Page 31 of The Pretender

“I’ll be in the living room.”

Balt leaves and I blow out a breath, mentally preparing to face my brothers. We were so close as kids, but as adults it’s been nothing but head-butting. No matter what they say, I have to be prepared to stand up for myself.

When I’m satisfied with my hair, I add a bit of lip gloss then march out to the living room where Balt sits on the couch, staring down at his phone. There’s a deep crease in his forehead and a frown on his lips.

I watch him, unnoticed, as he taps on the phone, then seems to erase it all and huffs before putting the phone between his legs. He glances in my direction, adjusting his posture and offering a slight smile.

“You look great.”

“Thanks.” I walk over to him. “Is everything okay?”

Balt nods and pointedly turns the phone off. “I’ll figure it out.”

“Okay.” I look down at my watch. “We should probably get going. Takes about ten minutes to get to the main house on foot.”

Balt stands, smiling as he approaches me. Damn, he’s so handsome. We seem to get along too, but we both know this is temporary, and I need to remember that. This isn’t something that’s gonna stick around, just like all of my relationships, but at least I know it this time. I can keep my heart out of it.

“If you don’t like walking, I can ask to borrow one of the golf carts on the way back.”

“I don’t mind the walk,” Balt says. He hands me my coat from the rack by the door. “I could always use more exercise.”

Chuckling, I nod. “Me too.”

He slides his arms into his wool coat, then offers me his hand. I take it, smiling as we exit the cottage and begin our walk. It’s noticeably colder than when we got here, and the crisp scent of impending snow is in the air.

Balt grips my hand, tilting his head back to gaze up at the cloud covered sky. “Do you think it will snow tonight?”

“I do, yeah. You can smell it.”

“It’s so different here than in the city. You can hear yourself think. No sirens or cars honking. No one yelling, no hustle and bustle. It’s nice.”

“Can you believe I hated it when I was younger?”

“I can believe it. Youth is a different perspective, but once you’re out in the world, that can often change.”

“Amazing the clarity that comes with not achieving anything you planned to.”

“Don’t beat yourself up, Deo. Even the best laid plans can go awry. I certainly didn’t expect to be?—”

Balt stops speaking abruptly, clearing his throat. I turn my head, watching his emotions flit across his features until he settles on a humble smile. “Let’s just say my choices didn’t go as planned either.”

There’s a little niggle in the back of my brain that desperately wants more information, but it doesn’t really matter. Balt isn’t a permanent feature in my life, so the less I get to know him, the better. Probably.

We continue down the paved walkway to the main house in silence, but Balt never lets my hand go. Very sweet gesture. At least the chemistry between us is real.

The closer we get, the tighter the tension in my stomach grows. “Ugh,” I groan. “I can do this.”

“Of course you can,” Balt says. “Your family is happy you’re here.”

I nod. “Right. They’re happy.” I blow out a loud breath. “I’ve got this.”

“Rely on me if you need to.”

“Thanks.”

Balt nods, winking at me.

Following the circular path, we round the corner, and I see two more cars on the driveway that weren’t here earlier. The brothers have arrived.