The Wrong Right Man(39)

“He was worried about you, Dakota,” he says, seeming to relax, like me thinking Braxton contacting him for the reasons he did is absolutely normal.

“Maybe that’s why I didn’t talk to you about Braxton. You would do the insane things he has done if given a reason or the opportunity.”

“If you mean protecting someone I care about, then hell yeah, I would.”

I groan and lean back against the couch. “I’m surrounded by crazy people.”

He grabs my foot and my attention. “If you tell me I shouldn’t like him, I won’t, Dakota. But I have to tell you he didn’t sugarcoat shit for me. He told me about everything, even about lying to you the night you two met, something you didn’t even tell me about.”

My mouth drops open. “He told you about that?”

“He did.” He smirks. “I mean, if you think about it, that shit is kind of funny.”

I grab the pillow from behind me and toss it at his head. “It’s not funny. Do you know how stupid I felt when I found out I spent the night with a man I didn’t know then later on that he’s actually the CEO of IMG, the company I just started working for?”

“I don’t want to know about you two spending the night together,” he mutters, looking disgusted.

“An amazing night together.” I fight back my smile as his face pales. “Seriously, he’s—”

“Shut up, Dakota.” He throws my pillow back at me, making me laugh. “I never, ever want to hear about what you are doing with anyone behind closed doors.”

“Oh, but it was okay for me to have to listen to you go at it all night with the random women you brought home?”

“It’s not the same thing.”

“Umm, yeah, Jamie, it is. Only it’s worse having to hear the sounds your brother makes when he’s—”

He covers my mouth before I can finish and glares at me. “Okay, fuck, I’m sorry. Just please stop.”

“I’ll stop,” I mumble against his hand, and he lets me go before moving back in his seat, still glaring at me.

Giggling, I take a sip of my tea then rest it on my knee. Silence settles between us, and I jump when my cell in my bag starts to ring. I grab my purse off the floor where I dropped it and dig out my phone. When I see Braxton is calling, I don’t hesitate to put it to my ear.

“If you think calling my brother won you any brownie points, you are seriously confused. I thought I was mad at you before. But now, I’m—” I try to come up with something worse than mad, but I’m so mad nothing comes to mind. “—I’m whatever comes after being mad. Maybe furious.” I end the call before he can even respond and shut off my phone then look at my brother, who is watching me with an understanding look in his eyes. “What?”

“You know, when you were with Troy, no matter what he did, no matter how mad you were at him, you never once told him how you felt.”

“I told him,” I defend myself.

He shakes his head. “You didn’t, Dakota, and I know there were times when you wanted to.”

It’s then I realize he’s right. I never told Troy if he made me mad, if he made me feel uncomfortable or like I couldn’t be myself when I was around him or his family. When I was with him, I felt like I was the lucky one, like I was lucky he wanted me. I never once thought he was lucky to have me.

“I’m not saying what Braxton has done is right or that it’s even okay, but I like that you don’t have an issue telling him how upset you are, even with how much money he has, how much power he has. I think that says a lot. I think it shows just how much you trust him.”

“Trust him?” I frown, thinking trust is a funny word to use when it comes to Braxton.

“I don’t think that unless you trust someone you can ever truly express how upset you are with them and their actions. Showing any kind of emotion lets people know how much power they have over you, and being angry is one of the biggest emotions we will ever experience besides love. You can’t show anger without trust, just like you can’t feel love without trust.”

“Are you saying I’m in love with Braxton?” The thought alone makes me want to run for the hills, but if I’m honest with myself, every time I’m around him, I feel more and more for him and am falling deeper and deeper into the connection we have with each other.

“All I’m saying is it’s nice to see that you can be yourself with a man you obviously care about.”

“When did you Mr. Anti-Relationship, Mr. Anti-Love become the spokesperson for what it takes to build a successful relationship?”

“I know jack shit about relationships. All I know is that you have to trust the person you are with; otherwise, you are both just wasting your time.”

“You know, whenever you do decide to settle down, that girl is going to be lucky.”

“I’m not so sure about that,” he says, and I look into his eyes, seeing his own self-doubt, and set down my cup. I move toward him and rest my head on his chest then wrap my arm around his waist. “I’m lucky to have you, your support, and love, and I know that whoever you end up with will feel the same. You are an amazing man, Jamie. I’m lucky to have you in my life.”

He wraps his arm around my shoulders then kisses the top of my head. “It’s going to be okay. No matter what happens, we’ve got each other.”