The next night, Wes pulled down the bill of his baseball cap and walked across the Fireside Lounge to where his four brothers sat in the corner, wearing baseball hats too.

He sank into one of the cushioned lounge chairs that looked as if it had been built with rugged logs, but was actually made of some lightweight faux-wood material. “We’re more conspicuous in these things. Whose idea was it to wear the hats?”

“Bran’s,” Levi said.

Levi was Wes’s oldest brother and the CEO of Club Tahoe, now that their father had passed. And man did Levi have a rocky start filling those shoes after being a firefighter for years. But his assistant and now girlfriend, Emily, had made the transition easier.

Emily Wright kicked ass. She was a thin blonde, but that girl was no pushover. “Where’s the velvet hammer?”

Levi tried to hide his smile. “Stop calling my girlfriend that.”

“What?” Wes said. “She’s a ballbreaker.”

Levi chuckled. “Maybe you should try being nicer.”

Wes leaned back and pointed a thumb at his chest. “I’m a perfect gentleman.”

“Except when you’re trying to get laid,” Bran said from his corner of the table. He sipped a beer with the bill of his cap pulled low.

Wes might have slept with a few women these last couple of years. Okay, he’d gotten laid as often as he could. Nothing numbed the mind better than a hot and dirty orgasm. “These stupid hats were your idea?”

Bran was the pretty one. Technically, none of his brothers needed help getting women, but women threw themselves at Bran. Which was seriously fucked up, considering he couldn’t read the finer sex to save his life. Bran had no clue when a woman was coming on to him.

He frowned. “The hats were supposed to keep the attention away. It’s been like a damned manhunt in this place since Adam’s engagement party.” He sank lower in his chair, which wasn’t easy. Wes and his brothers were all over six feet.

Adam, Wes’s second oldest brother, had recently held his elaborate engagement party at the club. But it went down during a rocky period for Levi. He’d still been coming to terms with his feelings for Emily. So when Hunt, their youngest brother, kissed Emily at the party to get a rise out of Levi, Levi had flipped the fuck out, starting a fistfight right in the middle of the festivities.

Adam pushed up the bill of his cap and shot Levi an annoyed look. He wore a suit and must have come straight from work at Blue Casino, one of their competitors in town. “Speaking of my engagement party, just because Hayden forgave you, that doesn’t mean I have. You owe me for that stupid fight, Levi. I’ll settle for free food at the wedding this spring.”

Levi shook his head. “For four hundred guests? That’s a bit rich, don’t you think?”

Adam shrugged. “You can afford it.”

Levi grunted. “Hunt should have kept his damned lips off my girlfriend.”

Hunt raised his palms, his baseball cap turned backward. He wore a Club Tahoe T-shirt with jeans and was the most casual of the group, having come from the dock and beach area he managed at the resort. “She wasn’t your girlfriend at the time. And I’ve already apologized.”

Needless to say, Adam was still pissed at both Levi and Hunt, and the gossip from that night had gotten out of hand. Levi had worried their bungle would take away business, but it had only grown—at least among the female population.

Local women were well aware of the five wealthy brothers who owned and ran Club Tahoe Resort. Good thing too, because it made hooking up a hell of a lot easier. Wes barely had to put the moves on a woman before she was dragging him into her bed.

Since the engagement party, though, there were actual groupies hanging out in the lounge to get a glimpse of him and his brothers. Or get laid. Wes was all for it, but some of his brothers were less enthusiastic—Levi and Adam, who weren’t single. And Bran, the dumbass, was uncomfortable with the whole thing for some unknown reason.

It would be a perfectly acceptable response if Bran were gay. But no, he was just awkward around aggressive women. Meanwhile, Wes loved the attention. Aggressive women made going from point A—the talking stage—to point B—the getting-laid stage—so much easier.

Occasionally, Wes and his brothers agreed to avoid the lounge and drink beers off-site, but that wasn’t always practical. The stupid hats were Bran’s failed attempt to keep a low profile.

One of the groupies crossed and uncrossed her legs, glancing provocatively in Wes’s direction. “Nice try, but the hats aren’t working.” His gaze snagged on a beautiful brunette entering the lounge in a black dress that clung to her curves, and his smug grin fell. “What the hell is she doing here?”

Levi looked over. “Isn’t that your ex-girlfriend? Kaylee, right?”

Wes stared at the table and picked up his beer. He took a deep swig. But his gaze slipped back to Kaylee, who lingered near the entrance.

This wasn’t normal. Him giving Kaylee lessons. Her planning her wedding at the club.

Hunt leaned on his forearms, angling his head to the side. “Pretty. Is she single?”

Wes shot him a death glare.

Hunt chuckled. “Just checking.”

“She’s engaged. Otherwise, I wouldn’t care what you did.”

Hunt coughed into his hand and muttered, “Bullshit.”

Wes might have some fucked-up feelings when it came to Kaylee, but he didn’t want her. What he wanted was to know why she was here. And it was time he found out.

He stood, and Adam jumped up too.

“Whoa, there,” Adam said. “We can’t afford another fight at the club.”

Wes rolled his eyes. “Simmer down. I’m giving Kaylee golf lessons. I just need to check in with her.”

“Then why do you look ready to rip off someone’s head?”

“I always look this way,” Wes said, and walked toward Kaylee, who was peering around as though she were searching for someone.

Right as Wes neared, McDouche walked up behind her and put his arm around her waist.

Kaylee visibly stiffened. “I’m only here to say goodbye to Eddy.”

Her fiancé looked down at her questioningly—probably because Wes was radiating all kinds of kill vibes. “Everything okay?”

“Of course,” Wes said. “Lessons are going well, with Bella’s assistance.”

Kaylee gave Wes a halfhearted frown.

She couldn’t be happy that he had a five-year-old teaching her how to swing her golf club. But if she wanted his help, she’d have to deal with it. Besides, Bella could kick Kaylee’s ass on the course, so it wasn’t a bad pairing.

“There’s that Bella person again,” McDouche said. “Who is she?”

“No one,” Kaylee said at the same time Wes said, “My protégée.”

Her fiancé nodded. “Great. She must be good, then.”

Kaylee pulled away from McDouche and touched Wes’s elbow. “Why don’t we talk in the lobby? Eddy’s spending time with his friends tonight. I should get going anyway.”

“Good idea, babe.” Eddy leaned over and kissed Kaylee on the cheek.

Wes’s breathing increased and his heart pounded hard in his chest. He walked away before he did something stupid, like attack Kaylee’s fiancé for no good reason.

Wes waited for Kaylee outside the lounge in one of the seating areas of the large Club Tahoe lobby. He spread his arms across the back of a velvet couch and crossed his ankle over his knee. Relaxed, that was what he was. His ex didn’t rile him up. He was a man in control.

Kaylee entered the lobby and surveyed the space until her gaze landed on him. She walked over, and Wes couldn’t help admiring her.

Still fucking beautiful. Still stole his breath.

But he shut that shit down. Didn’t want or need it.

Kaylee sat across from him on the edge of the opposite couch, her legs pressed together and slanted to the side. “What did you want to talk about?”

Like she didn’t know. “Why are you really here?”

Her face flushed. “I— You know why I’m here. I’m getting married at the resort, and Eddy wants me to take golf lessons. With Bella’s tutelage, I might actually hit the ball on our honeymoon.” Her mouth curved into an ironic smile, but it was a shaky one.

If Wes didn’t know better, he’d think she was holding something back. “Does it bother you that I’m having Bella give you pointers?”

“Bella’s adorable and very encouraging. However, I understand why you paired me with her.” She gave him a pointed look.

“Because she could teach you a thing or two?”

“Because you want to humiliate me… And I understand where the anger is coming from.” She twined her fingers together, her knuckles turning white. “It’s partly why I’m here.”

Now they were getting somewhere. Because Kaylee sure as shit hadn’t come to Club Tahoe to get married. Her family was from a small town, but they had money. She could have gotten married at any fancy resort. She didn’t need the club. “Continue.”

Kaylee swallowed. “I never liked how things ended between us. But at the time, I wasn’t capable of talking to you about it. I hoped to do that now.”

Wes attempted to remain cool, but his adrenaline from earlier hadn’t subsided and he wanted to tell her to cut the bullshit and spill whatever it was she’d hidden from him. He needed this. Needed to know the truth. And maybe, just maybe, it would help him regain his focus on golf. And he wanted his life back too. Because Adam was right: Wes was angry.

He thought he’d moved on, but the more time he spent with Kaylee, the more he realized she’d ruined him in some fundamental way. That was the part he couldn’t forgive her for. “So talk.”

She huffed out a breath. “This is why I waited to say anything.” Kaylee unfolded her hands and gestured to him harshly. “I won’t talk to you while you’re looking at me with such hostility. What I have to say is important.”

He crossed his arms and dropped his foot to the floor. Seeing another man kiss Kaylee, even if it had only been on the cheek, had pissed him off. And thinking of his past with her wasn’t helping either. Then again, he’d already been pissed. Had been an irritable ass for most of the last four years. “You’re dragging this out. Just tell me what you came here to say, and get married somewhere else.”

Kaylee jerked back. “I’m getting married at Club Tahoe, because it’s beautiful. Not because you own it.”

“Right.”

She shook her head. “This was a mistake. If I try to explain things now, you won’t hear me.” She stood abruptly.

“Where are you going?” He wanted to jump up after her, but he stayed put, attempting to remain calm, though his head pounded with rage.

“Home.” She gestured toward the lounge. “Eddy has plans with his friends. He’s leaving for a long business trip at dawn tomorrow. I only came to say goodbye.”

Wes scrunched up his face. He was still fuming over her refusal to talk about the past, but something she said snagged his attention. “Your fiancé is spending his last night in town…with his friends?”

Her eyes narrowed. “Don’t judge me, Wes Cade. Eddy’s been there for me. Which is more than I can say for you.”

There was the sass he remembered from college. Even if it was misdirected.

Screw calm. He jumped up and leaned down until their heads were inches apart. “Is that why you left me? Jesus, Kaylee, I had the biggest tournament of my life on the horizon. I didn’t have a shitload of time on my hands, but if you’d needed something, you could have just said so.”

“What I needed was more than you were capable of giving.”

Were those tears rimming her eyes? “You don’t know that.”

She swallowed. “I didn’t know for sure at the time. But I worried about how you’d react. I was confused. Scared.”

She’d known him pretty well back then. Still… “It’s been years. Why don’t you tell me what you should have said then? It shouldn’t matter at this point how I react. You’re about to get married, and I’ve moved on a hundred times over.”

She flinched. “I— No. This is wrong. Forget it.” She spun to leave.

And he grabbed her arm. “Hell no.”

“Everything okay over here?” Eddy approached from the direction of the lounge, looking from Kaylee to Wes’s grip on her arm. His gaze moved to Kaylee’s face. “I came to walk you to the car.”

“I was just leaving,” she said, and pulled her arm free. It didn’t take much, because Wes hadn’t been holding her tightly.

Wes shoved his hands in his pockets and smoothed his features, nodding to Eddy. He watched them make their way to the entrance, Kaylee with a stiff back and Eddy with his slimy arm draped over her shoulders.

Her fiancé was leaving for a trip? Good. Kaylee wouldn’t be able to pull another disappearing act. Wes would have plenty of time to find out why she was here without interruptions—and then she could leave.

Because there was no way Wes could prepare for the pro qualifying tournament tensed up the way he’d been since her arrival.