How to Resist Prince Charming(28)

Closing his eyes, he shook his head. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know. I swear to God, I’m not stalking you. I had no idea you worked here.”

“Hey,” Tyler cut in. “Little behind over here. What am I missing? You two know each other, obviously. So, why is it so awful to cross paths?”

Braxton opened his eyes to scowl at his brother while Lenna blushed and quickly bent to retrieve her order pad.

“I’m sorry,” she mumbled, pushing a blond lock of hair behind her ear. “You must be Tyler. You look just like your brother. Except younger.”

Ty’s mouth fell open. He turned to Braxton and whispered, “The goddess knows my name.”

And Braxton was going to pop him in the jaw if he kept looking at the goddess as if he wanted her for the main course. “This is Lenna,” he introduced from between clenched teeth. When his brother stared blankly, he added, “Davenport.”

Tyler’s eyes bugged. “Holy shit.” He looked back up at Lenna. “Wow. You know, I just saw your dad at the office when I picked Brax up for lunch. And he totally tried to marry you off to me. He gave us five years before wedding bells start ringing.” Grinning, he nodded. “I could totally dig that.”

Lenna turned slowly toward Braxton. “Is he serious?”

Braxton slumped deep into his chair and sighed. “Unfortunately.”

She shook her head. “So…you didn’t tell your brother about us then?”

“Us?” Tyler repeated, winging up his eyebrows. “What us? You mean…you-two us?”

Ignoring him, Braxton squinted at her. “What exactly was I supposed to tell him?”

She cringed. “Good point.”

“Wait, wait, wait.” Tyler waved his hands and broke into the conversation. “Are you two…hooking up behind her dad’s back?”

Braxton sighed and rubbed his forehead. “No.”

“But we keep running into each other,” Lenna said, turning a pleading glance to Tyler as if she wanted him to solve her heartache. “And every time we do…”

When her words trailed off, Braxton’s gaze met hers and a novel-full of emotions passed between them.

“Yeah,” Tyler said. “I see now that you’re as crazy about him as he is about you.”

Her eyes flared with surprise. “What makes you think he’s crazy about me?”

Tyler rolled his eyes. “Let’s see. How did he word it. Oh, right. He said you were amazing, sweet, light-hearted, great sense of humor, fun to talk to, and so freaking gorgeous it made his mouth go dry just to look at you.”

Lenna glanced at Braxton, her green eyes wide with surprise. Looking at her made his guts clench...and his mouth go dry.

“Did you really say that about me?”

He sighed. “I really hate my brother’s photographic memory sometimes.”

When she smiled, however, her entire face brightened with pleasure. He was actually glad Tyler had remembered what he’d said, word for word. He loved her smile.

“Oh, that’s it,” Ty announced. “You two totally have to hook up behind her dad’s back. There’s just no way around it.”

Braxton guiltily jerked his gaze off the piece of forbidden fruit in front of him and scowled at his brother. “What are we? Thirteen? We’re not going to sneak around, you idiot.”

Or were they?

Lenna remained tactfully quiet, and kind of pale, while Tyler squawked, “I think you have to. No way can you publically date her right now. Not with Mr. Davenport hating on you the way he does. But no way can you ignore this attraction either, not after I watched you two stare at each other like you did.”

Setting his hand over his heart, he gifted Lenna with a charming smile. “Being the romantic that I am, I’m willing to help you out once. But after that, you two kids are on your own. Got it?”

Braxton frowned. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“Okay.” Tyler lifted his hands as if he had an idea to beat all ideas. “Brax and I will tell dear old dad we ran into Lenna at lunch and that she and I agreed to go out this Friday. That should appease him for a while and throw off the scent.”

With a glance at Lenna, he winced. “Sadly our love affair won’t go happily ever after as your daddy planned. I’m just too immature for you. Or whatever. Bottom line, we were doomed to fail. Meanwhile, you’ll really being with big brother, getting your secret rendezvous on, while he tries to charm your dad back into his good graces, and voilà, once Tom loves him again, you guys can live your happily ever after.”

Lenna and Braxton stared at him with equal expressions of perplexity before Braxton said, “The way your mind works is truly odd.”

“But you two are still totally going to go with my plan, aren’t you?” Tyler sat back and grinned knowingly. “Because you just can’t resist each other.”





CHAPTER 9




Lenna couldn’t believe she was on a date with Braxton Farris. Even as he knocked on her door to pick her up, she kept telling herself to back out and put a stop to this crazy idea.

They couldn’t date. Her dad hated him. And he could end her father’s career in a heartbeat if anything bad happened between them.