Brandon (Anderson Billionaires #3) - Melody Anne Page 0,47

sure, and she didn’t know how to get out of the mess she’d put herself in. It was just a reminder that no person should ever make decisions when they were angry.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Chloe was sitting on her best friend Sarah’s bed with her head in her hands. Brooke was in a chair, and Sarah was pulling dresses from the closet. Chloe was a mess, and thankfully her best friends weren’t judging her too harshly.

“I think you need to wear this one,” Sarah said as she pulled a gorgeous red calf-length dress from her closet.

“Whatever you think will work,” Chloe said with little interest.

“That’s the smartest thing you’ve said all evening,” Sarah said.

“And not like you at all,” Brooke added.

“I just don’t have a bunch of dresses,” Chloe said. “I have plenty of skirt suits and things appropriate to wear to the restaurant, but since I opened, I’ve had little interest in dating.”

“Well, it’s a good thing you have us to make you beautiful,” Brooke said with a laugh. “Though, we’re still trying to figure out what in the heck is going on. Why are you going on a date with Jordan when Brandon has obviously staked his claim?”

Chloe let out a frustrated sigh. “I don’t belong to anyone,” she informed her friends. “And though things have obviously happened between Brandon and I, that doesn’t mean we’re in a relationship.”

“Do you feel something for Jordan?” asked Sarah as she sat next to Chloe.

Chloe wanted to lie, but she never would to her two best friends. She frowned. “No, I feel nothing more than friendship with him. But I want to feel more. I hate that I’m playing a game like so many men do. I hate to feel that I’m using this man. I don’t want to. I truly want to feel for him what I’ve been feeling toward Brandon. It’s so complicated. Maybe I’ve been too judgmental of other people. Maybe they are just as confused as I am and not playing games.”

“I’ve been there,” Brooke said. “But you can’t force feelings.” She rubbed her hand on Chloe’s shoulder.

“But feelings can grow,” Chloe said almost desperately.

Sarah laughed. “Yes, they can grow, but not when you’re carrying a torch for someone else.”

Chloe rolled her eyes. “I don’t understand what my attraction toward Brandon is all about. He’s not the type of man I ever go out with. This is becoming more and more of a mess each and every day.”

“Yeah, but how boring would it be if everything was wrapped perfectly with a pretty red bow?” Brooke asked.

“I think we all fail to realize the blessings of boring. With boring we don’t raise our blood pressure, have stress, get angry, cry, or get hurt,” Chloe pointed out.

Brooke and Sarah shrugged before Brooke spoke. “That’s all true. But with boring, we also don’t laugh till our bellies hurt and love until our hearts burst. I’ll take some pain any day of the week to have true and utter joy.”

Chloe sighed once more. “You might have a point there,” she reluctantly admitted.

“You better get ready. Isn’t Jordan going to be here any minute?” Sarah asked.

Chloe looked at the clock, and her eyes widened. “Crap!” she said as she jumped from the bed and grabbed the dress before rushing to the bathroom. She was definitely running late, and after the stunt Brandon had pulled the night before, she didn’t trust him to not pull something similar this night. She hadn’t told him she was at Sarah’s house, but it was also his brother’s place, and she didn’t think it would take much investigation on his part to figure it out.

After twenty minutes Chloe came running down the stairs. She was definitely late, and she wasn’t normally one of those women who made a man wait on her. Now she’d done it to Jordan two days in a row.

She heard talking in the front foyer and came around the corner, slightly out of breath from her lightning-fast job of getting ready and coming to meet Jordan. She was less than thrilled when she came to a stop to find Brandon standing with Jordan, who looked slightly uncomfortable in the man’s company.

“I’m so sorry to have kept you waiting again, Jordan,” Chloe said as she walked up to the two men.

“It’s always a pleasure to wait on a beautiful woman,” Jordan said while taking her hand and bringing it to his lips. She noticed Brandon roll his eyes and quickly turn away. She couldn’t believe how