Candy Crush (22 page)

Brandon blinked at her, looking much like an
owl would. “That’s your problem? Seriously? Because my family makes
cracks about marriage? Christ, Gabriella, lighten up. Nobody’s
forcing you to do anything. They’re just jokes. Ever heard of a
sense of humor?”

“I have a sense of humor. I have a funny
sense of humor. Jokes about marriage are not funny.”

“You’re kidding me, right? You’re this
pissed off because of a few cracks about getting married?” Brandon
sounded incredulous, which only made Gabriella angrier. And then he
switched gears. “I thought you wanted to get married? I thought it
was just Miguel you didn’t want to marry?”

Gabriella glared at him. “I dated Miguel for
two years and knew I didn’t want to marry him. I’ve known you for
one week
.”

“Damn Gabriella, I’m not proposing here. It
was a joke. Get it?
A joke
.” His patronizing voice made her
want to throw her glass of wine at him.

“Yes,” she said icily. “I get it. I am fully
aware of my status as one of your conquests now.”

Brandon threw his hands in the air. “Now
we’re back to my past? Things that happened before I even met you.
You can’t hold that stuff against me. For Christ’s sake, Gabriella,
grow up.” He turned on his heel and walked toward the stairs. “I’m
going to take a shower, and then I’m going to the Pizza Parlor for
dinner. I don’t feel like cooking tonight.” He stomped up the
stairs.

He was only marginally less surly when he
returned to the living room twenty minutes later. “Are you coming?”
he snapped and Gabriella shook her head.

No way in hell she was going to a public
place with him right now, especially one owned by his family. Which
pretty much ruled out nearly anywhere she would want to go.

Brandon pursed his lips and strode out the
back door. Gabriella flopped back against the couch after his truck
pulled out of the driveway and gunned down the street.

When he returned, she was curled up under
the covers in the guest bed. He opened the door and stood there for
a long moment. Butter lifted her head and wagged her stubby
tail.

Gabriella was wide-awake but she didn’t dare
move. She wanted him to think she was asleep. She was so damn
confused by her own feelings. She was not ready to battle it out
with him again tonight. Finally, with a deep sigh, he gently closed
the door and walked down the hall to his own bedroom.

***

Gabriella woke up early enough on Wednesday
morning to hear Brandon get up and pad down the hall to the
bathroom. She heard the shower, she heard him brush his teeth, she
assumed he shaved, just like he did every morning. A short time
later, he opened the bathroom door and headed down the hall to his
bedroom. After a few moments, she heard him walk towards her
bedroom and open the door. She heard Butter jump off the bed and
her claws made tapping noises on the hardwood floors as she trotted
out of the bedroom and down the stairs.

She kept her eyes squeezed shut until she
finally heard her bedroom door close again. She opened her eyes and
rolled over onto her back, staying like that until she heard
Brandon’s truck start up and pull out of the driveway. Then she
finally threw back the covers and climbed out of bed. She peeked
outside and was dismayed to see it was raining again.

She was miserable. She’d slept terribly. She
tossed and turned and she was cold most of the night. She missed
Brandon’s body heat. And she didn’t even want to think about the
morning sex she’d missed out on.

Probably she should have gone to sleep in
his bed last night, even if she was mad. She was willing to bet
they would have had sex this morning, even if they were still mad
at each other.

Damn it.

Gabriella schlepped downstairs, poured
herself a cup of coffee and then dragged herself back upstairs and
stood under the shower until she used all of the hot water. After
blow drying the dampness out of her hair, she pulled it back into a
ponytail and threw on a sweatshirt and fleece pants. She almost
left without putting on makeup, but she had been trained for too
long by her perfect mother, so she quickly applied powder, a little
blush – which she realized she needed anyway because this state
hardly ever saw the sun – and a small amount of eyeliner and
mascara, which she hoped would detract from the circles under her
eyes. She poured the rest of the coffee into a travel mug and she
and Butter dashed out into the rain and climbed into her car.

Instead of parking out front, she repeated
Brandon’s actions from yesterday and drove through the alley and
parked under the stairs behind the store. She frowned because there
were muddy tracks there, more than just the ones she left
yesterday. She looked up at the apartment, but she couldn’t tell if
anything was remiss. Unfortunately, she knew she wouldn’t be able
to from here. She hadn’t known Mr. Partridge’s body was in her
apartment until she walked halfway across the kitchen.

One thing was for certain: she did not want
to go up to that apartment alone right now. And that fear was
stronger than her desire to not speak to Brandon. She hurried out
of the car and stepped up to the back door of the candy store. She
opened the door and Butter darted in before her. She flipped on the
light and shrieked.

The walls, which were all painted a stark
white, were covered in red graffiti. Words were scrawled across the
walls, most were threatening or vulgar phrases. The theme was
apparent: close the candy store and get out of town. She pushed
through the door to the main part of the store and was only
slightly relieved that the graffiti had been relegated to the back
room. She rushed straight through the candy store, unlocked the
front door and hurtled herself out onto the sidewalk.

Gabriella nearly collided with a man
standing under the awning of her store. She screamed and her heart
started racing, because for a moment she was sure Miguel had found
her. The man was Hispanic, with dark skin and dark hair pulled back
into a ponytail. He wore a brown shirt and blue jeans and some sort
of logo was embroidered on his shirt in white and green
embroidery.

The man grabbed her forearms to steady her
and said, “Hey, hey, lady, it’s okay. I’m not going to hurt
you.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a
flash of movement and turned to see Brandon jogging across the
street, his face etched with concern. As soon as he was close
enough, he pulled her out of the man’s grasp and said, “Gabriella,
what’s wrong? What happened? You look scared to death.”

She shook her head. “I thought – I thought –
Miguel” – She gestured at the landscaper.

Brandon pulled her into his arms and said,
“Relax. He’s from the local nursery. They’re testing the soil in
the barrels, just like you suggested. It’s okay.”

He continued to hold her and stroke her
hair, and Gabriella managed to get her breathing and heart rate
under control. Everything felt so
right
when she was in
Brandon’s arms. He turned her and marched her back into the candy
store.

She started shivering, because she recalled
why she’d run outside in the first place. “Oh God, Brandon,
somebody broke into the candy store yesterday.”

He automatically looked around, but nothing
looked out of place. “How do you know?”

“Back here,” she said and gestured for him
to follow.

They walked back to the storeroom and
Brandon let out a low whistle when he saw the graffiti. He pulled
out his cell phone and punched 9-1-1.

“I really hope they send a different cop
this time.”

They didn’t.

Daniel strode through the front door of the
candy store five minutes later, followed by a much younger police
officer carrying a high-end digital camera in his hand. Daniel
looked at the graffiti and the tracks out back and left the other
officer in the storeroom to take pictures and secure the scene,
while he stepped into the front of the store to talk to Gabriella
and Brandon.

He took their statements, asked a hundred
questions that all centered around: did you see anything suspicious
yesterday? Gabriella had been in the apartment all day. Someone
could have broken in during the middle of the day for all she had
been aware.

“I thought you were going to be more
observant, Gabriella?” Daniel asked.

Gabriella did not miss the condescending
tone in his voice.

He closed his notebook. “I hate to be the
one to suggest this, but maybe you want to heed those warnings.
Somebody doesn’t want this candy store occupied. We’ve got no
leads, no witnesses, no suspects. “You may want to consider putting
it back on the market and moving on.”

***

Brandon’s temper had been barely contained
the entire time Daniel was in the room. Gabriella was obviously
shocked and scared, they still hadn’t made up, his least favorite
cop in town was always the one to show up and question her, and now
he was suggesting Gabriella should get out of town, and Brandon was
afraid that after everything that happened, she just might follow
his advice.

“Are you done yet?” he snapped, glaring at
Daniel.

Daniel looked back, his expression mild.
“Yes. I think we have everything we need right now. I’ll go check
on Barry to make sure. That storeroom is a crime scene again, so
you can’t go in there until we’re done. Think about what I said,
Gabriella.” He touched his hat and walked through the storeroom
door.

When he was gone, Brandon used the graffiti
as an excuse to pull Gabriella back into his arms. Everything felt
better when she was in his arms, even as everything seemed to be
crumbling around them. He had to figure out a way to keep her
there. If that meant he never got married, then so be it. His
family would just have to figure out a way to deal.

He was about to open his mouth, speak his
thoughts out loud, when Gabriella spoke first, and put voice to his
worst fear.

“I’m beginning to think I should follow his
advice.”

His arms tightened around her as a band
constricted around his heart. He forced himself to put his hands on
her forearms and held her at arms’ length. “You want to leave?”

It wasn’t his choice, not really. If she
wanted to leave, there was not a damn thing he could do about
it.

“No, I don’t
want
to, but…”

“Then don’t,” Brandon said firmly. He didn’t
want Gabriella to be afraid or in danger, but more than that, he
didn’t want her to leave his life.

“Stay here with me. You can close up the
candy store if you want, but don’t leave me.” The words tumbled out
of his mouth. He wasn’t sure he would have stopped them if he had
the opportunity.

Gabriella’s curious look morphed into one of
fear. “I’m so tired of running scared,” she whispered. Brandon
pulled her tight against him again.

“We’ll figure this out. It’s a small town.
Somebody has to have seen something. I can’t believe Daniel hasn’t
found any leads yet. We’ll just close up the candy store until he
solves this. Just as long as you stay in town.” He rested his chin
on her head and breathed in the scent of her. He was pretty sure he
would not be able to function if she left him.

“I’m going to have to find a job. I have to
support myself.”

“I can take care of you. You don’t have to
worry about money.” Gabriella stepped out of his embrace and
Brandon said, “Shit. Now what did I say?”

“I’m not a kept woman. And” – she held up a
hand, palm out and hurried to speak before he had a chance —“I
don’t want to get married. I want to be my own person. I haven’t
been my own person in two years, Brandon. I
need
to be
self-sufficient.”

Her voice hitched at the end. Her eyes
begged him to understand. Once again, Brandon pulled her back into
his arms, mostly because he just wanted to touch her. He hated the
fact that she slept across the hall last night. He spent the entire
night trying to convince himself not to walk down the hall and drag
her back to his bed. But he figured if she wanted to sleep with
him, she would have gone to sleep in his bed, not the guest bed.
The thought was not a little depressing.

“Okay, okay, I get it. Just don’t get mad at
me. I can’t deal with that right now. I swear, I won’t talk about
marriage again, okay?”

“Brandon, it isn’t just” –

He shook his head and cut her off. “No, you
don’t have to explain. You’ve had a rough time of it this last two
years. I get it. Trust me, I’m not in a hurry to walk down the
aisle either. Hell, I’ve never even joked about it with a girl
before you. Can we just agree to – to just be?”

“Just be?” She sounded dubious.

“Just be us.” He stroked her hair, kissed
her temple. “We’re pretty good together, without putting any labels
on it, don’t you think? I mean, I don’t mean to be conceited, but
those orgasms of yours are pretty damn intense, if I do say so
myself.”

She let out a half laugh, half sob. “You
think that’s all your doing?”

“Oh hell yes I do.”

“What about you? What about your orgasms?
Are they always so – so” –

“Insane? Explosive? Extreme? Powerful?”

She laughed, minus the sob this time.

“Absolutely not,” he assured her. “Never.”
He suddenly pushed her away again. “I have an idea.”

“Go back to your house and get naked?”

He laughed. “No. But I like that you look
disappointed right now. Let’s make up later. Right now, let’s do
something that will help you in a different way.”

“What’s that?”

“Let’s go to the house and you get changed
into a suit.” He glanced at his watch. “I have a meeting in
forty-five minutes. Think we can be back to the DDA office by
then?”

“I guess.”

“Okay, let’s go.”

Brandon led her to the door to the storeroom
and stuck his head inside. After getting permission from Barry –
Daniel wanted them to walk around the block, which Brandon
suspected was simply out of spite – they walked through the room
and out to Gabriella’s car.