Candy Crush (8 page)

After a few hours, Gabriella excused herself
and went upstairs to bed. Brandon remained seated on the couch, not
really watching television, but thinking about her.

He couldn’t believe how insanely jealous
he’d felt over the idea of her going out with Jared. He lost
potential bedmates to Jared all the time. It was part of the game.
Why did this one matter so damn much?

And now, she’d laid it on the line: she was
not interested in having sex with him. Yet, he still wanted her,
almost desperately, and he was willing to wait until she came
around to his way of thinking. That in itself was shocking, since
Brandon was not normally one to wait.

On the rare occasion that a woman tried to
play hard to get with him, he usually simply moved on. There were
plenty of other beautiful women out there who would be more than
willing to warm his bed without making him chase them. Brandon
shook his head, clicked off the television, and headed upstairs to
bed.

Alone.

CHAPTER THREE

On Thursday morning, Gabriella woke up and
glanced at the clock on the bedside table: 6:46. If she hurried,
she could get in and out of the shower before Brandon even woke
up.

She scrambled out of bed and padded to the
bathroom in stocking feet. When she emerged twenty minutes later,
she stepped out of the bathroom in her pajamas and let out a little
shriek when she spotted Brandon, lounging against the railing
across from the bathroom, wearing nothing but a pair of flannel
pajama bottoms. She sucked in a breath and tried not to stare at
his chest.

“You scared the heck out of me,” she
accused.

“Serves you right. You’re lucky I didn’t
climb into the shower with you. I don’t exactly function at full
capacity at seven in the morning.” He sounded grumpy. Not a morning
person, apparently.

“Sorry. I thought I’d be done before you
woke up. Here, it’s all yours.” She stepped aside, and with one
last assessing look, he walked past her into the bathroom and
closed the door behind him.

Half an hour later, she was waiting in the
kitchen when he walked into the room. His hair was still wet and he
wore a charcoal grey suit with a paler grey shirt and dark grey
tie. He looked positively delicious, Gabriella thought, and then
she decided maybe she was just hungry. She snagged a banana off the
counter and peeled it and took a bite, ignoring the fact that she’d
just picked the most phallic fruit she could have thought to
eat.

“Morning,” he said as he poured coffee into
a travel mug.

“Good morning. I thought I’d walk to work
with you this morning, if that’s okay.”

***

She wore the same sweatshirt and jeans she’d
worn yesterday and her hair was pulled back into a ponytail. She
reminded Brandon of an all-American cheerleader. Which was only
mildly better than the sexy temptress he thought she was when she’d
emerged from the bathroom wearing a practically see-through white
tank top and pink pajama bottoms.

He never realized pajamas could be so sexy
before. He needed to get her into his bed before he self-imploded,
and he had no idea how he was going to do it, since he’d promised
not to make moves on her.

“Sure,” Brandon said, and he pulled a travel
coffee mug out of the cupboard for her. A few minutes later, they
were walking to work, with Butter padding along in front of
them.

“Do you walk to work, even in winter?”
Gabriella asked.

“Depends. Sometimes I have meetings out of
the downtown area, so I have to drive. Like tomorrow, for instance.
I have a meeting down in the Detroit area. I’ll be gone all day.
Don’t forget to cancel with Jared,” he reminded her, and she
saluted him with her coffee mug.

“And sometimes,” he added, “It gets too cold
here to be outside for more than a few minutes.” He watched her
face and laughed at the horrified look.

“You are pulling my leg, right?”

“Nope,” he said, and then he laughed. “It
doesn’t happen very often, so you can relax. Although the Farmer’s
Almanac says this winter is supposed to be cold with lots of snow.
We’ve had a few mild winters, so we’re due.”

“Great,” she grumbled. “I had to pick the
year you’re due for a hard winter. I should’ve left last year.”

Brandon laughed. They stepped onto Main
Street, and Brandon walked her to the door of the candy store. “We
keep coffee on all day in my office, so feel free to come over for
a refill.”

“Thanks.”

“Do you want to have lunch again?”

“Sure,” Gabriella said.

***

She found this new, charming, non-sexually
exploiting Brandon somewhat disarming. As nice as he was, she
almost missed the sexual innuendos and teasing. Apparently she was
glutton for punishment.

She let herself into the candy store and
decided today she would work on putting together a list of
suppliers and start making contact. She had very little capitol
left, so she hoped the cost to initially fill her shelves would not
be too astronomical. Maybe she should visit a local bank and see
about a line of credit. Brandon probably had some relative or
another who worked at the bank and could help her. It did not
escape her notice that she had already fallen into the comfortable
habit of assuming his family would be willing to help.

She headed back to the storage room. She
used a box to prop the door open, so she would see if anyone came
into the store, and she set about inventorying the wasted overstock
in the back room.

Mid-morning, just about the time she felt
she had waited a reasonable length of time before heading across
the street to get a coffee refill, a woman walked in the front door
of the candy store. She carried two Styrofoam cups of steaming
coffee and Gabriella recognized her as one of the women who had
flirted with Brandon at the Chamber mixer last night. She was tall,
had high cheekbones, bright green eyes and brunette hair with lots
of red highlights. She wore a fitted black leather jacket, belted
over a black suit and she wore black boots with four-inch heels on
her feet. Gabriella was instantly suspicious. Butter was not. She
rushed up and wagged her tail, sniffing the woman’s feet.

“Good morning,” she called, and Gabriella
walked toward the front of the store, feeling horribly inadequate
in her sweatshirt and jeans. She barely wore any makeup and she
wasn’t even wearing jewelry. If Brandon saw them side-by-side right
now, Gabriella was sure he’d quit chasing her and go back to what
he knew, because Gabriella was sure he’d slept with this woman at
one time or another.

“What can I do for you?” Gabriella asked,
trying not to sound standoffish.

“I brought coffee, do you drink it?”

“Yes,” Gabriella admitted, because the fresh
coffee smelled wonderful.

“Here.” She handed one of the cups to
Gabriella. “I doctored it with a little creamer. I hope that’s
okay.”

Gabriella nodded. “Thanks.”

The woman stood in the middle of the room
and took her time looking around. “You’ve really made progress in a
very short time. After the Sarantos’ are done on Saturday, you’ll
practically be ready to open next week.”

“You know that Brandon’s family is coming to
help on Saturday?”

“Sure. I’m sure I’ll be here too.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m pretty sure we’re going to be
sisters-in-law at some point, and family always helps family,
especially around here.” She looked mighty cheerful as she said
it.

Gabriella fumbled with her coffee cup and
quickly placed it on the counter, next to the cash register so that
her suddenly jumpy hands would not spill it.

“Excuse me?” she said, sure she had not
heard the woman correctly.

“I’m Nicole Sarantos. Brandon’s
sister-in-law.” She was still grinning, clearly enjoying
herself.

Gabriella frowned. “I thought you were one
of Brandon’s ex’s.”

Nicole nodded. “Oh, I am. It was so long
ago; I hardly remember what it was like. Well, that’s not true.
Brandon is pretty unforgettable, and he was even back in high
school. I’m married to his brother now, and he’s pretty
unforgettable too. It obviously runs in the family. I figure I got
the bonus package.” Her grin widened.

Gabriella found herself warming to the
woman, even though she wasn’t sure she wanted to. “So who do you
think I’m going to marry?”

“Brandon, of course. God, the older women in
the family will be so ecstatic. I hope you like the idea of a big
wedding. Yours will be the wedding of the century around here.”

“I think you can cancel the invitations.
That is not going to happen.”

“Have you slept with him yet?”

“Of course not,” Gabriella blustered.

“Definitely not cancelling the invitations.
I was there last night. I saw that emotional display. Brandon’s
never shown that much emotion over a woman, ever. I’ve known him
since we were in diapers.”

Gabriella stared at her, unable to form any
sort of response. She thought about the emotion he expressed
yesterday evening. He’d been possessive, angry, demanding… Hardly
emotions that could be mistaken for love.

“Anyway, my husband and I run the local
insurance agency.” She pulled a card out of her purse and set it on
the counter. “I don’t know if you’ve insured this place yet, but
we’ll give you the family discount, which is going to be better
than anywhere else you check. Just call me, and I’ll send Anthony
out to assess the building and put together a quote. Or he can just
do it Saturday, since we’ll both be here.”

Gabriella nodded absently, because she did
need to insure both the store and the apartment upstairs. Plus, she
would eventually need to switch her car insurance before the old
policy expired. Might as well take advantage of the family
discount, before they realized that there was no way in hell she
was going to become a part of their family.

Nicole switched gears again. “Is Brandon
taking you to the game tomorrow night? We’re small town, so high
school football is the highlight of our week in the fall.”

Gabriella finally cracked a smile. “I’m from
Texas, so I understand completely.”

Nicole nodded. “I was wondering about the
accent. It’s pretty.”

“Thanks,” Gabriella said, mildly surprised.
“Actually, I’m supposed to go to the game with Brandon’s cousin,
Jared.”

Nicole looked appalled. “Oh God, don’t do
that. I can’t believe Brandon is allowing that. Jared is a fink.
And if you go out with him, everyone will assume you’ve slept with
him, whether you do or not. He’s charming enough when he wants
something that he’ll probably talk you out of your skirt. And since
your Brandon’s, that’s probably not a good idea.”

“I’m not Brandon’s,” Gabriella said
defensively. She wasn’t a piece of property, for God’s sake.

“You may not realize it yet, honey, but yes
you are.”

Gabriella suddenly felt uncomfortable, but
lucky for her, Nicole switched gears again. “Cancel with Jared and
you and Brandon can double date with Anthony and me.”

“I was planning to cancel with Jared,” she
admitted. “But I don’t know about the double date.”

Nicole glanced at her watch and abruptly
stood straighter. “I have to go. Talk to Brandon about it. And if I
don’t see you tomorrow, I’ll see you Saturday morning. Nice to meet
you, Gabriella. Welcome to the family.” She grinned again and then
spun on her four-inch heels and left.

Five minutes later, Brandon walked in the
front door. “I see you met Nicole.”

“What, are you spying on me now?” Gabriella
snapped.

Brandon cocked an eyebrow. “My office is
directly across the street and when I sit at my desk, I face the
door. When you finally remove all this butcher paper,
then
I’ll be able to spy on you.”

He grinned, but she simply scowled at him.
“What the hell did she say to you?” he demanded, dropping all
pretenses.

“Nothing,” Gabriella snapped back.

“Don’t lie to me.”

“Fine. It’s none of your damn business.”

“Obviously it is, since you’re taking your
bad mood out on me. I have to assume Nicole caused it, because you
weren’t this prickly when we left the house this morning.”

“I know you slept with her.”

Brandon blinked at her. “She told you
that?”

“I guessed, and she confirmed it. Said you
were pretty unforgettable.”

“Gabriella, we were both seventeen. It
happened fifteen years ago. I hardly think you can hold that over
my head. My brother doesn’t, and he’s married to her.”

“I know, she told me that too.”

“So I’m unforgettable, huh? Does that tempt
you at all?” He grinned wolfishly.

Gabriella glared at him, because damned if
it didn’t tempt her, and the last thing she needed right now was to
climb into the man’s bed. It was bad enough he was complicating her
life, although, if she were honest with herself, she could admit
that so far, he’d managed to make her transition easier than she
ever would have expected.

Unbidden, her thoughts strayed to Miguel,
and sex. Unforgettable was not the first adjective that came to
mind. The sex hadn’t been terrible, at least for the first year and
a half. It hadn’t been fabulous either, though. Gabriella had
experienced a handful of partners before him who were much more
attentive and exciting, so she knew what sex
could
be.

Miguel was the type of man who was as
selfish between the sheets as he was in the rest of his life. He
got his rocks off and he was done, regardless of where his partner
stood in the equation. This worked to Gabriella’s advantage toward
the end of their relationship, when she’d grown slightly repulsed
by him, but she was too afraid to say no to him, so she’d simply
lie there and let him do whatever he wanted, and he never knew the
difference.