“If we’re going out, I need to change.” Jessie headed for the bedroom.
“Put on something sexy,” Bran called after her. “I promise not to drool.”
Jessie just shook her head. Twenty minutes later, she emerged in a short black dress cut low enough in front to reveal the soft mounds of her cleavage. A pair of black high heels added a good five inches, and her long fiery hair hung loose around her shoulders.
“You look luscious,” he said as a rush of heat slid into his groin. She turned to give him a view of the back, showing off the curve of her sexy little ass and great legs. He almost groaned.
“I packed it when we were in Denver, just in case.”
“In case what? In case you wanted to seduce me?”
She laughed, but her eyes sparkled.
“You ready?” He had dressed in black jeans and his tweed jacket over a lightweight black turtleneck sweater. The bandage covering the slash on his shoulder was uncomfortable, but the wound wasn’t serious and he’d be able to strip off the dressing in a day or two. Jessie had fretted over it and babied him so much getting stabbed had almost been worth it.
She slung the strap of a small black handbag over her shoulder and walked ahead of him out of the suite.
The maître d’ at the Ristorante Del Lago seated them at a quiet table in the corner. A man-made lake shimmered outside wood-paned glass doors that slid open in the summer for alfresco dining. The restaurant had a European feel, with terra-cotta tile, heavy wooden beams, warm beige linens, and flowers on the tables.
Bran pulled out Jessie’s chair and seated her, then sat down across from her. He ordered a bottle of Chianti, which the waiter brought and poured, then left them to enjoy for a while before making their selections.
Jessie swirled the wine in her glass and took a sip. “Mmm...nice. What’s the occasion?”
Bran smiled, took a drink of wine. “Maybe I just wanted to do something special for my favorite girl.”
One of her russet eyebrows went up. “Am I? Your favorite?”
He reached over and covered her hand. “You’re my only girl, Jess. The only woman I want. All of this is going to be over soon. When it is, I want you to come back to Dallas with me.”
“What?” She sat up straighter, her eyes wide with shock. She eased her hand away. “Where did that come from? You’ve never mentioned anything like that before.”
Unsure of himself in a way he rarely was, he ran a finger down the side of his glass. “I’m not good at this stuff. Truth is, I never had a reason to be. I never thought I’d find myself in a serious relationship and never really wanted to be. Not until I met you.”
“I can’t believe you’re saying this.”
“Why not? I’m crazy about you, Jess. Surely you can see that. When this is over, I don’t want us to end.”
Jessie’s pretty green eyes filled with tears. “It has to end, Bran. We both know it could never work between us. The kind of life you live? Just because you aren’t in the army anymore doesn’t mean you aren’t a warrior. You’re a bodyguard, for heaven’s sake. You face danger every day.”
“It’s not always this bad. Your dad’s murder and the attempts on your life...that kind of thing doesn’t happen every day.”
Jessie just shook her head. “I don’t want to live like that, worried every time you leave the house you might not be coming home. I saw what my mother went through. I was there when Danny died. Now my father is gone. I want someone I don’t have to worry about.”
Something was squeezing inside his chest. It was a different kind of pain than he had suffered before, not a bullet wound that could be stitched up, but an ache that in some strange way hurt even worse.
“It doesn’t have to be that way,” he said, desperate to make her understand. “People can change. You said so yourself. I can change, Jess. For you. I can be the man you want me to be.”
“Brandon...” A tear rolled down her cheek.
“Just think about it, okay? We have a good thing going. Surely you can admit that much. We’re good together. Really good.”
She swallowed, and he could see she was trying not to break down. “If things were different...if I was different, there is no man on earth I would rather be with than you.”
Bran leaned back in his chair. Something was burning behind his eyes. He took a deep breath. “Is it because of what happened in Mara Ramos’s garage?”
Her fingers tightened around the stem of her wineglass. “For a while that bothered me. But I’ve had time to think about it. I trust you to do what’s right. You were trying to save people’s lives—and you did. This is something else. The life you lead just isn’t something I can handle.”
Inside his chest, his heart beat dully. He thought of Danny. Maybe he didn’t deserve a woman like Jessie. Maybe he was being punished for living when his friend had died.
