Page 34 of And Then There Was Us
“What?”
They both laughed, and Brianna covered her face with her hand.
“Oh, honey. It’s okay. You’re allowed to…do that.”
“I know, Mom, but if I get close to him and it doesn’t work out, then what?” As the words left her mouth, her heart squeezed. She realized for the first time how very badly she wanted to be with Hugh and how she’d been blocking those feelings because it’s what she’d told herself she needed to do for so very long.Please tell me it’s okay. Please, please. I want to be with him more than I want almost anything else in the world.
“Well, I don’t know anything about any of the men you’ve dated over the past few years or how it worked out with them.” She narrowed her eyes, and Brianna knew she was expecting an admission.
“None. No one since.” She nodded toward the playroom.
“No. That can’t be.” Her mother shook her head. “I thought you were just being careful about telling me or letting Layla know. No one? Not once?”
Brianna shook her head. “I was planning on waiting until Layla was eighteen so I didn’t complicate her life.”
“Oh, honey. I take back every thought I ever had about me being a good mother. I’m a terrible mother if that’s what you’ve been doing. Brianna, you can’t be the best mother you are capable of if you aren’t fulfilled, too, and fulfillment comes from all angles.”
“So you want me to sleep around?” Brianna teased.
“No!” She leaned forward again. “But you don’t have to be a nun. Enjoy life a little. Date. Go dancing. Hang out with Kat more than just at work. Layla’s almost six. She’s not a toddler. I can take her sometimes. Good Lord.Eighteen?That’s twelve more years. I promise you, if you do that, you’ll spin around in twelve years and wonder what the heck you accomplished.”
“But our lives are so complicated. I work all the time, and I need time with Layla.”
“You do, yes.” Her mother tapped her finger on the table with an unfamiliar glint in her eye, and the right side of her mouth lifted in a mischievous smile. “But you also need to honor your own feelings and your needs as a woman. If you feel this guy…what’s his name?”
“Hugh Braden.” Saying his name made her heart race.
“Hugh Braden. If you feel he’s not a gigolo of some sort and he treats you well, go on a date or two. See how it goes. I’ll watch Layla, and she won’t have to know until you decide she should.”
“No one says gigolo anymore, Mom.” Brianna laughed, but inside she was both relieved and terrified. She’d been counting on her mother to talk some sense into her and talk her out of following her heart. She’d felt her heart opening to Hugh already. What would it do if they became intimate?
Chapter Sixteen
HUGH ROUNDED THE bend at the bottom of the hill and ran at a quick pace beneath the colorful poplar and maple trees that lined the road in front of his house. He’d been too edgy after spending the day with Brianna to sit still in his house, and it was too late to go to the track. He finished his four-mile run with a sprint up the driveway. He stretched and headed to the back door to spend an hour in his home gym. Just walking by the garage made him think of Brianna and the way she’d leaned over the console to kiss him and then pressed her bare skin against his. She was so sexy that he’d been ready to take her right there in the driver’s seat. It was probably a good thing her phone rang. Sex in the car might have been hot, but it was not where he wanted to make love to Brianna for the first time. He’d envisioned her beneath him in his bed ever since they’d been intimate on the couch, and after spending the day together, his attraction to her had only become stronger, deeper, more layered.
He worked his biceps and triceps in front of the mirror. His T-shirt was drenched with sweat and stuck to his body like a second skin. He ran his hand through his hair and slicked it back away from his face. His massive quads were even more pronounced from the hard run. Hugh loved the adrenaline rush of working out, but as he pumped his arms with each heavy lift, he thought about how he’d rather be spending the hour with Brianna.
He set the weights down to answer his cell phone.
“Hey, Treat.”
“Hugh. How’s it going?”
It was good to hear his brother’s voice. Hugh had been so young when his mother died, and Treat, as the oldest, had been eleven. Treat had taken it upon himself to ensure each of his siblings knew what their mother was like, and to Hugh, those stories became real, as if he’d been there to experience them himself.
“Great. I’m in Richmond, and you know, keeping it real.” Hugh had always tried to play things casual with his brothers, and they called him on it as often as Savannah did. “How’s Max?”
“She’s great. Your last race of the season is next weekend, right? Max and I want to come down for it.”
“Really? Man, that would be awesome. It’s in Daytona. Are you sure you can make it?”
“Hugh, have I ever said I’d make a race and not made it?”
Treat always kept his promises.Always.“No. I’m heading down Friday night.”
“I know you can’t stay out late or anything Friday night, but we can get together after the race, can’t we?”
Hugh’s mind was already racing. He wasn’t like Treat. His family was used to him taking off right after awards and races, usually to avoid the media rush, but he was already thinking about flying back to Richmond right after the race. He hated to blow off his brother if he was taking a trip just to see him, but the thought of blowing off Brianna was even more painful. “I’m not sure if I’m sticking around after the race.”
