Closer Than A Brother
By
Hadley Raydeen
Copyright © May 2013, Hadley Raydeen
Cover art by Fiona Jayde © May 2013
Formatting by Bob Houston eBook Formatting
Amira Press
Charlotte, NC 28227
www.amirapress.com
ISBN: 978-1-627620-00-0
No part of this e-book may be reproduced or shared by any electronic or mechanical means, including but not limited to printing, file sharing, and e-mail, without prior written permission from Amira Press.
Dedication
To all my authors who encouraged me to submit
my work for publication, much love.
Chapter One
Gripping the steering wheel of the rental car with one hand, she cranked up the radio a little louder with the other. “I freaking love this song,” she said, shaking her head and moving her body in time with the beat. She pressed her black pumps down on the petal, accelerating the sedan forward, hugging the bend on the back road. A smile slid across her face.
It is good to be home.
The Big Apple city girl back in South Carolina, again. She was long overdue for this visit—a visit her mother had been hounding her for, for months.
“Excuse me. Do I still have a daughter? I wouldn’t know, I haven’t seen you since…well I don’t know how long it’s been.”
“Okay, Mama, I get the point. I have some vacation time coming—”
“Yeah, I’ve heard this all before.” Her mother had cut her off before she could give another excuse.
Danielle smiled remembering the conversation she had with her mother the week before. This would be a definite surprise. Her parents didn’t know she was coming home this week. No one knew. She ran a manicured hand over her curly tresses. The wind blowing through the car windows wreaked havoc on her mane, but she didn’t care. She turned the steering wheel hard right, cutting the corner by the Farmer’s Market. “Damn, oh damn it!” Since when do the local police sit on this corner? This is definitely new.
Just ten minutes from her parent’s house and pulled over by a cop, who obviously had nothing better to do than hit her with a ticket. She couldn’t hear the sirens because of her radio, but she sure as hell saw the lights.
She pulled her rental off to the side of the road and turned her radio down. Well this sure isn’t the welcome home I wanted. She looked down at her V-neck T-shirt. The top curves of her breasts were visible and strained against the cotton fabric.
Hmm, can I use my womanly assets to get out of this? I’m sorry, Officer. I’m new in town, wink, wink. I didn’t know how fast I was going. Could you let me go, just this once? She snickered to herself. That only works in porno. She looked over her shoulder. He sure is taking his good ol’ time getting out of the car. He’s running the plate, checking for warrants in New York and South Carolina, no doubt. I’m in a rental car; the joke’s on you, Buster! Not that she had any warrants in any states. She reached over to the glove compartment, searching for her registration and proof of insurance.
The inevitable conversation ran through her mind. I’ll need to see your license and proof of insurance, Miss Morris. Do you know how fast you were going? No, Officer, but I’m sure you’ll tell me all about it.
She saw movement in her side-view mirror and knew he was finally coming to her window. She couldn’t see his face, but she could see his body as he walked toward her. “Mmm, well hello, Officer,” she said. Muscles flexed in his legs, and the bulge firmly tucked behind his dark pants as he walked toward her had her body automatically reacting to the masculinity of the officer. Down, girl. He is going to give you a ticket. Damn she needed to get laid. All work and no play made this girl horny as hell.
How pathetic, getting sexually aroused by the cop pulling you over. Something is definitely wrong with you.
He bent over her car, looking in. He wore dark sunglasses, not the usual large cop sunglasses, but sexy designer ones. She immediately recognized them from the fashion world in New York. Expensive taste, Officer.
She couldn’t see his eyes. She could see a hard-set jaw and day-old stubble growing along it. His sun-kissed skin and woodsy, masculine scent blew in the car, teasing her nose, making her want a much closer, intimate sniff.
“Ma’am, sixty-five in a thirty-five zone?” He said it in the form of a question, so unbelievable he needed to say it aloud for it to make sense. She held her legs closer together, feeling the onset of moisture collecting from his strong voice—and a hint of Southern drawl.
“Damn, is that how fast I was going, Officer? I apologize,” she said feigning shock and trying to conjure up her best Southern accent. “I was just so happy to be home again. I must have lost my mind.”
She turned to him hoping her light brown eyes, known for melting the hearts of many men back in New York, could work their magic here on this home-town boy. He tore off his dark sunglasses and looked at her. His gaze narrowed. Wow, he has the most sexy, gray-blue eyes. Hmm. Wait…sexy, familiar gray-blue eyes… She blinked at him. Her mouth set in a soft “O.” “Shane Matthews?” she asked, this time with genuine shock. A slight grin moved across his face.
“Hello, Danielle.”
* * * *
He couldn’t believe it. Danielle Morris. The object of his desire for damn near twenty years. Of all the people to pull over, it had to be her. He looked her over quickly. Caramel complexion, amber eyes, dark curly hair, soft red lips. His mind went hazy. Her lips are still as pouty as ever. His cock twitched against his pants. Damn.
His mom didn’t tell him Dani would be in town. He needed to be better prepared for this. He needed to be ready for his reaction when he saw her again after all these years. No other woman in his life compared to her. Now here, sitting in this car, she looked up at him, surprised, with those gorgeous eyes. Her lips parted. It took everything in him not to crush his mouth on hers. “Welcome home,” he managed. He stepped back when she opened the car door.
* * * *
“Officer Shane Matthews, really?” She looked over his body as she stood next to him. He definitely wasn’t the scrawny teen she remembered. He had to be over six feet tall, towering above her five-foot-seven frame. Last time she saw him he was at her graduation party. An immature twenty-two-year-old just graduated from college, she remembered he’d arrived at her party with a couple of his friends. Their mothers, longtime best friends, made Shane like a brother. He’d developed puppy love for her when she was a senior in high school and he was just a freshman. She had brushed him aside when he looked at her with adoring eyes.
The night she’d graduated from college he’d tried to kiss her. The idea intrigued her after a few drinks. Their lips touched softly as he congratulated her, but she had been whisked away by her college boyfriend. She didn’t forget how his lips felt against hers—soft, unsure, admiring. He was a senior in high school then.
Now, ten years later, she was thirty-two, and he was twenty-eight. He was a man. He was a cop. She definitely noticed. She turned and put her hands up on the roof of her car, sticking her butt out in his direction. “So what’s it going to be, Officer? Do you have to frisk me?” She spread her legs and put her hands behind her back. “Gotta cuff me?” She tossed her soft curls over her shoulder and turned to look at him. She caught a quick glance of his jaw tightening.
“Stop it,” he growled.
Turning around she smiled and winked at him. “I didn’t know you were a cop, Shane. Mama didn’t tell me. You look…you look great.” She ran her gaze over him, again. Damn, this kid grew up sexy as hell. His dark blond hair was spiked on top of his head. He returned the dark glasses to their perch, hiding his expression and gorgeous eyes f
rom her view. His lips were set in a tight slant across his face. His body stood rigid, and he crossed his arms in front of him.
“Oh, are you seriously going to give me a ticket?” she asked frowning. “Hmm, payback is a definite bitch,” she mumbled. She should have stuck around after that kiss instead of running off with her boyfriend de jour. She couldn’t even remember his name.
He pulled the pad out of his back pocket. “Shane, really?” She pouted, leaning back against the car. She crossed her arms under her breasts. He stopped for just a second. She heard the hitch in his breath and she smiled. Oh, so he noticed the twins. Hmm, maybe there is hope he still finds me desirable. Maybe I can get out of this damn ticket.
He wrote quickly. She leaned over trying to look, but he turned so she couldn’t. She stuck her tongue out at him. This was the same little brat who pulled her baby doll heads off and put tadpoles down her swimming suit when they swam in the stream. How dare he give her a speeding ticket? He ripped the ticket away from his pad and handed it to her. She glared at him. “You have to be fucking kidding me!”
He turned from her and walked back to his squad car.
“Damn it, you answer me, you little brat. You may be some big, bad cop now, but I remember your little naked ass running around my mama’s house waiting for your diaper to get changed,” she yelled at him. He turned on her so quickly her mouth clamped shut. He did not look amused. He looked around to see if anyone was nearby before he approached her. He ripped the glasses from his face again. His eyes, hot and steamy, caused her body to react.
Not knowing what he would do, she backed away from him as he cornered her against her car. “That was a long time ago, Dani. I don’t need you yelling that in the middle of the street because you are pissed off I gave you a ticket.” She watched his full mouth as he spoke. Her nipples hardened against the examination his heated gaze gave her as he spoke.
She couldn’t help but notice how irresistibly sexy he looked mad as hell. Heaven help her, she hated to admit it. She ran her tongue over her bottom lip. Thinking about him this way was wrong. He is damn near family. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled.
“Whatever. Just pay the damn ticket,” he shot back at her.
She narrowed her gaze and met his. “Eww,” she drawled in her best South Carolina accent. “Don’t get shitty with me, little boy.” She stuck a finger in his chest. His gaze never wavered as his fingers linked with hers, and he moved them quickly to his lips. She watched him close his perfect eyes before turning her hand over and kissing her wrist where her pulse beat rapidly. His eyes opened slowly, mesmerizing her. “Welcome home, Dani,” he said, letting her hand go. He walked away, leaving her with her ticket.
Chapter Two
“Mary, Dani is home!”
Danielle sat in the bright kitchen she grew up in and watched her mother happily spread the news to her best friend, Mary Matthews—Shane’s mother—on the phone. “Yeah, girl. She just waltzed right in here and about gave me and Gerald a heart attack. I thought someone was breaking in!”
Dani rolled her eyes at her mother. Her father chuckled as he reached in the fridge for a beer. “You want a drink, baby girl?” he called over his shoulder. “Sure, Dad.” She thanked him for the cold can.
“Yeah, we are going to have a barbecue tonight. You and David come on over. And tell Shane! Yeah, I’m sure he will be happy to see her.”
Dani shot her mother a look. “No!” she mouthed. Her mother narrowed her gaze.
“What?” she mouthed back.
“No!” Danielle said in a loud whisper, waving her hands. “No, Shane.”
It was her mother’s turn to roll her eyes. She turned her back on her.
“Damn it, Mom,” she mumbled.
Her father took the stool beside her. “What seems to be the trouble with Shane?” he asked, looking down at the paper.
“That little punk gave me a speeding ticket coming into town.”
Her father choked on his beer with laughter.
“I’m glad you think it’s funny, Dad.”
“Did he know it was you?”
“Damn straight, he knew it was me.”
They both looked up when her mother hung up the phone.
“They will be here around six. It will give you time to rest up, honey. Why don’t you want Shane here?” she asked, taking a stool on the opposite side of the counter.
“She said he gave her a speeding ticket this afternoon.” Her father snorted back a laugh. Danielle saw her mother’s face light up with humor. She took a sip of her beer and passed it on to her mom.
“No, Mom. It’s not funny.”
“You tortured that poor boy all while you were growing up. It’s his turn for payback, no doubt.”
“That is ridiculous. I was as nice as I could be to him.”
“You never let him play with you.”
“I am four years older than him,” she exclaimed. “I’m sorry, but as a ten-year-old girl having a six-year-old boy tagging along—it’s not cool.” She pouted.
“He’s always had a crush on you,” her father interjected. “For how many years, Izzy?”
“Oh, that boy has loved him some Dani for a long time.”
Her parents laughed.
“Ugh, stop it. How would I have looked dating a fourteen-year-old my senior year of high school?”
“Oh yes. He wanted to take you to your senior prom. It was so cute and he was very serious.” Her mother teased.
“I said a resounding no!” She cut into her mother’s walk down memory lane. “He was like the annoying little brother I never wanted!” She took the can of beer back from her mother before taking another sip. “When did he become a cop? You never told me any of this.”
Her father put down the paper. “Let’s see. Right after graduation he went to school for law enforcement, then to the police academy. There was a whole process you see.”
“I figured as much, Dad.” She sighed.
“You’ve been away a long time honey,” her mother said getting up. Her parents visited her in New York at least twice a year, if not more. This was mostly because her mother missed her to death, but she also loved the shopping and shows in Manhattan. She had been home a couple of times in the last ten years. Each time Shane had been out of town or at school, and the conversation of what he was doing with his life never really interested her. She hadn’t seen Shane since the night he kissed her. She hadn’t been interested in him like that then. So why am I interested now?
“I’m gonna call Brandi and ask her to come over tonight. Do you mind, Mama?”
“No, no, call everyone. Gerald, call your sisters. They will want to see their niece.”
“I’m gonna go to my room for a minute,” she said. Taking her purse, she left her parents to plan her welcome-home dinner.
* * * *
Shane’s shift ended at four o’clock. There was a message from his mother on his cell about a cookout Miss Izzy was having for Dani at six. He didn’t know if he was ready to see her again, so soon. His heart was still beating double time from the sight of her with her hands up on that car.
Danielle had always been all legs. Damn, if he didn’t instantly go rock hard when she turned around in those six-inch heels that made her legs go on forever and stick her butt out at him. What he wouldn’t give to hold her curves tight and take her right up against that car. He saw her reaction to him, especially when he kissed her wrist. Maybe she could see him now as more than just an annoying kid. He unbuttoned his shirt and threw it over a chair. He dialed his parent’s house and put his cell on speaker.
“Hello.”
“Hey, Ma. I got your message.”
“Hi, baby. Isn’t it just wonderful that Dani is back in town? She hasn’t been home much in damn near ten years.”
“Yeah, yeah, it’s great she’s back,” Shane said, putting a palm to his forehead. “Um, I don’t know if I’ll be able to make it tonight though, Ma.”
“Why on earth not?”
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His mother could smell a lie a mile away, so she wasn’t going to believe any he could muster.
“I don’t think Dani will want to see me.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, boy. You know she loves you.”
His heart stopped. “What?” He choked at the thought. His mother chuckled, and he narrowed his gaze.
“You still love her too.”
“Ma, come on.” What he felt for Dani was a whole lot more than his mother could understand.
“Okay, okay, I know. Not cool to talk to your mom about this stuff. I would appreciate it though, if you came to see my dearest friend’s daughter tonight. Miss Izzy requested you be there, baby.” His mother waited.
“Okay, Ma. What time, seven?”
“Six o’clock. Don’t you dare pull that on me, Shane Scott,” she scolded.
He cringed at the first and middle name usage.
“Okay! I’ll be there, six o’clock. I got it.” He hung up the phone, knowing by the time he took his cold shower—just to get his mind off the encounter this afternoon with Danielle—it would be closer to seven.
Chapter Three
“Dude, I’m screwed,” he said into his cell, on the way to Miss Izzy’s house. It was already after six. His best friend, Jason, chuckled on the other end.
“I can’t believe you pulled her over, and gave her a ticket.”
“I didn’t know it was her when I pulled the car over. I’m not going to turn in the damn ticket. I ripped it up as soon as I got in the car, but she thinks she has to pay it.”
“How did she look?”
Shane sucked in a breath. “Wow.”
Jason laughed. “That good, huh? Dani always looked good, man. You’ve been into her forever.”
“No, she looks…wow,” Shane said again.
“Personally, I would like to see wow. You think Miss Izzy would mind?” Jason asked.
“A whole bunch of people are coming over. I don’t think she would mind. Besides, you came to her graduation party and no one cared.”
Closer Than A Brother Page 1
