Take My Breath Away (Summers Love Series Book 3)

Chapter Three

The next day, Valentina's ankle was much better and her dad dropped her at the boutique, promising to pick her up too. She had a pair of crutches to help her around as the pain was bearable. She didn't wish to take leave on such a minor issue. 

The small bell tinkled indicating a visitor. So early in the morning? Looking up, her heart skipped a beat as Brody strode into the shop with a grin,"Hi, how are you today? I went to your house and aunt Chloe told me you were here," he said.

"Yeah, I would be bored at home," she said, looking at her desktop, working on some latest designs.

"You should have rested, Brittany would have understood," he insisted.

"It's ok. I'm good," she said.

"I'll take you home when you're done," he said smiling.

"No, dad will pick me up," she said pointedly. Brody's face fell, he was looking forward to again carrying her home. He didn't give the shirt he wore yesterday for washing. He slept with it, smelling her scent on it. 

Disappointed beyond words he said,"Uncle Phil's so busy. Why bother him?" 

"It's ok. Dad can manage," she said, not looking up. When he kept standing and staring at her for nearly five minutes, she looked up. She saw the dejected look on his face and her heart contracted, but she remembered what Alexandra told her and she looked back at her desktop.

"Did you need anything? I've got to finish these by lunchtime," she lied.

Brody nodded his head and turned to go. He couldn't understand her, one minute she seemed to like him and in the next minute, she just hated the sight of him.  Confused, he said,"Ok, see you then," and left with his shoulders drooping.

He dropped by to see her everyday for the next three weeks at the shop but she was always busy and didn't talk to him much. She just couldn't understand why he didn't give up on her when he could have more available girls like Alexandra. 

Alexandra called often to describe her sex life with Brody and she tingled with jealousy all over. However, the heartbreak and disappointment was more compared to the jealousy she felt. 

Next Brody came to her shop with a red rose and a letter for her. "This is for you," he said. He had written what he couldn't say in that small note. 

She took it and kept it on her desk. "Won't you read it?" He asked in confusion. 

"Later, right now a client will come for a meeting," she said and Brody knew she was asking him to leave. 

"Oh ok. Read it and call me," he said smiling and left.

Valentina opened the letter after he went. On it was scribbled,

I love you Valentina. Will you please go out with me to dinner? 

She threw the note in the locker of her desk. Was it a ploy to get into her pants? Yes, it was, she was sure of it.  Alexandra said he didn't do relationships and dating, then why would he claim to love her? It didn't make sense.

Brody waited the whole day and evening for her call. She must have read the note. Then why didn't she call? He went to his room disappointed and picked up a bottle of Jack Daniels and kept downing glass after glass.  

When he couldn't wait anymore, he picked up the phone and called her. "Hello," she cooed into the phone. 

"I love you, Valentina. I love you so much it's hurting me. Please give me a chance, please go out to d dinner, with me?" His words slurred as he talked. Clearly he had been drinking.

"You're drunk? Where are you now?" She asked suspiciously. Maybe he was at a bar trying to find girls to fu*k. 

"No, not much. I'm at home, why?" He asked confusedly.

"Nothing, " she said. So he was at home drinking? She felt bad for jumping to conclusions.

"Go out with me tomorrow, sweetheart? Please," he said, as his eyes felt like they would close anytime. He shouldn't have drunk so much.

"No Brody,  we'll talk when you're in your senses. Good night," she said, disconnecting the call. 

Brody slumped over the bed and was out in a minute. 

Brody might have been drunk but he remembered every word that she said yesterday night over the phone. He had a high alcohol tolerance although he stopped going to the bar long back apart from that one occasion when he went to Austin with Bronson to take out his frustration.  

So the next morning,  Brody decided to pay Valentina a visit as she wanted to talk when he was sober. It had been a month since he'd been visiting her everyday except those two days when he went out of town with Bryce on a project.  

The moment she saw Brody she froze, not knowing what to say to him. She didn't want to encourage him. She didn't want anything to do with him. True she was attracted to him, but that was her problem and she would deal with it, but she wouldn't have a temporary physical relationship with him just for the fun. 

"I'm sober, Valentina. Tell me now, will you go out with me tonight?" He asked again. 

"No Brody. It's not a good idea," she said. 

"Why?" He asked.

"Look I'm not interested in you," she said. 

"Do you love someone else?" He asked, dreading her answer. 

"No, that's not the case. I don't like your ways. My thoughts are different. I can't have a fling with you," she said trying to make him see her point.

"What ways are you talking about?" He asked confusedly.

"I know you don't do relationships and dating. You are just interested in a night of fun. I can't give that to you," she said, getting worked up. 

" I love you Valentina. Why would I want just a night of fun with you?" He asked, confused by her words. He wanted her to be his forever, till he died. Why couldn't she see how much he loved her?

"Do you say this to every girl you meet?" She asked sarcastically.

"No, only you, only you," he said, hurt by her words. Truth was he never loved any girl ever before and now that he really fell in love, she couldn't believe him. "Please  believe me," he whispered. 

" I can't. Tell me then did you fu*k anyone recently in the last two months?" She asked, angry now.

He thought about the one night in nearly two and a half years that he went with Bronson. When he didn't answer, Valentina just huffed angrily, "Just forget it, ok. I don't need an answer. And please, I'm not interested in going anywhere with you," she said, turning to go into the pantry.  She needed coffee for a headache that was coming for sure.

"I'll try everyday to win your trust, till you love me back. I will visit you everyday and you can't stop me. You have to see how much I love you," he said, promising himself that he would win her at all cost.

She walked away inside. He stood there like a statue for sometime and then reluctantly turned and left for home. He wouldn't give up on her. He needed her like the oxygen that he breathed in. 

He tried to win her over everyday for the next six months. He would take out time once in a day to see her. Everyday he bought for her a single red rose and left it on her desk. She didn't take it ever from his hands. She never talked much but he was happy that he could see her everyday, talk to her everyday, even from a distance. 

He didn't know what exactly he did that she hated him so much but he didn't ask her directly. He was scared that she wouldn't let him see her ever, break the little ties that he had with her. He always went out of his way to help her even if it meant travelling all the way from dallas and then carrying piles of clothes from the shop to the warehouse and back for her. He fixed her desktop one day when it crashed. He bought her lunch when she couldn't go out due to work pressure. 

All he wanted in return was a moment with her, maybe a hateful moment for her but it was enough to keep him alive for the day and dream of a better tomorrow.