Page 54 of Her Braun
Why couldn’t this happen more than once in her life?
She felt more than heard his soft laughter against her ear, reverberating through his chest.
“Are you going to fall asleep on me?”
She lifted her head to look up at him and she smiled at the humor in his gaze.
“I wasn’t planning to, but if the big pillow fits-”
He pulled her closer and her chin met his chest. They laughed together as they continued dancing and other couples joined them on the floor.
Kay leaned back a little and managed to keep her eyes on his without craning her neck as much.
“You’re a mountain.” Her words rushed out before she’d made the conscious effort to speak. “I feel like a kid standing next to you.”
His lips pursed a little and she felt the touch of his dark eyes like a caress against her skin.
“You’re all woman, Kay. I’ve been wanting to say something for a while now, but…”
His cheeks and temples flushed with color, and he shook his head like he was scolding himself.
“But what?” She had to know.
Gibson Braun had wanted to talk to her for a while?
How had she not come face to face with him more often back in Center City?
Why did it take a fortuitous meeting in Chicago for their paths to cross?
“I guess I didn’t think you’d be interested in a guy like me.”
His answer made sense in a strange way, like Alice’s world through the looking glass.
From the moment she’d seen him she'd felt an instant interest in him, but now that she'd spoken to him, spent time with him, she wanted him for who he was under all the brawn, muscle, and good looks. Now she knew that he wasn't forty, his reaction had been enough to tell her that he was younger than that.
Which meant that he was younger than she was.
Not that she was elderly or even fell into one of those antiquated ‘spinster’ categories from a different era.
But still-
The song ended and another one began, and all Kay could do was hold onto him and hope that the band never stopped playing.
"Does it matter?"
"Hmm?" She looked up and saw the way he was watching her intently. "Does what matter?"
"You guessed that I was forty." One eyebrow lifted up, just a little. "I'm thirty-four. Does that matter?"
She frowned a little at that trying to read his expression. "I don't know. Does it matter than I am? Forty, I mean."
He shook his head without missing a beat. "Not at all."
"I'm a workaholic doctor.”
He frowned a little at that. “I work twenty-four hour shifts on the regular. I don't see a problem if you don't.”
She couldn’t really argue with that.
