Chapter 15:

Later that day.

Brady wearily rounded his desk and stared blankly out of his window that overlooked the darkened Salem skyline and skies that were crisp shades of orange and red, signs of the ending day. So much had changed since earlier this afternoon. He frowned and tightened his grasp on the rolled up paper in his hands. This paper, this stupid piece of paper had only confirmed what he'd suspected for weeks. "Dammit!" He threw his New York Jets paperweight towards the far corner of the room, easily denting the once perfect, smooth, white walls. He couldn't tell Chloe what he now knew as fact, or she'd want out of this situation so fast his head would spin. Well, he'd have to tell her sometime. He was sure if he didn't let her know what was going on, Philip would find out soon enough and not hesitate to let Chloe know. And if that happened, well he would not only lose Chloe as his wife, but he'd lose her as his best friend too. And he couldn't handle that. He cursed his stupidity. The minute he suspected something he should have told Chloe. But he didn't want their marriage to end, didn't want to even think about it ending. It was too much fun. And now? Now, he was hopelessly in love with her and was determined to keep her near, if not forever than for at least another day. But the time was fast approaching when this situation they'd gotten themselves into would need to be dealt with. "Tomorrow," Brady whispered. "Tomorrow, I have to tell her."

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The Sweet Bar.

"So did you call him?" Belle looked at Chloe expectantly.

Clicking of her phone, Chloe slowly pivoted around and frowned at her friend. "Yeah, he sounded kind of tired. I hope he's okay."

"Chloe, my brother is fine." Belle looked her friend over. "You look great."

Chloe looked down at her outfit and the frown marring her face only grew more somber. "I'm wearing my 'Sweet Bar' baby tee and a pair of dirty jeans Belle. Not exactly Calvin Klein."

"Oh please, have you seen my brother's face when he sees you wear this stuff?" She sniffed Chloe's hair that hung loose and untamed down her back. "Your hair smells like chocolate and cognac." She made a face. "Ehh.my brother's so weird, he'll probably think that's sexy." Off Chloe's gloomy expression, "What is that look? Would you cheer up? Tonight, you are going to be having sex with my brother. I don't know why the thought of that excites me. But oddly enough, it does. I'm just so happy for you two."

"Thanks Belle," she tried to give her a small smile. But something in Brady's voice over the phone made Chloe feel like something was wrong. She really hoped everything was okay. Maybe he [i]was[/i] just tired. Maybe tonight she'd be able to make [i]him[/i] feel good. He was always doing that for her: making her feel good, happy, loved, whether he knew it or not.

"So what did you tell him to get him to come here instead of go straight home after work?"

"I told him that I had a large order for a party tomorrow and that I need help with it." It wasn't entirely false. Although, she really didn't need help, Chloe had a cake and other dainty chocolate treats to make for tomorrow morning. Someone was getting married. She sighed sadly. She couldn't even remember getting married. She'd ask for a proper one but Brady'd probably laugh in her face and tell her this "marriage" wasn't going to last long enough to plan another wedding. She almost cried right then and there. She wanted Brady so badly, wanted to tell him how much in love with in she really was. If she couldn't have his heart for all of the right reasons, well then she was going to enjoy this temporary break from reality where she could pretend she had Brady's heart, pretend he wanted hers.

"Now, remember the plan, Chloe. Do whatever you have to do to make him see how much you want him. It doesn't matter if you're aggressive. I've seen how Brady has been around you recently and it isn't going to click for him unless you make it click. Just go for the gold."

"Would you stop talking in all these riddles and clichés?" Chloe smiled down at her petite friend.

"Ha. Ha," Belle replied sarcastically. "Just don't back down until you're lying in a naked heap on the floor." She grew serious. "Remember, Brady isn't used to this, isn't used to falling in love, being in love."

"Neither am I," Chloe muttered.

Belle chuckled lightly. "Well then, you'll just have to help each other through it." She pulled her into a hug, but a light knock on the shop's glass door interrupted them. "It's Brady. Good luck."

"Thanks," Chloe smiled at her friend and watched as she opened the door letting her brother in.

"Hey big bro." Belle gave him a quick hug.

"Hey Tink, how you doing?"

"Good, I gotta run."

"So soon?" Brady's brow furrowed. He did [b]not[/b] want to left alone with Chloe, not just yet. He didn't think he could face her. He'd wanted to just go home and crawl into bed, feigning a headache like Chloe had done with him so many times when trying to avoid an unavoidable situation. But Chloe had called him at work, asking that he help her out, as she had to work late. So of course, he'd agreed. He would never turn her down. Plus, she might finish really late and he didn't want her walking to her car in the dead of night.

"Yeah, I have things I have to do and I'm sure you have. things to do here," she smiled knowingly at Chloe. "Bye kids," she left promptly, before Brady could object.

Brady turned to Chloe after locking the door behind him, and gave her a puzzled look. "Where's she running off to in such a hurry?"

"Sex with Shawn."

"Whoa, okay. Too much information."

Chloe laughed and leaned against the display case, trying to look as nonchalant, therefore as sexy as possible. "So would you like to get started?"

Brady opened his mouth to speak but suddenly couldn't form a coherent thought. And those imaginary marbles that loved to enter his mouth, suddenly decided to enter his mouth. Oh she was just so hot in her little work shirt and those sexy jeans. But she also looked different tonight. There was something different in her eyes, something he couldn't quite place. Hell, maybe it was just his imagination. But tonight, there was a combination of something almost feral, uninhibited, mischievous. He managed a crooked smile. "Uh huh." 'Oh so eloquent, Brady,' he thought irritably to himself.

"Okay, come on then," she walked to the back of the shop, gently swaying her hips like Belle had suggested. 'Oh the power of the swinging hips,' Belle had said. Chloe almost burst out laughing but stopped herself. She could feel Brady close behind, following her to the back of the shop. She didn't want to scare him off by suddenly laughing for no apparent reason. "Okay then," she stopped at the back kitchen counter and gave Brady a shy smile. "I have a job for you."

"You do?" He unconsciously licked his lips.

"I have all this melted chocolate here for the chocolate tarts." She pointed to four big bowls of melted chocolate of varying shades.

"I don't know how to make chocolate tarts," he frowned and grabbed to pull at his tie, which of course was not there, for it had been discarded for the day hours prior.

"I know that Brady," Chloe chuckled. He was nervous. This might be easier than she thought. "See these mini piecrusts?" She pointed to tiny piecrusts sitting idly on wax paper.

"Yeah."

"Well, fill them halfway with chocolate. I need fifty milk chocolate ones and fifty dark chocolate ones, twenty semi sweet ones and fifteen bittersweet ones."

"How can I tell which chocolate is which?"

"What do you mean?" Chloe cocked an eyebrow at him.

"I mean they all look the same. For example, how can I tell which is semisweet and which is bittersweet?"

"Well, aside from color, you can taste them."

"Is there really a difference between semisweet and bittersweet?" He grinned.

"Ugh, of course there is Brady. I'll show you." She dunked her finger ungracefully in a bowl of chocolate. "Close your eyes."

"What are you going to do," he looked at her finger, eyes wide.

"Just close your eyes." He did so reluctantly. "Now, open your mouth." He obliged and Chloe sucked in a breath. She hasn't expected this to be part of the seduction. She had genuinely wanted Brady to taste the difference between semisweet and bittersweet chocolate. They were two very different things. But now it seemed that something that had started off innocently enough, had become very sexy. Slowly she brought her finger to his open mouth and nearly fainted when she touched it to his lips. "Taste that," her voice was already husky with desire.

Unhurriedly, Brady ran his tongue lightly over Chloe chocolate covered fingertip before taking it in his mouth and suckling it lightly. He slowly opened his eyes, catching Chloe's heated gaze and grasped Chloe's wrist bringing it down. "That's good."

Swallowing audibly, definitely reading the pure lust in Brady's eyes correctly, she lost her nerve. Concentrating on the task at hand, she dunked her finger into the second bowl of chocolate. Bringing her finger up to his lips, she whispered over the humming of the desktop fan in the far corner of the room. "What you had before was bittersweet. This is semisweet. It's a little sweeter." She touched her finger to his lips again, this time Brady's eyes were open and piercing hers intently as he gently sucked the chocolate off of her suddenly trembling finger.

"Definitely sweeter, but just as good." He gave her a small wink and watched as she unconsciously sucked off the remaining chocolate on her finger.

"So you could taste the difference," she wasn't even aware of what she was saying any longer, just knowing that she was nervously rambling. "A lot of people can't taste the difference. You have to have a good tongue for it. You've got a good tongue."

"So do you," he grasped her chin in his hand and tilted her head up so that she was now looking at him with these wide eyes, looking so afraid, but so very ready for what was happening between them. Slowly, he lowered his head to hers and gently brushed his firm lips against her trembling ones. He groaned when he felt Chloe start to take control and gently take his lower lip into her warm mouth, sucking off any traces of chocolate left behind. Her kiss was so gentle, so sweet, Brady found himself melting into her. Before he knew what was happening, he'd lifted her onto the countertop, knocking the bowls of melted chocolate every which way. Hearing the mini piecrusts crunch under Chloe's rear, they both chuckled as they began exploring each other's mouths with their tongues. Without wavering his fiery gaze from her dazed one, he scooped up a glob of chocolate and ran it slowly it down a panting Chloe's neck, stopping on the rapid beat of the pulse in her neck. "So fast," he murmured, referring to the rapid thumping of her pulse. He had gotten that reaction out of her. It had given him courage, hope. She wanted him...really wanted him. He was sure of it.

Chloe moaned Brady's name over and over, murmuring incoherently as he leaned into her neck and licked off the trail of chocolate his finger had created only moments before. Tightening her arms around his neck, she buried her fingers in his hair, ruffling it, loving the soft feel of it under her needy hands.

Brady was in heaven, pure heaven. After lifting her shirt over her head, he found Chloe's all too soft mouth again and placed drugging, pliant kisses against with her wet, supple lips. All he'd wanted was for Chloe to really want him, need him, desire him. He'd fantasized about this moment and it was better than he ever dreamed. But out of some awful hell, the doubts began to creep in, as did the guilt of what he was keeping from her. As much as he wanted and needed Chloe, as much as he wanted to pretend and fantasize that this was what she really wanted and needed, he had to stop this. He was taking advantage of her. Reluctantly, he tore his lips away from hers and forcefully unwrapped Chloe's arms from around his neck. Both were breathing heavily. Chloe on the kitchen counter and Brady standing in front of her, both tried to catch their breaths enough to get a word out. Chloe caught her breath first.

"Brady.I don't.understand," she breathed out.

"I'm sorry Chloe. but we can't do that." He shook his head and ran a hand through his hair.

"Why?"

"Because." He wanted to say 'because he loved her so much and wanted to be with her and wanted them to make love properly, not in some back kitchen.' "Because I don't want you to regret it."

"But I won't. I want you. I want you, Brady." There she said it. It was out there. She wanted him. She wouldn't reject him.

Shaking his head slightly, he looked at her wide eyes and sighed. She was confused. So yeah maybe she wanted him now, so what? She'd regret having sex with him later. She wanted Philip. She reminded him plenty of times the last few weeks that Philip was so sweet, that Philip had changed. It made him angry. To hell with Philip! Brady wanted to hurt her, hurt her for taking his heart right out from under his unsuspecting nose and breaking it, every time she spoke of Philip and swooned over one of Philip's lame ass gifts. He wanted out of this charade, out before she took his soul too. Although, he suspected she owned that as well. "Yeah, well I don't want you.not in that way. And if we went through with this, I might regret it." He couldn't look at her, couldn't look as she gasped and slowly pulled on her shirt.

"Get out." Tears coursed down her flushed cheeks.

He ran a hand through his hair. "Chloe, I ." he started, ashamed of what he'd said, knowing it wasn't true. He wanted to make love to her but was afraid it would be just sex to her. He'd slept with plenty of women in New York and while it was just sex to him, it may have meant something more to them. Now the shoe was on the other foot and he couldn't handle it.

"Get out! I hate you!" She roughly wiped her cheeks and pushed him away. "I hate you so much!" She beat her fists against his chest, growing exhausted quickly, feeling Brady's arms wrap lovingly around her. She cried into his chest and clung to him. "I never should have gone along with this. I love Philip," she lied, feeling Brady's arms drop from around her body. "I love him and I hurt him by being with you. It was a mistake," she choked out and pushed him away. "This was all a mistake, a disgusting, humiliating mistake!"

Brady's jaw clenched. He was so angry, he felt his eyes grow moist and his body begin to tremble. "You are so pathetic, crying over Philip like a lovesick puppy, letting him take advantage of you. You love Philip huh? Where the hell was Philip all those nights you cried on [i]my[/i] shoulder because you couldn't sleep, couldn't handle him betraying you and breaking your heart so easily. [i]I[/i] was the one that picked up the pieces! [i]I[/i] was the one that told you everything would be okay! [i]I[/i] was the one that lov.the one that lifted you up out of the hurt and pain and you just rub it in my face. You are nothing but a thankless Diva. To hell with you," he stormed out of the shop.

Chloe sobbed and sunk down to her knees, onto the floor, in the middle of the kitchen. "I wish I'd never met you Brady Black. I wish you'd have stayed in New York." Her sobs continued to wrack her body until she was so tired she fell asleep.