Giving My All to You

She laughed. “Must be nice.”

The warm sound of her laugh elicited a strange stirring in his gut. “It is.”

The nurse came in with Faith’s dinner, placed it on the tray and positioned it in front of her. When Faith said she didn’t need anything else, the woman departed with a smile.

Faith lifted the dome and wrinkled her nose. “Ugh. I’ll be glad to get out of here and get some real food.”

Brandon laughed. “When you’re better, maybe we can go out for dinner or something so you can get that real food. That is if it doesn’t interfere with your business.”

She gave him a shy smile. “I’d like that.”

He wanted to stay and talk to her, but knew she needed to rest. “You should eat your dinner before it gets cold.”

“Gee, thanks,” she said with a chuckle, glancing at the tray. “That dinner can’t come soon enough.”

Looking down at the plate filled with shriveled green beans, dry mashed potatoes and some kind of meat smothered in brown gravy, he agreed. “Yeah.”

“You’re welcome to join me.”

“I would, but I had a late lunch.” In reality, he’d barely stopped for lunch and was starving. But not enough to voluntarily eat hospital food.

“Coward.”

“You’ve got that right.”

Faith winced.

“Pain coming back?”

She closed her eyes for a moment. “Yep.”

“I didn’t mean to stay so long,” Brandon said with concern.

“You didn’t. You helped me forget about the pain for a few minutes,” she added softly.

Their eyes held for a lengthy moment. “Do you want me to get the nurse?”

“I have the call button right here.” She pressed it and moments later a nurse entered.

“What can I get for you?” the nurse asked.

“The pain is back with a vengeance,” Faith said.

“On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate it?”

“Nine and a half.”

Brandon stood off to the side while the nurse checked to see when Faith had medication last. She retrieved the pills from a locked cabinet, placed them in a small cup and handed them to Faith, along with some water.

“Thank you.”

The nurse took the cup, tossed it into the trash and departed.

“That’s my cue,” Brandon said. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” Unable to resist, he reached for her hand, wanting to touch her again, and placed a soft kiss on the back. Her gaze flew to his. Had she felt the same current flowing as he did?

She eased her hand back. “Good night, Brandon, and thanks for stopping by.”

“Good night.” Brandon told himself he wasn’t in the market for a relationship and he needed to put a tight rein on whatever was happening between them, regardless of their mutual attraction. Besides, Faith didn’t live in LA and long-distance relationships had never been on his list. However, he had agreed to take her to dinner, but that was it. One dinner. Nothing else.

CHAPTER 3

“Got a minute, Dad?” Brandon said, entering his father’s office Friday.

“Of course.” As usual, his shirtsleeves were still down and his tie tightened. The man seemed to never break a sweat.

He glanced around the space that would be his, hopefully soon, and took the chair on the other side of the large mahogany desk. “You mind if I take off for the rest of the day?”

His father checked his watch and lifted a brow. “You coming down with something?”

“No,” he answered with a chuckle.

“It’s noon, Brandon. I can’t remember one time that you’ve left this early. Actually, I don’t think you ever have. Most times I have to threaten to have security remove you.”

“That’s cold, Dad. Anyway, I promised to help a friend.”

His dad smiled. “Go ahead. You need to take some time off anyhow. And you know you don’t really have to ask, son.”

“Thanks. What’s going on with that problem?”

His smile faded and he turned slightly to stare out of the large window that took up almost an entire wall. “There’s no change. We need to give it another two or three weeks before deciding anything.”