Read Online Seduced by Audra Cole, Bella Love-Wins - Free Book Online Page B

I’m being an idiot for thinking it will work,” I answer.
    “Ouch.”
    “Yeah. That’s my family—a delightful bunch,” I mutter.
    “I’m sorry, Cherry.” He kisses my forehead and pulls me into his arms. “Do you think it’d help if I went to talk to them? Then they can grill me and get it over with.”
    I smile at his offer. “No, I don’t think so. I doubt it would help.”
    “All right, so what do you want to do about it?”
    “Nothing. There’s nothing we can do. Before I left, I told them if they aren’t going to be supportive, they can just stay away from me and keep out of my business. So I’m pretty sure they’re going to be pissed off for a while and not talk to me. Well you know, unless something really important comes up. Like a lost order of tea cups!”  
    I groan and flop onto the couch.
    “Is that dinner?” I say, suddenly noticing the smells coming from the kitchen, almost smoky.
    “Oh, shit!” Brandon bolts back to the kitchen. “It’s okay! Just a little…well done.”
    I laugh and follow him. He has three things on the stove. One of the pots is bubbling over, and the frying pan is smoking. Brandon fans his hands around, trying to dissipate the smell. He lifts the lid, and I catch a glimpse of what appears to be some kind of meat, but it’s pretty much charcoal at this point.
    “You know, the recipe made this all seem a lot easier.” He looks disgruntled as he takes his creation and dumps it into the trash. “You sure you want to get into the cookbook industry? Seems like a racket to me.”
    “What was it you were trying to make?” I ask, trying not to giggle. He looks beyond ridiculous in my hot pink apron with oven mitts on both of his hands, mumbling under his breath as he shuffles around trying to get things under control.
    He starts to answer, but the smoke alarm starts blaring.
    “Son of a bitch!” he yells.
    I completely lose it and start cracking up. I laugh until it hurts, and I have tears in my eyes. Brandon manages to get the fire alarm to stop screeching and shoots me a dirty look. “Well I’m glad you’re entertained.”
    “I’m sorry, babe, but you have no idea how crazy you look right now!”
    He looks down at himself and rolls his eyes. “Okay, fine, the pink apron might be a bit much.” He begins to laugh too. “Although, let the record show, that I am secure enough in my masculinity to wear pink!”
    “Oh, babe, you totally rock the pink!” I wink at him.
    When we stop laughing, he suggests we order pizza and I hastily agree.
    Brandon goes into the other room to call in the order, and I start working on the kitchen. I fill the sink with hot water and start to tackle the pots and pans after dumping the rest of the wrecked food into the garbage.
    I’m busy scrubbing away, when his arms wrap around me and he presses into me, holding me tightly. “So, I did get some news today. Should I wait till you’ve had one of these?” he says before releasing me to pour me a margarita from the pitcher on the opposite counter.
    “That depends. Is this good news or bad news?” I ask. I wipe my hands off before reaching for the glass and taking a deep gulp of the frozen beverage. I lean back against the sink and wait for him to continue.
    “I’m being honored at this banquet for new and upcoming actors,” he says. “The organizers of the event want me to give a speech.”
    “Oh my gosh! That’s great news! Congratulations!”
    “Thanks, Cherry,” he says. “There’s only one problem.”
    “What?” I ask, suddenly not sure I want to hear the rest.
    “Well it’s not for a few weeks, but my manager wants to use it as some sort of publicity springboard and get me on some talk shows and have me do some magazine stuff, so I kind of need to get back to LA sooner than we had originally talked about.”
    “How soon?”
    “As soon as possible, really. He’s trying to have things lined up as early as next week.”
    I nod, absorbing his words and the