Page 12 of Caught Up In You (The Monroes 2)

He’d been completely blindsided by her betrayal. Never once did he believe she’d be that cold and heartless. Braxton had been so trusting, caught up in love—or what he thought love was. Love wasn’t one-sided and Anna had definitely not been in love with him.

The piercing pains he’d had at the time had vanished. He’d gone numb, but ached to feel again. He didn’t want her to have such power over him that he stopped living. So he turned the total opposite direction and lived life to the fullest.

Hence the outgoing lifestyle he’d adopted since. He was perfectly fine with how his life was going, thank you very much. One date with one woman, then on to the next. Hell, they didn’t even have to go out on an actual date, but it was a onetime event. He didn’t do seconds and he didn’t do sleepovers. And any type of promise was a major no-no because he wasn’t about to give any woman false hope . . . not when all his hope had shattered right along with his heart.

He’d been naïve enough to believe he and Anna would have a happy marriage, children—all things he never had. But her selfish act robbed him of his dreams of that picture-perfect family.

Just call him the man of steel, because he’d pieced himself back together and had shut out all emotions. Never again would a woman penetrate his soul.

Yet another way they differed. Cora was a breakfast type of woman. She wouldn’t be one out looking for a good time and nothing more, so he had no reason to keep having such thoughts about her. Yet, he did. He saw delicious, sweaty, dirty images. He couldn’t help where his mind went. He was a guy, his mind was supposed to travel to the dirty side.

Braxton would much rather whatever he was feeling go away and leave him alone because he sure as hell didn’t have time to be in a jumble of thoughts and nerves around a new employee.

“Your mind is wandering.” Cora’s soft tone pulled him back to reality. “Do I make you nervous? I know some people are uncomfortable around me.”

Braxton came to an abrupt stop, cursing when she stumbled slightly over his sudden movement. “Who the hell is uncomfortable around you? Simply because you’re blind? Then that’s their problem, not yours. And no, I’m not uncomfortable. I just have a lot on my mind and it’s stealing our time.”

Damn it.

“I mean, our tour. That’s all,” he assured her.

Her brows drew together. “I haven’t met a man like you. You’re pretty bold in what you say. Most people try to dance around the obvious.”

“I believe in total honesty at all times. Sometimes my brothers and I can be a bit harsh with our words, but we’ll never lie to you. That’s one thing I can guarantee.”

Cora turned her face away as she chewed on her bottom lip. He didn’t know what to make of her actions. Maybe she didn’t believe him or maybe she had secrets she was keeping. Either way, they didn’t know each other well enough for him to question her, and her personal life sure as hell wasn’t his business. Yet he still wanted to make it his business.

Why the hell did he have to have this invisible pull toward her? He hadn’t felt an ounce of desire or pull toward the stylist they’d hired. He didn’t give the new cook a second thought after they’d brought her on board. Yet this particular employee was turning him inside out.

“Let’s get the layout down for the first floor so you’re comfortable here and we can discuss what other items you’ll be needing for your space,” he suggested.

Without looking back up, Cora nodded and gripped his arm a bit tighter. Braxton showed her around the entire first floor, even taking her onto the patio, which wasn’t quite done but he and Zach planned on tackling the rest once Liam got back into town. Cora lifted her face to the late-summer sun, her auburn hair danced around her shoulders, and Braxton had a hard time pulling his eyes away from the sight that literally stole his breath.

There was something so refreshing, so simply elegant and sexy about Cora that he’d not seen in many women. Sophie was an elegant beauty, but Braxton never had this punch to his gut when he looked at her.

But Cora . . . something about her gripped him and wouldn’t let go.

“This house has a bit of history to it that you may want to share with your more chatty customers,” he told her once they came back inside.

“I love history,” she said, beaming. “Sophie mentioned this home was built before the Civil War. That is so fascinating. I’m such a nerd. In school I would always add more to my history papers because I enjoyed studying so many different eras, I tended to throw in more details. And, I can’t believe I’m going to admit this, but I used to watch documentaries for fun. I know. Total geek.”

She loved history? Of course she did. He didn’t need another clink locking into place as to all the reasons he found this woman attractive and intriguing. She was beautiful, smart, had a good business sense, and now she confessed to loving the exact topic he taught in college. Perfect. Simply . . . perfect. He was screwed.

“We have a really cool feature in the house, but it’s in the basement. You up for it?”

Her brows shot up, those violet eyes seemed to shine even brighter. “I have a feeling this has something to do with that history you just mentioned, which will exalt my geek status even more when I get excited and possibly squeal.”

“Bring out that inner geek. I rarely hide mine.” Gripping her hand over his arm, he led the way toward the basement steps. “Every old house has a secret area, you know. This one just happens to be so damn cool.”

When he opened the basement door, he paused. “How should I do this? Do I go first and you behind me? The steps are narrow, so we can’t do side by side.”

“I’ll be fine,” she assured him. “My old house had steps, I just need to know how many there are and I’ll need to keep hold of either you or a rail.”

Braxton flicked on the light leading downstairs. “There are twelve. I know this because I’m the one who replaced them. I made the actual boards wider, someone with bigger feet will still feel stable, but the actual width going down is narrow. There’s a rail on the right. You hold on to that and I’ll hold on to your left hand. I’m not taking chances.”

Cora shook her head and held her hand back. “I swear I’m fine with the rail. You lead the way, then if I trip you can save me by cushioning my fall.”

Braxton laughed. “You’ve got a mean streak, Cora.”

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