Chapter 8
Gabrielle
I stared out the window, remembering the real reason Don and I had broken up.
It didn’t have anything to do with me moving back to San Diego or him doing drugs.
He’d gotten tired of never getting anywhere with me.
At least that’s what he’d said. Doing nothing but kissing all the time had lost its appeal.
I didn’t want to give myself to anybody until I was certain about how they felt about me, or how I felt about them, and I just hadn’t felt all that much for him.
I wanted to think about something else, and as I continued to stare out the window, my thoughts drifted back to the way I had betrayed Lena when I’d slipped up about her whereabouts to Troy.
Sometimes, the guilt from that was very overwhelming, and I wondered how she could possibly still want to be friends with me.
I was thankful and so very glad that she did.
Caught off guard when Brodie turned into a parking lot, my body accidentally fell against him.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to turn so sharply,” he said as he helped me straighten.
I quickly righted myself, noting the gentleness of his hand against my arm.
A tingle ran down my spine, and I remembered how it had felt when he’d laid his hand over my breast that time he’d kissed me.
It had been a completely different feeling then.
The way I’d reacted, you’d think he’d grabbed me somewhere else.
It wasn’t that it was bad. It did happen while he was kissing me, but it had been completely unexpected.
I hadn’t been ready for it. I knew from what Lena had told me that most girls jumped at the chance to be with Brodie.
I suppose I shouldn’t have been so hard on him, knowing that’s what he always expected.
Why would he treat me any differently? I still felt a little embarrassed about that virgin remark I’d made.
Of all the stupid comparisons I could have used, why did I have to pick that one?
So what if I were a virgin? I mean, I technically was.
But the fact that it had been practically stolen from me a long time ago was something he didn’t need to know. Nobody needed to know that.
“You have that list Lena gave you?” Brodie asked after we’d gotten out of the truck and he’d locked it up.
“Yeah, right here.” I pulled a slip of paper out of my purse and waved it at him.
“Let me see.” Brodie stood a few feet away from me studying the list. This was really the first time I’d gotten a look at him since earlier in the kitchen.
His now dry hair hung down close to his eyes, and he pushed it back with this hand.
It didn’t help though as the curls settled back onto his forehead.
He wore a black t-shirt that said, “Bass. Like a guitar but cooler.” His charcoal grey shorts hung low on his waist and stopped just below his knees.
He’d donned black leather Reef flip-flops, and I bet they had a bottle opener on the bottom side but I didn’t ask.
He glanced up from the list and scanned the area.
“This way,” he said, pointing to his left and starting to walk quickly in that direction.
His stride was twice as long as mine, so I practically had to run just to stay close behind him.
Then he suddenly stopped walking and turned his head toward me.
He didn’t say anything, but when I caught up, he faced forward and began walking again. This time a bit slower.
It wasn’t a particularly large downtown area, certainly not as big as I had expected, but the sidewalk was busy with people window-shopping and eating ice cream; or frozen yogurt I guess since we’d just passed a “Yummy’s Frozen Yogurt” store sign a few feet back.
The sun kissed my cheeks and warmed my skin.
I suddenly wished I’d worn another one of the sundresses I’d brought with me instead of the capri jeans and tank.
Except for the issues when getting in and out of Brodie’s truck, the dress would have been a much better choice as far as keeping my legs cool.
We came to a store opening and stopped at the entrance. The sign outside read, Lucy’s Party Shop. The window decorations held an array of frilly, lacy things perfect for topping tables for weddings and parties.
I looked at the list I held. “This is the first store on her list. I think we might find some of those things for the tables here.”
Brodie made some sort of grumbling noise and stepped through the door. We came to a table covered with lace, ribbons, and pearls.
“Ooooh. I think Lena would love something like this on each table.” Brodie’s eyes went to the vase I was admiring.
“Maybe.”
“Oh, and look…” I couldn’t help cooing at the display we stood in front of with all the lace and stuff for decorating tables.
Brodie laced a string of pearls through his fingers. “Pearls. Yes.” He smiled and wiggled his eyebrows at me. I felt my cheeks flush pink, remembering yesterday and the underwear encounter in the kitchen.
I took a picture of the small vase with my phone and texted it to Lena. Two minutes later, she responded with, Looks perfect!
All we had to do was reserve and pay for the stuff. It would all be delivered on the day of the wedding, so we didn’t have to carry any of it back. I did have the lady bag up one of everything for me to take with us though. I wanted to show it all to Lena in person when we got home.
After reserving twenty of the vases, and at Brodie’s insistence, an equal amount of pearls to lace around them, we headed to the next store on the list. The flower store.
At first, I wasn’t too keen on the idea of picking out all the flowers for Lena’s wedding, but after she’d showed me some pictures and told me what type of flowers she wanted, I relented.
I did, however, send her another text with the cost along with pictures of everything; everything except her bouquet.
That was coming from Jackson, and he wanted to surprise her with it.
Brodie took care of it, knowing exactly what Jackson had told him to order.
He wouldn’t even let me see the design. He seemed to really get a kick out of that, gently shoving me away when I came too close to the book he was perusing, saying it was a secret.
I stood on the other side of the room pouting, and he glanced back at me and grinned.
It seemed Brodie Beaumont had a softer side, after all.
I knew there must be some major gunk clogging up his brain from his past; wrecking him so badly that it destroyed the way he felt about relationships.
That was the only explanation for him using women the way he did.
But now, after spending time with him in the flower store, I was beginning to think that maybe there was another side to Brodie, one that he didn’t let out very often.
That meant there was still hope for the guy.
After paying and making sure the clerk had everything she needed for the delivery, Brodie turned to me on our way out. “You hungry?”
“Yeah.”
“Good. I know the perfect place. Let’s put all this in the truck and go eat.
He reached over and took the bags from me, then grabbed my hand, tugging me along toward the parking lot.
After securing the packages in the cab of the truck, he locked the door.
“Hope you like burritos,” he said as he grabbed my hand again before waiting for my response.
I don’t think he did it to be romantic or anything.
I think he held my hand because he was in a hurry to get to wherever he wanted to go eat because there was nothing romantic about the way he pulled me along.
My feet had to do double-time just to keep up.
The restaurant, if you could call it that, consisted of a counter just off the sidewalk with six stools in front of it, and one guy behind the counter cooking.
Luck must have been with us, because right when we walked up to the place, a guy and a girl stood and left two seats open for us.
Just in time too, because after I sat down, I turned to see another couple walk up.
They had to stand on the sidewalk and wait for more seats to free up.
“This is the best burrito you will ever have,” Brodie whispered in my ear.
The guy cooking handed a plate with one of the largest burritos I had ever seen smothered in red sauce to the guy sitting next to Brodie then turned to us. “What’ll you have?”
Brodie glanced at me. “Um …” I gave a quick look up at the menu above the cook’s head.
Feeling a bit under pressure, I blurted out, “A number two,” not taking the time to read all the ingredients except for the word chicken, but I figured I couldn’t go wrong with chicken.
Brodie ordered a number one, and I looked to see what was in that one.
Carne Asada, but I stopped reading after the words hot green chili sauce.