Brandon carefully shifted her and sat up. He needed to think about what he wanted from this relationship. He knew he wanted to keep seeing her, but beyond that he had no idea. He stared at her sleeping so peacefully. Justin’s words came back to Brandon: There’s nothing like waking up beside that one special woman every day. He slid off the bed, scrubbed a hand down his face and paced the length of the floor. He wasn’t ready for the whole one-woman-for-life thing. Or was he? He stopped pacing. A moment of panic gripped him and he took a deep breath.
“You’re okay. It’s just one night,” he mumbled to himself. “You’ll be taking her home in a few hours and everything will be back to normal.” Brandon slipped back into the bed, the pressure in his chest easing. Besides, he didn’t have to think about that just yet because Faith would be leaving in a couple of weeks. A different type of anxiety took hold at the thought of her going back home. Was he going crazy? He’d never had such conflicting emotions about a woman. With everything swirling around in his head, he thought it might be best if he waited to discuss any long-term plans. He had time. Brandon tried to go back to sleep, but with his mind racing, ended up staring at the ceiling.
Faith stirred and opened her eyes. “Good morning. What time is it?”
He glimpsed over his shoulder. “Six forty-five.”
“I hadn’t planned on spending the night,” she murmured.
That made two of them. “Do you have anything planned for today?”
“I have some work to do and a conference call with a client later this morning.”
“If I get you home by eight, will that be early enough?”
“Yes.”
They lay quietly for a while longer, then got dressed and drove back to the hotel.
Inside her door, Faith placed a hand on Brandon’s chest. “I don’t know how to thank you for such a beautiful day and night. I had a wonderful time.”
“It was my pleasure.” The word pleasure conjured up vivid and sensual memories of last night. Her expression changed and she dropped her head. Brandon lifted her chin. “What is it, baby?”
“As much as I enjoy being with you, I don’t think we should continue to see each other. We know this thing isn’t leading anywhere and it makes no sense to...” She trailed off. “And there’s something—”
“I realize you’re going home soon, but you don’t believe that any more than I do. We can take this relationship anywhere we want. And I want to take it as far as it goes.” Brandon cut her off when she started to protest. “Just think about it. We can talk later this week.” He captured her mouth in a slow, drugging kiss, wanting to show her why it did make sense for them to continue seeing each other. He slid an arm around her waist, pulled her closer and deepened the kiss. She moaned and slipped her hands beneath his shirt and trailed them down his back. It was his turn to moan. On the brink of losing control, Brandon tore his mouth away and rested his forehead against hers, breathing harshly. He closed his eyes and tried to calm himself. He was two seconds from stripping her naked and going for one more round. “Just think about it and we can talk this week,” he said again. He kissed her once more and left while he still could.
Brandon went home and cleaned up the kitchen and bedroom. As he gathered up the rose petals and candles, and stripped the sheets off the massage table, he recalled Faith’s passionate cries and the heat of her surrounding him as he thrust in and out of her. He braced his hands on the table and bowed his head. There was no way he could go without seeing her.
He tried to catch up on some work he had brought home, but gave up after two hours. He thought about calling Khalil, but changed his mind. In his present state of mind, if his brother made one teasing remark, Brandon would end up being banned from his parents’ house. He couldn’t chance that happening because he enjoyed being around his family, and he loved his mama’s cooking. Instead he went shopping, then took care of a few minor things around the house. But nothing calmed the restlessness he felt. The night was worse. He tossed and turned for hours, then fell asleep for an hour only to be awakened by a dream so erotic it made him call out Faith’s name.
The next morning, Brandon dragged himself out of bed to go to work. He had been looking forward to the start of this new workweek and beginning the transition with his father. But with less than three hours of sleep, it would take a double shot of caffeine to get him going.
He made it to the office by seven and stopped in the first floor café for coffee before taking the elevator up to his floor. Most of the employees didn’t start arriving until seven thirty, but he liked coming in earlier while it was still quiet to get a jump on the day.
“Good morning, Mrs. Collins,” he said to his administrative assistant. Fifty-something-year-old Gladys Collins had been a fixture in the company since he was a kid and knew as much about the company as Brandon. Over the years, his father had tried offering her various management positions, but she’d turned them down each time, saying she liked her job just fine.
“Morning, Brandon. Here are your messages.” Mrs. Collins handed him a small stack.
Brandon skimmed them. Most were from suppliers on the East Coast. “Thank you.” He opened the door to his inner office and closed it behind him. He tossed the messages on the desk and booted up his computer and sipped his coffee. Fifteen minutes later, with the caffeine pumping through his blood, he felt revived and ready to tackle the training document he’d been working on for his replacement. He had a hard time because his thoughts kept drifting to Faith and his growing feelings.
After two hours of barely making progress, Brandon decided that he needed to talk to someone. He told his assistant he’d be back and sought out his brother-in-law. He knocked on the partially open door of the office Justin used when he came. “Hey, Justin. Got a minute?”
Justin’s head came up and his fingers stilled on the keyboard of his laptop. “Hey, Brandon. Yeah, have a seat.” He shifted the computer to the left of the near empty desk and clasped his hands together.
He dropped down in the chair.
“What’s up?”
“How did you know Siobhan was the one?” Brandon held up a hand. “You can skip the intimate details.”
A slow smile spread across Justin’s face. “I didn’t. I had no intentions of starting anything serious and Siobhan felt the same.” He shook his head. “I can’t put my finger on when or how it happened, but all of a sudden I found myself falling in love.” He angled his head thoughtfully. “Is that how you’re feeling about Faith?”
“I don’t know. It’s just different. I’ve never been distracted by a woman before, but I can’t stop thinking about Faith.”
“Is she still here?”
“Yes, but she’s going back to Portland in a couple of weeks.” Brandon didn’t know how he was going to handle not being able to see her whenever he wanted. Any visits would have to be coordinated between their schedules and with him taking over the company, it could be a few months before his schedule cleared. That didn’t sit well with him, either. “I mentioned continuing our relationship, but we haven’t really had time to discuss it at length.”
Justin leaned forward. “If you care about her, don’t let her get away. I can’t tell you how hard it was when I thought I’d lost Siobhan. Whatever you do, don’t let her get away,” he repeated, as if he were remembering.
Brandon nodded. Now how in the hell was he going to accomplish that?
Chapter 15
Wednesday evening, Faith fiddled with the salad on her plate as she talked to Brandon on the phone. They hadn’t spoken since he dropped her off on Sunday, due to his work schedule, and she’d missed his call earlier in the day because of a conference call. He was still campaigning to convince her to continue their relationship. But she knew once she came clean, he would, more than likely, never speak to her again, much less date her.
&nb
sp; “How did your conference call go this afternoon?” Brandon was asking.
“It went well. I may have another client, but I have to wait until I send my proposal.”
“That’s great news. By the way, I brought your idea of student interns to my company and got very positive responses, so thank you.”
She hadn’t realized he had paid that much attention to what she said. “You’re welcome. I’m sure it’ll turn out well.”
“I’ve been meaning to ask if things were still going well with your father.”
“Yes. We’re enjoying getting to know each other.” Not wanting to talk about her father, Faith changed the subject. “Have you thought more about working with your uncle’s replacement?”
“No. And we’re going to have to agree to disagree on the subject. Maybe we should talk about something else.”
She sighed inwardly. His clipped tone gave her the impression that he was still angry and resistant to the idea, and made it that much more difficult for her to tell him. “Actually, I need to finish my dinner and get started on the proposal.”
Brandon’s sigh came through the line. “I didn’t mean to snap at you. Can we have dinner tomorrow?”
“I’ll be with my father.” Faith had called Thad and asked if she could come over. She had to tell him about Brandon. Maybe he would have an idea of what she should do.
“What about lunch on Friday? There’s a nice café on the first floor of the building where I work.”
She tried to think of a reason she couldn’t go, but outside of telling him the truth, she couldn’t come up with one. “Sure. What time?”
“Is two okay? That way we can miss the lunch crowd.”
“Two is good.” The fewer people around, the better. She just hoped he didn’t get any ideas about her visiting his office. He gave her the address, told her to park in the underground garage and said not to worry about the cost, that he would make sure to have it validated. They talked a moment longer, then Faith ended the call.
She looked down at her half-eaten salad and pushed the plate away, her appetite now gone. She buried her head in her hands and muttered, “What am I going to do?” If she had known they would end up this way, she would have never gone out with him past that first dinner. She got up, dumped the salad and tried to work on her proposal, but after her fourth mistake, decided to call it a night. Her mind just wasn’t into work.
Thinking a warm scented bath would relax her, she headed to the bathroom, turned on the water and added two capfuls of her eucalyptus spearmint bubble bath under the stream. When the tub filled, she stripped, sank down beneath the bubbles and sighed heavily. Faith tried to shut out everything crowding her brain, but found it hard. From Thad’s offer and the prospect of relocating, to what her parents would say and the impending blowup with Brandon, her thoughts were a jumbled mess. To make matters worse, she admitted to herself that she had fallen in love with Brandon and was destined for another heartbreak.
Finally accepting that the calm feeling she sought would not be happening tonight, Faith washed up and got out. She sensed the beginning of a headache and opted to go to bed rather than work on the proposal. She had a week to finish and send it off, which gave her plenty of time.
After fidgeting in bed for more than two hours, she tried listening to music, then reading. Neither worked, so she turned on the TV and surfed the channels until she found reruns of Criminal Minds. By the third episode, her eyes glazed over and Faith woke up the next morning to the sound of the TV.
She spent much of the day working on the proposal and content for her student program. Later in the evening, she called Thad to make sure he was home and drove over.
Thad greeted her with a hug and kiss on the cheek. “How’s my girl?”
“I don’t know. There’s a lot going on.”
His brows knit. “Well, let’s go talk about it.” As she followed him to the family room, he asked, “Does this mean you’ve been thinking more about coming to work at Grays?”
Faith dropped down on the sofa and leaned her head back. “Yes, but I’m still not sure it’ll be a good idea.”
“Oh.”
The disappointment filling his voice made her sit up. “Believe me, I thought about it, but I found out something else that is weighing heavily on my decision.”
Thad leaned forward. “You’re okay, right? Is your mom sick?”
“Yes, and no. That’s not it.” She tried to figure out where to start and decided on the beginning. “The day after I arrived in LA on my first visit, I was in a car accident.”
He gasped. “Were you hurt? Why didn’t you call me?”
Faith smiled faintly. Once a parent, always a parent. “It was kind of freaky.” She shared the details of what happened, why she had been on the freeway and why she didn’t call.
“I wish you had called me, Faith. It wouldn’t have mattered that you were just showing up after so long. You’re my daughter and I would have gladly taken care of you.”
“I know that now, but a really nice guy stopped to see if I was all right, stayed with me until the ambulance arrived and brought my stuff to the hospital.” She paused. “And I’ve been seeing him since.”
Thad’s eyes lit up. “Is he a nice young man?”
Brandon’s smile flashed in her head, along with every moment they had spent together since she woke up in the hospital and saw him sitting in the chair. “He’s very nice.”
He shook his head in confusion. “I’d think it’d be easier to make the decision to move if he’s such a nice fellow.” He raised a brow. “Unless he’s not as nice as you say.”
Faith chuckled. “No, he really is a nice guy.” Her smile faded. “But I found out when I checked out the Gray Home Safety website—like you asked—that he’s the same man who’s going to assume the CEO position.”
Surprise filled his face. “Brandon? You’ve been dating Brandon since you got here?”
“Yes.”
Thad laughed. “That’s wonderful. Since you two know each other already and get along well, it’ll be easy to work together.”
She shook her head slowly. “Brandon was frustrated about the delay in him assuming the leadership role and told me about ‘Uncle Thad’s mystery child’ and he was not happy. Apparently, he anticipated running the company alone and wants to keep it that way.”
“That boy has always been intense, but he usually comes around.”
“I don’t think so...not this time.” She thought back on the disagreement that led to her asking him to leave and their conversation yesterday and didn’t see him changing his stance anytime soon, if ever. “Because I know how he feels, there’s no way I can take that position now.”
“That VP position belongs to you just as much as the CEO position does to him. He knows how important family legacy is. Don’t let him cheat you out of your inheritance. I’ll have a talk with Nolan. He’ll—”
“No, no. Please don’t.”
Thad studied her. “You haven’t told him.”
“No,” she answered softly. “I tried a couple of times, but we kept getting interrupted.” An image of Brandon’s hands trailing over her body and making love to her on the massage table appeared in her mind. Her nipples tightened and her core pulsed. Faith quickly pushed the vision aside. “But I plan to tell him tomorrow, so please don’t say anything.”
“I won’t, but you remember I want to introduce you next Tuesday.”
“I do.” She definitely had to tell him before then. He’d hate her even more if she walked through that door and he found out she knew beforehand.
He patted her hand. “I know you’re worried, but don’t be. Everything will work out. Now I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t happy about the two of you getting together. However, now that Brandon is dating my baby girl, that changes his
position. I love him like a son, but I’ll roast him on a spit if he breaks your heart.”
Faith almost laughed, but the serious expression on Thad’s face stopped her. She realized he meant every word and the fact that he hadn’t seen her in twenty-eight years meant nothing. He was still her father and he took that to heart. She wanted to tell him that he might as well dig the pit and start the fire because her heart was already breaking.
* * *
Friday, Brandon spent the first part of the morning meeting with his father and now sat going through the stack of applications and resumes for his replacement. He had wanted to keep it in-house, but his father wanted to make sure they had an adequate pool of candidates and released the announcement to the general public. So far, there were nine candidates and only four were current employees of Grays. He picked up the next folder, opened it and groaned.
“Seriously?” he muttered. Why in the world had Gordon Samuels applied for the position? The man had worked here for fifteen years in the PR department and believed they should continue doing business the same way as they did when he started, regardless of the changes in technology. That was one reason he did not get the promotion to PR director and Siobhan did. The other being he always looked just short of rumpled. Needless to say, he would not be leading the home safety division, either. Brandon closed the folder, tossed it aside and opened the next one. He had just picked up a résumé when his cell buzzed. He slid it in front of him, swiped the screen and read the message from Faith: I’m downstairs. He closed the folder, pushed to his feet and hurried to the elevator.
While riding the elevator down, Brandon mentally rehearsed what he would say. Parts of him wanted to tell her how much she had come to mean to him, that he was falling in love with her. He had wrestled with his emotions and finally accepted it, but Faith still seemed reluctant and he didn’t want to scare her off. When they’d first met, she’d told him he was very direct, and usually he was. The elevator doors opened and he stepped around the people waiting to board and spotted Faith standing by the entrance to the café. She had on a sleeveless top and a slim skirt that stopped a few inches above her knees and revealed her shapely legs—the same legs that were wrapped tightly around him Saturday night as they shared the most intense pleasure. He smiled. No, this time he needed a gentler approach.
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