Candy Crush (6 page)

“No, not exactly. I didn’t do anything
wrong, personally. But I know about some stuff that other people
did. It seemed prudent at the time to get as far away as
possible.”

“Did you leave a lot behind?”

Gabriella nodded. “My family. Everyone. I
was very close to my family, so it’s hard to be two thousand miles
away from everyone.”

Brandon heard the sadness in her voice and
it pulled at his heart. Without thinking about it, he put his arm
around her shoulders and pulled her into his side. She didn’t
resist, and much to his delight, leaned into him.

“I’m sorry,” he said. He squeezed her
shoulder and added on a lighter note, “You can borrow my family any
time you want. There are plenty of them around.”

Gabriella giggled and the serious moment
passed.

***

When they were a block away from the Holly
Hotel, Gabriella extracted herself from under Brandon’s arm and
slipped his suit coat off her shoulders. She was instantly chilled,
but she decided it was better than the very obvious message it
would send if she walked in under his arm and wearing his coat.
Brandon frowned slightly but didn’t comment, as he slipped his coat
over his own shoulders. She pretended not to notice when he leaned
his head to the side and inhaled before buttoning the front of the
suit coat. The only reason she noticed at all was because she’d
done the same darn thing when he first draped it around her
shoulders.

Brandon held the door open, and then, before
she had a chance to look around, he whisked her up a set of stairs,
calling out hello to several people as he passed. At the top of the
stairs, he turned her to the left and whispered, “Ready?”

Then he looked up and smiled as an elderly
woman in a red suit with a badge pinned to her lapel that read,
“Holly Chamber of Commerce” hustled up to them. She hugged Brandon
and extended her hand to Gabriella.

“Hello there. I’m Constance Trakas,
president of the Holly Chamber of Commerce. You must be the new
owner of the candy store. On behalf of the Village of Holly,
welcome to our community.”

She beamed at Gabriella and pumped her hand
until Gabriella thought it might be pulled from its socket. She had
wavy dark hair that was pulled back from her face and fell to her
shoulders, and bright blue eyes. She bore a strong resemblance to
Brandon. Gabriella cocked an eyebrow at him and he whispered in her
ear, “Another aunt.”

“Hello, Mrs. Trakas, I’m Gabriella Hadley.
It’s nice to meet you. And thank you for the welcome.”

Constance finally released Gabriella’s hand
and then made a dismissive gesture. “Oh nonsense, call me
Constance. We aren’t that formal here. Where are you from, dear? I
just love that accent.”

Ignoring Brandon’s gentle probes for
information was one thing. Ignoring the president of the Chamber of
Commerce was quite another. Grudgingly, Gabriella said,
“Dallas.”

She glanced at Brandon. He smiled blandly,
but she could see the look of triumph behind that smile. The man
was incorrigible.

“Dallas? I just love that city. I’ve been
there once or twice. What brings you all the way to Holly,
Michigan? And with winter coming, no less.” Constance chuckled.

Gabriella blanched and Brandon put his hand
on her forearm. “Aunt Constance, you can’t hog her. You know
everyone wants to meet her. Save your inquisition for the next
family gathering.”

Constance’s attention shifted as she zoned
in on her nephew. “She’ll be at the next family gathering?” she
asked sharply.

“We’ll see. She’s staying with me
temporarily. If she’s still there, yes. If not, you can grill
me.”

“Good. I’m looking forward to it.” Someone
called out to her, and Constance turned to greet the next group of
guests.

Brandon guided Gabriella into the private
dining room where the event was being held.

“Thank you for saving me, but what was that
last bit?” Gabriella asked, as they made their way to the bar.

“You are welcome. I didn’t want her to find
out all your deep dark secrets before I had my chance to do so.” He
grinned. “And I told you I have a reputation. It is the mission of
all of the elderly women in my family to try to destroy that
reputation. They’re determined to see me settled down and married
to a nice Greek girl who will keep me in line and give me lots of
healthy Greek babies.”

“I’m not Greek,” Gabriella blurted before
she could stop herself.

“That’s okay, that’s the least important
part, at this point. Since I’m a full blood, my kids will be half,
so they’ll be satisfied. They’re starting to suspect I might be a
lost cause, though, so it’s getting intense. But you have nothing
to worry about. I’m not in any hurry to see their wishes come
true.”

He leaned closer and whispered in her ear,
“I definitely want you in my bed, Sweet Pea, but I’m not interested
in marriage.”

Gabriella shivered and saw his wolfish grin
before he turned to the bartender and ordered a glass of cabernet
for her and a Maker’s Mark, neat, for himself.

Gabriella accepted the wine and said, “Since
you seem determined to constantly order for me, I prefer merlot to
cabernet.” She took a sip and derived a little bit of satisfaction
in the surprised look that crossed his face.
Two can play at
this game, Brandon Sarantos
.

That was a lie, of course, but Gabriella was
far too shaken by her own physical response to the man, and she
needed to cling to something.

He wants me in his bed
.

Well, she knew that right from the start,
from that first heated look, when they met on the sidewalk outside
the candy store. But to have him say it out loud, well, that added
an entirely new level of intensity to this convoluted relationship.
For crying out loud, she has only known the man for one full day,
and she had the distinct impression he was slightly baffled by the
fact that they had not yet tumbled into bed together.

Despite his bafflement, he invited her into
his house, helped her dress the guest bed with fresh sheets, and
didn’t push her into doing something that last night she was most
definitely not ready to do. Was he truly a gentleman, or had he
just assumed she would be so smitten by his charm and demeanor that
she would slip willingly into his bed without him even having to
ask?

She was still mulling over this question
when the Main Street merchants descended.

Within the space of an hour, Gabriella was
introduced to, and forgot the name of, nearly every business owner
on Main Street and the two side streets that comprised the three
block downtown area. There were a plethora of antiques dealers, as
well as a florist, several apparel shops, a handful of restaurants
and various other businesses that she couldn’t remember.

After the fourth beautiful woman strolled up
and cooed in Brandon’s ear, Gabriella wanted to throw her drink at
him. Because she knew she had no right to be jealous over whether
or not Brandon had any sort of relationship – past or present –
with any of those women, she focused on the fact that most of the
businesses in the area seemed to be owned by someone who was
related to Brandon.

“Does your family own this town?” Gabriella
asked when he finally steered her to a partially secluded corner,
so that she could take a break from the introductions.

“No, not literally. We do own a large
portion of the businesses though. It’s only because there are so
many of us, and no one seems to leave.”

“Did you ever consider leaving?” Gabriella
asked curiously.

“I did. I went to Purdue for college and
then I was the city manager for a small town in Indiana for a few
years.”

“Why did you come back?”

He shrugged. “Aunt Constance called one day
and said the DDA president position was open and I’d be perfect for
it. I applied, got it and here I am.”

“Did you want to come back?”

He shrugged. “I was ambivalent at the time.
My great-grandmother was ill, my sister was graduating from high
school, my brother was getting married. It seemed like a good time
to come home.”

“Are you happy?”

“What’s with the Spanish inquisition? Trying
to turn the tables?” He smiled and Gabriella felt butterflies in
her stomach. It was no wonder he seemed baffled that she hadn’t
climbed into his bed last night. The man had a smile that could
almost literally melt panties. Gabriella was tempted to smooth her
hand over her hip, to make sure her panties were still intact.

“Curiosity, that’s all. Reassuring myself
that I wasn’t crazy to take up your offer to stay at your house,
after I’d only known you for a few hours.”

His smile turned wolfish. Gabriella smoothed
her hand over her skirt and nearly blew out a sigh of relief. Her
panties were still there. They hadn’t melted. Yet.

“You weren’t crazy. I’m dangerous, but it’s
the kind of dangerous women love.”

Gabriella gulped her wine and turned to
survey the room, until she could get her composure under control.
He had just put voice to the very first thoughts she had when she
met him. It was a little frightening. She needed to shift the
conversation to some other subject. Any other subject.

“So tell me about these people. Who do I
need to know? Who should I avoid? And most important, who has kids
and is the head of the PTA, so I can invite them to my grand
opening?”

Brandon laughed. “You have a mind for
business. I take it this isn’t your first venture into business
ownership?”

“It is, actually. I’ve had… similar
experiences though.”

***

He could tell he would not get any
additional information on the subject. Suddenly, he felt an
overwhelming need to ask a different question.

“Are you married?”

He watched as she visibly flinched. He
wondered what that meant.
Was
she married? If so, what the
hell was she doing opening a candy store in small town Holly,
Michigan, when she told his aunt she was from Dallas?

“No,” she said, finally. “Although I am also
not available for any other type of relationship.” She gave him a
coy look at she said it. Almost like she was issuing a challenge.
Well, Brandon was most definitely up to the challenge.

He hoped.

“Why not? Are you a lesbian?”

“No. I can’t believe you asked me that.”

“Are you a nun?”

“No.”

“Then why aren’t you available for any other
type of relationship?”

Gabriella sighed. “I’m just not, okay?”

“No, it isn’t okay.” He leaned closer and
felt it like a lightening bolt to his groin when she shivered. He
wanted to press her against the wall and kiss her like they’d
kissed in the mudroom earlier today. No he didn’t. He wanted to
bundle her out the door and down the street to his house, lock the
door and spend the next few days getting to know her on a far more
intimate level. Clothing was strictly forbidden. He glanced at her
shoes.

She could leave the shoes on.

He took a chance. He couldn’t help it. He
whispered, “I can tell you want it. Maybe not as badly as I do, but
bad enough.”

Gabriella took a step away. He didn’t stop
her. If he pressed too hard, she would bolt, like the skittish colt
he likened her to. He wondered what happened in her past to make
her so jumpy. She was a beautiful woman, she could not possibly not
realize it. She should be confident, overly so. She could probably
wrap any warm-blooded man around her pinkie finger, if she were so
inclined. Including him, he had a feeling.

There was a story there, he just knew
it.

“Whether I want it or not is irrelevant. It
isn’t going to happen.”

He forced himself to focus on her words,
instead of the ideas in his head. “Why not?” he pressed.

“Because I’m not going to let it.”

“That sounds like a challenge.”

“It isn’t. It’s a fact.”

Brandon considered her through heavy lidded
eyes, as he sipped his drink. He wanted to know what she was
running from, and he wanted her in his bed. He was pretty sure the
need to have her in his bed outweighed his need to know what
happened that she’d left Dallas and driven across the country to
theoretically set down roots in a small town in Michigan, but he
suspected he’d have to find out the answer to the latter question
before he could talk her the former. He continued to watch her,
enjoying the fact that she was becoming fidgety under his scrutiny,
until his cousin, Jared walked up to them.

Jared was tall and lean, dark haired, olive
skinned and blue eyed, just like Brandon. He was two years older
than Brandon and for years they had been engaged in an unspoken
contest. Whenever one was interested in a woman, the other spent
all of his energies trying to win her over first. Brandon figured
they were about tied. He groaned at the interest he saw spark in
Jared’s eyes. He shifted his stance so that he was half a step in
front of Gabriella. He could tell she noticed.

“Hey cuz,” Jared said in his lazy drawl. He
looked past Brandon’s shoulder and smiled at Gabriella. “Who are
you hiding over here in the corner?”

Reluctantly, Brandon said, “Gabriella, this
is my cousin, Jared Sarantos. He’s the general manager here at the
Holly Hotel. Jared, this is Gabriella Hadley. She just bought the
candy store.”

Jared sidestepped Brandon and shook hands
with Gabriella.

“It’s so nice to meet you in person,
Gabriella. I’ve heard all sorts of rumors today. I have to admit,
I’m not disappointed.”

Gabriella rewarded him with a small giggle
and Brandon wanted to put him through a wall. Or a window, on the
third floor.

“Do you have plans for Friday evening? I’d
be honored to accompany you to the football game. It’s the best we
have in the way of entertainment in our fair village.” He gave her
his trademark lopsided smile. How many women had been charmed out
of their pants by that smile?