Page 13 of Make Her Mine
“So tonight then, can you show me around town?” Brandon turned me back around to face him. “You know, show me the nightlife?”
The man clearly wanted to use me for more than just helping him to find places to buy clothes and get his party on. “I’m not interested.” The guy would be one of those love ’em and leave ’em kind of men. And I had to live with this one.
“In?” he asked as if he didn’t know.
“In you.” I took a step back to make more space between us.
“Didn’t think you were.” He seemed cool about it, but the way he slid one hand through his dark hair told me I’d kind of blown him out of the water with my remark.
“Cool. I know about guys like you, Brandon Gentry.” I walked backward toward the door. “You like to screw anything you can.”
“Wrong.” He walked toward me. “You don’t know me, Ella. Not at all.”
“You think you’re so cute, don’t ya?” I wasn’t looking for an answer; he thought he was God’s gift to women!
“What do you think about yourself?” He kept coming my way.
I stopped and held up one hand. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“I’m going down to grab my bag out of the truck.” He went past me, walking out the door. “Since you suppose I’ve got a high opinion of myself, how about you? Where did you get that idea? I wanted to pay you to show me where to shop and hang out. You’re kind of conceited, don’t ya think?”
He had other intentions, I was sure of it. “You rich guys are all the same, Brandon Gentry. Don’t act like you’re not. I’m not one to put myself in situations and get more attention than I want. Find yourself another person to show you around town.”
He stopped in his tracks, and then turned to face me. His right eye twitched. “Ella Finley, I’ve never had more than a few bucks in my pocket until yesterday. I’m not who you say I am. Butyou’reexactly who I think you are.”
My hand went to my hip as I lashed out, “And just what do you think I am?”
“A very young girl.” With that, he turned back around and went down the stairs as I stood there with my jaw dropped.
“Am not,” I whispered. “Big jerk. Thinks I don’t know what he’s up to. He wants to get in my pants. He can say what he wants, but I know he does.”
“You talking to yourself, Ella?” a man’s voice came from behind me.
Spinning around, I saw Dyllan and Clayton standing there. “Where did you guys come from?”
“Our rooms. We brought our bags up,” Clayton told me. “Looks like you didn’t hear us when you and Brandon were in his room.”
Their smiles made my heart freeze as I thought about what they overheard. “Yeah, I didn’t hear you. I’ll tell you what I told him then. If you’ll put your dirty laundry in the hamper…”
Clayton held up his hand. “We do our own laundry, thank you. Just leave our rooms and restrooms off your list of chores, ’kay?”
“But…”
Dyllan put his arm around my shoulders, and Clayton came up on the other side of me as they took me down the stairs. Dyllan reminded me, “We haven’t always been rich, Ella. We haven’t ever been catered to or picked up after. And we’re not about to start acting like spoiled rich men now.”
Just as we got to the bottom step, Brandon came into the foyer. The look on his face when he saw his brother with his arm around me was priceless. His mouth gaped and he froze in place.
Dyllan moved his arm as I said, “I’ve got it. Leave your bedrooms suites alone. Does that go for you, too, Brandon?”
He stood there, looking oddly at his youngest brother. “You can vacuum my bedroom every day. How’s that?”
“Your wish is my command.” I rolled my eyes, walking away from the three of them. As soon as I got out of their view, I fell against the wall as my legs went wobbly.
That look on Brandon’s face told me more than I wanted to know.
He likes me!
Chapter Seven
