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"Surely you have friends to talk to."
"I have friends, yeah. But we aren't like girls, Tori. We don't have to have...chat sessions or whatever you women call them where we discuss every problem we have."
"You hold it all inside."
"I didn't say that."
"You didn't have to. You don't talk to your brothers or your friends, and you being a man and all are obviously not going to talk to your parents when you have a problem."
He let out a laugh at that one.
"Okay, so that means you keep all your problems bottled up inside and don't talk to anyone about them, right?"
He finished off his beer and set the mug to the side of the table so Pat could refill it for him. "I don't have a lot of problems. I'm generally a pretty content guy."
"Please. Everyone has problems. Even if it's just a bad day at work, a job doesn't go right. Someone pisses you off--like your brothers. You have to let off steam. How do you do that?"
"I have ways of letting off steam."
He gave her a look that melted her to the chair. "Well, yes, there is that. But I mean talking."
"Oh, I like talking. Verbalizing is good."
This was not helping to cool her off.
Fortunately, their food arrived and Brody dragged his very direct gaze away from her to offer his trademark grin to Pat. After that, she dug into her cheeseburger and tried to shift her thoughts away from one very sexy man to the incredibly delicious burger. She ate every bite, had another beer to wash it down and wasn't even embarrassed about picking the last crumb off her plate with her fingers.
"You were right. This is the best cheeseburger I've ever had."
Brody crumpled his paper napkin and laid it on his empty plate. "Told you it was awesome. I wouldn't let you down, Tori."
The way he said it made her cock her head to the side, as if he'd meant something else entirely, and wasn't talking about burgers anymore.
Probably her imagination. "You're right. It was a great meal. Good beer and good burgers. Thank you."
"I actually brought you here to talk to you."
She laughed. "We have been talking."
"I meant I brought you here to talk about something else."
"About what?"
"Us."
Uh-oh. "What about us?"
The words had spilled out before she could correct herself, correct him and tell him there was no "us."
"Why did you stop that kiss the other night? What are you so afraid of?"
She looked around, but televisions were blaring, people were playing pool and engaged in their own conversations. There were no people around them listening in. Still, she leaned forward. "I don't want to talk about this."
He leaned in, too, and grasped her hands. "I do. And it's time you stop running from it. From what the two of us could have."
Her eyes widened and she tried to tug her hands away, but he held firm. "Brody, I don't want to do this."
"I think you do, Tori, but something's scaring you off. Talk to me. Tell me what's bothering you. Is it something I've done in the past? Some way I'm not measuring up? I think you and I could have something, if you'll just give me a chance."
Oh, God. Smartass Brody she could handle. Funny, jokester Brody she could deal with. Teasing Brody she knew well. But earnest, honest Brody wanting to have a heartfelt conversation with her about having a relationship? She'd never known this side of him and she couldn't handle it.
He was handing her everything she wanted, everything she'd always dreamed of. All she had to do was meet him half way.
But she didn't trust it, didn't trust herself.
She didn't trust him.
Because she had so much to lose.
Everything to lose.
She finally freed her hands and pushed back. "I need some air. I'm sorry."
She grabbed her purse and made a beeline for the front door.
Chapter Six
That went well.
Nothing like opening yourself up to a woman and seeing a look of horror on her face, followed by a world-record dash for the door.
Brody had never thought of himself as repulsive. Women were always attracted to him. He had a pretty healthy ego, but seeing Tori run for her life when he offered to have a relationship with her had given his self-esteem a severe hit tonight.
Something was up, and he wasn't about to give up on her. He needed to figure out what the hell was going on.
He signaled Pat, paid the bill and left a generous tip, then made his way out the door. Tori was leaning against his truck, arms folded in front of her like a protective shield. When she saw him approach, she lifted her head and cast him a miserable gaze.
Okay, so maybe out in the parking lot of Ed's wasn't the place to have a talk about this. He unlocked the truck, helped her inside and got in. They made the drive back to Deer Lake in silence. Tori huddled on her side, looking out the side window, as far away from him as she could get.
Great. How was he supposed to handle this one? He was no expert on women, except in the bedroom. He was really damn good at pleasing them there. At seduction he was a pro, and he could read sexual signals like a master. But emotion and conversation about feelings and all that shit? Not his area.
But there was no way in hell he was dropping her off at her car and leaving things the way they were. This past year had been hell, and he wasn't about to make things worse by letting her run on him again.
So instead of taking her back to work to fetch her car, he went with instinct and drove her to his place, where she wouldn't be able to run.
When he pulled into the driveway of his house, she finally straightened.
"What are we doing here?"
Instead of answering her, he came around to her side of the truck and opened the door. "Come on, Tori. We're going to talk."
She cast him a wary look.
"It's time. And there are things that have to be said. You can't run from it forever."
He held out his hand. If she refused to come in, he wouldn't force her. He wasn't that kind of guy.
The call was hers to make.
With a shaky sigh, she slid her hands in his and he helped her down from the truck. He slid his key in the lock and opened the door, hoping like hell he hadn't left his place a mess.
He switched on the light, relieved as he remembered his cleaning lady had been in today. Thank God.
"I don't think I've ever been in your house
before," she said, her voice low, almost a whisper as she took in his living room.
He turned to her. "I don't entertain much here."
She shot him a look. "Yeah. I'll bet you don't."
"Okay. I meant parties and that kind of thing. It's just where I crash."
She walked around, then turned to him. "It's a nice place, Brody. Lots of room. You should throw a party or two here."
He dragged his fingers through his hair. "I got a great deal on it, and hated living in an apartment. I like open space."
He took in the expansive living room, with its two couches that faced each other and the chair flanking them, all the furniture kind of cozy with the stone fireplace and all. He'd loved the place when the Realtor had shown it to him. It had seemed so...big, especially after living in that cramped apartment. Plus, with four bedrooms, he knew he could make it home for a long time.
"You want to see the rest?"
For the first time, she smiled. "I'd love to."
He showed her the kitchen, and she gasped. "This is amazing. Do you cook in here?"
"I can do breakfast and I cook on the outside grill."
She laughed. "That's it? This kitchen is going to waste." She ran her fingers over the granite countertop and started making some noises about state-of-the-art appliances. He knew a woman would like this kitchen, though he hadn't thought about it when he'd bought the place. He'd just wanted big and spacious in everything, because where he'd lived before had been so damn claustrophobic.
Same thing with the bedrooms. All of them were big. One of them was set up as his office, the other two were vacant, and the master was enormous, something else he liked because he'd bought a king-sized bed.
He flipped the light on in there and Tori's eyes widened. "Wow. How many people sleep in that thing?"
He slid his hand along the nape of her neck and whispered in her ear, "Just me. I like a lot of room. I had a double bed in my old apartment and it sucked. My feet hung off the end and I couldn't sleep. So when I bought this place I found the biggest damn bed I could and bought it."
He heard the rumble of her laugh, which made his dick twitch.
"I understand that," she said. "My apartment is tiny."
She walked into his bathroom and she made a murmur of approval. "I love the tub, especially the window over it." She turned to him. "It needs some flowers or something. You can tell a guy lives here."
His stomach tightened as he thought about Tori being here, and all the feminine touches she'd bring. Like flowers in the bathroom window. "Yeah. Or something."
