“What did Bernie say his name was?” I asked Brandy.
“Suddenly interested now, huh?” Her eyes twinkled and she whispered, “Jason.”
The rest of the auction was quite successful. The music and dancing was to start in a few minutes, but I knew I had a lot to get done the next morning and was hoping to dodge out pretty early, especially with my brother hanging around.
“Thank you, daddy,” I said, standing up from my chair and moving toward him.
“That’s what always makes me melt,” he said, scooting his chair out.
I gave him a big hug. “You didn’t have to do that. But I’m pretty happy you did. I’m going to take off for the night. I’ve got a long day ahead tomorrow.”
“Okay, hon. They’ll be delivering the bike this weekend.”
“Great! I don’t think Brandy would be thrilled if I told her she had to climb on the back,” I said, laughing.
“Hell. No. You’ll never get me on that thing,” Brandy piped in. “Tonight. Tomorrow. Or ever.”
Carla began applauding and reached over to grab Brandy’s hand. “I knew we had a lot in common.”
“Are you free for lunch this week?” my dad asked.
My gut twisted. I knew what he wanted, and it had to do with my brother.
“Later in the week is better,” I replied, avoiding the gaze of my brother.
“I’ll have my assistant set something up for Friday,” my dad said.
“Sounds great,” I said and gave him one last hug.
“It was really nice seeing you, Gabby,” Aaron said.
I threw him a smile and nodded. “You too.”
God, I hated lying.
Brandy stood up, and we walked through the ballroom that was now being rearranged into a dance floor.
“What a night,” Brandy said.
“Yeah. Tell me about it.”
As we turned into the foyer, I ran right into Jason. Like literally right into him. My head smacked directly into his chest, and my hands somehow landed on his stomach, confirming that it felt just as defined as my eyes saw earlier. As I attempted to back away, he grabbed my hands and my heart twisted into knots. I was a complete wreck around this guy, and it was so unlike me. Worried that the squirming me would show herself under his gaze, I froze in place and let my hands remain in his.
“Like the bike?” he asked, his voice gravelly, as he looked down at me. His eyes were so penetrating…
I stood and stared, my mouth hanging open. Brandy smacked me on my back and gave me a pointed look. His eyes danced with amusement as I reminded myself to use words.
“It’s gorgeous,” I finally replied, somewhat proud of myself. “Beautiful craftsmanship.”
“I loaded it back on the trailer. Your dad said it would probably be best for me to deliver it this weekend?” His gaze slowly glided along my bare shoulders, and an entire swarm of butterflies started a war in my tummy.
“I think I liked you better up on stage as the quiet artist,” I said, feeling a chill run up my spine.
“Quiet artist?” He smirked. “Not many people think of motorcycle builds as an art form. And I’m certainly not quiet.”
“Not many people enjoy being smirked at.” I pulled away and crossed my arms, pretending that his smirk wasn’t as hot as it was. “And believe me, I’m gathering pretty quickly that you’re not the quiet type. More like obnoxious.”
“Are you always this pissy?” He raised a brow, taking a step back. His full lips and perfectly sculpted jawline distracted me more than I wanted to admit.
“What?” I asked, pretending I didn’t hear.
“Pissy. Are you always this pissy?” he repeated, grinning, a dimple appearing in his left cheek.
I couldn’t help the smile that spread across my lips, and he looked completely enthralled as I shook my head. I suppressed the impulse to let my eyes wander across his broad chest. I didn’t want to give him that satisfaction.
“Normally, she’s worse,” Brandy said, laughing. “Especially since she’s sworn off men.”
I crinkled my nose at her and started grinning.
“It’d be kind of fun to see how ornery I could get you at a coffeehouse or somewhere, maybe dinner?” he asked, his smile lingering.
“This weekend would be great for delivery. I can’t wait to actually see her in the daylight,” I replied, ignoring his request. “But it’s getting late, and I’ve got a busy day tomorrow. It was nice meeting you.”
“That’s a burn,” he murmured, his eyes twinkling.
Jason peered down at me, and I felt like I was back in time experiencing my first crush. His mouth parted and I expected him to say something, but he stopped himself.
“Hey, by the way, when did my dad talk to you about delivery?” I questioned, suddenly realizing my dad had been by my side the entire time. Unfortunately, it wasn’t Jason who answered.
“He had that bike custom built for you,” my brother told me from behind. “There was no way he was going to let it get away tonight. I think he started to panic when that lady tried to outbid him. Jason donated the time, and dad paid for the materials so he could get the bike perfect when he went to bid on it for you.”
“You knew about it?” I asked, turning to face him. How long had my dad been in contact with my brother without telling me?
“Yeah. I introduced him to Jason Baines,” Aaron said, like it was obvious to everyone but me.
The sales numbers had come in for the prior week, and the office was abuzz with good news. Sales were up by three points over the previous year, and market share had shifted favorably. I was still on a mini-high from the night before so the news only added to my good mood. I could attribute my walking-on-air sensation partially because I was the owner of a custom bike that had been made especially for me, but more so because Jason seemed to have invaded every thought I’d had since I left the night’s festivities, and most of the thoughts weren’t very innocent.
Unfortunately, it was only a mini-high because the encounter with my brother threatened to wash it all away. I had spent years trying to keep the memory of my mom alive within me, while telling myself that the memories of my brother weren’t worth having. The problem with that methodology was that the memories were so intertwined that in order to forget about my brother, I had to forget about my mother.
I walked down the corridor toward my office and gave a quick wave to Brandy, who popped her head over the cubicle wall as I walked by. Since we were roommates, we’d planned on riding in together most mornings, but this morning I left at an ungodly hour and didn’t want her to share in my pain. I had already downed two lattes and was ready to roll for the day by the time the first employee came in to the office.
Trying hard to ignore my brother’s sudden reappearance into my life, I knew the best thing to do would be to bury myself deep in the day’s tasks. What bothered me immensely was that I was the last to know that Aaron decided to wander back into our lives. I hated lies, and I hated secrets, and now it felt like my parents were taking part in both. Plus, it didn’t help that a guy I might possibly be interested in seems to know my brother better than I do. That was a deal breaker…if there was an actual deal to be had.
There’s no saying he’s interested in me, and judging by his blonde helper buddy, I was probably not even his type. And I was pissy? He thinks I was pissy. Who would say that? My lips turned up slightly as I remembered running into him. His chest was so…
About to turn the corner to enter my office, I tripped on a loose piece of carpet and slammed right into the glass wall. The office erupted with applause and laughter, and I spun around to give them a quick bow as more coworkers peered their heads over the short cubicles. HR told me the short walls were the latest in team-building efforts, but I had to admit if I was out there, I’d hate the lack of privacy.
“I’m sure it’s only the beginning,” I said, smiling at the onlookers.
Picking up the folders that had scattered on the floor, I vo
wed to get some scissors and snip the culprit.
See!
This was exactly what happened when I let myself daydream about a guy. It just didn’t work well for me.
My phone began ringing, and I quickly grabbed the last two green folders and ran to my desk, picking the phone up on the last ring.
“Gabrielle speaking,” I spoke into the receiver, not recognizing the number on the screen.
“I thought you went by Gabby,” a man’s voice rumbled, making my heart skip a beat.
It was him!
“Are you calling because you’re going to try to claim whiplash from the accident or something?”
“That’s cold,” he laughed. “I’m not usually into insurance fraud but thanks for thinking so highly of me.”
I looked through the open door and over to Brandy’s desk. She had her head pointed in the other direction, looking at her monitor, but I didn’t want her to hear.
“Would you mind holding one moment?” I asked calmly, as my heart sputtered out of control.
“Sure.”
I clicked the hold button and hung up the phone, trying to take the great big dummy grin off my lips. I walked over to the door slowly as to not raise any suspicion with Brandy and closed it softly.
I ran back to the phone and picked it up, only to be horrified to see the green light extinguished.
I had hung up on him!
Now he was going to think I was a complete bitch! I looked around my office horrified and tried to remember the number to dial to do a callback. No. I can’t do that… then it would seem completely desperate.
Shit!
My phone lit up again and Brandy tapped lightly on the glass. I motioned for her to open the door and she stuck her head inside.
“Try not to hang up on him again,” she said, smiling coyly and quickly shut the door.
Just because my last three long-term relationships fizzled out—Okay, they didn’t fizzle out. It was more like a huge nuclear blast that hit everyone around me—didn’t mean I couldn’t maybe try it again.
The phone was on its last ring, and I saw Brandy glaring at me through the glass, getting extremely frustrated. I smiled at her and picked up the phone.
“Gabby speaking,” I said.
“Gabby, I’m not going to go away that easily,” he teased, his voice lighting up the connection between us. “You’ll have to do better than that.”
“Sorry. It was the phone system,” I muttered, quickly losing my mind as I felt his overconfidence wrap around me.
“Sure it was.” I felt his smile come over the phone.
“I’m not really into dating right now,” I said, attempting to regain control of the situation. I wasn’t going to let his sultry voice completely crumble my modus of operandi.
“Huh. Really. Well, I generally don’t rule it out myself, but I’m pretty content right now as well... Just focusing on my builds and what not. So what time works best for me to drop off the bike on Saturday?” his voice charmed.
Shittily dee!
Mortified didn’t even cover what I was feeling right now. I can’t believe I thought he was going to ask me out. Now I look like a complete dweeb.
“Are you still there?” he asked.
“Yeah. Yes. Saturday works great,” I said.
“I think we established that yesterday. I was only hoping to find out the time,” he said, completely delighted with the effect he was having on me. I could sense that much.
“Oh, um. Late afternoon? Maybe three o’clock?” I barely chirped off.
All I wanted to do was hang up and slide off my chair and under my desk. In speaking with him less than a handful of times, I’ve somehow managed to secure my image of a prissy ass who was completely presumptuous and overly sure of herself. And I’d like to think I wasn’t usually any one of those.
“Great. I’ll see you then. Maybe we can do coffee after.” And he hung up the phone.
Wait. What? Now he was just messing with me. That was it. Time to throw myself into the slew of emails that were waiting in my inbox about how to repeat last week’s sales this week.
I tried to convince myself that I really did care about organic dairy products and began clicking through my inbox, determined not to give Jason another thought. But then my fingers began typing his name into Google.
No! I was not going to become one of those who endlessly searched for images and tidbits about some guy I’d barely met. Closing out of Google, I let out a sigh and focused on my emails.
Brandy paged me on the phone, and I glanced at the clock. I had been sifting through emails for a few hours, and I didn’t even realize it.
“Ready for lunch?” she asked.
I attached our results with a mini-synopsis, typed in my father’s email address, and clicked send. He always liked a weekly recap from all his divisions, and I wasn’t about to let the good news go unnoticed.
“Yep. Let’s get out of here.” I ended the call and hopped up from my desk, feeling rejuvenated. Nothing like getting a shitload of work done before lunch even rolled around.
She opened the door and gave me a big grin. “What do you feel like for lunch?”
“Since it actually feels like summer,” I mused. “Let’s find a place with a patio.”
“Sounds good to me. We could try that French bakery on the corner. They have sidewalk seating and their croissant sandwiches look scrumptious.” Her eyes sparkled with curiosity, and I knew what she really wanted to ask.
I peeled off my sweater jacket and tossed it on the chair. If we were going to eat outside, I didn’t need it.
“Perfect! I might have dessert for lunch. Someone came in a couple days ago with an éclair, and it looked so good.” I turned on my voicemail and followed Brandy out of my office.
We found a table for two in the far corner of the café’s patio. It was right under one of the nice shade trees that were sprinkled along the sidewalk. I couldn’t imagine how sterile the city would be without them. I loved when Seattle began keeping the twinkle lights on the trees year round. I took a seat in the scrolled iron chair and scooted closer to the tiny matching table. The row of red geraniums at the base of the patio fencing caught my eye, and I made a mental note to pick some up.
“We should do this on our balcony,” I said, pointing at the flowers.
Brandy nodded and began scanning the menu right as the waitress came over and took our drink order. I could tell Brandy couldn’t wait to ask me about the call with Jason. Thankfully, there wasn’t much to reveal.
After I ordered my apricot iced tea, I felt Brandy’s prodding eyes waiting for me to say something.
“Well?” she blurted out, unable to handle it any longer.
“Well what?” I asked, grinning. It felt like our many lunches back on campus. One or the other of us gabbing about our latest relationship woes, but this time I wasn’t even in a relationship.
“Are you guys going out?” She threw me a half-smile and sat back in the chair.
“That’s not why he called, and even if it had been, I would have told him no.”
Her brows shot up and she shook her head. “You’ve gotta get out of your dry spell,” she said as the waitress brought our drinks.
Thanks for that, Brandy.
“Have you decided on what you’d like to order?” the waitress asked, giving me a sympathetic smile.
“I would love two éclairs,” I said.
“Two?” Brandy asked.
I shrugged.
“And I’d like the Brie and ham croissant,” Brandy replied.
“Great. Is there anything else I can get you?”
“No, thanks,” I said.
Once a group of girls walked by the patio and far enough down the sidewalk, I leaned across the tiny table. “It’s not a dry spell when it’s self-inflicted,” I began again.
“Say what you want. I just don’t know how you could resist those amazing blue eyes—” she started.
“They’re not blue. They�
��re a nice amber color,” I corrected her.
“Ha! I knew it. You’re completely into him.” She grinned.
“Somehow, I’m beginning to feel like we rewound back to my teen years with you.” I rolled my eyes and took a sip of the tea, trying not to laugh.
“Oh no,” she said emphatically. “I was way worse back then. But seriously, what’s the deal?”
“I don’t know. It seems like I’m always attracted to the overly cocky guys, and it always screws me in the end. And the whole knowing my brother thing…” I shuddered at the thought.
“You’re going to have to open up about that to me a little because I’m completely puzzled. You know I’ve got your back, but I’m not really sure what he did that was so bad?” She pressed her lips together and looked down at her drink, stirring it a couple times. “I mean I’m actually not over the shock of finding out you even had one.”
“Sorry about that,” I said. “I shoved the whole situation out of my head and did my best to move on.”
The waitress placed my éclairs in front of me and Brandy’s sandwich in front of her. The éclairs looked like they would definitely take away my cares in a second.
“I think this could be a regular spot for us,” I said, eyeing her croissant sandwich.
“I agree.”
I glanced around the patio and all of the tables had filled up, and the sidewalk was now bustling with the lunch crowd. I took a bite of the first éclair and felt the goodness melt in my mouth—definitely the perfect choice for today.
“Let me have it,” she prompted.
“So my brother and I were inseparable. Everywhere he went, I went. He never seemed to care that his kid sister followed him around. No matter what he was up to, he let me tag along. I mean there he was, a fifteen-year-old guy, not running away from his ten-year-old sister. Once he got his license, he offered to drive me around to all my lessons, and I had a ton of them. One day it would be piano, the next ballet, and he’d take me to every single one and watch the entire time, offering words of encouragement. When my mom got sick, he was devastated.”
As I told Brandy about my brother I could feel the sorrow and rejection build up again. I had done so well at pushing those emotions away, and here I was unburying something I had tried so hard to forget. I stopped eating my éclair, and Brandy reached over and grabbed my hand.
Beyond Control Page 4
