“A month?” Liam lowered his head and sighed. “This is the busiest time of the year. I don’t even know if I can take off an entire month.”
Zach slapped Liam on the back. “Now that it’s settled, you can talk some sense into Braxton.”
“Nothing is settled,” Liam growled, and eased out from under Zach’s clutch. “And whatever Braxton is doing or not doing with Cora is none of our concern. If she quits because of him, then you can kill him and I’ll help you bury the body.”
The support was beyond comforting. “Why don’t we focus on getting this place ready for the open house next week? Liam is going to have to come up with a menu or work off the one the other chef was going to use.”
“I’ll make my own damn menu,” Liam grumbled.
A cell chirped and Zach reached into his pocket, pulled out his phone, and quickly read the screen. With a groan, he dropped the phone back into the pocket of his worn jeans.
“I need to meet Sophie at the tree lot and pick up the trees and wreaths. She’s going to have this place looking like the North Pole if I don’t keep her under control.”
Leaning against the center island, Braxton crossed his arms over his chest. “Let her do whatever she wants. She knows a hell of a lot more about decorating than you do. Besides, women love all that and isn’t catering to them the whole point?”
Zach raked a hand through his messy hair and glanced around the polished kitchen. “This going to work for you, Liam?”
Surveying the area, Liam walked around the island, checked out the double wall ovens, the industrial stove, the fridge camouflaged as more cabinets, and finally turned back around. “I’ll work on the menu tonight and run everything by Sophie.”
“I need to get Cora’s room finished,” Braxton chimed in. “I’ll be bringing over her equipment today and the items we ordered should be in tomorrow.”
Liam tipped his head, the scar on the side of his cheek facing away as always. “You going to screw this up with her and the resort?”
Braxton leveled his brother’s gaze. “No. Are we going to have a problem? Because get it all out of your system now. I plan on seeing Cora now and after we open.”
“Is she aware of this?” Zach asked, stepping around to stand by Liam. Ironic his two brothers who were always at odds looked as if they were teaming up against him.
“If you don’t have anything else to discuss, I’m going to go pick up that equipment.”
“You can dodge the question, but you better make sure your head is on straight with this girl,” Zach warned.
Braxton gave a mock salute and turned to walk out the back door.
“How’s the back today?” Zach asked.
Braxton threw a glance over his shoulder. “Better. I’ll be back.”
He wasn’t about to get into the fact Cora had massaged him into a state of near nonexistent pain. Seriously, they’d have to consider advertising that little aspect because Cora had some amazingly talented hands and had performed some miracle on his battered muscles.
Yeah, best to leave all of that out.
Before he could escape out the back door, Macy stepped up and started to knock. He waved her on in and moved aside.
“Hey,” she greeted, then glanced around the room and nearly froze in place when her eyes landed on Liam. “Am I interrupting? I didn’t know you were home.”
Liam lifted a shoulder in reply and turned away, walking out of the room. What the hell was going on with these two?
When Braxton glanced back to Macy, he caught a quick flash of... regret? She quickly masked it with a smile as she turned to Zach. “Dad took over work for the day and I thought I’d swing by and see if there was anything I could do to help.”
“You want to meet Sophie at the tree farm and save me from hauling twenty trees?”
Braxton snorted. “She’s not buying twenty.”
“Fine. Twelve trees and fifteen wreaths. It’s going to take a while to haul that.” Zach shook his head and cussed beneath his breath. “I sure as hell hope nobody is allergic to pine.”
Macy crossed the space, placed her hand on Zach’s shoulder, and gave him a slight pat. “I’ll meet her there. We’ll have a girl-bonding moment where we discuss men and how frustrating your species is.”
Braxton didn’t miss the hint of anger lacing her tone. Even her megawatt smile couldn’t hide the fact Macy was upset with someone . . . most likely the man who just stalked off into the other room.
“If you’re having trouble with a man, please don’t bring Sophie in on it,” Zach begged. “She likes me. I’d like to keep it that way.”
Macy adjusted the cuff on the folded sleeve on her plaid shirt. “I have a date later, so maybe we’ll focus on that.”
A cabinet door slammed, causing each of them to turn. Liam had come back into the kitchen, but Braxton hadn’t heard him. Clearly, he wasn’t too keen on the idea of Macy on a date with another man.
Finally. After years of trying to hide, trying to shut the world out and ignore those around him, Liam was showing some emotions.
“Text Sophie and tell her I’m on the way with my truck,” Macy stated, but her eyes remained on Liam’s broad back. “We’ll be back shortly.”
Liam muttered something under his breath and marched from the room once again.
Zach reached for Macy before she could exit. “Something going on with you and Liam?”
Braxton had never seen Macy anything but chipper and happy. But a sad smile tipped the corners of her mouth. “Nothing at all.”
Zach released her arm when she turned. Once the back door closed behind her, Braxton glanced to Zach and simply shrugged. Liam chose that moment to come back in, most likely because he’d heard the door and knew it was safe.
Bracing his palms on the center island, Zach closed his eyes and seemed to be counting beneath his breath. When he opened, he stared across the space to Braxton, then to Liam.
“If you two don’t get this shit taken care of before the open house, I’m going to have to kill both of you and then I’ll be really pissed because the last thing I want to do is run this women’s resort alone.”
“I don’t have anything to take care of,” Braxton defended easily. “Whatever is going on with Liam and Macy, though . . .”
“Nothing is going on.” The thunder in his voice implied differently. “Drop it and mind your own damn business.”
Braxton shook his head and headed out the back door. Regardless of what was or wasn’t going on with Liam and Macy, maybe this was good for him. Perhaps he’d be back in the game of life. He was showing more feelings, anger and rage, but hey, that was progress. He kept too much bottled inside.
As Braxton slid in behind the wheel of his SUV, he wondered about the secret Cora was keeping. Whatever it was, he hoped she trusted him enough to let him in. And, he realized, in Cora’s world is where he wanted to be.
But if he was allowed access to hers, did that mean she’d have full access to his? Because the world he came from wasn’t all sunshine and puppy dogs. Braxton wasn’t sure if he was ready to let anyone in on that ugliness . . . let alone the woman he was falling for.
* * *
Braxton was just about to knock on the back door of Cora’s house when a piercing scream from the inside had him jiggling the knob only to find it locked. He didn’t think twice as he gave a swift kick at just the right spot and had the door springing open.
A small flame licked the sides of a pan on the stove and Cora stood back, clutching her arm.
Braxton surveyed the area quickly before jerking the pan off the stove, tossing it and the contents into the sink, and turning off the burner.
His weapon in slapping out the tiny flame was a half-burned towel with dark, jagged edges sitting next to the stove. Finally, once the fire was out, he tossed the towel into the sink, too, and turned to Cora.
Her skin had lost all color and her wide, unblinking eyes stared in his direction.
Slowly he crossed to h
er, trying to see the damage to the arm she still clutched against her body.
“Let me see,” he told her softly. “Did you get burned?”
She nodded, biting down on her lip as her chin quivered. Braxton took hold of her fingers and extended her arm where an ugly red-and-purple burn had marred her forearm.
“Let’s get some cold water on this.” He gently eased her over to the sink. “I’ve got you.”
He turned on the water and flinched just as she did when the cold made contact with her skin. “Sorry, baby. I know it hurts.”
Once he was satisfied with the amount of coolness to the burn, he turned off the water and wrapped an arm around her waist. “Why don’t you go sit on the couch and I’ll find something else to put on that.”
She said nothing as he led her to the living room, Heidi obediently at their side. As soon as she collapsed onto the couch, Cora tipped her head down and attempted to hide the fact she was crying, but her shaking shoulders and unsteady breath tipped him off. Braxton knelt down in front of her.
“I know it hurts,” he told her, stroking her good arm with his thumb. “I’m going to get something to help take that edge off.”
“No,” she whispered. Braxton studied her, watching as she tried to compose herself. “It’s not the pain. I just . . . what if they were right?”
Using the pad of his thumb, Braxton swiped her damp cheeks and smoothed her hair away from her face. “Who was right about what?”
“Maybe I shouldn’t live alone.” Her defeated tone crushed him. “Damn it, I don’t want to be dependent, but I can’t even make a stupid grilled cheese.”
No way was he letting her beat herself up over this. “It was an accident,” he told her, squeezing her hand. “The towel was too close to the burner. It could’ve happened to me or anyone else.”
Her wet eyes stared straight ahead, directly at him. “But it didn’t. Now all I’ve done is prove that living alone is harder than I thought. What if you hadn’t been here? What if I’d stepped away for a moment? The entire wall could’ve gone up in flames and all because I’m running away and being stubborn.”
Braxton eased up onto the couch beside her and pulled her into his arms. “You’re stubborn, yes, but you’re also human. Accidents are going to happen. Even if I’d been here, that towel could’ve still caught fire.”
But maybe it wouldn’t have and she wouldn’t be hurt. Damn it, he didn’t want her injured, and he sure as hell didn’t want her to doubt her ability to live a normal life without a keeper. He’d never seen her defeated, he’d never experienced a lack of confidence.
“I’m just having a bad day.” She pushed away from him and pulled in a deep breath. “I talked with my mother this morning and we actually had a good talk, but—”
“You’re feeling guilty,” he finished, noting the tone in her voice.
Cora nodded. “I’ve done so well through the years of ignoring her jabs, but she thinks I’ve just deserted them. Understandably, she’s worried about the future of her business. I get it, I really do. I just wish she would try to grasp where I’m coming from too.”
“Why don’t you invite her to the open house next week?” he asked, a little shocked the idea came to him so quickly. “Have both of your parents see where you’ll be working, show them your house and how well you’re—”
She was shaking her head. “Absolutely not. I don’t want my parents here. I don’t want them to meet . . .”
Her words died between them, but it was obvious she didn’t want her parents to meet him. A sense of déjà vu swept through him as he shifted away.
“I didn’t mean that the way it sounded,” she muttered, toying with the hem of her cardigan.
“Sounds like you’re ashamed of what we have, of me.” Braxton closed his eyes and forced himself to fight the hurt threatening to consume him. “After last night I thought we’d grown closer.”
“We have,” she insisted, glancing toward him. “My parents are complicated people and I just don’t want them here. You have to trust me. I have my reasons.”
He didn’t want to compare Cora to Anna, but the similarities were too blatant. The red flags were waving in his face and he shoved them aside. He didn’t want to see them, he didn’t want to believe that she was embarrassed of him, of what they shared.
“I know that all of this with us is new, but I need to know where we stand. Was last night just a one-time thing? Because that’s not how I went into this.”
Cora worried her bottom lip with her teeth and reached her hand out, searching for him. Braxton met her halfway and laced their fingers together.
“It wasn’t just one time,” she told him softly. “This does mean more, but my parents aren’t part of whatever is happening here. Please, understand that I need time to adjust to this new life. I wasn’t expecting to find such a great job, let alone a guy who makes me feel . . .”
Braxton smiled and tugged her against his chest. “Makes you feel what?” he whispered against her lips.
“Achy.”
Sliding his mouth over hers, he trapped her hands between their bodies and set out to prove just how achy he could make her feel. Last night wasn’t a one-and-done thing. When he’d dropped her off at home this morning, he hadn’t wanted to let her go. Waking up with Cora at his side was different and unexpectedly . . . perfect.
But she wasn’t ready to hear that and he wasn’t quite ready to say it out loud.
He nipped at her lips before pulling back. When her tongue slipped out to slide across her bottom lip, it was all Braxton could do to stay focused.
“Let me get something for that burn.” He smoothed her hair away from her face as he came to his feet. “Then I need to load up the equipment and get it back to the resort.”
“I’ll come with you,” she told him.
“You sure?”
Nodding, Cora smiled. “Despite what you think, I like what’s going on with us. Forget my parents, forget all the reasons this is bad timing, and let’s just see where things go. Can we do that?”
Even though Braxton wanted to know more, he wanted her to lay out for him the reasons she was so adamant about keeping her parents at a distance, he also had a need to keep Cora in his life. For now, he’d play things her way, but soon they were going to have to talk, because if he was going to invest his heart again, he wanted the full truth.
* * *
Cora tried to hide the yawn, but when Braxton chuckled, she knew she’d been caught.
“Sorry,” she muttered behind her hand. “It’s been a long day and I didn’t get much sleep last night.”
Braxton’s low groan had her realizing what she’d just said. “I didn’t mean—”
His hand covered her thigh. “I know what you meant and I’m not apologizing.”
Cora reached back to grab her seat belt, but instantly Braxton was across her and pulling it into place.
“I can get it.”
“I’m aware of that, but I’m using this as an excuse to cop a feel.” His warm breath tickled her cheek as his hand slowly grazed across her chest. “Unless you’d rather I not touch you.”
Had the temperature gone up? Cora’s entire body heated at those low, seductive words. Her belt clicked into place, the sound cutting through the tension.
“I have a surprise for you.” His lips slid across her jawline.
Cora tipped her head to the side, needing more, silently begging him to continue. “What’s that?” she whispered, hoping it had something to do with less clothes and a bedroom . . . or at least not the passenger seat of his SUV.
“I can’t tell you, but it’s not far.” His hand slid up beneath the hem of her shirt, his thumb stroked over her heated skin. “But this will have to wait until later. I just wanted to touch you in private.”
They’d spent the last two hours working on her room in the resort. Zach had come and gone, Sophie and Macy were busy putting up trees, which may be the reason Zach had gone because he was getting his
head bit off by the other two women when he kept trying to tell them there were too many decorations.
Braxton had been a total professional and Cora appreciated the fact he wasn’t flaunting this fresh relationship in front of his family. She couldn’t deal with that step quite yet. All of this happened so fast, yet she couldn’t stop herself from getting caught up in the roller-coaster ride. She was starting to crave Braxton more and more.
“I want you to stay with me tonight,” he told her. “Tomorrow is Saturday and we have nothing to do.”
“Braxton—”
His lips covered hers, halting her protest. But when his tongue eased her mouth open and he took the kiss from sensual to curl-your-toes sexy, she completely forgot what she was about to protest. When a man kissed with this much passion, he wanted more.
Cora placed her hand on his chest and eased back. “I can’t think rationally when you’re kissing me.”
“Perfect.” The smugness to his voice had her laughing. “I hope I keep your mind muddled.”
When he brought the engine to life, Cora was still reeling from his touch. Her entire body tingled and she couldn’t deny she’d never felt as alive as she did with Braxton. He was special, he was too good to be true, and she held out a very big secret from him.
“I need to tell you something,” she blurted out before she could think better of it.
“You sound serious.”
Cora swallowed the lump in her throat. “I-I’m . . .” This was harder than she thought.
Braxton’s hand covered hers. “Whatever you want to tell me can wait until you’re ready. Yes, I want to know everything about you, but not at the expense of your nerves. When you’re with me I don’t want you to worry about anything.”
Cora sighed. She should press on, but fear gripped her and she took the easy way out. “Tell me what this surprise is.”
“Not a chance.”
“Tell me you didn’t get me a Christmas present. I don’t think we’re at the present stage.”
Braxton’s laughter filled the vehicle. “I can honestly say I didn’t spend a dime. But I’m curious about these stages. What stage are we in? The great-sex part?”
Caught Up In You Page 19
