“Is your leg ok?” she asks quickly.

I nod. “Yeah. Don’t worry about it.” My knee is throbbing, but I don’t care.  It doesn’t matter.

She looks into my eyes.  “You’re not weak, Brand.  Being kind is not a weakness. You’re the farthest thing from weak that I’ve ever seen in my life.”

I don’t answer.

She lays her head on my chest, remaining still. After a while, she speaks without moving.

“I can hear your heart.”

I don’t say anything.

“You have the strongest heart of anyone I’ve ever known.”

I still don’t say anything, although that f**king lump forms in my throat again.

Before long, Nora raises her head.

“Don’t compromise yourself for him,” she tells me, her blue eyes staring into my own.  “I don’t know what his game is.  But don’t let him compromise you.  Do what’s best for you.  Do what you’re comfortable with. No more, no less.”

She stares at me fiercely for a minute before she kisses me, hard, with passion.

I kiss her back, pulling her into me, my arms wrapped around her.

She gets it.  She’s the first person to ever really ‘get’ my situation and the f**ked-upedness that was my father.   But the sad part is, I know she only gets it through experience of her own.

Because her father is just as f**ked up in his own way as my father was.

That only pisses me off more.

But now, instead of only being pissed at a dead man, I’m pissed at someone living, at a situation that I can actually change.

Nora’s dad isn’t going to hurt her again.

Chapter Fifteen

Nora

I put my earrings in, small diamond studs that shine in the lobes of my ears.  With a sigh, I look at my reflection.

My hair is pulled into a sleek chignon, I’m wearing makeup, and I’ve got on an evening dress, small and black.

With a heavy sigh, I glance at the clock.

We should leave soon.  I both dread it and want to get it over with. 

I spray on some perfume and venture out of my room to find Brand.

What I find takes my breath away.

Brand is leaning against the windows, waiting for me, dressed in a perfectly fitted black tux.

My breath holds on my tongue as I stop dead in my tracks and shamelessly stare.

Sweet Mary.  I thought that there was nothing sexier on the planet than Brand Killien.  I was wrong.  Brand Killien in a freaking tuxedo is unbelievable.

He’s lean, he’s strong, he’s tanned, he’s blond.  His blue eyes meet mine, and he smiles.

“See something you like?”

Gah.

My knees literally feel weak as I cross the room and kiss him softly on the lips.

He smells like the woods.  And man.  And Heaven.

“Maybe,” I answer with a grin.  “Do you have plans tonight?  Because I have this thing…”

He shrugs.  “I could make myself available.  I mean, I’m dressed for it and all.”

Yes, he certainly is.

I look him over again, at the way his shirt and jacket snugly skim his muscle, the way his pants hug his slim hips.  I feel the butterflies fluttering around in my belly again, the adrenaline rush, rush, rushing through my veins.

He’s mine.

For tonight.

For the summer.

I glance down.  “Where’s your knee brace?”

Brand shakes his head.  “It’s there.  Under my pants.”

“What else you got under there?” I purr, my hand running over his broad chest.  Brand neatly catches my hand and restrains it with his own.

“Calm down, Tiger.  As much as you’d like to distract me, we’ve got to get this dinner over with.”

I sigh and I feel my shoulders droop.  “Fine.  Raincheck, then.”

Brand’s lip twitches.  “Shall we go?”

I nod.  Brand takes a step and I stop in my tracks.

“Where are your crutches?”

“I’m not using them tonight, doctor.  I’ve got the brace on.  The doctor told me I could bear weight as tolerated.  It’ll be fine.”

I stare at him.

He stares back.

“You’re stubborn,” I sigh.  He grins.

He limps, but he walks to the car unassisted.

After we’re strapped into my car, I turn to him.

“If my father is rude to you, we’ll leave.”

Brand rolls his eyes.

“No, we won’t.  We’ll do whatever it is that you need to go to do.  It doesn’t matter to me if your dad is rude.  Trust me, I can take it.”

His voice soothes me. His presence soothes me.  His smile soothes me.  Everything about him is calming, like a tonic, and I nod.

“Okay.”

The drive doesn’t take long, of course, and while I wish we could linger in the car out in the driveway, we can’t.

Brand looks at me.  “Ready?”

No.

“Yeah.”

My mother opens the door before we even reach it, pulling me into a hug.  She looks beautiful, of course.

“Ma belle fille,” she sings, kissing my cheeks. “I’ve missed you.”

She pulls me into the house in a cloud of Chanel No. 5.   She looks over my shoulder.

“And you,” she beams at Brand.  “Thank you for everything you did for Nora that terrible day.”  She glances at his leg.  “I’m so sorry you were hurt.  It’s terrible.  Can I get you anything?”

I nod.  “A water would be nice.”

And a valium.

Brand shakes his head.  “No, thank you, Mrs. Greene.”

“Call me Camille,” my mother instructs.

She leads us into the formal dining room which is dripping with gardenias and roses and lit candles are everywhere. The long table easily seats twenty, although only two are currently at it now.

My father and my brother, Nate.

William is no where in sight, thank God.

My father barely spares us a glance, doesn’t even stop speaking to my brother.  But Nate’s face lights up and he gets out of his chair, crossing the room to envelop me in a hug.

I introduce him to Brand, and they shake hands and everything seems fine.

But then my father intrudes.

“This was a family affair, Nora,” he chastises me.  “I didn’t tell you to bring anyone.”

My mother breaks in, laying an elegant hand on his arm.  “Maxwell, don’t be rude.  After all that Brand did for us, you should be nice.”