by Lisa Crane
“Goodnight…darling.”
“Night.”
Travis ended the call and sank into the chair behind his desk. When he’d run into Lorna in the bakery a few days ago, he’d been pleased to see her. Now, however, he found himself making comparisons yet again.
Brooke Valentine was honest and straightforward; Travis couldn’t imagine her doing all that coquettish sighing and fishing for compliments and assurances. Brooke was, for all the problems she’d had, strong and independent; Lorna, he knew, was more than happy to have a man take care of her every need and whim. Travis knew he could’ve asked Lorna to wait for him during his last tour of duty; if he were completely honest, he’d admit he’d hoped she’d find someone new and forget all about him. He hadn’t really cared about ending the relationship with Lorna; but only a few hours ago, the thought of losing Brooke’s friendship had deeply disturbed him. And then there was that kiss.
Lorna Morgan might be sultry and sexy, but suddenly, Travis couldn’t remember how she’d felt in his arms. He couldn’t remember her kiss turning him on the way Brooke’s had. He couldn’t get the taste and feel of Brooke’s mouth out of his thoughts even now. He turned to his work in an effort to push her from his head.
Even that didn’t work very well, however, because Travis quickly realized Brooke had accomplished a great deal in a very short time tonight. She’d added several new client accounts and set them up for monthly billing. She’d set up invoices for over a dozen major installations. As she’d stated, all Travis needed to do was print the invoices. He checked the printer and sent all the invoices to print in one batch. When they finished printing, he rose, shutting off the light in his office, and went to his bedroom to get ready for bed.
Brooke leaned on her porch railing, an old blanket wrapped around her shoulders, waiting for Boo to finish his business and come back. Her eyes tracked to the windows of Travis’ house. She saw the light go off in the office, followed by a light coming on in the next window – Travis’ room. She saw his shadow pass in front of the curtains a few times; heat rose in her cheeks when she realized he was undressing before going to bed. Quickly she turned away and called for Boo. The dog came bounding up to the porch and Brooke opened the door to let them both inside. The last thing she needed before she went to bed was thoughts of Travis Cooper in various stages of undress!
Chapter 24
The next morning, Brooke waited nervously for Travis to open his front door. She’d had second thoughts about letting him give her a ride to work, but she’d agreed last night. Now she stood, bundled against the cold, waiting on his front porch. She wrapped Travis’ soft scarf around her neck, pressing it to her nose as she did so; she breathed deeply, inhaling his scent, a purely masculine blend of soap, woodsy herbs, citrus and warm male. The front door swung open, and Brooke dropped the scarf, blushing. A slow grin lifted one side of Travis’ lips and his blue eyes sparkled.
“Were you sniffing my scarf?” he asked.
“Don’t be silly!” she said, not actually denying it.
“You were!” he laughed. “You were sniffing my scarf! Admit it! I’m not the only one who thinks someone around here smells nice!”
“Fine!” Brooke muttered. “I was sniffing your stupid scarf! Happy now?”
Travis gently tugged the scarf free. He wrapped it around his own neck and simply stood there for a long moment, looking down at her. Brooke watched him, frowning slightly. Was he taking the scarf back? Of course, he had every right to do so, but…she’d become kind of attached to it. Finally, Travis took the scarf off; moving to stand directly in front of her, he wrapped it around Brooke’s neck once again. He grinned impishly at her.
“There you go,” he quipped. “I recharged it for you.”
Brooke drew in a deep breath and stepped back; she felt the need to put some distance between herself and Travis. She turned and headed down the steps.
“Can we go now?” she asked bluntly. “Or should I call a cab again?”
“Nope, we can go,” Travis answered, still grinning.
Brooke was aware Travis was laughing at her. The thought that kept her from frowning was remembering that – for whatever reason – it had been Travis who’d instigated that kiss last night. That gave her some small measure of pleasure, knowing she hadn’t thrown herself at the man, only to have him reject her; that might have been too much to handle.
After ensuring Brooke was settled, Travis climbed behind the wheel and started the engine. He glanced over at Brooke.
“Sorry I didn’t have it warmed up for you already,” he said.
“I’m fine,” Brooke replied. “I’m not as fragile as you seem to think I am, you know. I’ve done a pretty good job of taking care of myself for a long time.”
“I know,” Travis said, nodding. “So don’t you think it’s about time to let somebody else take care of you every now and then? Would that be such a bad thing, Cupcake?”
“I don’t want to get used to it.” Brooke stared out the side window. “You may find someone else to take care of, and then where would I be?”
“You think I’m that fickle?”
“It’s not a matter of whether or not you’re fickle, Travis,” she said, finally turning and looking directly at him. “How do you think Lorna’s going to feel about you doing things for me all the time? Paying bills, buying groceries, buying lunch, driving me around, all of it. Do you honestly think Lorna – or any other woman – is going to be fine with it?”
“I can’t do something nice for a friend?” he asked, frowning.
“For another woman?”
“A friend, Brooke!”
“Okay, look at it this way, Travis,” Brooke said, her tone reasonable. “Let’s suppose – for arguments’ sake – that you and I are dating.”
“Okay?” Travis said hesitantly.
“Suppose I start doing things for some other man. I’m giving him rides, I’m making him dinner, I’m –“
“All right, all right!” Travis interrupted her. “I get it! But I still say I can do nice things for a friend. Just because you happen to be a woman doesn’t change that.” He stopped for a red light and turned to look directly at Brooke. “And for the record, I’m not dating Lorna. It’s dinner. Just dinner to catch up. That’s all. If I wanted to date Lorna again, I’d have called her when I came home from Iraq.”
At the bakery, Travis walked inside with Brooke. He bought a cup of coffee and an almond croissant and headed out again after telling Brooke he’d be back to pick her up at five. He drove back to his house to get some more work done.
Once again, however, his thoughts were drawn to Brooke. He realized he’d been more pleased than he should’ve been when he opened his front door and caught Brooke with her nose buried in his scarf. He smiled again, thinking about the look on her face when she realized she’d been caught.
On the other hand, though, Travis hadn’t been happy when Brooke questioned the fidelity of his friendship; at least that was how Travis interpreted it. Her implication was that as soon as he was romantically involved with some woman he’d stop paying attention to Brooke, stop doing things for her. While he supposed he could understand her reasoning, once again he found himself unsettled at the possible loss of Brooke’s friendship and her company.
Travis went on to ponder his reaction to Brooke’s example to demonstrate her point. The idea of Brooke spending time with another man didn’t sit well with Travis and that, in itself, bothered him. Shouldn’t he be happy if Brooke found a nice guy, someone who would do the things for her that Travis had taken upon himself to do? Shouldn’t he want her to find someone she cared about and who cared for her in return? He sank further back into his chair, remembering that kiss from the previous night; that memory only served to make the idea of Brooke with another man even less palatable.
Travis slapped his hand on his desk. He was not jealous over Brooke’s attentions! Especially not over her attentions to some imaginary suitor! The idea was ludicrous!
No, it was only concern for the woman he thought of as a little sister. Concern for her safety and well-being, and nothing more. It certainly wasn’t jealousy!
“Hey, Coop,” Nick said, sliding into a chair across from Travis. “You look like you’re a million miles away.”
“Just thinking,” Travis said vaguely.
“Yeah? What put that look on your face?”
“Ah, I was thinking about Brooke,” he answered.
Travis looked at Nick; Nick waited patiently. Nick Rodgers had been with Travis through some of the worst days either of them had ever known; they’d lived through gunfire, explosions, hellish heat, dust and blood. Travis knew he could trust the other man with his life; they each had, in fact, trusted the other with their lives. So now, he weighed his words, knowing anything he told Nick would stay within the confines of his office.
“I kissed her last night,” Travis finally blurted out.
Nick’s smile started slowly; it gradually overtook his whole face. Then he began to laugh, a low rumble that grew until it burst out into the room as a loud, rollicking belly laugh. Travis stared at him, wondering what he was laughing about. When Nick finally stopped laughing, he rubbed a hand across his eyes.
“Why did you kiss her?” Nick asked.
“I have no idea,” Travis said sincerely. He leaned his head back against his chair. “She’s not even –“
“Yeah, yeah, she’s not your type,” Nick interrupted. “You keep sayin’ that. Has it occurred to you that your type isn’t really your type at all?”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“Name some of the women you’ve dated in the past.”
“Lorna, Clarissa, Julianna, Elizabeth…how many do you want me to name?”
“That’s probably enough,” Nick said sarcastically. “Although you and I both know that list could go on for a while.” He rolled his eyes. “So what do those women all have in common?”
“Well…they’re all similar physically, I suppose,” Travis answered. “Tall, slim, well-dressed and beautiful. They’re all college-educated and professional.”
“I was thinking more along the lines that they’re all ex-girlfriends.”
“What’s your point?”
“My point, Travis, is that maybe you aren’t finding a girlfriend to last more than six months because you’re looking at the wrong women!”
“Are you saying Brooke Valentine is my type?” Travis demanded. His expression made clear his opinion of that idea.
“I’m just saying there’s a reason you don’t date women for a very long period of time, that’s all,” Nick said. “And for the record, I think Brooke Valentine is more of a woman than any of your recent girlfriends.” He grimaced. “Ugh! Lorna Morgan! What a snooty, self-important, self-absorbed –“
“I’m going out with her tonight,” Travis interrupted.
“What?” Nick’s eyes widened. “You called Lorna?”
“No. I ran into her at Babycakes when I gave Brooke a ride one morning. Lorna invited me to dinner to catch up.” He shook his head. “I think you’re wrong on this, Nick.”
“Then I’ll ask you again,” Nick said. “Why’d you kiss Brooke?”
“I don’t know, man,” Travis sighed. “We were in here working – she’s agreed to help me with some of the paperwork until I hire someone. And she’s very smart and very fast!” He shook his head. “Anyway…Brooke was here in my chair and I was leaning over her shoulder. She turned to say something to me and…it just happened. That’s all. It was just one of those things.”
“Yeah, except things don’t ‘just happen’ in your life, my friend,” Nick said, pointing at Travis. “You’re always in control of things, you know what people are going to do before they do them – shoot, Coop, if your instinct and control wasn’t so phenomenal, you and I both would be dead! So don’t tell me it was just one of those things.”
“Okay, fine!” Travis growled. “I wanted to kiss her! She turned around and her lips were right there, and I’d been breathing in her smell all night and I just wanted to kiss her!” He glared at Nick. “Happy?”
“The question is, are you happy?” Nick rose and moved to the door. “Anyway, I just came by to pick up the contract for Herman Industries.” At the door, he stopped and turned to look at Travis, all teasing gone from his face. “Listen, Travis, there’s something you should know. About Brooke.”
“What is it, Nick?”
“You remember the other night when Will was razzing you about something going on with you and Brooke?” Nick asked. “I believe the words Will used were ‘short, plain and plump’. And you made it pretty clear you weren’t interested in Brooke as anything other than a friend.”
“Yeah, I remember that,” Travis said, frowning darkly. “What about it?”
“Brooke heard it.”
“What?” Travis rose abruptly. “She told you that?”
“No,” Nick answered. “I saw her at an open window. The window closest to your house, Travis.”
“Maybe she didn’t really hear –“
“Oh, she heard. Trust me on this.”
Chapter 25
When Travis arrived at Babycakes that afternoon, he couldn’t get his friend’s words out of his head. What must Brooke have thought after hearing Will’s words? Travis realized that must have been what prompted Brooke to cancel working with him that evening, and to take a cab to work the next day. She must think Travis and his friends were the biggest jerks on the planet. The bigger question was how should Travis handle the situation?
Brooke came from the back of the bakery. She smiled at him as she untied the apron from around her waist.
“I’ll be ready in just a minute, Trav,” Brooke said. “Let me grab my coat and tell Jazz bye.”
A moment later, Brooke walked toward Travis, pulling her jacket on. When she reached him, he opened the door to the bakery for her. He wore a mischievous grin as he opened the Hummer’s door. Before Brooke climbed in, Travis stopped her with a hand on her arm.
“Did you know you have frosting on your cheek?” he asked.
“Ugh! Jazz managed to squirt me with frosting!” She swiped at her cheek. “Did I get it?”
“No, let me.”
With his thumb, Travis rubbed the frosting from Brooke’s cheek. He licked the frosting from his thumb, then looked down at her, his head tilted slightly.
“Did you get it all now?” Brooke asked.
“Not yet,” Travis answered, grabbing the ends of his scarf around Brooke’s neck and pulling her toward him. His voice suddenly sounding even deeper, and slightly husky, he said, “There’s a bit more just…here….”
Travis slowly lowered his head; his mouth touched Brooke’s lightly near the corner. His lips moved across hers, his tongue teasing gently. Brooke couldn’t seem to help herself; she leaned into Travis, returning his kiss. She lifted her arms and placed her hands on his shoulders, rising on her toes to meet his lips.
Inside the bakery, Riley could barely contain his excitement, yelling, “Jazz! Jazz, baby, come look at this!”
Jazz popped out of her office and stared at the kissing couple in front of her bakery. She pointed a finger, still staring.
“Is that…?”
“Yes!” Riley laughed. “Brooke and Travis!”
“Wow,” Jazz breathed. Her gaze slid to meet her husband’s. “What…how…?”
“I don’t know! He came in, she got her coat, they walked out, he stopped her to wipe something off her cheek and then –“ He pointed. “That happened!”
“Yes!” Jazz said triumphantly, her dark eyes twinkling. “Another fortuitous accident!”
“What are you talking about?”
“I got frosting all over her today!” Jazz giggled. “The pastry bag had an air bubble and I was a little overzealous in squeezing it out. That has to be what he was wiping off and – oh, no. That can’t be good.”
At his wife’s words, Riley turned in time to see Brooke p
ush Travis backward. She pointed a finger at him and spoke very animatedly. Jazz and Riley couldn’t hear her words, but her demeanor made it clear she wasn’t happy with Travis.
“Travis!” Brooke said firmly, in spite of the breathless quality of her voice. “You have got to stop that! You and I are friends. Friends don’t kiss like that!”
Travis pushed his hands deep in the front pockets of his jeans and rocked back on the heels of his boots. He seemed to be fighting a grin.
“What?” she demanded. “You think this is funny?”
“So you’re saying you didn’t enjoy the kiss?” Travis drawled. “Either of them?”
“Well, of course I enjoyed them!” Brooke snapped. Her eyes widened. “I mean, no! No, you need to stop kissing me, Travis!”
“Then you did like the kisses.”
“Yes, I mean, no, I mean – Travis, stop it!”
Brooke smacked Travis with her open palm; he instantly captured her hand, trapping it against his broad chest. With his other hand, he pulled her closer, his blue eyes trapping her gaze as effectively as his hand had hers. Inside the bakery, Jazz and Riley had abandoned all pretense of working, and now leaned against the counter, watching raptly as the scene outside unfolded.
“Brooke,” Travis said quietly. “Can you feel my heart?” She nodded slowly and Travis smiled. “See? I enjoyed the kisses, too.”
“But Travis, you have to stop,” Brooke said, her voice barely audible.
“Why? If we both enjoy it, why not see where it goes?”
“Because nothing between us will ever go anywhere!” she said with conviction.
“How do you know that?” Travis demanded.
“Because I – I just know.”
“You just know because you aren’t interested in me?” Brooke frowned at him, and Travis continued. “Or you know because you overheard a stupid conversation a few days ago?”
Brooke’s violet eyes widened and some of the color left her face. She stared up at Travis for a second, then looked away, but not before he saw the hurt in her eyes. She moved to climb up into the Hummer, but Travis refused to release her hand.
