Warm regards,

Chris

Regina put the card back in the bigger envelope as she heard the door downstairs open. Unable to resist, she pulled out the book to see which one it was: Endless. She smiled. It was one she hadn’t read yet. She flipped it open to get a sneak peek of the inscription and was startled by how fast Brandon had made it to the top of the stairs.

Catching herself, she slowed down after instinctively shoving the book back in the envelope in reaction. She could’ve kicked herself for being so stupidly obvious about it.

“Is it a secret?” Brandon asked, peering at the envelope as he walked toward the bed.

He placed the box with the chair on the end of her bed, but his eyes were still on the envelope.

“No,” she said, clearing her throat a little. “It’s just a book—a romance novel by one of my favorite authors. My friend had it signed by the author and sent it to me.”

She smiled, trying to make light of it. As surprisingly comfortable as it was to talk to Brandon, this was not a topic she was ready to talk about. Telling him about her former therapist was something she hadn’t even decided if he needed to know at all. She pulled her legs off the side of the bed and pointed at the box he was now working on getting open. “That’s a good size. I didn’t know they made them that small.”

Brandon eyes went from her to the envelope then back to her. She knew he must be wondering about it still. She’d already bypassed his question earlier about not being curious about the package. Then she’d obviously waited for him to leave to open it, only to practically gasp when he’d walked back in the room so quickly.

To her surprise, he didn’t press further. But the raised eyebrow remained up even as he spoke of the chair. “I noticed your shower is on the small side, so I got the smallest one they had.”

He pulled the chair out, made some adjustments, and then walked over to the bathroom. “Yep,” he said. “Perfect fit.” She smiled as he walked out. “Did you want to take a shower now or later?”

“Now is good.”

He walked over and helped her up. She was getting better about walking on just one crutch. Her ankle was still very sore, but at least, the throbbing had subsided, so she didn’t need such a big dose of her painkillers. They made her feel sluggish, and today she hadn’t even taken them. Regina wasn’t sure if it was the distraction of having Brandon around or if her ankle was healing a lot faster than she was expecting. But if the pain didn’t get any worse than it was now, she probably wouldn’t be taking any more meds from here on.

Brandon helped her all the way into the bathroom. Then she waved at him with a smirk. “I got the rest from here.”

“You sure?”

Regina laughed. She was beginning to love seeing his playful side. The fact that not too long ago she’d actually wondered if he ever smiled made the silly grin on his face now feel like that much more of a treat.

“Yes, I’m sure,” she said, leaning in and kissing him.

He brought his hand around her waist and kissed her a little deeper before pulling his face away. “I’m serious. You sure you’re gonna be okay on your own?”

“Absolutely,” she assured him. “But I’ll probably be in here a while, so if you have anywhere else you need to be or any errands to run, by all means, go.”

Frowning as she once again rejected his help, he exhaled. “I have a few phone calls I need to make, and there’s something I needed to do at the base but was going to wait until Monday. Maybe I can knock it out today. You sure you’re gonna be a while and you don’t need me here?”

“Positive, and even after I’m done, I’m sure I’ll find a way to keep myself busy.” She squeezed him. “Just get back in time for our movie night.”

“Oh, I’ll be back way before that.”

After a few more kisses that had her wondering if maybe she should’ve taken him up on his offer to help her in the shower, he was gone.

Just as she anticipated, the shower took forever. Moving around with that damn splint and trying not to put weight on her ankle slowed everything down. She had plenty of time in there to think about what was happening between her and Brandon.

The untimely delivery had interrupted a conversation that had begun to make her insides wild. Was he really going to suggest a relationship? Or was it his way of trying to warn her he didn’t do them and this weekend was just an exception? On the other hand, he’d been pretty aggressive about getting down to the business of whether or not she was single.

Was she ready to move on as Dr. Devereux had insisted she needed to? As much as she’d enjoyed her single status in college before settling down—which had given her the opportunity to deal with a lot of different personalities—she’d never met someone quite like Brandon. He’d proven he could be such a sweetheart already, but there was something deep in those eyes that could go hard in an instant. She’d seen it happen several times now.

He admitted to never wanting to make attachments and that he had no family, nor did he mention any friends or acquaintances. That was a little alarming as well. Was it really a good idea to finally start to move on with someone like Brandon, so intense and atypical, which most likely translated to difficult?

Sure he’d been easy enough to get along with now that he’d finally come around. He’d been wonderful actually, and while he had his intense moments, he could be so down to earth. Even their kisses felt like something they’d been doing forever. But they hadn’t gotten into any heavy subjects yet. Everything so far had been light and fluffy. There was no hiding the fact that they were both skimming the heavier stuff and allowing each other to do so. Avoiding the tougher subjects was not the smartest way to start a relationship, but she’d tread cautiously for now.