Romancing My Love (Love in Bloom: The Bradens) Contemporary Romance

by Melissa Foster

  His efficient and overachieving business mind tried to sever his lovesick thoughts with reminders of his due diligence team’s discovery of liens against the Grand for unpaid payroll taxes, which were not reflected in the books, and according to the books, made no sense. He had his team doing more discovery today, going through the actual books, not just tax return and financial statements. Based solely on what he knew at this point, the Grand was worth several million dollars fewer than what they’d been led to believe. He’d spoken to William Benson, the owner of the property, and Benson was adamant about the asking price. The end of the day would bring answers.

  Those powerful thoughts tried to push him out of bed, to get his legs moving so he could work the numbers over in his head a million times during his morning run. Rebecca opened her eyes and spread her hand across his stomach, then lifted her head and looked at him, her eyes reflecting the same love that had held him in place.

  “Hi,” she whispered.

  His stressful thoughts were no match for Rebecca. Nothing was. He brushed a strand of hair from her cheek. “Hi, babe.”

  “I’m sorry. I have you trapped.” She pushed away and he pulled her back.

  “I like feeling trapped by you.” He kissed her forehead and she smiled. They didn’t have to fool around; he just wanted her close.

  “Are you okay? You look stressed.” She touched his cheek, and he leaned in to her palm.

  He thought he’d rid himself of the stress, but she saw right through him. “I’m fine. Just work stuff.”

  “That acquisition you mentioned?” She leaned up on one elbow.

  He tried to play it off as no big deal, even though it was one of the biggest deals he’d considered in a long time. “Yeah, we’ll have answers later today.” He still didn’t want to move away from her. She calmed the nagging business voice in his head that had pushed him into overdrive for so many years. She tempered it, adding a balance to his life that he hadn’t realized was missing.

  “You said you had to make a decision in twenty-four hours. Why is that?”

  Rebecca didn’t ask many questions about his work, and he found the questions she did ask curious. “Because they need to sell, and I’m ready to buy.”

  “Self-imposed deadline, then.” Her eyes sharpened.

  “Pretty much.”

  “That makes sense. You like to move fast.”

  “Yeah, I do.” You have no idea. It had been only a week and he was ready to move her into his house.

  “I like that about you. You’re decisive, which is probably why you’re so successful. But what if you needed more time to make a decision? What if it didn’t feel right?”

  He thought about it for a minute. He only made decisions that felt right, and they usually came quickly. “I don’t know. I haven’t had that happen yet.”

  “Would you grant yourself time to think about it or force yourself to decide? I’m asking because in one of my business classes, that was a major topic. What drives entrepreneurs, and do their hasty decisions weaken or strengthen their efforts?”

  “Your business class, huh? Well, I think if I wasn’t sure, I’d take the time until I was sure, but I’m pretty decisive.”

  She nodded and her eyes grew even more serious. “I think I’m the same way. I wanted to tell you something last night, but I thought it might sound funny. I gave myself time to think about it, but it’s been bugging me, so I’m just going to say it. I’m glad you came in to get me at work. I hated feeling like I had to hide our relationship, even for just a couple days.”

  He’d struggled with that decision. He knew it might backfire and make things more difficult for Rebecca, but Pierce wasn’t the kind of man to pretend, much less let the woman he was falling in love with go unclaimed in the public’s eye. She was the woman he adored, and he wanted the world to know it.

  “When I saw you standing there talking with that elderly couple, I was so proud to be with you. I probably shouldn’t have kissed you in the restaurant, even if on the cheek, but I couldn’t help myself.” He lifted her gently so they were eye to eye.

  “Apparently, the women have major crushes on you.” She kissed the corner of his mouth. “But they’re happy for us.”

  “Major crushes, huh? Maybe I need to reconsider the dating pool.”

  She cupped his privates with a wicked grin. “Oh yeah?”

  “Kidding. Kidding.” He carefully lifted her hand and laughed. He shifted her onto her back and pinned her to the bed with his weight. “Do you know how much you turn me on? Just being with you? Hell, Bec, just thinking about you?”

  “Well, I am pretty hot.” She flashed a mischievous smile.

  He laughed again. “Yeah, you are, you little vixen.”

  She giggled and then her eyes grew serious. “I want to tell you something else.”

  “Uh-oh.”

  “It’s nothing bad. I was thinking that we could drive in together today.” She bit her lower lip.

  “What about needing to know your car is there?” He rolled to her side, giving her space to think without the added pressure of feeling how aroused he was.

  She turned and faced him, so close their noses touched. “I would rather know you’re there.”

  It was a small thing, something that shouldn’t make him warm all over, but this was the same woman who’d decked a man and had turned Pierce down for a drink. It was huge. He nuzzled against her neck.

  “Thank you.”

  “But I have to go by my old apartment after work and drop something off with the landlord, and if you want me to stay over again, then I need to pick up clothes for tomorrow from my place.”

  “Baby, I’ll do those things with you. Tonight’s dinner with Treat and Max, too.”

  He glanced at her bag on the floor by the closet. “Why don’t you bring a week’s worth of clothes tonight? A month’s, whatever.”

  “Pierce, I’m not moving in.” She touched his cheek.

  “Not exactly the reaction I was hoping for,” he admitted. He’d thought that Rebecca was in sync with him on how fast they were moving. Now he worried that maybe he was moving too quickly for her comfort.

  “I’ve got my own place, even if I only stay there sometimes. It’s a good thing. You could get sick of me.”

  “Not a chance.”

  “You might want time alone.”

  “Wrong again.” He kissed her softly, relieved that she was only worried about him not being fully committed and not something bigger, like her own feelings for him. He could assuage her worries because he’d been committed to her since the first night they met.

  “You might want to go back to your old playful ways.” She traced his arm from shoulder to wrist.

  He pulled her beneath him again. “The only person I want to play with is you.” He couldn’t hold in his feelings any longer, even at the risk of scaring her away. He searched her eyes and took the plunge. “I fell over the edge, Rebecca. I tried to hold it back, but I can’t. I love you.”

  He could feel her heart racing. She opened her mouth to speak, and he kissed her again before she could say a word.

  “You love me?” She searched his eyes.

  “I do.” He kissed her again, and when she drew back, she gulped in air. “Are you okay?”

  She nodded, her eyes damp with tears. “I fell, too. I was too scared to say anything, but you were right there. You caught me.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  PIERCE STORMED OUT of the meeting with the due diligence team, leaving twelve of his employees to stare after him. He’d known something was off with Benson. Nearly five million dollars in uncollectable accounts receivables had been left on the books instead of written off. The sneaky bastard thought he could play Pierce for a fool. Well, Pierce was nobody’s fool.

  He kept his head down as he entered the executive reception area, every determined step increasing his anger.

  “Treat called when you were in your meeting, and so did William Benson,” Kendra said as
Pierce stormed past her.

  “Thank you,” he grumbled. Benson, the snake.

  She followed him into his office with a notepad in hand and stood across the desk from him with practiced grace while he paced by the windows. He had a tough decision to make about the Grand—the issues with the books didn’t change the fact that he wanted that prime piece of real estate, but the deal just became far more complex and risky. He was glad he’d be speaking with Treat. He was a great sounding board. He knew how to handle tricky deals. But Pierce was too angry to think coherently at the moment. And then there was Kendra, standing on the other side of his mahogany desk in her proper suit, pen at the ready. A major deal was about to implode, and if he had been any other person, he might lash out, take it out on everyone in his path, but Pierce wasn’t that person. He drew in a deep breath and ran his hand over his face, stifling the anger boiling inside his chest.

  “Mr. Benson was returning your call from yesterday requesting a meeting. He’s in his LA office and said he’s free Monday morning. Does that work? I can book you a flight out on Sunday evening and a room at the property near the airport.”

  He turned to face Kendra. Her face was a mask of professionalism, her voice steady, businesslike.

  “Yes. Monday. That’s fine, but I’ll stay with Jake. I’m sure he won’t mind, and I’d like to see him.” It would be nice to have some alone time with his younger brother before he came to visit for Luke and Daisy’s party.

  “I’ll have a car waiting for you at the airport. Pierce, tell me what else you need and I’ll get out of your hair.” She knew him so well.

  He hadn’t seen Rebecca at lunch today, and it was thoughts of her that eased the fire in his belly. She’d told him last night that she called her doctor and had an appointment Monday to get on the pill, and he agreed to get tested, as promised, when he went home for Luke and Daisy’s engagement party. He smiled to himself, despite the frustration of his earlier meeting. There wasn’t another woman on earth he’d do that for.

  “Pierce?”

  He looked up, feeling calmer now. “Yes. Sorry, Kendra.”

  “It’s okay. Before your meeting, you said to have the legal team on standby. Should I get them on the phone?”

  He tried to force his mind back into work mode, but his thoughts drifted back to Rebecca and what she’d said that morning about giving himself time to make decisions. He should take a few hours to talk to his accounting and legal teams and hammer out all the options for the Grand. He should take the time to decide if it was still a viable option or not. But that wasn’t what he needed. He needed to see Rebecca. A little time with her always centered him, and for the first time in his professional career, being with a woman was being moved to the top of his to-do list.

  “You know what? I’m not ready to do this yet.”

  “What do you want me to tell them?”

  “Tell them I need a day.” He went to his desk and glanced over the pictures of his family and realized that Rebecca was missing. He needed a picture of her. Hell, he needed her. Always. He was glad they’d driven in together that morning, because it would make the ride home that much sweeter.

  “Can you please do me a favor?”

  “Of course.”

  “I forgot to make dinner reservations for tonight.”

  Kendra rolled her eyes. “Of course, Pierce. But, you know, you need a wife.”

  I think I might be working on that. “Believe it or not, Kendra, I do hear you when you say that. At least now I do. Would you mind making reservations at the Château? Four for eight o’clock, and please request a quiet booth.”

  “Of course. I’ll also call Treat and let him know. Is there anything else I can do?” Kendra arched a brow. “You’re all jumpy, so you’ve got something going on in that brilliant mind of yours.”

  He glanced down at his desk again. “Yeah, I do need something else, but it’s something I have to do on my own.”

  Pierce stopped in the gift shop on his way to meet Rebecca after her shift. He walked into the restaurant with an armful of red roses as she was on her way out with another waitress. They were walking shoulder to shoulder and laughing. Christ, he loved her laugh. Rebecca glanced in his direction and their eyes met. She smiled, and her gaze drifted to the flowers. She grasped the other woman’s arm. She was an older redhead with a friendly smile, and when she noticed the flowers, she patted Rebecca’s hand.

  “Pierce.” Rebecca sounded breathless as she came to his side.

  “Hi, babe.” He kissed her cheek and breathed her in. She smelled like fresh air, with a hint of cooking spices. “These are for you.” He laid the flowers in her arms.

  She went up on her toes and kissed him. “They’re beautiful, but you didn’t have to do that.”

  “It’s not about what I have to do. It’s about what I want to do, and this is just the tip of the iceberg.”

  He draped an arm around her and smiled at the redhead. “Hi, I’m Pierce.”

  “Oh, sorry. This is Daphne. Daphne, this is Pierce.” Her eyes filled with love when she said his name, and it made him feel warm all over, like the luckiest guy on earth.

  Daphne held a hand out to Pierce. “Mr. Braden, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

  “Pierce, please. And the pleasure is all mine. Rebecca said you showed her the ropes. Thank you.”

  Daphne glanced at Rebecca. “She’s amazing. The customers love her, and so do Henry and I.”

  “I rent a room from Daphne and her husband, Henry,” Rebecca explained. “Daph, we’ll be over in a little while to pick up a few things for the weekend. I’ll see you then?”

  Pierce had been trying not to worry about who Henry was, and as Rebecca explained, his hidden worries eased.

  “Yes, and Henry will be glad to meet Mr. Bra—Pierce.” Daphne leaned in close and lowered her voice. “He worries about her like she’s his own daughter.”

  “Then I like him already.”

  “She seems nice,” Pierce said on the way out to the car.

  “She is, and so is her husband.” She inhaled the beautiful flowers.

  “How long have you rented from her?”

  “Little while.”

  Rebecca gave him directions to her old apartment complex. He parked the car in the parking lot. “Stay right there, please.”

  “Why?”

  He smiled. “I said, please.” He went around the car and opened her door, then reached in to help her out. “That wasn’t so bad, was it?”

  “No,” she said quietly. “But it makes me feel weird.”

  “Bad weird, or you can get used to it weird?” He scanned the parking lot, cataloging the group of five guys huddled around a motorcycle at the end of the lot and the run-down cars that filled the space between. He couldn’t imagine Rebecca living there. With a protective arm around her waist, he led her across the lot.

  “Weird, weird, but to be honest, I kind of like you wanting to do things for me. I’m just not good at the accepting part. But you can open my car door if it makes you happy.”

  “It makes me happy.” He opened the door to the rental office. “How long did you live here?”

  “My mom lived here forever, but I moved out for a little while and moved back in after she got sick.”

  An older man with dark hair and bright blue eyes looked up from the desk where he was working. When he saw Rebecca, a smile brightened his eyes. He rose to his feet and came around the desk with one hand extended, palm up.

  “Rebecca.” He took her hand in his and patted it with his other hand. “So nice to see you.”

  “Hi, Mr. Fralin. This is Pierce Braden.”

  Pierce noticed that she didn’t introduce him as her boyfriend and he wondered why.

  Mr. Fralin nodded and extended a hand. “Mr. Braden, it’s a pleasure.”

  “Nice to meet you.”

  “I brought you what I promised.” Rebecca handed him an envelope. “I’ll be back again next week. Thank you again, Mr. Fralin.”
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  Mr. Fralin’s smile faltered. “Rebecca, I’ve told you that this is unnecessary.”

  She drew in a deep breath. “Yes. And I told you it was necessary for me. Thank you again, Mr. Fralin.”

  On their way out of the building, Pierce noticed a rough-looking man wearing filthy clothes eyeing Rebecca. He draped an arm over her shoulder.

  “What was that?” he asked.

  “What?”

  “The envelope.” He opened the door for Rebecca and set a dark stare on the man whose eyes were still trained on her.

  “Oh, nothing.”

  Pierce climbed into the car, and as they left the parking lot, he stole a glance at Rebecca, who was fidgeting with the stems of the bouquet. “It didn’t feel like nothing.”

  “I owe him some rent money, and I’m just paying him back a little each week.” She looked out the window, and he could tell by the rigidity of her shoulders that she didn’t want to talk about it, but he couldn’t help himself.

  “How much do you owe him?”

  “Don’t, Pierce.” She sighed, still looking out the door. “It’s not much, and I can handle it.”

  “Bec—”

  She turned to face him. “This is one of those times when you need to wear sunglasses, okay? He helped me out when my mom was sick and I lost my job. He said I didn’t have to pay him back, but I am. Okay?”

  He clenched his teeth. Her goddamn pride was thick as lead. “I don’t like you going there alone.”

  “I lived there without a bodyguard for a long time. I think I can handle it.”

  There was more than one way to skin a cat. “How about if I pay him what you owe and you can pay me back?”

  She reached for his hand. “Pierce, you’re doing it again. This is my thing, okay? Why do you think I didn’t introduce you as my boyfriend?”