But forget the abs.
With growing concern, I asked, "Are you actually going to live here?" The thought was literally painful – a hard ache deep in my stomach. While I'd been growing up, this house had been filled with love and laughter.
And now, it would be filled withhim.Oh sure, Brody liked a good laugh as much as anyone. I recalledthatwell enough from high school. And as far as love, he would never be short of offers.
But he was still my enemy. And besides, the kind of lovehe'dbring into the house was temporary at best.
He was a total horn-dog.
I almost shuddered at the thought of him screwing some bimbo in my grandparent's bed. Okay, yes, the actual bed was no longer there, but you get the point.
In reply to my question, he said, "That'smybusiness, not yours."
I stiffened. "But—"
"And I've got questions of my own."
Oh.
Yeah.I guess hemighthave a question or two.
When I made no reply, he said, "So what are you doing here?" He smirked like he knew something I didn't. "Looking for Jason?"
And just like that, so many pieces slid into place. Obviously, my rat-fink of a cousin had sold the house out from under me –andto my arch-enemy no less.Was it any wonder that Jason wasn't returning my messages?
Under my breath, I said, "Un-freaking-believable."
"You're tellingme."
Back in high school, Brody had vowed to get revenge on me, one way or another – because, well, the thing is, I'dsort oftorched his pickup.
I hadn't meant to. Still, some might say I had every reason in the world to get all torchy – and not only because he'd cost me a scholarship.
In high school, he'd torched my eyebrows.Andmy bangs. Sure, they weren'tcompletelytorched, but theywerea whole lot shorter after that stupid incident with the chemistry lab.
His fault, not mine.
The jackass.
And now here we were, six years later. He was rich and famous. I was broke and desperate.
Score one for Brody, huh?
The way it looked, he'd finally gotten his revenge, served nice and cold, too. The jerk had bought my legacy – the family homestead – right out from under me.
At the realization, I felt like screaming. Or crying. I still couldn’t decide which.
The whole thing was so incredibly unfair. Brody could've bought a million homes. But me, I only wanted one.
This one.
I wanted to build a life here, and if I met a nice guy, maybe even a family. Who knows, I might've filled the house with kids of my own someday.
I shoved a hand through my wet hair and tried to think.Maybe there was still hope. Maybe he'd only bought the house to fix it up. Maybe he planned to sell it afterward.
At the thought, my pulse quickened.Maybe I could buy it.
Sure, I had no money, but Ihadgraduated from college – just last week, in fact. I had a decent degree, too – in business administration.
