His Old-Fashioned Love (Old-Fashioned Series) by Laylah Roberts

office for me? I hope you had help picking that furniture up.” His eyes were dark, serious. He was a very serious man. He needed someone to make him smile.
    And you think that could be you?
    She had never been this attracted to anyone before, not even Matt. It made her do rash things, like ask him out to dinner. Something she would never have the courage to do normally.
    Holly guessed she ha d put him in an awkward position. He probably didn’t want to offend her—and by default, Derrick— by refusing. Did he just agree to dinner because of she was here representing Derrick?
    No—the way he looked at her, the heat in his eyes… she couldn’t be mistaking that.
    She wished she were better at this. She hated that Matt had done this to her, made her second-guess her own judgment. He’d eroded her self-confidence over the years, leaving her second-guessing her own instincts.
    “ It wasn’t that heavy and Joshua helped with the desk. Poor Joshua, he’s a bit stressed over the vandalism. Derrick mentioned something about some complaints? Could that have something to do with the vandalism?”
    Brax shrugged. “A few people around here have complained about the resort going up, but we already had all the permits in place so there wasn’t much they could do. There have been a few comments said to my guys, but it’s nothing they can’t handle. No, I think this smells of Mason and his brothers.”
    She frowned. “You really think they’d do this?”
    “ Yeah, Mason hates me. But I intend to make sure that nothing like this happens again. Sure you don’t want dessert?”
    She shook her head. “No, thank you.”
    Brax signaled for the waitress. “Can I have the crème brulee?”
    The waitress nodded and left.
    “How do you intend to make sure it never happens again?” she asked.
    “ I’m going to pay Mason a visit tonight,” he told her.
    “ By yourself?” No way. “Are you crazy?”
    “ I’m going to put an end to this stupidity and let Mason know that he’s not going to get away with this.”
    “ I’m going with you.” She wasn’t letting him go alone. He could end up seriously hurt or worse.
    Brax raised both his eyebrows, his eyes widening. “Ahh, no, you most certainly are not.”
    “ Yes, I am. If it was Mason who vandalized the site, then he damaged Ashdown property and that involves me. If it wasn’t, then he’s still shown that he has a temper and is violent. I’m going to back you up.”
    Brax leaned forward and gra bbed a hold of her hand. His heat instantly sizzled its way up her arm, spreading throughout her body. She pressed her legs together.
    Wow.
    “Sweetheart, I love that you want to help me, but you are not going with me. This is between me and Mason—”
    “ And his brothers if they’re around. You can’t go up against three of them by yourself.”
    “ Don’t worry. I can take care of myself. And you.”
    “ I don’t need you to take care of me,” she said, surprised.
    “ That so? You seem like you could do with someone watching out for you. You need a keeper, young lady. Some of your choices haven’t been very wise decisions.”
    “ Like what?” She always thought of herself as quite sensible. Steady. Boring.
    “ Let’s see… getting involved in the middle of a fight with men much bigger than you. Going for a walk at night when your leg was paining you, without telling anyone where you were. Walking around a vandalized, empty building site instead of staying in your car and calling the sheriff. And right now you’re insisting on coming with me to meet a guy who likes to hit women. Do you ever think before you rush into things?”
    “ Of course I do, usually. When you put it like that it doesn’t sound that great. But I had good reasons for doing each of those things.” 
    “I’m sure you thought so at the time, but in each case you compromised your safety and that makes me worry about you. I don’t want anything bad touching you and that includes Mason