Standing in front of the window in her small office, Alicia glanced down at the crowd of people walking below but she really didn’t see them. Her mind was on something else, the same thing that had been keeping her up most of the night…Brad.
After the way the two of them had made out on the couch, she was positive he would ask to spend the night in her bed, but he surprised her. Instead of picking her up and carrying her the short distance to the bedroom Brad gave her a long, slow kiss and then left leaving her in a state of arousal that she had never experienced before.
Brad’s attention to her last night made her feel so cherished and understood. She might had been upset when he first left, but Brad was trying to prove to her that he wanted to create a meaningful and intense connection with her that wasn’t spent getting sweaty between the sheets.
Now, the idea of spending the night in Brad’s bed wasn’t horrible at all. Truly, the more she gave it thought the more she dreamt about it happening every night she was home alone in her empty bed.
Alicia hadn’t been the same since Brad started showering her with his unwavering attention. Somehow, he had gotten into her psyche and she was having a very hard time pushing him out this time.
Leaving the window, Alicia walked over to her desk and touched the flowers sitting there. When she had arrived here this morning a dozen red roses had been waiting for her at the security desk with the guard. How Brad found someone to deliver flowers that early in the morning she would never know. Reaching for the card, she flipped it open and read the note again.
Last night was wonderful; I hope that we have many more in our future,
Love,
Brad
Alicia wasn’t about to ignore the little skip of her heart. She placed the card back and took a sniff of the roses again. Oh yeah! Brad was paying her the right amount of attention with the way he was trying to get to know her.
“I didn’t know that you got paid to stand around and smell the roses. Wait until I tell our brother. You will never hear the last of it,” a female voice teased behind her.
Spinning around, Alicia screamed before running over and giving her big sister a hug. “Chloe, what are you doing here? I thought you were going overseas to give a lecture,” Alicia said as she took a step back from her sister who could have been a stand-in for Venus Williams.
“The seminar got cancelled,” Chloe said. “So, instead of going back home I decided to come and see my favorite little sister.”
“I’m your only sister.”
“That is true,” Chloe agreed as she moved around her and headed over to the roses and read the card. “Is this the tennis instructor you used to tell me about? Are you finally giving this guy a chance?”
Going across the room, Alicia took the card from her sister and shoved it back into the flowers. “I don’t need any advice from you and the last time I checked there wasn’t a ring on your finger.”
Chloe laughed at her outburst like she constantly did when they were children. “I’m single by choice,” her sister defended crossing her arms over her chest. “You’re single out of fear. You need to let the past go and move on. What happened back when you were younger wasn’t your fault. How many times do I need to tell you that before you believe me?”
Alicia wasn’t going to do this with her sister. Chloe should leave the past dead and buried. “I’m done talking about this.”
“You shouldn’t let what happened with Brian and Nick keep you from falling in love with Brad. Alicia, they didn’t die because of you. How can you believe that they did?”
Enough already…she was done discussing this subject. She had just got through being on television for nine hours straight. She was ready to go home and take a couple of hours break before she was due back tonight for a late broadcast.
In addition to her sister’s unwanted advice, Tiffany was hounding her to get a rough tape about the Drace brothers special to her, but her boss didn’t understand that she had to work around their schedule.
“Chloe, I’m thrilled you’re in town. How about we have an early dinner and I can bug you about your lack of love life so you will leave mine alone.” Grabbing her purse off her desk, Alicia made her way towards the door and as she was about to open it the door was flung open and Brad walked through carrying a small box.
“Hey beautiful, are you ready to spend some time with me?” he asked and then stopped in his tracks when he spotted Chloe standing behind her. “Oh, I’m sorry I didn’t know that you had someone in here with you.”
“No problems,” Chloe answered before she could. “I’m Alicia’s sister Chloe. I just popped into town on a surprise visit. We were going to have dinner together, but my sister can go out with you instead.”
Alicia wanted to spend time with Brad, but she didn’t want to miss dinner with her sister either since she wasn’t sure how long Chloe was going to be in town.
“Chloe, I’m sure Brad wouldn’t mind me going out with him tomorrow night,” Alicia said, looking over at Brad who was still standing near the door.
“I apologize, I should introduce myself. I’m Brad Drace, Alicia’s boyfriend,” Brad said, shocking the hell out of her as he came further into the room and shook her sister’s hand. “How about I treat the two of you to dinner? I would love to hear more about Alicia when she was a little girl.”
When had she and Brad discussed that he was her boyfriend? What was going on here? She was thrown by his words, but she liked how it sounded, a lot.
Chloe’s gaze swung back and forth between her and Brad like she was debating on taking Brad up on his offer. God, Chloe would tell Brad all of her secrets. She didn’t want her sister to come, but she wasn’t about to tell her that she couldn’t.
“Thank you for your offer. It was very nice of you but I’m going to head back to the hotel. Have fun at dinner. Alicia and I can have breakfast tomorrow. I need to talk to my sister about something anyway.”
Coming over to her, Chloe hugged her and whispered in her ear. “Brad is gorgeous. Don’t fight him. Just have fun and let the chips fall where they may.” Chloe ended their hug, waved at Brad and then walked out the door closing it behind her leaving her alone with the good smelling hunk behind her.
“Chloe seems very nice. Are you sure you don’t want to have dinner with your sister?” Brad asked. “I don’t mind taking a rain check.”
If Chloe had wanted to have dinner with her there was nothing Brad could have done to stop it. “I think my sister would rather I go out to eat with my boyfriend.” The last part of the sentence was spoken as Alicia faced Brad who just stared at her.
“Did I do something wrong?” he asked, innocently.
“When did we officially become a couple I thought we were working towards that stage?”
Brad moved closer until he left her no room at all. She swallowed her and squared her shoulders. She wasn’t going to let Brad intimidate her.
“Sweetheart, you have been my girlfriend even when you thought you were in love with that idiot Max. Now, you have to get on the same page as me and realize it.”
“What if I don’t want to consider you as my boyfriend?” she taunted. “Maybe I’ll always consider you as a friend and nothing else.”
A faint light twinkled in the depths of his blue eyes as Brad watched her and then he smiled. All of her defenses melted away when he did that and brought her into his world.
“I’ll let you keep thinking we’re only friends for a while longer and then I’ll have to show you.”
“Show me…what?”
“That we are more than friends.” Brad said the words with the certainty of a man who had a plan and wasn’t about to wipe it from his mind. “We better get going or we’ll be late for our dinner reservations.”
“Do you want to tell me where we are going?” Alicia asked, deciding to drop the topic of Brad being her boyfriend for now. It wasn’t like the idea was such a bad one.
“No, it’s a surprise.” Brad lowered his voice, being purposefully mysterious.
‘Thank you for the roses,” Alicia said. “They’re beautiful.”
“You’re welcome, but I don’t think there is anything in the world more beautiful than you are. Let’s hit the road. I don’t want us to be late.” Grabbing her hand, Brad escorted her to the door making her wonder why he was being so secretive about their plans for tonight.