He grimaced. "I was hoping that wouldn't come up." He let out a deep breath before continuing. "I have a reputation with the ladies."
"So not everything changes then." Louise sniffed, but refused to cry. Why did this past hurt still ache so?
"But you've gotta understand, that's only because I've never found someone who's made me want to settle down. Until now, I mean. You are the best thing I've come across in a long while, and I'd hate to let you get away again."
Louise flushed. She loved spending time with him, but how could she ever trust him again—especially if he still paraded about with an endless string of women on his arm?
"You said all this back then, too, but that didn't stop you from—"
Brady held out his hands to stop her from going on. "Look, I know what I did. And there's not a single day I don't regret it, especially now that you're back and I'm realizing what an idiot I was. I should have fought harder for you, and if I could turn back time, believe me, I would. I thought we were starting fresh here, so I could show you how I've changed."
Louise thought this over. Maybe if they both lived in the city things would be different. But she'd only be in Anchorage a few more days, and long-distance relationships always ended horribly.
Besides, they required way more trust than she was willing to afford him just yet. She'd rather cut things short now while everything still felt wonderful rather than losing both him and the memories they'd formed by dragging it out too long.
"Listen, Brady... I really like you, but we live in two totally different worlds. Not to mention thousands of miles apart. Maybe we should just end things here." She frowned.
"Oh no, you're not getting away that easy." He swallowed his food quickly. "Look, I knew what this was from the start. I know you're only here for a few days, but, darn it, if I don't want every single second you're willing to give to me. Come out with me again tomorrow. Let's have another adventure."
"I don't know." She dabbed at her lips with a napkin and pushed the past memories to the back of her brain. "I dragged Missy all the way here, and I've barely seen her. Besides, if I leave her at home again, she's going to drive herself crazy with all her scattered attempts at wedding planning."
"That's no problem. Bring her with us. I guarantee she'll have a good time, too. And, hey, this time you can even wear a dress." His confident smile seemed to say that the matter was not up for debate.
"Well, if you're sure you understand…"
"Positive. Give me what you can, Louise. I promise not to ask for anything more than you're willing to offer."
"Okay, I can do that." The problem was that what Louise wanted to offer and what she was actually able to give Brady were two very different things. She doubted it was any different for him either.
Stop overthinking everything, she chided herself and took another big bite of sandwich. This doesn't have to be complicated…
Just enjoy it while you can.
"Are you kidding?" Missy squealed. "I'd love to go out! Where are we going?"
Louise bit her lip. "Actually, I don't know. But I do know we can wear dresses."
"Then I think this calls for a shopping trip." Any excuse to hit the boutiques.
"I'm not sure I have time, what with the office and all that."
"Hey, leave it to me. I'll find you something fabulous. Still a size eight, right?" Missy eyeballed Louise, and then shook her head. "Hmm, I'll try a six, too."
When Louise returned from the office, Missy dropped a flowy blue sundress into her arms.
"Tada! It's your new dress. Isn't it so you? And you can wear your new boots, too. Perfect, right?" Missy talked at a million miles per hour, clearly happy for the company. "Oh, and I picked up those gorgeous boots for me, too, so we can be twinsies. Now, come here, and let me do something fun to your hair."
By the time Brady arrived to pick them up for their big evening, Louise was all decked out. Missy had affixed little faux diamonds throughout her hair and curled it into big ringlets that complemented the sharp angles of her face. She'd also done her makeup, insisting upon a smoky eye and muted lip.
Brady's jaw dropped when Louise opened the door to let him inside. “Missy, could you give us a moment please?" he asked, fixing his gaze on Louise and refusing to look away.
Missy slinked off to find her favorite clutch, and Brady pulled Louise onto his lap on the couch. "You… look… incredible." He punctuated each word with a lingering kiss, pulling away only far enough to whisper them against her lips. "How am I going to keep my head on straight tonight?"
Louise giggled and stole another little kiss for herself.
After far too short a time, Missy reappeared and cleared her throat loudly. "C'mon, you two. While the night is young." She tossed Louise's purse at them and skipped toward the door.
Brady kept his arm around her as they made their way out to the truck, then snuck another kiss when they got stopped by a red light.
Moments later, they pulled up to Jake's Watering Hole.
"Well, now this is familiar," Louise teased, noticing how much more packed the parking lot was that night versus two nights prior. She barely recognized the place. All the tables had been removed, leaving a giant open space. Couples twisted and turned on the dance floor as a local musician played his guitar and sang a ballad up on a makeshift stage.
A waitress placed drinks in each of their hands. "There's more where that came from," she shouted to make herself heard over all the noise. "Just give a holler when you need topped off."
Brady grabbed the beer from Louise's hands and pulled her out onto the dance floor. He spun her into his chest then out again, and she laughed as she twirled around to the tune of some Toby Keith cover.
Naturally, a line of suitors had already begun to form around Missy. "I'm just watching," she said, letting them down easy. "But thanks for asking!"
"Hey, Brady." A handsome blonde man slapped Brady on the back. "Where ya been these past few days? Here I thought you'd shipped off on tour again without saying bye."
He shifted his gaze toward Louise, a huge smile blooming across his face. "Oh, I see now. And who might you be?" He took Louise's hand and planted a kiss on it.
"My lady, so watch it!" Brady teased. Instead, he directed his friend toward Missy. "But perhaps you can keep her lady company for the night. Sorry to say she's engaged, but I'm sure she'd appreciate any help you can give in getting all these other guys to leave her be."
"Oh, gosh, yes. Please help me." Missy laughed, and he saddled her hand with a kiss, too.
"Name's Stud."
Missy and Louise looked at each other, unsure whether to laugh or say hello to "Stud".
"It's true, that's really his name," Brady said. "Long story. Of course, Stud tells it better than I do."
"Well, actually…" Stud took the bait, and turned to Missy, allowing Brady and Louise to slip away.
The singer headed into a cover of Shania Twain's "You're Still the One", making Louise wonder if he had somehow gotten into her brain.
"How 'bout that?" Brady grinned, pulling her in tight to his chest. They swayed in time to the ballad.
She pressed her cheek into his chest and heard the gentle pitter-patter of his heartbeat. Safe. The world slowed. Everything was perfect. At least for that moment.
While secure in Brady's arms, it was okay that she'd been away from her New York office during a crucial period in the search for the firm's new partner. It was okay that they still hadn't made much progress with her aunt's estate here just outside of Anchorage. It was okay that she and Brady came from two different worlds, because they were here and now together in this own world of their own making, in a perfect world, one she didn't want to leave.
Unfortunately, the night would have to end eventually. All the problems of her real life would come flooding back to her. Her head spun as she tried to forget her broken past with Brady and to envision a future for the two of them.
No, it could never work, not in the lo
ng term.
But as for for now…
She would just keep dancing.
Chapter 9
The unmistakable intro to "Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off" began, and Brady reluctantly loosened his embrace around Louise. He hated to let go of their slow dance to speed up to the new beat, but was rewarded with the adorably sassy sway of her hips as she let loose.
"Sounds like me, doesn't it?" she joked, and he had to agree.
The night carried on, an irresistible mix of holding Louise close through the ballads and watching her shimmy and shake to the more up-tempo numbers. Forget falling, he had fallen— and hard—for this strong, passionate woman. How would he move past her and back into his everyday life?
She bounced her head to the beat, reminding him of the first time their paths had crossed, way back in the sixth grade. His family had just moved to town from Austin, Texas, and while he missed his hometown friends, he immediately fell in with the popular crowd at Anchorage. He'd only just begun to take notice of girls, of course, but that didn't stop him from asking Rosie Hector to be his girlfriend. After all, she was the girl every boy wanted, and she'd made it very clear that what she wanted was Brady.
One night, Rosie threw an innocent enough middle school party with her older sisters chaperoning the whole affair in her parents' basement. And her parents had said that she had to invite everyone so that none of their classmates felt left out.
One such person was Weezy Gordon.
When she walked down the stairs and up to the punch bowl, Rosie's face took on a poisonous expression. He should've known right then and there to stay as far away from Rosie as possible—should've, would've, could've.
"What's she doing here?" Rosie groaned. “Yeah, I mean, I invited her because my parents made me, but I didn't think she'd actually show. Some nerve." She placed her hands on her hips and shot daggers toward her unwanted party guest.
Brady looked over the wispy girl in the corner, amused—and kind of impressed—that she had decided to bring a book with her to a dance party. He wanted to ask her what it was about, but Rosie refused to let him stray more than a few feet from her side the whole night, constantly grumbling a string of complaints about the unpopular girl who had dared to show up at her VIP-only party.
Weezy, however, was clearly not bothered. She alternated between sipping punch while burying her nose in the novel she'd brought and dancing by herself whenever the boom box's oversized speakers blasted out a song she liked.
And she was still that same fearless, intelligent, devil-may-care girl today. She even had some of the same dance moves. Only she was all grown up now. Still as strong as ever, but she'd also developed a softer side; she'd started to allow him back in.
Not like before when she had always placed him second to her ambitions—which at the time was nothing more than maintaining the highest grades in the class. Now she'd achieved her career goals and seemed to have realized there was more she could get out of life.
But he also knew that she would never leave behind the life she'd worked so hard for, least of all to take a chance on him. He still hadn't regained her trust—he understood that. He had a lot of making up to do if he expected her to truly let him back in.
At the same time, he had no idea what kind of life would await him in New York City, or even if he'd be welcomed there. It wasn't as if rodeo jobs fell from the sky. He'd worked diligently, too. Why did he have to fall for a girl who lived clear across the country, and why so hard?
Another slow song started up and Louise burrowed into his arms. She felt so good there, like it was exactly where she had always belonged. They kissed, sparking another memory from way back when.
Rosie had called it quits on Brady shortly after that disaster of a party. Apparently, he wasn't invested in their relationship, or, in other words, he didn't fawn over her quite enough for her liking.
Well, that was fine by him. He hadn't liked her much anyway.
And even though he'd escaped Rosie's grasp, Weezy had never quite been able to get away. The two girls bickered mercilessly, and he knew which one of them was to blame, too.
One day, he'd had to stay late after school to serve detention—something to do with spitballs—and his mom was late in picking him up. Brady wandered around the playground kicking at stones and trying to keep himself busy. He'd thought he was all alone, but then a flutter of movement near the kickball court caught his eye.
"What are you doing here so late?" Weezy demanded, holding her thumb inside her book to mark the page she'd been reading.
"Detention."
"Figures." She rolled her eyes.
"How about you?" he asked hoping to strike up a conversation and get to know her a little better. It was easier without the noisy heckling of his buddies, and he didn't want to waste the opportunity to be one-on-one with her.
"I live nearby, and I like to come here sometimes after everyone is gone. It's like a whole other place when it's empty, you know." She kept her eyes fixed on the ground as she spoke to him. "Why are you talking to me anyway? Rosie won't like it."
"We broke up.” He gestured toward her book. “Tell me. What are you reading?"
"This?" She lifted up her book and showed him the cover. "Little Women. It's my favorite."
"What's it about?"
Apparently, he'd struck upon the right conversation starter, because Louise launched into a passionate retelling of the book she so loved.
Her eyes lit with a fire he hadn't often seen, especially in his peers. She laughed when she told him of Amy's childish antics and became somber when she discussed Beth. Brady felt like he was living in the story himself. Her passion was inspiring, but most of all it was incredibly beautiful.
He stopped her when she paused to take a breath amidst her discussion of Laurie and his various romantic endeavors. "Could I kiss you?"
Her eyes grew wide and she swallowed hard, when just seconds earlier she'd been talking freely and easily. "What? What about Rosie?"
"I told you we broke up. And now I'd really like to kiss you. May I?"
She didn't say anything for a long time, and he'd worried he'd lost any chance he may have had by being too abrupt, but then she slowly nodded and said, "Okay."
He leaned forward awkwardly and pressed his mouth to his. He hadn't kissed anyone before, but he'd seen lots of such kisses in the movies. He tipped his head to the right and parted her lips with his tongue, consuming her like a fine beverage.
He drank that moment in, drank her in that day—and he'd never quite been able to shake her since.
Louise woke up in a wonderful mood. Things were moving ahead both with Brady and with Aunt Maddie's estate. In fact, today would be the day they finally read her will.
Around noon, the few remaining Gordon relatives arrived along with a number of key people from around Anchorage and charity representatives from the state. Her father hadn't been able to make the trip from New York, and she didn't know anyone else in the room, which made it easy to handle this estate like any other. Not that there had been many others.
She ran through each item, reading out what her aunt had bequeathed to whom and under what conditions. "To the Make-A-Wish Foundation, I leave fifty thousand dollars," she read. "To be used expressly to aid in the wishes of children with cancer and from the state of Alaska.”
As long as no one contested the will—and she didn't see why they would, given Aunt Maddie's amazing generosity—she'd be free and clear to return to New York tomorrow morning.
The managing partner of her firm back home had called earlier that morning to request a meeting with her when she returned. From the sound of his voice, it seemed more good news was in store for Louise. The only piece that didn't factor in perfectly to the good things that lay ahead was Brady.
But then again, he had never fit well in her life anyway.
"To my second cousin, Ruth, I leave my farm in Iowa, provided she promises to continue growing a minimum of ten rows of corn each ha
rvest."
What kinds of conditions would she and Brady need to tack onto their relationship to make things work?
To Brady, I promise my love and devotion, provided you visit me in New York at least two weekends per month and call me no less than four times per week?
The whole prospect was ridiculous and not one she wanted to entertain for a second longer.
She'd walked away from him before. Would she have to do that again so they could both freely pursue their careers?
"To my niece, Louise, I leave my ranch, provided she is willing to live there at least fifty percent of the year. If these conditions prove disagreeable, she is to oversee the sale of the property and donate all proceeds from the sale to The Make-A-Wish Foundation following the same stipulations cited above."
Louise stopped reading and looked around the room. She wasn't the only one who seemed shocked by this particular bequeathal.
A hundred-thousand thoughts raced through her mind—Why her? Why this property? Would her parents be too terribly disappointed if she turned down the generous gift?—but she pushed them all back in order to continue through the reading.
"And lastly, to my good friend Sara, I leave my remaining monetary assets to be used to promote her campaign for governor and hopefully one day for president." Louise glanced up. Another surprise about her late aunt. How well had she even known her at all? Of course, it was no surprise that the politician had not made an appearance for the reading. She'd need to get her people on the phone to round out this item.
"Well, thank you kindly, for coming out today," Bill Ringstead said as he ushered everyone out of the office. "Louise and I will be in touch over the next week. You know how to find me, if you need me."
When they had all departed, he turned to Louise with a big smile on his face. "I'll bet that was a surprise!"
"Definitely was." Louise returned his smile, but still wasn't sure how she felt about this latest turn of events.
The Alaska Sunrise Romances: A 9-Book Sweet Romance Collection Page 47
