Seducing the Bridesmaid (Wedding Dare, #3)(45)

“Now you’re speaking my language.” Julie laughed. “But that doesn’t change anything—you are Regan, She Who Plans and Conquers. You’ve brought terrifying corporate men to their knees without breaking a sweat—or missing happy hour. You’re one of the youngest people in your field to make as much as you do. God, woman, you’re a freaking headhunter. So…go plan and conquer.”

“You weren’t there. You didn’t hear the utter disgust in his voice when he talked to me. He doesn’t want to see my face again.”

“You keep talking and all I’m hearing is a whole lot of excuses and unreasonable fear. Maybe he’ll tell you to get lost…but I doubt it. Either way, there’s only one way to find out, and that’s not sitting on your cute ass and bitching to me about it.”

“I hate it when you get all logical on me.”

“Make a plan and execute it. That should be easy enough for you.”

Regan turned the corner, her mind whirling. She could call Brock, but it was too easy to ignore a phone call and keep on keeping on with life. No, she had to do something he wouldn’t be able to ignore or brush off. She smiled. “I hear Tennessee is beautiful this time of year.”

“That’s my girl!”





Chapter Eighteen


Brock finished typing out his resignation letter and pushed send before he could talk himself out of it. He’d never been more than a figurehead within McNeill Enterprises anyway. It wasn’t as if his father would miss him.

Caine was another story.

He sent a follow-up email to his brother to explain his motivation. It might have been better to call, but he and Caine had grown apart over the last few years. He didn’t know how his brother would respond, and he didn’t have time for a lengthy discussion.

He had a plane to catch.

Stress should have been crippling right now. His dad never missed an opportunity to belittle him, but the old man wouldn’t be thrilled with him quitting. Maybe he’d threaten to disinherit Brock. Maybe something else. At the end of the day, it didn’t really matter. It wasn’t as if he’d never threatened those exact things before. Before now, he’d always caved or toed the line of doing the bare minimum to get the old man off his back, and his dad had always backed down.

He was done dancing to the beat of that drummer. If realizing that was enough to push his dad over the edge and make him finally follow through on his threats, then so be it. The man had to do whatever it took for him to sleep at night.

Brock was ready to finally start living his own life.

Mercy Aalgard, the face of the Blue Boat Foundation, had been thrilled when he called. The work he’d put in up to this point had been cut down by his ability to carve out spare time around working for his father. Now he was free to devote all his time to pushing the Blue Boat Foundation to the next level. She already had office space in their headquarters in New York waiting for him.

So, for the second time in his life, he’d made a decision without worrying about what his father would think. The first had been creating the Blue Boat Foundation, but even that had been colored by what his father would think. Now he was finally leaving behind the baggage of his family and moving into the future.

He felt so unburdened it wasn’t even funny.

Who knew all it would take was turning his back on his old life to set him free?

Now there was just one last thing to be put to rights. Regan. He pulled onto the highway and double-checked the flight time. Still plenty of time to get there and checked in. He hoped she’d give him the opportunity to apologize and explain before she slammed the door in his face.

Colton was right. The longer he thought about it, the clearer that became. He’d been judging her based on the actions of other important people in his life, all without giving her a chance to tell her side of the story. If he hadn’t gone off half cocked at the reception, they might be together right now. He wouldn’t be poking at her absence in his life, and hating the empty feeling taking residence inside him.

He wanted to try again. With his new position in New York, he’d actually be close enough to put a real effort behind it. He only hoped she didn’t tell him to f*ck off and then run to the police claiming stalking.

Brock shook his head. Who was he kidding? Regan wasn’t the type of woman to let others fight her battles. She could have made a general in another life. If she didn’t like what he had to say, she was more than capable of telling him exactly that…and kicking his ass to the curb.

His phone rang and he almost ignored it—it was probably the old man or Caine calling—but some instinct made him check the caller ID. Holy shit. He nearly fumbled it trying to answer. “Regan?”

“Where are you?”

“You called.” He was so relieved to hear her voice it took him a few seconds to catch up with the question. “I’m in Tennessee.” Where else would he be?

“No, really? And here I thought you’d flown to the moon in the last week.” She took a shuddering breath, some of the strength leaving her voice. “So, did you know you live in the woods? Like way out here. What the hell is wrong with you? Who chooses to live surrounded by rabid animals who are only too happy to eat your face off?”

How the hell did she know… Brock slammed on his brakes and nearly fishtailed off the highway. Thank God no one else was on the road or he would have caused a wreck. “Where are you?”