“Lee, I wish you would stop trying to find another woman for me when you know I’m in love with Alicia. Can’t you just be glad you’re married to Cherise and about to become a father? Do you constantly have to throw my miserable life up my face?” Getting up from the table, Brad tossed his napkin down.
“I knew it would be a mistake to show up tonight. I’m tired of you treating me like I’m a kid instead of your thirty-two year old brother. I think I should leave before I say anymore and don’t count on seeing me for any weekly dinners for a while.”
Storming away from the table, Brad headed for the door and just as he was about to open it a hand touched his arm. Spinning around, he was about to snap at the person until he saw Cherise standing there. He was surprised that she could move that fast as pregnant as she was.
“Brad, come back to dinner,” she suggested as she removed her hand off his arm. “You know how Lee can get sometimes when he gets on a roll. He loves you. Just give him a chance to apologize.”
Bending down, Brad planted a kiss on Cherise’s cheek and then rubbed her belly before rising back up. Sometimes it was still hard for him to believe this was the same woman who was going to toss Traci out of her life, if she had married Zack. Cherise had changed so much and it was for the better. He was touched that she was concerned enough to come and get him, but he wasn’t going to stay any longer.
“No, I think it’s best if I go home. I wasn’t having that good of a time anyway.”
“Are you sure?” Cherise asked, softly. “You might miss another one of my famous fights with Lee. We still haven’t settled if I’m going to take an early maternity leave or not.”
At first, Brad hadn’t been sure if Cherise would be a good fit with his family because she had been so feisty when he got introduced to her. Now, he didn’t know how his family worked without her. Sure, Cherise fought with Lee but he could always see their love glowing beneath the surface.
Brad shook his head. “No, I think I’m going to leave. I had a long day at work and I wanted to relax in front of the television before I hit the bed,” Brad lied, hoping Cherise wouldn’t pick up on it.
Tilting her head to the side, Cherise studied him for a few seconds. “Don’t you dare lie to me, Brad. I know you’re leaving because of what Lee said about Alicia. You know that he can’t help but to give his opinion about everything, right?” she asked. “He loves you so much and only wants to see you content like the rest of his brothers.”
“Yeah, I know,” Brad admitted. “But he can’t determine who I need to find happiness with. If I want to be with Alicia then it’s my business not his!”
Moving closer to him, Cherise replaced her hand on his arm. “Are you sure that she wants to be with you? I know that I tried to keep Lee away from me but that was because I had such deep feelings for him and we both knew it. I’ve met Alicia only once, but she seems to be hiding something very deep. Do you think you can break past all of her barriers?”
Brad laid his hand on top of his sister in-law’s and gave it a slight squeeze. “Yes, I know I can. All I need to do is spend more time with her. Cherise, I love Alicia and I’m not going to give up until I’m positive nothing will come of my feelings. Can you understand that?”
Smiling up at him, Cherise nodded her head. “I understand completely,” she replied as she removed her hand from underneath his. “If you need any help from me let me know. I’m very good at setting up a romantic dinner for two and don’t let Lee’s big mouth get you down. I’ll have long talk with him tonight.”
Brad was touched that Cherise wanted to stand up for him. She was a wonderful woman and Lee got very lucky getting Cherise as his wife. She never allowed him to take control of everything and that is what his domineering brother needed: a woman who was his equal but would fight for him too if the situation called for it.
“You don’t need to do that for me. I know how Lee is and I’m just going to blow off what he told me tonight,” Brad said.
“Oh, I’m going to talk to him after everyone has left. He might not understand what he is doing is hurtful to you. So, I don’t want you to think anymore about it. Go home and call Alicia.”
Brad couldn’t keep the shock off his face. How in the world did Cherise know that he was going to do that? He hadn’t even admitted to himself yet that she was one of the reasons he was leaving the dinner early.
“How…”
“Brad, you’re a Drace. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that you were going to call Alicia as soon as you walked out that door. Now, give me a hug.”
Bending down, Brad gave Cherise a quick hug. “My brother really did well by coming to his senses and marrying you,” he whispered in Cherise’s ear making her giggle.
“Lee may not think that most of the time,” she whispered back before he ended the embrace.
“You know that you have Lee wrapped around your finger and soon the babies will too.” Brad hated that Lee was always trying to tell him what to do, but he was glad that Cherise finally gave his overbearing brother a chance.
“Okay…I need to go. Tell Lee that I’ll talk to him later which means that I’ll call him and not the other way around.” Brad wondered if Lee had enough self-control not to leave a message on his cell phone before the night was over.
Laughing, Cherise spun around and headed back towards the dining room. “You know that I can tell your brother that, but if he listens is a totally different thing.”
Brad knew that Cherise was telling him the truth, but she couldn’t fault a guy for trying. Moving back to the front door, he took a last look back at the dining room and listened to the laughter going on before opening the door and going out.
Chapter Two
Glancing down at the cell phone in her hand, Alicia wondered how she was going to present her boss’ idea to Brad. The last time the two of them had spoken to each other things hadn’t gone over too well. She left like she usually did and Brad was upset she hadn’t stayed to talk about their situation. So, she just couldn’t call him up, ask for permission to interview his entire family and think that he would agree to ask them about it.
Brad had asked her out on a date to spend the weekend with his family on vacation, but she’d turned him down flat. There was no way she could spend that time with him seeing how content and loving his brothers were with their families when she was so miserable with her own life.
No!
She wasn’t going to think about that. She loved her job, life and everything else that she had going on for her. Being in love wasn’t in the cards for her right now, so she was going to focus on her career and ending up where she wanted to be in her ten year plan.
Sure, a new job and a bigger bank account wouldn’t keep her warm in the middle of the night. Or listen when she had ideas about work when something good just popped into her head out of nowhere.
Most women needed a man at their side to make them feel worthwhile, but that wasn’t her. She was strong, independent and self-sufficient. She didn’t need anyone there to hold her hand or cuddle up with her on the couch to watch a late night movie.
She had gotten this far in life without help from anyone else and she would continue to do so and in the end all of her sacrifices would have been worth it.
How long are you going to keep lying to yourself, her mind taunted? You know that you want Brad in your life more than anything else in this world. Even landing a bigger office and position at the news station didn’t compare to how much she wanted Brad in her life, but it wasn’t going to occur. She had burnt too many bridges with him.
Alicia shook the crazy thought from her head. She couldn’t let her mind go down that road. She had to focus on one thing at a time. The most important item on her life’s agenda now was her career and she wasn’t about to change that for anyone. If love came to her so be it, but she wasn’t going out looking for it.