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Three
When Taylor strolled by, Bran stepped out of the copy room and intercepted her path. He’d been en route to his own office when he’d heard her and Addi’s conversation. He’d rerouted before his presence was known and made everything between him and his assistant worse. If that was possible.
“Bran, hey. I was just at your office.”
“I know.” He folded his arms over his chest. “I heard.”
To her credit, Taylor winced. But she followed it up with a justification. “You can’t blame me for trying!”
Gently, he gripped her biceps and towed her into the copy room where he closed the door. “You have to stop doing this.”
“Doing what?”
“You can’t make two people fall in love because they’re both good-looking.” He lifted an eyebrow and complimented them both. “As well you know.”
“Ha ha. And that’s not the only reason.”
Something was suspicious in the way she examined the floor.
“What’s the other reason?”
“What do you mean?”
He knew her well enough to know that her innocence was one hundred percent feigned. “Taylor.”
“I just...want you to be okay. I worry.”
Ah, Taylor. She really was so sweet.
“About me?” he asked.
“Yes. You almost proposed to me, Brannon.”
“A mistake.”
“Obviously. But I would like to see you with a nice girl. And Addi likes you. I don’t care what she says.”
“A nice girl—Taylor, you’re not my mother. You don’t have to fix me up. And you should care what Addi says. You’re freaking her out and I need her to keep this job or else I’ll be demoted to the tech department with Cooper.”
Jayson Cooper was Bran’s ex-brother-in-law. Taylor chuckled, understanding that Bran was joking. Cooper and Bran’s sister, Gia, worked side by side in the tech department. It was the heart of ThomKnox.
“You deserve to be happy. That’s all I’m saying.”
See? Sweet.
He touched her shoulder, grateful to have a friend who cared that much about him—even if it was slightly emasculating. “I’m in the process of putting everything back where it goes. I’m not jealous of Royce about CEO, or anything else.” He gave her a meaningful look. “And dating Addi isn’t going to help me be happier. If anything, it’ll end badly and I’ll be more alone than ever. You don’t want me to hire an assistant like Royce’s, do you?”
Melinda was an ace, but she was also sort of terrifying. As if reading his mind, Taylor shuddered. “No. Let’s keep Addi.”
“Yes, let’s.” He opened the copy room door. “Now what was it that you wanted to talk to me about? Should we grab a conference room?”
“Actually I’m starving.” She patted her belly. “How about we grab a snack?”
“We can do that,” he told her and they walked to the elevator. “And just so we’re clear...”
Taylor turned, wide-eyed innocence worn like a mask.
“Addi and I are trying to make our way back to professional coworkers after you kicked open the ‘Bran + Addi’ door. Can you do me a favor and let us close it?”
