Breaking Braydon (7 page)

It couldn’t be that I wanted to see Jain again outside of the boardroom. No, this meeting was necessary.

The door jingled as Colin and Jain entered Starbucks. They purchased their drinks and scanned the room, skipping right over me. I wasn’t wearing a suit, so I blended in with everyone else. Finally, Jain’s eyes darted in my direction, widening once she recognized me. She nudged Colin, and they made their way over to my table.

“Nice shirt, Braydon. Purple. I like it.” Colin remarked.

What the hell? What was he insinuating with the remark about my shirt? I noticed Jain’s hands were clenched as her gaze stayed fixed on the floor. Her lips pinched together, as if she was trying to stop herself from speaking.

“What?” Colin turned and smiled at me. “Jain and I were talking about the color purple earlier today. Isn’t that right, Jain? It appears you both like the color purple.”

Jain crossed her arms and cleared her throat. “Colin, we aren’t here to talk about colors.” She turned to me. “I’m sorry, Mr. Decker. Shall we discuss the event?” Her large glasses and bangs covered most of her eyes, but from what I could see, she appeared angry at Colin, shooting him daggers, but he continued to smile, oblivious, or pretending to be unaware of her anger.

“Please, call me Braydon.”

“Okay.” At least now she was smiling.

I felt something, like a twitch around the area of my chest. I rubbed it, hoping to ease my discomfort.

“Are you feeling okay?” Colin asked. “I just remembered you’re getting over the flu.”

“The flu?” The same symptoms I experienced at our first meeting were making an unwelcome return. Not again. “Oh, that. No, I’m fine. That was just something I ate.”

“That’s good. Okay, let’s get started.” Jain took out a pen and pad from her purse, poised and ready to take notes.

“Okay, the first thing you’ll need to—” I began to speak, but Colin interrupted.

“Uh, Braydon? I think you’re bleeding.” He motioned toward my ankles.

Damn. I should’ve worn socks.

“My dog.” I shrugged then grabbed a few napkins off the table and dabbed off the blood.

Colin leaned back in his chair with his arms crossed, studying me. “Tell me more.”

“I own a Border Collie. They like to herd.” I air-quoted herd.

“So let me get this straight. You own a dog that bites you?” For some reason, he didn’t look at me when he asked the question. He looked at Jain instead.

“Well, he isn’t biting me, per se. It’s more of a nip.” Why were we having this conversation?

“No, you two don’t have anything in common.” He laughed. Hard. In a matter of moments, he was wiping tears from his eyes. Jain had her eyes closed, shaking her head.

“Did I miss something here?” My head swung back and forth, studying them for clues.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Decker…I mean, Braydon. Neither of us has had much sleep, and I think Colin’s feeling the effects. We should probably reschedule. I apologize.”

Colin, still laughing, picked up his cup and said, “No! Don’t reschedule. I’m fine. I’ll be good.”

Jain glared at Colin and replied, “If you’re sure.”

Colin reached into his pocket, pulled out a vibrating phone, read the incoming number and said, “Got to take this. Be right back.” He got up from the table and headed toward the back of the coffee shop.

“I’m so sorry about Colin. He’s a genius when it comes to research, but sometimes…”

“Sometimes?” Just as the question left my lips Colin returned.

“I’m sorry. I have to go into the office. One of the alarms went off in the lab, and I have to go check it out.”

Jain reached for her sweater.

“No, Jain, you stay. We need to get this information so we don’t look out of place when we attend the big event.” Colin winked at her as he gathered his coat and coffee.

“Are you sure?” Her eyes bored into him.

If I had to guess, I’d say Jain didn’t want to be alone with me.

“Yes, I’m sure. I’ll see you later.” He turned to me, offering me his hand. “Braydon, I want to thank you again for this opportunity. You might know this already, but this means a lot to us, to everyone at Bastion Medical Research. We owe you; we won’t forget this.”

“No problem,” I replied. Now, I felt a little uncomfortable. I always did whenever anyone praised me. I never felt like I deserved it.

Once Colin left, there was an awkward silence. Avoiding eye contact, Jain studied the drink menu stuck on a metal placeholder in the middle of the table.

“You were saying, Colin sometimes..?” I asked.

Her gaze left the menu and moved up to meet my eyes. I felt the energy between us. I wanted to reach over and take her hand. I wanted to take all of her. Damn. I needed to get her out of my system.

“I was hoping you’d forgotten that.” She smiled.

God, when she smiled and looked at me like that, I was powerless. No. I had to take back control.

“I’m going to be straight with you.” She tilted her head up, took a deep breath, and continued. “As you can probably tell, Colin and I are good friends.”

I made sure not to speak, so I nodded my understanding.

“We’ve been working together for years, and, for some reason, he thinks he knows me, knows what I need. But he’s wrong.” She shifted and straightened the collar on her shirt. “I’m just going to blurt this out. It’s quite funny, but Colin thinks there’s something between us.” She held her palm up. “Of course, that’s ridiculous! I mean, you and me?” She shook her head and laughed softly.

The old feeling of rejection gnawed at me. Why would she think it was ridiculous? I knew my reputation was bad, but she didn’t even know me yet. I felt so drawn to her, wanting her. Didn’t she feel the same? I wasn’t sure why, but a deep sense of disappointment flooded my system. I told myself it didn’t matter. Perhaps I was having some mid-life crisis. That would explain all these foreign feelings for someone I barely knew. This wasn’t me. I felt a strong desire to leave, to get away from her. I wasn’t sure I could handle sitting across from her as she rejected me.

She continued. “Anyway, he thinks we have some things in common.”

“Why is that?” I wondered how Colin came to that conclusion so soon.

“Well, for one, our pets.” She lifted the hem of her shirt and showed me some red scratch marks. “My cat, Nancy, likes to use me as a scratching post. I don’t think it’s a big deal, but Colin thinks I’m crazy for keeping her. Now, I’m sure you’ve been added to his ‘crazy’ list for your dog.” She giggled. Her face softened, and she looked different…younger.

“What else do we have in common?” I liked seeing her relax.

“You remember his comment about your shirt? By coincidence, we were just talking about how much my mother loved the color purple. I’m sure he thinks it’s some kind of sign.”

“Why would he think that’s something we had in common? It’s your mom who loves the color.”

“Loved. As in past tense.”

Oh
.

“It’s okay; she died when I was nineteen. I’ve had a lot of time to adjust to her being gone. Colin refers to her as my guardian angel, so I’m sure he’ll make a big deal about you wearing purple today.” She grinned, “By the way, that is a nice color on you.”

Her face flushed a little. I didn’t think she planned on complimenting my shirt. I smiled back and asked, “So, how about your dad? Are you close with him?”

Her smile dropped. “He died when I was two. I don’t remember him.”

“My mom also died when I was two.” We stared at each ot
her. Maybe Colin was right after all.

FOURTEEN

Jain

We continued to stare. The realization struck us, and we smiled. Okay, so maybe we did have a few things in common.

“I thought Colin was a few peas short of a casserole,” Braydon remarked.

Did he really say that? I put my hand over my mouth to contain my laughter. “You’re so different than I thought you’d be.” Uh oh, now I would have to explain that comment.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

I knew it.

“I don’t know. I thought you’d be a little more formal. I’ve never heard the peas and casserole comparison before. Did you grow up in the South or something?”

“No, I’ve lived in the Seattle area my entire life, but my mom grew up in Tennessee. Maybe some of it rubbed off onto my dad and then, in turn, on me.” He smiled. It was beautiful – his smile.

“Back to Colin. Why did you think he was…challenged?” I asked, stifling a laugh; I couldn’t help myself. Colin would be so mad if he heard us.

“He was acting so odd, first about my shirt, and then about Oreo.”

“Oreo?”

“Yeah. My dog.”

“Is he by chance, black and white?”

“Yes, and before you say anything, I didn’t name him. I picked him up from a shelter, and I didn’t have the heart to change it.”

My heart took a few extra beats as I chastised myself. No, this guy was bad news. He was charming. That’s what he did. He charmed, then he took and he left. I would not become one of his six-hour women.

But I liked him. When he was himself, who I thought he really was, he was smart and funny.

“Tell me about your cat Nancy,” he asked.

So I did.

***

“You did not! Tell me you didn’t!” I was laughing so hard, my stomach hurt.

With an expression that could only be described as prideful, Braydon answered, “Oh, yeah. I did.”

“How did you get the python out of the zoo? It must have weighed a ton! Did you think about your scholarship at all?” I was dying to know how he pulled it off.

“Jain!” I heard someone call my name. Startled, my head shot up in time to see Colin approaching our table.

“I’ve been trying to call you.” His hair was a mess, and his clothes were askew.

I reached into my purse and removed my cell phone. Sure enough, it was dead.

“Dead phone. Why? What’s the matter? Did something happen?”

Colin hardly ever got anxious, and he always dressed to perfection. Panic built as my imagination went off the tracks.

“No. Don’t worry about it. I reset the alarm in the lab. I’m not sure what set it off, but it’s all good now.” He smiled in an effort to calm me down.

“You seemed concerned when you came in. Did something else happen?”

He sat down on the extra chair at our table. He breathed in while he ran his fingers through his hair. “I was concerned about you. I’m sorry. I went home, and you weren’t there.” He sat straighter as he tried to pull himself together.

“I’m sorry I worried you, Colin. I don’t know where the time went. We started talking…” I stopped to see if Braydon wanted to add anything. He was looking at me with a strange expression. Now he seemed closed off with both his legs and arms crossed. He was acting like a different person. A few minutes ago, he was open and talkative; now he appeared to be in shutdown mode.

“It’s time for me to go anyway. Did you want to fit in some shopping on our way home?” I hoped this would make Colin feel better. I felt bad about making him worry.

“You two live together?” Braydon’s face was impassive, but his teeth were clenched, and there was a slight tic in his jaw.

Colin finally relaxed and put his arm around my shoulder. “No, just neighbors. If I weren’t gay, I’d be all over it though.” A huge grin and wink followed.

“Ha ha. It’s time to go.” I stood up and adjusted my purse. “We can head over to Nordstrom’s if you’d like.” A quick exit was in order. I didn’t want him to get any more ideas about matchmaking.

I turned to Braydon, “Thanks so much for the fun afternoon. I was great getting to know you.” I paused, reached out my hand, and said, “Friends?”

FIFTEEN

Braydon

Did I just get friend-zoned? I stood up, reached out, and took her hand for the “friend” handshake. I didn’t let go for a moment. I kept searching her eyes to see if I could see any glimmer of attraction. Why was that important?

My entire adult life had been filled with easy conquests. Why should just one rejection bother me so much? I tightened my grip, and that’s when I heard it. It was so quiet, if I hadn’t been listening for it, I would have missed Jain’s tiny intake of breath. She tried to remove her hand, but I wasn’t ready to let go.

I’d been sitting across from her all day, fantasizing about her lips. We were in the middle of a busy coffee shop, and all I wanted to do was put my arms around her and kiss her until she forgot her name.

I felt so exposed, so raw at that moment. I needed to get away. I released my grip and said, “Yeah. Friends.” I gave a quick wave and headed toward the door.

***

“You? You were rejected?” Todd’s face was comical. Eyebrows raised, mouth open, eyes bulging.

“Yes, if you call being friend-zoned rejection.”

“Well, I’ll be a son of a gun!” Dad chimed in. He appeared every bit as surprised as Todd.

The three of us would often meet for brunch on Thursday mornings. Today, we met at Beth’s Café, located in the Phinney Ridge area in Seattle.  The café was famous for their delicious and huge omelets, but I found myself not very hungry. I was halfway through when I shoved it away.

I rubbed my stomach and let my eyes wander around. I loved it here. It wasn’t fancy, but it held an appeal for me. The air was thick with grease, and the vinyl booths had seen better days. Yet, I felt at home.

“Did you bring me here when I was young?” I didn’t know why I hadn’t thought to ask Dad this question before today.

“Your mom and I would bring you every Sunday after church.” Dad gazed out the window, lost in thought. That’s why I had such a good feeling about this place. I didn’t think my memories reached that far back.

He seemed to shake off whatever he was remembering. “So, tell me about this young woman. Is she blind?”

Todd choked out a laugh. “You might say that.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Her glasses? Not only are they two sizes too big, the lenses are so thick you can barely see her eyes. I’m pretty sure her vision is severely impaired.”

“That’s strange though. She had to take them off to read the menu yesterday.” I tried to remember what it was called. “She must be nearsighted.”