Branded

by Candace Havens

  “Were you not in the car when I confessed that I failed?”

  She snorted. “One class, which you made up this summer and got an A in. And you and I both know it was that idiot professor. But this isn’t like you, to just run away.”

  “Isn’t it?”

  It’s what I’d been doing all summer.

  “No. But I think you have to figure that out for yourself.” The flight attendant stood before us with a basket of warm cookies. “No, thank you,” I said. The thought of food still turned my stomach.

  “I’ll take hers and mine,” Bethany said as she leaned back in her pod. “I’m going to make you have fun, and we’re going to figure this out. You, better than anyone, know that life is short. If you can’t spend it with the people you love, then there’s something wrong. Really wrong.”

  She didn’t understand. This was because I loved him. I could own that now. I could be strong enough for the both of us. I could be a grown-up and do what was best for someone else. Help give Cole and Addy the life they deserved.

  It was okay if my heart was splintered into a thousand tiny shards. I’d survive.

  Maybe.

  Chapter Nineteen

  “What do you mean you’re in love with my granddaughter? When did this happen?” Callie’s grandfather was a tall man and strong for an old dude, and he seemed even bigger sitting across from me. We were in the jet, so surely he wouldn’t throw a punch? But the look on his face…well, I wasn’t so sure.

  “She’s been spending time with me and Addy.” For some reason, I felt the need to throw in a chaperone, even if we’d been without one many times.

  Don’t let your mind go there in front of this guy.

  “She’s special, uh, as you know. And I have feelings for her, and it took me a bit to figure that out. I wouldn’t have said anything to you, except I feel you should know. I’m not perfect. No one knows that better than I do. But I can’t in good conscience accept your offer without telling you how I feel about her. I understand if you need to punch me in the face. If she were my granddaughter, that’s what I’d probably do.”

  The other man was silent and just stared at me for a full minute.

  I’m a grown man, and I can fight with the best of them, but he was scary as shit.

  “What happens if I tell you I want you off my property within an hour after we land?”

  Sucker punch to the gut. I had it coming. “Yes. I understand. You’ve been good to us, and I’ll respect your wishes. Addy and I will be gone within the hour. I don’t deserve a favor, sir, but please don’t hold my actions against my uncle. He doesn’t deserve to lose his job because I’m an idiot and fell in love the boss’s granddaughter.”

  “You’re right, he doesn’t.”

  I’d had the shit beaten out of me more times than I can count, but I’d never been as paranoid as I was right then. “And this isn’t Callie’s fault. She’s a good person, one of the best. Actually, she’s the best person I know. She made me better. Made me want to be better.”

  “Is that so?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Cole?”

  “Sir?”

  “Take a breath. I’m not going to punch you in the face, or throw you off the plane, but I do have some questions for you.”

  For the first time in about a minute, I did exactly that. I took a deep breath.

  “You two are very young,” he said. “What are your intentions with my granddaughter?”

  Intentions. Hell. Did he expect me to marry her? Shit. I hadn’t thought this through. No, it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to have Callie to come home to every night. In fact, that sort of sounded like heaven.

  “Well…first, I plan to love her and support her dreams. I think she told you she wants to be writer. I’d like to be there for her. But we’re a little young to marry. Once we finish school, and she feels the time is right, marrying her is what I would like to do. I can’t imagine a life without her.

  “And for the record, I don’t want anything to do with her money. I like the idea of working for things on my own. When the time does come, if I’m the luckiest son-of-a-bitch—” Shit. “Pardon my language. If she decides at some point she’ll have me, we’d need a pre-nup. I can’t afford to live the way she’s been living, but she doesn’t seem the kind of girl that always needs that.”

  He crossed his arms. “So you’d want a pre-nup?

  “But not for a few years. I don’t think she’s going to want to marry me. She keeps saying stuff about how she has to clear her head and focus on school. So, that’s why I just plan to be supportive. Whatever she needs.”

  Shit. I shouldn’t have said that. Probably went too far. Why the hell did I mention a pre-nup? And marriage. I’d never even thought about it. Ever. But I wanted that kind of commitment with her. She was mine, but I was every bit as much hers. That was, if she still wanted me.

  “Does she know any of this?”

  I shook my head. “We decided it would be best if she focused on school. She has a lot coming up. And I’m here. Well, I need to take care of Addy and help out my uncle. I do plan on finishing up my degree.”

  I shut up. This man didn’t care about me. Only about his granddaughter.

  “Hmm. Seems to me that if you love her, she should know, so she can make her own decisions.”

  What? Did I hear him right?

  “Excuse me?”

  “Seems like if you love her, you should tell her. There are worse ways to begin a relationship than with a foundation of love and respect. Sounds like you have both for my granddaughter.”

  I still wasn’t sure where he was going with this. “I’m sure you’re right, but I don’t know if she loves me back. I mean, we—” Shit. What did I say? Telling him I had a contract for just sex with his granddaughter didn’t seem appropriate. And she’d said she was falling for me, and I’d pushed her away. Then there was the whole idea that falling didn’t necessarily mean love.

  “I want to make sure I can support her and take care of her the way she deserves. It’ll be a few years before I can make that happen. But I do plan on telling her how I feel. Just as soon as she’ll take one of my calls or answer a text, which she hasn’t done since I left for Kentucky.”

  “I see.” His eyebrow went up. “Well, then we better come up with one doozy of a plan, because she’s hightailed it for Europe and won’t be back until the semester begins.”

  The breath whooshed out of my chest. Callie was gone? What the hell?

  Gone.

  To Europe.

  Hell.

  “Now, back to that job,” her grandfather said.

  But I was having trouble focusing. She’d left. She’d really gone.

  Now what the fuck was I going to do?

  …

  Fifteen days after I ran away from the ranch, my plane landed at Newark. I followed Bethany through customs and then to the luggage carousel. We’d planned on taking the train to Boston but had to grab our crap and then haul it with us. After we exited the luggage area and the final customs stop, we headed out to find a ride to the train station.

  “Miss Llewellyn.” A man in a suit with my name on his iPad screen waved me toward him. “If you’ll please follow me.”

  Leary, I approached with Bethany. “I didn’t call for a car service.”

  “No, miss. Your grandfather, Mr. Llewellyn, did. He’s arranged for the jet to take you to school.”

  Hmm.

  “Thank God,” Bethany said. “I wasn’t looking forward to that long train ride. I need a shower.”

  “Hold up,” I said. “Excuse me just a minute.” I stepped back and called my grandpa.

  “Well, hello,” he said. “Did you have a good trip?”

  “Thanks for arranging for the apartment in Paris. It was a treat.” We’d lived pretty large the whole time we were away. But it hadn’t quelled the ache in my heart. Every day was worse. Doing the right thing really sucked.

  “You’re welcome. Yo
u didn’t answer my question. Did you have fun?”

  No. “I learned so much,” I said. “I’m grateful. I was also able to get some research done for one of my classes on French poets.”

  “I see.”

  Thank God, he couldn’t. I was a mess. “Did you arrange for a plane for me and Bethany? I don’t recognize the man you sent.”

  “The plane is to take Bethany. I’ve arranged other transport for you.”

  I frowned. “Uh, what?”

  He chuckled. “Hold on just a second.”

  The long plane ride must have messed with my head. Maybe I was still asleep and none of this was happening.

  “He’s there. He says look under the coffee cup.”

  “Who?” I turned in a circle, trying to find a coffee cup. That’s when I caught sight of the familiar outline of the most handsome man on the planet.

  “Cole,” I whispered. What was he doing here?

  And how did my grandfather know? Had he sent him? None of this made sense.

  He smiled at me, and being the idiot I am, I just started crying. He held out his arms. And I ran like a fool, bumping and knocking into people, craving those arms.

  When I was three feet away, I stopped.

  I glanced down at my phone and then at Cole.

  “Wait, what’s going on?”

  He held out big bouquet of flowers and balloons. “I’m doing what I always do,” he said. “Picking you up after your flight and driving you home.”

  My heart fell. He was here to take me back to Cambridge. Only, why was he here. And why would Grandpa send the plane just for Bethany and not me?

  “This dream doesn’t make any sense.”

  With a small smile, he said, “You aren’t dreaming, and you can hang up. They can see everything.”

  Jesus, this was surreal. “Who can see what?”

  He pointed behind me. I turned to see Bethany with a stupid smile on her face, and the guy who’d shown up with his iPad was holding it up like he was filming me.

  “Someone explain what’s going on.”

  I turned back to find Cole standing a foot away from me. “I came to pick you up, and to tell you that I love you. I’ve pretty much loved you since you fell into my arms at the beginning of summer.”

  Cole loved me?

  “But—” I glanced back to the camera. “You have a future with my grandpa’s company. You can’t do this. We can’t. You and Addy—”

  “Will be fine. She’s staying with Uncle Charlie. She decided she wants to go school in Amarillo. I gave her a choice, but she chose to stay there. Your grandmother is going to help look after her. And my uncle’s doing really well, but it will good for him to have a little help for a while.”

  “I’m confused. Where else would she live?”

  “Here, in New York, with me.”

  “I think maybe I’m having a stroke. Why are you here?”

  “Working for your grandfather during the day and finishing school at night.”

  “Oh,” I said like that made perfect sense. “Wait, he knows? That you love me?”

  He nodded. “Yes. I told him when he offered me the job. I don’t deserve you, but I love you more than anything. I couldn’t accept his offer without being honest and upfront.”

  I was glad the camera was behind me, because I mouthed, “About everything?”

  Cole chuckled and shook his head. “So I’m living in New York now. Just a five-hour train ride or an hour flight from Boston. That is, if you want to come see me. Or I could come see you on the weekends.”

  “You love me and you live in New York now?”

  “Yes. And your grandparents are on board. I told them how much I love you. But I wanted to give you time. If you’ve decided you don’t want me, well, it might kill me, but I’ll abide by it. Whatever you want. It’s yours. You can get on that plane with Bethany, or you can come with me. I’ll still get you to the dorm in time for school, but maybe just a bit later than expected.”

  “I love you, too,” I said, leaning into him. He wrapped his arms around me.

  Yes. This is where I’d needed to be.

  “That’s great, since I was sweatin’ bullets here. We’ll figure it out. We both have a lot of school to get through. And I’ll be working all the time, but there’s Skype. And I’m serious about the weekends, at least once or twice a month.

  “Yes,” I said. “Yes.” The tears started falling, and I suddenly remembered I had an audience.

  “Are you FaceTiming?” I asked the guy who had met us.

  He nodded.

  “Thank you,” I said to my grandparents, who I could see on the screen now, smiling bigger than I was. “But he’s going to hang up now because I want to kiss my boyfriend, and I’d like a little privacy.”

  They laughed. “We love you,” they said, and then the screen went dark.

  I turned back to Cole. “This is real?” I asked. “I’m not still on the plane?”

  “I’m not going to pinch you,” he whispered. “But I could give you a spanking later, if it will help.”

  I laughed, we both did. Then he kissed me—that toe-curling body-going-into-hyper-drive kind of kiss that was Cole’s specialty.

  He tugged on the leather necklace around my neck. On the end were three charms, a book, cowboy hat, and heart. The note that had been with them had said You, me, and this. Just this. He’d stuck it in my bag at some point, and I’d found it when we’d arrived in Paris.

  “You didn’t answer me after my brain returned and I called you,” I said.

  “You needed to figure out what you wanted. And I had a lot to figure out here. I thought it best to give you that space you talked about.”

  “Don’t ever listen to me again. I missed you so much.”

  “You okay with getting to school tomorrow night? I’d like some time alone with you,” he said against my lips.

  “Yes, please,” I said.

  “Let me grab your bags. She’ll see you tomorrow,” he told Bethany, who was crying more than I was.

  “This is like the most romantic thing I’ve ever seen,” she said. And then she threw her arms around me. “Be happy. Take it. Whatever you can get, just take it. Love is hard to find.”

  I squeezed her back.

  She left with the driver, and I turned to find Cole watching me carefully.

  “You okay?” he asked.

  “Well, I’m overwhelmingly happy. More happy than I thought possible, so I’d say, yep, I’m okay.”

  He chuckled and swooped me up in his arms. “You’re mine,” he said before branding me with another of his kisses.

  “Always. Forever,” I said, kissing him back.

  “Forever,” he said.

  Epilogue

  The bonfire burned brightly, giving off some much needed warmth. Never in my life had I been so happy as I wrapped my favorite girl in my arms and kissed her. We tried not to go more than two weeks without seeing each other, but I’d had to travel for business, and she’d been getting her essay ready for a contest. I hadn’t seen her in twenty-one days. Torture.

  I was finding it tougher than ever to go without my daily Callie fix. We texted a dozen times a day and Skyped or FaceTimed at least once a day, but I still missed her. It was weird how much our lives had changed. I loved the new job, and she was exhausted. But every time she talked about her classes, she had the biggest smile on her face. School was a tough balance for me with work. Being a grown-up wasn’t always fun, but it was worth it to get to spend time with her.

  “This is kind of perfect,” she said. “Except for the fact that it’s twenty degrees, and even though we’re standing in front of a fire, I’m freezing my ass off.”

  “I’m more than happy to take you home and do very bad things to you.”

  She turned to kiss me. “Promise?”

  “Oh, yeah.”

  “But we’re showing our school spirit. You came to my spirit celebration, so I’m doing the same here at your school.”


  “I say we celebrate in our room. Besides, I have a surprise for you.”

  “I’m not always crazy about surprises,” she said.

  That’s one of the reasons I’d been so nervous. “You might change your mind after tonight.” At least, I hoped so.

  “Well, I’m all about getting warm. It’s friggin’ cold out here.”

  I took her hand.

  I shared an apartment with four other guys, so when she was in town, we stayed at her grandparents’ condo, or I rented one of the corporate apartments the company owned. Wanting privacy for my plans tonight, I’d rented one of the places out. There was champagne waiting, and roses, which she would roll her eyes at.

  “I love you,” I whispered, tugging her close.

  “I love you, too, and I can’t wait for Thanksgiving. Five whole days together.”

  I chuckled. “Yeah, with Addy and fifty-seven of your closest family members.”

  She sighed. “True that. We probably have more privacy here. But I’ll see you every day. There’s that. And I can kiss you every day. I miss the kissing the most.”

  “Me, too,” I said and captured her lips with mine.

  “But it’s cool, our lives. Right? You’re, like, Mr. Corporate Executive, and I’m a writer. Like, I can really call myself one.”

  “I’m proud of you. Did you check your email?”

  She made her scared face. “Nope. Too afraid. I mean, it’s not a big deal. I was pleased they let me enter the contest. I don’t expect to win anything.”

  “But I read it, and it was so good. I’m sure it will win.”

  “You might be a bit biased.”

  I shrugged. “Maybe, but I believe in you. Go ahead.”

  She pulled out her phone. “Okay, but if it’s disappointing, you’re going to spend the rest of the weekend making it up to me.”

  “And what if you win?”

  “Then we’ll be celebrating.”

  She opened the email, but I couldn’t read her face.

  “So?”

  “I can’t believe it.” There was no way to tell her from her tone what had happened.

  “Did you win?”