Excerpt from "Best-Laid Plans":
After they left, Adrieana gave Brandon a stern look.
"They didn't know what to think. You coming in here all huffy and chewing me out. What were you thinking of?"The gray eyes focused on her, and he looked genuinely surprised. "I wasn't chewing you out.""You weren't exactly friendly, either. What's got into you lately?" He stared down at his cup and swirled the coffee around absently. "Have I been that bad?"She sighed. "You haven't been good. Do you want to talk about what's bothering you?"He nodded and she waited, but he never took his eyes off the coffee cup, and remained silent.She rolled her eyes. "Tonight?" she asked dryly.He glanced up and then smiled. "Maybe not. Why don't I take you out to get something to eat?"She sipped her coffee and eyed him suspiciously. "Trying to get on my good side now? You're not my entertainment committee, you know."He stood and gulped the rest of his coffee. "I'm asking you out. Do you want to go?"She frowned. "You mean like a date?"He took the cup from her hand. "Is the idea so deplorable?"She shrugged. "No, I just thought . . ." She shrugged again. "You mean like a real date? Dinner and a movie . . . a good night kiss and all that stuff?" His smile was sour. "You can forego the good night kiss, if you find it that objectionable."She rose from the table and retrieved her purse. "OK, if we both pay our way - and this isn't real a date. No hanky-panky, you know. House rules.""Oh for . . ." he grabbed her arm. "Come on. Let's go get a hamburger or something." He led the way to the door, all the while muttering something under his breath about something being stupid. Probably the house rules. Hopefully he wasn't talking about her.
