"Have I told you yet how incredible you look tonight?" Bradley said as they pulled into Russell's already jam packed gravel parking lot. Isabelle blushed and nodded.
"You've mentioned it." she replied. She was very happy that she had borrowed these tight dark denim jeans from Trisha and even happier that she had borrowed the dark red satin tank top from Chelsea. The shirt had a low neckline and it hugged her tiny chest and showed off her small waist. She had left her shoulder length auburn hair down and even added some curl to it after Trisha had threatened to murder her in her sleep if she tried to wear it up in her usual ponytail. She had borrowed some black kitten heeled shoes from Chelsea and hoop earrings from Trisha to finish off the look. They had even let her borrow make-up since she had lost all of hers in the fire.
All in all she was very happy with the way she looked tonight. It had been a long time since she'd worried about looking good for a man but she had wanted to look good for Bradley… And judging by the way his jaw had dropped when she'd stepped out of the bathroom he had definitely thought she looked good.
"You really do look great." he said as he put the truck in park and looked over at her. He gave her a goofy grin that made his crooked nose look more crooked and instead of taking away from his handsomeness it made him look even more boyishly charming.
"Thank you." she said with a laugh. "You look pretty good yourself." she said though that was an understatement. He was wearing his usual jeans, flannel shirt with rolled up sleeves, boots and baseball cap and she was glad for that. She couldn't help but think that he would look ridiculous any more dressed up than that. It just wouldn't have been him.
Bradley got out of the truck and walked around and opened her door. She was beginning to get used to his gentlemanly gestures like these, though at first they had come as a big shock. She had not known that men who opened doors, held umbrellas, and listened when women spoke, still existed. She watched him reach into the backseat and pull out his guitar case and then he wrapped his free arm tight around her waist and led her into the crowded, smoke filled honky tonk.
"Here he is! The man of the hour!" A man shouted as he walked over to them. He was tall and he was nearly as big as his voice as he slapped Bradley on the back. He had a thick black beard and mustache and dark eyes and Isabelle couldn't help but be a little intimidated.
"Hey Russell." Bradley said. "This is Isabelle. Isabelle, this is Russell. He owns this shit hole." Russell laughed and it was just as loud and booming as his voice was.
"Nice to meet you, Isabelle." he said holding out a large roughly calloused hand. Isabelle laid her much smaller hand in his and he shook her arm with so much enthusiasm she was afraid it might pop off at her shoulder.
"Alright Russell, give the woman back her arm." Bradley said with just a hint of jealousy in his voice. The jealousy surprised him. He had never been the type to be jealous but for some reason he didn't like the way Russell, and every other man in this place, were looking Isabelle up and down.
He wrapped his arm tighter around her waist giving her a possessive squeeze that even she understood meant 'mine'. Russell chuckled and let go of her hand.
"I don't believe I've ever seen you bring a lady friend in here before." Russell said matter of factly. He had been shocked as hell actually to see Bradley, the man who claimed there wasn't a woman in the world that could make him give up his freedom, come walking in here with his arm wrapped around this beautiful auburn haired woman.
"That's because I haven't ever brought one in here." Bradley replied. "Now if you'll excuse us I think you got some drunks wanting something to drink and I'd like to get Isabelle settled in with Trisha and Chelsea before I start my gig."
"How long do I get you for tonight?" Russell asked.
"One hour. Not a second longer. I have more important things to do tonight." Bradley replied looking down at Isabelle. Isabelle felt herself blush.
The two of them walked around the crowded honky tonk, pausing every few moments to talk to people along the way. It had been a long time since Isabelle had been in a bar and she had never been in one as laid back as Russell's but she found herself quickly warming up to the place and enjoying herself.
"There you are!" Trisha said bouncing over to them in a barely there black dress.
"What the hell are you wearing?" Bradley demanded. Trisha rolled her eyes.
"I'm a grown woman, Bradley, I can wear what I want to." she said. Then she looked him up and down and curled her nose.
"What about you?" she asked. "Don't you own anything that isn't flannel or denim?" Bradley seemed to think for a minute and then said,
"Should I have worn a black t-shirt instead?" Trisha rolled her eyes.
"You're hopeless."
"He's sexy." Isabelle cut in without really thinking about what she was saying. She had just wanted to come to Bradley's defense. She bit her lip and looked over at him to see if he was embarrassed that she had said that but he had that same goofy smile on his face that he'd had almost all night. He stuck his chest out and raised his brow as he looked down at Trisha.
"What do you think about that?" he asked. Trisha gagged theatrically several times.
"What's wrong with her?" Chelsea asked walking over with a beer in her hand.
"Isabelle thinks I'm sexy." Bradley replied matter-of-factly which made Isabelle flush an even deeper shade of red and cover her face with her hand.
"I guess you might be in a lumberjack, country boy, cave man kind of way." Chelsea said giving him an analyzing once over.
"Should I be grossed out because my sister just told my brother he is sexy?" Trisha asked Isabelle. Isabelle just shrugged and looked at the man and woman that were approaching them. Bradley had told her that his mom and dad would be here tonight and there was no doubting that this man was Bradley's father.
He was the same height and build and had the same hair, eyes and nose as his son (though his did not appear that it had ever been broken.)
"Isabelle, this is my mom Heather." Bradley said pointing to the woman who had short blond hair, a plump waist and a warm smile. "And this is my dad, Ethan. Mom, dad, this is Isabelle my….." Bradley stopped talking. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to say Isabelle was.
"His woman is what he called her this morning." Trisha said with a grin. Bradley glared over at her and Isabelle blushed yet a deeper shade of red. Heather and Ethan both looked at Isabelle with different degrees of shock. This was the first 'woman' of their sons that they had ever met.
"Hello Isabelle." Heather said overcoming her shock first. "It is a pleasure to meet you." Isabelle smiled.
"It's a pleasure to meet you as well." she said politely. Ethan just grunted and looked around the bar.
"Let's find a place to sit, dear." he said taking Heather's arm and leading her away.
"Sorry about him." Bradley said after they'd walked away. Isabelle could see a hint of sadness in Bradley's green eyes and she wished she could make it go away.
"He didn't act to happy to see me." she said. Chelsea shook her head.
"It wasn't you, Isabelle. He and Bradley haven't seen eye to eye since Bradley graduated high school." she said.
"Yeah every move Bradley has made since then has been the wrong one in our dad's eyes." Trisha added while dancing by herself to the music from the jukebox.
"That's enough about that." Bradley said and all three women recognized the tone in his voice that told them he expected to be listened to. "I don't want to talk about him anymore. I want to have fun with my woman." Isabelle couldn't help but smile when she saw the questioning look in his eyes. It was as if he was asking her permission to call her his woman. She found the term 'his woman' to be a little cave manish but it worked because Bradley just seemed like that type. She rose up on her toes and pressed a gentle kiss to his cheek and he turned his face to brush his lips against hers, sending electricity shooting between both of them, before Trisha pushed them apart.
"That's enough of that!" she said with a happy smile. "You're adoring public is waiting on you to put on a show, big brother." she added to Bradley. Isabelle looked around and saw that most people's eyes were indeed on them. She blushed and buried her face in his chest.
"Go sit with Trisha and Chelsea. One hour is all I'm singing, I promise. After that I'm all yours."
"I've always dreamed of going to a Brad Thompson concert." she replied with a smile.
"So I'm making your dream come true tonight then?" he asked with a wicked grin. Isabelle blushed. She was hoping that he would be the man to make more than just one of her dreams come true.
"Yes you are." she said.
"Come on, lover girl, let's go sit down." Trisha said grabbing her arm and leading her to a table close to the stage.
Bradley climbed up on stage while Russell set the lights on dim around the bar and brightened them above Bradley's stool. He opened his guitar case and pulled out his acoustic guitar. He knew electric guitars were more popular but he had always hated the sound of them.
He pulled out his pick and strummed it across the strings several times. Isabelle sat there watching him. She was completely mesmerized and when he starting playing his guitar and his strong smooth voice began to fill the quiet she thought for sure she was going to melt into a puddle on the floor of Russell's dirty bar.
He sang a number of songs while sitting on that barstool and more than once Isabelle found that his eyes were locked on her. He was singing songs about love and longing and he was looking deep into her eyes with every word he sang. She wanted to believe that he was singing, not just to her, but for her. She wanted to believe that he meant every word he was singing.
She knew it was too soon. She knew that she had not known him long enough and that the things she was feeling were completely illogical but since when did the heart care about logic? She was pretty sure that she loved Bradley and that scared the hell out of her and filled her with anticipation at the same time.
Trisha and Chelsea tried several times to include Isabelle in their conversations but quickly realized that she was a lost cause as she stared at their brother with stars in her eyes.
"Told you that I knew what I was talking about." Trisha said taking a sip of her beer. Chelsea looked at Bradley who was staring straight at Isabelle as he sang of soul mates and true loves and she nodded.
"You were right. I never thought I would see our brother look at a woman like that." she said.
Bradley sang for exactly one hour and then he left the stage much to the displeasure of nearly everyone in the bar. Isabelle noticed that Ethan walked out of the bar the second Bradley put his guitar back in his case. Heather kissed her son on the cheek, offered a warm smile and farewell to Isabelle and then followed her husband out the door.
Someone fired the jukebox back up and a slow love song filled the bar. Bradley grabbed Isabelle's hand and pulled her to her feet.
"Dance with me?" he asked. Isabelle bit her lip.
"I don't' really know how to dance." she admitted. He shrugged and flashed his handsome smile.
"Me either. But luckily this is a slow song and we can just spin real slow in a circle and pretend we know what we're doing." Isabelle laughed and let him pull her over to the crowded dance floor. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he wrapped his tight around her waist.
"So how did you like your first Brad Thompson concert?" he asked as they spun in slow circles.
"Too short." she replied with a smile.
"Don't worry, Isabelle. I'll put on a private concert for you anytime you want." he promised and she felt herself shiver with delight as all sorts of images flashed through her mind of what she would like to do with him in private. She blushed as her own thoughts shocked her. Bradley saw her blush and he knew where her mind had gone because his mind had gone to the same place.
"It's good to see you having fun." he said. Isabelle threw her head back and shook out her hair.
"It feels good to have fun." she replied. "It's been too long since I was able to just relax."
"Relaxation looks good on you." he said. Trisha came up to them. Bradley threw a deadly glare at the man who was holding Trisha in his arms and Isabelle could tell instantly that he must be a very overprotective older brother.
"Where's mom and dad?" Trisha asked ignoring the glare Bradley had thrown her date. Her date on the other hand looked a little nervous as he swallowed hard and put an extra inch between his and Trisha's bodies.
"Gone." Bradley replied and then he shrugged. "You know dad." Trisha shook her head.
"Well we'll leave you two lovebirds alone." she said with a laugh and then she led her date away from Bradley's glaring eyes. Bradley looked back down at Isabelle and realized she was looking up at him with sadness in her eyes.
"What's wrong?" he asked with concern.
"I guess I feel bad because you have done so much to help me and now you're sad and there isn't anything I can do." Bradley's brow furrowed as he looked down at her.
"What makes you think I'm sad?" he asked.
"I can just tell." she replied and the fact that she could tell surprised her. She had not known Bradley for very long but she could already read his face.
"I know one thing you could do." he said raising a brow and grinning. Isabelle did her best to look confused.
"What would that be?" she asked fighting back her smile. Bradley didn't reply. Instead he lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her gently. His lips ached to deepen the kiss and his body was screaming for more of her but he kept the kiss gentle. He heard her whimper when he pulled away and he knew she was wanting more as well.
He laid a gentle kiss to her forehead as a faster paced song began to play.
"Time to go sit down." she said finding that she still sounded a little breathless from Bradley's kisses. "I would hate for you to make fun of my mad dancing skills."
"I would never make fun of you." he replied as he wrapped his arm tight around her waist and led her to an empty table. "But you might make fun of me. There is a very good reason I always sit on stools during my performances." Isabelle laughed and sat down in the chair he had pulled out for her.
They sat at that table for what felt like hours laughing and talking. Neither could believe the comfort and ease they felt with the other. It was as if they'd known one another for their entire lives.
Bradley noticed that Isabelle was looking tired. After a particularly loud yawn from her he chuckled and look down at his watch to see that it was midnight.
"Tired already? You're not like Cinderella, are you, with a midnight curfew?" Isabelle laughed.
"Yes, I'm tired but no, I'm not like Cinderella. This is the latest I've been up in a long time. You seem to be forgetting that I have a three year old that is a very early riser." Bradley shook his head.
"I could never forget about, Princess Sara." he said standing up. He reached out his hand and helped Isabelle to her feet. "Come on, sweetheart, I'll take ya home." Isabelle had always hated when a man called her sweetheart but coming from Bradley's mouth the word had never sounded more perfect.
He grabbed his guitar case in his free hand and led her out to the truck. Once they were both settled inside the vehicle and starting down the road in the darkness Bradley looked over and saw that Isabelle was falling asleep where she sat. He chuckled and patted his shoulder.
"Go to sleep, sweetheart." he said. Isabelle was too tired to argue and so she scooted closer to him and he wrapped his arm tight around her while she laid her head against his chest. He was humming quietly and looping her hair around his finger and it didn't take her long to fall fast asleep in the comfort and warmth of his arms.
888
Edgar Ross closed his cell phone after Brad Thompson and his date walked out the door of the bar. He could barely contain his excitement. He was going to be rich! He had found Brad Thompson. He would stay in town a few more days getting more pictures and videos of the man and then he would take them back to the city and figure out what magazine would pay him the most for them.
He took a sip of his beer and leaned back in his chair with a smug smile on his face. The retired and elusive Brad Thompson was about to make him a very rich man.
888
"Wake up, sweetheart. We're home." Bradley chuckled when his words did nothing but earn a grunt from Isabelle as she tried to snuggle closer to him. He slid out of the truck while holding her in his arms and she wrapped her arms tight around his neck. He cradled her against his chest and carried her inside. He left the lights off so she wouldn't wake, though he doubted an atomic bomb would wake her at that point.
He carried her to her room and laid her down gently on the bed. He pulled her shoes off and covered her with the quilt and then he started the process of dragging himself out of her room. Everything in him wanted to stay with her but he wasn't sure she would want him to. He was in the doorway when her voice filled the silence.
"Bradley?" he turned and smiled over at her. She was still more asleep than awake.
"Get some sleep, Isabelle." he replied.
"Hold me." she murmured softly. Bradley's felt his will power crumble. There was no way he could walk out of this room now. Not when she was looking so soft, vulnerable and warm in that bed and not with her sweet voice asking him to stay. He pulled off his boots, hat and flannel shirt and climbed into the bed behind her. Her back was to his chest and he curled his body up against hers.
He laid gentle kisses to her neck and collarbone and then chuckled when he heard her gentle snores. 'So much for driving her crazy with my charm. I've put the woman to sleep.' He thought to himself. He wrapped his arm tighter around her and laid one last gentle kiss to her temple before closing his eyes.