One Week with her (Ex) Stepbrother (Eden Manor #2) by Noelle Adams Page B

that
seeing Cassandra again had brought back some of her old insecurities—and a few
new feelings she hadn’t yet processed.
    She’d
always secretly suspected that one of the reasons Zach had stuck around town
when his mother had moved and remarried was because he was so crazy in love
with Cassandra.
    “Nothing
is wrong with me. It’s just one of those days you wake up in an irritable mood.
You know you have them too.”
    He
frowned as she tried to read an email on her computer screen. She was acutely
conscious of his intent gaze, however, so she couldn’t focus on the words.
    Looking
for something—anything—to say that might distract him, she heard herself adding
cheerfully, “Oh, by the way, you’ll never guess who I saw this morning.”
    “Who?”
He obviously had no idea.
    “Cassandra.”
    He
looked surprised for a moment, and then a completely unexpected expression
transformed his face. He didn’t appear upset or interested or excited. Instead,
the expression was knowledge, enlightenment. “I see. That’s what has you in
such a bad mood.”
    Her
shoulders stiffened. “What is that supposed to mean?”
    “It
means you’re feeling all jealous and insecure.”
    “I’m
not jealous!” A chill ran down her spine as she wondered if Zach somehow knew
certain feelings she’d never even admitted to herself. “Who would I be jealous
about?”
    His
mouth opened slightly. “I just meant you always stupidly felt second-best next
to Cassandra. Who did you think I thought you were jealous about? Silas?” He
started to frown in a way that made his forehead wrinkle, like he was tasting
something he didn’t like.
    “I
have absolutely no interest in Silas!” She was off-balance and jittery.
Normally, she would have put an end to this conversation, before she revealed
something that couldn’t be revealed. But she was too emotional to think
clearly.
    “I
didn’t think so, but then why did you get so upset when I said you were
jealous. Who else would you be jealous—”
    “I
told you I’m not jealous. You’re the one who spent weeks in your room listening
to mournful, screechy music because you couldn’t have Cassandra.”
    This
effectively distracted Zach, although not the way she’d expected. He laughed
uninhibitedly. “That was years ago. We’re all stupid when we’re kids.”
    “You
weren’t a kid. You were twenty.”
    “Still…”
He grinned at her in a way that made her breath hitch. “You kept coming over to
my place back then, bringing me food and trying to cheer me up.”
    She
had. Zach’s first place after leaving their home had been a cheap trailer down
by the river, where he’d lived until he could afford to buy a little house in
town. She’d hated how devastated he’d been after Cassandra had gotten engaged
to Silas, and so she’d done everything she could think of to make him feel
better, bringing soup and cookies and her best attempt at encouragement.
    Realizing
she hadn’t responded, she said, “I guess I was stupid back then too.”
    “You
mean you wouldn’t come by to comfort me now, if I got my heartbroken?”
    “Probably
not.” It was a lie, and both of them knew it. “You’re old enough to know better
now.”
    Their
shared gaze had lasted too long, and Missy started feeling trembly,
uncomfortable. Zach turned away, staring at a spot on the floor. He murmured,
“I don’t know if people ever outgrow falling in love with the wrong person.”
    She
didn’t know what he meant by that, but she didn’t like the sound of it. “Well,
don’t get any silly ideas about falling for Cassandra again. Silas would kill
you.”
    “They’ve
been divorced for more than three years now.”
    “You
think that matters to him? She left him. Everyone knows he didn’t want to let
her go.”
    “I
could take him.”
    Missy
made a choking sound. “Silas is four inches taller than you, and he works on a
forge. All you do is haul manure around.  There’s no scenario in which you
could