since she’d set foot outside of a city, and she hadn’t been prepared for how much it would shake her. She’d thought she had a handle on her intense…dislike…of nature since she’d hit a few resorts, but a beach was a far cry from all those freakish trees.
The reminder of how easy it was to make her powerless made her want to lash out just to prove she wasn’t. It wasn’t a rational response, hence her repeated trips to the gym. A bout of sweaty sex would work even better for getting her back into fighting shape mentally, but every time she thought of it, her mind conjured up thoughts of Brock. Falling back into bed with him would cause more problems than it’d solve, so the gym it was.
She shuddered and pushed open the door, making it three steps into the room before she realized she wasn’t alone. Sophie was on the same treadmill Julie had taken yesterday morning, and the determined expression on her face made Regan wonder what she was running from—or running toward.
Maybe one day she’d actually learn to keep her nose out of other people’s business… But today wasn’t that day. Not when whatever Sophie’s problem was might detract from hers.
She waved and stepped onto the treadmill next to her. “Hey.”
Sophie did a double take. “Hey, Regan.” Her gaze coasted from Regan’s feet to her ponytail before she seemed to realize what she was doing and blushed. “You look different.”