Braydon (Alluring Indulgence #6)(59)
Author: Nicole Edwards

So when he’d done the unthinkable and disrespected Cheyenne in the worst way, in public at that, Sawyer had stepped in. It was what any one of them would’ve done if they’d heard someone talking to a woman the way he had. When he was face-to-face with Sawyer, fury had surged through him. But more than that, he’d been filled with shame. Never in his life had he talked to a woman like that. Never.

And this was a woman he thought he might love.

God, no. He didn’t love her. He didn’t even know her.

Shit. He was definitely losing his mind.

Needless to say, Brendon had provoked Sawyer at that point. And that lasted until Sawyer belted him one.

Brendon didn’t fault him for it one bit.

Now he just had to figure out what the hell was wrong with him. And in order to do that, he had to take a good, long look at his life.

Brendon turned to Braydon once again. “I’ll stay out of your way. I promise you that much. Just know that . . . I don’t want . . .” Brendon swallowed hard. “I don’t want anything to come between us. I’m not sure I can deal with it.”

That was the understatement of the century, but Brendon closed his mouth. He wasn’t trying to guilt Braydon. It wasn’t like that. He did have a lot to figure out, but he had to accept that it wouldn’t be at the expense of his own twin’s happiness.

“So, go on. I’m sure Jessie’s waitin’ for you.” Brendon stood and headed for his room. “Have fun on your date.”

He didn’t wait for Braydon to say anything. Brendon just shut his bedroom door behind him and leaned up against it. He sucked in a deep breath and let it out.

Brendon was almost certain that his brother would forgive him for being an asshole. That’s what family did.

As for Cheyenne . . .

Brendon feared he might’ve lost her long before he ever had her.

And if that was the case, he would be subjected to a hell of his own making.

chapter TWELVE

Jessie was sitting on her bed, her ereader on her lap, rereading for the fourth time the same paragraph in the book she’d been engrossed in just a few days before.

Okay, so it was safe to say that Braydon had effectively distracted her, because she couldn’t seem to stay focused. This time in an entirely different way than what she’d been going through for the last several weeks.

She’d been trying to figure out just what the man had in store for her. The whole starting-over thing intrigued her and scared her a little. Up till now, Jessie had known what to expect from him . . . or at least she thought she had. He’d gone and surprised her with his bold statement the night before, and she’d done little else besides sit around and think about what he could’ve possibly meant.

“For now we’ll go slow. But I can’t promise that I won’t make you burn for me. I want you to go to sleep at night thinking about what it’ll feel like when I’m above you, sliding deep and then fucking you hard.”

He had effectively ignited a slow burn deep in her core from his words. Let alone the anticipation she’d harbored since he said them.

Just when she was giving up on her book, Jessie’s cell phone rang and she glanced over to the nightstand to see who it was.

Her mouth tipped into a huge grin when she saw Braydon’s name light up on the screen.

“Hello,” she greeted him tentatively.

“What’re you wearing?” he asked, his rich, dark voice seducing her effortlessly.

Jessie leaned back against the headboard as she said, “Nothing.”

“Oh, dear God” was the response that she received, making her laugh.

“Just kidding.”

“Well, damn.” Braydon cleared his throat but remained silent.

“Why are you calling me?” she asked, adding a hint of excitement to her voice. Not that it was hard to do. She was actually feeling rather enthusiastic that he’d called her.

“I was sitting here with my tablet, hoping to find something to go do today.”

“You’re resorting to Google for our first date?” she asked dramatically.

“Well, yeah. I’m not chancing it. Did you know that dinner and a movie is no longer the way of the world?”

Jessie laughed. “I didn’t know that. I happen to enjoy dinner and a movie.”

“Well, we’ll save that for our second date. I’m not willing to go down into the record books as the most boring first date.”

Still grinning, Jessie asked, “So where are we going?”

Her skin was tingling with excitement and anticipation. She felt like a teenager again. And the boy she’d wanted to talk to had surprised her by calling.