the next few had built up, slowly and reverently. He’d touched and caressed her all night, letting her take turns doing the same to him.
They’d fallen asleep as the sun had begun rising. And when she’d woken close to noon, she’d had no regrets. She hadn’t wanted to deal with a morning after, so she’d carefully untangled herself from him and thrown on her clothes from the night before.
She’d looked over his face one last time before sneaking away. In his sleep Brandon had looked as if he didn’t have a single care in the world. He’d had a slight smile on his full lips, and his chest had gleamed in the slit of sun shining in through the cracked curtain. It hadn’t been easy to leave.
He’d tried calling her that day and the next and next and next. She’d finally answered, telling him it had been a one-night stand and would never be more. But here they were three months later, and he still wasn’t deterred.
Chloe gave up on sleep and rose from her bed. It was the middle of the night, and she knew the next day she was going to have to do something about this situation. She didn’t want to be in a relationship, and if she didn’t make that perfectly clear, the man wasn’t going away.
Cranston was far too small a town to have this tension between the two of them. She was just going to have to be clear and concise and let him know she wasn’t the type of girl to have flings, and she wasn’t in any way interested in a relationship.
If he couldn’t accept that, then she’d throw her hands up and ignore the man. It could be done. First she had to brave seeing him in person. She wasn’t quite sure she could do it. She’d have to see if the morning light brought any inspiration.
She eventually went back to bed and finally fell asleep. But when she woke up in the morning, she groaned. Of course, Brandon easily slipped inside her head whenever she let down her guard.
And in her dreams they were absolutely fantastic together. If she thought magic could happen in the kitchen, it didn’t even compare to the show that was made in the bedroom with Brandon Anderson.
CHAPTER SIX
What in the world was she doing? Seriously, she didn’t understand what was going through her brain as she walked the long path from the broken gate to the huge front doors of the Diamond Hill place, which had sat empty for at least fifteen years.
Tugging on the belt that cinched her coat together like an armor suit, Chloe found her head a bit light—probably from lack of oxygen. She’d decided not to call Brandon—that a sneak attack was the best plan of action. Now that she was walking to the door in her heeled boots, she was thinking it might not have been the best plan after all.
The sounds of hammers hitting nails and people speaking as they attempted to gain back some control of the weed-infested yard could be heard all around her. But even with people scuttling about, she still felt alone, like her universe was closing in on her.
Chloe wanted to tuck tail and run. But she’d rather come to Brandon’s place and face him away from her friends and customers than risk him showing up at the restaurant again or do this in front of his entire family. And she had no doubt he’d be around every corner if she wasn’t careful. Brandon didn’t often fall back on something he’d said he was going to do.
She’d only known the man about three years, and she’d learned that much about him in their limited interactions. When they’d first met, she’d felt sparks, but that hadn’t meant anything. She’d felt sparks before. What shocked her was the fact that those sparks had ignited and had only grown stronger through the years. She couldn’t seem to fight them. And that messed with her entire idea of sparks dimming after the initial getting-to-know-someone phase.
Of course, she could justify that by acknowledging that they hadn’t been dating. Yes, she’d known him for years, but they had only bumped into each other or shared some family occasions together. They’d slept together only once as well. So of course there were still sparks.
But what completely refuted her claim of it all seeming perfect because people were on their best behavior was the fact that she’d never been on her best