Free Private Scandal by Jenna Bayley-Burke Page B

outwards from her core. She released him and rolled to the side, lying beside him as she caught her breath.
    In a moment she would have to get up and dress, grab Cash and tell Brandon to take her back to the apartment. If they wanted to evict her over the dog, it wouldn’t matter. She needed to get far away from Brandon because she obviously couldn’t be trusted within kissing distance of him.

Chapter Five
    “I need you to take me back to Pasadena.” Megan’s warm hand curled around his biceps. Brandon had been listening to her bustle about the bedroom, refusing to open his eyes. Last night had been a doorway back to the way things were, and he’d bolted it shut. He was never going back through it.
    “Brandon, wake up. I have a meeting at ten.”
    His stomach tightened and he opened one eye. He did not want to let her go, not yet, not ever. He wasn’t deluded enough to think that things were back to normal, but at least they were moving in the right direction.
    Megan sat on the bed, fully dressed and looking better than anyone should in her jeans and T-shirt. He cleared the sleep from his throat and wished she’d woken him up in her usual under-the-covers manner.
    “Take your car.” He stretched his arms out, bringing one behind his head and the other around to her.
    “The Bentley is yours now, not mine.” She shifted away from him, clutching Cash to her chest, the dog’s Fendi bag of toys already over her shoulder. “You brought me here. I need you to take me back.”
    “No way. You’re not going to play this game with me again.” He sat up and reached for her, but she stood, still holding on to the dog as if fifteen pounds of puppy were the answer to all her problems. Cash stared at him as if he should know what to do.
    “I didn’t ask to come here and I can’t take Cash on the bus unless he’s in his carrier, and I can’t find one anywhere.”
    “You were going to leave and not even say anything to me?” He tossed back the blanket and stood, his heart hammering in his chest. Two minutes ago he’d thought he’d managed to get his world back in order, and now one small woman had turned it completely upside down. Again.
    “I have nothing to say to you.” She gave him a haughty smile and kept her gaze on his face, only slipping once to check out his morning erection.
    “Try again.”
    “I can’t stay here. I have a fundraising meeting that I need to be at.”
    He studied her for a moment, but he couldn’t pin down how she felt. He should be able to read her, but she had on such a front he couldn’t get past it to discern scared from angry, hurt from confused. “You need to be here. We’ve got to figure us out because I can’t keep going on like this.”
    “There is no us, Brandon. You made sure of that.” A hurt flickered in her eyes that hit him like a kick to the balls. “The Carlton Houses are struggling without my family’s backing, so I have a brainstorming session with the directors to think of some other ways to keep things running. It’s actually important business, not a grown man having a temper tantrum because he wants what he can’t have.”
    He gave her an aren’t-you-funny smile. “I’ll write a check. You’re not leaving.”
    “I don’t want your guilt money.”
    “Don’t let pride get in your way, Megan. Like you said, the Carlton Houses are actually important, unlike a grown woman having a fit because she can’t have things exactly the way she wants them. If the program needs the money, it doesn’t matter where it comes from. It matters to me that we talk this through without needing to trade insults.”
    “Go ahead and send your check. If you won’t take me to Pasadena, I’ll call the car service that will let me take Cash, and not have money for rent next week.” She hitched her bag higher on her shoulder and lifted her chin.
    “You don’t need rent money. You’re staying here.” Brandon shook his head and rounded the bed to where she stood. Megan