Breaking Brent Part 2

"Hi there," she drawled a little too sweetly. "I haven't heard from you in awhile. I was beginning to think you were avoiding me." He closed his eyes so that she wouldn't see him roll them. He may have been a lot of things-standoffish, withdrawn and difficult at times, but he wasn't blind or stupid or bad mannered all the time-just when it came to one person.

"How you doin', Kelly?" he asked as he wiped the left-behind cherry film from his lips. Small talk.

He could do small talk.

"Just fine. How about you?"

"Fine." That was small enough.

"I called you a few weekends ago."

He knew she had. He'd missed the call on purpose.

"I thought maybe you and I could get together sometime."

"I've been really busy here lately." He had been. In between the ranch, his family and this d.a.m.ned wedding he was forced to partic.i.p.ate in, he hadn't time to p.i.s.s, let alone date or do anything resembling it.

"To busy for me?" One of Kelly's nails ran the length of his thigh and traveled higher and higher until it flirted with the zipper of his pants. "I've missed you and it looks like you might have missed me too." He was hard, that was evident, but it had nothing to do with Kelly. It had everything to do with the h.e.l.lion standing at the end of the bar.

He knew he would regret his next move come morning, but he made it anyway.

"What'd you have in mind?" He saw the slight shock register across Kelly's face, but it was shortly replaced with l.u.s.t and giddiness.

17.

"Why don't you follow me to my place and we can-" her hand squeezed his swollen c.o.c.k as she spoke, "-figure it out there."

"Lead the way, darlin'."

Kelly slid from the stool and waited for Brent to follow, which he did with heavy limbs. He caught Jason's attention and received a thumbs up from him before he turned his gaze back to Kelly.

Brent left the bar not far behind Kelly. As he moved, he could feel a pair of eyes burning into the back of his head. He knew who they belonged to. He knew if he turned he would see absolutely nothing reflected in them. He didn't know if he wanted to see anything.

He couldn't deal with hurting her again with his words and his actions, but she had done the same to him. They had hurt each other and kept their distance-it was for their own good.

He kept his head and his eyes straight ahead and walked until he exited the bar. He climbed into his truck and followed Kelly out of the parking lot. Away from the bar and away from Peyton James. As he drove, he wished for something he knew he could never have-he wished it were Peyton he were following home.

"Now why do you look like you could chew through a sixteen penny nail?" The voice close to her ear made Peyton jump, and when she saw whom the voice belonged to, she elbowed the speaker in the stomach.

"Ow," he grumbled. "That hurt like h.e.l.l."

Peyton turned and stared up into her brother, Reed's, cobalt eyes.

"Serves you right for sneaking up on me that way." It wasn't until she looked at him a little more closely that she noticed he was covered in a heavy layer of dust. "What the h.e.l.l happened to you?"

"Got bucked," he said with a shrug of his shoulders. He didn't seem to care that he was filthy. He didn't seem to care that he smelled like a horse's a.s.s. He simply grabbed a handful of nuts from one of the bowls lying around and jumped up on the bar as he ate his heart out.

"Lovely. You do realize you smell don't you?" She got another shrug in reply.

"I'm supposed to smell. I've been working."

"You could have showered."

"Yeah, I guess I could've, but I didn't plan on staying long. What's the matter with you anyway?

Someone jerk a knot in your tail?"

"There's nothing wrong with me. And you were supposed to be here at six." She put a fake smile on and went on with her business. If she planned on getting out of here at a decent time tonight she needed to get the ball rolling.

"Sorry, I got busy." He flashed one of his boyish smiles and Peyton couldn't help but roll her eyes.

"What's your problem anyway? If looks could kill."

18.

"I told you nothing, so mind your own d.a.m.n business, Reed James." Her reply brought a heady, evil laugh from his body.

"You can lie to yourself, but don't lie to me. The looks you're giving that front door, or better yet who just walked out of it, say plenty."

Peyton caught herself gritting her teeth and stopped. She relaxed her jaw and felt instant relief. How long had she had her teeth clenched? She snuck a peek toward the front door and noticed that Kelly and Brent were gone. Good riddance to the both of them. They were perfect for each other.

Kelly was leggy, blonde and big b.o.o.bed-everything Peyton was not. Brent was tall, dark and handsome. His skin stayed a golden color all year round from working under the hot Texas sun. He was tall, but not large and looming as some men were. His hair and his eyes were close to a dark chocolate color that reminded her of melting Hershey kisses. His body, well, a girl had to admit, his body was perfect. Or it was according to her memory.

He was still as good looking as he had always been. The least he could have done was develop a bald spot or grown a beer gut. It would have made things easier. She heard her brother clear his throat behind her and she pulled herself back to reality and back to her life.

"What are you doin' here anyway, Reed? Daddy said you had something important to do so you were going to be a little late. That was four hours ago. That's the reason I'm spending my Friday night here instead of where I originally planned on spending it."

"Plans have changed, baby girl."

Peyton hated when Reed called her that. She wasn't the baby, Reed was by two years. Both her brothers towered over her and they thought that gave them the right to act all high and mighty when it came to her. They were reminded, quite often, that she could hold her own. What she lacked in the size department she made up for in temper. Her daddy always said she was too little to fight fair, so she didn't-especially when it came to her two giant brothers.

There was nothing wrong with a healthy temper, in her opinion. It kept her brothers, and anyone else for that matter, from running over her. "What big plans did I keep you from?"

"It's none of your business, but if you must know I was heading to Oklahoma City to visit Carter.

He'll be there for the rodeo and I was going to go see him." She was going to see Carter all right, but not for the reasons most of Millbrook, or her family, thought.

It had been months since she and Carter had last seen each other. Months since they had met in a sleazy motel room off some unknown highway in Wyoming. Months since they had decided to call it quits.

Carter rode in the rodeo circuit as long as it was circulating and catching up with him was like catching up with the wind-it very rarely happened if it happened at all.

His schedule had always put a damper on their quality time. That was one of the things that had come between them. Peyton longed for the comforts of her hometown and Carter never considered Millbrook

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anything more than just a town, let alone his hometown. Peyton felt like she had known Carter better when they had been only friends. And Carter knew his horse better than he knew her.

"And by the way," Peyton said as she slapped Reed once on the shoulder with a damp towel. The popping sound it made when it connected did her soul good even if it left a mark behind for him to bear for a few days. "When I got up this morning I found I had a new addition in my backyard grazing happily away. You don't happen to know anything about that do you?"

"If you're referring to Cinnamon Stick, then yeah, I know something about that," Reed said as he stuffed another handful of nuts into his mouth.

"Cinnamon Stick?"

"That's her name. Thought about changing it, but I think it fits pretty good." Cinnamon Stick, who based on the name was a mare, was currently occupying s.p.a.ce in Peyton's pasture.

"Where did you find her?"

"Didn't actually find her as much as I won her."

"What do you mean you 'won' her?" Peyton didn't like the way this was going any more than she liked that Cinnamon Stick was residing in her yard.

"Well, it's like this. Me and Travis got into a pretty intense poker game with Lowell Britnell and his brothers. Lowell had a pair of sixes and I had three Jacks. He didn't have any money, but he had Cinnamon, so there you go." That explained everything. When Reed and his best friend, Travis Boyd, got together there was no telling what could happen. The goofy-a.s.s grin he sent Peyton's way did nothing to help her anger at him.

"You won her in a poker game. Shame, shame, Reed James. What would your daddy say?"

"He'd probably say 'good job, Reed'." Another smile creased Reed's face and Peyton admitted to herself that he was probably right. Big Jack would have loved the fact that Reed had won a horse playing poker. "What's Carter doing in Oklahoma anyway? I thought he was in San Antonio? You sure he said Oklahoma City?"

"Yeah, when I talked to him he said he would be there this weekend."

"Well, when was the last time you talked to him?"

"A few weeks ago. Why?"

The look on Reed's face said a mouthful. "Nothing. I think you might want to call him before you make that trip."

"Well, I'm not making that trip now am I? I'm stuck here doing what you're supposed to be doing.

You owe me like forty s.h.i.+fts. This bar is supposed to be a joint effort and it seems to me that I'm pulling your weight along with Daddy's and Murphy's, and it's starting to p.i.s.s me off."

"Boy, that's a change from your usual happy-go-lucky nature." He jumped down from the bar and proceeded to tickle her ribs until a laugh burst from her lungs.

20.

"Stop it. I have work to do."

"Why don't you head on out. I'll take it from here."

Peyton lifted one of her eyebrows at his offer. What was he up to? "Now why would you offer to take my s.h.i.+ft? It's sure not out of the kindness of your heart-you'd have to have one for that. What are you up to?"

"Can't a brother do something nice for his sister?" She lifted her eyebrow again.

"Yeah, but when have you ever done anything nice for me?"

"Right now. I'm turning over a new leaf."

"I don't believe you, but I'll take you up on your offer even though I know it will come back to bite me in the a.s.s." Peyton quickly grabbed her purse from where it sat under the counter and slung it over her shoulder as she moved past him.

"Was that Kelly Cantrell I saw Brent leave with?"

Her jaw tightened once more without her brain telling it to do so. "I don't know. I don't really keep up with Brent's comings and goings, now do I?" She spoke through clenched teeth and barely held on to her temper as Reed c.o.c.ked one of his eyebrows at her and then laughed.

"Like I said, you can lie to yourself, but you can't lie to me."

Peyton left the bar in a huff. d.a.m.n Reed and his nosy ways. She didn't keep up with Brent Kiel any more than he kept up with her. As a matter of fact, she couldn't care less if he ever spoke to her again.

As she drove home, a million thoughts crossed her mind. Were Kelly and Brent an item? Were fake b.o.o.bs and blondes Brent's cup of tea now? Did he and Kelly spend all night in bed wrapped around each other like she and Brent used to? Why do I even care?

Because you still love him.

When the last thought rolled out, Peyton's heart constricted to the point of pain. She didn't love him.

Not anymore. She had gotten over him years ago, with Carter's help. Carter had been there to pick up the pieces Brent left behind. Carter was the one who had been there when Brent wasn't. Carter was her friend, her confidant, her lifesaver in the sea of hurt she had created for herself, but it wasn't Carter who occupied her thoughts or her soul-it never had been. It was Brent her heart raced over and it was Brent who had broken it. Peyton hated that fact. She also hated the fact that even though Carter had tried to mend her broken heart, Brent would be the only one who could ever fix it for good.

21.