“Can I come in or are we still mad at each other?” Brad peeked into the study and found Lee grabbing several books off his bookshelf and tossing them into a large box by his left leg.
“Brad, you’re my brother. I’m not going to stay mad at you,” Lee said glancing at him. “Come on in. I know you’re here to talk about Alicia.”
“I had a meeting with the rest of the family last night and they’re all in, but I didn’t want to agree unless you were going to be a part of it.” He wasn’t going to disrespect his brother by going over his head. Lee had a right to turn him down again.
“Cherise told me that you would make one last ditch effort and I should listen to you, but there’s no need I already have my mind made up about the special.”
Leaning his shoulder against the bookshelf, Brad studied his brother noticing how Lee didn’t dress as conservatively as he used to in the past. Now, when he was home his clothing consisted of t-shirts and jeans. Cherise was just the woman Lee had needed in his life. They were truly the perfect couple.
Lee tossed one more book into the box before looking at him. “Tell your Alicia that all of the Drace brothers will participate in the little news story of hers. All I ask is that she interviews me first because with Cherise being so close to her due date, I don’t want this project to interfere with that.”
Brad wanted to ask what changed his very stubborn brother’s mind, but he already knew-Cherise. He wasn’t going to do anything to make Lee change his mind about his decision.
“Thanks Lee,” Brad said as he moved away and headed for the door, but he spun back around.
“Why are you cleaning out your books?” Lee loved those marketing books. Some of them had been around since he started his own business all of those years ago while he was still in college.
“I’m boxing up some of the older books to make room for baby photos. I’m about to have more important things to display than my old marketing books that I got years ago.”
“It’s about time you put your interest and time toward something else besides my personal life,” Brad exclaimed and then left the room to the sound of thick books being dropped into a box.
As Brad was about to leave Lee’s house so he could find Alicia and tell her the good news, Brad stopped by the kitchen door and looked at Cherise flipping through a cookbook. She had this glow about her now that she was pregnant and it looked good on her.
For the longest time, he never thought that Lee would end up with their feisty sister-in law because she put up such a battle back when Zack was dating Traci. Cherise was the female version of Lee and that was the main reason they always argued and Cherise pushed Lee away for so long.
However, after almost losing her to another man Lee came to his senses and took his ass overseas to get his woman back. He was willing to do that and more for Alicia, but he wasn’t going to be her stepping stool either. She needed to meet him halfway or they wouldn’t ever make that walk down the aisle. He stayed there a few more minutes watching how in high spirits Cherise was before he eased away from the kitchen door and left the house.
“Alicia, you had a wonderful broadcast tonight, but your deadline is almost up,” Tiffany told her as she walked out of her office and up to her in the hallway.
Did her boss have a life or was her life totally made by being up in her business all of the time? Alicia thought to herself.
God, couldn’t she get a moment’s break? Well, she would rather deal with Tiffany now than later. She guessed Brad wasn’t able to get through to his brothers because she hadn’t heard back from him.
Honestly, she wanted to be the one who did the exclusive interview with Brad’s family because she wouldn’t sensationalize their life story like another reporter at BBTV would to move up at the station.
Spinning around, Alicia faced Tiffany so she could finally get her boss off her back. “Tiffany, I told you.” She was going to finally tell this woman what she thought of her and it didn’t matter if she lost her job or not.
“Alicia, I was hoping that you’d still be here. I’m glad that I didn’t miss you.”
The sound of Brad’s voice breaking into her conversation made Alicia looked over her shoulder at the man who was a permanent part of her nightly fantasies now. She couldn’t take her eyes off his long strides as he headed in their direction. They showed that he was sure of himself and for some odd reason it was turning her on.
You just need to get laid, her mind taunted.
Taking a peek from the corner of her eye, Alicia noticed how Tiffany couldn’t take her eyes off Brad either and it was pissing her off. Why in the hell was her boss drooling over Brad when he wasn’t interested in her at all? He wasn’t here to see Tiffany. He came to the station to see her.
“What are you doing here?” she asked as Brad walked right past Tiffany like she wasn’t even in the same room as them and right up to her.
“I wanted to see you to tell you about my brothers’ decision,” Brad answered as he pushed her glasses up her nose with his index finger.
The feel of Brad’s hands on her skin sent her blood pressure up another notch. Her attraction to this man standing all up in her personal space was getting harder to keep under control. Could Brad see in her eyes that she had been dreaming about licking French Vanilla ice cream off his bare chest?
“Will I be happy with your answer?” Alicia asked when she was finally able to get her wandering thoughts together.
“I believe so,” Brad replied as his fingers brushed a strand of hair off her cheek. “How about I tell you everything over dinner?”
All while Brad had been talking to her he hadn’t stopped touching her body and it was making her even more aware of him. He looked over her seductively, patiently waiting for her answer and it suddenly hit Alicia that she didn’t want to turn down Brad’s dinner invitation like she always did in the past.
“I would love to have dinner with you.”
“Alicia, can I have a minute of your time before you leave with him?” Tiffany’s sharp voice cut in.
Her attention had been on Brad so much that Alicia had forgotten her crappy boss was still standing within hearing distance of her conversation with Brad. She could only imagine what Tiffany had to tell her.
Brad shook his head. “No, you go and get your stuff while I talk to Tiffany. There are a few things that I need to tell her about the interview she wants you to do and now is the perfect time for me to do it. When you come back, I’ll be ready to take you out.”
Nervousness set in as Brad moved away from her and escorted Tiffany over to the other side of the room near the exit sign. She was dying to know what Brad was saying to Tiffany, but she could tell from the sour look on her boss’ face that it wasn’t good or anything she might want to hear about.
Alicia took one last look at the two people to her left before making her way to her office with the thoughts of her date with Brad in the back of her mind.