The Playboy (Chandler Brothers #2)(71)
Author: Carly Phillips

She grinned and in her beautiful smile he caught a glimpse of her sister. Hannah would be a knockout one day soon. She was well on her way. He only hoped she had more confidence in the world around her than Kendall did.

“Full of wisdom.” He shook his head and despite the screwed-up mess of his life, Rick laughed. “I see. In that case, you’re pretty full of it yourself. Now give me a minute to change and I’ll meet you downstairs.”

Hannah gave him a smart salute, turned around, and headed down the stairs. Rick would do the same. He’d meet up with Hannah at Norman’s, meet up with Kendall, pretend he was fine with her choices, then get the hell out.

He’d already scrapped his prior plan. No way would he tell Kendall he loved her one more time. He’d told her once. He’d shown her in many ways. Why set himself up to be trampled on again?

He might love Kendall but it was time he cared for himself more. Time to start rebuilding the walls around his heart.

If not for her sister, Kendall wouldn’t have willingly walked into Norman’s the day after her slide show unveiling. She wouldn’t have willingly called Rick. But she’d known better than to search Hannah out in person or ask her to come home until they’d talked.

Hannah was hurt and angry.

The last time she’d acted on those emotions she’d taken Kendall’s car. This time around Kendall hoped to circumvent a major catastrophe. And she hoped to avoid a huge scene by meeting her sister in a public place.

By the time Kendall had parked and walked inside, Hannah and Rick had already taken a table in the back. Drawing a deep breath, Kendall held her head high as she passed the tables of people, heard the whispers again, and noticed the pointing. She wasn’t imagining being the center of attention, she knew, but she didn’t have time to worry about it now.

Whereas her sister wouldn’t meet her gaze, Rick did. Those gorgeous eyes stared into hers. From a quick glance, he looked as if he hadn’t slept well. Razor stubble covered his face and dark circles swept beneath his eyes. He looked as awful as she felt and she hated being the cause.

“Hi.” She forced a smile.

He didn’t return the gesture. “Hi, yourself.”

Kendall didn’t know what to say to him and apparently the feeling was mutual because silence descended, making her stomach cramp and her nerve endings tingle. Without warning, Hannah rose from her seat, pushing her chair back with a screech, making a huge amount of noise, and breaking the charged, silent connection between Kendall and Rick.

Without a word, Hannah started to walk away from the table.

“Where are you going?” Kendall asked.

“Bathroom. You two make me gag.” Then she glanced at Rick. And winked.

Kendall sighed. The little traitor was leaving on purpose, to give Kendall and Rick time alone. Before she could stop her, Hannah stalked toward the back hall.

“I didn’t put her up to that.” Rick leaned back in his seat.

“I didn’t think you had.” Since Kendall knew she’d shut him out of her life last night, he wouldn’t orchestrate time alone with her now.

Rick’s eyes had twinkled with laughter at her sister’s antics but when he focused on Kendall, his expression turned blank. He’d drawn a shutter over his emotions and closed her out. Though she deserved the reciprocal wall he’d erected, she hated the strain between them, hated more that she’d forced him to put distance between them. She simply didn’t know how to handle things now.

He stretched an arm over the back of his seat in a casual, masculine gesture that flexed the muscles in his forearms and pulled his T-shirt tight across his broad chest. “Hannah tells me you’re selling the house and leaving town.” His voice held not a hint of emotion or caring.

After the intimacy they’d shared, a virtual stranger sat across from her. She hated that too and a huge lump formed in her throat and remained. This is what you wanted, Kendall, she reminded herself. No ties, no strings, no attachments. Just the freedom to pack up and move at will. No one close enough to leave you behind or push you away. No one who held the power to hurt her at all.

Exactly the life she’d always chosen and the one she’d opted for again since last night.

But if she’d gone back to a lifestyle she preferred, then why did she feel so god-awful now? Kendall had a hunch and the answer scared her so much that she refused to deal with the strangling emotions hovering just out of reach.

Focus on the mundane, she told herself. “I haven’t listed it yet but Tina Roberts called and she thinks she can get a nice amount of money for the house and property. Less because of the stipulation I insisted on but a good enough amount for Hannah and me to start over. Somewhere.” Her own thoughts and words threatened to choke her and she had to forcibly swallow over the lump in her throat before continuing. “Arizona’s probably where we’ll head next.”

He nodded and clenched his jaw tight, obviously unwilling to give her the satisfaction of letting her see an emotional reaction to her words. “What stipulation?” he asked instead.

“Pearl and Eldin get to move to the guest house and live there rent-free. As long as they maintain the place, I’m hoping someone will agree. I can’t displace them.” She couldn’t imagine the elderly couple who lived in sin residing anywhere but Aunt Crystal’s house.

“Did you tell them yet?”

She shook her head. Another thing she couldn’t bring herself to face. But no matter her own feelings, she owed Rick an explanation for her sudden remote behavior. He’d been so good to her and her sister, and he’d suffered much in the past. She didn’t want him to think he’d done anything or was the cause of her inability to stay around. “Rick, listen. I just want you to know—”

“Don’t.” His eyes flashed angry sparks, hurt and betrayal evident in his stare and his taut expression. “Don’t apologize or tell me how much you care.”

“Even if I do?” She rubbed her hands against her jeans.

He shrugged. “What good does it do me? Or you for that matter? Besides, you told me up front you wouldn’t stay. I just thought this town and its people would grow on you. That I would grow on you.”

She blinked back tears. “You did.”

His stern expression didn’t falter. “So what? Your words don’t change a damn thing.

You’re unable to commit, unwilling to face your fears.” Without warning he rose from his seat, towering over her, a giant in both stature and strength of emotion. “And you know what?”