Page 41 of Justice for JoElla

“Invite somebody? Sure. Just let me know in the next thirty minutes, okay? Gotta get everything together.”

“I can do that. And thanks.”

Landon laughed loudly. “You’re welcome! I don’t want you to starve! Bye, little brother!” The phone went silent and Brandon smiled. Little brother. By like, what, twelve minutes? Who cared? It was intended to make Brandon feel like the lesser of the two, but if Landon got a kick out of saying it, that was a small price to pay.

“So that was your brother?”

Brandon nodded. “Yeah. Having a cookout tonight. Would you like to come?”

“I wasn’t invited.”

“You’re invited by me!”

“But it’s not your house.”

Brandon shook his head and sighed. “Woman, I swear to god… Yes. You’re invited. He told me to bring somebody if I wanted to, and I want to. So do you want to come?”

The side eye she gave him told him she was suspicious for some reason. “Who else will be there?”

“Well, Landon and Jerrica, of course, and her mom, dad, brother, and sister-in-law. You’ll like them, I promise. Landon and Liam?Jerrica’s brother?do online gaming together. I swear, they’re like a couple of great big twelve-year-olds.”

He was sure she’d say no, so he was more than surprised when she said, “Yeah, sure, I guess. Okay. I’ll go.”

“Great! I’ll call him back and tell him we’ll both be there.”

“Should we bring something?”

Brandon laughed. “Probably! But I have no idea what.”

An odd, reddish-colored butterfly had landed on her hand, and she was looking at it when she answered. “Ask when you call him back.”

“Will do.” He was taking JoElla to Landon and Jerrica’s for dinner. That was progress, right? If it wasn’t, he’d sure misread things.

Of course, if that was the case, it wouldn’t be the first time.

Chapter 7

She hated to leave.After what Brandon had said, she’d felt closer to her mother and GrannyFaye in the butterfly garden than she ever had anywhere else. As she’d sat there, peace had washed over her, more peace than she’d known in a long time.

As Brandon drove back toward her place, she occasionally stole glances at him. He was a good-looking man, not as muscle-bound and built as Landon, but just as gorgeous. The afternoon had been pleasant. He’d promised her fun, and maybe it actuallywasfun. It had certainly been relaxing, and she needed more of that in her life. The best part? It was free to go in. She was about to make a crack about being a cheap date until she realized something.

Brandon hadn’t planned it because it was cheap. When he’d come out with that story about the elementary school teacher, she’d been shocked. Most of the men she knew were hideously macho-oriented alpha males who couldn’t show a single sign of softness. And while Brandon didn’t seem to be the huggy-feely kind of guy, he did have a certain tenderness about him that appealed to her. It wasn’t the kind of tenderness that made a guy soft and mushy, but more the kind that made him want to take care of people. He was a doctor, after all. JoElla had never been someone who needed to be taken care of, but it would be nice to have someone who could help out if she was hurt or sick.

They’d gotten all the way in the front door before she asked, “Do I need to change, or is what I’m wearing okay?”

Brandon shrugged. “It’s a family barbecue. What you’ve got on is more than fine. You look great.”

She almost said something snarky, then changed her mind. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Do you want to stay?”

What did he mean? “Stay here?”

“No. Stay the night at Landon and Jerrica’s.”

“Oh. Um, don’t you think that’s premature?”

“In what way?”

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