Читать книгу Nashville Secrets - Sheri WhiteFeather - Страница 10

Two

On Friday night, Brandon rode in the back of a limo with his date by his side, wondering how many black-tie events he’d attended over the course of his life. Hundreds? Thousands? At the moment, it seemed like millions.

He was bored already, and they hadn’t even arrived at the hotel. He served on the committee that was hosting the party. He cared deeply about his charity work, but how many luxurious dinners and big, sweeping dances could he stand?

The real problem, he decided, was that he couldn’t get the redhead he’d met at the park out of his mind. Mary McKenzie. So wholesome, so cute, so all-American and average. He doubted that she’d ever worn a glittering gown or been to a fancy ball.

“Are you all right?” Doreen asked. She was one of his occasional lovers—a long, leggy brunette and twice-divorced heiress who relied on a carb-free diet to maintain her figure and Botox to keep her frown lines at bay. Tonight she was wearing a set of spidery lashes. Brandon had gotten used to seeing her in them, but he’d never quite grasped the point. He couldn’t imagine gluing something onto his eyelids.

“I’m fine,” he said.

“You seem distracted to me.”

“I’m just sitting here.” And thinking about seeing Mary again—a fresh-faced twenty-five-year-old who worked at a bakery. She was so damned different from his norm. He frowned at Doreen. “Do you ever get tired of the same ol’?”

She gave him a pointed look. “See, I knew something was going on with you.”

“Maybe I’m just going through a midlife crisis and wanting things I shouldn’t have.” That might account for him obsessing about a woman he barely knew.

She turned on the light above their heads. “Did you meet someone who’s got your boxers in a bunch?”

He flinched as if he’d been kicked. “What?”

She raised her delicately arched eyebrows. “You did, didn’t you?”

His stomach clenched. He’d just gotten called out by a savvy socialite. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Oh, believe me, I do. A woman knows when a man has another female on his mind.”

“There’s no one.” He wasn’t about to admit that he couldn’t wait to return to the park on Sunday and reunite with a stranger who made his skin hot. He couldn’t remember the last time anyone made him feel that way. He’d been on autopilot for so long, he hadn’t noticed until now.

Doreen sighed. “It doesn’t matter to me if you want someone else. Because I do, too.”

He turned suspicious. Was she making up stories to try to con the truth out of him? “If you’re mooning over another man, then why are you here with me?”

She removed a gilded compact from her clutch. “You and I made these plans a long time ago. And since we haven’t been together for months, I figured we were just here as friends.”

That was a fair assumption, he supposed. It wasn’t just her that he hadn’t been with in a while. He hadn’t slept with anyone in what seemed like forever. And he didn’t want to, either, until Mary had come along.

Doreen opened the mirror and checked her appearance. “The man I’m hoping to nab is going to be at this party, so I thought—”

“You’d use me to get his attention?” If Brandon gave a crap, he would be mad. But he didn’t care if she was after another guy. It didn’t matter. “Who is he?”

“David Norton.”

“The retail billionaire?” He should have known she would aim high. “Wasn’t he just named as one of the richest people in the States? He came in at number twelve, as I recall.”

She made a duck face, posing as if the compact was a camera. “He was number nine, actually, but who’s counting?”

“You are, obviously.”

She closed the mirror and tucked it back into her clutch. “I don’t need his money. I have plenty of my own.”

That was true. Between her inheritance and her ex-husbands, she was set for life. “Yeah, okay, but isn’t he a little old for you?” David Norton was a good person, a charitable man, but he was also pushing seventy. Doreen was all of forty.

“He appreciates women my age. And in our social circle, that’s saying a lot. Do you know how many twentysomethings have stolen my lovers away from me? I’ll bet the gal who caught your eye is a sweet young thing.”

Maybe too sweet, he thought. Tigresses like Doreen were more his style.

She snared his gaze. “Is your new love interest going to be at this soiree?”

“She isn’t—” He stopped and cursed. He’d just more or less admitted that there was another woman on his mind.

“She isn’t what?” Doreen pressured him to come clean.

He went ahead and said it. “She isn’t part of this crowd.”

“Oh, my.” Placing a dramatic hand against the jeweled bodice of her gown, she gave a ladylike gasp. “You’re stepping outside of your regal realm? That spells trouble to me.”

He hated it when she mocked him. Sometimes she even called him the King of Nashville High Society. “Knock it off.”

“I’m serious, Brandon. Those types of hookups don’t work.”

“I never said I was getting together with her.” Sure, he wanted to, but the only thing they’d agreed on was another run-in at the park. Nonetheless, Mary had seemed leery of him. He could tell that he’d made her nervous. “I don’t want to talk about her, anyway.” He preferred to keep his distorted hunger to himself. “Let’s just get this night over with so you can land a date with David.”

Doreen’s pouty pink lips tilted into a smile. “You’re going to help me with that?”

“Sure. Why not?” He turned off the overhead light that she’d left on. For now, the only thing he wanted was for Sunday morning to roll around so he could see Mary again.

* * *

Mary parked her car on a side street and walked to the park, wishing she didn’t have to figure Brandon out. It would be easier if she was convinced, the way Alice was, that he was a bad person. But for now, she wasn’t sure of anything.

She adjusted the insulated tote bag on her arm. She’d baked a variety of pastries. She’d also brought a thermos of medium roast coffee, and cups and plates and everything else they would need. She was good at packing picnics. Or whatever this makeshift breakfast was going to be.

As she cut across the grass, she searched for Brandon. When she spotted him, her heart jumped to her throat. She continued toward him. By now, he’d seen her, as well, and was heading in her direction with the dog by his side. It was warmer this morning than it had been last week. In keeping with the weather, he was wearing khaki shorts and a pale green T-shirt. But no matter how casually he was dressed, he looked as if he’d just stepped out of the pages of a men’s fashion magazine. He’d obviously gotten his sense of style from his mother. His father always looked like an outlaw, draped in shades of black.

As they got closer, Brandon smiled at her with a quick flash of those perfect white teeth. A shadowy chill ran through her, as if she was about to be bitten by a tall, tanned, play-in-the-daylight vampire. A man with no soul? Or just a man with too much sex appeal? Either way, she sucked it up—no pun intended—and returned his smile.

“Hey, Mary,” he said, as they stood face-to-face.

“Hi.” She adjusted the bag on her arm. “I didn’t bring a book today. I brought goodies for you and Cline instead.”

Brandon seemed surprised. Apparently the possibility of her baking for him hadn’t crossed his mind.

“What kind of goodies?” he asked.

“For you, I made raspberry-and-ginger muffins, chocolate-and-cinnamon scones and crisp apple fritters. For Cline, I whipped up a batch of peanut butter, bacon and pumpkin treats.”

“That’s so sweet of you.” He moistened his lips. “Can we try them now?”

“Definitely.” She hesitated. “I brought coffee, too, just in case.” He’d mentioned on social media that he was a coffee drinker, but she was pretending to be unsure. She was also trying not to fixate on his mouth.

He gestured to a nearby picnic bench. “Shall we?”

She nodded and warned herself to get a grip. Fixating on his mouth wasn’t part of today’s game plan.

They sat across from each other, and she was grateful for the tabletop between them. Although Brandon dropped Cline’s leash, the loyal husky didn’t leave his master’s side.

Mary set everything up, making it look as pretty as possible. Presentation was part of her job. She poured the coffee and gave him his. “Cream or sugar?”

“Two creams.” He held up two fingers.

She handed him the little packets, along with a stir stick. “I do sugar.” She sweetened her coffee while he lightened his. “These are Cline’s, obviously.” She slid a Baggie of the bone-shaped biscuits across the table. “If you want to give him one.”

“You can do the honors.” He moved them back over to her. “Just call him around to your side and ask him to ‘sit up.’ That will get him begging for you.”

She followed Brandon’s instructions, and in no time, Cline was sitting up with his nose twitching. She dropped a biscuit, and he caught it. The husky reclined next to her to gobble it up. She returned her attention to his master. “I think I just made a friend for life.”

“Can’t say as I blame him.” Brandon looked at her as if she was as tempting as the pastries she’d brought. “Which of these should I try first?”

“That’s up to you.” As a flame ignited in her belly, she sipped her coffee and wondered if she should have brought iced water instead. At least she could have cooled herself off with it.

He reached for a chocolate-and-cinnamon scone. It was gooiest of the three, with its thick, creamy icing. She watched as he took a big masculine bite.

He swallowed and said, “Damn, this is good.”

“Thank you. I’m glad you like it.” She noticed that there was graffiti on his side of the table: an old-fashioned heart with initials inside it. There were dirty words scratched onto the surface, too. Nothing was ever as innocent as it seemed, not even Mary. If Brandon knew what she up to, he would be throwing the pastries back in her face.

“Are you going to join me?” he asked.

Anxious to clear her thoughts, she put a raspberry muffin on a paper plate. “I’ll have this. But you can take home whatever we don’t eat.” She’d packed enough for seconds and thirds.

“I’d be happy to.” He drank his coffee. “When I was a kid, I had a nanny named Fleur, and she used to sneak me extra cookies. She said it was because I was always so well-behaved and she thought I should be rewarded for it.”

“Did she help raise you?” Mary couldn’t have imagined someone aside from her mother kissing her forehead, or giving her cookies or tucking her in at night.

He shook his head. “She wasn’t around for very long. I had lots of nannies. But she’s the most memorable to me. I was about seven or eight then. I think she left to go back to the Netherlands. I had the craziest crush on her.” He smiled. “My first crush and it was all because of those cookies.”

She tried to picture him as a child. But all she saw was the polished man sitting across from her. “Were they chocolate chip?”

“I don’t remember, but they probably were.” He toasted her with his next bite. The scone he was eating had chocolate chips in it. “So who was yours?”

She picked at her muffin, breaking off crusty little pieces. “My what?”

“First crush.”

“Oh, right.” She had an unwelcome crush on him. That was for darn sure. She could barely focus on her answer. But she searched her memories and said, “In middle school. An older boy named Kasey. But he never liked me back.”

Brandon stared across the table at her. “He would probably like you now.”

Her pulse dipped and dived. “I got over him a long time ago.”

His stare got deeper, more intense. “I kept thinking about you all week. I couldn’t get you off my mind.”

She tried to keep things light, to fight the sexual feelings he incited. “About me being a new Nashville resident?”

“About everything, I guess. I’d really like to take you out, Mary.”

Oh wow. He’d just asked her on a real live date. Things were moving faster than she expected. But she couldn’t turn him down, not if she wanted to get to know him better.

“Where would we go?” she managed to ask.

He smiled. “Someplace nice.”

For the nice girl she was supposed to be? The thought made her breath rush out. “I’m not used to fancy places.”

“It doesn’t have to be fancy. We can do cozy.” He paused and added, “With a good-night kiss.”

She panicked. “What if I decide that we shouldn’t kiss on the first date?”

“Then I’ll be forced to wait until the next time I see you.” He finished his scone, swallowing the last glazed bite. “But I hope that doesn’t happen. What man in his right mind wouldn’t want to kiss you?”

He wasn’t just any man, she thought. He was the attorney who’d filed a restraining order against her mother. “You’re making my head spin.”

He frowned. “Why do I make you so uncomfortable? What am I doing wrong?”

“Nothing.” He’d already done it years ago. “I just haven’t been on a date in a while.”

“That’s okay. I’ll bring you up to speed. Do you like Chinese food? I can get us a private booth at the Crystal Buddha.”

“That sounds good.” She toyed with her napkin. “I’ve never been there, but I’ve heard rave reviews about it.”

“How about Thursday night?”

“That’s fine. I’ll give you my number and you can text me when you make the reservation. Maybe you should give me your number now, too.”

After they completed the exchange, he glanced past her and said, “I guess we’re boring my dog.”

She followed his line of sight. Cline was sprawled out on the grass, fast asleep. “Maybe he needs his own date.”

“I think he’s content just the way he is.”

She nodded. The husky didn’t seem to have a care in the world. In the next quiet instant, she asked, “Would you be okay with me buying your dad’s biography? I’m getting curious to read it.”

He angled his head. “Really? Why?”

“To learn more about your family and how you fit in with them.” And because she could discuss the book with him and get his reactions. “It might make for an interesting conversation when we go out.”

“Sure, we can talk about it over dinner. It would probably be better if you knew my background, anyway, with how public it is. But you’d better read fast because it’s four hundred pages.”

“I’ll do my best.” She couldn’t tell him that she’d already read it several times.

“Too bad there isn’t a book about your family and how you fit in with them. I’m going to have to learn about you the normal way.”

Mary merely nodded. Normal didn’t exist in this farce of a situation. But she had to protect herself. Her and Alice and Mama. “I’m just a regular person from a regular family.”

“We’re going to make a strange pair. You and me.”

“The strangest,” she agreed, praying that she could handle their date—and the kiss that loomed between them.

* * *

After work, when Brandon came home from the office to his downtown loft, Tommy made an impromptu visit. Brandon also owned an estate near their dad’s house, but this was his main residence.

Tommy entered the loft like the country superstar he was, decked out in fancy Western wear, with his light brown hair loosely tousled. He had hazel eyes and features similar to their father. Brandon resembled their mom, except that his hair was black and hers was blond. Their parents had gotten divorced ages ago, but Mom had forgiven Dad for his indiscretions, and they’d become friends again.

“What’s going on?” Brandon asked.

“I had a meeting in the area and thought I’d stop by.”

“Was it with the producers of the show?” His brother had signed a megadeal to appear on Music Mentors, a popular reality show on a major network.

“Yep. We’ll be filming soon.” Tommy moved farther into the loft. “As long as I’m here, I was wondering if you’d want to have dinner with Sophie and me?” He patted his stomach. “Chef has been trying to fatten me up. You know, so my pregnant wife doesn’t feel bad.”

As far as Brandon could tell, the father-to-be hadn’t gained an ounce. But the last time he’d seen Sophie, she was beautifully round. “I appreciate the offer, but I’m going out this evening.” Brandon strode to the bar to pour his brother a glass of sparkling berry-flavored water. Tommy never drank alcohol. Growing up with an alcoholic father had turned him off to it. Brandon drank in moderation, a cocktail here and there, a glass of wine with a meal. He didn’t have an addictive personality. But their old man sure did.

He handed Tommy the water.

“Thanks.” His brother took a swig. “Where are you going tonight?”

“I have a date.” Brandon thought about Mary’s natural red hair. Or he assumed it was natural. To him, it didn’t look dyed. So far, he’d seen it only in a braid. He hoped that she wore it loose tonight. If she let him kiss her, he was going to do his damnedest to run his fingers through it. “She isn’t my usual type, though.”

Tommy looked at him curiously. “So what type is she?”

“She’s a pastry chef assistant, but she’s working toward getting her certification. She’s originally from Oklahoma, shares an apartment with her younger sister and likes to read at the park. She seems sweet—you know, unassuming. I never even noticed her until she approached me about my dog.”

“Really?” Tommy widened his eyes. “My aristocratic brother is going out with a commoner? Boy, would I love to be a fly on the wall to see that.”

Brandon blew out a breath. “Why is everyone making such a fuss about me getting interested in someone from outside my social circle?”

“What do you mean, everyone? Who else knows about her?”

“I mentioned her to Doreen. She could tell that I’d met someone. But I encouraged her to go after David Norton, anyway.” When Tommy gave him a blank look, he added, “The retail billionaire who just opened the new cancer research center here.”

“Oh, yeah. That guy. I can see Doreen with him. But you with someone who approached you at the park?” his brother teased. “Now that’s epic.”

“I don’t know. Maybe it is.” Brandon glanced around his loft, wondering what Mary would think of his place. He collected modern and contemporary art, and he’d just acquired a trio of abstract nudes he’d hung in his bedroom. They were erotic in nature, and he’d never bought anything like that before. But after he’d met Mary, he’d felt compelled to have them. The way he felt compelled to have her, too?

“So what’s the difference this time?” Tommy asked.

Still lost in thought, Brandon frowned. “What?”

“Why are you interested in someone like this?”

He thought about the paintings again. “It might just be sexual.”

Tommy finished his water and put the empty glass down. “You’re having fantasies about a good girl.”

“Yeah, and it makes me feel like a shark.” A predator circling for blood. “Hell, I shouldn’t even be telling you this.”

His brother didn’t seem concerned. “At least you’re opening up your horizons.”

And lusting after a woman who’d had only one boyfriend to speak of? Maybe he shouldn’t try to kiss her tonight. Maybe he shouldn’t even plan on seeing her again after this. “She hardly knew anything about our family when I first met her. But she asked me if I wouldn’t mind if she read Dad’s book. I told her it would be okay, so she’s supposed to finish reading it before our date.”

Tommy scoffed. “Did you warn her about what a jerk our father can be?”

“He’s not a jerk anymore.” Their dad was trying to make amends for his wrongdoings, for all the times he’d lied to their mother, or ignored him and Tommy or left Matt out in the cold.

His brother squinted. “It’s amazing how you never fought with him, not once.”

Because Brandon was the son who’d behaved, the one who never caused any trouble. The peacekeeper, as the family liked to point out. Tommy had been trouble on wheels. And Matt? His only crime was being born on the wrong side of the blanket. Dad had hurt a lot of people, but he was different now.

“I’m going to take off,” Tommy said. “Have fun on your date, and bring your new lady friend around sometime if you two become an item. I’d love to meet her.”

“It’s just one night. One dinner.” After that, he didn’t know what he was doing. “I’m not even picking her up at her apartment. She wants to meet me at the restaurant.”

“She sounds independent.”

More like cautious, Brandon thought. He changed the subject, letting Tommy get out the door. “Give Sophie a hug from me.”

“Will do.”

He watched his brother leave. Tommy had married his dearest childhood friend. Initially he was only supposed to be her baby’s sperm donor. But during the course of their arrangement, they’d fallen in love.

Brandon had never come remotely close to being in love. Nor did he see it happening to him. Of course, that’s what Tommy used to say, too. They’d grown up in a mixed-up situation, where love and marriage never made much sense. Yet in spite of that, both his brothers were creating warm and stable families of their own. So maybe Brandon was wrong about his future, and the possibility existed for him, too.

He shook away the thought and went into his bathroom to take a shower and get ready to see Mary. This was definitely not the time to think about love. Or sex, he reminded himself. He needed to get through this date with a suppressed libido and a clear head.