by Anne, Melody
She felt victorious she hadn’t squirmed beneath his stare. Brandon and Lucian remained suspiciously quiet, as if they were at a show, wondering if this was the plot twist they’d all been waiting for. Maybe they were enjoying this power match. It wasn’t often a person had one with Joseph and came out the victor.
She took a sip of her iced tea and leaned back. “The matchmaking stops. I’ll do this project and do it better than anyone else could even think of doing it, but I’m not interested in a relationship . . . with anyone.” Her gaze briefly darted toward Brandon, who didn’t appear offended. He seemed more curious than anything else.
Joseph’s grin grew. “I never said anything about matchmaking. I simply have a job I need completed,” he told her, looking far too innocent. She wondered how long it had taken him to perfect that look.
“Good. Then we’re on the same page. Shall we shake on it?”
Joseph looked as if he wanted to say something more, but instead he picked up his bottle of beer and took a sip and eyed her, as if he was just now realizing he’d underestimated her. She felt pretty dang proud of that fact. A lot of people had underestimated her, and it hadn’t gone well for them.
She held out her palm and shook the man’s hand. That was as good as a contract in Joseph’s opinion, and she was very well aware of that. She had no doubt the actual contract would make it to her restaurant within an hour of her returning, though. He liked to have no loose ends.
“What comes next?” Joseph asked.
She got a slightly evil glint in her eyes as she turned toward Brandon, who didn’t look quite so easy, as he could clearly see something brewing in her eyes.
“Brandon and I are going on a field trip. To make sure we have the best facility, we need to see what’s wrong at other places. We’re heading into the city tonight.”
She had a challenge in her eyes, daring him to refuse her. He looked as if he wanted to for a few moments before squaring up his own shoulders and nodding.
“Sounds good to me,” he said. “I love field trips.”
“Great. I can’t wait to hear all about it,” Joseph said. “Now, let’s stop talking business and enjoy this delicious lunch.”
And that was exactly what they did. Chloe actually found herself chuckling a few times. Joseph and Lucian were a riot to be with when their attention wasn’t focused on bringing a person down. She did notice that Brandon was oddly quiet, which was very different from his usual personality.
They parted ways after lunch, with the understanding that Brandon would come to her place at five o’clock. She’d see if he was still just as eager to work with her after all was said and done. She didn’t plan on making this easy for him. If she was hired to do a job, then only the best would do.
CHAPTER TEN
Chloe was running late . . . really late.
She hurried down her walkway, looking through her purse to make sure she hadn’t forgotten anything. That meant she wasn’t paying the least attention to where she was going.
She nearly got thrown to the ground when she walked straight into a solid wall . . . of muscle. Brandon’s arms snaked around her before she could bounce backward and ungracefully land on her behind. She wasn’t sure if she was grateful or not at the feel of his arms around her suddenly needy body.
“I’m sorry,” she said, her breath knocked out of her. She’d tried to block out the fact that the man was nothing but solid muscle in all the best places. Pressing against him in a bed was pure heaven, but running into him while walking too fast felt like hitting a brick wall.
“You can press against me anytime you want,” he said, his smile taking the rest of her breath away. Chloe ignored the extra thump of her heart. This project was only just beginning, and if she wasn’t careful, she’d never make it to the end.
“I’m running late. Sorry for making you wait, but it seems these days I can’t make it anywhere on time,” she told him, breaking the connection of their eyes as she looked down. “And I absolutely hate that. I’m a punctual person. I think it shows a complete lack of respect to be late. But I have piled too much on my plate right now, and I can’t seem to make enough time for it.”
She was rambling on, and she knew it, but she could barely force herself to stop. She was incredibly flustered at the moment, and being in Brandon’s presence wasn’t helping at all.
“I just got here, so we aren’t late at all. Take a breath, and we’ll be on our way.” She wanted to snap at him for no reason. Maybe it was just because she hated that she felt like a breathless teenager instead of a responsible adult when in his presence.
“Anything less than fifteen minutes early is late in my book. You can never predict traffic or unexpected delays,” she said as she kept digging in her purse, her fingers finally landing on what she’d been searching for.
“Found my lipstick,” she said with triumph. She was already getting in a better mood. She didn’t think he was going to enjoy his evening at all, not with how spoiled he was. She definitely had an evil streak to her.
“Are you going to tell me where we’re going?” His smile had faded, and he was gazing at her suspiciously. She might have gotten a bit too perky all of a sudden.
“It’s an adventure,” she said, feeling smug.
“We’ll do your project, then have dinner and put our heads together,” he told her. There was just the smallest amount of something in his eyes that made her think he was almost . . . vulnerable. It was something she couldn’t remember seeing before. It made her pause. If he was cocky and overbearing, she could easily keep her armor in place. If he was vulnerable, it would make her want to protect him. That was the last thing she needed.
“We aren’t going to be having dinners together. We’re working on a project. That’s it,” she reminded him.
He shrugged. “I like to eat while I work. That way I’m not wasting time. It’s killing two birds with one stone. I’m sure you do it all the time. Besides, we’re friends, aren’t we?”
She paused as she considered his words. “We aren’t exactly friends.” She wasn’t trying to be rude, but she counted very few people as her actual friends. A former one-night stand definitely didn’t fit into that category.
“I care about you, so that makes you a friend. Maybe it could be more,” he said, as if it didn’t matter to him one way or the other. He was playing this in an entirely new way that was throwing her off. She wasn’t sure what he was doing now. She didn’t like for him to be unpredictable.
“There’s no chance of it being more, but maybe we can have a sort of relationship,” she finally said. But they’d been standing there too long, making them run late. “We seriously have to go, though, so we’re going to have to table this conversation.”
“After you,” he said as he moved toward his car. She decided to be a bit more difficult as she looked at the nice vehicle.
“I think I’ll drive,” she said. “You don’t know where we’re going, and I’m terrible at giving directions.” She walked away from him and moved toward her small car. She stopped and gazed at him as he slowly approached.
He looked at the small car and gave her a fearful glance. “I really think I should just drive,” he said. “I’m parked on the curb, making it a quick exit.”
“Nope. My plans tonight, my car,” she said. She pulled open the driver’s side door and slipped inside, feeling immense satisfaction when he crammed himself into the passenger seat. That was, until his body was pressed up against hers in the tiny car. Maybe this hadn’t been such a great idea after all. She hated how stubborn she could be sometimes. It got her into situations like the one she was currently in. Maybe she could change his mind about coming along with her before they pulled out of the driveway.
“Having regrets?” she asked. “You can change your mind if you want, and I won’t think any less of you.” That was a lie. She’d think a lot less of him, but if it would get him out of her car, she’d be more than happy with his decision.
�
��Not at all,” he said, leaning just a bit closer to her and making her clench her teeth.
“Is this a game to you, Brandon?” she finally got the courage to ask. He looked at her, and she allowed the connection for a few moments before turning away.
“Why do you say that?” he asked.
“Because you touch me and make all these innuendos even when I tell you to stop. I don’t know if you’re so interested because I’m hard to get or what it is, but not knowing drives me slightly crazy.”
“I haven’t stopped thinking about you since the moment we met,” he told her, sounding as if he was speaking the truth. “I’ve wanted to forget you and the power you have over me, but I’ve never been able to. So I keep on coming back for more. It’s that simple. It’s not a game at all. If I truly felt you didn’t feel it, too, then I’d back the heck off, and this project would be so much easier for both of us. But as it is, we have to deal with it, and there’s zero chance I’ll stop flirting with you. Either deal with it or pull out of the project.”
That was blunt. And she found herself respecting him for it. She could handle a man who said what he felt. It was a lot better than hiding behind innuendos and lies. She finally sighed. She’d been hard on him from the very beginning, and she didn’t like being that person.
“We had our night. It was amazing and satisfactory. But it ended, and that’s just how it goes sometimes. Now we live next to each other, but that doesn’t mean it has to be awkward,” she insisted. “I understand you flirt. It comes naturally, and I’m not going to lie and say there’s zero attraction, but that doesn’t mean we do something about it. It’s not that simple.”
“Don’t you get tired of being alone? I know I do sometimes,” he said. “Wouldn’t you like to have someone by your side who understands who you really are and who’ll keep you warm at night?”
Chloe felt tears in her eyes, and there was no way she was going to let them fall. Allowing him to come with her hadn’t been the smartest idea she’d ever had. He simply affected her too much. She could only take him in small doses.
“I’d rather be alone than in a relationship where I feel lonely,” she told him honestly.
“Have I ever ignored you when we’re together?” he asked.
She paused. She couldn’t lie. “No,” she answered with truth. “But that’s because we’ve never been in a relationship. You aren’t the settling-down kind of man, and I’m too busy to give proper attention to a relationship.”
“I don’t know what I want this to be in the end. I just know I want something from you, and you won’t give me a chance to find out what that is.” She was thinking this was probably the most honest this man had ever been with any female in his life. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that.
Those tears she was fighting were coming closer and closer to the surface, and she couldn’t let them fall. If she gave into the weakness she was feeling, she was afraid the door would open, and he’d step through. If he did that, she might never have the strength to push him back out the door again.
“I’ve done the relationship thing, and it never works. I think being alone is worth exploring, worth taking a chance on,” she said.
Chloe’s heart was pounding as they pulled up to an operating veterans center in the city, where a dinner was taking place. She wanted to see how the facility was being run, so she’d volunteered to help. They had no idea she was working on the current project in Cranston. It helped that she’d volunteered before. Not as much as she’d like to, but enough that they always let her into the different community centers when she called and said she was free. She needed to run inside before she gave in to Brandon and what he was asking of her.
“We’re here,” she said in a tight voice.
“We need to finish this discussion,” he insisted as he reached out and stopped her from opening the door.
“Please, Brandon. We need to get through this meal,” she said. “If any of what you are saying is true, then you’ll let go of me so I can do it with a clear head.”
She was almost shocked when he instantly released her. She was afraid to even look at him as she opened her car door and stepped out. He walked around and stood by her side, this time without touching her, which she was grateful for.
“Let’s go do some good while we find out the bad,” he told her. “We have plenty of time to finish the discussion later.”
Those words were like an omen, and she didn’t bother replying as she made the walk around to the back of the center to enter through the kitchen.
The pastor from the church down the hill was there with a smile on his face as they entered.
“You made it, Chloe,” he said before holding out his hand to Brandon. “And you’ve brought a friend. That’s wonderful.”
“I’m sorry I’m late, Pastor Bart. I got held up,” she said.
“That’s understandable,” he replied graciously. “We’re always glad to have you, as we know how busy you are.”
“Brandon Anderson,” Brandon said as he shook the pastor’s hand.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, son,” Pastor Bart said.
“You as well, sir,” Brandon replied.
“Shawn will show you around so you can get started right away,” Pastor Bart replied.
Chloe looked around the small facility with a bit of a broken heart. She was on a research mission, but she had wanted to find more good than she was finding. Maybe if they did this veterans project right in Cranston, other centers would follow suit and give more priority to all veterans. They certainly deserved it.
One good thing about their arrival was the fact that as soon as they’d walked in, the chatting had stopped since she and Brandon had gotten separated. He was put on serving duty, and she volunteered at the washing station. Because of the holidays, the church had come in and was giving out gifts to children of the veterans, and Chloe loved being there to watch the happiness on their faces. This was what the holidays were all about. She wasn’t sure what Brandon would think of it all.
But as the night passed them by, she noticed how he went from looking uncomfortable to seeming almost awed by it all. After the meal had been served, he helped pass out gifts, spoke to the veterans, and smiled at their young kids.
By the time they were finished, Chloe wasn’t sure what she was feeling, but the distance she was trying to keep between them was dissipating by the second. It was hard to stay away from him when she saw what a good man he was.
Even though the facilities needed to offer so much more, the men and women inside were grateful for anything they were given. Some of them were disabled, some suffering from horrific PTSD, and some were just there to be with other people who understood what they’d gone through. They all had stories to tell, and Brandon was more than willing to listen.
Beyond being willing, he appeared to truly enjoy talking to the men and women who’d served. He seemed to have a deep respect for what they’d done for their country. How could she keep distance from a man like that? She wasn’t sure she could. Her fear had always been that the more you found out about a person, the more flaws you saw. She hadn’t found flaws in him yet. What did that mean for everything she’d always believed?
When their night ended, he approached her, looking a bit sad, just as she felt, but also seeming more determined than ever to make things better for these people. He smiled down at her before they said goodbye to a few more people, then stepped outside the center. She was utterly exhausted. And Brandon hadn’t acted as she’d expected him to.
“Let’s have dinner,” he said as they approached her car. Chloe knew she should say no, but she couldn’t seem to voice the word.
Instead, she found herself nodding. Her heart nearly burst when Brandon looked as if he’d just won the lottery. She wasn’t as strong as she’d thought she was. Maybe she was beginning to want to please this man. Maybe she was starting to want to put that light of happiness in his eyes. Maybe it was time to quit fighting what she’d want
ed since the moment she’d met him.
She wasn’t sure what it was, but she handed her keys to him to let him drive them back, and she climbed in the car, too tired and emotionally drained to do anything other than sit there and try to collect herself.
She was in a losing battle, and she normally didn’t allow herself to get into this sort of situation. Any game she played with Brandon would end with her losing. But if they both got what they ultimately wanted, wouldn’t that actually make them both victors?
It was too confusing to even try to comprehend. Instead, she leaned into her seat and closed her eyes. She was on a journey with Brandon whether she wanted to be there or not. She’d soon find out where they ended up.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Chloe sat in Brandon’s large kitchen, wondering how she’d gotten there and what she planned on doing about it. He was grabbing a dish from the refrigerator, and it made her smile to see him throw it in the microwave. He certainly wasn’t trying to impress her with his culinary expertise. That would be difficult to do since she was quite the picky chef.
It was odd for her how comfortable she was in his house. It shouldn’t be that easy. She should’ve put up more of a fight, but she didn’t have the will for it. He’d been saying things to her no man had ever said before. She had a lot to fear, because she was falling for him. No matter how many ways and how many times she told herself she wasn’t the type of woman to fall for a man, it was happening.
Maybe it was his sheer focus, his utter pursuit of her that was breaking her down. Whatever it was, she knew the chances of them not sleeping together again were slowing diminishing.
This was a no-win situation. And she was starting to not care.
“I see you haven’t mastered the art of cooking now that you’re a homeowner,” she told him as he pulled out a bottle of wine and took the cork out before pouring her a generous glass. She sipped on it gratefully.
“You don’t know that,” he said with a wink. “I might just be trying to get the meal over with so we can settle down in the den, where it isn’t quite so . . . bright.”
