How to Resist Prince Charming(40)

“Uh...” Tom started, making Braxton even more perplexed when the older man blushed. “I was wondering, since you’re going to be in Paris anyway, you know, for business.” He faltered. “Well, it’s just that my daughter, Lenna, has always been fascinated with stuff from France. She took French classes all the way through high school and into college. I just thought...”

He stalled, kicking his foot at the carpet. “I thought it would be nice if you could, you know, find something for me while you’re there. Nothing big. Just...” He shrugged.

Braxton nodded, already reaching for the money. “Sure,” he said. “I can get you a memento for her. No problem.”

But as he took the bills, Braxton’s mind was already buzzing. So, Lenna was fascinated with France, huh? Well now, he might have to do something about that.

He spent the rest of his afternoon planning. As soon as he stepped from the office after work that evening, he slid open his phone and dialed Lenna’s number. She wasn’t scheduled to clock in at Renneys for another hour, so he knew he had a couple minutes to persuade.

She answered his call on the second ring.



“Hey, beautiful.” Braxton’s voice was friendly, and yet it held a steamy pitch that caused Lenna to shiver in delight.

“Hey, yourself,” she returned, grinning. She wasn’t sure how, but just hearing him made her glow. But he didn’t say anything for a moment, and her brow wrinkled. “Braxton?”

“Yeah?”

She laughed. “Was there something you wanted? Or did you just call to say hey?”

“Oh. Sorry. I...” She could hear him blow out a breath. “Yes, I called for a reason. I just...” He fell quiet again.

“Is something wrong?” Her mind automatically went to her father. Had Tom found out about them?

“No. Nothing’s wrong. I just...I wanted to ask you something.”

She rolled her eyes. “Then ask.” It was cute, yet exasperating, when he turned bashful like this.

He chuckled. “Okay, then. I wanted to know if you’d go somewhere with me.”

Now if that didn’t sound outright secretive, she didn’t know what would. Growing suspicious, Lenna squinted her eyes. “Go where?”

Instead of answering, Braxton added, “Just for a couple of days.”

Lenna paused. Ooh...How romantic. He wanted to take her on a getaway vacation. She grinned, picturing a long, cozy weekend at a remote cabin in the mountains away from the rest of civilization, where they’d spend the entire trip in bed, curled around each other and drinking wine in front of a toasty fire.

“Go where?” she asked again, getting excited.

He didn’t speak immediately, and when he finally did, he was completely evasive. “It’s a surprise.”

“A surprise?” she repeated.

She must’ve sounded leery because he quickly replied, “Trust me. I know you’ll love it.”

“Well...” Hmm. Her curiosity kicked into high gear. “When do you want to go? Or am I not allowed to know that either?”

She could practically hear him wince. “That’s the bad part. We’d have to leave Thursday afternoon and we wouldn’t return until Sunday. So, I’m sure you’d have to take off work a couple of days if you went, but if you don’t want—”

“Have to leave,” Lenna said, interrupting him. “Why would we have to leave then?”

“Well, uh, funny thing about that,” Braxton answered. “I...I kind of already booked the reservations.”

“You what?”

“Please don’t take that to imply you’re duty-bound to go; you can back out at any time. I’m sorry, I just kind of lost my head and made these spur of the moment plans. By the time I’d already...well, by then it was, like, ‘Oh hell, maybe I should’ve asked her first, huh?’ But you’re not obligated at all. It’s not that important. I’ll be going for business anyway. So, if you can’t get off work, or...or even if you don’t want to—”

“Actually, it sounds like fun,” Lenna cut in.

Braxton drew in a breath and then, in a stunned voice, said, “Really?”

She rolled her eyes again even as she grinned. He could be the sweetest man when he was in shy-and-insecure mode. “Sure. I’ve worked for some people in the past, and they owe me one, so I’m positive I can get someone to take my place at Renneys. I love the idea of going to a surprise, mystery place with you. Besides, I’m sure I can coax the secret out of you before we leave.”

Braxton sounded more like his confident self when he answered, “Oh, we’ll just see about that.”





CHAPTER 13




As Thursday approached, Lenna grew increasingly energized about her mystery weekend with Braxton. He called at least once a day to make sure she hadn’t backed out of their plans. Then he threw in a tidbit of advice on what to pack, which only added more intrigue. By Thursday, she had concluded they were not headed toward a remote cabin in the mountains.

Braxton had instructed her to pack at least one formal dress, leading her to believe they’d be going out into public and somewhere fancy at that.

But on his next call, he recommended she bring along a pair of comfortable walking shoes. Trying to get a bead on their destination, she asked if she should pack for a warm or cool climate. Maybe they were going to Florida. But Braxton had been clueless as to what the weather would be like there, so he told her to prepare for both extremes.