Page 1 of Do Me
Chapter 1
“You guys are idiots. Axel, you’re too withdrawn and emotionally unavailable to women. Though you make jokes, it’s probably because of how your engagement ended. Braxton, you’re waiting for aperfectwoman. She doesn’t exist because no one is perfect. If you stopped being so picky, you might find someone.” She stared at her brother, Colton. “And you, my dear brother, are the most self-centered man to walk the face of the earth. You guys are never getting married until you make some changes.” She shook her head and walked off.
A perfect woman?Braxton Harper drained the rest of his beer and trained his attention on the TV mounted on the wall behind the bar showing an NBA game. From his seat at the far end of the bar near the server’s station, he had a good view. After a long day, he just wanted to enjoy a Friday evening with his buddies. And he wasn’t looking for a perfect woman. Hell, as of late, he hadn’t been looking foranywoman. He shot a look at his two best friends, Colton Eubanks and Axel Becker. The three men had met years ago while playing in a basketball league and had grown close since then. They usually met weekly to catch up at the Double Trouble Bar that investment banker, Colton and his sister Dani co-owned. Tonight, however, Braxton thought the name quite appropriate. Colton’s sister, Dani had designated herself the resident relationship expert and was, yet again, telling them all the reasons why they hadn’t found a woman to settle down with and marry. Valentine’s Day had passed a week ago and tonight, she was in rare form. Once again, he tried to focus on the score rather than Dani’s voice. Of course, that didn’t work because she made a point of singling them out.
She’d also called Braxton picky. His mother had said the same thing. Just because he liked order and control in his life didn’t make him picky. He thought of it more as beingselective. It made sense for him to wait for the right woman rather than waste his time dating the wrong one. He could count on one hand the number of women he’d gone out with in the past six months and still have fingers left over. Not one of them had elicited an emotion other than friendship, at best. Braxton shifted in his seat. “So, she’s a little more…passionatetonight. What happened?”
Axel lifted his glass. “Passionate is putting it mildly.” The badass corporate attorney had a big heart when it came to humanitarian causes, but not so much with women after his last breakup.
“Dani is just being her usual self,” Colton said, waving a hand. “Don’t let her get to you. I don’t.”
He tried hard to dismiss her comment, but the questions nagged at him. Why couldn’t he find the right woman? He was staring forty in the face and had never once experienced any of the deep emotions associated with love. In his twenties, it had been all about the sex for him, but even those encounters fell flat. When he reached his thirties, his relationships had lasted a little longer and became more about friendship and camaraderie, but, again, something just didn’t click. He had yet to meet the one woman who stimulated him on every level. Cole’s voice cut into his thoughts.
“You want to shoot around tomorrow?”
“I have to attend my cousin’s wedding.” And he wasn’t looking forward to going. At the last three family weddings, his mother had made a point of letting every woman in earshot know he was single. He expected more of the same tomorrow. If there had been any way to opt out, he would have done it in a heartbeat.
Axel chuckled. “Lots of single women attend weddings. Who knows, you might find your Mrs. Right. If you’re not being too picky, that is.”
Braxton grunted. “I doubt it. And I’m not picky. I’m selective. I have no problem holding out until I find the right one.” He decided they needed a subject change and the three men spent the remainder of the evening discussing everything except women and marriage.
By the time he made it home, Braxton was more than a little exhausted. As a computer network architect, he’d worked overtime almost every day that week to design layouts for three clients after the other architect at the company had to take an emergency leave. Next week, he’d be meeting with doctors in a medical practice who wanted to upgrade their current system. He blew out a long breath.It’s going to be another long week. It took him less than fifteen minutes to shower and climb into bed, but hours more to fall asleep.
Braxton felt like he’d just closed his eyes when he heard the insistent buzzing of his cell phone. Blindly reaching for it on the nightstand, he cracked one eye open and groaned when he saw his mother’s name on the display. “Hey, Mom.”
“Hi, baby. You’re coming to the wedding today, right?”
He rolled onto his back and sighed. “Yes, Mom. My answer hasn’t changed since the last three calls this week.”
“It’s just that your Aunt Charlene would be crushed if you weren’t there.”
More like his mother would be crushed because she wouldn’t be able to embarrass him like she had at the last few family weddings. “And before you say it, I know it starts at two and I won’t be late.”
She laughed. “Well, it doesn’t hurt to make sure you have the details.”
A smile curved his lips. He couldn’t stay irritated with her for long. “Oh, and Mom, please promise me you won’t stand up in the middle of the reception and announce that I’m not married.”
“Does this mean you’re bringing a date?” she asked excitedly.
“No, it does not.”
“Well then I don’t know why—.”
“Promise me, Mom,” he said. When Zerlina Harper had her mind made up about something, nothing anyone said could change it.
Her heavy sigh came through the line. “Oh, alright.”
“Thank you. I’ll see you later.”
“Bye, baby.”
Braxton disconnected, tossed the phone aside, burrowed beneath the covers, and closed his eyes. It was only nine, which meant he’d gotten four whole hours of sleep. However, after dozing on and off for two hours, he gave up. He hadn’t been able to get what Dani said out of his mind. Swinging his legs over the side of the bed, he sat up and tried to recall his last date. It had been before Thanksgiving—so about four months. It had been even longer since the last time he’d had sex with a woman. Strangely, he hadn’t missed that as much as he did the companionship.
Deciding he’d analyzed his life enough, Braxton dressed and went to work out downstairs in the room he’d set up as a home gym. He thought about going for a run, but nixed the idea when he saw the temperatures had only risen to the forties.
Hours later, he sat in the reception hall trying to stay out of his mother’s line of sight. During the ceremony, he’d seen her point him out to at least two women he knew were not family members. So far, she’d held to her promise. He checked his watch and wondered how long he had to be there. The bride and groom hadn’t arrived from the photo shoot, and he still had dinner and all the formalities to get through. Rising to his feet, Braxton walked over to the bar and ordered a Jack and Coke. He turned with the glass to his lips and froze when he saw his mother heading in his direction with a woman.
“Braxton, there you are. This is Alana. I was telling her that you work with computers and she mentioned hers was having some trouble.”
