Page 15 of Caught Up In You (The Monroes 2)

So much for getting her out of his system. He wasn’t even finished with this kiss and he was ready for an encore.

Cora’s palms went to his shoulders and pushed slightly. Braxton pulled his mouth from hers, looked down into her striking eyes, and realized what he’d done.

“Damn, Cora. I’m sorry.” With a shaky hand, he smoothed her hair from her face. “I didn’t mean . . . well, I meant to kiss you, but that . . .”

Great, now he wasn’t even able to form a coherent sentence. Taking a step back, he tried to focus on his breathing, but he licked his lips, tasting her once again, and all other thoughts vanished.

Cora closed her eyes and Braxton’s heart clenched. He’d gone too far. No, kissing her was going too far. Backing her against the wall like he’d lost all control was out of line and grounds for her to walk out of here and slap a lawsuit on his ass.

Fists clenched at his sides, Braxton cursed himself for being like the man who instantly took what he wanted, not giving a damn about the repercussions. Braxton vowed to never be like his biological father, but his mental thoughts and the fact he’d lost control were exactly like the man he hated.

“Cora—”

She held up a hand and brought her eyes up to his. “No, don’t apologize. That kiss was bound to happen. But we can’t do that again.”

She didn’t sound angry. If anything she sounded . . . turned on and frustrated. At least he wasn’t alone and maybe she didn’t hate him.

“I need this job,” she stated. “I’m flattered you’re attracted to me, but I’m new in town. I don’t want to have a reputation and I certainly don’t want to start any type of relationship.”

Braxton crossed his arms as he let his ego take a beating. Was she brushing him off? Not that he planned on getting involved, but what if...

No. There were no “what-if” scenarios here. She was right. She would be working for his family and they needed to keep a professional mind-set about this.

“We got that out of our systems,” she went on in that prim tone he’d come to appreciate from her, though it drove him mad. “Now we can move on like you’d said.”

Before he laughed in her face at the absurdity of her speech, because there was no way in hell she was out of his system, he heard footsteps overhead.

Cora’s head jerked at the heavy footfalls too. “Company?” she asked, lifting her brows.

Was she really so unaffected by their kiss? She didn’t even look flustered, she wasn’t breathless, no pink cheeks . . . nothing.

Clearly, he was out of her system. Too damn bad she’d just settled deeper into his.

“My brother and Sophie, most likely. Let’s go back up so you can meet him.”

Maybe that kiss was all she needed to move forward, but he didn’t think so. She was good at lying, he’d give her that, but she’d also admitted she couldn’t go further . . . not that she didn’t want to. She was battling the same war with herself as he was. Braxton couldn’t wait to see who won.

Chapter Four

By the time Cora made it back upstairs on her shaky legs, she’d almost gotten her breathing under control. She’d been able to fake control in the basement after Braxton had kissed her in a way she’d never been kissed before. She’d even managed to sound convincing when she’d told him it couldn’t happen again. But on the inside she’d been a quivering, trembling mess of emotions.

Mercy, that man had a power over her she couldn’t quite process. Letting someone in at this point in her life wasn’t smart, she didn’t have the energy to focus on anything other than standing on her own two feet.

And she certainly didn’t have time to dwell on the basement events. She needed to remain poised and professional, just the way her parents had drilled into her from birth. She was a Buchanan. No matter that she didn’t want the name or the company that came along with it. She’d left that life behind until she could fully focus on how to handle it and if she weren’t careful, she’d screw up this new start before she fully got settled.

Heidi’s nails clicked across the hardwood floor. Relief settled into Cora now that she was getting back to her normal comfort zone.

Just as she reached for the collar she knew would be on her left side, Cora’s phone went off in her pocket. She knew from the tone who was calling. Her mother. Again.

“Do you need to get that?” Braxton asked.

Cora shook her head. “They’ll leave a message. I’d like to meet your brother.”

“We’re in the kitchen,” Sophie called out.

“Follow me,” Braxton told her.

Cora reached into her pocket, flipping her phone to vibrate because when her mother called once, the woman always called a second time, and most often a third. Barbara Buchanan did not like being dismissed, put on hold, or told no. Cora would call her mother later. She’d called when she’d settled, but didn’t tell them the town because she knew full well they’d send Eric to talk sense into her and try to convince her to come back.

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