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“No. This has nothing to do with work.”
“You ready, baby?” Justin asked, entering. “Oh, hey, Brandon. I didn’t know you were here. Are you guys meeting?”
“No. I just came to ask her something. Since you’re here, maybe you have an idea, too. Where would you take someone if you wanted to show them the city?” He had never done a sightseeing date. Most of his dates consisted of dinners, fund-raisers, plays or concerts. The women he had dated all lived in LA and touring the city had never been high on his list of things to do. The women, either, for that matter.
Justin leaned against the desk. “Sounds like it’s gotten to be more than ‘friendly.’”
Siobhan smiled. “I know the perfect place—Santa Monica Pier.” She came and stood next to Justin.
Justin nodded and slid his arm around Siobhan’s waist. He spoke to Brandon, but his gaze was on his wife. “You have to go in the evening. Black velvet night…millions of stars in the sky…” He nuzzled Siobhan’s neck.
“Mmm,” Siobhan said.
“A warm breeze,” Justin continued, then kissed her.
Brandon frowned. “Can you two knock it off? In case you’ve forgotten, I’m still standing here. And that is too much information.”
They both laughed. Siobhan said, “Bye, Brandon. Enjoy your date because I’m definitely going to enjoy mine.”
Justin picked up Siobhan’s tote and straightened from the desk. “Trust me, Brandon. Go at night.”
Brandon followed their departure. He had never seen his sister smile this much or be so relaxed. Until she met Justin, Siobhan had been holding on to a childhood trauma and had spent the next several years trying to make up for something that was never her fault. Brandon was glad she had finally let go of that pain.
He went back to his office to finish up a report. As usual, he was the last to leave. He had initially dismissed Siobhan and Justin’s suggestion, but by the time he made it home and finished dinner, began to think it might be a good idea and called Faith to see if she would be interested in spending the day with him.
“What time are you thinking?” Faith asked.
Brandon remembered what Justin had mentioned about the evening being a better time. “Somewhere around four.” With it getting dark later, the time would give her time to see the pier in the daylight and catch the sunset, since she seemed to like that.
“Can we make it five? I’ll be spending the first part of the day with my father.”
“Sure. We’re doing casual so don’t worry about dressing up. And wear comfortable shoes.”
“That was going to be my next question. Where are we going?”
“Just doing a little sightseeing, nothing big. So, I’ll see you tomorrow at five.” They spoke a minute longer and he ended the call. Brandon smiled. He wanted to make sure that she never forgot her visit to the city…or him.
Brandon spent Saturday morning tying up all the loose ends of their date. He’d been asking himself all day why he was going through all of this trouble for a casual relationship. He still hadn’t come up with an answer.
He readily admitted to liking Faith, but when she opened the door to him that evening and the only thing on his mind was making love to her, he knew there had to be something else going on with him. Not wanting to dwell on it, he pushed aside the thoughts.
“Hey, sweetheart.” He made sure their bodies didn’t touch when he kissed her because they wouldn’t make it out of her place otherwise.
Faith smiled up at him. “Hi. I’m all ready.” She locked up and followed him out. On the way, she said, “This will be my first official sightseeing trip and I’m excited.”
Brandon smiled, getting caught up in her excitement. As soon as the traffic on the highway slowed to a crawl, he glanced over and met her eyes.
“I didn’t say anything.” Faith turned and stared out the window, but not before he saw her smile.
“Are we going to the pier?” she asked when it came into view.
“We are.” Not bothering to search for parking on the street, he drove into a nearby garage. They strolled along the pier and beach area for a while. Though early evening, the temperature still hovered near eighty degrees. After a while, she stopped and looked out at the water with an expression of contentment on her face. They reversed their course and came back to their starting point.
