The Best Thing

by Jaci Burton

  He laughed. "Good. Everyone needs to cut loose every now and then."

  "True. She had some snooty parents at the day care center to deal with this week who decided to inform her how they thought she should run things. Real know-it-all types and just relentless perfectionists who think their kids don't ever poop or have boogers."

  Brody snorted. "Yeah, I know the type. In every business there are customers like that. You just have to grin and bear it, when all you want to do is smash a fist in their smug faces."

  "Exactly. And you know Calliope--she's as sweet as they come, but even she folds under the pressure every now and then. And with Wyatt being out of town, I could tell by her tone of voice at the end of the day today she was ready to explode, so I suggested we go out tonight."

  They closed the front door and Brody made sure everything was locked up before making their way to his truck. "I'm glad you could be there for her so she could let off some steam and vent it out."

  "That's what friends are for. We're there for each other."

  They got into the truck and he backed down the driveway to make his way back to town. "I guess she's always there for you, too."

  Tori stared out the window. "Always."

  "Yeah. Like she gave you love advice tonight?"

  Her gaze shot to his. "No she didn't."

  "She said she did."

  "She was drunk."

  He was silent for a while as he drove toward town. So was Tori, who stared out the window.

  "I didn't know you were seeing someone," he finally said.

  "I'm not seeing anyone."

  "So she gave you advice on how to ask someone out?"

  She sighed. "Let it go, Brody."

  He heard the subtle pleading in her voice and decided he should probably let it go. But something twisted in his gut at the thought of Tori dating some random guy. Or any guy, for that matter. She hardly ever went out, and when she did, it didn't last. She was pretty selective with guys she dated. He wondered why.

  "You haven't had a boyfriend in...hell, Tori, I don't remember you ever dating anyone seriously."

  She shot him a look. "Why? Do you have a friend you're thinking of setting me up with?"

  He frowned at her. "Hell, no."

  Her lips curved in a hint of a smile.

  "Is that funny?"

  "No. Not at all."

  "I have great friends."

  "I know you do."

  He thought about all the guys he called friends, the times they'd all gotten together, and which ones had given Tori a second look. Probably all of them, considering she was gorgeous. "Is there one of my friends you want to go out with?"

  "Nope."

  That relieved him a little. But only for a second, because he knew damn well that what Calliope had said about the love advice hadn't been made up, and usually people who'd had too much to drink spilled a little too much of the truth.

  When he pulled into Tori's apartment complex, he got out of the truck and opened her door.

  "Thanks for the ride."

  "It's late. I'll walk you up."

  "That's not necessary."

  "I'll walk you to your door, Tori."

  She blew out a breath. "Fine."

  As they walked up the back stairs, he frowned. "Lots of foliage around here. And you're on the second floor."

  She fished into her purse for her keys. "And?"

  He waited while she unlocked her door, surveying the remoteness of the area. "How long have you lived here?"

  "About a year."

  "I don't like it."

  "Gee, Brody, thanks."

  "I mean it doesn't look safe. You should move."

  She rolled her eyes and stepped inside. "Thanks for the ride home. I appreciate it. Good night."

  He put his hand on the door. "Seriously, Tori. This isn't the best neighborhood in town. And this apartment is at the end of a remote corridor. Not the best location."

  "It's the best I can do, you know?"

  He looked down at her. Always so tough, with that "I can take care of myself" attitude. He knew she had no one to take care of her.

  Hell, she probably didn't need anyone to take care of her, but right now maybe he needed it.

  He braced his hands on either side of the doorway. "Ask me to come in."

  Her eyes widened. "What?"

  "Let me come in, Tori."

  "Why?"

  "I want to see your place."

  "Why?"

  "Quit asking why and ask me to come in, Tori."

  She shook her head. "That is so not a good idea, Brody."

  "I know. In fact, it's a really bad idea. Ask me to come in, anyway."

  Chapter Four

  Tori's heart beat so fast she could feel the pounding in her chest.

  Brody wanted in her apartment. What could that mean? A huge mistake, was what it could mean. She should say no. Then again, maybe he was just being chivalrous and wanted to see if the boogeyman was in there. One quick check and then he'd leave.

  But the way he looked at her, his sexy gaze giving her a look that said they had a lot to talk about--or maybe that there'd be no talking at all once she invited him past her threshold--definitely gave her pause.

  She'd kissed him once and all these months later she couldn't forget the taste of him. She couldn't afford to mess with Brody, couldn't handle letting him take her to bed and then deal with the repercussions of that.

  Ridiculous. She was overthinking this, which happened every time she got anywhere near Brody. Then again, this was part of his modus operandi. He messed with your head, and before you knew what was happening, you were naked.

  And then he dumped you.

  "No."

  He cocked a brow. "What?"

  "You can't come in."

  "Why not?"

  "Because...I'm tired."

  He inched a little closer and she breathed in the scent of him. Cool and crisp and ever so male, she wanted to reach out, grab his jacket and haul his mouth against hers, then kiss him until neither one of them could breathe. Oh, why couldn't she have what she wanted, damn the consequences?

  "Tori...you don't look tired. You look...really good tonight." He reached out and tugged on one of the curls that always seemed to be falling out of the top knot where she twisted her hair up. "Have I ever told you how much I like your hair?"

  "Um...no, you haven't." See, there went her brain cells. Everything that screamed intelligent, logical woman had traveled somewhere south, which was now throbbing and screaming his name and begging him to take her and undress her and do wicked things to her.

  He took a step closer. "I really like your hair. It's soft and sexy and God, that red makes me crazy."

  She swallowed, or tried to, but there was currently a boulder in her throat making it impossible. "Brody, what are you doing?"

  "Invite me in. You always have such careful control over your life. Tonight, let go. I just want to see if that kiss last Christmas was really as explosive as I thought it was. Did you think it was?"

  "Yes."

  "So that was a yes." He crossed her doorway and pushed the door shut behind him, gathered her in his arms and put his mouth on hers.

  Oh, God. He was right. It was an explosion as his fingers dove in her hair and his lips claimed hers and she suddenly couldn't breathe as everything in her body ignited. She could do nothing but grab on to him, because Brody was a force to be reckoned with. He turned her around and pushed her up against the door, then fit his body against hers while he explored her mouth with his lips and tongue until she was dizzy with the delight and wonder and realization that this--this was what it was like to be thoroughly kissed and manhandled in the absolute best way.

  And his body, pressed full up against hers, was a thing of beauty. She snaked her hands along the firm ridges of muscle that lined his biceps, and let out a soft moan that caused him to deepen the kiss until she was certain she'd have dropped to a heap on the floor if his body hadn't been wedging her a
gainst the door.

  It wasn't fair, this mastery Brody had over women, the way he tangled his fingers in her hair and released the clip holding her hair up. His hand dove into her scalp and further enflamed her senses as he rocked his pelvis against hers.

  It was too much--all too much, just like that first kiss last winter. He overloaded her senses and made her want him, made her body weep with joy and need and all the things that were dangerous and bad.

  She pressed her palms against his chest and he groaned and God, she didn't want to stop, wanted to see where this would go. She already knew where it would go--straight to her bedroom, where the two of them would end up naked and entwined. She'd entertained that fantasy so many times it was embarrassing.

  But it wasn't going to become a reality.

  She tore her lips from his. "Brody. Stop."

  To his credit, he did. He pulled his head back and looked at her with heavy-lidded eyes that melted her and made her wonder why she hesitated.

  She knew why. In some part of her sex-addled brain, she knew why.

  He dragged his thumb over her bottom lip. "Yeah, this kiss was just as good as the first one, Tori. Don't you think so?"

  God, yes. Even better, in fact. So much so she knew it could never happen again. She couldn't lose everything that meant so much to her. Her job, Brody's family, her friends. Him.

  "You should go," she finally managed to say.

  "You should talk to me about why you're hesitating."

  "No, it's the last thing we should talk about."

  He took a deep breath and a step back, the evidence of his passion for her deliciously visible against the zipper of his jeans. Her fingers flexed. She wanted to snake her hands down his body and touch him, spend all night mapping his body with her hands, her mouth, her tongue.

  Dammit, she wished she didn't care so much about all those things that she really did care about. Because right now all she craved was one night with Brody, just one night to explore those epic fantasies that had fueled her for so many years.

  Instead, she opened the front door, the blast of cool air doing nothing to ice down her raging libido.

  Brody looked at the open door, then back at her.

  "At some point, Tori, we're going to talk about what's holding you back."

  She laid her head against the door and didn't say anything.

  So Brody leaned in and brushed his lips across hers. "I think you'll be surprised what a good listener I am. Night, Tori."

  She watched him walk down the stairs. When he disappeared from sight, she shut the door and locked it.

  As she headed to the bedroom, every part of her body throbbed with unfulfilled sexual desire.

  No, there'd be no conversation with Brody. He could never know her fears.

  Or how crazy in love she was with him.

  Chapter Five

  "Heard you drove my wife home the other night," Wyatt said as they sat in a morning staff meeting.

  "Yup. She was well and truly wasted, man."

  Wyatt grinned at Brody. "She said she had a great time with Tori--thanks for that, by the way," he said to Tori. "She needed it after a shitty day."

  Tori smiled. "It was my pleasure. She had the mother of all hangovers the next day."

  "She told me that, too. She said it was well worth it."

  "Sometimes you just need to tie one on," Tori said. "Especially after a crappy week at work."

  "Surely you're not saying you've ever had a bad week here." Ethan handed her a file. "We treat you like the queen you are."

  Tori snorted. "You're all a giant pain in my butt. I have to drink heavily on the weekends just to survive this job."

  Wyatt rolled his eyes. "Yeah, you're so mistreated around here. I don't know how you bear it."

  "It's true," she said. "The things I must suffer for a pittance of a paycheck."

  "Speaking of that pittance," Wyatt said. "It's time for your annual review. I guess one of us will have to do that."

  "I was going to mention it." She looked at her laptop. "Ethan did it last year."

  "We usually rotate. I did it the year before," Wyatt said. "So that means Brody's up."

  Brody had been busy going through safety guidelines for his current job and had only been paying half attention. "I'm up for what?"

  "Tori's annual review," Wyatt told him.

  "Oh." He looked over at Tori, whose smile suddenly died.

  "If you don't have time, I'm sure one of the other guys can handle it," she said, looking hopeful.

  "I have time." He scanned his schedule on his laptop. "Let's do it Friday. That'll give me a few days to go over things with Wyatt and Ethan, and if your performance sucks, it's a good day to fire you."

  Ethan snickered. "Great idea. Friday's always perfect for a pink slip. We could even take you out for drinks."

  "Oh. Margaritas. I'll alert Calliope," Wyatt added. "You know, just in case things don't go well for you."

  Tori glared at him. "You are so not funny. None of you are. In fact, you all suck."

  Brody laughed. "Now you're going to be nervous all week long, aren't you?"

  "Not at all. The ones who should be nervous are the three of you. I'm half tempted to go find another job. And then what would you all do? Why should I put up with this abuse every day?"

  "Because we're your family?" Ethan asked. "Because we're like your annoying brothers who you can't help but love?"

  Her gaze shot to Brody. "You are definitely not my brothers."

  "Definitely not," Brody said. He knew their parents had taken her under their wing and unofficially adopted her as family when she'd hired on at Kent Construction four years ago, barely twenty-two years old at the time and with no family to speak of. She'd been quiet but efficient, and as soon as she'd grown comfortable with the family she'd become brassy and opinionated and they'd all fallen crazy in love with her.

  Well, not in love, love. Just...

  Hell, he didn't even know what he was thinking anymore where Tori was concerned. And that kiss the other night still hung on his lips, unforgettable as hell.

  He wanted more. He wanted her.

  At least she was semi-sort-of talking to him again, though it was only about work-related stuff. But still, that was a breakthrough. Now if he could just get her to talk to him about important issues, like why she'd stopped the kiss when he'd thought it was going so well. There was serious heat between them, they got along well, he teased her, she shot back with some barb. It was a great relationship. He had no idea why she wouldn't want to take it to the next level.

  He understood that he was her boss, but she had to understand he'd never jeopardize her job. She'd always have that. Hell, they'd be lost without her.

  Maybe that was the holding point for her. He'd have to talk to her about that. Maybe after they did her review on Friday, he'd take her out for drinks, in a non-work environment and they could discuss her reservations about the two of them.

  *

  Tori pushed aside the thought of sitting with Brody for her review the entire week. In fact, by Friday, she'd totally forgotten about it. Being busy always helped with forgetting things she liked to forget, like that kiss they'd shared.

  Okay, maybe she hadn't forgotten that. Maybe she thought about it every night as she lay in bed, when it was quiet and dark and all she had were her thoughts. Then she couldn't shove him aside like she could during the day when the phone was ringing and paperwork piled up on her desk and she had a million things to do to fill her brain, so it was easy to forget about Brody.

  At bedtime, though, he wouldn't go away. Not virtually, anyway. Resulting in a lot of restless nights spent watching reruns of her favorite television shows while eating ice cream, which kept her up all night. Which meant one cranky Tori the next day. Frankly, she didn't know how the guys put up with her.

  It should make for an interesting annual review, which brought her back on topic of Brody.

  Oh, why did it have to be his turn to give the
review? She could sit through it if Ethan or Wyatt was giving it to her. But not Brody. Their day-to-day interactions were brief, and she could deal with that. A review was intense, going over her work performance for the entire year. It would last at least an hour and would be one on one, just the two of them. Eye to eye, shoulder to shoulder.

  Gah. She should just tell him she was sick and going home early.

  Except she wasn't a coward and putting it off wouldn't do any good. They'd have to do this eventually. Besides, she was kind of hoping for a raise, which she needed so she could get out of that hellhole apartment. She'd blown off Brody's suggestion that she move immediately because the area wasn't safe, but he wasn't too far off in his assessment of her current neighborhood. Her neighbors to the right fought all the time, and not just loud arguing, but knock-down, drag-out, throw-the-furniturevkind of fighting. The two dudes who lived on her left had people coming and going all the time. Despite Deer Lake being a small town, drugs still crept in, and she could swear those two guys were dealers. Either that or they were very popular.

  She'd settle for a nice, quiet place. Maybe she could finagle her way into a senior citizen's center. Or maybe Brody's parents would let her bunk at their house. She loved Roger and Stacy Kent. When she'd first gone to work for Kent Construction, she'd been closed up, emotionally as well as physically. But Ethan, Wyatt and Brody--and especially Stacy Kent, the guys' mother--had changed all that, had given her the bond of a family she'd so desperately craved her whole life and never had. Her own family had certainly been lacking. Cold and remote, her father had never been a presence in her life, and had taken off permanently after her parents had divorced. Not only had he not wanted her mother, he'd clearly had no use for his daughter, either. Her mother, on the other hand, had leaned heavily on Tori after the divorce, her emotional upheavals a burden that had been difficult for a young Tori to bear.

  Tori hadn't regretted leaving that suffocating atmosphere as soon as she'd been old enough. Her mother had latched on to a new guy and she and Tori rarely spoke anymore, which suited Tori just fine.

  Stacy'd been more the parent than her mother had been. So getting close to the Kents, especially Stacy, had been like grabbing on to a desperately needed lifeline.

  She loved the Kents. They were the normal family she craved. She really did think of Wyatt and Ethan as her brothers.

  Changing the status quo in any way could put her out in the cold again, leaving her all alone.