CHAPTER EIGHT
Monday, July 24th
Sitting at her desk, Claire studied her spreadsheet and realized her week of dates had been totally derailed. It went okay for the first three, but everything after that had been a big waste of time. Which is exactly the opposite of what she wanted. All the time she had taken to craft her online profile might very well be wasted if she couldn’t get her train heading in the right direction.
Checking the schedule, she realized she was supposed to meet Vince the vet for dinner. Which, up until Saturday, she’d been real excited about. Darn Brady had distracted her from her purpose. Twirling her pen in her hand, she realized that they’d spent the whole weekend together. And…she liked it.
Liked him.
Which would never do. From the moment she’d called him on Friday, they had barely been apart. Squaring her shoulders, she dropped the pen on her desk, pulled up Vince’s profile on Facebook, and gazed at his handsome face. Last week when they had spoken, she felt like he might be the best candidate, and now she could barely scrabble together an ounce of excitement. She realized it was because of the kiss Brady had given her last night when he dropped her off. Standing under the porch light, with the sounds of summer filling the air, he gave her one of the best kisses of her life. It was the sort of kiss that made a woman believe in fairy tales, princes, and happily-ever-after. Which wasn’t something she wanted to do.
Rational thought, careful consideration, and questionnaires were supposed to lead her to a happy relationship. Not a big, sexy alpha man she had nothing in common with.
He was like a damn Snickers bar, hard to resist and not good for her health. But damn delicious and probably very satisfying.
But she could resist. It wasn’t like she had all that much fun with him. So what if he rescued her from a situation that could have potentially been dangerous? So what if he took her to Borden’s after without a breath of complaint? It’s not like a lot of men wouldn’t do the very same thing.
Liar, liar, pants on fire, her inner voice chanted. Brady was a fine man and he’d shown that to her again and again over the weekend.
“But…what?” she asked herself.
Was she resisting him because she lost her breath and her sense when she’d seen his very fine body draped in a towel? Maybe.
Or was it the way he kissed her and made her toes curl? Possibly.
It might be best to ignore all the feelings Brady was evoking and concentrate on the men she had something in common with. Maybe Vince the vet was the one she’d been waiting for. Leaning closer, she studied his jaw and realized it wasn’t as sharp as Brady’s. No matter. They probably would never stop having things to discuss. She knew from the emails they’d exchanged that they liked the same music, had similar political beliefs, and both liked fried pickles. As far as she was concerned, that was a lot. Except he didn’t really get her jokes. She’d discovered that when they’d spoken last week. She’d attributed it to nerves and hoped that when they met in person, they would find a rhythm. After all, he was smart and educated and had a terrific career. And the man loved dogs. What more could she want?
Rubbing her bottom lip, she realized she wanted a hundred more kisses like the one Brady had given her. That was some fine magic he conjured up when he pressed his mouth against hers. It was like being in the middle of a firework. Electricity passed through her body and bright sparkly lights lit up her vision. Also, that weird tumbly feeling in her stomach wasn’t bad, either. No doubt about it—the man knew how to kiss.
Which begged the question, was it him or just his superior ability? After all, the man wasn’t born a lethal operator. He learned all of those skills when he joined the FBI. Maybe the kissing was something he learned too, which meant a lot of other men had the ability as well. Not that she’d come across one in all her years of dating, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t. Maybe Vince was a magical kisser as well. All she had to do was meet him at six tonight at Charly G’s and find out. Clearly, he thought they were going to hit it off because he had insisted on dinner and not just drinks. She’d found it charming when he suggested they go all in and spend more than thirty minutes together.
She dragged her purse off the back of her chair, dug into the black hole, and found her phone. Time to confirm their plans. No more hesitating. Just as she was looking for his number, Brady walked into her office.
Drat!
“Hey,” she called out as she continued to scroll through her contacts. It was best if she didn’t pay him too much attention because if she did, those doubtful thoughts about going on her date could creep back in. Brady was going to be a friend and nothing more. No matter how much electricity was sparking between them.
“I hope you’re canceling your date this evening. No way are you going out with another man after the weekend we had together,” he said with a confident grin.
Lifting her eyes, she watched him stalk across the room and park his behind on the corner of her desk. He crossed his enormous arms and let his leg swing back and forth like he was the damn king of the jungle. “As a matter of fact, I’m just about to confirm my dinner plans with Vince.”
Even if she was having a hundred doubts, there was no way she was canceling now. The nerve of the man, telling her what to do. “He’s taking me to dinner and I’m looking forward to getting to know him.” The fact that she had just talked herself into going through with it was of no concern to the man fuming in front of her.
“Are you telling me that you’re going out with another man, despite what happened this weekend?”
The way his voice got low and he leaned forward made her wonder what he’d be like in bed. Which is exactly what she didn’t need to be thinking about. Happy hormones and fluttery feelings had never really worked out for her, and she didn’t think Brady was going to be the exception. Having things in common, shared goals, and mutual respect were important. Not star-tripping excitement.
“I had these plans long before you came along, and I’m not going to cancel just because we spent some time together. Vince and I have a lot in common and I would be a fool not to get to know him.”
“You haven’t spent a minute in his company. Why do you think you have anything in common?”
“The questionnaire. The dating site I’m on uses it as a starting point to discover who might be a good match and then applies an algorithm to fine-tune it. I looked at what they use and I have to say, it’s kind of impressive.”
“You like this because it makes sense to you.” Shaking his head, he gave her a very sad smile. “The one thing a computer can’t tell you is who you have chemistry with. None of your fancy formulas are going to point you in the direction of the person who is your other half. Fate, God, and a bit of luck are the only things that are going to help people find the right one.”
Leaning back in her chair, Claire scrunched up her face. “Sorry, that is a load of bull hockey. None of those things have ever helped me and I don’t expect them to. Logic and reason are a lot better and that’s what I plan on using.”
Brady stood and leaned over with a sexy smirk. “Darlin’, we’ve had a kiss or two since Friday, and I, for one, know that magic like that has nothing to do with any program on a computer. The way you make me feel when our lips are pressed together tells me that there is a God and he or she is blessing me with his or her good grace.”
“But…”
Moving in the last inch, he pressed his mouth to hers, and a hundred shards of light filled her vision as reason and logic flew out of her brain. Yes, Claire thought as he cupped the back of her head and drew her closer. Her hand moved to his shirt and she felt the beat of his heart as she pressed her hand to his chest. Yeah, she could safely say that logic had nothing to do with what was happening between them.
“Cancel the date,” he said against her lips once he released her from the kiss.
“I really shouldn’t,” she said as she rested her head against his chest. When he lifted her chin and she saw the desire in his eyes, she knew that going out with Vince wouldn’t be fair. Whatever was happening between her and Brady should be figured out before she went out with anyone else.
“Please,” he said quietly.
“Fine,” she replied. When he let out a little breath of relief, she felt like melting. For some reason the idea of him not being one hundred percent confident was endearing. It told her he was a little off balance, and that made her relax. If a man who could face anything was affected by her at all, then she knew she should probably get to know him.
***
When she finally acquiesced to his request, he felt his heartbeat slow down. The idea of Claire going out with another man made him feel the same as when he’d been out hunting an enemy. Adrenaline had started to pump; his focus became laser-sharp and he’d had his next ten moves planned. Had she not agreed to cancel the date, then he knew exactly what he was going to do. It involved him planting his butt in the restaurant and letting Claire know that he wasn’t going to give up.
The time they’d spent over the last couple of days told him that he’d found the girl he wanted to get to know. And he wasn’t going to let another guy sniff around and get in his way. Claire might very well be the one for him and they needed uninterrupted time together to see if that was true. “How about you come over tonight after work? I can grill something and we can take a swim. Bring that questionnaire you got and I’ll fill it out and we can get to know one another.”
Claire leaned back and crossed her arms. “You really gonna answer a hundred and fifty questions?”
“Holy shit, that’s a lot of questions.” He stood, then tugged on her hands and pulled her out of her chair. When they were looking into one another’s eyes, he saw that she didn’t have too much faith in his ability to do as she asked. Which would never do. If he couldn’t do something as small as this, then he should just leave her be.
Clearly, she had something vested in this process, so he’d better get vested too if he wanted to make her happy. Which he did. “Send them to me now and I’ll get started as soon as I’m done with the meeting with Erin and Damian.”
“All right.”
The smile he got from her made him want to do everything he could to keep it there. Knowing he made her happy in some small way had him wanting to beat his chest in triumph. “You want something, all you have to do is ask.”
Claire pushed at his chest and laughed. “If I asked you to listen to an hour of my music, would you?”
Swallowing, he stood tall and nodded. “If that’s what you want, then sure.” So what if his ears would bleed and his head would ring? Small price to pay…hopefully.
“I wouldn’t do that to you. How about if I check out your playlists on Spotify and mix what you like with what I like? One-to-one ratio on song choice should ensure that neither one of us wants to beat our head against a wall.”
Wrapping his arms around her shoulders, he rested his head on top of hers. “Compromise, the best ingredient for success. We’re not a day into our relationship and you’ve come up with the answer to our different musical tastes.” Feeling her arms go around his waist made him about as happy as he’d ever been. For some reason, that small gesture was making his insides go all soft and mushy.
Which isn’t something he could recall ever happening.
Claire Hughes was going to either make him the happiest man in the world or destroy him. Didn’t seem they had an in-between. Which surprisingly didn’t scare the shit out of him. In fact, it settled something deep in his gut.
“Why are you meeting with Erin and Damian?”
Emptying his head of hearts and cupids, he cleared his throat. “Apparently, the stalker she’s had for a couple of years is ratcheting up his crazy. Quinn said we need to put a comprehensive plan in place for her safety while she’s here in Lafayette. Erin extended her stay and is working on some project with Lilly that’s going to keep her in town for at least a month.”
“That’s going to make Hunter so damn happy, he may actually be forced to smile.”
Leaning back, Brady looked down and raised his eyebrow. “What does Erin staying in town have to do with Hunter smiling?”
“Don’t tell me you missed the big crush he’s got?”
“Hunter has a crush on Erin…the famous actress?”
Stepping away from his hold, she laughed. “Yeah. He hates the idea of it, but I can see he can’t help himself. He’s a smitten kitten and he’s doing his best to fight it.”
Rubbing his hand along his jaw, Brady chuckled. “Had no idea.”
“Men don’t usually pick up on the more subtle emotions, so that’s not a surprise.”
“I’m a trained observer. I pick up on subtle things all the time,” he responded with conviction.
“Maybe if you’re at work, but in social situations, probably not.”
“I’m not sure if I agree with that assessment.” Just as he was about to say more, his phone buzzed, alerting him that he was due in the conference room. “We can talk about this more tonight.” Taking a step forward, he kissed her head. “I’ll check with you later and see what you want me to cook tonight.”
“Okay. I better cancel my date with Vince before I forget.”
He lifted her phone off the desk and handed it to her with a smile. “Thank you for clearing the field and giving me a chance.”
She gave him a small smile and then pushed him away. “Go.”
“Fine. Don’t forget to send me the questions.” As he walked out of the room, he wondered what kind of questions he was going to have to answer. He was never one for a lot of self-revelation and it seemed that was about to change. Thinking of Claire’s smile, he knew it would be worth revealing whatever he had to. Hopefully, she would still want him when all was said and done.