Page 17 of Branded

“You heard us?”

“I did. I have to be honest; I saw you before you saw me and I got nervous. I tried to make a break for it.”

He laughs and shakes his head. “Am I really that scary?”

“You’re not scary at all, Isaac. You just make me a bit nervous, that’s all.”

He regards me closely for a moment, like he’s trying to read my mind, just like at the festival the last week.

“You really don’t trust people like me, do you?”

“It’s hard to trust anyone sometimes, isn’t it?”

He steps a bit closer and places a hand on my cart sitting idly between us. My eyes flick down to see his strong fingers curling over the metal. They are long, but not like piano playing fingers. Perfectly sized so if he were to hold my hand, they would completely wrap over mine, and if he were to put his hand on my leg, his fingers would cover the entire expanse of my skin from outer to inner thigh.

“That’s true, but a very pessimistic outlook.” He stares at me for a moment then speaks again. “Grams always takes a chance, so that is what I’m going to do.”

How can a simple phrase like that make me tingle from head to toe? Is he taking a chance on me?

“Meaning?”

“Give me a chance to prove to you not everyone is bad, especially not everyone in my line of work, and especially not me.”

He isn’t pushy. He’s not trying to force me into anything. He’s just being consistent, and even I have to appreciate that… shooting his shot.

“What would this chance entail?”

“Five dates. Give me five dates to prove it, and after five dates, if you still think you can’t trust me or if you no longer want to see me, I’ll bow out gracefully and leave you be.”

“Five dates,” I repeat.

Jason’s memory is all around me every single day, no matter what I do, I can’t run from it forever. This nice, incredibly handsome, sweet man wants to spend time with me, and who am I to say no?

“You’ve got a deal, Isaac Black.” I extend my hand to seal the deal with a handshake. “Don’t make me regret it.”

“I would never.” He reaches into his pocket and pulls out his cell phone, then passes it to me. “Call yourself so I have your number and you have mine.”

His screen is already on when I look down at it, and his phone background is all black with the phrase ‘Negativity Is the Easy Way Out’ in the middle.

I open up keypad, dial my number, and let it ring until I feel the vibration in my pocket then I end it.

“All set.” I pass him the phone.

“Perfect.” I watch the muscles in his arms contort and flex as he slides his phone back into his pocket. “I should get back to her before she leaves here with more numbers than me.”

I giggle. “Probably a good idea.”

“I’ll call you sometime soon. Okay?”

“Okay.”

He flashes me that damn smile of his and leaves me in the middle of the supermarket with a racing heart and butterflies in my stomach.

Isaac

“Aren’t you going to tell me about her?”

I’m honestly shocked how long it took Grams to push for more information about Sawyer. She waited all the way to the parking lot before starting twenty questions.

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