CHAPTER 459

Soul patch? Gone. Despite the leaner appearance, Brandt’s angular face was still too rugged looking to be considered handsome in the classical sense, like Luke’s had been.

What hadn’t changed about Brandt? His captivating smile that managed to be both cocky and shy.

The stunning blueness of his eyes. His overprotective instinct. The first thing he’d done after seeing her for the first time in months was lecture her on hooking up with a douchebag like Mike.

At that point, Jessie had told Brandt she was predestined to wind up with douchebags like Mike and Luke, and if he were smart, he’d continue to stay away from her.

He’d started to argue and she’d glimpsed something dangerous in Brandt’s eyes she’d never noticed.

But true to form, he’d walked away.

Or so she’d thought.

She’d been so eager to convince Mike and his friends she was good-time Jessie the party girl, not a mousy widow with a pathetic past, that she ended up drinking way more than was healthy or smart.

The details were hazy