Read Online BRIAN (The Callahans Book 1) by Glenna Sinclair - Free Book Online Page B

was a recent memory or one from the past. I’d been thinking of those days so often these last few weeks—even before she walked back into my life—that the past and the present seemed to be intermingling in a way they’d never done before.
    Maybe I was an old man. Maybe I was a little senile, a little confused.
    I sat up, tugging at my pants, wondering what I might find when I went into the bedroom. But there was nothing there, no sign that another person had ever been in my room. But clearly there had been.
    A quick shower and shave, I was sliding on my shoes when Rachel called.
    “How’s New York?”
    “Big and noisy.”
    “Are you still coming home tonight?”
    “Of course.”
    I could hear the relief in her voice as she told me what she had planned for me upon my return. She never asked about my dinner with Stacy because she didn’t know. I’d told Cassidy and let her make the arrangements, but I never told the woman I was dating. Why was that?
    What was wrong with me that I couldn’t enjoy the blessings in my life? Rachel was beautiful and sexy and clearly enamored with me. Yet, I couldn’t accept that there might be something solid there. It was just like the early days of marriage to Abigail. I was so sure she was above me, so convinced that she would one day wake up and realize that I wasn’t the man she deserved, that I created conflict and forced her to toss me out on my ass not once, but three times before we’d been married ten years. And I cheated on her, on our vows, on our family each of those three times.
    And I was doing it again with Rachel.
    What the fuck was wrong with me? Was I simply incapable of commitment? Or was there something else?
    I didn’t love Rachel. I knew that. But that didn’t mean that I wasn’t capable of committing myself to her. Right?
    What had I done last night?
    Guilt settled hard on my shoulders, making it almost impossible to stand.
    “I have to go, Rachel,” I said, cutting into her chatter. “I’m sorry, but I have this meeting and Cassidy will be knocking on my door any second.”
    “Cassidy? She’s there with you?”
    “I told you she was.”
    “No. You said you had a meeting and you were flying in early so that you could review your notes. You never said anything about anyone being there with you.”
    “Cassidy’s my assistant, Rachel. Of course she’s here.”
    There was silence on the other end.
    “Come on, Rachel. It was cute the first time, but this is getting ridiculous. I don’t have time for this juvenile behavior.”
    “Then maybe you don’t have time for me.”
    “Rachel—”
    She hung up. There was no satisfying slamming of the receiver, no heavy click. Just silence. But it was just as final as anything Abigail had ever done, and it added to the guilt that rested on my shoulders.
    “Fuck you,” I said quietly. But I wasn’t sure whom I was talking to: Rachel or my own reflection in the mirror over the dresser.
    ***
    “Thank you, gentlemen,” I said, rising from my seat.
    Handshakes all around and Cassidy was by my side, walking with me to the elevator. I sighed and leaned back against the wall the moment the doors closed. My eyes slid closed, offering a modicum of relief to my pounding headache.
    “Ibuprofen,” Cassidy said, touching my hand. I opened my eyes and took the pills she offered, swallowing them down with a bottle of water she thoughtfully carried everywhere with her.
    “Thanks.”
    She turned, facing the elevator doors. She hadn’t spoken to me all day, except for that one word, polite but silent. She did her job, sending me information over the iPads all through the meeting. But she could have done that from a different room.
    “You dragged me out of that bar last night, didn’t you?”
    Her shoulders stiffened. “I don’t imagine you remember much about it.”
    I didn’t. I had a few flashes when she first came to my room—the feel of her lips against mine, the taste of her cunt—but they were just