by Candis Terry
“Test me. Challenge me.” He leaned in and the corners of his sexy mouth lifted. “Just give me a chance. I’m letting you in, Brooke, and I’m up for anything you send my way.”
The declaration and the dare sizzled through her as powerfully as if his hot tongue was licking her core.
“Anything?”
Before he could respond, the server showed up to take their dinner requests. Dec sat back in his chair and ordered for the two of them. No seared ahi this time. Of course he knew what she liked. They’d shared meals over many business meetings. But that he took charge and proceeded to order several delicious entrées to make sure she’d have anything she desired turned her on in an unreasonable way.
He wasn’t just ordering to impress her. He was letting her know that he knew her, that he was thinking of her and not just absently rattling anything off the list. Each entrée ordered sounded full of flavor but light, instead of something heavy that might make her drowsy.
What did he have in mind for after dinner?
“Anything,” he said, returning to their conversation when the server left. “Although, if you give it to me while leaning in a little more, that would make it even better.”
She glanced down and realized that her position gave him quite an eyeful of cleavage. Instead of straightening and tugging the neckline up, she leaned in more. “Like this?”
A low, sexy chuckle rumbled from his chest. “Exactly like that.”
He reached across the table and took her hand. He traced featherlight caresses across her fingers with his thumb. “It looks as if you already have a challenge in mind.”
“Maybe I do.” Letting the anticipation build, she slid her hand away, lifted her wineglass, and sipped her wine. “Maybe I’ll find out how sincere you really are right now.”
“You won’t scare me away.”
“We’ll see about that.” She took another drink and set her glass down on the white tablecloth. “Ready?”
“For you?” He smiled. “Always.”
Oh, he really was very good at flirting when he set his mind to it.
“All right then. I should probably remind you right now that no matter how much you wine and dine me, and no matter how lovely the compliments, I am not now nor am I ever going to come back to work for you.”
“I believe you made that clear.”
“And you took me seriously?”
His dark hair gleamed beneath the overhead light as he slightly tilted his head in acknowledgment. “I always do.”
“I’m looking for a partner,” she said.
“What kind of partner?”
“Does that scare you?”
“Not even a little.”
“Looks like I’ll have to try harder.”
“Harder sounds good.”
She chuckled, then hit him with exactly what she had in mind. “I’m looking for a lifetime partner. Someone who will be there during the good times and the bad. Someone who will love me and be the love of my life. Someone who will build a life with me and raise a family. Someone who will take care of me when I need them. Someone who won’t waste my time with games and promises they never intend to keep. Someone who will let me into their soul as much as I’ll let them into mine.”
“That’s a long list.”
“I’m very good at making lists.”
“I know you are.”
“So let me ask you, Dec . . .” There was only one way to approach this and find out exactly where he stood. “Could the someone I’m looking for be you?”
She took another small sip of wine and held his gaze, waiting for him to either back down or get up and run.
Disappointed when he said nothing, she shook her head. “I didn’t think so.”
She downed the rest of the wine in her glass then reached for the bottle.
“Hold on. Don’t discount me so fast.” He reached out and took the bottle from her hand. “I’m all in.”
“All in?” She snorted with disbelief. “Then why the hesitation? And why do you look like a ghost just chased you from a haunted house?”
“Truth?” The broad shoulders beneath his gray coat shrugged. “Because I’ve never thought of any of that before. I’ve never dated a woman for more than a couple of months. I’ve never thought about marriage, or having babies, or growing old with someone. It’s a new concept for me.”
“Then why are you here?”
“Because now that I’ve thought about those things, I want them to be with you. And only you.”
Once upon a time she’d thought hearing him say those words was all she’d ever want. But he’d mentioned nothing about love. Brooke knew you couldn’t force someone to love you. They either did or they didn’t. And while she did believe Dec truly did care for her, she didn’t believe he was in I-want-to-spend-the-rest-of-my-life-with-you love with her.
Before she broke down and cried, she decided to steer the conversation in a different direction.
“That’s nice of you to say that.”
His eyes narrowed. “Nice?”
She nodded.
“I didn’t say that to sound nice. I said it because I mean it.”
“Well, now I have another challenge for you. I’m also looking for a business partner. They can be active or silent; it’s entirely up to them. I’d like to give you the first crack at the opportunity.”
“Changing the subject isn’t going to make me forget.” His jaw clenched. “I’m not done with the first part of this conversation.”
“Call it a small detour.”
“What kind of business are you considering?” he asked.
“Are you interested?” she pushed, again noting his slight hesitation. She knew she was completely taking him out of his comfort zone. He was a numbers guy through and through. He’d never agree to anything until he could perform a full evaluation. She also expected him to tell her she was crazy because she didn’t know the first thing about running a business. But she did. She’d done her homework. And what she didn’t know, she’d learn.
“Brooke? Right now I’m very interested.” His eyes locked onto hers. He leaned in slightly and kept his voice low. “I’m interested in slipping that little black dress over your head to see what you have on underneath. I’m interested in sliding my tongue down the side of your neck until I reach those tempting breasts you keep taunting me with. And I’m interested in letting my hands and my mouth worship your body. I know where all your hot spots are, and I’m interested in setting fire to each and every one of them. And afterward, I’m interested in holding you close and never letting you go.”
The need to fan herself with the cloth napkin became as crucial as taking her next breath. But that would show weakness, and then he’d pounce.
He’d say no to her proposal. And then she’d know that his sincerity only ran skin-deep. She didn’t actually need a business partner, but she needed to know exactly where he stood.
“Are you trying to distract me?” she asked. Because it was almost working.
“Absolutely not.” He reached for her hand again. “I’m just letting you know I’m interested . . . in anything you have to offer. I just want you to know something about me first. Something only my parents knew and took to the grave with them.”
He sounded so serious and looked so guarded her nerves kicked in like a rocket.
“It took me a while to figure things out,” he said. “To understand why I’ve been so . . . solitary. Why I’ve been so focused on only one thing.”
“What is it?”
“When I was a kid, I had problems with school. My grades were always low and I got into a lot of fights with kids who made fun of me. I had zero confidence. And I figured someday I’d let my anger and frustration get the best of me and end up in jail. After years of being told I had ADHD and that someone should just give me a pill to calm me the hell down, finally a teacher made a suggestion to my parents to have me tested. Turns out I’m dyslexic.”
“That must have been
very hard for you.”
“To find out I had a learning disorder?” He shook his head. “It was the best news I’d had in a long time. At least it answered the question of why I couldn’t see letters and numbers correctly. Still, I was embarrassed that I wasn’t like my brothers. I wanted to be like them. I wanted to finish my homework fast so I could run outside and play just like they did. But it took me a lot longer to do anything, and eventually I just kind of retreated into my own environment.”
“You were protecting yourself.”
“I guess you could call it that. I made a promise to myself that I wouldn’t let it drag me down. I promised that I’d figure it out and I’d become successful, the best at whatever I did, even when all I really wanted was to be more easygoing like my brothers.”
“Oh Dec.” The pressure in her chest intensified and squeezed her heart.
“Somehow I got lost in that single-minded focus. I forgot to look around and see what else was out there. I still struggle, especially when I’m tired. But my eyes are open now, Brooke. And all I see is you.”
It wasn’t a declaration of love. It was better. Because it was as deeply honest as she’d ever seen him. And she knew that what he’d said had come from his heart.
“I’m never going to be perfect,” he said. “I’m always going to have challenges when I have too many things on my plate. But if you want a partner? I’m your man.”
That was the moment Brooke melted into a complete pile of starry-eyed goo.
They tabled the discussion when the server brought their entrées. Throughout the dinner and then the butterscotch cheesecake and vanilla bean crème brûlée desserts, Brooke questioned him about his past. He was more open and honest with her than he’d ever been with anyone in his life.
But she hadn’t reopened the door to the discussion they’d had previous to him telling her about his dyslexia.
He didn’t feel like she was judging him, but her silence definitely made him question the sanity of revealing his Achilles’ heel.
As they headed back to Sunshine over the N. Steel Bridge, Dec asked her, “Where would you like to go now?” The bridge lights flashed inside the darkened car while the deck made thu-thump sounds beneath the wheels. “We don’t have to go back home if there’s something you’d like to do.”
Her smooth, sleek eyebrows lifted. “How good are you at following directions? And no, that’s not a slight about the dyslexia.”
“You should know how I am following directions. You give me orders every day.”
“Not anymore.”
The reminder that she would no longer be his right arm sank like a stone in the pit of his stomach. “True. So what do you have in mind? A walk in the park? A boat ride?”
“Let’s stick to business for now.”
While she gave him directions to somewhere in Sunshine, he couldn’t help being disappointed by her response. Maybe that’s what she’d had to deal with from him all along. All business. No play.
Brooke wasn’t an all business kind of woman. She was free-spirited and fun. She was the type to come up with bucket list items that anyone else might consider ridiculous for a woman not yet thirty years old to do. But he understood why. He also understood that he’d been the one to take her spark away.
Now he had to give it back.
No matter what or how long it took.
And he had to convince her that his feelings for her were true.
No matter what or how long it took.
For the rest of the drive, she kept her gaze out the window. But as soon as they drove into Sunshine, her foot started tapping nervously. Two blocks off Main Street, she told him to pull the car over to the curb. As soon as he parked she got out and stood on the sidewalk looking at a dark, empty building behind a chain link fence.
When he joined her, he dropped his coat over her bare shoulders to guard her against the chill. “What do you see when you look at this building?”
“My future.” She walked up to the chain link fence and curled her fingers around the wires. “I see a place where families can go together to have fun. A place where teens can go so they don’t get in trouble because they’re bored. I see a place I can be proud of and a chance for me to be a member of a community. I see a place where I can . . . belong.”
“You see all that in a concrete building and a patch of dirt?”
She nodded. “Confession time for me now.”
She turned toward him and what he saw in her eyes was something he’d never seen in her before.
Shame.
This night was turning out completely different than he’d imagined.
“Growing up in the community I wasn’t allowed to read anything except the Bible. I never saw television or movies. I was never allowed to run outside and play or use my imagination like a normal child. I was forced to study and to serve. And that was it.”
She took a breath.
“When I escaped I had to learn to have fun. I had no idea what it was like to play make-believe or sit down at a table and play a board game. I had no clue what it felt like to swing up into the sky or climb a tree and pretend to be a monkey. That’s why I keep pushing you to make that bucket list. That’s why I keep trying to push you out of your comfort zone. Because I want you to see and feel all the things you’ve sheltered yourself from. I had all those fun things locked away from me, but you’ve done that to yourself. I want you to have the best life possible.” She touched the sleeve of his jacket. “With or without me.”
Love, pure and simple, radiated from her dark eyes and beautiful smile.
Dec had never met a more unselfish person in his life. She loved him. And if he let her go, he’d never have the pleasure of sharing in all those wild and crazy things she wanted to do from that bucket list.
She turned her attention back toward the concrete building. “I see brightly colored neon lights. I hear the sounds of splashing water, music, and laughter. I smell popcorn and pizza.”
“All that from a concrete building?”
“It’s more than a concrete building to me. I want to build a family fun zone with bowling, miniature golf, arcade games, and a snack bar with everything from corn dogs to onion rings. I want others to have the fun with their loved ones that I never had.”
Silence passed between them as he looked at the structure.
“Can you see it, Dec?” Joy flitted in her eyes. “Can you see my dream?”
“Of course I can.” He caught her smiling face between his hands and pressed his lips to hers. “And if anyone can make their dream a reality, it’s you.”
Chapter 17
A light rain began to fall when Dec dropped Brooke off at the front door of the main house. Their relationship had taken a wonderfully dramatic turn, but Brooke wasn’t ready to jump back into old habits. Both of them could use a little more thinking time before they moved forward, which was why she’d decided to remain at the main house instead of going with him back to his grandfather’s cabin.
A little starry-eyed when she walked into the house, she almost jumped out of her skin when she found a painting party going on in the living room. Aunt Pippy had beige paint in her fireball hair and there were khaki colored paw prints all over the plastic drop cloth. Several teenage girls wore splotches on their T-shirts and even more had paint on their faces.
“Hi!” Nicki came down a ladder to give Brooke a hug. “This is Brooke,” she said to the others in the room gathered around a game of Twister. “She’s the one my brother Dec is hot for.”
Oh my God.
“I’m not sure I—”
“Brooke! I’ve been dying to meet you.” An attractive woman with a ponytail and dark-framed glasses came to shake her hand. “I’m Lucy.”
“I’m a hugger,” Brooke said and Lucy complied with a chuckle. “It’s so good to meet the beauty who tamed the beast.”
“Thank you.” Lucy positively beamed. “It wasn’t an easy task, but worth it. Nicki says you’re rowing the same boa
t.”
“Trying to.”
Lucy sympathetically patted her shoulder. “The Kincade men do have a way of keeping us guessing, don’t they.”
“Agreed.”
“Just don’t give up.” Lucy bent down and dipped her paintbrush in the paint tray. “That’s the main thing. I promise it will be worth the trouble he puts you through.”
“Thanks.” Brooke grinned at the woman with whom she could see becoming fast friends. “I’ll keep that in mind when my brain and heart feel like scrambled eggs.”
“We’re having a painting party,” Nicole explained, then proceeded to introduce Brooke to her girlfriends. In the middle of all the chaos was Moochie, slurping the chin of a dark-haired girl wearing a paint splattered WSU sweatshirt.
“When we get done painting we’re going to have a slumber party and an all-night chick flick festival,” Nicki announced. “Want to join us?”
How could she possibly say no? Besides, going upstairs to crawl into bed alone with nothing to think about but Dec didn’t sound like much fun.
“I’d love to. Let me go upstairs and change.”
“How’d the date go?” Nicole whispered.
“I was tricked. Dec showed up. Did you know about that?”
“Moi?”
“The hand on your chest and the fluttering eyelashes do not make you look less guilty.”
“Hey. Told you. I’m Team Brooke. But I’m a little Team Dec too.” Nicole gave her a squeezy hug. “Go get changed and promise you’ll come back down.”
“I’ll do my best.” She tweaked Nicole’s nose. “You little sneak.” It was hard to be mad at the girl when the evening had turned out so wonderful.
As soon as she closed the bedroom door and kicked off her shoes, her cell phone rang.
Dec’s number popped up on the screen before she answered. “Miss me already?”
“Yes.” His deep, sexy voice sent a tingle straight into her panties. “What are you wearing?”
She chuckled. “The same thing I had on when you dropped me off at the house minus the shoes.”
“That’s not what you’re supposed to say.”
