Just Want Somebody to Love (Bella Warren Book 1) (11 page)

Brandon leaned back and shook his head. “You don’t know what happy is. You have no one in your life. You can’t keep a relationship and that’s the important part.”

None of this had anything to do with the deal on the table, but he’d humor his brother. “I can maintain a relationship.”

“A long one. A few hours overnight is not a relationship. That’s a hook up.”

“I’ve maintained a relationship before.”

“Name her.”

“What?”

“What’s her name? Why did you break up? You want me to sign those papers, then prove life’s not passing you by.”

Justin scrapped at names to pick a girl out. Any name. Whitney was the last woman he was with and the last one he saw that he cared anything about. “Whitney.”

Brandon blinked. “Whitney
Chester
?”

“Yes. I met her last time I was here. I had plans to meet her again before I left, but it didn’t work out.”

“When you stand up a date, that’s a bad side effect. Yes, I know you stood her up. The whole town knows. And that was a hook up. You leaving ended that.”

Damn small towns. “We’re not over with. I’m back and I just ran into her again and explained what happened. We’re working it out.”

Brandon laughed and while Justin had a feeling it was at his expense, it was good to hear the sound. “Good luck with that. Both her friends gave me a run-through trying to figure out what your problem is. I didn’t have an answer.”

“I had a lot on my mind that day.”

“And that’s why I’m not signing those papers. It’s too much. You don’t even realize what you’re missing. I’m not in your life, but I know what you’ve passed because of this business.”

Brandon had come up with some ideas in the past, but this was extreme. “So what, I get in a serious relationship and you’ll sign the papers?”

Brandon leveled his gaze at him. “That’s not what I’m saying.”

“But that is what you’re saying.” Justin leaned forward because this was something he could work with. It wasn’t what he expected, didn’t include his charts and graphs showcasing time management, but better than nothing.

Brandon just stared at him and shook his head. “Fine. Get in a serious relationship, and I mean serious. Engaged, moving in together, married or whatever. Maintain that for a year and I’ll be happy to sign your papers. Then I’ll know it’s real.”

A year? Justin wanted to pull his hair out. He didn’t want to mention a timeline, but twelve months was about eleven more than what he could do. “This deal won’t last a year. I have some time to play with, but not that much.”

“If they’re interested now, they’ll be interested in a year.” Brandon gave a careless shrug.

He’d like to inject a little care into his brother, because a year wasn’t doable in the least. “Not if they invest in someone else. They want to strike while the iron is hot, and they want to use an established place instead of starting new.”

“Offers will always be there.”

Not like this. This was once in a lifetime. “You think I would lie about something like an engagement for money?”

Brandon shrugged. “I haven’t been in close contact with you for the better half of a decade. I don’t know what you’d do for money, but I do know what you’re giving up for it.”

That struck a low blow, but it was true that Justin hadn’t been around. Again, because he’d been busy carrying the business alone. “I don’t even know any girls that would lie like that.”

“There’s a ton of women out there who would do anything for money. You could put an ad in the paper and have women lined around the block for miles.”

“You seem to know Whitney Chester. Would she lie for money?”

Brandon laughed again. “No. She wouldn’t.”

“All right then.”

Brandon paused with a couple fries in his hand. “All right then what?”

“Whitney is the girl.”

Brandon dropped his food and dusted his hands off. “You’re just going to pick her, after one night, and decide that’s the girl you’d like to spend the rest of your life with?”

Rest of his life with? Hell no. Brandon said a serious relationship or move in together. Possibly an engagement. Those things he knew for a fact he would be happy to do with Whitney. Especially the living together part after that one night. “You said a serious relationship. I’m not you, Brandon. I never have been. You know when I like something, I like it. When I don’t, I don’t. And I like her.”

“She hates you.”

Hate was a little strong compared to the red color he’d put on her cheeks by just talking to her. “I saw her half an hour ago. I don’t think she hates me too much.”

“All right.” Brandon shook his head. “Fine. You’re on some sort of deadline, and you want to go after the one girl in the world who wants your head on a plate, be my guest. Make a serious relationship out of it. I’ll decide if it’s real and if she loves you. If it happens, however fast, I’ll sign your papers.”

“You mean that?”

“I mean it. I’d like to see you try to get Whitney to move away from her family.”

He recalled the woman who’d been full of adventure and anxious to see the world. Justin grinned. “Consider it done.”

Wind stirred the dirt around the park as Whitney climbed on top of the old wooden picnic table. She scooted to the far end, pushed against a tree, and used the trunk as a backrest. Deliveries were made. The day was rounding up. Her nightmare was back in town.

One of those things did not belong in her relaxing afternoon.

It started with a J and ended with an N. To make it worse, everyone in town seemed hell-bent on letting her know he was back. No matter what she did or where she went, the guy smacked her radar. Taking a break in the deserted park had been her grand plan to escape all the people letting her know he was in town.

Annoying and itchy. Like poison oak. You scratch there. Then you itched over here until you were head to toe in a rash. That summed up Justin rather well. She dug in her ice cream while the wind lifted an old metal sign and it clinked down.

The familiar thumping and clicking settled over her and she breathed out, vowing once and for all to forget about him. She almost managed it.

He
picked that moment to pull into the lot of her park. Right on cue, her libido entered full cheerleader mode with a whole bunch of waving and jumping around. He crossed the lawn. Spring circled the air and teased brown grass into green. Not that he noticed. His gaze was on her. Even though he wore sunglasses, she could feel it all over her as well as she’d felt his mouth on her that night. He got closer and pulled the sunglasses off. He nailed her with that killer smile she’d fallen for, and all over again, her breath caught. Oh those lips. She was still a big fan of those.

“I was just about to head to your farm.”

She pointed with her spoon and refused to act interested in why. “Go about half a mile that way and the turn is on your left. There’s a sign that says Chester Farms to show you where to turn.”

He grinned all smug and sexy. “I remember where it is, but I was looking for you.”

She blinked. Because they didn’t have enough fun in the diner? All right, so they had a little fun. Or she had fun getting to walk away from him in the middle of a crowded room. He just made her feel everything at once. Except anger. The one thing she wanted to feel the most and couldn’t deliver. Some revenge would be nice, but as he adjusted his stance and pushed a hand in his pocket, well there wasn’t much getting transmitted across her brain besides holy dang. But she couldn’t go around shouting that. At least she shouldn’t and she had enough brain cells firing to know that much. “Why?”

Instead of answering, he pointed at the table. “That seat taken?”

“Nope.” Fine. She could play games too. She focused on her ice cream and stared at him through her peripheral vision all clever like so he wouldn’t know. She didn’t look up from her ice cream and spooned another bite in her mouth.

“I’m sorry, Whitney. I don’t have a good excuse for why I left and stood you up. I was a shit.”

Dang. Right out the gate with an apology. Not that she planned to cut him any slack. Now to make sure she didn’t say something stupid to deviate from the plan. Something like, you, me, my place. Very bad idea. She poked at the sprinkles in her ice cream. “Why did you leave? Something more specific than a disagreement. And yes, I am going to be nosey.”

He winced. From what she said or possibly he made a face because he sat on a nail. There was a reason everyone sat on the tabletop. But anyway, he made a face of uncomfortableness, so there.

“My brother and I are partners in a steakhouse. A few years ago, we had some good growth and chained to a few locations in Texas.”

“What’s the name?”

“Rawlings Steakhouse.”

Oh, hello unexpected bit of information. They owned a super popular steakhouse she’d eaten at before. And Brandon moved here to open his backwoods bar, because why? So many questions. Justin stared at her, so she played half-interested. ”I’ve been there. Good steaks.”

“Thanks. Some other people thought so, too. I was approached by an investor who wants to market us and branch us across the south. If it goes over well, we’ll be looking at the possibility of a nation-wide chain.”

“Wow.”

He nodded. “I came here expecting to celebrate with Brandon, but he said no. We’re equal partners, so if we both don’t agree, then it doesn’t happen. I told him about the news that Sunday after I left your house.” His eyes traveled the length of her legs and he cleared his throat. “He refused to sign the papers, and I left because I was angry.” He lifted a shoulder. “If you want to get technical about it, I did you a favor by standing you up.”

Doubt that. And even if she did agree, she’d never say that God-awful “you’re right” to his face.

He chuckled. “It’s true. I wouldn’t have been good company.”

“Guess we’ll never know, since you forgot about me.”

He winced. “But I’m here now.”

“For like what, a day? Two?”

“For a while.”

“So you say. Then like last time, you’ll pack and leave in the night?” Not that she cared. She tried hard not to. She could see to a point where he’d been angry and left. She knew how it could be owning a business with family. She’d come toe-to-toe with Wade on more than one occasion and knew the feeling of not getting what you wanted. Didn’t mean she forgave Justin for standing her up. Not with the extreme humiliation he cost her to live every single day.

“I’m not leaving until Brandon agrees, and I swear I won’t take off like I did last time.”

She pulled in a deep breath and let it out with a shake of her head. “I’m not sure why you’re telling me all this.”

He blinked. “You asked why I left.”

“I know. But why are you here, talking to me? We had a one night stand.” He winced. Good, she must have played their night down. “What I’m asking is, if you’re here to make up with your brother, why are you barking up my tree?”

He stared at her as if he didn’t know why either. Good thing, bad thing? She couldn’t tell, but look at his smile and those sweet eyes as they softened on her. “Because I want to make it up to you, and I have a feeling I’ll be around here for a while.”

Spell broken as she took in his words and had a good laugh. “Wait, wait, wait. You thought we’d just pick up where we left off while you’re in town?”

“Yes.”

Another laugh burst from the back of her throat and felt better than she ever expected. This guy was two shakes away from falling off his rocker. Just pick back up where they left off. And he acted like he knew women and dated a lot. Please. This man was more clueless than a blind turkey looking for food.

His head tipped to the side. “No?”

“Do you know what happens when a girl gets stood up in a public place in a small town?”

One of his hands popped up in the air. “I know this one.” He gave her a thoughtful look. “I did my time in a small town. If I were a betting man—and I am—then I’d say you got free ice cream every time you walked in the parlor.”

“True.”

“See. Pretty good thing that worked out for you. You can thank me for that whenever you like. No hurry.” He leaned on the picnic and looked all cozy and comfortable. If she could get the leverage, it was possible she could kick him and he’d land half way across the park in that muddy spot over there.

“Yeah. I’ll try to reign in any eagerness to shower you with gratitude. I get free ice cream because my best friend owns the store. She insists I get it free because when she has a baby, I run the store for her.”

“Something else then. I’ve seen it before. Guy breaks up with girl the night before the prom. He’s the bad guy and she’s loved by everyone.”

“Part of that’s true, but when the girl has a nemesis in town and the nemesis is the one to realize the girl was stood up, it’s not all candy and rainbows.”

“I can’t imagine a woman as sweet as you having any enemies.”

She dropped her arms by her side. “You just don’t know me at all.”

He chuckled. “Not buying it. You can’t have enemies. You’re too nice.”

“Unfortunate side-effect of elementary school sometimes. Other than her and her friends, I have been showered with a lot of unwanted pity looks and pats on the back and reassurances that the right guy for me is out there somewhere. One day my prince is going to come along. I’ve been assured of that. Thoroughly thanks to you.”

He winced. “Ouch. I’m sorry. Let me make it up to you so you forget all the sad looks. How about dinner?”

“Pass. The well-meaning pity glances and pep talks are fine. Since I love all the people those are coming from, it’s fine. My nemesis and her friends are why you should be begging for my forgiveness.”

“I’m good with buying you flowers. And chocolate.”

“And the handful of elderly men who swore me vengeance are really good with a shotgun, too.” She shook her head, torn between being amused and offended. What she really wanted, though, was to be done with him. Likely they’d already been spotted together. Before the day was up, Maddy would have it spun so Whitney chased after him. “Here’s the thing. That night was fun. Had you showed up the next day, maybe more fun. But that’s all it was. Some fun.”