An Unexpected Love by Amber Riel (inspirational books for women txt) đ
- Author: Amber Riel
Book online «An Unexpected Love by Amber Riel (inspirational books for women txt) đ». Author Amber Riel
Brandon had to think of a lie and fast. He didnât need them to know about Cassie. âWell, tonightâs not good for me becauseâŠ. My house is a complete messâŠ.â
âAnd Uncle Brandon,â Chris replied as he cut Brandon off, âprobably has work in the morning anyways.â
âWell actually,â Brandon said as he turned toward Chris, âthey gave me a week off.â
âOh they did?â
âYeaâŠ.â Brandon was digging a deeper hole for himself by adding more lies and he began to feel worse and worse with each lie. âA permanent vacation,â he whispered to himself.
âWell, Iâm going to go get the car,â Chris said as he began to leave. âMeet me at the front.â He vanished out of the glass doors.
Brandon the ConfusingCassie worked her way over toward the door and tried to open it. She started trying to reach for the knob when the door opened.
âWhat are you trying to do?â Brandon asked as he walked into the room.
Cassie turned to face him. âTrying to get out.â
Brandon laughed. âI donât think so.â
Cassie eyed her idiot of a kidnapper. âYouâre nothing but a jerk.â She had more to say but decided that it would boost his ego and let the words escape from her mind.
Chris pulled out of the drive way and Jessica was in the passenger seat while Laura sat in the back.
âI think that your brotherâs hiding something,â Jessica spoke with concern in her voice. âHe was acting kind of funny when Laura asked if she could stay the nightâŠ.â
âHeâs probably just stressed. Weâre all stressedâŠ. With work and everything,â Chris replied, shrugging off the odd behavior Brandon had shown earlier.
âYea youâre probably rightâŠ. But still I donât have anything against him; Iâm just kind of concerned.â
âDonât worry, honey.â
âSit back on the bed,â Brandon told Cassie.
âNoâŠ. I have to go to the restroom and I need both of my hands free and you are not going to try anything freaky on me, mister.â Cassie eyed Brandon. âOh yeaâŠ. Your guard dog by the wayâŠ. Needs to go out as well.â
âOkay. Fine.â Brandon held up his hands. He looked at Buck and the dog barked as if to say, âLadies first.â âThen follow me.â
âOkay.â
Cassie followed Brandon to the bathroom. Brandon stopped in front of the doorway. He pulled out his pocket knife to cut the tape off. âDo what you have to doâŠ.â Then his mind jumped to another thought he needed to know but didnât want to know and the question he had to ask was uncomfortable for him. âAre youâŠ. Is itâŠ. UmâŠ. Do I have to?â
Cassie kind of smiled at the manâs embarrassment and she figured he knew what he trying to ask. His embarrassment made him kind of cute and more attractive to her in a way. âNo. That time for me is done for this month so you donât have to worry.â
Brandon held up the knife, feeling the relief flow through his body. âTurn around.â
âWhat are you going to do with that knife?â Cassie asked, kind of worried.
Brandon raised an eyebrow. He couldnât believe Cassie wouldnât trust him, holding a knife. âIâm going to cut your hands off,â he spoke with sarcasm.
Cassie dropped her mouth.
âDonât worry; Iâm just going to cut the tape off.â Brandon cut off the tape and he watched as Cassie walked into the bathroom and closed the door.
âYou better not have a hidden video camera in here somewhere!â Cassie called from the bathroom.
Brandon laughed. âDonât worry.â He decided to add a little joke. âI only do that with the shower.â
âWhat?!â
âJust joking.â Brandon needed to go get more tape. âBuck, watch the door donât let her escape.â He headed toward his room.
A few minutes later, Cassie walked out of the bathroom. She didnât realize that Brandon was heading out of his room with extra tape, while she started to head toward the stairs. âI donât think so,â Brandon said as he grabbed Cassieâs left arm and pulled her closer toward him.
âCrap.â
Brandon looked at Cassie and a thought popped into his head. âThis girl is so beautiful.â His blue eyes locked with Cassieâs dark brown eyes. âYou wouldnât happen to have a boyfriend, would you?â he asked.
Cassie looked at Brandon with a funny expression. Confusion filled her eyes, trying to figure out why he had even asked that. âNoâŠ. Why? Why do you care?â
Brandon thought about his question and was relieved at her reply but also surprised at himself for asking. The words had slipped out of his mouth, uncontrollably. âNo reasonâŠ. I donât know why I even askedâŠ. Just forget that I said anythingâŠ. Okay.â He taped Cassieâs hands behind her back for the second time.
âOkay?â Cassie asked, extremely confused. âWhatâs for lunch?â
Brandon had to think about what he had in his refrigerator. He hadnât gone shopping so there wasnât really any food. âThereâs left over Chinese food from last night.â
âOkay.â
Brandon led Cassie back toward Lauraâs room and he left her in the room. âIâll be back. I have to bring Buck out.â
âOkay.â Cassie walked over to the bed and sat down. She couldnât do anything and if she could there wasnât much for her to do anyway. She just continued thinking about the question Brandon had asked and wanted to know why he had even asked.
âWhy did I ask her that?â Brandon asked himself. âI am such an idiot. I kidnapped her. I shouldnât care if she has a boyfriend or not. What kidnapper does that?â
Buck ran up toward the door. He was ready to head back into the house while his owner stood on the porch, confused. He barked to let Brandon know he was finished.
Brandon snapped back to reality. âOh. Youâre ready to go in?â
Buck barked again as if to say, âYea, Iâm just waiting on you.â
âOkay.â Brandon walked over to the sliding glass door and opened it.
The dog ran inside before the door was closed.
The Sad TruthBrandon carried a tray of Chinese food to Lauraâs room. Cassie sat on the bed, staring out of the window. Part of her wanted to be outside but the other part was glad that she wasnât.
âI brought you food.â Brandon entered the room and sat next to her. âYou want to be outside, donât you?â
Cassie looked at him and sighed. âYeaâŠ. I would probably be outside if you didnât kidnap me.â
âIâm sorryâŠ. I really wasnât planning on kidnapping or killing anyone. Thatâs just how it turned out.â He decided to change the subject because he didnât want Cassie to know the truth. âSo what did you do for your senior year?â
âWell, they took most of our senior privileges away and that just made us madâŠ. How did you know that I graduated anyways?â
âMy friend Zeke told meâŠ. They were talking about it on the news and they mentioned about how you had graduated the night before.â
âOh.â Cassie never considered that the news would mention anything about her graduation. She had figured that the most information about her would be the basic information: her name, weight, and age.
âSo did you go to the prom?â
âYea but I and my best friend Jennie were just about the only two girls without dateâŠ. Our best friend Melinda and her boyfriend, also one of our best friends, Lloyd was there.â
âOh.â
âDid you go to your prom?â
âYea,â Brandon replied. He hadnât sounded too enthused. âThe girl that I liked asked me if I would go with her. I told her that I wouldâŠ. I found out later that she just asked me out to make her ex jealous and that she didnât really want to be seen with me. I was embarrassed. I left after that.â
Cassie couldnât believe that someone would do something that horrible and despicable to Brandon. He was attractive and besides the fact she had witnessed him murder someone she was starting to see the sweet person he was and that his heart was in the right place. âThatâs terrible,â she said as she turned her attention away from him. âI wouldnât have done that to someone,â she began as she turned her attention back toward him, âeven you.â
Brandon raised an eyebrow. There was something in her voice which told him that she might have been started to fall for him. A grin grew on his face at the thought.
Cassie quickly looked away. She knew she just boosted his ego and she wished she hadnât said anything. âI mean,â she said, changing what she had said before, âI wouldnât want a guy to do that to me so I wouldnât do that to him.â
Brandon didnât say anything but he had rather not to make things worse for her.
It was Cassieâs turn to change the subject. âYouâve mentioned that your niece is in and out of the hospitalâŠ. Why is that?â
Brandonâs grin vanished as he looked away from Cassie. The hurt was evident and he bothered him to talk to people about it but he figured that Cassie would find out sooner or later anyways. âWell,â he paused to swallow, âshe has leukemia.â
âOh. Thatâs so sad,â Cassie replied.
âShe was diagnosed with it a couple of years ago. This year could be her last yearâŠ.â
Cassie saw the hurt as she watched Brandon and wished she hadnât asked. âIâm sorryâŠ. I wouldnât have askedâŠ.â
âNo. Itâs not your fault. Itâs no bodies fault. My sister in law is a stay at home mother and I help my brother with paying the bills. At least, until I got laid off from my job thatâs why I---â He stopped himself from finishing the rest of his sentence. He didnât want Cassie to know why he made the horrible mistake. He continued to look away from her. âNever mindâŠ. You donât need to know that.â
An hour later, Brandon stood up and headed toward the door. He stopped and turned toward Cassie. âOh yeaâŠ. Tomorrow, Iâm going to bring you to another room because my niece is going to stay the night and
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