Brandon (Anderson Billionaires #3) - Melody Anne Page 0,78
He’d turned to shoo them away, until he saw who it was.
“Please tell me you still have coffee,” Brooke said with a sigh as she plopped down next to Brandon and dropped her bags to the floor. “I’m exhausted.”
Brandon and Chloe laughed. “I’m sure it’s been rough shopping all day,” Chloe said with a smile and roll of her eyes.
“You wouldn’t believe the mob out there. I thought shopping in our small town would be safer than Seattle. Boy was I wrong,” Brooke said as Chloe continued making coffee. She knew what her bestie liked.
“You poor, poor thing,” Chloe said.
“Why isn’t your husband carrying bags for you?” Brandon asked.
Brooke laughed. “Because I needed to find him something. I’ve been terrible this year,” Brooke told them.
“Well, get off your behind and go grab the tray of goodies I have stashed in the back,” Chloe said.
Brooke didn’t have to be told twice. She practically flew into the kitchen and came back with a large pile of sugary deliciousness. She set it on the counter, and Brandon’s mouth watered at the sight. Chloe and Brooke took a stool on either side of him. Each of them snagged a doughnut and sighed in pleasure.
“There’s nothing better than hot coffee and pastries,” Chloe said with a sigh, a bit of sugar on the corner of her mouth. Brandon wanted to lick it off but barely managed to hold himself back, since they did have company now. He decided to focus on anything other than licking and kissing Chloe.
“You’re very good to your crew,” he told her.
“I couldn’t run this business without them,” Chloe said. She finished her doughnut and reached for another as she drank down large sips of coffee. “Most of the kids who work here are in their last couple years of high school. They’re eager to earn a paycheck, and the customers love having them here.”
“I’ve noticed teenagers in several of the businesses down the street,” Brandon pointed out. “It’s one of the things I love about this town.”
“We do take care of each other here,” Chloe said. “It’s why I’m so in love with it.”
“Yeah, I don’t know why anyone would want to live in a city when they can have the closeness of a small community. Sometimes it’s stifling, but most of the time it’s safe and pleasant,” Brooke added.
The three of them shared small talk while they drank their coffees and cleared off the platter filled with treats. Brandon found he was having a more perfect Christmas Eve than he could ever remember. It was because he was with the woman he loved, and he was no longer trying to protect himself from feeling those emotions of love and happiness.
“You really don’t need to stick around for the cleaning. I’m only going to do what I have to tonight and then do a full top to bottom on the twenty-sixth,” Chloe said as she stood and stretched.
“There’s nowhere else I want to be,” Brandon told her.
She looked over at him, and his heart beat a bit faster when he saw the one emotion in her eyes he hadn’t realized he’d wanted to see so much. There was a look of love. Maybe, just maybe, they were getting closer to allowing themselves to feel the scary emotion.
She smiled at him, and Brooke laughed. “I’d offer to help, but since the two of you can’t seem to stop making googly eyes at one another, I think you’d probably like me gone more than the help.”
She finished off her third pastry, then grabbed her bags and said goodbye and headed to the door. Neither Chloe nor Brandon tried to stop her, and Brandon followed behind and locked it. He could hear her laughing as she moved down the street.
He turned and saw Chloe smiling at him.
Yep, this was about as perfect a day as he could have. And it was only halfway finished. He had tonight with this woman he wanted, and then maybe he’d have the rest of his life, too, if he was really lucky.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
There were so many advantages to living in a small town it would be hard for Chloe to name all of them. But at the moment one thing she appreciated was that her business wasn’t too far from her home.
Though her feet ached and her back felt as if a sledgehammer had been pounding into it all day, she still liked the walk home so she could begin to let go of the stress of