Page 35 of Beehives and Broken Heroes

Her jaw snapped shut as a thick awareness settled over them. Her gaze dropped to his lips, then went back to his eyes again. She swallowed. “I . . . I . . .”

“You what?” Brandon asked.

“I’ve sworn off men.” She lifted her chin.

Brandon chuckled; then relief settled over him. He hadn’t expected her to say that, but it certainly explained a lot. The dashing away, the avoidance, the awkwardness. It certainly put the wind back in his sails.

“Why are you laughing?” She still hadn’t moved. Hadn’t backed away from him.

“Leave it to you to do such a thing,” he said.

She squared her shoulders. “It’s important. I’m a serial dater. The longest I’ve gone without being in a relationship in years is a few months.”

“How long has it been now?”

“Six months,” she said. “Seriously, it’s got to be a record. I need to learn how to be happy alone.”

He reached up and pushed a lock of hair behind her ear. “Are you?”

“Am I what?”

“Happy?”

She broke their eye contact and looked away, her brow creasing. She blinked those long lashes as she thought, then suddenly, a moment later, smiled. She looked at him again. “Yeah, I am.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

She pulled her chin back. “You want to date me.” It wasn’t a question. It was a statement. One that seemed to catch her off guard. Like she’d only realized that truth just now and didn’t know what to do with it.

It was about time.

Brandon smiled. “You’d better believe it.”

Chapter 11

“Poise: the ability to be ill at ease inconspicuously.”

- Earl Wilson

Allie was confused.

She and Brandon had been standing practically toe to toe. She’d had a moment of clarity, a huge moment of clarity, when he’d asked her if she was happy. In all the time since she’d decided to change herself, better herself, she’d not once stopped to evaluate how she was doing. Becoming a better person, a person more like Jo, was hard. She failed more often than she succeeded, but she was trying. But despite that, she was happy. She had been, more or less, since she’d decided to give the whole being alone thing a try.

She’d been going through a lot of things—a lot of self-reflection, learning how to be a better business person, sister, and friend, learning to be more like her sister—but the truth was that she did know how to be happy alone. She’d been downright proud of what she’d taken on at Sticky and Sweet, and while she still needed improvement, she was okay with where she was.

And here Brandon had been, asking the obvious question she hadn’t thought to ask herself. Was she happy? One glance in his warm eyes and she’d seen his desire for the truth, but she’d also seen a whole heck of a lot more.

That was why she was confused. She’d half expected him to kiss her, right then and there. Okay, more than half. But he hadn’t. He’d taken a step away from her, and then, somehow, they’d headed out to both spots on the property where they had raspberry bushes, and having ascertained that they hadn’t died in the freeze, they were heading back to the house. She didn’t even remember telling him she needed to check them!

They walked around a hedgerow, and the house came into view. She smiled. It was such a nice-looking house, so inviting with a wraparound porch, big bay windows, and navy-blue shutters against the white paint. It was like a house from a storybook. They said almost nothing until they reached the back door.

Honey was out in the pasture with the horses, running around and playing with them, and they all seemed pleased he was there. He’d always gotten along with the horses, and he had missed them when they’d left.

“I’m glad the raspberries are fine,” Brandon said.

“Thanks.” She rolled back on her heels, not sure where to go from here. She was about to leave, for lack of something to do, but he spoke again. And he seemed nervous. That had her pausing. Brandon nervous? She hadn’t thought him capable of that emotion.

“Can I offer you some lunch?” He signaled to the door—a bright fire-engine red she and Jo had insisted on and had painted themselves when they were fourteen. All the other doors were navy-blue.

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