Candy Crush (23 page)

Once they were at his house, Brandon lounged
on the bed while Gabriella changed clothes and fixed her makeup and
hair. This led to a lot of heavy petting and foreplay and would
have ultimately resulted in makeup sex, but Gabriella pointed out
that he would be late for his meeting and Brandon grumpily released
her and let her finish getting dressed.

Thirty-five minutes later they parked
Gabriella’s car in front of the DDA office and rushed through the
rain and inside. Amanda greeted them as they walked in. Brandon
hung their coats on the coat tree next to the front door and guided
Gabriella through the door that said
Holly Chamber of
Commerce
.

“Aunt Constance just lost her assistant and
she’s drowning, because she can barely turn on a computer, let
alone make it do anything. Let’s see if you can help.”

As it turned out, Constance was thrilled
with the idea, and shooed Brandon away almost immediately. He gave
Gabriella a quick kiss on the lips and his lips quirked as she
blushed, since the kiss was in front of Constance, and then he left
for his meeting.

Brandon returned to the office two hours
later and wandered into the Chamber of Commerce office to see how
Aunt Constance and Gabriella were fairing.

“That is absolutely ridiculous,” he heard
Aunt Constance say.

“It is not; it’s logical. Nothing in this
office makes any sense. Who did your filing before now, a three
year old?” That was Gabriella’s voice.

“For your information,
I
did the
filing.”

“Well, you file like a three-year-old.
There’s no rhyme or reason to it. How could anyone else possibly
find anything?”

Brandon hurried through the door. By the
tone of their voices, he was afraid they might come to blows at any
moment. Maybe the Chamber of Commerce job hadn’t been a good
idea.

But when he rounded the corner, Gabriella
was kneeling in front of a filing cabinet and Constance was perched
on a chair, leaning over her shoulder and both women looked
perfectly content.

Hovering in the doorway, half afraid to
enter the office, Brandon tentatively asked if everything was
okay.

Both women simultaneously looked up at him,
faces registering surprise and then warmth, as they each smiled in
turn.

“Brandon, your girlfriend is a genius. I
hate to say this in front of her, but I’m glad she’s having
problems with that candy store. God knows where I’d be without her,
and she’s only been here a couple hours.” Constance beamed at
Gabriella who rolled her eyes.

“Oh for heaven’s sake; anyone with half a
brain could do this job. The problem is whoever you had doing it
before me didn’t even have that half a brain.”

They fell to bickering again, so Brandon
backed out of the office and turned and went into his own office.
Apparently, they were fine.

CHAPTER TEN

Gabriella’s cell phone rang just as she
pulled into the driveway ahead of Brandon’s truck, after work on
Wednesday. She glanced at the caller ID and saw her brother’s
name.

“Hi Emmett,” she said warmly as she turned
off the engine and climbed out of her car. “What’s up?”

“I’m sitting in a rental car at Detroit
Metro Airport and I need an address to punch into my GPS.”

“What?”

“Surprise,” he said and then he chuckled. “I
did a little maneuvering and got myself put on a job in Detroit. It
starts Monday and will probably last for at least a month. I
figured I’d spend the next few days with you, make sure you’re
settling in okay.”

Emmett was a project manager for a company
based in New Orleans. When other companies re-organized, for
financial reasons or as a result of bankruptcy proceedings, they
paid Emmett’s company to send him to teach the remaining employees
the new system. He generally flew in on Sunday evenings or Monday
mornings, and went home on Fridays, and his assignments lasted
anywhere from one week to six months, depending on the extent of
the reorganization and how much the company was willing to pay.

Gabriella was torn. She was thrilled at the
idea of seeing her brother. She wasn’t so thrilled at the idea of
bringing him into a situation where she has been threatened on at
least three different occasions over the course of one week. Not to
mention, how would she explain the fact that she was living with
Brandon? These were issues she was sure she would have worked out
before she had to face anyone in her family.

“Well, you’re managing to contain your
enthusiasm quite well,” Emmett commented.

“Sorry, I’m just shocked, that’s all. This
is some surprise.”

“Yes, and I’ve been on a plane for four
hours and I’m ready to get out of this car and find food and a
beer. Direct me, sis.”

“Okay, hang on. I’m going to put someone
else on the line.” Gabriella turned to Brandon, who had walked up
to stand beside her. She handed him the phone. “Will you please
direct my brother from the airport to the Pizza Parlor?” Brandon
looked at her quizzically but he took the pro-offered phone.

“Hello?” Brandon said into the receiver.

“Who is this?” Emmett demanded.

“Brandon Sarantos.”

“And who are you to my sister?”

“Her boyfriend.”

Emmett was silent for several heartbeats.
And then he said, “Are you fucking kidding me? She’s there for a
week and you’ve already laid claim? I can’t wait to meet you,
buddy. Get me there from the airport.”

Brandon gave him directions to the Pizza
Parlor, hung up the phone and turned to Gabriella. “Who’s older,
you or him?”

“Me. He’s twenty-eight, I’m thirty. But he’s
bigger.”

“Bigger than me?”

Gabriella eyed his person. “About the same.
You might have a couple inches on him.”

“Good to know,” Brandon said. “We’re meeting
him at the Pizza Parlor in an hour.”

Main Street Pizza Parlor was busy with the
typical Wednesday evening crowd: a combination of Main Street
merchants, families and assorted business professionals stopping in
for dinner or a beer on their way home from work. Brandon managed
to snag what she presumed must be his favorite booth next to the
jukebox. Gabriella began to wonder if, whenever he wasn’t around,
there wasn’t a
reserved for Brandon
sign on the table.

Brittney was working. Brandon ordered a beer
for himself, a merlot for Gabriella and bread sticks and two
pizzas, BBQ chicken and Hawaiian. Emmett walked in the door ten
minutes later.

Every head in the restaurant turned toward
the door. He was a stranger, a handsome man, and he was clearly not
a Sarantos. He had straw-colored blond hair, cut short with a tuft
that dropped roguishly over his left eyebrow. His eyes were the
same sparkling blue as Gabriella’s, and his skin was tanned several
shades darker. He stood a solid six feet tall, which made him four
inches taller than Gabriella and two inches shorter than Brandon.
He wore a black t-shirt under a brown leather bomber jacket and
blue jeans. As he walked by, eyes dropped to admire the
backside.

Emmett scanned the room, his eyes found
Gabriella, and he strode purposely toward her, ignoring the stares
and the women who were fanning themselves in his wake. He walked
straight up to his sister, pulled her out of her chair and into a
bear hug. She giggled, Brandon frowned, and Butter was having an
apoplectic fit at his feet.

With a chuckle, Emmett released Gabriella
and bent over to give the dog a vigorous rubdown. Brittney
materialized next to him, batting her eyelashes, licking her lips
and asking what he’d like to drink.

“Dos Equis, in a bottle,” he said in a deep
baritone voice. Brittney batted her eyelashes some more and rushed
to get his beer.

He slid into the chair next to Gabriella and
studied Brandon. Brandon sat across from him, studying him
back.

“So you are Brandon Sarantos, Gabriella’s
boyfriend.” It was a statement, not a question.

Gabriella wondered at what point he’d moved
to boyfriend status. Considering they were sleeping together and
she had all but moved into his house, she didn’t particularly mind,
but she thought they ought to have a conversation about it at some
point.

“Yes. And you are Emmett Hadley, Gabriella’s
baby brother.” He put just the tiniest bit of emphasis on the word
baby
.

“Regardless of who’s older, I’ve been
protecting her from guys like you since she started dating.”

“A lot longer than that,” Gabriella
commented. “I didn’t even start dating until I graduated from high
school, because you always scared everyone off.”

Emmett grinned, unabashed. Gabriella rolled
her eyes.

Brittney placed a bottle of beer in front of
Emmett and asked if he needed anything else. Emmett turned and gave
her a sparkling smile and said, “Thank you, sweetheart, I’m all
set.”

Brittney simpered and walked away on wobbly
legs. Brandon chuckled.

“Hot damn, Sweet Pea, you didn’t tell me
your brother was a player.”

“
Sweet Pea
?” Emmett asked as he
narrowed his eyes.

“Yeah. It’s a flower, from the Mediterranean
region. It’s beautiful, smells great and makes me think of southern
belles,” Brandon said, his tone challenging.

“So makes you think about my sister.”

Brandon simply sat back in his seat and took
a swig from his beer.

Emmett turned to Gabriella. “Are you dating
a player?”

Gabriella felt bewildered. She had no idea
how to respond, or how to stop the pissing contest that appeared to
be waging between Brandon and Emmett.

Brittney, followed by Aunt Korina, brought
their pizzas. No one spoke while the two women set up the pie
stands and pizzas, and set up their plates, napkins and forks. Aunt
Korina flirted with Emmett before she left the table.

“I gave it up,” Brandon said when Aunt
Korina and Brittney left. “When I met your sister.”

Gabriella stared at him, Emmett studied him,
and Brandon seemingly casually served the pizza.

“There seems to be a lot of good looking
women in this town,” Emmett finally remarked as he watched
Brandon.

Brandon shrugged. “Sure. If you see someone
you’re interested in, I can probably give you the 4-1-1.”

“Do you have a sister?”

Brandon instantly bristled. “Stay away from
my sister,” he snarled.

“Why? You’re fucking my sister.”

Gabriella gasped and Brandon snapped, “I’m
not fucking your sister.”

“You said she’s your girlfriend.”

“Yeah, big difference from
fucking
,
don’t you think?”

Emmett looked back blandly, taking a bite of
pizza as he did so. Then he grinned. “I like him,” he declared,
looking at Gabriella.

“What?” she asked weakly.

“He’s got it bad. Although I’d still like to
meet his sister. And
damn
, this is good pizza.”

***

Despite Brandon’s annoyance at the action,
Gabriella slid into the rental car with Emmett, and directed him to
follow Brandon home. “I thought the candy store came with an
apartment?” Emmett asked as they drove.

“Yes, well, there’ve been some problems with
the candy store. It wasn’t exactly in good shape when I got here.
Brandon offered his guest room and I took it.”

“You obviously aren’t sleeping in the guest
room anymore.”

Gabriella cleared her throat and fidgeted
with Butter’s leash. “No, not anymore. But at least that means
there’s a place for you to stay.”

Emmett grimaced.

“He really is a great guy.”

“I hope so. You don’t need another
Miguel.”

“He’s not Miguel.”

“Now I’m really glad that I made the
decision I did when I took this assignment.”

“What’s that?”

“I’m not going back to New Orleans on the
weekends. I’m going to come up here and hang out in – what’s the
name of this town?”

“Holly.”

“Yeah, Holly. I have to work in Detroit
Monday through Friday, but I need a place to stay Friday and
Saturday nights. This assignment’s going to last at least a month,
with the option for two one-month extensions.”

“I’m glad we’ll have some time together,
Emmett.”

“Me too, sis. It’s been too long.”

***

Between Emmett’s phone call and arrival,
Brandon and Gabriella had gone back to Brandon’s house and moved
Gabriella’s clothes from the guest room to either Brandon’s bedroom
or the office. Brandon had random items stored in the closet in his
office, so he moved those items to the basement, to allow Gabriella
enough room to hang her clothing.

Then Brandon called his brother, Patrick,
who was just leaving the bank, and asked him to stop at the house
and help him move the dresser from the guestroom to his bedroom.
Emmett wouldn’t have a dresser, but since he was only staying a few
days, Brandon figured he could get by, until he had a chance to get
out and buy a new one. The only difficult part was that they all
had to share one bathroom. But since Emmett didn’t have to get up
for work while he was staying, and Gabriella said he was a late
sleeper anyway, Brandon didn’t figure it would be a problem.

Brandon’s issue with Emmett’s timing was
that he and Gabriella hadn’t really made up from their fight. Well,
they’d made up well enough, Gabriella was happy and they were
getting along again, but they hadn’t made up in the way he wanted
to: with hot, sweaty, mind-numbing sex.

So long as Gabriella was happy, he should be
content, but he wasn’t. He wanted to be naked with her, he wanted
to connect with her on a physical and highly intimate level.
Possibly, that just made him a sleaze. Really, it probably meant
something else, something more, something that involved a word that
started with the letter L.

And frankly, he was okay with that.

Unfortunately, with Emmett sitting in the
Lazy Boy and Gabriella curled up on the couch next to him,
animatedly chatting with her brother, Brandon didn’t see anything
physical happening any time soon.