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KATERINA
My heart thundered to flood anxiety through my veins, and my lungs deflated when I caught my first glimpse at Brandon. He stood tall, comfortable in his own setting, and I climbed out of my car to shove my keys into my purse. All of my rehearsed movements and words vanished, leaving my mind vacant, and I ignored the big, beautiful house behind him.
Surprise widened Brandon’s eyes when I rushed up the steps, and I hoovered up a needed breath before unashamedly throwing myself at him. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I squeezed as his grunt echoed in my ears and he tentatively set his hands on my hips.
“I’m sorryabout the other day. I’m sorry about all of it, all the times I dug too deep.” Lean sinew pulled taut against my chest at my mumble, and I closed my eyes as Brandon’s arms slithered around my waist. “I feel terrible, Brandon.”
“There are some things we should talk about, I think, before all this heavy tension goes away, Katie.” Neither Brandon nor I moved, and I breathed in his smell as he tucked his face into my neck. “I accept your apology.”
Enjoying this moment for what it was, I relished Brandon’s closeness and ignored all the doubt and guilt that constantly loomed over me. It was only after we’d parted ways, after all, that I remembered who I was and who he was. It was only when I was alone that killing him came to the forefront of my mind. Holding him tighter, I ignored the ache in my back when he did the same, and his warm hands swept up outside my shirt to rub my shoulder blades.
“You smell beautiful.” The bare grumble came just before Brandon pulled back slightly, and I blushed as he kissed my cheek with a shallow inhale. “Youarebeautiful. I don’t think I ever told you that. Gross negligence on my part. Ah, come in. I hope you like your surprise.”
“Are they actual surprises, or do you just not know what you want to do until the moment of?” Laughing huskily as Brandon held one arm around my waist to lead me into his home, I scrunched up my nose when he rolled his eyes. He seemed different, but I held back the questions that balanced on the tip of my tongue to glance around. His modern home was almost something out of a magazine panel, and I looked around at the stainless steel and hardwood floors through wide eyes.
It all looked desolate.
“Close your eyes.” We were deep into the first floor before Brandon spoke up, and I tensed when he stepped to stand behind me. Holding his hands to my eyes, he didn’t even give me a chance to see what was in front of me. I’d been so busy looking at all the practically untouched furniture. “No peeking.”
“I don’t think this is necessary!” Gasping when Brandon urged me forward, I held my hands out in front of me and he chuckled in my ear. “S–seriously, I’m afraid of the dark, Brandon. I—”
“It’s not dark, I promise. I just wanted to set the mood.” My heart flipped at his assurance, and I couldn’t make my brain work enough to breathe through my nose. Panting as a cold sweat broke out on my back, I searched blindly for something, anything, to hold onto as a spark of panic tightened my gut. “I’ll remember for next time, though, Katie.”
“If you don’t let me see, there won’t be a next time, Brandon. I’m serious. I’m terrified of the dark. Please—”
“Tada!” Any relief I felt when Brandon took his hands away dissipated as apprehension flooded my chest. Blinking hard, goosebumps washed my body and my mouth dried as I stared at the blanket fort thing that took up half the room.It’s Instagram-worthy, even from the outside.“There’s a TV in there, and I got some snacks and stuff. What do you think?”
“I think it’s really nice and thoughtful, but if you ever do that again, I’ll break your finger.” Sweeping past me just to face me, Brandon grinned boyishly, and I huffed as flames licked my cheeks. I couldn’t be mad at him when he smiled that way, and he held out his hands to gesture me toward the fort. “I do think it’s nice.”
“So... I had an epiphany at work today.” My brows shot up as I kicked off my sneakers, and Brandon nodded as his smile dulled. “I realized, maybe for the first time, that Iownit. Like... it was mindboggling. I mean, I know that I own the companies, but I never understood what that meant until today.”
“What happened?” Taking his hands, fire surged up my arms and into my cheeks, and he led me into the fort with a grand, sweeping flourish. True to his word, there was a television on a stand, a pile of blankets and pillows, and a pile of snacks sitting between them. My heart ached from the emotions flooding through me, and I couldn’t help but smile at the thoughtfulness.
I sat down and stretched my legs out before Brandon answered my question. Snatching the remote, he flicked on the TV and folded his legs.
“Bert. I told you about him. He’s my dad’s old partner, but he interrupted me during a meeting to yell and throw his weight around about my blocking his proposals. I realized that he must’ve thought that if he did it publicly and loudly enough, I’d cave.” A low chuckle filled the blanket fort, and I rocked to rest my head on his shoulder as he shook his. Getting close to him was getting easier and easier, and I gnawed on my bottom lip as he continued. “I didn’t, though. That’s the important part. Before, especially early on, I just signed whatever he put in front of me. I didn’t even read it. I thought people more experienced than me would do right, you know? It’s kind of shameful that it took me twenty years to realize that Bert will never do right by anyone but himself, though.”
“Sometimes, the people who are supposed to guide us and help us do it at our expense and their benefit.” Mumbling before I could stop myself, I tensed when Brandon’s fingers crept around my waist. “Sorry. Keep going.”
“I did start reading them—Bert’s proposals—but I still pushed them through after making adjustments. Now, I’m not signing anything from him without reading it first. I told him today that if he didn’t like how things were, he could leave... that if he created even the slightest inconvenience for me, I’d fire him on the spot. I don’t know why it happened now. I’m just tired. There are so many things that could’ve been prevented if I’d just had a backbone.” Brandon’s warm, dry palm circled my back in wide swoops, and he tilted his head catch my gaze. “I want you to know, Katie, thateven though things have been so hard for the both of us in very different ways... you make me a better person.”
“You make me happy, Brandon. When I’m around you, all the awful things in my day-to-day are gone.” His charming smile took my breath away as his eyes rolled down the bridge of my nose, and I blinked back the sudden sting in my eyes. “I really am sorry about everything. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. I just… I want to understand you. I want to help you realize all of your potential, Brandon, that no one ever saw before. I want to be the first.”
“Katie..."Oh, no. Leaning back as my throat and nose closed, I covered my eyes as Brandon’s murmur hit me squarely in the chest.
“Everything is so hard out there, but it’s so easy in here. It’s so easy to forget... why can’t it be like this all the time? There’s no confusion. What do I want when no one told me that I wanted?” Swiping my tears away roughly, I blew out a harsh, hot breath while Brandon just stared through wide eyes. “What kind of person am I that I don’t know that answer? What kind of person chases ghosts, a specter of a person I can barely remember?”
“Katie, who cares about the answers?” My breath hitched, aching eyes flying to Brandon, and he reached to cup my cheek to brush the bone with his thumb. Conviction burned in his gaze, and I clenched my jaw hard as he shuffled closer to me, hip to hip. “What do you wantright now, Katie? Who cares about a month from now, a year from now, or tomorrow?”
“I want... I want to..."I want to not have to kill you because it’s not cut and dry anymore.“I want you to... to—” Brandon’s face inched closer and closer until he became distorted, and I held my breath as my heart thundered wildly. His palm flexed against my cheek, and my own gripped his bicep to give me some sort of stability. “I... kiss me.”
ChapterTen
KATERINA
The wanton moan that bubbled up from my depths made me tense, and I clenched my core against the need that flooded my channel. Grinding leisurely against me, Brandon tore his mouth from mine to duck into my neck, and my grip on his hair tightened. Kissing my wild pulse point, his hot breath only fueled the fire raging through my veins.
“Can I take your bra off?” Bright brown eyes met mine, and Brandon’s rasp tightened my nipples as it swept down my chest. Out of the corner of my eye, his lean arms flexed, and I nodded hesitantly with fire suffusing my cheeks. Slowly, deliberately lowering himself onto one elbow, he kissed me with a passion that blew away my pesky doubts, and I arched into his bared flesh greedily.
