Brandon (Anderson Billionaires #3) - Melody Anne Page 0,67
people to get them for. I do know lots of people who have twenty or more gifts they have to get. Not only does that hurt the wallet, but then there’s the stress of getting what people like.”
“If they don’t like it, then tough. It’s a gift and should be appreciated no matter what it is,” he said.
“What’s the best gift you’ve ever received?”
He leaned back as he thought about it. “I don’t know,” he said after a bit.
“My best gift ever was a coffee cup,” she said.
He laughed. “A coffee cup?” he questioned. “That seems like kind of a lame gift. We all have a hundred of them in our cupboard, even if we are a confirmed bachelor.”
She laughed. “First of all, a coffee cup is never a lame gift, no matter what it is. I love quotes, so I love funny and deep messages on my cups. I drink at least three a day, so I can have lots of mugs to smile at as I drink,” she said. “But I’m getting off subject. This wasn’t just any cup—it was a special one.”
“Oh, please tell me what made this coffee cup so special,” he insisted.
“I take my time drinking coffee. Sometimes I will drink a cup in ten minutes, but sometimes it’ll take me a couple of hours. I just like having it there and sipping on it once in a while,” she said.
“Okay, strange, but to each their own,” he said.
She laughed. “So because I take so long, I normally have to reheat it several times before I finish a cup. So Brooke noticed that I do this all the time, and one day she showed up with a ‘just because’ gift and set it on my table. I opened it, and it was a teal YETI cup. She’d noticed I always heated my coffee, so she got me one of those cups that keeps your drink hot or cold for hours. It’s the gifts that show a person really knows you that matter the most,” she finished.
He smiled. “Okay, I guess I concede that a coffee cup is a pretty great gift,” he told her as he reached across the table and squeezed her hand. She smiled back at him, in awe of how easy it was to talk to him, to share and be intimate.
“I love this place. I’m glad we came here,” she said, not wanting to sit there in silence. It was too intimate.
“Yeah, I’ve been coming here for years. I usually come with one of my siblings, but I’ve had many lunches here, too, in the middle of a workday.”
“I thought for sure we’d end up in some ritzy place in downtown Seattle,” she said with a wrinkle of her nose.
“Not my style,” he told her. “And not yours, either. I know you more than you realize,” he assured her.
That sent a shiver down her spine she didn’t want to feel. She couldn’t help it when she was with this man, though.
“I might like it,” she said.
He laughed. “You’d be stubborn enough to go to a place like that just to prove me wrong. Maybe I’ll have to take the challenge and take you to one—maybe on your fifth or sixth date.”
She couldn’t wipe the smile from her face. “Do you really think you’ll get me out on a fifth or sixth date? I’m not sure there will be a second.” The sting of her words weren’t so bad when she was grinning at him.
They hadn’t even received their main course yet, and the two of them had finished an entire bottle of wine while talking. Jen dropped off another, and though Chloe knew she probably shouldn’t have more, she accepted a refill. It was really good wine. And white did have a lower alcohol percentage than red, she assured herself.
“I don’t think I’m going to let you get away,” he said after a bit. There was a teasing note in his voice but a seriousness in his eyes that took her breath away. “Besides, I’m pretty irresistible,” he added. “You’ll beg me to date you.”
“I’m sure you have many women begging you for dates,” she said, not sure how she felt about that scenario. “You’re handsome, which you already know; have a pouty mouth you use to full advantage; and the most flirtatious eyes I’ve ever seen. You know your appeal. You and your brothers all know your magnetism.”
Brandon gaped at her for a bit before he laughed loud and mirthfully.