“I wasn’t being critical,” she defended. “I hardly ever drink, either. Maybe an occasional glass of wine with dinner. And I’ve always admired you for being a practical nerd.” The world’s hottest nerd, but I won’t say that.
“Nerd? Is that what you were going to say? Or were you planning to call me a coward?” He threw his wadded napkin on the table.
“Why on earth would I call you a coward?” If Bran hadn’t looked so furious, she would’ve laughed out loud. “You’re not afraid of anything. You face the world every single day without the benefit of sight, and look what you’ve accomplished. No one can call you a coward.”
“Stop it! Stop saying what you think I want to hear.” He pushed back from the table and stood up. He pivoted behind his chair, his knuckles white as he gripped the back. “You don’t have to lie. I’m not going to fire you, Stephanie. I couldn’t, even if I wanted to.”
She flinched at his wrath, wondering what she’d done to rile him up. For two years he’d been as steady as a rock, seldom displaying any emotion at all. She had no idea how to act around this new Branson. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled.
“Do you know why?” he bellowed. “Do you know why I can’t fire you?”
“No,” she croaked, barely holding her emotions in check.
“Because I made a mistake with you. A huge mistake. I let myself…” He stopped, covering his face with his hands. “I can’t believe I’m telling you this.”
What was he trying to say? A seed of hope sprouted in her heart. Had he developed feelings for her, after all? Did he regret proposing to Carina?
“What is it? You can tell me,” she encouraged, her voice barely above a whisper.
“I’m weak, and I despise weakness.” He let his hands fall to his side, as if surrendering to his emotions. “I let myself become dependent on you. So dependent, I can’t function without you anymore.”
Her heart sank like a lead weight, a surge of revulsion shooting up. “That’s it? That’s what you’re agonizing over? You need me? So I’m like a… like a shoehorn or something? Useful to perform certain tasks? And you’re so tough, you can’t stand needing a little help?”
“Don’t you see?” His face turned red, blood vessels bulging at his temples. “I have to be able to rely on myself and no one else.”
“Why?” She was on her feet and in his face. “What’s so terrible about needing someone else? We all need each other. That’s what life’s all about.”
“You don’t,” he insisted, though he took a step back. “Your husband left you, and you got a job and took care of yourself and Ellie. You proved you didn’t need anyone.”
“No.” She stomped her foot so hard it stung. “All I proved was I didn’t need Jeff. But my life would be a wreck without Laurie. And if you hadn’t given me this job, I don’t know what I would’ve done. I need people now, more than ever.”
“But—”
“So stop feeling sorry for yourself. It’s…” She struggled to find the appropriate word. “It’s unattractive.”
For a fleeting second, she thought she saw a smile on his face. “Unattractive? Shouldn’t you use a term I’d understand better? What does a blind man know about attraction?”
This was a recurring joke, whenever she used terms associated with sight, which happened all the time. But Steph wasn’t ready to let go of her irritation. “Okay, how about this? It’s ridiculous.”
“Ridiculous? Not sure I like that one better.”
“It fits, though.”
His hand lifted, rubbing his temples. “I apologize again. I don’t know what’s wrong with me, lately. I don’t usually—”
“Lose control,” she finished the sentence for him. “I know. I was thinking the same thing. It’s not like you.”
He tapped his foot on the floor, squinting like he was deep in thought. “I want you to go with me to Las Vegas.”
“What? I can’t. I can’t leave Ellie for an entire weekend.”
“It’s one night. We leave on Saturday, come back on Sunday. Laurie will be here with her. And I’ll give you an extra week of vacation, anytime you want.”
“Seven days? Any time I want them?”
“Yes.”
“Just to be clear—those are twenty-four-hour days we’re talking about?”
His smile crooked to the left, the way it always did when she caught him off guard. He lifted his hands in surrender. “I’ll put it in writing, if you don’t trust me.”
“What about Carina? I doubt your fiancée will want me to tag along.”
For a moment, his expression clouded. Then his grin was back, infectious as ever, dimples flashing. “It’ll be fine. Finn decided to fly out with us. I’ll say he invited you. I’m sure he’ll go along with it. You’ll be Finn’s date, of sorts. You can dress up and go everywhere with us.”
“Wait a minute. This can’t possibly work.” Stephanie’s head swirled. “I’ll stand out like a sore thumb with you and your friends. Why do you even want me to go?”
In a blink, his grin was gone. “You can’t tell a soul.”
“I won’t. You know I’d never tell anyone.”
His face paled and he reached out to grip the chair again. “I haven’t gone anywhere in a while. I get these panic attacks when I leave the property, and you…” He swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “You make me feel secure.”
Her heart melted like warm butter. After two years, he finally trusted her enough to be vulnerable. In her heart, she’d always known he could never love her. If she could never be more to him than a security blanket, she’d take what she could get.
“Okay. I’ll go to Vegas.” She saw his tense countenance relax, and added, “But Branson…”
“Yeah?”
