How to Resist Prince Charming(27)

“Jesus, you sure moved from Number One Son to Pile of Horse Shit in those guys’ eyes. They really hate you, Brax, especially Tom Davenport. What’d you do to piss off Dad’s favorite employees?”

Braxton shook his head savagely and snorted. “I breathed.”

“Seriously,” Tyler muttered. “What’d you do?”

“Seriously,” Brax hissed back. “Nothing. Ever since I took over, they’ve despised me on principle alone.” And maybe a little because I didn’t take their dislike so well, he didn’t add.

Tyler frowned and scratched his head. “That’s doesn’t make any sense.”

“Yeah, well…how would you like taking orders from a five-year-old?”

“Huh?”

“That’s how they still see me. That five-year-old brat who used to run amuck through Dad’s office. They can’t respect me and refuse to even try.”

Tyler was quiet a second before he murmured, “Does Dad know how they’re treating you?”

“No, and you will say nothing about this to him. He already has enough to deal with. Besides, I need to find a way on my own to gain their loyalty.”

And nearly screwing Lenna Davenport blind was not the way. Unfortunately.

As if he knew Brax was thinking about her, Ty asked, “So what’s the deal with Davenport’s daughter?”

Braxton flashed him a hard look. How had he known to ask about her? “Nothing. Why?”

“You totally paused when he told you to say how pretty she was. She a dog or what?”

“No.” He shook his head slightly. “No. She’s not a dog.” Not by a long shot.

“A bitch then?”

Braxton glared at him, wanting to hurt him for even suggesting that about her. “No,” he growled.

“Is she—”

“She’s amazing, alright. Sweet, light-hearted, great sense of humor, fun to talk to, and so freaking gorgeous it makes your mouth go dry just to look at her. And f*cking Davenport acted like he wanted to take my head off after I had a single, innocent conversation with her.”

Tyler blinked, confusion skirting his features until his eyes popped open wide. “Holy shit. You like her.”

Groaning out his misery, Braxton yanked his hands through his hair. “You know what; how about you run the company. I’ll take the girl.”

“Damn,” Tyler breathed unable to stop gaping. “You really like her.”

Braxton didn’t answer. Spotting a restaurant straight ahead that served plenty of alcohol, he strode with purpose toward Renneys.

His brother hurried after him. “So, are you this pissy because none of your employees like you or because you can’t have the girl you want without causing more conflict with Dad’s personnel?”

“Neither,” Braxton immediately denied, then just as quickly confessed, “Both. I don’t know. Hell. My whole life pretty much sucks right now, okay?”

Tyler stared at him before shrugging. “Okay.” He followed Braxton into the restaurant and thankfully kept his trap shut for the next few minutes.

Since it was deep into the lunch-hour rush, the place was busy. After a five-minute wait, the greeter showed them to their table. Braxton slumped down and immediately began to drum his fingers on the ecru tablecloth, beyond ready to order a double of whatever liquor they had handy.

“So, I’m guessing it’d totally piss you off if I actually let Davenport set me up with his daughter, huh?”

If glares could kill, Braxton would’ve murdered his brother on the spot.

Ty snickered, way too amused.

Lifting his menu up so he couldn’t see the asswipe’s smug expression, Braxton turned to their mixed drink list, bypassing the lunch special.

“I’m so sorry for the wait, gentleman,” a familiar voice spoke beside him, jarring him alert. “My name is Lenna, and I’ll be your server today. I promise to take excellent care of you. So can I start you two off with a drink or appetizer?”

Disbelieving what he heard, Braxton slowly lowered his menu to look, because no way was she actually—

Shit.

Lenna had turned her attention to Tyler first for his reply. She looked adorable in her black pants, white blouse, and snug-fitting Renneys vest. The red bowtie snapped to her collar reminded him of a cherry topping his favorite dessert. And Braxton did love his dessert.

Her mouth fell open as she met Tyler’s instantly enamored gaze. “Oh my God.” She jerked a startled step back. “You look just like—”

Whipping her attention to Braxton, she gasped as their eyes met. When her order pad slid listlessly from her fingers and fell to the floor, he returned to reality.

“What the hell are you doing here?” he demanded, flinching at how harsh he sounded.

She narrowed her eyes and straightened. “I’m working. What does it look like? What the hell are you doing here?”

Braxton moaned and slapped his elbows onto the table so he could bury his face into his hands. “No, no, no. This is wrong. I distinctly remember your father saying you worked at the Rockford Lounge. Not Renneys.”

With a heavy sigh, Lenna rolled her eyes. “I did. For a like a week. But I’ve been here since forever. My dad always gets the two places mixed up.”