Page 648 of One More Kiss

Chapter4

Vana couldn't stop lookingat him as he worked in the cabin around her. Brandon called the police on her behalf but with the storm coming there was no way for the two of them to get down the mountain just yet. Brandon wasn't going to let the cops come to him and with no truck there was no way that they could get down to the cops.

Vana did what she could to make sure that she stayed out of Brandon's way but the longer she was in his presence the more differences she would find between him and Rich. Not that she should be comparing the two but it just made her a bit sad to know that she had spent so much time with a man that could treat her the way Rich treated her when there were together.

"What did you do when you before you moved out here?" Vana asked Brandon as he threw another log on the fire.

Brandon stiffened for a moment, the corded muscles in his shoulders tensing. "What does that matter. If I told you I worked for the police force would it be any different from if I told you I worked for the mafia?" He spat at her, and she cringed at the force of his words

"It'd make no difference to me. I just want to know about you." Vana muttered.

"I have no desire to share anything about my past. Just know that it's my past that's going to allow me to help you with your problem." Brandon shot Vana a wink that made her core clench deliciously.

"Fine, what about your present or your future? Can I know anything about you?" Vana asks and moves a little closer to him.

"Sure, what do you want to know?"

"Where do you see yourself in the next five years? Do you think you'll ever go back and live on the grid?" Vana asks as she finds a comfortable spot on the thick rug right in front of the fireplace. She looks up at Brandon and watches as a flicker of emotion washes over his face.

"I'd never be accepted back on the grid but I do hope to build this place up to be something that could allow me to forget all the amenities that I'm missing. My turn. What do you see yourself doing in the next five years?" He asked.

"Me? Wow, it's been a while since I've had to think about that." Vana leans back on the thick rug while Brandon comes to sit next to her.

All the thinking was usually done by Rich. If there was a vacation to take Rich would tell her. If she needed to go see the doctor Rich would tell her. Vana hadn't had a decision to make for herself in a long while. At least not one that didn't involve life or death.

"I think Lucky and I will find a small town to live in. I'm going to make a better life for myself. Not have to worry about what no man has to say. I'm going to do what I want. Have fun. Go out. Drink." Vana says a wistful smile on her lips and feeling of freedom burrowing in her chest.

"Well I can't do shit about the going out part but I do have something that could help with the drinking part if you're still up to having some fun." Brandon turns in Vana direction his eyes shining with mischief.

"Yeah? How?" Vana asked interested in what he had in this cabin that she could have a sip of. Since she's been here he made sure to feed her and give her some water to drink but she was hoping right now he was offering her something with a way higher alcohol content.

"Hold on." He gets up and when he puts his hand down and it's only at that moment that she realized that the perfect man that helped her in her time of need had an imperfection. One that she didn't see until just now.

On his hand, he was missing two fingers. His ring and his pinky fingers. She had no idea what happened but suddenly it didn't seem like that was the kind of injury a police officer would suffer with.

Vana sucked in a deep breath and looked around the small cabin once again. This so called good man wasn't all that pure. Was she really about to break bread with a man that could possibly be in the mafia?

Why didn't it matter more to her?

She should be more frightened? Instead, she's completely calm sitting in front of a fire with someone she's sure must have killed people in a past life. A past life not to far away from this one.

Brandon walks back in the room with two large jars that held clear liquid and cherry's rolling around the bottom.

"What in the world is that?" Vana asks and Brandon issues a deep chuckle that erases any fear that she might have had.

"Don't tell me you've never heard of moonshine?"

"Moonshine? Like the stuff that's supposed to make you go blind? That moonshine?" Vana screeched out. Lucky's head pop up. The bone still hanging out of his mouth.

"Oh, I see how it is. No faith. You really think I'd give you something that would cause blindness? More over, do you really think I'd drink something that would blind myself?" He opened the lid to one of the jars and took a swig of the liquid. Wincing slightly as he did it.

"The owner of the general store down the road has a small distillery, it's closer to vodka than actual moonshine."

Brandon unscrewed the cap to the other moonshine and took another long swig, passing it over to Vana. She took a drink, coughing slightly as the alcohol burned her throat.

"This is strong," she said, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.

"Yeah, it's not for everyone," Brandon said with a smirk.

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