Always(Time for Love Book 4)(10)

“But I want to do it,” Brenna insisted. “And I can help get your other temps organised.”

Tracy chuckled. “I can still remember the time when Bren organised this whole kitchen when she was about fourteen. I thought I had everything in its proper place, but she made it so much more efficient.”

“I remember that,” Gemma said. “And she wouldn’t let any of us help.”

“That was because she dropped and broke three of Mum’s favourite plates and was making up for it,” Amanda said, laughing. “Anyway, Ash, if you’re desperate for someone who can hit the ground running, you know Brenna’s your girl.”

Ash shook his head again. “It’s a receptionist job. She won’t get paid her usual—”

“Oh, Ash. You know it’s not the money,” Brenna interrupted. “I don’t want to take time off work only to twiddle my thumbs. I could start helping you guys out from Monday.”

“Don’t be silly, Bren. You’re not taking time off from your job to work at my clinic. Your leave days are for breaks and relaxation. Save them for those.”

“But I have plenty, and I’m being asked to take some soon. I don’t need the break,” she said stubbornly. “I’m not stressed. Like I said, this is a quiet time at work for us.”

“So shouldn’t you be taking advantage of this quiet time to do things you enjoy outside of work?” he countered. “In a couple of months, you’ll be very busy again. It doesn’t make sense for you take on the stress at the clinic.”

Brenna left the stove to walk to where he was sitting. She stood in front of him—close enough that her leg touched his knee. “I’m sure I’ll enjoy working at your clinic, Ash. And I’d love to see what your days are like first-hand,” she said, her eyes wide and pleading.

He felt himself melting.

Damn it, Ash. Look away.

But he couldn’t. Not when Brenna Ward was staring at him with those beautiful brown eyes which were urging him to agree. Not when his knee was enjoying the contact with some part of her body. Not when she seemed to want to do something for him.

“Why do you want to do it?” he croaked, hanging on to a sliver of the self-control that was being rapidly wiped out by her proximity.

“I want to help you. And I think it’ll be fun,” she said, grinning and doing little claps with her hands.

Unbidden, his lips tugged up at her expression. “Hey, I didn’t hear me say yes.”

“But you’re going to,” she said with certainty.

He frowned. Was he that obvious? “No.”

“Oh, come on, Ash. Please?” Brenna said, blinking rapidly.

His eyes widened. Was she batting her eyelashes at him on purpose? She’d never done that to him before.

“Okay, I’ll mention it to Dora tomorrow,” he heard himself say.

“Good,” Brenna said with an utterly cute smile. She leaned down and kissed him on the cheek, then went back to her cooking.

“I still don’t understand why you want to do it,” he said, gathering back his composure that she’d so easily shredded with a look.

Brenna shrugged. “It’s a different kind of challenge. Besides, how could I resist when chaos is calling to be put to order? I’m already looking forward to it.”

Ash raked his hair, cursing himself for being so pathetic. Seriously, he’d have to work harder on his self-control. How on earth would he be able to continue cutting out his romantic feelings for her if she’d be around him every day for the next two weeks?





CHAPTER FOUR


Brenna caught Gemma narrowing her eyes at her as she walked back to the stove.

“Sneaky,” Gemma whispered. “Have you been planning that for days?”

Brenna grinned as she checked her simmering dish. “No. I saw an opportunity and jumped on it.”

That Ash had caved in to her made her happy. It meant he was affected by her little flirtation, right? She hoped so.

It had been so long since she’d spent time with Ash outside of group get-togethers, so she was thrilled that she was going to see him almost every day for two weeks without his sister and the rest of their friends hanging around.

She smiled at herself, now fully accepting her feelings for Ash.

Ash being a brother figure had been comfortable and familiar, and she’d been scared of letting that go. But things had changed. The fact that her friends—especially Amanda—weren’t against the thought of her and Ash together was giving her the courage to face her feelings and act on them.

Since that day at Bondi Beach, Ash was all she could think of, and she couldn’t seem to stop herself. Even her tug-an-earlobe ritual had lost its potency. She’d literally had dreams about him almost every night—some of them were so vivid she still blushed every time she recalled those hot dreams where she’d run her hands and tongue on that sexy body of his. She’d been daydreaming about him throughout the day, too! How crazy was that? More than one workmate had commented she’d been off the planet lately. And now here she was, volunteering to use her annual leave days to help out in his clinic for two weeks.

Yeah. She’d gone bonkers for sure. One minute, she was lamenting how her relationship with Lance was going nowhere, then the next minute she was being swept away by intense feelings for Ash. It excited and frightened her in equal measure.