More Than Friends (Kingsley #4)

by Brandi Kennedy

  She dropped a coffee warmed palm gently on his forehead, sliding it down into his hair as she leaned to set her coffee on the bedside table. When she looked down at him again, her hazel eyes were clouded with emotion he couldn’t read, and his scalp pricked anxiously under her fingertips as she forced a smile.“This was… it was your room, wasn’t it? With her?”

  Michael sighed, reaching up to touch her face, to smooth the line that had appeared between her eyebrows.“It isthe master bedroom,” he said quietly.“But she doesn’t live here now, and she wasn’t the one sleeping in my arms last night. She won’t be the person I’m sleeping with, the mother of my kids, the woman next to me sitting on the porch when I’m eighty. The past is in the past, remember?”

  Shaking her head, Renee reached for her coffee and brought it up, the big mug hiding her face. She sniffed quietly, sipped the brew, and slipped her empty hand through Michael’s hair again. He was still watching her face when she’d returned the coffee to the table and found the courage to look down at him again, and she smiled, embarrassed.“I really don’t know what’s gotten into me,” she said.“It really isn’t like me to be insecure over things. Or jealous.”

  “Yeah, it’s ridiculous,” Michael answered, jokingly.“You should really get that under control. It’s bad enough I have to tolerate the snoring and the drooling, so–“

  “Ahem. So, speaking of Xander and Harmony,” Renee broke in.

  “– I wasn’t,” Michael retorted, laughing as he turned his face away.“I was saying that– mmphphmm–“

  His voice broke away as Renee firmly covered his mouth with both hands, and she gazed down at him, smiling.“Yes, I’m sure you were,” she said, her voice quivering with repressed laughter.“And since you were, isn’t Xander’s bachelor party tonight?”

  Biting gently on the palm that covered his lips, Michael grinned.“It is. A whole night of irrepressible debauchery. You’ll be able to practice not being jealous since there’s bound to be lots of– mphmmp! Stop doing that!” But as he lifted her hand from his mouth again, he kissed her fingertips gently and turned to sit up.“I’m just kidding, you know.”

  “I know,” Renee said softly.“And really, I hope you have fun tonight. I think Cass said Drew told her you guys were doing a barhop?”

  “That’s the plan. But for now, didn’t you say you had yoga at noon? I think it’s probably getting late, so…”

  The bedsheets went flying at that, and so did Renee. Michael grinned to himself as he watched her shapely rear end disappear through the bedroom door, thankful that he’d thought to strip the cocktail dress from her nearly unconscious body the night before. He’d left her panties on though– this time a bright yellow thong with a pink guitar printed on the front, with“Rock Star” written along the neck of the guitar. He had smiled, realizing that the fabric that circled her hips had been printed with very faint lines of music, and decided to leave them on.

  The shower turned on in the bathroom down the hall and Michael got up to make the bed, snatching his phone from the table to turn on some music. As the first notes of Warrant’s Cherry Piefilled the room, he straightened the bedsheets, stripped his pajama pants off and walked in his boxers to the bedroom closet. It was a large walk-in closet with double hanging rails that he had installed when he’d married Nicolette and realized just how many articles of clothing she hadowned. He stood for a moment, remembering, looking around the now-empty space. His clothes were there, the suits he’d worn when his siblings had gotten married, the few pairs of jeans and the shirts that he kept away from his work clothes, but the rest of the closet was an empty cavern. He had stared into the vacant space many times since the day his wife had left him, wishing her back again; he had stared into the space too, in hopeless despair, imagining that his life would always be as empty as his closet.

  He was glad to have hope again, but as he reached for the dark-washed jeans he’d planned to wear that day, Michael couldn’t help waiting for something bad to happen. He’d stopped drinking as much, too busy between work and Renee to overindulge, and everything had gone smoothly in the transition of their relationship– aside from the hiccup after their run-in with Nicolette. His mother was on the mend, his business was booming, and everything seemed suddenly easier. Maybe too easy. Michael shook his head and slipped his jeans on, thinking himself silly… but he couldn’t shake the nagging feeling that the last few weeks had been too easy.

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  The proverbial other shoe began to drop in the third bar of the night, when Sherry’s naked form had Michael coming to a complete halt halfway across the room, his drink slipping from his fingers. He had been on the way back from the bathroom and Xander was sitting, crimson with embarrassment, at the party table just below the stage. She grasped the pole and turned, bending at the waist to showcase the curves of her ass, and Michael felt his hands clench to fists. What the hell was she doing in a place like this?Michael himself had only agreed to come because it was Evan’s turn to pick, and their choices had been slim. At just twenty years old, Evan was one of two designated drivers for the group, but his youth made it harder for them to find clubs to go to since he couldn’t be served alcohol. He had suggested The Slip as a great place to hang out, a place that had good beer on tap and cheap pitchers on Fridays, and the guys had all gone along without much fuss until they’d realized where they were. Adam, Mac, and Drew had all gone to call their wives, Michael had texted Renee, Xander had texted Harmony, and Evan had groaned in exasperation.

  “God,” he’d grumbled.“You bunch of pansies. All of you calling your women to ask for permission to go into a bar.”

  “You just watch it,” Adam had warned, raising his eyebrows at his youngest son.“You’ll be lucky if your mother doesn’t skin you when we get home. You should have heard what she said when I told her you chose this place.And don’t give me that shit about being here for the beer, either. You can’t drink beer– you’re here for the tits.”

  “Thanks, way to throw me under the bus, Dad,” Evan had answered rolling his eyes. “Like none of you like tits.”

  “Well, I’m sure as hell not laying under the bus.” Adam had given his son another warning look, shaking his head.“And I don’t seek out strange women’s tits either, thank you very much. I don’t even want to know how you found out about a place like this.”

  Michael and Drew had elbowed each other amusedly as Evan tried earnestly to convince their father that he had only come to the strip joint for the cheap beer his friends were mostly old enough to drink, and that he only came with his friends from his football team. Everyone gave Evan a hard time, but it was clear that through the shock, Adam believed him– so with the reluctant approval of the family women, Adam, Michael, Mac, Drew, Xander, Evan, and several of Xander’s work friends had made their way into the club.

  Now, he watched Sherry, the girl who said she could never be anyone’s Sunday brunch, drop to her knees and slide to the end of the stage, the cherry blossom tattoo rolling erotically as she lowered herself onto her back and liftedher legs into the air. Michael’s breath quickened as she opened her thighs, offering a good look at her nether region to Michael’s family and friends. She left the stage and he couldn’t help the hardening in his jeans as she sashayed around the table, flirting shamelessly with those beautiful blue eyes; her breasts swayed enticingly as she worked her way through the crowd, and Michael felt strands of tension clenching tighter around his chest.

  It was bad enough to watch her shake her ass in front of Xander, barely two weeks before the guy married Michael’s baby sister, but when she stepped up and buried his father’s face between her breasts, Michael had had enough. He crossed the room and stepped out of the shadows of the bar, reaching for his seat at the end of the table. She wasn’t as focused on Adam as she looked; his movement caught her attention and she looked over, freezing in place with her hands on Adam’s head, his face still sandwiched between her breasts, her red hair spilling over both of th
em. Michael waited until she took a step back, crossing her arms over her chest. She stood with her thighs clamped together, as if suddenly aware of her own nakedness, and Michael arched an eyebrow in silent challenge.

  “I gotta go,” she answered, her eyes wide.“Uh, it’s my break. Have a good party, boys.” She congratulated Xander on his upcoming marriage, and his face flamed again as his friends roared with laughter.

  Michael elbowed Drew and leaned close to speak to him over the music.“I’ll be back– I know her. If Dad looks for me–“

  “You’re in the bathroom, got it,” Drew answered, his eyes fixed on the drink between his hands.“But I’m gonna tell‘em all she left because of you. And how the hell do you know a stripper, anyway?”

  “Long story,” Michael groaned, rolling his eyes.

  Drew sighed, choosing not to push.“I hate this,” he said.“How much longer‘til the next place?”

  “I don’t know man,” Michael said sympathetically, glancing down at the time on his cell phone.“An hour in each place, so… twenty minutes, maybe thirty.” He could see how uncomfortable Drew was, and he felt bad for leaving him there with no one to talk to, but he had to find Sherry. What the hell was she doing working here?

  It took almost fifteen minutes for Michael to find a bouncer willing to retrieve Sherry from the backstage area, and another ten before he finally came back out.“Sorry man,” the bouncer said, shaking his head.“She wouldn’t come out. She said she can’t see you right now. You wanna leave a number for her or something, in case she changes her mind?”

  “No,” Michael said, still shocked.“No thanks, man. She, uh, she knows how to find me if she wants to. We used to know each other.”

  It wasn’t until he had turned to head back to the table that she came out of the backstage entrance, dressed in a long red tunic with gray tights and black boots that hugged all the way up to her knees.“What’cha doing here, Michael?This isn’t your kind of hang out.”

  She crossed her arms over her chest again, and Michael wanted suddenly to shake her. How could she take her clothes off in front of just anyone, and then cross her arms like a shy little innocent? What was left for her to hide? “Well,” he said slowly, trying not to sound angry.“I’m here for a bachelor party. What the hell are youdoing here?”

  She laughed softly, hooking her arm through his and leading him toward the bar.“I work here,” she said.

  “Why? Did something happen at the bar?”

  She shrugged, the movement sliding her elbow along his side. He watched a couple of men in a booth on the other side of the bar watching them, leering at her– it made him want to tuck her in close to his side and drag her out of the club. He wanted to tell her she could never expect anyone to think she was worth Sunday brunch if she kept treating herself like this.“I still work there, too,” she said.“But I’m here once a week, sort of as a favor to the guy who owns the place.”

  Skidding to a halt, Michael gripped her arm and steered her to a table, where he pushed her shoulders until she sat. He dropped into the seat across from her and glared.“What? What the hell kind of man would ask that of you?”

  “One that I owe a favor to,” she said, shrugging.“He did a favor for me once, got my sister out of some trouble. Besides, the tips are good.”

  “So that’s what happened then,” Evan said from behind Michael’s shoulder.“You two know each other?”

  “You could say that,” Michael gritted out.

  “Oh. Well, it’s time to go,” Evan answered with a shrug.“And it’s Drew’s turn to choose, so come on.”

  As it seemed like Evan had no intention of walking away, Michael turned in his seat to glare up at his youngest brother.“I’ll meet you out there,” he said slowly, a menacing tone in his voice.“Dude. Go.”

  When he turned back, Sherry was smiling.“I’m glad we ended things on a good note though,” she said, standing.“You have a good bunch there, nice guys. That one your brother?”

  “Youngest. He’s a dumbass,” Michael grumbled.

  Sherry laughed, throwing her head back.“Look,” she said when the laughter subsided.“I know the kind of guy you are. I know you see me in here and you think you want to fix me. But I’m goodand I don’t need fixing, okay? So go on, get drunk, party the night away. And watch out for that little brother of yours,” she added, “because I see him in here all the time. He’s gonna get himself into trouble hanging out in a place like this.” She winked sassily, turned, and walked away, waving flirtatiously to the two men who had been watching her.

  Michael watched her walk away, dumbfounded, unable to imagine what would make her spend her time in a cheap strip joint on a back road on the edge of town.“I know, right?” Drew asked, throwing an arm over his shoulders.“Come on, man, let’s get the hell out of here. My skin’s crawling.”

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  “So,” Evan said, steering his SUV out of the parking lot of The Slip and onto the street.“You know the stripper, huh?” Smirking, he leaned over to dig his elbow into Michael’s side. In the backseat, Drew and Xander laughed, while Adam shook his head in disapproval.

  “Yeah, I know her,” Michael grumbled.

  “Yeah, I bet you do,” Evan answered, laughing.“Ow!” he exclaimed, jerking the wheel as Michael punched him in the arm.

  “I’d rather not have to explain to your mother why you two idiots wrecked the car, if you don’t mind,” Adam said from the backseat.“Are you sure you want to marry into this bunch?” he asked, turning to Xander.

  Xander laughed again.“I wouldn’t miss it,” he said.“Seriously, you guys, thanks for doing this with me.”

  “No need for thanks, son,” Adam answered, bumping shoulders with his soon-to-be son-in-law.“We wanted to welcome you into the family.”

  “Well, we tried to,” Evan added,“until Michael came and scared away the tits.”

  “Wanna get punched?” Michael grouched, curling his lip.“Come on, man, have a little respect. She’s somebody’s daughter, somebody’s sister.”

  “Somebody’s hot piece of– ow, damn you!”

  Evan glared across the seat at Michael, who had punched him again– harder this time– but his eyes gleamed with amusement, and even as Michael glared back, he could feel the tremble of a smile threatening at the corners of his mouth.“Well, knock it off about her,” he said warningly.

  “My brother, the man with the double life,” Evan teased, not letting up. He grinned as Michael sighed in frustration, following Drew’s instructions to their next location.“Aren’t you doing– ahem– I mean, dating Renee now? Cass’s sister?”

  “Maybe.” Michael shot a glare into the backseat at Drew, who apparently couldn’t keep his mouth shut. He and Renee had talked a few times over the past weeks about going public with their dating, but they had wanted to keep things low key at first, to make sure the transition would be a smooth one without any outside interference. Drew was the only person Michael had talked to about it, and that had only been after the first time he’d kissed Renee.

  “Wait, what?” Leaning forward, Xander reached out to rest a hand on Michael’s shoulder.“You’re dating who?”

  “Renee,” Evan answered, still smiling widely. Drew reached forward and tapped Evan’s right shoulder, muttering a quiet direction; Evan took the next turn and pulled into the parking lot of a rowdy sports bar.“I saw them together the other night at Alfonso’s when I was there with… one of the team’s girls.”

  “The team’s girls?!” The exclamation was in double stereo, with even Xander joining in as Adam, Michael, and Drew all shouted in surprise.

  “What the hell, man?” Drew went on, slapping Evan in the back of the head.“The team’s girls? What, you share them like class notes or what?”

  Adam stared, shaking his head slowly.“If that’s true, I’m disappointed, Evan,” he said quietly. He turned to open his door and stepped out into the night, grumbling quietly to himself. Before he closed the door, he turned back
to shake his head again at his youngest son.“You know, Ev,” he said,“I really thought your mother and I had done a better job than that. And you know what happens to those girls, how they get treated. You know what happened with your sister and–“ he broke off, sighing disgustedly.“I just thought you’d do better than that.” And with that, he closed the door and walked away from the car.

  On the other side of the backseat, Drew sighed.“I’ll go after him. We’ll meet you guys in there.”

  “I’m gonna go on, too,” Xander said, obviously uncomfortable with the tension,“and make sure they’ve got enough space set out for all of us. Give you guys time to work things out. And Mac and the other guys just got here, so… yeah.” Sliding out of the car, Xander closed the door with a quiet thump, shoved his hands into his pockets, and headed over to the rest of their party, who was climbing out of Mac’s SUV.

  Alone together, Michael and Evan stared across the parking lot, watching Adam and Drew talktogether at the edge of the building.“Sorry, dude,” Evan said, nudging Michael with a pointed elbow.