“Sometimes you can’t fix a relationship.”
“We can fix this one.”
“Maybe it’s better to leave broken glass on the ground instead of hurting yourself when you try to pick up the pieces.”
He looked into her eyes, deepening the connection, and then softly touched her cheek. A tear dripped down her face, and he wiped it away with his thumb. She was lost in his gorgeous eyes. The need to kiss him was overwhelming. She wanted to feel his lips against hers and be held by his strong arms. More tears welled up in her eyes as emotion washed over her. He laid a soft kiss on her shoulder, and she moaned as his tongue trailed down her skin.
“All I want is you, Brandon,” she whispered. “That’s why this hurt so much. It’s not just about losing money for me. It’s about losing you!”
Brandon leaned in to place a kiss tenderly on her lips. His hands wrapped around her waist, and her hands locked around his neck, pulling him closer.
“I’m right here,” he whispered in her ear.
Everything faded around her as she was lost in that one glorious moment. His lips brushed over hers, his tongue sliding between her lips.
Their fight had ended, and he rewarded her with a sweet, passionate kiss. And nothing ever felt so right.
Chapter 14
Brandon slept with her. They had this amazing, intense chemistry and he was drawn to her. Was he leading her on? Maybe they shouldn’t have jumped in the sack until they figured out their problems. But it was the only thing that made sense at the time. She turned that appealing, tear-stained face up to him like an offering, loving him and hurt by him, and it was the only way he could think of to reassure her without actually giving her more concrete answers. Her tears had startled him and moved him.
Her declaration hadn’t been that much of a surprise, but it added up with his own resistance to Holly, his conviction that Marj shouldn’t leave him. It wasn’t a road he wanted to go down. So instead of chopping logic and trying to give her some sort of half-truth, he’d just taken her to bed. They were already sitting on the edge of the mattress, so it was a simple matter to kiss her, to lower her onto the blankets and divest her of those leather leggings and the peekaboo blouse that was driving him crazy. He couldn’t deny the woman was so damn sexy.
Marj had kissed him, had clung to him and said his name with tears in her eyes as they moved together, his hands on her breasts, his mouth on hers. In truth, he thought of nothing but her, her body, her feelings, her pleasure. He could not pretend to be indifferent to her then at least, joined as they were.
When she was limp with her release, breathless in his arms, he laid her on the pillow and covered her with the sheet. He didn’t sleep. There was no way to turn away from what was happening to him, what this infuriating woman was doing to him and his life.
***
Brandon was gone. He might as well live at that office, she thought with a grumble. But she had told him, had confessed that she loved him. He hadn’t given her a stern lecture about their business arrangement like she’d expected him to. Instead, he had taken her, tenderly, deeply, without a single word spoken. That was the trouble with his silence, she could read it however she wanted. It could be that his feelings were too profound and surprising for words. It could be that he was tired of talking. It could be that all that pent up conflict had demanded physical release. There was really no way to know without asking him.
He didn’t come home. He texted once to say he had a late meeting, some paperwork to finish up and not to wait for him. He was giving her the brush off. She wondered why he’d even made love to her in the first place. Was it to make her stay? Keep her from leaving? So he could get his money? Her heart was breaking. Why was love so painful and confusing?
Why do guys run when you tell them you love them?
Enough of this shit. She wasn’t a yo-yo. When she went to pack, Brandon called her and told her he had a work emergency.
Of course!
She called a couple of friends at work and his story checked out.
“I know we need to talk,” he said. “But I’m drowning right now.”
“Just deal with the problem. I’ll be right here waiting for you.”
“Promise?”
“I promise. I’m not going anywhere. At least for now.”
He spent two days straight trying to fix it. Marj wondered if he was happy to have the ‘work excuse’ to stay away. She scared him by telling him she loved him. It was way too early to ever tell him that. She should’ve kept her mouth shut.
***
The next day her phone rang at eleven at night as she was watching Netflix and trying to figure out what all the fuss was about Bradley Cooper.