That still didn’t explain why Cheyenne seemed to be popping up all the damn time.
“Well, I should get back,” Cheyenne said uncertainly, and Braydon realized he’d been staring at her like a dumbass.
“I’ll walk you,” he told her.
“You don’t have to do that, but thanks for the offer.”
Ignoring her protest, Braydon held out his elbow for her to take and escorted her back toward the church. It was slow going because the heels of her shoes continued to get stuck in the soft ground.
“Is your car here?” he asked.
“No. I rode with Jared. Lorrie and Curtis were kind enough to let me stay the night at their place last night. Have I ever mentioned that it is impossible to say no to your mother?”
Braydon laughed. “I’ve heard that before.”
“When I told her I had a hotel, she told me, ‘Nonsense, honey. We’ve got more than enough room upstairs.’ ” Cheyenne gave a fairly good impression of his mother’s voice.
“How are you getting to the reception?”
“I was hoping to catch a ride with Travis, Kylie, and Gage.”
“They already left,” Braydon apprised her. “Kylie needed to get over there to make sure things were set up and ready for Zane and V.”
“Well, hell,” Cheyenne said, glancing around. There were still a few guests lingering at the church, but even the limo that was taking Zane and V over to the resort had already left.
“I’ll take you,” Braydon offered.
“I’ll take her,” a gruff voice cut in.
Braydon and Cheyenne both turned at the same time to see Brendon walking up behind them. Although he didn’t respond immediately, Braydon heard his brother loud and clear. It wasn’t just the words he said, but the way he said them that brought him up short.
Cheyenne glanced up at Braydon, then over to Brendon. She didn’t look happy, but she didn’t argue.
“We’ll see you there,” Brendon told Braydon, pretty much dismissing him, which only pissed him off. But Braydon had become familiar with not causing a scene lately. Rather than argue, he nodded and headed back toward his truck.
chapter TWO
Stumbling upon Cheyenne and Braydon hadn’t been Brendon’s intention, but now that he had, something disturbingly possessive had ignited in his chest. Offering to take Cheyenne over to the reception had been the only thing he could think of when he heard his brother’s offer, his single goal to get Cheyenne alone for a few minutes.
“You don’t have to take me,” Cheyenne informed him as they made their way toward the nearly empty parking lot of the small church.
“I’m going there anyway, so it’s no big deal.” It was a huge fucking deal for him, but Brendon wasn’t going to tell her as much.
“Thanks,” she said quietly as they approached his truck.
At the risk of making her think he was trying to come on to her, Brendon made his way around to the passenger-side door and opened it for her. Based on his usual behavior when he was around her, his gesture had probably surprised her somewhat. Brendon wasn’t known to be a true gentleman when Cheyenne was around.
For the life of him, he couldn’t figure out why that was. There was an incredible amount of friction between the two of them, and Brendon knew that only a small part of that was due to physical attraction. It didn’t matter that Cheyenne had knocked down every advance he’d ever sent her way; Brendon knew she was attracted to him. He could see it in her smoldering green eyes. Not that she would ever admit it—probably not even to herself.
Once in the truck, Brendon found his need to keep his mouth shut was overpowered by his need to talk to Cheyenne, to try to clear the air between them.
“Why’re you here, Cheyenne?” he blurted, not especially proud of his defensiveness when he was around this woman.
Brendon could feel Cheyenne’s eyes on him, feel the heat of her glare even though he was paying attention to the road.
Finally, Cheyenne sighed heavily before answering. “Your mother invited me.”
“My mother?”
“Yes. She’s the reason I’ve been at all the family functions, Brendon.”
Cheyenne’s tone wasn’t quite defensive, but it wasn’t exactly friendly, either.
“Why didn’t you just tell me that in the first place?” he snapped.
“If you knew how to have a civil conversation, maybe I would have.”
It was Brendon’s turn to sigh, his deep exhale one of exasperation. His fingers tightened on the steering wheel as he thought about all the times he’d questioned Cheyenne and how she had evaded answering him every damn time. His mother? His mother was the one responsible for Cheyenne showing up whenever there was a Walker family function?