that clueless, Kyle?â
The scowl crawled back onto her face and it tripped his Spidey-sense. Or at least thatâs what heâd always called it. Heâd discovered in SEAL training that he had no small amount of skill in reading a situation or a person. Before then, heâd spent a lot of time by himselfâpurposefullyâand never paid much attention to peopleâs tells. Honing that ability had served him well in hostile territory.
So he could easily see Grace was mad. At him .
What was that all about? She was the one whoâd dumped him cold with no explanation other than she wanted to concentrate on school, which was bull. Sheâd been a straight-A student before theyâd started dating and maintained her grade point average until the day she graduated a year after he had. Best he could figure, sheâd wanted Liam instead and hadnât wasted any time getting with his brother once she was free and clear.
âYou got something to say, Grace?â He crossed his arms and leaned against her four-door sedan. âSeems like you got a bee in your bonnet.â
Maybe Liam had thrown her over too quickly and sheâd lumped her hurt feelings into a big Wade bucket. And now he was giving her a second shot to spill it. He just wanted her to admit sheâd hurt him and then say she was sorry. That sheâd picked the wrong brother when sheâd hooked up with Liam. Then maybe he could go on and meet someone new and exciting who didnât constantly remind him that Kyle, women and relationships didnât mix well. Maybe heâd even find a way to trust a woman again. He could finally move on from Grace Haines.
She licked her lips and stared at the sky over his shoulder. âIâm sorry. Iâm not handling this well. The babies are important to me. All my cases are, but because we used to date, I want to ensure thereâs no hint of impropriety. All the decisions I make should be based on facts and your ability to provide a good home. So please donât say things like you think Iâm pretty.â
Something that felt a lot like disappointment whacked him between the eyes. She had yet to mention the episode with Liam. Maybe she didnât even know that Kyle had seen them together, or didnât care. No, heâd never said anything to her about it, either, because some things should be obvious. You didnât fool around with a guyâs brother. It was a universal law and if he had to spell that out, Grace wasnât as great a girl as heâd always thought.
âWell, then,â Kyle said easily. âMaybe you should transfer my case to someone else in the county, so you donât have to deal with my brand of truth.â
She probably didnât even remember what sheâd done with Liam and most likely thought Kyle had moved on. He should have moved on. It was way past time.
She shook her head. âCanât. Weâre overloaded. So weâre stuck with each other.â
Which meant sheâd checked into it. That was somehow more disappointing than her skipping over the apology he was owed.
No matter.
Grace was just a woman he used to date. Thatâs all. There was nothing between them any longer. Heâd spent years shutting down everything inside and heâd keep on doing it. Nothing new here.
And she had his babies and their future in the palm of her hand. This was the one person he needed on his side. They could both stand to act like adults about this situation and focus on what was good for the children. It would be a good idea to do exactly as he suggested to her and let bygones be bygones. Even though he hadnât meant a word of it at the time.
âYouâre right. Iâm sorry, too. Letâs start over, friendly-like.â He held out his hand for her to shake.
She hesitated for an eternity and then reached out to take it.
The contact sang through his palm, setting off all kinds of fireworks in