Brandon set the cup on his desk. Too bad he couldn’t say the same. As much as he enjoyed the sex, he could not bring himself to surrender his entire being to a woman. Doing so would mean opening up emotions and places within he had purposely locked away to protect his heart. That was a risk he wouldn’t take. However, he wouldn’t mind driving over to the hotel for just one more round.
Shaking himself mentally, he turned back to the mounds of paperwork on his desk. He wanted to prove to his father that he was more than ready to take over running the company. If that meant spending his Sunday afternoon working, so be it.
He had been working steadily for more than two hours when his cell chimed. He picked it up and smiled when he saw Faith’s name on the display.
Forgot to tell you last night, I’m going home.
Brandon went still. He typed back: For good?
No. Need to check on a few things at home, came the reply.
How long are you going to be gone? he texted.
Not sure.
For a brief moment, something akin to panic settled in his chest. But that couldn’t be right. He did not panic over any woman. First time for everything. He dismissed the notion and replied: When you get back, I have a surprise for you.
What kind of surprise?
You’ll have to come back to find out, he typed.
He smiled again. She didn’t respond, but he was confident she would be back soon. Another vision of them naked in her bed floated through his mind. Faith had matched him stroke for stroke and fit him better than any other woman. Whoa. He didn’t like where this line of thinking was headed. Why was he obsessing over one night? He had to keep his mind from traveling to a place it had no business going.
Brandon snatched up the phone again and called Khalil.
“What can I do for you at this ungodly hour, big bro?” Khalil said when he answered.
He chuckled. “It’s almost eleven.”
“And your point would be? I do like to sleep in every now and again. What if I was entertaining?”
“Boy, please. You like to wake up in your bed alone just like I do.”
Khalil laughed. “You’re right about that. No sense in inviting that kind of drama. So what did you want?”
“For you to open the gym.”
He laughed harder. “So this woman is giving you fits, huh?”
Brandon groaned inwardly and muttered, “Something like that.”
“Maybe you ought to just sleep with her and stop pretending you’re just being friendly. Ain’t nothing like a good night of sex to ease your tension.”
Except it hadn’t eased his tension. It only made it worse. He knew he was setting himself up for Khalil to tease him mercilessly if he confessed to already having slept with Faith, but told him anyway. “We already did.”
There was complete silence on the line for several seconds before Khalil said, “I don’t believe it. I’ll be there in an hour and I want to know all about this woman.” He hung up without giving Brandon a chance to reply.
Brandon muttered a curse and pushed to his feet. He straightened his desk, shut down the computer and locked up.
Khalil was getting out of his car when Brandon pulled into the gym’s parking lot. Brandon hopped out and the two brothers greeted each other with a one-arm hug.
As soon as they entered the gym, Khalil turned on a light and said, “Spill it.”
“Nothing to tell,” Brandon said nonchalantly. “We had sex. It was good.” Incredible if he were honest, which was the crux of his problem. He had never been so distracted by a woman. Everything about Faith appealed to him, from her enchanting smile to her spirit in the bedroom. Even the fact that she didn’t hesitate to call him out or readily agree with whatever he said drew him. Especially that. He put on a pair of boxing gloves and went to the heavy bag.
“Must’ve been real good for you to be in here less than a day later.” Khalil took a seat on a nearby bench. “If it was all that, why not just call her up and ask for a repeat tonight?”
“Because she’s gone back to Portland,” Brandon said between punches.
“Portland?”
“Yeah. That’s where she lives.”
“So she just left without telling you? Is she coming back?”