Page 19 of I Choose You

I chuckled, smiling as I joined the traffic that would eventually bring me to Brooke’s office. “No need to sell it.” So long as you’re available and Dad is satisfied, it’s a done deal.

“No, I insist. It’s critical to make sure the manor would work or not. For such a once-in-a-lifetime event, it should be as perfect as possible.”

“Well, twice in a lifetime,” I corrected her. “I’ve got it on my calendar for Saturday. Thanks, again, Colette. I’m glad it’s not already booked.”

After I hung up with her, I sighed and turned up the music to relax and prepare myself for facing Brooke again.

If I even will.

I couldn’t remember the last time I was this excited and eager to see a woman again.

While I wasn’t the player Kody was, I enjoyed dating here and there. Going for the quick, easy lays got boring after a while. It was fun to find a woman to have fun with for a night, but the thrill of hitting on a woman and getting her naked paled in comparison to this desire to see Brooke again.

Is it because I knew her before? She looked nothing like what she did in high school. It seemed like the contrast of what I remembered of her from years ago intrigued me even more.

When did she get all those tats? Why those designs? I’d only gotten a peek of what was revealed at the end of her sleeves, and I wanted to see more, to follow every line and admire what she thought she needed on her forever.

Another thought clung to the image of her in my head. Each time I thought about what she was like back as a teenager, guilt nagged me. She’d had a shitty experience, and shame bloomed again as I recalled the part I played in the whole thing.

I soon pulled up to their building. Valets were convenient, but now that I was here, I wanted to take the extra few minutes of reaching her floor. I parked myself and headed inside, rehearsing what not to do.

If I saw her, I couldn’t be struck dumb like last time. No more of that awkward silence and staring while I waited for my brain to catch up. I’d never claim to having the same instant charm that Kody had with women. Secretaries, assistants, and the like—I could butter them up without a problem. Being nice went a hell of a long fucking way to getting people to want to help you out.

But the woman I’d been thinking about all week didn’t fall in that category.

Brooke wasn’t a staff member. She wasn’t a business associate for a company I was engaging in a deal with.

She was something else. I couldn’t wait for a chance to get to know how the quiet nerd in high school had become a bombshell who rendered me speechless.

I reached her floor and headed inside. The elderly woman sat at the front receptionist counter again, not the ditzy young girl who couldn’t joke.

“Sandra, hello,” I said. Unlike Kody, I never forgot a name.

She beamed at me, and the woman who’d been leaning over to speak with her stood up. I stopped myself from staring at her ass again—fuck me, that skirt was a trap—and faced Brooke. It wasn’t just her skirt. The blouse, the blazer. Every stitch of fabric clung to her, showing off her curves and making me want to peel back the layers to see her tattoos.

Not to see them, but to trace them with my finger and my tongue.

“Mr. Wagner,” she greeted, clasping her hands together in front of her. Her back was ramrod straight with perfect posture. Standing like that, her cleavage was even more pronounced.

I was not my twin. I wouldn’t fucking ogle her, especially given how much she might cling to what happened in high school.

“Brooke,” I said. I wasn’t going backward with this formal shit. She knew my name, but I had a hunch I’d have to earn the chance of hearing her say it in that sweet, sexy voice of hers. I put my hand in my pocket, and just as I’d hoped it might, the action pulled her gaze lower.

Two can play this game, baby.

She blinked only a couple of times. It was all the break she needed to snap out of checking me out.

Who is this?

Last time, she’d been shocked. I had been too. But over the course of a week, she’d found some grit to face me so coolly like this. Like I was any other man who could’ve walked through those doors.

“It’s nice to see you again,” I told her, meaning every word. “I’m here to meet with Todd about our deal.”

She nodded once, a curt and firm acknowledgment. “Mr. Ellis is unavailable at the moment.”

“Oh. Sure. I can wait.” And have a minute to chat with you. I hadn’t missed the secretary eyeing us from behind her counter. Hopefully somewhere private.

Brooke shook her head. “He’s not coming back for the rest of the day. I will be managing the account. He has asked that I take over this deal, and as such, today’s meeting will be with me. From here on out, all points of contact with Halden Inc. will be with me.”