by Anne, Melody
“You do have pretty fantastic husbands,” Chloe admitted. “I always thought I’d dread the day we settled down, thinking that would make it impossible for us to have girls’ time, but it hasn’t affected us at all. If anything, you’re both happier than I’ve ever seen you, and we get more time together as we mature.”
“Then just tell us everything about him that makes you all tingly,” Brooke demanded.
Chloe laughed again. “Fine. He’s incredibly handsome, with the body of a Greek god.” They sighed their agreement. An evil twinkle appeared in her eyes. “He’s also a royal pain in the ass, too cocky for this small town, and the most stubborn human being I’ve ever met.” She couldn’t give them too much, or they’d start planning her wedding. She was in no way ready for that.
“Hmm, I think you’re protesting a little too much. I think you say all those things to give yourself an out,” Sarah said. “I remember doing that myself.”
“Of course I want an out. I don’t want to be in a relationship. That terrifies me.”
“It’s scary to let ourselves be that vulnerable,” Brooke admitted. “But without pain, then we don’t know how amazing joy really is.”
“I thought the saying was something about being in pain meant you were still alive. I’ve always hated that saying,” Chloe countered.
“Me too, but I see the benefit of it. Without some adversity in our lives, we can’t appreciate the good,” Sarah reminded her.
“I like him a lot. I truly do. But I’ve liked other men, too . . . or at least I would in the beginning. But after a few months those hormones calm down, and I go back to being my stubborn, independent self. With Brandon, I’ve felt things I’ve never felt before, but I know that in time, that will fade, and then it will all be a mess. I know wanting perfection is an impossible dream, but it’s hard to change what I’ve been taught my entire life.”
“You could settle for a boring man and have no drama, but then you wouldn’t be lit on fire, either. I’d rather have burning passion and some drag-out fights than fall asleep every night at eight and wake up with a peck on the lips and a goodbye for the day. There should never be fighting on a daily basis in a relationship, but we should have passion and excitement. That’s for dang sure,” Brooke told her.
“Well, I’ve agreed to a real date with the man,” Chloe finally admitted. She went to the closet and grabbed the pink and black bag. She’d given up. They’d figure it out, anyway. She had no idea where Brandon was planning on taking her, but this town sure as heck liked to gossip.
“We already know. We just wanted you to admit it,” Brooke said.
“Of course you know. He told his brothers, didn’t he?” Chloe said with another glare. “This was all just a game to get me to spill.” She couldn’t outwit these women, never had been able to do so.
“Yeah, we just like to help you come to the natural conclusions we’ve already come up with. I promise everything will be okay if you just go along with your gut,” Sarah said.
“My gut is telling me to run fast and far. The man is too much alpha for me. This is probably going to go worse than I’ve been imagining.”
“I don’t think so. I think we’re going to have another wedding soon. I do love a good party,” Sarah said.
“Don’t even start planning my wedding. I refuse to let a man put a ring on me. No way, no how.”
“Want to make a bet about it?” Brooke asked.
Chloe almost said yes but then stopped herself. “There’s no way I’m betting you guys, because then you’ll do everything in your power to make it happen. I don’t need you teaming up with Brandon to bring me down.”
Brooke and Sarah laughed again, looking as if they were willing to sit there all day long and draw this out. There was no way she was letting that happen.
“I have an hour to finish getting ready, so you two need to scoot on out of here,” she told them.
“We want to be here when he arrives,” Sarah said with a pout.
“There’s not a chance of that happening. I don’t trust either one of you right now,” Chloe told them.
“That hurts me deep inside,” Brooke said with a big smile.
Chloe marched over to her bedroom door and held it open. “Begone with you. I promise to tell you about the date in as little detail as possible.”
They rose. “You can fight us all you want, but you know we’re going to drag the information out of you, so you might as well cave and just tell us everything right from the start,” Sarah said.
“We’ll see what happens,” Chloe said.
She walked with her two besties to her front door to make sure they left. She loved spending time with them, but at this moment she needed to pull it together before her first official date with Brandon. Yes, they’d been out together, and yes, they’d slept together, but the two of them hadn’t been on an actual date.
How strange was that?
She hugged her friends before firmly shutting the door behind them. She stood there and leaned on it for several moments. Maybe she should just cancel this entire evening. As soon as she had the thought, she pushed it away. That just wasn’t going to happen.
She was too excited to see him. Instead, she marched up the stairs to finish getting ready. She was accepting the inevitable.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
How many outfit changes did a woman need to go through before she was truly satisfied with her look? For Chloe, apparently it was ten. And still, she wasn’t fully satisfied with her choice.
She wanted to look nice, of course—she took pride in dressing well. But for this date she wanted to knock his socks off. It was strange for her to feel that way. She was trying to tell herself this wasn’t going anywhere, but then she was worried about pleasing him. She wasn’t even making sense to herself anymore.
She put on her favorite cream-colored Oscar de la Renta sleeveless wool crepe dress with a pencil skirt that had a slit high on her thigh. She had tried talking herself out of wearing the too-expensive dress, but it always made her feel like a million bucks. She added her metallic pointed pumps by Valentino Garavani, and her walk instantly changed.
It was the type of outfit that made you feel like an all-star when you walked in a room. She’d bought the outfit when she’d made her first real profit. If a person didn’t reward themselves for doing well, what was the point in trying so hard?
With her sexy undergarments beneath and her hair and makeup complete, she was more than ready for her first official date with Brandon Anderson. Of course the man had more money than she’d ever dream of having, but that didn’t make him better than her, and it didn’t intimidate her at all.
Well, it might intimidate her slightly, according to her clothing choices, but money hadn’t ever been that important to her. It was a necessary evil to survive in the world, but she took far more pride in earning her money than having it handed to her. Some of the girls she’d gone to school with had wanted to be nothing more than trophy wives. That was an utter nightmare to her.
She wanted to walk into her place of business and know it was hers, know it was successful because she’d made it that way. She was proud of all she’d done, and she planned on doing a heck of a lot more in her lifetime—man or no man.
She glanced in the mirror one last time. Her heart jumped when her doorbell rang. She took a calming breath before she moved purposely away from her full-length mirror. She’d checked herself two dozen times, and nothing was changing. She might have been slightly overdressed, but he was a guy and wouldn’t have a clue about fashion or the thought she’d put into it. She could just say she’d thrown something together, not that she’d agonized over the decision for hours on end.
She had to blame her besties for her mania. If they hadn’t gotten her all flustered as she’d been trying to get ready, she was sure she wouldn’t be such a mess. Yes, it was much better to blame the two of them. That thought made her smile. They’d do the same to her if they had the opportunity.
She moved at a steady pace from her room and down the stairs toward her front door. She never had been one of those women to make a man wait on her. She could see the appeal of it, but it was tasteless to make someone wait just because you could. Sometimes life happened and there was no choice, but to do it on purpose was just downright rude.
She made it to her door and gave herself a couple of seconds to inhale some soothing deep breaths. She was truly acting like a girl on prom night. Brandon wasn’t a blind date, and they weren’t teenagers. They were both mature adults who’d interacted many times before. She needed to stop thinking of this night as having any significance at all. It was just another night in a long line of weeks and months and years to come.
Her utter fascination with Brandon Anderson was a mystery she’d given up on solving, but she could admit to herself she liked how he made her feel. She liked that he made her laugh and challenged her. She liked that he gave her butterflies in the pit of her stomach, she liked working with him, and she really liked being in his arms.
She was finally ready to open the door, so she smiled and undid her locks, then opened up, getting ready to get hit in the solar plexus at the sight of him. She wasn’t disappointed.
He stood before her in a dark suit with a crisp white shirt beneath, the top two buttons undone. He was utterly breathtaking in his beauty. The man usually wore work jeans and a sweatshirt, but damn if he didn’t clean up really nice. She was left speechless for several moments at the sight of him.
He just leaned there and smiled at her, and she desperately tried finding her voice. “I’ll . . . uh . . . grab my coat and purse,” she finally stuttered. She turned away, wanting to break the connection of their eyes. That was imperative if she wanted to keep her senses about her for the rest of the evening.
Apparently he had other plans entirely.
He stepped in after her, and as she turned back to face him before getting her coat on, his arms slid around her, and their faces were only inches apart. His smile faded as he gazed at her intensely.
“You’re delicious,” he said. Then before she could respond, he bent down and kissed her. It wasn’t a hello kiss. It was a promise of passion and heat. She melted against him as she fell into his kiss, forgetting all about the fact they were supposed to leave the house. This was a good-enough date for her, she decided.
Just as she’d made that decision, though, he released her. She was slightly unsteady on her feet and grateful for the arm he kept around her as he reached up and brushed a strand of hair out of her face that had released during their passionate embrace.
“We have to get out of here now before I can’t let you out in public,” he whispered as he leaned down and gave her one more sweet kiss that had her sighing.
“What?” she asked, her voice husky and weak. She was his puppet in this moment.
“You look absolutely stunning—not that you don’t every single day, but tonight you’re making me hard and hot, and I want nothing more than to take you to bed. But I also desperately want a first date with you,” he said. “You’ve left me in a quandary. We’d better run from this place.”
Some women might have taken offense at his words, but they filled her with pride. She’d taken a lot of time with her appearance, and she’d wanted him to be pleased by it. Judging by his reaction, she saw he clearly was. She felt as if she were walking on clouds as she pulled from him, slipped on her jacket, threw the strap of her purse on her shoulder, and moved toward her door.
She loved that he held it open for her, then made sure it was securely locked before wrapping an arm behind her back and leading her down her pathway to his awaiting truck.
She knew Brandon could afford any vehicle he wanted, and she really loved that what he drove was a fully loaded Ford F-350 truck. It was for work and play. While it might have all the comforts a truck could offer, a lot of men with his type of wealth would be driving some luxury European sports car. She wasn’t a huge fan of cars. She felt too vulnerable in them on the freeway. She drove one because she wasn’t on the road much, and they were good on fuel, but she always felt better in something big with a lot of metal on it.
He helped her up inside, then jogged around to the driver’s side and jumped in. The truck was warm and cozy and smelled like him. She felt completely comfortable. This wasn’t such a bad way to start off their night.
Brandon didn’t break the silence between them as they began moving down the road, and she couldn’t take it. She was afraid she was going to lean against the console between them and attack him if she didn’t get her mind off of that kiss and sex with him.
“Where are we heading?” she asked.
“There’s a place about thirty minutes away I really enjoy. Plus, it has the added benefit of probably not running into people we know,” he told her. “I want you all to myself tonight. I don’t want to make small talk with other people.”
“That sounds good to me. I hate how gossip spreads faster than a swarm of bees in this town. It makes it hard to have any privacy,” she told him.
“There are negatives and positives to a small town. The positives outweigh any of the bad, though. It’s good to know your neighbors and to be there for one another when the going gets tough.”
“You really don’t have to worry about things being tough anymore,” she said.
“You don’t have to worry too much yourself. You have a successful business,” he pointed out.
She laughed. “Are you a little touchy about the money situation?”
He sighed. She was wondering if talking was what they should be doing, because the more she got to know him, the more she liked him. That was a very dangerous road to go down.
He started to speak, then stopped and clenched his jaw. She reached out and touched his arm, feeling like that was what he needed right then. She wasn’t sure why. He was facing forward, and she was more than aware of his chiseled jaw and high cheekbones. He’d been very lucky in the genetic lottery.
“I grew up very poor. But that didn’t take away from an incredible childhood. Once my monster of a father passed away, all we had was love in our house. I wish so much you could’ve met my mother. She was the most amazing woman you’d ever get to know. She had strength and kindness in every bone of her body. The things she put up with over the years to keep her children safe were horrible. But she tried keeping it away from all of us. I have nothing but respect for her.” He paused, but she knew he wasn’t finished.
“There were times in my life I hated being poor, times I complained about it. But as I got older, I realized it was shaping me. Nothing was handed to me. Everything I wanted, I had to work dang hard for. That’s something I truly appreciate now. When my brothers and I first found out we were one of those Andersons, at first I didn’t want it. I knew it would cause major changes in my life—in all of our lives.”
“Do you still feel that way?”
He finally turned and looked at her and smiled. “No. I always had an image in my head of what truly rich people were like. I mean, they’re portrayed in the movies as utter snobs, and there’s so much negative you see on social media with stars going crazy. I’d never met anyone to change my mind. That was until I met my uncle Joseph.”
“Yeah, he’s not what you’d expect,” she said.
“No, not at all. He lives big, and he definitely likes his toys, but I watch as he gives billions of dollars away without any fanfare. Did you know he hasn’t taken a single donation for this center?”
She blinked at him. “No, I didn’t know that.”
“Lots of money has poured in to help with it, as people love what he’s doing, but he’s forwarded all of that money into other veterans projects so they can get more help. He’s footed this entire expense. And let me tell you—nothing about it has been done second rate.”
“The appliances alone were a couple hundred thousand,” she said with a gulp. Realizing one person was paying for it all made her shudder a bit. Maybe she should have bee
n a bit more conservative on what she’d ordered. She couldn’t have regrets, though, because she knew the joy the center was going to bring. And the kitchen was the heart of any home.
“He loves to give, and he’s taught me a lot in the few short years I’ve known him. Yes, I have a lot of money in my bank account now, but it doesn’t change my values or who I am. It just makes me want to be like him, to live up to this name he’s made. I don’t ever want to live off of a name. I want to do it on my own. I want to be like him.”
“I can’t believe I tried so hard to pass up working on this project. I’m even more grateful now to be a part of it,” she told him.
“Me too. There was zero hesitation on my part. Not only do I get to work with my brothers and you and your besties and so many other people, but I get to be a part of something that I’m hoping will be the first in a long line of centers. I’ve done well in my career, and I’m set for life financially. I’m still young enough to make a difference in this world. I hope I can do it.”
“I’m glad I’m helping you do that, even if it’s just a small part,” she said.
They stopped at a light, and he looked at her, the heat so intense it had her shifting in her seat as she had to fight not to lean into him.
“You being here and doing this with me is exactly the motivation I need. You’ve made a real impact in my life, Chloe.” His words were spoken smoothly and reached her deep in her core. She believed him.
“You’re putting a lot of pressure on me,” she said, unsure why she was starting to panic.
“I know. I can’t seem to stop myself. I’ve never felt about a woman the way I feel about you.”
She could barely breathe. “What does that mean?”
“I don’t know yet. I’m trying to figure it out. I think we both are. But at least we’re being honest about it now. That’s a start,” he told her.