Fairytale Love - Becca & Brian (28 page)

“Toast.” Becca had never been so grateful for her big sister’s nurturing nature as she was right in this moment.

Shuffling over to the table in her slippers, she sat and another doozy of a yawn escaped her mouth.

“I saw Brian leave this morning,” Haley said casually. Her back was facing Becca, so all she could see was her sister’s long, blond hair cascading down her back. She couldn’t see the look in her eye to see if she
knew
or not. Haley’s voice went up an octave as she asked, “Did you not get much sleep last night?”

Yep. She knew.

Becca was not ready to talk about anything, especially until she talked to Brian.

“Actually, I can’t remember the last time I slept that good.” Which was totally true. Becca had slept like a rock. No tossing and turning with thoughts of Brian running through her head. She’d slept in the best place in the world—wrapped in Brian’s arms.

At that thought, she felt herself getting a little misty-eyed, and for the first time since she’d woken up, she also felt a little anxious. Maybe it was because it had taken her a minute to wake up, and now that she was really coming to, she realized that she’d had sex with
Brian
. Still, even as she waited for the panic to rise up within her, she didn’t regret it. Not one iota. Because now, no matter what happened, she’d always have last night.

One perfect night.

“Thanks, sissy,” Becca said as Haley brought over the coffee and buttered toast, which Haley had prepared like they used to eat when they were kids—with sprinkled sugar and cinnamon—and sat quietly while Becca drank the hot java and ate her cinnamon-sugar toast.

After finishing her first cup of coffee and two scrumdiddlyumptious pieces of toast, Becca felt semi-human again.

As she stood to pour herself another cup of liquid energy, Haley asked, “Soooo, are things okay with you and Brian?”

“Yep,” Becca immediately shot back. “I mean…yeah… I think so.”

Grabbing the pot, Becca tried to assure herself that things had to be okay.
Right?
This was her and Brian. Yes, they’d had sex, but they were still
them
.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Haley’s brow rose as Becca once again took her seat across from her sister.

“No.” That was an answer she was absolutely certain of.

“Okay.” Haley leaned forward, and Becca saw a glimmer of excitement in her eye.

Hmmm. Odd.

Haley laid her perfectly manicured hands flat on the table. “Then can we talk about Colton?”

Becca’s head fell back and she laughed. When she raised her head back up, her sister still had the same excited look in her eye. “Are you fan-girling over Colton?”

Haley lifted her hand, her forefinger and thumb about an inch apart, and tilted her head as she scrunched her nose. “Maybe just a little bit.”

Becca smiled. When she had a layover in Miami, she hadn’t been able to count the number of Team Colton fans who had come up and asked what he was really like, if he was really hot in person, if he really had an accent. The same look she’d seen in those teeny-bopper fans, she saw in her sister’s eyes now.

“I mean, of course, he’s no Eddie.” The moment Haley spoke her husband’s name, she looked like she should have little hearts circling around her head. “But he just seemed so…”

“Manly? Alpha?” Becca offered.

“Yes.” Haley pointed at her sister like she’d nailed it on the head.

“He is. And he’s a really nice guy.” Becca couldn’t help but smile when she thought about her ‘prince.’

“So, is he… I mean, do you think you guys will… Is he…?” Haley waved her hands like she was trying to come up with the right words.

“Is he my fairytale love?” Becca joked.

“You know what I mean. Does he know about
Brian
? Do you two really get along like it seems on the show? Are there sparks? Does he think you guys are really a couple?” Haley asked all in one breath.

Becca had figured this was going to come up. If it hadn’t been Krista’s wedding yesterday, she was sure it would have come up earlier. “Yes, Colton figured out how I felt about Brian. Apparently, I am not that good of an actress. And he’s totally cool with it.” Becca chuckled. “We had
a lot
of time at the resort last week. Especially, since we were sleeping in the same room with no camera crews. We started talking and he admitted that he actually had a one-that-got-away. It was his high school girlfriend. He still sounded pretty hung up on her. And when he asked me about Brian, I don’t know if it was all the cosmos I’d had, but I confessed like he was a priest and I was in a confessional.

“Then he just smiled and said that he knew it would never work out between us. I said, ‘Yeah, because we’re both in love with other people.’ He said, ‘No, because you’re a vegetarian and I’m a cattle rancher.’”

Haley’s eyes widened and she laughed. “That’s so funny. I didn’t even think about that.”

“I didn’t either, but it’s true.”

“So, what if you guys win? What are you going to do?” Haley’s face looked sympathetic.

“I guess we’ll talk about it then.” Becca shrugged. “He said he wouldn’t mind doing the other show and collecting the money. He went on the show for his sister who is in remission, but has leukemia. I guess she’s been happier than he’s heard her in a long time seeing him on TV and also seeing all the fans”—Becca inclined her head towards Haley, indicating that she was one—“that Colton has.”

“So it would be like a business arrangement?” Haley asked. Her tone was not judgmental at all, but Becca could definitely hear the concern in her sister’s voice.

“I guess.” Becca hadn’t really thought of it like that. She’d been thinking of it as more like honoring her contract…which now she saw was
exactly
a business arrangement.

“What about Brian?”

Good question
. Unfortunately, Becca had no answer for it—at least not until she talked to him.

“Well,” Haley said brightly, probably picking up on the fact that Becca was at a loss for words, “you guys are coming to the viewing party tonight, right?”

“Viewing party?” Becca had no idea what her sister was talking about.

“Yeah, at The Grill. Every Sunday night, they put the show up on the big screens.” Haley lifted her hands animatedly, as if displaying the televisions. She seemed beside herself with excitement about it.

Becca did not feel the same. Of course, she knew that people were watching her. She wasn’t delusional. But there was a big difference between people watching in the privacy of their own homes and the entire town gathering together to watch it on big screen TVs at the local sports bar and grill.

“I haven’t even seen the show,” Becca explained, her voice cracking slightly.

Haley clapped her hands together, “Oooh good. This will be so fun. You look amazing on it. And Amber has had so many orders that she’s hired Sophie full time as her merchandising manager.”

“Oh, that’s good.” Becca was actually happy that Amber’s dresses had seen an uptake in sales. They were incredible, so she wasn’t surprised. And Sophie, who was married to her cousin Bobby—the youngest of the Sloan boys—had been looking for full-time work.

“Okay. I’ll see you tonight. I have to go open Tempting. Oh, and I brought you these.” Haley pulled out a bag from behind her chair and handed it to Becca before giving her a quick hug.

“What’s this?”

Haley looked over her shoulder as she headed towards the door, “I thought you might want to up your lingerie game.” Her sister winked and then was out the door.

Becca slowly opened the black bag with the word ‘Tempting’ written in pink across it in cursive. She pulled out a satin bra-and-panty set that was a lot racier than anything Becca had ever worn. Next, there was a see-through lace set that made Becca blush just from holding it. There were several more combinations of bras and panties, all equally blush-worthy.

Becca had never
seen
herself as particularly sexy. But she had to admit that she wanted Brian to
see
her in all of these.

* * *

“All right. We’ll call you when it’s ready. I’ll get it back to you tonight,” Brian assured a customer that was worried she wouldn’t have her car back to get to work tomorrow.

Setting the phone back on the receiver, he saw that, while he’d taken that call, he’d received four new messages. He wanted to pick up the phone and throw it through the window.

Last week, when his dad had decided that he didn’t need to listen to his doctors or even honor the promise he’d made to his son and had come into the shop, he’d sent Josh home saying that he wanted to give him a break because his cousin had been working so hard since Brian had been gone, which was true. Josh had been working like a dog to keep this place running in Brian’s absence, but his dad should not have sent him home.

He hadn’t just overdone it physically, he’d actually over-committed to repairs that they would have had a hard time completing even if Brian, his dad, and Josh were all here fulltime. In four days, he’d overextended them to the point that it would take both Josh and Brian at least a week to dig out of it.

What was Dad thinking
? Brian asked himself as he looked through the invoices and order forms. There was no way he could have actually thought he could get all of this done.

His cell phone buzzed and he saw it was a text from Becca.

It read:
Can you meet me at The Grill? I guess they’ve been having viewing parties for the show, I don’t want to face it alone… xoxo

He’d texted her earlier to say that he would stop by after work. Getting out of bed this morning and leaving her had been the hardest thing Brian had ever done. If he had it his way, they’d still be in bed, right now, and they’d stay there for a week, a month—hell, forever.

Every fantasy he’d had of what being with Becca would be like hadn’t even come close to scratching the surface of what the reality of being with her had been. It wasn’t just the earth-shattering physical aspect. Brian had never,
never
felt that connected to another person before. He’d heard the phrases “I couldn’t tell where I ended and they began” “Two becoming one” and “Losing yourself in another person.” But he’d never experienced any of them—until last night.

When he had been making love to Becca, it had been more than just sex—more than even making love. Something had happened. It hadn’t just been their bodies that had connected. It had been their souls.

He didn’t know how it was all going to work out, how
they
were going to work out, but he did know that, after last night, Becca was
his
and he was
hers
. And he didn’t give a shit about a TV show or them living in different states or…anything else. All he cared about was that they were each other’s—officially.

Brian typed:
Yeah. Things are a little crazy here. I’ll get there as soon as I can. I love you.

For as long as he could remember, he’d told her that he loved her whenever they got off the phone or when he’d drop her off at the airport, but he’d never texted it before. It felt like…more.

Before he even set the phone down, it buzzed again.

He picked it up, and it read:
I love you, too! Last night was…perfect.

A smile spread on his face as a happiness so raw, so full, filled him completely. Just as he was getting ready to text her back, his office door opened. He looked up. “Can you give me a—”

He stopped when he saw his mom seated in her wheelchair in the doorway. Tears were running down her cheeks.

Brian’s chest tightened and his stomach dropped to the floor. “Dad?” he breathed as he stood.

“No, sorry. It’s not Dad.” His mom sniffed and waved her hand dismissively.

She rolled in and shut the door behind her, and Brian sat, feeling like his world had just been shaken. Even though it had only been for a second, he’d really thought his dad was
gone
.

“Well, I mean, your dad is fine, but he is the reason I’m upset.” His mom continued to sniff as she searched through her purse.

“Here,” Brian said as he reached across the desk and handed her a tissue.

She looked up at him and got even more choked up as she took the tissue and blew her nose. “Thanks,” she said, setting the tissue on her lap. Then, after taking a deep breath, she said, “I’m sorry that I have to tell you what I’m about to say. I feel horrible for dumping this on you. It’s just I don’t know who else to talk to…” She started crying hard again, and Brian stood and walked around the desk, pulling up a chair next to her.

“It’s okay, Mom. I’m here,” he said, trying to comfort her as he rubbed her back while she cried.

Brian had no idea what she was about to tell him, but he did know it was bad. His mom was not big on dramatics. Trying to prepare himself for the worst, he waited patiently while she composed herself enough to speak again.

After what felt like an eternity, she looked up straight in his eyes and said, “We’re going to lose the house. Lose the shop. Lose everything.” She began sobbing again, and she buried her face in her hands.