He opened his mouth to tell her that technically he was the boss, but changed his mind. Not that he’d put Faith in the same category, but since he had been appointed director of the safety division three years ago, women tended to be more attracted to the money they thought he made than him. His last long-term relationship ended when his girlfriend became angry because Brandon refused to give her two brothers jobs in management with a hefty salary, despite the fact that neither man had a college degree or had ever worked in a company such as theirs. After that, he kept his job and title to himself. “It won’t be a problem. I have enough leave time accumulated to give every employee a week off.” That much was true. He rarely took days off, and his father forced him to take at least one week off for vacation yearly.
She laughed. “Must be nice.”
The warm sound of her laugh elicited a strange stirring in his gut. “It is.”
The nurse came in with Faith’s dinner, placed it on the tray and positioned it in front of her. When Faith said she didn’t need anything else, the woman departed with a smile.
Faith lifted the dome and wrinkled her nose. “Ugh. I’ll be glad to get out of here and get some real food.”
Brandon laughed. “When you’re better, maybe we can go out for dinner or something so you can get that real food. That is if it doesn’t interfere with your business.”
She gave him a shy smile. “I’d like that.”
He wanted to stay and talk to her, but knew she needed to rest. “You should eat your dinner before it gets cold.”
“Gee, thanks,” she said with a chuckle, glancing at the tray. “That dinner can’t come soon enough.”
Looking down at the plate filled with shriveled green beans, dry mashed potatoes and some kind of meat smothered in brown gravy, he agreed. “Yeah.”
“You’re welcome to join me.”
“I would, but I had a late lunch.” In reality, he’d barely stopped for lunch and was starving. But not enough to voluntarily eat hospital food.
“Coward.”
“You’ve got that right.”
Faith winced.
“Pain coming back?”
She closed her eyes for a moment. “Yep.”
“I didn’t mean to stay so long,” Brandon said with concern.
“You didn’t. You helped me forget about the pain for a few minutes,” she added softly.
Their eyes held for a lengthy moment. “Do you want me to get the nurse?”
“I have the call button right here.” She pressed it and moments later a nurse entered.
“What can I get for you?” the nurse asked.
“The pain is back with a vengeance,” Faith said.
“On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate it?”
“Nine and a half.”
Brandon stood off to the side while the nurse checked to see when Faith had medication last. She retrieved the pills from a locked cabinet, placed them in a small cup and handed them to Faith, along with some water.
“Thank you.”
The nurse took the cup, tossed it into the trash and departed.
“That’s my cue,” Brandon said. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” Unable to resist, he reached for her hand, wanting to touch her again, and placed a soft kiss on the back. Her gaze flew to his. Had she felt the same current flowing as he did?
She eased her hand back. “Good night, Brandon, and thanks for stopping by.”
“Good night.” Brandon told himself he wasn’t in the market for a relationship and he needed to put a tight rein on whatever was happening between them, regardless of their mutual attraction. Besides, Faith didn’t live in LA and long-distance relationships had never been on his list. However, he had agreed to take her to dinner, but that was it. One dinner. Nothing else.
“Got a minute, Dad?” Brandon said, entering his father’s office Friday.
“Of course.” As usual, his shirtsleeves were still down and his tie tightened. The man seemed to never break a sweat.
He glanced around the space that would be his, hopefully soon, and took the chair on the other side of the large mahogany desk. “You mind if I take off for the rest of the day?”
His father checked his watch and lifted a brow. “You coming down with something?”
“No,” he answered with a chuckle.
“It’s noon, Brandon. I can’t remember one time that you’ve left this early. Actually, I don’t think you ever have. Most times I have to threaten to have security remove you.”
“That’s cold, Dad. Anyway, I promised to help a friend.”
His dad smiled. “Go ahead. You need to take some time off anyhow. And you know you don’t really have to ask, son.”
“Thanks. What’s going on with that problem?”
His smile faded and he turned slightly to stare out of the large window that took up almost an entire wall. “There’s no change. We need to give it another two or three weeks before deciding anything.”
“You always said that I’m pretty good at negotiating, so like I said before, I’d be happy to help speed things up.”
Facing, Brandon, he said, “Not all things can be done that way, Brandon. Just be patient and enjoy your afternoon off.”
Sighing inwardly, Brandon nodded. “See you on Monday.” Patience had never been his strong suit and, at thirty-three, he didn’t think he’d ever develop the virtue. He stopped at home first to change into shorts and T-shirt, still bothered by his father’s words. His father had assured him that nothing would change pertaining to Brandon assuming the role of CEO. But Brandon couldn’t rid himself of the nagging feeling that whatever was going on would impact him. And in a big way. However, by the time he made it to the hospital, his thoughts had shifted to Faith. He had enjoyed talking with her last night and was uncharacteristically excited to see her. Shaking it off, he tried to tell himself he was just being friendly. Yet, there wasn’t anything friendly about the sensations that spread through him when she greeted him with her amazing smile. Brandon did his best to ignore them.
“Hi, Brandon.”
“Hello, yourself. I see you’re all ready.” She had on the same pants she wore the day of the accident and one of the short hospital gowns. He assumed her top had been ruined in the accident.
Faith frowned. “More than ready to get out of these clothes, take a real shower and do something with this hair.”
He smiled inwardly at Faith’s attempt to smooth down the straight, shoulder-length strands as best she could.
“I’ve already signed the discharge papers, but I need to stop at a pharmacy to fill the prescription.”
“I’m sure we can find one on the way to the hotel. Is there anywhere else you need to stop?”
She sighed. “Yes. I didn’t get a chance to go grocery shopping, so if we can find a store, too, I’d appreciate it.”
“Sure.”
A nurse came in with a wheelchair and asked Brandon to meet them at the entrance.
He took her bag and the flowers, retrieved his