But there wasn’t anything wrong with either thing. I was a free man. And Brooke could never be anything more than my kid’s sitter and my friend.
Jasmine’s face lit up like a Christmas tree as a thought crossed her mind. “I’d love to meet your son, Gannon. Oh, please, allow me to come to dinner. I just have to meet him. Please.” Batting her thick false eyelashes, she was working hard at getting the invitation. “Maybe—after your sitter puts the boy to bed—you could do the same for an old friend. A friend who’s been aching for a good old-fashioned fucking for months now. You do recall how great we were in the sack together, don’t you?”
How could I forget? The woman had been nearly insatiable. She’d done anything I wanted her to and then some. Fucking her could have replaced a workout, it was so intense and physical. But it wasn’t love. It was just fucking.
Why am I thinking about love?
I didn’t love anyone. So why not take Jasmine up on her offer? Why not let her come over and take her to my bedroom for the night?
Because you care about Brooke, you dumbass.
Oh yeah.
But I had to put that behind me. I had to do something to make that happen. And if I took Jasmine to my bedroom, Brooke would definitely see that, and she’d start to look at me differently. Not the way she was currently looking at me. Like a nice guy. Like a guy she wanted to lose her virginity to. Like a guy she cared about, and who she thought cared about her in a way.
Looking at Jasmine as she bit her lower lip, deliberately trying to entice me—a thing she wasn’t doing in the least little bit—I made a decision. One that might do something that would end this idea that Brooke and I could be anything more than friends.
Even as my brain told me to go forward with this plan, even as I looked at Jasmine and saw her as a big phony fake woman, I knew I had to do something to stop the thing that was progressing between my best friend’s baby sister and me. But damn, I didn’t want to.
“I don’t know, Jas …”
“Please, Gannon.” Jasmine batted those lashes again as she moved her hand along the inside of my thigh. “Gannon, I need you. You left me high and dry, without a word to let me know what I’d done to lose you. I was devastated. I know you didn’t know that, as you didn’t bother to call and see how I was taking our breakup.”
“We weren’t really together, Jasmine. We spent some nights together, but we weren’t a couple. Both of us were free to do as we pleased. No words of love were ever exchanged.”
She held up her hand to stop me. “Oh, I beg to differ, Gannon. I told you on most of our sexual occasions, once you’d made me come like a demon, that I loved the way you fucked me. Words of love were exchanged.”
How shallow.
How unlike Brooke.
And how perfect for Brooke to see me as the man I really am, instead of the man I am with her and my son.
“I’m not promising you that you can stay the night or even come into my bedroom, Jasmine. I’m not sure I want that sort of thing going on now that I have a child in my home. I want the kid to grow up respecting me. And having women over just to fuck them isn’t a thing I want him thinking is right.”
She smiled. “How progressive of you, Gannon. Perhaps this boy is bringing out the man in you. The man I always knew you could be. So, let’s take this thing slowly then. Dinner tonight, and we’ll go from there. I think I’ll adore this new man you seem to have become. Fatherhood suits you.”
“Should I send my driver for you?” I got up, getting ready to leave as I was beginning to feel very uncomfortable about the whole thing.
“No, I’ll have mine take me. Around eight?” she asked as she got up too.
“No. Around six. Braiden, that’s his name, goes to bed at eight. So we eat at six.” I looked up for a moment, asking my parents up in heaven if this was the right thing to do. And just like always, they didn’t answer me.
“I’ll be there.” Then her hands were on my arms, and I looked down at her. She caught my lips with a soft kiss. A kiss that did absolutely nothing for me. “Bye, Gannon.”
“Bye, Jasmine.”
As I walked away, I couldn’t help but feel I’d just made a terrible mistake. But what could I do to fix that? And should I fix it, or leave it like it was? It would probably do the trick. It would probably have Brooke looking at me differently.
Each step I took had me thinking more and more about that. Did I want Brooke to look at me differently? Or did I want her to always look at me the way she did?
Part Three
Chapter 16
Brooke
Braiden and I were sitting in the playroom I’d made him in one of the never-used living areas of the massive home. He and I had gone to the store earlier to find things to put in it. I’d found all types of fun, colorful educational toys to use to help him, and a potty chair too. I He was a little behind developmentally, probably because of the total lack of love from his mother, but I was sure Braiden was super smart and would make up for lost time with my help. He was definitely eager, and more than willing to play all kinds of games.
When the door to the room opened, and there stood Gannon, looking at us as we were sitting on the floor playing with blocks that had letters and numbers stamped on them, I looked at my cell to see what time it was. “You’re home. I guess the time got away from me.”
“Yes, I am.” He came to us, picking up his son. “And how have you been today, my big boy?”
Braiden giggled as Gannon rubbed his whiskered cheek against the boy’s smooth one. I got up and made sure my skirt was in place. “I see you found us. I hope you don’t mind me making this room into a place where I can help Braiden learn.”
“Not at all. In fact, when Ashe met me at the door, I was pleased to hear you’d taken this on all by yourself. You’re the expert here, not me, after all.” He turned to leave the room, so I followed along behind him.
He was heading in the opposite direction I thought he’d be going in, the direction of the small dining room where we had dinner each night. Instead, we were heading toward a larger dining area. And I found the staff was busily making it beautiful. Fresh flowers were brought in. Nice linen was placed on the table. White linen, a thing we’d found out early on that Braiden was hard on. We’d had it removed from the dining areas we used regularly.
I didn’t ask anything about it though. It wasn’t my home, after all. When I heard more footsteps coming toward us, I turned to find Ashe leading a woman into the room.
A tall, beautiful, dark-haired woman. And she was looking only at Gannon. “Oh, he’s a doll, Gannon!”
Who the hell is she?
Gannon turned his attention to the woman who swept in and kissed his cheek. “You made it, Jasmine. This is my son, Braiden.”
She took the little boy’s hand and shook it as he looked at her with wide eyes, before burying his face in his father’s chest shyly. “Oh, he is sweet, Gannon.” She made a point of completely ignoring me.
I was standing right behind Gannon though. My shyness had slipped back in, and I had to step out of his shadow. “Hello, I’m Brooke, Braiden’s sitter. And your name is Jasmine?”
She nodded, looking me over once, sizing me up, then looking at Gannon. “You didn’t tell me she was so young. Perhaps I should help you find someone to help you with the boy?”
Gannon looked at me with a frown on his face, a thing I worried meant he was thinking about taking her up on the offer. Then he winked at me. “I don’t need any help, Jasmine. Her brother is one of my best friends. He recommended her. Brooke’s majoring in Early Childhood Development at Berkeley. Who better to care for my son?”
Jasmine’s dark eyes took me all in as I stood what must’ve been too close to Gannon for her comfort. She reached out, taking me by the arm, pulling me to one side. I watched as Gannon put Braiden in his highchair, that had been brought into the more extravagant dining room.
“If you don’t mind me asking, just how old are you?” She had
the nerve to ask me.
“You first,” I threw at her.
“Thirty, dear. Your turn.” She batted fake lashes at me as if trying to take over the mother role.
“Twenty. And what does that matter?”
The smile that moved over her face told me she was relieved about my age. Was she there for Gannon? Was she his girlfriend or something?
“It doesn’t. Let’s sit.” She held out her arm, gesturing to the lavishly laid-out table.
When had Martha Stewart stopped by?
There was seating for six at the table, place settings for four. At the end of the table, Gannon sat. Each place on either side of him was open, and one had Braiden’s high chair next to it. One can imagine my surprise when this new woman went for that chair.
That’s my damn chair!
Gannon’s eyes caught mine as she took the seat between him and his son. He shrugged and nodded at the other chair. I took the place, but gave him a scowl.
I wanted to ask him why he hadn’t told me he was having company. I’d have left them alone. So I decided it wasn’t too late to do just that. “Gannon, I can take my dinner to my bedroom so you and your friend can be alone.”
He shot me a look that I’d never seen before. “No.”
No? But if she was going to see to helping his son then why did I need to be there?
The woman leaned in close to him, whispering, “Let her go if she wants, Gannon. I can take care of feeding your son, darling.”
My blood was boiling. I knew I had no right to be jealous. I had no right to be mad at him for having a woman over. I had no right at all, but fuck, I was livid!
“She’s part of my family, Jasmine. She’s not some employee to my son and me. She stays.” He looked at me once more with a smile on his handsome face. “Dinner wouldn’t be the same without her smiling face at my table anyway.”
“How nice for you, Brooke,” Jasmine gave me a crooked smile as her eyes narrowed a bit, letting me know she didn’t really think it was nice at all. “Being treated like a part of an employer’s family isn’t a thing most servants get.”
Servant?
Who the fuck does she think she is? “I should go, Gannon.”
His hand moved over mine under the table as I had my hands on top of my legs, clenching my thighs with them so I didn’t jump up and smack the bitch.
So unlike me to even think this way!
“No, Brooke. You’re going to stay. I’ve asked Consuela to make us something special for dinner. Something I think you’re going to love. I don’t want you to eat it in your room. I want to see your face when you taste it.”
The touch of his hand on mine, hidden from the woman across the table from me, sent heat directly to my core. And I surrendered to the man as my anger ebbed. “K.”
The surprise meal wasn’t a thing I’d ever eaten before, Pheasant under Glass, and it was delicious. But I couldn’t thoroughly enjoy it, as the woman he’d invited just rubbed me the wrong way.
Gannon had to get up to take a phone call, leaving the two of us all alone, save little Braiden. He was busily munching on some meat she’d placed in front of him. He was getting very messy, and so were his clothes and the tablecloth, a thing I never let happen.
“So, you live here?” she asked me.
“Yes.” I didn’t want to chat with the woman, and kept eating.
“So, has Gannon had any other women over that you know of?” She craned her head to keep a look out for him.
“No.” I took a drink of the red wine we had all been given. I’d had wine before, but no other alcohol.
“Good to hear. So, do you think there’s a chance he and I could make it happen?” she asked.
“Make what happen?” I suppose I was clueless.
“You know. Marriage? Now that he has a kid to take care of, the man finally needs a wife. And I could be that. I’ve lusted after him for over a year. He and I were a thing about a year ago. We got along well. I could make myself available to him, and eventually, he’d see me as a wife and mother.” She licked her too-fat lips. Way too much collagen.
“Hmm. Who knows.” I managed to say it like I didn’t care. “I think I need more wine, and this bottle is about empty. Mind keeping an eye on Braiden while I run to the kitchen to grab another bottle?”
“No, of course not. And do you think you could see fit to take the boy and keep him occupied while I work on his father?” My stomach flipped, and I nearly threw up.
“I’ll do what I can.” I left the room and hurried to find Gannon.
I wasn’t about to let some conniving female do a thing to him. He and I collided as we both came around a corner at the same time. “Good. Gannon, we have to talk.”
I grabbed his hand and pulled him into the next room to make sure she couldn’t hear us. I closed the door behind us, still holding his hand. Then I turned to him as he asked, “What’s the matter?”
Looking into his dark blue eyes, I could see he didn’t have a clue what she was up to. “Gannon, that woman plans on duping you into marrying her. She thinks your son is the way to get what she’s after. She told me she’s lusted after you for a year or something like that. That’s not love.”
“She told you that, huh?” He looked away, then shrugged. “I guess I could do worse, huh?”
What?
“Gannon, how long have you been seeing this woman?”
“I haven’t. I saw her about a year ago. We kind of dated for a month before I lost interest. Why? What does that matter?” He looked completely serious.
“What does that matter?” I was shaking my head so much it was making me dizzy, so I stopped. “Gannon, you don’t just bring random women around your kid. And you sure as hell don’t entertain the thought of letting some woman step in to fill a role merely because it’s open. You stopped seeing her for a reason. You have nothing that calls you to her. There is nothing there between you two.”
“But that doesn’t mean it can’t grow with time, right?” His question only served to make me even angrier.
“Gannon, you walked away from her. She’s not the right woman for you,” I blurted out without thinking.
His eyes softened as he looked at me. I felt one of his fingers move over my hand that was still holding his. “Hmm. You know, you might be right, Brooke. Do you think you might be the right woman for me?”
Chapter 17
Gannon
I watched her sky-blue eyes dance as she looked at me, trying to grasp what I’d said.
I’d never planned to say that to her. It had just popped out of my mouth. She was so jealous over me that it had me kind of giddy with emotion.
Maybe inviting Jasmine over had been the right thing to do after all. The truth—or a form of it, anyway—was out. And Brooke wasn’t running away from me. She was stunned and looked a bit pale, but she wasn’t running.
“So?” I urged her to say something.
“Are you messing with me, Gannon?” She blinked rapidly.
“No.” I ran my thumb over the back of her hand, grateful that she hadn’t let go yet. “I have to ask you that question because, you see, I’ve been thinking about that for a while now. Like maybe you’re the one for me. I didn’t know how to go about asking what you thought about that.”
“So you invited this woman over for what reason then?” She seemed stupefied.
I was too. “I don’t really know why I did that. I bumped into her after lunch with August this afternoon. She wanted to get together; I didn’t. But she gave me an idea. A terrible idea.”
“Like the idea of seeing if she made me jealous?” she asked me as she cocked her head to one side.
“Well, to be honest, I wasn’t sure why I did it. I wanted something to change with you and me. She seemed like a thing that would accomplish that. You know, making you look at me differently, stopping this connection we have that just keeps getting deeper as it grows and grows.”
“Or making me jealous and bringing it all out of me
?” she asked. Then she pulled her hand out of mine and turned away. “You’ve manipulated this whole thing, Gannon.”
I put my hand on her shoulder and turned her back around. I wanted to see her face. “I know that. I’m sorry. If this wasn’t such a hard place to be in, then I’d have done things differently. You see, I value your brother’s friendship. That’s one reason I didn’t let you know for sure how I was feeling about you. But more than that, Brooke, I value you. I knew I had to be the man you deserve before I could ever present myself to you.”
“So, what does this mean, Gannon?” she asked, still looking a bit perplexed.
“This means I want you. I want you in the worst possible way. I’ve never felt like this about anyone. Not ever. I can make you promises I never even thought about making anyone before.” I knew I was wearing my heart on my sleeve, and I just didn’t care.
“What kinds of promises?” Her eyes went wide as she looked at me.
I knew she was taking each and every word in and storing it in her heart. She’d remember this conversation for the rest of her life. I knew she would. So I was careful about what I said, even as I came to a decision in my mind. Brad was just going to have to deal, because the fact of the matter was, I needed his sister. I … loved his sister. It was true. I’d fallen for her in way more ways than just the physical. The thought of waking up one day and not having her beside me left me completely gutted. I thought about her as much as Braiden, wanting nothing more than to see her smile. “Brooke, I promise that I will be faithful to you. I will never intentionally hurt you.”
“You and I would be exclusive?” She looked like she didn’t quite believe me. “Have you ever been that with anyone else?”
I shook my head. “Thirty years old and you are the first girl I’ve ever asked to be with me in that way. Brooke, I want to be your first love and your last one too.”
She stared at me in such disbelief that I wrapped my arms around her and held her in a way I’d only dreamt of. Her body melted into mine and I took in the sweet scent of her mint-scented shampoo.
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