She’d lightly spoken about Brandan with Danita, telling her how they’d met, and how confusing she found their relationship. And how she had never felt so alive as she did when they were together. Now she brought her friend up to speed on where they were in the relationship.
“In all this time, you two haven’t actually had a date, huh?” Danita asked, and when Leila shook her head no, continued. “Well, from the sounds of things, you’ve been doing a lot more than the typical dinner and movie…girl, I ain’t mad at ya,” she quipped, a wide grin crossing her pretty dark brown face.
“No, which is why Brandan decided we were long overdue for a date,” Leila laughed.
“So, it’s official? You two are an item?”
Leila cocked her head to the side, considering her friend’s words. “Well—” she began, but before she could finish, Danita interrupted her.
“Hmmm, looks like your man is here.”
Leila turned around and felt a ridiculous blush warm her face when she saw him in the doorway.
He was dressed as casually as she, a baseball cap replaced his typical Stetson, his long legs were encased in faded button-fly jeans, and his big feet were sporting running shoes.
He was wearing a Spurs’ jersey—matching the one she was wearing—and she grinned, remembering how he’d brought it by the restaurant the day before and told her she had to wear it. To support the team. It was all about the team, he’d assured her.
She rose as he approached her, and as she had with Danita, Leila spun around for his inspection.
“Yeah…papa likes,” he said in a deep, sexy drawl.
“Oh, so you’re my daddy now, huh?”
He brought her close and kissed her gingerly on the lips. “Hell, no, there’s nothing fatherly about the way I feel about you, the things I plan to do later tonight,” he said, stroking a hand over her bottom and pulling her tight so she could feel the thick ridge of his cock at the V of her legs.
“Hmmm, hmmm.”
Leila turned when she heard her friend’s subtle cough.
“Sorry, she just can’t seem to keep her hands off me!” Leila slugged Brandan good naturedly on the arm and laughed, waving to her friend as he turned her around to leave.
She called out a farewell to Hawk, who was helping her out so she could go out with Brandan, and the pair left the café.
As Danita watched them leave, a wistful smile crossed her face. Feeling as though someone was watching her, she turned and caught eyes with the waiter who was intently staring at her. After several moments, moments where she felt as though she were caught in a crazy time warp, unable to look away, he finally was the one to break contact.
Danita shivered, despite the warmth of the diner and the sweater she wore, and she rubbed her hands over her arms, warming herself.
22
“What a game! Boy, there’s nothing like live action. It beats the heck out of watching the game on TV!” Leila enthused, the adrenalin obviously still pumping.
Brandan sat in one of high-backed stools, and with pure male appreciation, watched her bustle around her kitchen, taking out pots and pans, and chattering nonstop, reliving the game, as she began to prepare him food.
She had changed clothes, and now wore nothing more than a pair of short lounging shorts—where he could see her tight, round cheeks peek out when she stood on tiptoe to grab a box of pasta from the back of one of her cabinets—a sports bra, and one of her sexy aprons. And no panties.
The no panties had been his idea, one she’d laughingly agreed to.
He grinned in complete masculine appreciation as he watched her fill the pot with water and place it on the stove.
He’d paid more attention to her than the actual game. Her cheeks had flushed with excitement while she leapt out of her seat throughout the game, cheering on the Spurs or booing the ref for a bad call.
It had been slow inching along in the back-to-back build up of traffic as they exited the AT & T Center. They would have made it out a lot sooner, with his VIP seating and parking, but when he’d told her he could introduce her to a few of the players, her eyes had widened, and for the first time he heard her actually squeal in excitement.
“I had no idea when I suggested a Spurs game, that you were such a fan,” he said.
“Yep. True blue! Aunt Sadie and I never missed a game. Once, when I was younger, she took me to a game, a live one, and I was hooked. We couldn’t afford to make it a regular habit, but whenever they were playing a playoff game, she made room in the budget,” she smiled in memory.
“She sounds like one of a kind, your Aunt Sadie.”
“She was.” Leila tossed the comment over her shoulder as she opened the refrigerator and leaned inside to hunt down what she needed. As she bent over, exposing more of her softly rounded cheeks, Brandan groaned.
“I never wanted for anything, but at the same time, luxuries like ball games and movies were rare. I appreciated it, particularly as I grew older, how much she sacrificed to raise me.”
He felt rather than saw some of the happiness leave her, as her back was turned to him. He rose from his chair and walked over to where she stood in front of the stove, staring down at the water as it began to bubble, coming to a boil.
He placed his arms around her and pulled her tight against his chest.
She picked up the noodles, eased them into the bubbling water, and began to stir them in the pot. “It’s the main reason why I can’t let Aunt Sadie’s go. I feel like if I do, if I give up and just sell, I’ll be letting go of something I can’t ever get back.”
Brandan sighed. After hugging her, he moved away and leaned against the butcher block island, crossing his arms over his chest.
They had been avoiding all talk of the sale lately. Anytime she tried to bring it up, he would steer the conversation away. Anytime his partners asked him how things were going, how close he was to convincing her to sell, he gave the standard answer that it wouldn’t be long.
“Leila, you know you’re going to have to sell. You’re going to have to face that,” he said, breaking the silence.
She whipped her head around to stare at him, an incredulous expression on her face. “What?” Several of her long locs whipped across her face as she did. With an impatient hand, she pulled them back into the ponytail at her nape.
He pushed away from the counter. When he tried to take her into his arms, she pushed him away and stared up at him.
“What do you mean I have to sell? I don’t have to do anything I don’t want to.”
“When are you going to face the fact that you’re causing more harm than good to yourself and your neighbors by refusing to sell?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about!”
He brought her back into contact, forcing her to look at him when she would have turned away.
“Yes, you do. Come on, Lee.”
“No, why don’t you tell me, Brandan?”
He grabbed her by the arm. “Look, you need to face facts—”
“What facts?” she yelled, her breathing now harsh as she stared at him.
“Facts that you can’t bring back your great-aunt by holding on to that damn café. You can’t keep it together, no matter how strong you think you are, all by yourself. By taking our offer, you’ll be doing yourself and your neighbors a hell of a lot more good than by being stubborn and holding on to some unreasonable hope that you’ll make that café more than what it is.”
“And just what is that, Brandan?” she asked, her voice quiet.
“A run-down, forgotten diner, one which anyone with half a brain would have sold a damn long time ago.” As soon as the words left his mouth, he wished to God he could have retracted them.
Her face lost all color; she closed her eyes and seemed to deflate right in front of him.
“Baby, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that…can we just forget about it for now, talk about it later,” he begged, his voice hoarse as emotion swamped him as he looked at her, shoulders
slumped, face averted from his.
He tried to pull her back into his arms. She pushed against him, saying, “Not this time, Brandan. You won’t get around me with sex. Not this time. I want you to go. Now,” she said, her face set, her eyes boring into his, unflinching.
“Leila…I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it.”
“If you ever had anyone who you cared about taken from you, if you ever cared more about anyone than yourself, than you would understand exactly why that “run-down forgotten diner” means more to me than anything you’ll ever have. No amount of money in the world can replace that “run-down forgotten diner.” Obviously, this is something you’ll never understand, and I’m tired of trying to explain it to you.”
She said nothing more, just turned away from him and turned off the overflowing pot of noodles, setting it to the back burner of stove.
She removed her apron, hung it on one of the hooks, and turned off the light in the kitchen, as though he wasn’t even there.
Before she left the room, she turned, and faced him. “You know the way out.”
Brandan stared at her retreating back and bit back a curse as she walked toward a door that led to her bathroom, opened the door, and walked inside without a backwards glance. Seconds later, he heard the sound of pipes churning with water as she turned on her shower.
23
“Ummm, what smells so…uh, different?” Leila asked after walking into the dark diner. Expecting to smell a delightful aroma after Hawk had promised her a meal she wouldn’t forget, presumably to cheer her up, she wrinkled her noise at the unmistakable smell of something…the Lord only knew what…seriously burned. “Oooh, that is funky,” she murmured low, not wanting Hawk to hear her and hurt his feelings.
As she walked inside, a frown marred her forehead as her gazed raked over the diner.
The overhead lights were cut, the only illumination being from the lights over the counter, and at one table, which was beautifully set, a bright light burned from the flickering flame of a candle set in the middle.
“Uh, Hawk, what’s going on?” she asked. After their last conversation, she was confused. Although he’d admitted that he’d had feelings for her, feelings he’d kept to himself because he knew she didn’t feel the same way, a small knot of tension swelled in her belly. Maybe he’d only been telling her what he thought she wanted to hear.
“Hawk? Where are you?” she called, walking toward the kitchen.
“It’s not Hawk, Lee. I don’t think Hawk would like to claim what I’ve created. He tried his best to teach me a simple recipe. I don’t think I got it right, though.”
Brandan walked from behind the swinging doors and Leila swore, angry that she’d been set up and mentally vowing to tell Hawk just what she thought of his meddling.
Her eyes swept over him. The memory of their last exchange, the words he’d said, harsh, ugly…hurtful, sprang in her mind. Without a word, she turned to go, walking as quickly as her feet would carry her back toward the door.
“You challenge me.”
His words stopped her in her tracks.
“No one has ever done that on a personal level. The closest I’ve ever come to someone caring enough to challenge me was in football.”
Her fingers relaxed, releasing their death-grip on the brass-knobbed door. She slowly turned around to face him, and was struck by the open vulnerability on his face, in his expression.
He held out his hands, palms out in a gesture of entreaty.
“Please. Don’t go. Don’t leave me.”
Her eyes ran over him, from the top of his tussled hair, down the food-splattered shirt—which probably had been crisp and white when he had first donned it, before his venture into cooking for her—down to his dark slacks that also bore witness to his cooking abilities. Food and other unknown particles were splattered over them as well.
“Why? Why cook for me? Why do all this when you obviously have so little regard for Aunt Sadie’s? So little regard for how much this café means to me? How do you have the nerve to pretend to really care, go through all of this…this…mess…just to take it all away from me?” She choked out the words, forced them from her throat, a throat that was clogged with unshed tears as she thought of how, since she’d signed the papers to sell, Aunt Sadie’s would soon be reduced to a pile of rubble.
“Because I wanted to show you that you matter to me. That your wants, your desires, mean more to me than what I can make by buying your land. That it’s not worth it if it means losing you, having you doubt my feelings for you. I—” he stopped, and turned away from her.
Leila slowly walked toward him and stood behind him, hesitant, not sure what to do, what to say.
He ran a hand through his hair, mussing it, spiking it over his head. Leila’s eyes widened when she noticed the fine tremor in his hands.
More than anything else, this affected her deeply. To see him obviously shaken, unsure, was more telling than anything he could possibly say. He turned back around and faced her, his face tight, holding back the emotion she could see threatening to shatter him.
“I love you, Leila. I didn’t expect it to happen. I don’t exactly know when it happened. Hell, I didn’t even want it to happen.”
She inhaled sharply at his words. His confession caught her off guard. Completely off guard.
“I can’t take you playing with my feelings, Brandan. I don’t play games. I’m not wired that way.” She heard the tremble in her voice, knew that he heard it, too, and that he felt her vulnerability as plainly as she saw his.
“Lee, I’ve never been more serious in my life. I want you to be a part of my life. Permanently. No one has ever made me feel the way you do. I know most of our relationship has been drama-filled, as you would say. But what I feel for you is real. And I’ll be damned if I let it slip away, allow you to slip away, over a piece of land. Please. Believe me. Nothing else matters but you,” he begged huskily, holding out his arms, silently asking her to forgive him, to accept him.
In the weeks since she’d last seen him, she’d been miserable. Alternating between anger and abject misery, she’d been impossible to be around. She knew it, could tell from the way her small staff had studiously avoided her.
Yesterday, when she’d sat in her office, she’d picked up the document waiting for her signature.
As usual, whenever she needed her most, even if only in her mind, Aunt Sadie had spoken to her.
Baby, it’s okay, everything is going to be okay. Ain’t no piece of land going to sever our connections, child! What we had, what we still have, goes a lot deeper than Aunt Sadie’s Café. Aunt Sadie’s was my legacy to you, but it isn’t the only thing I’ve left you. I’ve left you my determination. Whenever you set your mind to do something, you do it! I like to think you got that from your auntie. I’ve left you my spirit of adventure. Think of the wonderful adventures you’ll have starting out new, fresh! A brand new Aunt Sadie’s, one that will be everything we knew it could be! And I would like to think I left you with boundless love. Love all that you do, baby, but don’t be too stubborn and not recognize love when it’s staring you in the face…
And with tears running down her face, she’d signed the document and handed it to Hawk. He’d hugged her tight as she’d released the last of her tears.
Now she looked at Brandan, and what she saw in his eyes made her catch her breath…
When Brandan saw the look of acceptance in her eyes, telling him she believed him, he crushed her in his arms. Leila gasped in surprise when he slid his palms beneath her skirt and firmly gripped her buttocks.
She wrapped her legs around him and locked her feet around him, her heels resting on his firm, beautifully sculpted buttocks. Her breasts pressed firmly against his shirt when he pulled her tighter against his body.
He slanted his mouth over hers and they exchanged hungry, desperate kisses until, with quick stumbling strides, he carried her to the small storage room. He toed the door open with a boot, and shoved the door a
side.
He kicked it shut, mumbling against her mouth, “In case Hawk decides to come by and check out how our dinner is going.”
They didn’t even make it to the small bed in the storage room before they were at each other.
Buttons easily slipped from their holes as they hastily undressed, exchanging small laughs and sighs as they tore the other’s clothes from their bodies.
When they were finally undressed, nothing between them, just naked skin gliding against skin, he lifted her back into his arms, wrapped her legs around his torso, and pressed her back into the wall, him covering her like a warm blanket.
The contrast of male skin pressed hotly against her front, and the cool hard surface of the stone wall on her back, was a tantalizing icy hot contrast. Leila moaned and relaxed her legs, allowing her outer thighs to lay flush with the wall.
Brandan ran his tongue down the seam between her breasts, licking beneath one small globe before engulfing it into his mouth, flicking his tongue in rapid strokes against her blood-engorged erect nipple.
She grasped his head, wrapped her arms around him, and shoved her hands deep into his hair, pushing her breasts further into his hot, willing mouth.
She groaned as made greedy wet sounds with his mouth feasted on her breasts. He drew her hard, stiff nipple into his mouth, and bit into the thick nub until she cried out from the pleasure/pain.
Releasing it, he blew on the slight injury before swabbing it with his tongue and moving to the other breast.
As he nursed that one, his hand trailed down her body, seeking the heart of her. Separating her moist folds, he tested her readiness for him, inserting one big finger inside her pussy before withdrawing her juices.
“Brandan,” she whispered the words, her gut clenching when she saw him lick his finger, his hot gaze on her, making her dizzy.
He leaned down, kissing her, transferring her own essence from his mouth to hers.
“Are you ready for me, baby? I don’t think I can hold out any longer,” he bit the words out harshly against her temple, his breath fanning the soft hairs around her temple.
Scream My Name Page 12
