Page 34 of Tangled
Gramps:Don’t apologize, your mother and father explained everything. It’s a lot to take in. Any news on Maria’s or Gracie’s deaths?
Brad:You know you’re pretty much the coolest Gramps
Gramps: (laughing emoji)By the time you were old enough to think of me as a person and not just someone who spoiled you, I’d seen a few things in life. When you hold the keys to the nuclear codes and have to make life-and-death decisions for our men and women in the armed forces or see drugs eating away at the communities you care about, you learn to put a few things into perspective. The fact that you didn’t run over and tell me about Scarlett and what will be my eighth great-grandchild isn’t something to get het up about
Brad:You sound like Nanna. She used to tell Cody not to get too het up about things. It didn’t rub off btw. He came barging in here pissed I told Mom and Dad first
Gramps:Your father is still crowing about the coup
Brad:Between that and becoming a grandfather today, I think he’ll be riding high for a very long time
Gramps:I love my son, but your mother is a saint
Brad chuckled.
Brad:Have you been to the hospital yet?
Gramps:Heading over in an hour. Tia and the babies were resting when I spoke with your mom a little bit ago
Brad had asked his assistant to clear his morning calendar. Thursdays and Fridays tended to be light meeting days aseveryone prepared for the weekend, so it hadn’t been a hard task.
Brad:Why don’t you stop by on your way back?
Gramps:How about I text you when I leave, and if she’s awake and up for a visit, I’ll stop by. I hear she’s not feeling so great. Your grandmother had that with your uncle Michael. She never said, but I’m pretty sure that’s why she put the kibosh on a fourth.
Brad hadn’t known that and although he didn’t doubt his grandfather, he had a hard time picturing his indomitable grandmother being laid so low.
Brad:Sounds like a plan. And if you time it right, I may have pancakes for you. Scarlett seems to be able to stomach them
Gramps:Your grandmother’s recipe? I’ll be there
Brad smiled and set his phone down, only to have it ding again. Then again. Both his dad and Cody had sent photo albums of the girls. He smiled as he flipped through the pictures. The girls weren’t identical, and Ruby had more of her mother’s red highlights in her hair, whereas Maya had a mop of thick black curls. They both had big, dark eyes lined with long lashes, but Maya’s were almost black, while Ruby’s had a hint of some other color Brad couldn’t define—maybe green or maybe blue. Oddly, though, they shared a similar birthmark, a tiny half-moon on their left shoulder.
He didn’t know how much time had passed, but he must have fallen asleep on the couch because he woke with a start to find Scarlett leaning over him, brushing a lock of hair from his forehead.
He stared into her amber eyes, then smiled. She smiled back. “You look almost angelic when you sleep,” she said.
“Because I am an angel,” he said, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her on top of him. She resisted for half a second, then relaxed as he covered her with the blanket.
“You are no angel, Brad Warwick. I have that night in your hotel to prove it,” she mumbled.
He wasn’t sure if she’d even meant to say the words, but his body reacted instantly to the memories they evoked. Since December, he’d spent many nights—and many mornings in the shower—reliving that night in LA in his mind. He remembered everything about it. The scent of her skin, the feel of her hair brushing his torso as she kissed her way from his thighs to his lips, the slow slide into her body.
He shifted underneath her. “Sorry,” he mumbled, hoping his obvious response wouldn’t make her uncomfortable.
She lifted her head. “Are you?”
Her question caught him off guard and gave him pause. Was he sorry for being attracted to her? Hell no. Was he sorry his body reacted to her? Also, a hard no.
“No, actually, I’m not,” he admitted. She remained quiet but held his gaze. “There hasn’t been a day that’s gone by since that night that I haven’t thought of you,” he said. “Of what we did. I hope we get to a place where we can do it again. Frequently.”
“I hear a but in there…?” she said.
Because there had been one; several, actually. He’d been about to add “but you’re not feeling well,” and “but we’re still getting to know each other,” and “but there’s more at stake now than there was,” and even “but you’re focused on finding Gracie’s killer.” She knew all those things, though. He didn’t need to say them. All he needed to say, all he wanted her to know, was that he wanted her. In every way. What she did with that information was her decision.
He shook his head. “No buts. You know where I stand. If you’re considering it, you also know what my answer, my response, will be.”
He could read nothing in her expression as she stared at him. Then a heartbeat later, her lips were on his. He didn’t hesitateto bury his hands in her hair and tilt her head to give him better access. This was no tentative kiss, no test of any kind. It was primal and demanding, and he gave as much as he took from her.
