Fairytale Love - Becca & Brian(11)

Becca knew that there were some moments in your life that you remember  forever. Her dad calls them ‘handful moments' because every person only  has a handful of truly special, life-changing moments. When Brian had  pulled her into his strong arms a year ago and she'd felt her body  explode with tingles, making it hard for her to catch her breath, she'd  known instantly that she'd had a ‘handful moment.'

"So … " Brian's deep voice vibrated through her as she sat beside him in  the small, enclosed space. He didn't continue immediately, and Becca  watched as his long fingers opened and closed on the steering wheel. Her  eyes flitted over the vein that ran up his forearm, causing her mouth  to water. "You really loved Ethan?"

"What?" Becca's eyes flew up to Brian's profile.

Why would he ask that? As much as they talked about everything, love  was, for some unknown reason, something they hadn't discussed. Well,  that wasn't exactly true. They'd discussed the subject in an abstract,  nonspecific way. So this question had kind of come out of left field.

Brian didn't look at her. His eyes remained trained on the road in front  of them. "You said you've been in love. Was it with Ethan?"

That would make the most sense. Becca seriously doubted that Brian would  believe that she'd been truly in love with any of the guys she'd dated  in high school. Not that they weren't good guys and she hadn't had good  relationships with them-they were and she had. But they hadn't been  anything near serious.                       
       
           



       

A little voice inside of her head, probably the one in charge of  self-preservation, was coaxing her to just say that it had been Ethan.  What harm could come from that? If she told the truth and Detective  Brian decided to continue his interrogation then he might actually  uncover the truth. And it was a fact that a lot of harm could come from  that.

So imagine Becca's surprise when she opened her mouth and heard the  words, "No. I didn't love Ethan," fly out. The second they did, she  wished she had the ability to turn back time or erase memories like the  Men in Black. Unfortunately, she was not equipped to do either.

Then surprise number two came when she saw a slow smile spread on  Brian's mouth as he turned to her, raising his brow as he asked with a  whiskey-smooth tone, "Really. Then who was the lucky guy?"

Shit.

"Umm … "

Becca was just about to do a table flip and ask whom he'd been referring  to when he'd admitted to having been in love when her phone started  playing "My Girl" by The Temptations. She grabbed her tan-colored  drawstring purse, and as she pulled her phone out, she'd never been  happier to see her sister Haley's face illuminated on the screen.

Brushing her thumb across the accept button, she put the iPhone to her ear. "Hey, Hales."

"Hey," her sister said with a smidge of worry in her voice. It didn't  surprise Becca to hear it. Her oldest sister was a worrier. "Where are  you? Are you okay?"

Becca looked up and out the windows, surprised to see that they were  just passing the wooden ‘Welcome to Harper's Crossing' sign on the side  of the highway. The drive home had flashed by in a blur.

"We just passed the city limits. Yeah, I'm fine. Why?"

"Oh good." Relief bled through Haley's voice. "I was expecting you hours ago."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Hales. I went to an audition with Bri. I didn't even think about the fact that you would be expecting me."

Since she lived on her own in California, it usually took Becca about a  week when she came home to remember that she needed to check in and let  people know when she was going to be late or if her plans changed. Her  family was very involved in each other's lives. Not in a bad way-it was  definitely all rooted in love.

"What audition? Is he acting again?" Haley asked.

"It was for a reality show."

Becca was torn. In one respect, she would rather not talk about this in  front of Brian in case any of her true colors began to show during her  explanation, but at the same time, she worried that, if she got off the  phone with her sister, Brian would pick up the conversation right where  they'd left off.

That would be bad. Looked like she was going to have to roll the dice and try talking about the show in front of Brian.

"Oh, how fun!" Haley exclaimed. "I love reality shows. Brian is good at everything. He's going to seriously dominate."

Becca smiled. That was exactly what she'd thought.

"Is it like Survivor?" Haley asked.

Again, that had been Becca's first thought. Becca and her oldest sister  Haley had often been compared to each other. Becca had always chalked it  up to the fact that the personalities of her middle sisters Jessie and  Krista were so distinct and different than the two bookend sisters.  Jessie was private, fiercely private, and a woman of few (if any!)  words. Krista was a sarcastic social butterfly people were drawn to like  a magnet.

Lately, though, she'd noticed that she and Haley saw things the same  way, thought the same in a lot of situations. That realization had  actually meant a lot to Becca, who had always identified herself simply  as the baby of the family. The fourth member of the Quad Squad, which  was a nickname she and her sisters had been given growing up. But she'd  never felt like she'd had a lot in common with her sisters.

"No, it's not like that. It's a dating show." Becca hoped that she was  pulling off supportive and happy. Her eyes sliced over to Brian. He was  looking straight ahead and did not seem to pick up on any strain in her  voice. Relief filled her as she continued. "It's called Fairytale Love.  They are casting girls as the princesses and guys as princes."

"Princesses like Cinderella?" Haley asked.

"Yep. Exactly."

"Wow. I can't believe they didn't try and cast you as Snow White," her sister said with a little laugh in her voice.

"Actually, they did. Or at least they had me audition," Becca explained.

"What!" Haley shrieked. "You auditioned for a reality show!?"                       
       
           



       

Becca wasn't sure why her sister was so surprised. "Yes," she confirmed.

She heard voices in the background and her sister saying that she didn't know anything, telling people to be quiet.

"Where are you?" Becca didn't think any of the voices she'd overheard  were her sister's stepdaughter Emily's or her husband Eddie's.

"Oh, I'm at Krista and Chase's. We're all here waiting for you. We'd  planned on getting together for dinner tonight to celebrate you being  home."

Becca had decided to stay at Krista's because she wanted to be as much  help as possible for the upcoming nuptials-and also because her sister's  fiancé was on tour and wouldn't be home for a good portion of the  summer. Staying with her newlywed sister Haley did not sound like good  times to Becca, and Jessie lived in the city.

"Okay, well, I'll be there in a few minutes," Becca let her sister know.

"Yay! I can't wait to hear about your audition!" Haley said excitedly.

As Becca hung up the call, she felt her palms dampen before she put her  phone back in her purse. The soft sounds of The Supremes singing,  drifted through the small space.

As happy as she was that her family had decided to plan a homecoming  dinner for her, she really wished that she could just have some time  alone. She needed to think, process, plan. After spending the day with  Brian, she knew that her original plan to keep her distance was probably  going to be the best thing. The sad part was that she missed Brian, her  best friend, and she just wished that she could spend time with him  instead of Brian, the man she had totally inappropriate thoughts,  feelings and desires for. Unfortunately, since ‘they' were the same  person, that was not possible.

When they pulled up in front of Krista's house, Becca felt both relieved  and sad-relieved that the conversation hadn't turned back to who the  mystery man she'd been in love with was, and sad that their time  together today was over, which didn't make any sense-since she'd just  decided that the very best thing would be for them to have distance.

"Everyone's over for dinner," Becca said as she tried to unclick her  seatbelt. "Do you want to stay?" She pressed it several more times with  no success. It stuck sometimes.

Before she was able to push it all the way down to release her safety  belt, Brian's hand covered hers and he pressed his thumb beside hers. At  his touch, Becca sucked in a breath. The loud click of the device  releasing the belt sounded at the same time that a delicious shiver ran  through her as Brian's fingertips brushed over hers.