Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 69025 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 345(@200wpm)___ 276(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69025 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 345(@200wpm)___ 276(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
“No. I want you to go right now.”
“But—”
“Now!” She walked to her front door, unlocked it, and then slammed it behind her.
When the door closed, Rodney saw red. She slammed the door, making it clear that he wasn’t wanted. He couldn’t remember a time when he had not been welcomed in her home. Something wasn’t right. She even turned away from him when he tried to kiss her.
In fact, Brandi had been a little cool toward him lately, as though she were having second thoughts. He would not allow her to get out of the engagement. He fought too hard to win her and no one would get in his way.
He was sure her behavior must have something to do with Mason Collins. She seemed evasive when talking about him. He didn’t like the idea of his woman having drinks with an unattached man. He should probably check out this Collins character and make sure nothing was going on.
If there wasn’t anything, then that was fine. Rodney was sure he could talk some sense into Brandi. But if something happened, he wasn’t above wiping out the competition…by any means necessary.
CHAPTER SIX
“You can’t just keep burying your head in the sand, girl.” Lisa Morgan took a bite of her pizza as she eyed her sister.
“I know, but I can’t break things off with Rodney just like that. He’s been so good to the kids and me. He’s stood by me since Damon died and it would be shitty of me to say, ‘Hey, Rodney, despite everything you’ve done for me, I don’t want to be with you.’” Brandi sighed, pushing her unfinished slice of pizza away from her. She had been agonizing over what to do about Rodney since Friday night.
He called several times, but s”e ha’ refused to answer the phone. By the end of the weekend, he ended up calling more times than she could count. That was disturbing enough, but she was even more preoccupied by thoughts of Mason. Unable to face him, she sent Lisa to pick her son up that Saturday afternoon. Her sister was curious, but she didn’t asked questions until today.
“Gratitude is not a good reason to marry someone. Besides, I’ve told you what I thought about you and Rodney. It’s just not there, babe,” Lisa said around a mouthful of cheese.
“What do you mean?” Brandi asked, although she knew exactly what Lisa was talking about.
“You know damn well what I mean. The sparkle isn’t in your eyes. When you were with Damon, you always had a smile on your face and a twinkle in your eye. It was always Damon this and Damon that. Ugh! It was disgusting to see two people so in love, especially after all those years. Shit, all the romance I get from Ed is if he doesn’t fart at the dinner table. Lord knows he does it freely everywhere else.” Lisa rolled her eyes.
Brandi giggled. She knew her sister and brother-in-law loved each other and their three beautiful girls. “You know as well as I do that Ed is a sweetie. Why do you always say stuff like that about him?”
“Hey, he’s my husband. I know his faults, but if anyone else says anything about my baby, I’d scratch their eyes out. Now stop trying to change the subject. You are not in love with Rodney, so I think the kindest thing to do would be to give him back his ring before a date is set. It will hurt him more in the long run if you keep stringing him along like this.”
Brandi let out a deep breath. She knew her sister was right. When Rodney kissed her and she didn’t feel a spark of passion, she should have known that they weren’t meant to be together.
His kisses left her feeling empty and she certainly wasn’t happy with how he had tried to force his attentions on her. She’d been fooling herself when she thought she could learn to love him. Brandi supposed she would never love him as anything more than a friend.
“I hate to hurt him though. Maybe I should wait a couple of weeks.”
“Why? Call him tonight. What’s the point of waiting?”
“I feel bad.”
“So what? You’ll feel worse if you end up married to someone you don’t love. You never did like to hurt people’s feelings, did you? God, I remember that asshole you dated in high school. You didn’t want to break up with him, either. Instead, you avoided him like the plague.” Lisa chuckled.
Brandi smiled back. “Oh, yeah. He was something else, wasn’t he?”
“He was a piece of shit. I would bet my last dollar that he’s in jail right now.”
“Well, if you can remember me having a hard time breaking up with that ‘piece of shit’ in high school, then how do you think I feel about breaking off an engagement? He’s a decent guy.”