“You can bet on it.”
*****
Brax couldn’t believe she was back. On the one hand he was thrilled— he’d been obsessing over her the last few months. Even in the midst of his anger over the senseless vandalism, he’d taken a moment to drink her in.
But he was worried. Holly didn’t need to be in the middle of this and he intended to let Derrick know his thoughts on the matter as soon as he got a hold of him.
Irritation had him grinding his teeth. Derrick had insisted on putting his own project manager on the job and Brax could understand why, but Joshua could manage just fine without Max here. There was no reason for Derrick to send Holly.
Brax wiped his sweaty brow as he realized everyone was packing up. Saying goodbye to the guys, he headed towards the trailer office. He stopped in the doorway, surprised to see that it had been tidied up. His desk was upright, with neat stacks of paper sitting on top. Unfortunately his chair was missing a couple of legs.
“Hope you don’t mind,” a quiet voice said behind him. “I didn’t read your papers—just put them into piles.”
“Mind? No, I don’t mind.” She’d saved him quite a bit of time and effort. “But you didn’t need to do this.”
She shrugged, her full lips tilting up into a smile. “I know. Are you finished for the night or do you still have some work to do?”
“Well, I guess I’m finished now. I just need to call Derrick. I tried him earlier but couldn’t get through.”
Holly nodded, her dark, silken tresses gleaming in the soft late-afternoon night. Brax was tired, sweaty and worried, yet he felt unbelievably content just watching her.
“I got a hold of him. He’s concerned, of course, and wanted me to warn you to be careful.”
“He didn’t order you home?” Brax asked.
“Derrick doesn’t order me around. Well, he tries to, but it doesn’t always work.” A small smirk crossed her lips and his cock hardened. He shifted, trying to ease his discomfit.
“He’s your boss. I didn’t think you would have a choice.”
“He was my brother-in-law before he became my boss, so I get away with more than most. He’s not going to fire me. That would make things a bit awkward when we got home.” She sent him a cheeky smile.
“So Derrick was married to…” He knew he was fishing, but didn’t care.
“Actually, I was married to Derrick’s brother. We divorced a few years ago.”
“And you live with Derrick?”
“Yes.” A sad look crossed her face and he felt the urge to hold her, demand to know who had put that look on her face. “I actually live in his guest house. Guess that’s pretty pathetic, right?”
“No,” Brax said, more sharply than he meant to. “Not pathetic,” he reassured her. She had a defeated look on her face that he instantly wanted to erase. “I’m just surprised you guys get on so well. Not everyone could live and work together.”
She shrugged. “He’s all I have left, and vice versa. Besides, Derrick travels a lot.”
“You don’t go with him?” He wondered how she’d ended up living and working with Derrick after her divorce.
Holly nervously licked her lips. “Sometimes I do. Umm, I was wondering if you had plans for dinner tonight?”
Brax stared at her in surprise. “Ahh, I’m…” he stumbled
“You have plans,” she said quickly, pink staining her cheeks. She dropped her gaze. “It was a bit short notice. Maybe another night,” she said hastily, turning away quickly.
Fix it.
Reaching out, he grabbed hold of her arm. “I have to go home to shower and change, but I would love to go out to dinner with you,” he told her. He didn’t have a chance in hell of staying away from her.
She wouldn’t be sticking around forever. Really, this was more about two single, lonely people keeping each other company.
Just dinner between friends, he told himself.
Yeah right.
She turned back to look at him. “You sure? Don’t feel obliged to because I work for Derrick.”
“I’m not. I’d like nothing better than to have dinner with you tonight. I’d like to spend some time with you, Holly.” The words were out before he had time to think about them.
A shy smile curled her lips. “Me too,” she said quietly. “Shall I meet you at O’Reilly’s at eight?”
Brax shook his head. “No. I will pick you up at the hotel.”
*****
Holly couldn’t believe how much she was enjoying dinner. Brax was funny, caring and a good listener. Not at all like the guys she’d been dating lately.
“Dessert?” he asked.
“Oh no, I couldn’t possibly eat another thing. You go for it, though. After all, you’ve been working hard all day.”
“And you haven’t? Did pixies tidy up my office for me? I hope you had help picking that furniture up.” His eyes were dark, serious. He was a very serious man. He needed someone to make him smile.
And you think that could be you?
She had never been this attracted to anyone before, not even Matt. It made her do rash things, like ask him out to dinner. Something she would never have the courage to do normally.
Holly guessed she had put him in an awkward position. He probably didn’t want to offend her—and by default, Derrick— by refusing. Did he just agree to dinner because of she was here representing Derrick?
No—the way he looked at her, the heat in his eyes… she couldn’t be mistaking that.
She wished she were better at this. She hated that Matt had done this to her, made her second-guess her own judgment. He’d eroded her self-confidence over the years, leaving her second-guessing her own instincts.
“It wasn’t that heavy and Joshua helped with the desk. Poor Joshua, he’s a bit stressed over the vandalism. Derrick mentioned something about some complaints? Could that have something to do with the vandalism?”
Brax shrugged. “A few people around here have complained about the resort going up, but we already had all the permits in place so there wasn’t much they could do. There have been a few comments said to my guys, but it’s nothing they can’t handle. No, I think this smells of Mason and his brothers.”
She frowned. “You really think they’d do this?”
“Yeah, Mason hates me. But I intend to make sure that nothing like this happens again. Sure you don’t want dessert?”
She shook her head. “No, thank you.”
Brax signaled for the waitress. “Can I have the crème brulee?”
The waitress nodded and left.
“How do you intend to make sure it never happens again?” she asked.
“I’m going to pay Mason a visit tonight,” he told her.
“By yourself?” No way. “Are you crazy?”
“I’m going to put an end to this stupidity and let Mason know that he’s not going to get away with this.”
“I’m going with you.” She wasn’t letting him go alone. He could end up seriously hurt or worse.
Brax raised both his eyebrows, his eyes widening. “Ahh, no, you most certainly are not.”
“Yes, I am. If it was Mason who vandalized the site, then he damaged Ashdown property and that involves me. If it wasn’t, then he’s still shown that he has a temper and is violent. I’m going to back you up.”
Brax leaned forward and grabbed a hold of her hand. His heat instantly sizzled its way up her arm, spreading throughout her body. She pressed her legs together.
Wow.
“Sweetheart, I love that you want to help me, but you are not going with me. This is between me and Mason—”
“And his brothers if they’re around. You can’t go up against three of them by yourself.”
“Don’t worry. I can take care of myself. And you.”
“I don’t need you to take care of me,” she said, surprised.
“That so? You seem like you could do with someone watching out for you. You need a keeper, young lady. Some of your c
hoices haven’t been very wise decisions.”
“Like what?” She always thought of herself as quite sensible. Steady. Boring.
“Let’s see… getting involved in the middle of a fight with men much bigger than you. Going for a walk at night when your leg was paining you, without telling anyone where you were. Walking around a vandalized, empty building site instead of staying in your car and calling the sheriff. And right now you’re insisting on coming with me to meet a guy who likes to hit women. Do you ever think before you rush into things?”
“Of course I do, usually. When you put it like that it doesn’t sound that great. But I had good reasons for doing each of those things.”
“I’m sure you thought so at the time, but in each case you compromised your safety and that makes me worry about you. I don’t want anything bad touching you and that includes Mason Philips. You’ll stay here where I don’t have to worry about you getting hurt.”
“I can protect your back, Brax. I’m not completely helpless.”
He smiled at her. “You’re not helpless at all. But like I said before, I’m an old-fashioned guy, sweetheart. It’s my privilege to take care of those smaller and more fragile than me. That includes you. So while you are capable of taking on the world, I am always going to stand between you and danger.”
Wow. Wow, wow, wow. She couldn’t get any words out. He was the type of man she had always dreamed of. Except, maybe he was like this with everyone. After all, he had rescued Mason Philips wife. Had he said these same words to her?
Jealous ate at Holly’s stomach as she nodded. What could she say? Arguing would get her nowhere. He was only trying to keep her safe. But there was no way she was letting him go after Philips by himself. This protection thing went both ways. However, she decided to keep that piece of information to herself.
“I’m not really used to anyone looking out for me—well, except for Derrick, that is.”
“What about your husband?”
“I married Matt when I was young and naïve. In the beginning he cared about me, I think. But he spent more time away than he did at home. When he was home, he was never really that interested in what I was doing.”
“You said that the two of you are divorced, that must have been hard.”
“Yeah it was. I was kind of blindsided when he left me after the accident.”
“Accident?”
She licked her lips nervously. She hadn’t intended to talk about all of this tonight, had hoped to keep things light. But there was something about Brax that had her wanting to open up. That wall she kept up between her and others crumbled in his presence.
“Ahh, yeah. Just over two years ago I was in a car accident. A drunk driver ran a red light and smashed into me.”
“Is that how you hurt your leg?”
She nodded. “Broke my pelvis and smashed my leg. My calf muscle tore and, well, I won’t go on.”
The waitress arrived right then with his crème brulee, saving her from further explanation.
Brax spooned some up, but instead of bringing it up to his own mouth, held it up to hers.
“Oh no, really, I shouldn’t.”
“You’re not on a diet, are you?”
“Jeez, Brax, didn’t your mother ever tell you that you shouldn’t comment on a woman’s age or weight?”
“My parents died just when I was just starting to date,” he replied, making her feel horrid.
“Oh, I’m so sorry.” She reached for his free hand, squeezing it as she took the spoonful of creamy dessert he offered.
Brax nodded. “So, are you dieting?” His look warned her not to avoid his question again.
“No. I like the way I look,” she challenged, waiting for his recriminations. She wasn’t exactly slim. One of her previous dates had the gall to suggest she might want to get a salad rather than a steak. So she’d ordered the steak with garlic butter and a huge serving of cheesecake for dessert. She’d felt sick for the rest of the night, but oh, it had been worth every bite.
“Good, because I think you are perfect.”
She snorted. “You wouldn’t think that if you saw my dimply thighs.”
“Hey, we all have areas on our body we hate.”
She looked him over. He was perfection. “And where would that be for you?”
“My toes.”
“What?”
“My toes,” he repeated. “They look like fingers. They’re far too long and thin. It’s embarrassing.”
She laughed. “Well, I guess I’ll have to see them to believe it.”
“I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.”
She blushed, not quite knowing how to reply. She wasn’t used to flirting.
“It must have been hard, having your parents die when you were so young.”
“I miss both of them a lot. But my brother Heath took over the family and kept us all together.”
“How many brothers do you have?” she asked.
“I have three. Heath is the oldest, then comes Kent and Cam. I’m next, and Frankie, our sister, is the baby.”
“Poor girl. I bet you boys were hard to live with.”
“What are you talking about?” he asked with a mock-amazement. “We were wonderful big brothers.”
“Uh-huh. I can only guess that your brothers are as overprotective as you.”
“Actually they’re worse than me—especially Heath. He took his job as head of the household very seriously. Didn’t help that Frankie could be a real brat. Believe me; she deserved every one of the spankings she got.”
“Your brother spanked her?” she asked incredulously.
He nodded. “Yep. That’s the way we were raised—our parents spanked us. Didn’t your parents spank you?”
“Ahh, no. I was a pretty good child.”
“Making up for it now, huh?”
She wrinkled her nose at him.
“Do you have siblings?” he asked.
“No. My parents had me late in life. They died when I was in college, just before I met Matt.”
He frowned. “So you said that Matt is Derrick’s brother, doesn’t that make things awkward when you live and work with Derrick?”
“Matt and Derrick have never gotten along, even before Matt left me. I should probably feel bad for driving more of a wedge between them but I know that they disliked each other long before I came along.”
“He must have been crazy to leave you.”
“Nice of you to say so, but he had his mistress to keep him warm.”
“He was cheating on you?”
“Oh yes, for most of our marriage it seems. Of course, I didn’t know all that until after he left me. He really couldn’t have chosen a worse time or place, either. Believe me, hospital is a hell of a place to learn your husband is leaving you for a prettier, younger and thinner woman.”
Brax couldn’t understand any man who would be stupid enough to let Holly out of his life. But her husband had left her when she was injured and vulnerable was unbelievable.
“What a jerk,” he told her with a scowl. “Sounds to me like you’re better off without someone like that in your life.”
“I suppose looking after me didn’t really hold much interest to him.”
“I can imagine that it was a long recovery.”
She blew out a breath. “You could say that. Months of physical therapy and my leg will never be fully one hundred percent. But at least I can still work. Luckily, Derrick was there for me. He hired me a fantastic divorce lawyer and I got a hefty settlement that paid all the medical bills. Derrick needed a personal assistant he could trust. He doesn’t trust many people, so here I am.”
Brax knew there was a hell of a lot more to it. He couldn’t imagine waking up in a hospital—injured and frightened—only to be told your asshole husband was leaving you for another woman.
Sounded like without Derrick she’d have been completely on her own.
“The two of you are very close.”
“Yes, Derric
k and I have always gotten along well, something that really annoyed Matt. He was jealous of Derrick, I guess.”
Brax reached across and squeezed her hands. “I’m sorry you had to go through that, baby.”
She shrugged. “I guess in a way it was a good thing. Neither of us was happy, but for some reason we couldn’t seem to walk away. The accident gave him the push he needed.”
Brax just didn’t understand that. Didn’t understand how a man who had sworn to love and cherish his wife could leave her when she needed him most.
Holly hid a yawn behind her hand and Brax suddenly realized how late it was. They had been sitting here, talking for hours. Considering they didn’t have a lot in common, it was extremely easy to talk to her.
Signaling for the bill, Brax sent Holly a smile. “What say we get you up to bed, young lady? You look exhausted.”
She snorted. “Is that your way of politely saying I look terrible?” She brushed her hand over her hair. He grabbed it, pulling it away.
“Never. You look beautiful as ever, but you flew in late last night and were up early this morning. You must be tired.”
“I am a bit.”
Brax grabbed the bill as it arrived. Holly placed her soft hand over his. Her nails were painted a bright yellow, making him smile.
“I invited you. I’m paying,” Holly said sternly.
“No way.” He drew the bill out and got out his wallet. “When I go out to dinner with a woman, I pay.”
She raised her brows. “There’s that old-fashioned attitude again.”
“You got it, baby. Deep down I’m just a Neanderthal.” He took in the dark circles under her eyes and stood, holding out his hand.
“Come on. Let’s get you back to your room so you can get a good night’s sleep.”
He escorted her out of the restaurant, helping her with her jacket, and ignoring her look of surprise. It was about time someone treated her the way she deserved.
They walked out and he placed his hand on the small of her back. It felt so natural, having her beside him. He lifted her up into his truck, inhaling the sweet scent of her. His cock stirred, loving the feel of her against him.
His Old-Fashioned Love (Old-Fashioned Series) Page 5
