Learning Curves - By Elyse Mady Page 0,35

pursuit, even approaching as he did under the banner of friendship.

He wasn’t the kind of guy for long-term relationships anyway. He always disposed of his girlfriends after a couple of months, the better to keep them from getting too close or building too much stock in their relationship. She’d be better off without him in the long run, even if she did make his blood heat to unprecedented levels. “I wouldn’t want to impose,” he said to her father. “Leanne mentioned that she doesn’t get to see you as much now.”

“You wouldn’t be in the way,” she said.

Brandon turned. He was wary of reading too much into her statement but felt a small glimmer of hope. Hope his rational mind knew he shouldn’t be happy about feeling. “No?”

She nodded. “Dad’s right. You were kind enough to share your tickets, so we owe you a good meal in return. I’ve got reservations at that new restaurant on Cumberland. Do you like Thai?”

“Love it,” he said. “Maybe not as much as I love Nonna’s eggplant parmigiana, but definitely a close second.” She laughed awkwardly, a warm glow flooding her cheeks, and busied herself sliding into her thick wool coat her. It covered her from throat to midknee but he could still make out her delicious curves.

Sexual attraction waned. It always did. If he was smart, he’d ignore her attractions and start the process as soon as possible.

It was difficult to be smart standing so close to Leanne. The charge between them short-circuited whatever good sense he might have otherwise claimed.

“Great.” Larry shrugged into his own tweed overcoat before securing his scarf and gloves. “It’s a date. You’ll need your things, Brandon. We’ll wait here and then we can all head over together.”

Leanne froze for a moment and Brandon was sure she was about to rescind her offer. Then she nodded and he felt something he hadn’t felt in quite some time—anticipation.

Chapter Eight

Pushing back from the table with a satisfied groan, Leanne poured herself another cup of steaming green tea and smiled. She couldn’t eat another bite of the fragrant curry and sweet jasmine rice. Far from being the disaster she’d feared, dinner with her dad and Brandon had been…

She sipped her tea, searching for the right word.

Fun.

She rolled the word silently on her tongue. It felt a little foreign but correct.

Hard as it was to believe, the evening that started out as an obligation had become enjoyable. For one thing, Brandon and her father made instant friends. Just like he’d fit in so naturally at the potluck last night. The moment they’d climbed into her car, the conversation flowed. From politics to sports to engineering and current affairs, the topics they’d touched on ranged wide and far.

Leanne couldn’t help but compare their natural connection to the stilted and awkward one that had existed between Steven and her dad. She didn’t blame her father; he’d made every effort to include her former boyfriend in family happenings. Steven simply hadn’t fit in.

Looking across the table at the two men relaxing after the meal, she admired how easily the two had hit it off.

She wasn’t embarrassed in Brandon’s presence anymore. Now that she knew him better she felt confident he wouldn’t reveal their reckless fling to her colleagues. Besides that practical relief though, she was forced to admit she was well on the road to liking him too. What wasn’t there to like? He was funny, hard-working, self-deprecating and a great dancer to boot.

Oh, and drop dead gorgeous.

No way could she overlook that last inescapable fact.

She would forget momentarily, distracted by his wit or his clever mind, but then he would catch her eye and wink. His long legs would brush against hers, or their fingers would touch reaching for a spring roll and the heated awareness washed over her once again. After an evening in his company, she was a wreck. Trying to act as if she wasn’t more aroused and more aware of him than any man she’d ever known was an unrelenting assignment.

But now, as the night wound to a close, she let go of her worries and her doubts. The restaurant was nearly empty, just a couple of scattered tables besides theirs still occupied. A few more minutes and she’d be free of Brandon and his unsettling presence once and for all.

Of course, chances were they’d bump into each other on campus from time to time. It was a small university, after all. But she no longer dreaded that possibility. Any