Faith sat up straight. What did he mean by that? There wasn’t anything happening between them, was there? Granted, her feelings for him had been growing from the moment she woke up in the hospital and saw him sitting in the chair, but did he have feelings for her, as well?
“Please forgive me.”
How in the world was she supposed resist when he was playing dirty with that sexy voice and earnest confession? “Okay.”
“I can’t promise I won’t shove my foot in my mouth again, but I will try.” Silence rose between them. “So, does this mean we’re still on for tomorrow evening?”
She had forgotten about their date. “Yes. And that surprise better be good. Better than good.”
Brandon burst out laughing. “Sweetheart, you have my word. It will be better than good.”
As much as Faith wanted to stay mad, she couldn’t.
“I need to get back to work. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“All right.”
“And, Faith?”
“Yes.”
“Thank you for giving me another chance.”
Faith held the phone against her heart, lowered her head and closed her eyes. His softly spoken words echoed through her. She was getting in too deep with this man.
Pushing thoughts of Brandon out of her mind, she went to retrieve Thad’s business card from her purse. She couldn’t concentrate on work and talking with Kathi had roused her curiosity more. She typed in the web address and the company’s home page materialized on the screen. The transition between pages was smooth and the site very user-friendly. She was grudgingly impressed. Faith went back to the “About Us” page to learn more about the people behind the company. Nolan Gray, the company’s CEO, was a handsome older gentleman with an impressive résumé. He’d come a long way from the garage-based company he’d started.
She scrolled down, saw Thad’s photo and smiled. It was obvious that their web design team updated the staff photos often because he looked exactly as he did when she’d seen him two nights ago. Faith continued down the page to the Director of Home Safety and her fingers froze on the track pad.
“Oh, no.” She closed her eyes and opened them again, hoping the image on the screen would change. It didn’t. There, looking as handsome as ever in a dark tailored suit and perched on the edge of a large mahogany desk was Brandon.
Faith brought her hands to her face and a sick feeling bubbled in her stomach. She was the one he thought would come in and take over. The one who knew nothing about his company and the one he would have to train. Another thought hit her. Brandon had mentioned when they first met that he worked for a home safety company. Why hadn’t she put two and two together? Because he didn’t seem to like talking about his job, she had just dismissed it. She groaned. Just great! No way would she take the VP position now. How would she explain it to her father? She had seen the hope in his eyes. And Brandon, knowing how he felt, how was she going to tell him?
* * *
Brandon wrapped up his meeting with the production manager, glad to know that numbers for the new pressure mattresses had increased. He was especially happy to hear that despite the hiccup with the rails eighteen months ago, those numbers were on the rise, as well. He thanked the woman and rose when she did to walk her to the door. He closed it behind her and went back to his desk.
Thoughts of his earlier conversation with Faith floated through his mind. He’d told her that she was unlike any other woman he had known and he’d meant it. Brandon had never begged a woman—he always found it easier to walk away—but he had come close with Faith. Why her? He shook his head. She had read him up one way and down the other and called his initial attempt to apologize half-assed. Then expected his surprise to better than good. Damn. What a woman. He planned to take her to his house and prepare dinner, but after messing up with her he needed to step up his game. And he knew just what to do.
Brandon picked up the receiver and called Khalil. Ten minutes later, he hung up confident that what he had in mind would far exceed better than good. He still couldn’t believe that he had said the things he had. But she had struck a nerve when she told him to wait and see, and that if the current CEO thought the new guy wasn’t not too bad, it should be okay. She had no way of knowing that the current CEO was his father and that he and his uncle Thad knew more than they were letting on.