Priceless (Finding Love Book 5)

by Paris Hansen

  “That’s what she said.”

  “Hey, that’s supposed to be my line,” Braeden joked. “But I have to say it’s pretty hot hearing you say it.”

  “I guess you must be rubbing off on me.”

  “I’d much rather be rubbing on you.”

  Andi let out a groan that was more ‘did he really just say that’ and less ‘oh baby, I wish you would rub on me’ before a snort-laugh escaped her. Those two noises led to them both laughing hysterically as he pulled onto his street.

  “Whose car is that in your driveway?” Andi asked through fits of laughter.

  Looking down the block at his house, he noticed an unfamiliar dark sedan in his driveway. It was after ten, and he’d been out with most of the people who would stop by his house without warning. For a moment, he wondered if it was Price coming to exact his revenge in person, but Andi had been in his car before, which meant she would have recognized it if it was him. Unless he’d decided to drive a different vehicle so it couldn’t be traced back to him after he murdered Braeden. The paranoia was obviously running rampant since he’d learned Price was in hiding.

  “I have no idea. It couldn’t be Price could it?” Braeden asked while trying to keep his voice even because he didn’t want Andi to pick up on his thoughts.

  “No. He wouldn’t be caught dead driving something that old.”

  “Okay, but how about you stay in the car until we can see for sure it’s not him? I don’t want to give him another target if we can help it.”

  “Seriously? Do you really think he’d come to your house and hurt you?”

  “I mean, I took away his coke, his whores, and his way to earn money so he could pay off his gambling debts. Why wouldn’t he try to take me out?”

  “Cause that’s fucking crazy.”

  “Yeah...and your point? The man is a nutball that hates me with a fiery passion.”

  “Point taken. I’ll wait in the car until we know the coast is clear.”

  Sighing, Braeden glanced over at her. Andi didn’t look happy about staying in the car, but since it was apparent it would make things easier for him, she reluctantly agreed. He’d have to make it up to her later.

  “Thank you,” he said as he pulled into the driveway and shut off his car.

  He took a deep breath, holding it in until his chest ached. Letting the breath out, he opened the car door and stepped out. He hesitated for a moment, but then the driver’s side door on the sedan opened and a woman with long blond hair climbed out. As he slowly approached her, she turned to face him. Braeden searched her face for some kind of recognition, but nothing came to him.

  She was fairly attractive, probably in her late twenties, but that was something he always had a difficult time figuring out. She wore a heavy winter coat that covered her from her neck to knees.

  “Hey Braeden,” she said, her voice cracking on his name.

  “I’m sorry. Do I know you?” he asked as he got closer.

  “Baby, it’s me, Nikki.”

  Braeden shrugged and ran a hand through his hair. “I’m sorry. I don’t know who you are.”

  “I can’t believe you don’t remember me,” she said, her voice getting louder with each word. “Our night together six months ago was the best night of my life.”

  “Lady, I don’t know what kind of crap you’re trying to pull here, but I don’t know you, and I can guarantee we didn’t do anything six months ago.”

  Braeden could feel the anger coursing through his body. His heart rate had picked up, his blood felt like lava running through his veins. He knew Andi had disobeyed him and gotten out of the car the minute she saw it was a woman and not Matthew Price in the rundown sedan. She’d tried to be sneaky, but he’d heard her footsteps scrapping along the concrete, even over the rapid beating of his heart. The last thing he wanted or needed was for her to listen to the bullshit the lady in front of him was spewing. He needed to get rid of her fast.

  “I can’t believe you’re saying this, Braeden. I thought I meant something to you. When our eyes locked across the room at that party, I knew you were special. I’d been so nervous that night ‘cause I didn’t know a single person there and then you came up and started talking to me. I’d never been so happy that my friend had dragged me out to a work event in my life. I thought a bunch of lawyers would have been boring as hell, but you weren’t.”

  Tears started to roll down the woman’s cheeks. Holy fuck he was in trouble, and he had no idea what to do. Andi stepped up behind him, her hand resting lightly on his lower back. Her support was comforting, giving him the strength he needed to push back against his unwanted visitor despite her tears.

  “I don’t know what kind of game you’re playing lady or how the hell you found my house, but you need to leave. You’re upsetting my girlfriend, and you’re upsetting me. Please leave before I call the cops.”

  Feeling pretty good about his ability to keep the anger out of his voice, Braeden waited for her to get back in her car. Instead, Nikki took a couple of tentative steps toward him and Andi, unzipping her coat as she moved. He had no idea what she was trying to pull, but he was getting sick of it. She needed to get the hell off of his property and away from Andi.

  Her story was a bit too convincing, but it was still a story. Six months ago, he’d attended a party at AQA. That would be easy to prove. What wouldn’t be easy to prove was that he hadn’t gotten loaded and slept with the stranger standing in front of him. There was no doubt in his mind that she was a liar. But given his previous reputation, it would be so damn easy for everyone else to believe he’d done what she said.

  “Braeden, please,” Nikki whined. “Why are you acting this way? Stress isn’t good for the baby. You don’t want to hurt the baby, do you? He needs his father in his life. You can’t just send us away.”

  “What the fuck did you say?” he asked angrily.

  Her tiny little lie had suddenly turned into the biggest lie he’d ever heard. There was no way he was holding his anger back now.

  “That magical night six months ago resulted in this miracle,” Nikki said as she placed a hand on her protruding abdomen. “Braeden, you’re going to get your wish. You’re finally going to be a father.”

  Chapter 13

  Andi

  Standing in Braeden’s driveway, Andi felt like she’d been sucker punched in the gut. She took a step back, separating herself from Braeden. Part of her felt like she shouldn’t be there. The discussion happening in front of her had nothing to do with her. Yet it had everything to do with her. Saliva filled her mouth, her stomach rolling worse than it had the last time she’d had the flu.

  Taking another step back, Andi looked around for somewhere to turn if her stomach decided to rebel against her. She should just leave. It would be the easiest thing for everyone, but she didn’t have her car. Braeden had picked her up on Friday after work with plans to drop her back off at her place on Sunday evening. Normally, she wouldn’t have let herself get stuck without transportation, but she’d had a big surprise planned, and had no reason to ever think she’d need to make a quick getaway. Boy had she been wrong.

  “You seriously need to take your lying ass and get the fuck away from me right now. This is bullshit.”

  “I can’t believe you’re doing this to me. Is it because of her? Who is she anyway? I thought you said you wanted to be together?” the woman whined, her voice grating on Andi’s nerves.

  “Come on. Your story doesn’t even make sense. If we were supposed to be together, why haven’t we seen each other in six months? Why are you suddenly trying to ruin my life?”

  “You asked me to wait for you, that you had things to take care of. I thought you’d be happy that I was making your dreams come true. I can’t believe you think I’m trying to ruin your life. Why are you being so mean?”

  Andi couldn’t take it anymore. She needed to get away from the woman, away from Braeden. She had no idea what to believe, what to think. Of course, nothing could ever be easy for
them. Just when she thought they had it all figured out, something had to prove her wrong. She knew she shouldn’t have been surprised that another curveball got thrown their way. Their entire relationship was filled with curveballs.

  Neither Braeden nor the woman noticed her make her escape. Their heads didn’t turn in her direction as she made her way around the cars and up to Braeden’s front door. No one stopped her as she used Braeden’s spare key to open his front door and step inside.

  Closing the door behind her, she made her way into the living room before she started to pace. She really wanted a drink, but she knew booze wouldn’t do her any good at the moment. She needed a level head; she needed to be able to think straight and figure out what she was going to do.

  It felt like she paced for an hour before the front door opened. Andi stopped walking as soon as she heard the door shut and braced herself for what she would see when she turned around. Would he bring her into the house? She was potentially the mother of his child right? He’d be a total asshole to leave her out in the cold. But she was also possibly a lying bitch, so bringing her into the house could send the wrong message.

  Andi had no idea what she would do if she were in Braeden’s position. Hell, she didn’t even know what she was going to do in her own position. She’d trusted him, and there was a chance he lied to her. Hell, probably more than just a chance. This was exactly the kind of thing that made her hesitate to get back together with him in the first place. This was more than just running into one of his hook-ups while they were out. Their entire lives would change if Braeden ended up being the father of that woman’s baby. Andi would forever be reminded of everything he did when they weren’t together.

  “She’s gone,” Braeden announced before she could turn around.

  “Okay.”

  Andi turned to look at him, the expression on his face completely unreadable. She watched him walk toward her, but as soon as he was within arms reach of her, she took a step back. Her stomach couldn’t handle having him get too close. Neither could her heart. She needed to keep some distance between them. If he could touch her, he could distract her, and she couldn’t afford to be distracted.

  “Andi…”

  “Just don’t, Braeden. Don’t come any closer,” she choked on the words, tears forming in her eyes.

  Braeden sighed but stopped walking toward her. “I just need to hold you. Please.“

  Shaking her head, she took a step back. “I can’t.”

  “Andi, you’re scaring me.”

  The crack in Braeden’s voice as he said the words was nearly her undoing. It would be so easy to walk into his arms and let him make her forget everything that had just happened. It would be so easy to ignore the elephant in the room, but her heart couldn’t take it. No matter how great being with Braeden felt, the lows were so damn painful she wasn’t sure it was worth it. Life had been so much easier when she didn’t have to worry about her heart...or his.

  “I know you’re worried, but I swear that’s not my baby. I didn’t sleep with her.”

  Looking down at her feet, she said the very thing that had been running through her head since she heard the announcement. She knew they would hurt him. She knew they had the power to tear them apart, but they were the words of her heart.

  “How can I be sure?”

  “Seriously? After all this time you’re telling me you still don’t trust me?” Braeden’s pain was evident in his voice.

  “Was there a party six months ago?” she asked, still not able to look him in the eye as she made her inquiry.

  It was bad enough hearing his pain. She didn’t want to see it too. Every gasp, every word felt like a slash to her heart. Before the evening was over, she knew her heart was going to be in a million little pieces, and it would be all her fault.

  “Yes,” he said, anger tinting his voice this time. Anger she could deal with, hearing him on the verge of tears was too much to bear.

  “Did you get drunk at the party?”

  Andi hated asking the question, but she needed to know. It felt like torture, but it would make things easier on her in the end.

  “Of course I drank. It was a work party, and you know how much I hate those people for the most part. Price was there being an asshole as usual. But did I get drunk enough to have sex with someone and not remember it? Absolutely not. I haven’t pulled that kind of crap since my early twenties.”

  “She knew where you lived, Braeden.”

  “Which probably could have been found on the internet. I don’t know how she found this place, but I guarantee you I never brought her here. If I did fuck her, she certainly never saw my home. I never fucked any of them here. I told you that.”

  Andi cringed at the harshness of his words. “I want to believe you.”

  “Then fucking believe me,” he pleaded. “I’ve never done anything to deserve your distrust. I’ve never lied to you. I’ve never cheated on you. In all of the years we’ve known each other I’ve only ever hurt you once, and that was because I wanted to beat you to the punch. You’ve broken my heart over and over, Andi, yet I’m still here begging for you to put some fucking faith in me. In us. Why can’t you do that?”

  “It hurts to know you were with other women while we were apart. I know that’s not fair, but it’s the truth. It hurts knowing that at any given moment I could come face to face with one of those women.”

  “You weren’t a saint while we were apart either. I could just as easily come face to face with one of your fucks, but you don’t see me running scared. I trust you, Andi. I fucking love you more than anything else in the world. I would face down anything life threw at me to be with you. I didn’t feel a thing for any of the women I dated or slept with. Can you say the same?”

  Andi didn’t answer. She knew where he was going with the question. While she’d never been interested in having a serious relationship with any of the men she’d been with over the last eighteen years, she also wasn’t someone who could have a bunch of casual sex. She’d never been built that way. Braeden knew that better than anyone.

  “If you can’t trust me, this is never going to work. If you’re always wondering about every woman that crosses our path, we’ll never be happy.”

  “I just…”

  Braden shook his head. “I’m sorry you think you’re going to be faced with my indiscretions every time we go out. Did I date a lot of people while we were apart? Yes. Did I sleep with all of them? No. I thought you understood that. I thought you believed me. I’m telling you, I’ve never seen her before in my life.”

  “But she knew where you lived.”

  “And I’m telling you, I don’t know how that’s possible. Even if I did hook up with her and don’t remember, which did not happen, I never would have brought her here. I never brought any of them here. It was either their place or a hotel. Can you say the same? I know you can’t because your brother told me. None of them ever meant a thing to me. None of them could ever hold a candle to you.”

  “God, I don’t know what to think.”

  “Really? After everything we’ve been through. I told you, if you can’t trust me, this isn’t going to work. I can’t be with someone who doubts me at every turn. Especially if she doubts me about something this important.”

  Andi didn’t know what to say. Her heart was breaking, and once again it was her own damn fault. Why couldn’t she believe him? Why couldn’t she believe in them? Braeden let out an exasperated sigh as he rubbed at the back of his neck. She still couldn’t make eye contact with him no matter how badly he seemed to want it. Looking into his eyes would break her, which if she thought about it, was probably what she deserved.

  “I’m gonna go for a drive. I don’t think you should be here when I get back,” Braeden said quietly.

  She didn’t want him to leave, but she didn’t deserve for him to stay.

  “Braeden…” she started to tell him not to go, but he ignored her saying his name.

  He turned away from her
and walked back out the front door leaving her standing alone in his living room. The minute the door slammed behind him, she broke down. Dropping to her knees, a sob escaped her, followed by another. Within seconds she could barely breathe; she was crying too hard. Tears streamed down her face like a torrential downpour of warm, salty rain.

  She’d done it again, ruined the best thing that had ever happened to her for no reason at all. She didn’t know why she kept hurting Braeden. He didn’t deserve what she put him through, but for some reason, she didn’t seem to be able to help herself.

  Picking herself up off of the floor, she fished her cell phone out of her purse and pulled up a rideshare app. She wanted to stay and wait for Braeden to come home, but that wouldn’t be fair to him. He didn’t deserve to be faced with her when everything was still so raw. She needed to go home and collect her thoughts. She needed to go home and figure out why she couldn’t trust in the one person that had tried to give her everything she’d ever wanted.

  Braeden deserved better than what she continued to give him. She knew she needed to either figure herself out or give him up completely. One option she couldn’t live with, the other sounded like it was nearly as impossible.

  ✽✽✽

  Braeden

  For nearly a week, Braeden walked around in a haze. He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. His life was once again in shambles. It felt like some kind of cosmic joke was being played on him. How many times had he been teased with the possibility of getting everything he’d ever wanted in his life, only to have it ripped away by something entirely out of his control? He was tired of missing out. He was tired of being fucked with.

  He hadn’t talked to Andi since the night he walked out of his house, leaving her there alone. He hadn’t seen hide nor hair of the woman claiming to be pregnant with his kid either. If Andi hadn’t witnessed the whole thing, he would’ve assumed she was a figment of his imagination. Only she wasn’t. Imaginary people weren’t capable of barreling into your life, setting everything on fire, only to turn around and walk away unscathed.