Candy Crush (5 page)

“That was quick. I haven’t even been here
twenty-four hours.”

“It doesn’t take much here in Holly. Word
spreads fast, especially when the gossip is juicy.”

“How could I possibly have created juicy
gossip already?”

“Well, for starters, you bought the jinxed
candy store, so the bets are already being laid to determine how
long you stay in town. I think a week is the lowest so far. Six
months is the highest bet.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

Brandon shrugged. “Nothing more exciting
going on at the moment. Not until the football game Friday night.
And second, you’re beautiful, so all the guys in town are eager to
meet you.”

“How do all the guys in town know I’m
beautiful? I’ve only been here since seven o’clock last night and
the only place I went was Main Street Pizza Parlor, and there were
only about ten other people there.”

“That’s all it takes. You aren’t from a
small town, are you? I’m getting more and more curious, so you
might as well just tell me.”

He looked at her expectantly and she simply
chewed and looked back.

“Anyway,” he sighed, “You went to Main
Street Pizza Parlor with me, so there’s an assumption on the
beautiful part.”

“A little conceited, are we?”

Brandon shrugged again. “Probably more than
I should be. But actually, it’s all about reputation, and I have
one.”

“Which is?”

“I only spend time with beautiful women.” He
added a smoldering look to the comment, a look he’d perfected in
the mirror when he’d been a randy teen, determined to figure out
the most efficient way to get girls naked and horizontal. Her eyes
flared for a moment before she devoted her entire focus on sucking
on the straw in her drink. As he watched her lips pucker, he
imagined her sucking on a decidedly larger straw. One attached to
his body.

Before he could open his mouth and
undoubtedly crush any potential chance he had with the skittish
woman, the front door opened and a shaft of sunlight accompanied a
man inside. He wore a police uniform. Brandon cursed under his
breath and then called out a greeting.

“Hello Daniel.” His voice did not sound
inviting.

“Brandon. What are you doing here?”

“Having lunch with my newest merchant.”

“I was stopping by to meet your newest
merchant too,” Daniel said.

He pulled his hat off his head and stepped
into the room. He had short-cropped brown hair and dark brown eyes.
His complexion was ruddy and his build attested to the fact that if
he did indeed indulge in donuts, he worked them off each day in the
gym. Brandon watched as Gabriella wiped her hands on a napkin and
stepped around the counter to greet him.

“Hi, I’m Gabriella Hadley,” She said,
extending her hand in front of her. He shook it and she said, “I’m
the new owner of the candy store. I’m sorry I’m such a mess. I’ve
been trying to clean up, get it in shape so I can hurry up and stop
being the eyesore of Main Street.”

She gave him a winning smile that caused
Brandon to scowl. He wanted her attention to be on him, of course,
but if he had to share her attentions with anyone, it sure as hell
wasn’t going to be Daniel Franks.

Daniel shook her hand enthusiastically and
said, “Pleased to meet you. I’m Daniel Franks, Deputy Police Chief.
Anything you need, do not hesitate to call me.” He handed her a
business card. “My cell phone number is on there. Call anytime. And
rest assured, you are not an eyesore. Not at all.”

Brandon’s scowl deepened.

Gabriella smiled widely and asked, “Do you
have kids, Mr. Franks?”

“Call me Daniel. Yes, I have kids. But I’m
divorced,” he added hastily.

“I’m glad to hear you have kids, because I
plan to have this store open before Halloween, and I would love for
them to attend the grand opening. I have big plans for it. So I’ll
keep your card on file, so I can send them an invitation. It was
very nice to meet you, Daniel. Have a great day.”

He clearly read her dismissal, and after a
moment’s hesitation, he bid her farewell and left.

Brandon whistled. “That was impressive,” he
said.

“What?”

“The way you just dismissed him. I like it.
I’m glad you didn’t do that to me.”

“I tried, yesterday, but you ignored
it.”

“Good thing, too, don’t you think?” Brandon
winked and ignored her lack of response. “Your instincts are right
to stay away from Daniel Franks.”

“I was definitely getting the impression
that you don’t like him.”

“I don’t. He’s divorced because he cheated
on my cousin. He’s still able to live in this town because she was
cheating too.”

“What, is your family the mafia or
something?”

“Nah, we’re Greek.” As if that explained
everything.

“So you’re pissed off at him because he
divorced your cousin?”

“That’s part of it. He also fucked my sister
over the summer after she graduated from high school. And I didn’t
like the way he was looking at you. All in all, I’d say I’m
justified in not liking Daniel Franks.”

He stood up and gathered the trash from
their lunches and threw it into the nearly full bag in the middle
of the room. “I have to get back to the office. You want me to take
this out back before I leave?”

Gabriella said sure, so he gathered the full
trash bag, tied it closed and flung the bag over his shoulder. He
caught her staring at his biceps so he flexed a couple extra times,
strictly for her benefit. When she realized what he was doing, she
rolled her eyes and shifted her focus to the front of the store. He
chuckled as he carried the bag outside through the storage
room.

When he returned he said, “You need to call
and make sure you’re signed up to have that dumpster emptied. It’s
not automatic.” He lifted his drink off the counter and began
heading toward the front door.

“I have to attend a chamber mixer this
afternoon at four. Do you want to go? Most of the Main Street
merchants will be there. It’s a good opportunity to meet everyone
and to keep your front door from becoming a revolving door.”

***

For a minute there, Gabriella thought he was
asking her out on a date, and then she breathed a sigh of relief
when she realized it was a business event. She had no idea how she
would have answered, had he asked her on a date. “I don’t know”
probably wouldn’t fly, and she wasn’t quite ready to say “yes,” and
she doubted very much she could choke out a “no” at this point.

The man looked at her like she was candy.
Delicious candy that he wanted to spend a great deal of time
licking, maybe biting, definitely suckling. Or maybe that was her
own overactive imagination, coming up with such…
interesting
ideas.

She cleared her throat and forced herself
not to fan her overheated face.
“That would be lovely. Thank you for inviting me. I’ll go back to
your house and take a shower and change in a couple hours. Should I
meet you at your office at four?”

“Sounds good. The mixer is at the Holly
Hotel, which is just a couple blocks away. See you later.”

He walked out the door, and the room felt
distinctly empty afterward. Gabriella decided she needed a radio.
Surely it was the lack of sound now that he was gone, not the lack
of his presence.

At two-thirty, Gabriella locked up the candy
store and she and Butter headed back to Brandon’s house. At three
o’clock, she stood in front of the closet in the guest bedroom,
where she’d hung most of her clothes, and tried to decide what she
should wear.

She had taken a shower and wore a towel
wrapped around her body. Her hair was still wet. Besides the fact
that she couldn’t decide which outfit was best, they were all
wrinkled, and she had no idea where Brandon’s ironing board was
located. Probably the laundry room, she decided, and went
downstairs to look.

While she was in the laundry room, she heard
the front door open and close and she felt a moment of panic when
she realized she was completely naked save for the towel wrapped
around her body. And her clothes were upstairs in the guest room.
She heard the clipped sound of Brandon’s loafers, walking through
the house and into the kitchen. And then he stood in the doorway to
the laundry room.

***

Brandon sucked in a breath, felt his groin
tighten and choked out, “Well, hello there, Sweet Pea.”

He leaned against the door jam, trying to
exude a casual confidence he was not feeling at the moment. He felt
more like a teenage boy who was being given an opportunity he had
no idea what to do with. Which was crazy, really, because Brandon
had learned at far too young an age what precisely he should do
with such a golden opportunity. Interesting that he was midway
through his thirties and fully aware of what could – what
should
– happen when boy meets hot girl, and he felt more
awkward and foolish than he had as a horny sixteen-year-old.

Gabriella’s cheeks pinked as her eyes
dropped to stare at the floor. Brandon decided his only saving
grace was that she obviously felt the same way.

“I was – ah – looking for your ironing
board. All of my clothes are wrinkled.”

“Looks like you found it.”

“What are you doing here, anyway?”

“It was slow at the office, so I figured I’d
come get you, so you didn’t have to walk back alone.”

Gabriella cleared her throat. “I should go
upstairs and get dressed.”

No you shouldn’t
.

Just before she was about to slip past him
and into the kitchen, Brandon lifted his arm across the doorway,
momentarily blocking her exit. She looked up at him and took an
involuntary step backwards.

Her foot snagged on the laundry basket and
she would have tumbled backwards if Brandon had not shot out his
arms and caught her. He pulled her upright and into his arms and
before either one of them could form a coherent thought, he dipped
his head and kissed her.

Her lips softened and opened as her eyes
fluttered shut. One hand clung to his arm while the other held
tightly to the towel wrapped around her body. Undaunted, Brandon
smoothed one hand up her side to the top of the towel. His fingers
teased over the top swell of her breast as he deftly worked to
loosen the towel. Gabriella’s eyes shot open and she pushed herself
backwards, this time sidestepping the laundry basket as she did
so.

“Thank you for catching me,” She said
curtly. “Now if you’ll excuse me.”

He didn’t move as she darted past him and
fairly flew through the kitchen and out of sight. When he heard her
bare feet slapping against the stairs, he leaned against the door
jam again, much heavier this time, and waited for his erratic heart
beat to slow down. He glanced down at the dog, which had wandered
into the room and said, “Does everyone have that kind of reaction
to her?”

Butter wagged her tail and Brandon pushed
off from the doorframe and went into the kitchen in search of his
bottle of Maker’s Mark.

An hour later, Gabriella walked down the
stairs wearing a blue suit with a fitted jacket, short, snug skirt
and matching heels. Just as he suspected when he first met her,
those mile long legs
did
look awesome in heels, even
conservative ones with barely an inch heel.

He tore his eyes away from the sight to
focus above the neck. Her streaked blond hair hung in loose curls
around her face and her facial features were accentuated with just
the right amount of makeup.

Brandon decided he wanted another one of
those kisses, along with whatever came naturally afterward. He
stood and tried to keep his features passive. He could tell by the
closed look on her face that she had every intention of pretending
the kiss never happened. He suspected it was going to be harder
than he originally thought to get her to tumble into his bed.

“Ready?” he asked and she nodded.

Brandon unabashedly admired her backside as
she bent and patted the dog on the head as they headed out the
door. He definitely had to figure out a way to get this woman into
his bed.

As soon as she was outside, Gabriella
shivered.

“Cold?” Brandon asked.

“Yes. I don’t really have an appropriate
jacket to go with this suit. I need to go shopping soon. I don’t
even own a winter coat.”

Brandon slipped off his suit coat and draped
it over her shoulders. It was almost as long on her as her skirt.
“Better?”

“Yes, but now you’re going to be cold.”

“I’ll be fine,” he said, thinking that just
walking next to her kept him warm enough. Besides the fact that it
was at least fifty degrees outside, which was hardly cold at this
time of year.

They walked in silence for a few minutes,
until Brandon asked, “Why won’t you tell me where you’re from?”

Gabriella continued walking for a few paces
before answering. “I suppose you could say I’m running away from my
old life, and I’m still a little afraid it might catch up to
me.”

“That sounds ominous.”

“It feels ominous sometimes.”

“Are you running from the law?” Brandon
wondered if she were, would it make a difference to him? Would it
make him want her less?

Probably not, he decided. Aside from telling
him she had an estranged husband back home, he couldn’t imagine
anything adversely affecting the way he wanted her. Hell, he wasn’t
sure an estranged husband would matter. As long as he was
estranged. Brandon didn’t like to share.

Over the course of less than twenty-four
hours, he’d developed a curious obsession over the petite blond
southern bell. He decided to attribute it to the way she played
hard to get. He didn’t usually have to work very hard to convince
women to hop into his bed. In fact, he could say with absolute
certainty that he had never before had an unrelated woman spend the
night in his house and not in his bed. Until last night, that
is.