Brandon (Anderson Billionaires #3) - Melody Anne Page 0,43
a person understand they didn’t ever want to take steps backward. He was only interested in taking steps toward the future—a future he could look into and have respect for. A future that would make his family be proud of him and see him as a man and not a class clown.
Was this all because of Chloe? He didn’t know for sure. He just knew he was a better person for knowing her. Maybe that was all it took to find the first stirrings of love. Maybe it really did begin with a whisper and not a bang.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
A night of sleep hadn’t stopped the irritation Chloe had been feeling since one of Brandon’s exes had stumbled into her restaurant and demanded his attention. She hadn’t believed the woman’s story for a single second, but it did remind her of what a player the man had been his entire life.
Anger made a person make very poor choices. She was aware of that, even if she couldn’t stop herself from acting on those impulses. They did say there was nothing like a woman scorned. However, if she was being logical, she’d know without a doubt she hadn’t been scorned. He’d been with that woman long before her. They weren’t in a relationship, anyway. He’d flirted. They’d slept together twice. They hadn’t even been on a real date.
So she was beyond frustrated that she was giving a second thought to him being with anyone else. It was absurd. She could tell herself that all day and night, but it didn’t matter. She was still irritated. Most likely it was because it was a reminder of why she’d veered away from relationships in the first place. They were messy, and they caused her to lose focus.
The woman’s showing up had reminded her of why it was important not to get attached to the man. It had also made her petty enough to accept the date with an old friend when he’d called her that morning and invited her out. She had no desire to go with the man, but the timing had been impeccable on his part.
Currently the man she couldn’t stop thinking about was sitting at a table in her restaurant. He’d tried to talk to her when he’d walked inside with his uncle Joseph, but he hadn’t persisted when she’d given him her most aloof smile and walked away. His eyes had been glued to her for the past hour, though.
She wondered how well it would go when her date showed up, which would be in about ten minutes. She was wondering how foolish she’d been to have done that. She didn’t want a fight breaking out.
But that was nonsense. Brandon wasn’t going to stake some imaginary claim that didn’t exist. She was just being foolish. But then again, the entire date was foolish. It was right before the holidays, and she didn’t have time for it. But it was too late to back out now.
Jordan walked inside five minutes early, and Chloe felt her gut tense. She watched as he approached, an easy grin on his face. He was a good guy, making her feel even worse that she’d accepted a date with him because she’d felt . . . what had she felt? Was it jealousy? That was a new emotion she wasn’t used to feeling.
“Good evening, beautiful. Are you ready?” Jordan asked as he stepped up and gave her a hug. It took all of Chloe’s willpower not to turn in Brandon’s direction. Maybe he wouldn’t notice what was happening.
And maybe pigs truly would begin to fly.
“I’m almost ready. It’s just been so busy here lately I lose track of time,” she told him, giving him a halfhearted hug in return.
“I don’t mind waiting on you,” Jordan said. She truly did feel like a jerk. He was excited for their evening out, and she was already anticipating the date’s end. It wasn’t a good start to her day.
“Do you have big plans tonight, Chloe?”
She froze as Brandon made his presence known. She couldn’t believe he would approach when she was with another guy. Did he have zero pride at all? There was no way she’d come up to him if the roles were reversed. As a matter of fact, she’d turned and run when his ex had shown up.
Both she and Jordan turned to face Brandon. Jordan’s arm slipped behind her back comfortably, not seeming to feel the tension radiating from both Brandon and her.