Page 51 of Make Her Mine
If it would get him off the real subject, I’d tell him anything else, “Jean. And what’s yours?”
“Montgomery,” he said. “So, Ella Jean Finley, what are these oats you have to sow?”
I pretended not to hear his inquiry. “Brandon Montgomery Gentry. That is a mouthful, isn’t it? I mean it has like…” I counted on my fingers. “Bran-don Mont-gom-ery Gen-try. Seven syllables. Wow, that’s a mouthful. Mine only has four. Our names are kind of like us. Yours is long and distinctive and mine is short and simple.”
“I’m not distinctive,” he opposed. “And you are anything but simple.”
“You are, too,” I said thinking about his place in life after the inheritance. “You’re a Gentry. You own Whisper Ranch. Those two things alone make you distinctive. Why have you set your sights on me when you could have any woman you want?” Not like I wanted him to find someone else…
“Is that what you want, Ella?” he asked. “Do you want me to forget about you and find someone else?”
I sat there silent and feeling a little sick. “If you want to, then get to it so we can stop this.”
“What the hell are you doing?” he asked again.
“I can’t tell you,” I reiterated. “But if you feel like seeing someone else, then tell me.”
“Girl, you’re making me crazy! I don’t want anyone else; I want you. And I want you to be around, so we can see each other. If not every day, at least on the weekends,” he was exasperated. “I didn’t say to find someone else; I asked if you wanted me to do that. But I’m taking that question back. You took it all wrong. But you’ve never talked to me this much before. Can we at least talk on the phone while you’re away?”
This guy didn’t have to beg girls to talk to him or stay around. It must be weird for him to do that. “We can talk.”One can’t get pregnant by talking on the phone.
He let out a sigh. “At last, we can agree on something. Alright then. Since we’re talking, tell me everything we said to each other last night.”
I thought about my touching his lips after he passed out. I won’t admit that. “You were clearly under the influence. And my brother was angry when he left to find you.”
“Why was he so mad anyway?” he asked.
Shrugging, I didn’t really understand that. “To be honest, I’m not sure.”
“He did say, after we exchanged a few punches, that he thought the flowers were because we had done something physical. Which we had not.” He waited a beat. “Is that the case, Ella? We didn’t kiss, did we?”
Would I have been able to stop things from going further? It was unlikely he would’ve stopped himself, either. “We didn’t kiss. Brandon. Neither of us should be drinking when we kiss for the first time. That’ll be a unique kiss, and we should remember every single moment.”
“That’s another thing we agree on, Ella. You have my word, no alcohol when we have our first kiss,” his words gave me chills.
We will have a first kiss. Now I know that for certain!
Chapter Twenty-Five
Brandon
The days went by with Ella and I talking every day for hours at a time. She hasn’t told me exactly what she was doing to mature in Dallas, so maybe her sister could clue me in on things?
After Sunday brunch, I followed Darleen as she left the dining room; she was rubbing her stomach and aiming to her quarters, most likely to nap off the meal. “Hey, wait up, Darleen.”
She stopped, then turned to see me coming up to her. “What’s up, Brandon?”
“I thought we could talk a little bit.”
“About?” She started walking again.
“Ella, and what she’s doing in Dallas.” I talk to her every day, and she’s never at the daycare. “She’s not helping her cousin—not at the daycare anyway.”
She stopped again to look me in the eyes. “You’ve been talking to her?”
“We talk every day,” I acknowledged. “I’ve been pretty transparent about my interest in her, Darleen.”
“Sure, but what I can’t understand iswhy.” She shook her head. “If you’re supposing Ella is playing a game, making you pursue her, you’re wrong. This isn’t a diversion. This is the real Ella. She’s immature, Brandon. And frankly, she’s not ready for an adult relationship. Are you?”
