Heartsville 04 - Clique (Jayden Brooks) (10 page)

He clicked his tongue. “Gia of course.”

I chuckled with a nod. It was true; she had come in and the change at Clique and in my life was nothing short of miraculous. The last few months had been pretty wonderful.

The end of October had driven me to my knees. I had overcommitted but refused to underdeliver. It was a nightmare which was fitting with it being the week of Halloween and all. So when Teddy jokingly mentioned his sister Gia’s plan to hit me up for work, I hired her less than an hour later. Second-best decision I’d ever made.

My first best decision was busy inspecting the tree overhead.

I cocked my head. Something about the boulder Brandon stood on was niggling my brain. I just couldn’t put my finger on it. I lifted my camera, pulled him into focus, adjusted the ISO, and clicked before answering, “She’s not wrong. It helps that she’s a genius at scheduling.” My calendar was packed with portrait and fitness bookings, and the dreaded editing queue had been beaten into submission by Gia.

I finally had time for a life beyond Clique. And hanging with Brandon, whether muddy or naked, was my favorite non-working thing to do. “So yeah, she’s right.”

Brandon reached for a branch, and like a flash, a distant memory flared to life. I twisted around to study the surrounding area, my heart hammering in my chest. Holy shit. I’d tried and tried to find this place but never could. With tears welling in my eyes, I lowered my head to give myself a moment to process the emotions bombarding me. Both past and present.

“Adam. Over here, I found it.” His excitement at the find made me smile.

In fact, most things about Brandon made me smile. Including the way he ignored when I had a camera in my hands and just carried on with whatever he was doing. The candid shots I captured were the only ones I didn’t ask Gia to sort and batch. As far as I was concerned, there were no bad shots of Brandon.

I went to where he crouched, peering into a small wooden box. “Sign the log.” He held out the miniature notepad and met my gaze. The excitement on his face was quickly replaced by concern. He dropped the items in his hands, stood, and pulled me into his arms. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

There was nothing wrong. Not really. In fact, a lot of things were just right. “This is where Olivia took that first picture of me.” I swallowed thickly.

His brows scrunched, and he tilted his head to the side and asked gently, “With the gremlins and stuff?”

My chin trembled and my heart did this weird clenchy thing as I nodded. It was probably stupid how touched I was that he remembered. And it shouldn’t have surprised me. He demonstrated how much I meant to him in a million different ways. I shoved my face in his chest and hiccupped happily when he wrapped me in his arms. Best boyfriend ever.

After a few minutes of his hands soothing up and down my back, he placed both palms on my jaw and forced me to meet his gaze. “So nothing bad, right?”

I shook my head.

His smile turned into a smirk. “You’re just being a sap?” He checked.

I narrowed my eyes at him and nodded slowly, wondering where he was going with this.

“Good. I like it when you’re mushy.” His gaze searched mine for a heartbeat, and then he nodded to himself. “Hold on.” He gestured for me to stay put. Like I couldn’t follow verbal cues, but I let it slide because I was still feeling mushy. Brandon retrieved the cache, settled it upon the boulder, and called me over. “C’mere.”

Of course I went. Standing beside him, I watched him browse through the little trinkets resting inside. Nothing elaborate. Some coins, a few silicone bracelets, a laminated Blackhawks ticket, and the mini log book.

He dug into his coat pocket, shooting me a nervous look, and pulled out a black velvet drawstring satchel.

My heart began pounding alarmingly, and I tried to swallow but it was impossible.

What had he done?

“I have a present for you.” His voice shook slightly.

“Oh?” No, I had nothing intelligent or elegant to offer here. We’re talking brink of coronary. Which made me think of his heart, and that only made mine gallop and thud harder. Jesus, he needed to move this along before we both coded in the middle-of-nowhere forest preserve.

With a trembling hand, he upended the bag, spilling its contents into his palm.

I held my breath.

Flat, copper, and oblong.

I leaned in for a better look.

Pressed pennies?

They were like the ones he kept for dropping as a token into the caches he located. In fact, they were almost identical. They said Heartsville as his did, but these had my geocaching user name.

My eyes stung and my nose burned. It was the location. It had to be. I was feeling raw from finding myself in a place that held special meaning to me. That’s the only explanation I have for the silent stream of fat tears flowing down my cheeks.

“Oh, babe.” He tucked me into his chest again. I loved it there. He had the greatest smell… all Brandon. I inhaled deeply and pulled myself together. Mostly. “So you like them.” It didn’t sound like a question, but I nodded regardless. “Good.”

I took the satchel and the pressed pennies to study them. “Thank you. They’re perfect.”

He let out a relieved breath. “Yeah? Good. I was nervous you’d think they’re lame.” He shifted to rest back on the boulder. “Like maybe you feel obligated to come.” I noted his tense shoulders and carefully considered my words. This wasn’t the time to let fly a glib response.

I stood in front of him where he leaned against the boulder and met his gaze. “I come along because I enjoy the activity, because I’m checking out new places with my camera, but most of all because I love doing everything with you,” I finished softly.

The tender expression in his blue eyes filled me with more mushy feelings. He leaned forward and pressed a light kiss against my lips, but drew back before I could lure him deeper. The cocky grin he wore was sexy as hell. I considered wiggling closer but decided to tease in another way. “And you love doing everything with me, right?” When he nodded, I continued, “And when you go watch my shoots with the fitness models at the gym—you’re hanging with me and getting in an extra workout.”

His brows slammed down and his jaw locked. “You keep telling yourself that.” He huffed. “I’m there to make sure they see me. So they know.”

When he turned growly, my tummy got squirrelly. It didn’t happen often, and I usually told him to cut the crap—but on the inside I ate it up. “Know what?” I asked with feigned innocence.

“That you’re mine. That’s what,” he growled, and slammed his mouth on mine for a kiss so deep and wet my cock went hard in an instant.

Yeah, in certain situations, growly worked.

Brandon gradually gentled the kiss and pulled away.

We went about filling out the geocaching logbook and each dropped one of our pressed pennies inside. It felt fitting to be in the spot where I learned to believe in magic, while standing next to the man who was teaching me to believe in love.

Once we tucked the cache back into place, I gave him a peck on the lips and grinned. “When you pulled out that velvet bag….”

“Yeah?”

“And you were so nervous. I thought you were about to give me something else.”

His forehead wrinkled in confusion for a heartbeat. Then his eyes widened in surprise. “Ooh.” He chuckled. “No wonder you looked so panicked.” He reached into his back pocket. “Well, I was planning on giving you this later tonight.”

His hand opened to reveal a set of keys.

On a ring.

It would be petty of me to point out that I’d sorta kinda been on the mark. At least in the correct vicinity. So instead, I stared at the keys resting in my hand and looked to him for an explanation. Or something. Because making assumptions at this point could be dangerous.

“You sleep at my place. I like it that way. You should do it more.”

“Hmm.” I liked the idea. It was something to consider. In the meantime, I’d give him a key to my place. Before I could mention giving him a key, he spoke.

“Did I tell you about Lulu’s owners?” His expression was hard to read.

Over the last few months, I’d gotten a chance to meet more of Brandon’s four-legged charges. I knew Lulu’s family included an eleven–year-old boy and his parents. “No, did something happen?”

“The husband was transferred for an emergency of some kind. Which leaves his wife and son to pack and handle all the other details.”

Damn. That sucked. A lot. I’d grown close to the little toe-attacking she-devil. “Where are they moving?”

“The United Arab Emirates.”

“Can they take a dog over there? Is that even possible?”

He shrugged, nonchalant. “It doesn’t matter either way. They want my mother to find someone to adopt her.” He fell quiet, watching me expectantly.

Then his words sank in. I turned and began retracing our steps along the path.

I could hear the laughter in his voice. “Adam? Wait up. Hey now, where are you going?” He’d been prepared for my reaction. You had to love a man who knew you so well.

I called over my shoulder. “To get my dog.”

The End

****

Jayden Brooks

Jayden Brooks is a pretty cool chick. Just ask her friends. She's a woman of great mystery and suspense, but she can't tell a lie without confessing. She's fond of gingers, tea, and tales of hot men falling in love with each other—not necessarily in that order. She lives in the suburbs of Chicago with her family, a golden retriever who goes by the name of Mickey, and a cat who wandered in one day and never left. More than anything, she believes that love is love, and everybody deserves a chance at a happily ever after.

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