She’d think more on that later. But for now… “That’s a big step, meeting your family. What if they hate me?”
“Well…I met yours. It makes sense for you to meet mine.” He shrugged, just a little too diffident. “And they won’t hate you. How could they? You’re you.”
Her heart melted. “Come here, you idiot.”
She caught the front of his shirt, pulled him down, and kissed him. He nearly fell into her with a strangled sound. His arms locked around her, and he took control of the kiss with a breathless intensity that left her whimpering and clutching at him. Arousal burst through her in a hot rush. She wished they didn’t have to go inside to a G-rated, kid-safe evening. Wished she could take him upstairs.
Take him upstairs and show him how much she needed him. But maybe she could do that tonight, once everyone was in bed. They had kept their hands to themselves long enough.
When she drew back, he was breathing raggedly, looking down at her with dark, unreadable eyes that burned with an emotion she couldn’t identify—an emotion that nearly stopped her heart.
“Brianna, I—”
“Come on!” Cody ducked through the front door and grabbed Thomas’s hand. “Enough kissing.”
Thomas laughed. “Right. We have work to do.”
He followed Cody into the house, but not without a lingering glance for Brianna. A glance that said his thoughts were very much in line with Brianna’s. She bit back a frustrated shriek. Why did she get the feeling he’d been about to say something momentous?
Or had that just been wishful thinking?
With a groan, she followed her boys inside. “When is your sister coming?”
“Uh…tomorrow.”
“Oh God. That’s not enough time to prepare.” She’d have to call the housekeeper and have her deep clean the entire house. And dust, and Windex all of the windows. Then she would find out Erica’s favorite meal and cook it. She could top it off with Jeremy’s favorite dessert, followed by—
“I see that look on your face. Take a deep breath. And stop worrying. She’s just a lawyer. She might put you up on the stand but she won’t put you through a polygraph. And don’t worry about her Marine husband.” He flashed her an impish look. “I don’t think he knows much about waterboarding. Much.”
“Not. Helping.”
Thomas chuckled and sat next to Cody. She left them to their important work while she retreated to the kitchen and started on the dishes from lunch. When she put away the last glass, her gaze fell on the photo of Michael. She paused, looking up at him.
I know our life wasn’t perfect. But in the end, we were there for each other. I love you. I miss you. And I hope that, wherever you are, you can be happy for me.
For the first time, she thought he might just be. He might even approve of the changes in the household. Cody laughed from the other room, mixed with Thomas’s deep chuckle. Brianna hugged her arms to her chest and smiled up at Michael.
Yeah, he just might be happy about this after all.
…
Thomas handed Cody the transformed truck. “Here you go.”
“I knew you could do it.” Cody grabbed the truck and took off for the stairs at high speed. “Thank you, Thomas!”
“You’re welcome,” he called, but Cody was already gone, calling Katelyn’s name at the top of his lungs. Shaking his head, he rose to his feet, wiping his hands on his pants.
Zach came down the stairs with a scowl. “You’re here again? Aren’t you going back to California yet?”
“As you can see, I am not gone yet.” Thomas picked up the instructions and folded them. “How are you?”
“I was fine.” He looked Thomas up and down, his upper lip curled. “Not so much now.”
Thomas took a deep breath. This again. He couldn’t let this go on. “It doesn’t have to be like this, Zach. We don’t have to be enemies.”
Brianna leaned out of the kitchen. “Thomas, we need sauce for dinner. Could you run to the store and—” She froze. “Oh. Zach. Hey.”
Zach sneered. “Yeah, go get some sauce. And don’t come back.”
“Zach, knock it off.” Brianna scowled. “I’ve had enough of your—”
“If you think you’re going to chase me off, you’re wrong,” Thomas said.
Brianna shot him an incredulous look, opened her mouth, then caught his eye and closed it again. Trust me, he pleaded silently. After a moment, she nodded subtly and looked away. She’d give him a chance, at least. A chance to smooth the ground between himself and Zach.
Now he just hoped he wouldn’t screw it up.
If he could show her he was trustworthy enough to be with her kids, then hopefully she would say yes to him tomorrow when he laid his heart bare. Hopefully she wouldn’t laugh in his face and walk away like everyone else had in his life. He’d lived in plenty of houses over the years, but for the first time in his life…he’d found a home.
Now he just needed to be accepted into it.
Thomas returned his gaze to Zach. “You can be as nasty as you like. I’m not going anywhere. So I think you and I need to figure out what we’re going to do about that.”
“I’ll tell you what you can do. You can shove it up your—”
“Swear jar,” Cody said from the head of the stairs. He sat on the top step, hugging Optimus to his chest. “I think Thomas should move in. Then he can help me work on Optimus whenever we want.”
Zach paled. “Move in? He’s not moving in, is he? He’d better not be or I’m leaving. I’m leaving right now.”
Thomas ignored the sting of the boy’s words. “Where would you go? You’re thirteen. You might be able to stay with a friend for a few days but what happens once his parents find out your mother’s looking for you and she’s frantic and terrified? Because that’s what you’d be doing. Frightening your mother for no good reason.”
Zach snarled and looked away. “If it gets rid of you…”
“And if it doesn’t?”
“I don’t know!” Zach exploded, then sank down and sat on the bottom step. He buried his face in his hands. “I don’t know.”
Thomas let out the breath he’d been holding. He’d cracked the tough-guy shell and got down to the boy hidden underneath. That’s who he needed to talk to. “Brianna, I’m going to head out to the store. Zach is going with me, if you don’t mind.”
Please, God, let her not mind. He needed her to be on his side, or Zach would never believe he wasn’t the bad guy. Wasn’t the enemy.
Brianna nodded. “That’s fine.”
“I don’t want to go with him.” He raised his head and shot his mother a desperate look. “Mom, I’m not going with him.”
“You’ll go because I told you to.” Brianna slipped back into the kitchen, calling over her shoulder, “See you two soon. Pick out a dessert, too.”
“Thomas, can we play more when you come back?” Cody asked.
“Sure thing, kiddo.” Thomas smiled, then offered a hand to Zach. “Let’s go.”
Zach ignored his hand and thrust himself to his feet. With a seething glance, he stalked to the front door. Thomas shook his head and followed.
At least it was progress.
In the truck, they buckled up in tense silence. Zach glared mutinously out the window. Thomas waited until they were on the highway to speak.
“Look, I know I’m not your dad, and I don’t want to be.”
“No, you just want her.” What Thomas could see of Zach’s profile was stiff, his jaw a hard line. “You’ll probably get rid of us. Send us all to boarding school or something. Have your own kids. We’ll end up sleeping in the basement. Or in the cupboard under the stairs.”
Was that what this was all about? Zach was afraid of being replaced?
“You watch too much TV,” Thomas said gently. “I’m not going to send you away. First of all, your mother would never do that to you, and she’d never allow someone in your lives who would. She loves you too much for that. And second of all? You’r
e not Harry Potter. You have a perfectly good room upstairs.”
“You don’t know that she wouldn’t send us away if you asked.” Zach curled his fingers around his seat-belt strap, his knuckles white. “I never thought she’d replace Dad, either, but she did. You’re here all the time. In his house. Sitting on his couch. With his wife.”
“Do you think your dad would want your mom to be alone? Or do you think he’d want her to be happy? Think about that.” He turned into the parking lot at Meijer and killed the engine. “She has a good man taking care of her already. You. I’m not there to take her away from you or from Cody or Katelyn. I’m not trying to pull her away from your family. I…I’d just like to be a part of it.”
Zach’s shoulders straightened. “But she doesn’t need you. You’re right. She has me.”
“No, she doesn’t need me. But I like her, Zach. I want to make her smile and laugh. And I like you guys, too.”
“Us?” The boy blinked. “Why?”
“Why not?”
“Because we don’t like you.” Zach’s eyes narrowed. “At least…I don’t like you.”
“Well, I like you. You remind me a lot of myself at your age.”
“I’m nothing like you!” But after a moment, Zach’s hunched shoulders relaxed and he darted Thomas a wary look. “What about when you go back to California? She’s worrying about it. I see her every night after you leave. She looks sad.”
Thomas took a shaky breath and gripped the steering wheel. “I have a plan for that.”
“If you hurt her…” Zach said after a few moments of tense silence.
“You can send me packing with another black eye. I promise.” Thomas offered a hand. “Temporary truce?”
Zach studied Thomas’s hand, squinting, mouth tight. Thomas held his breath. Would he be accepted or rejected? He felt like his entire future with Brianna hinged on this moment.
Finally, after what seemed like hours, Zach shook his hand. “Truce. But I still don’t like you. I won’t moon you or kick a ball at your face, but I won’t go out of my way to be nice to you, either. Not yet.”
He could handle that. “You don’t have to like me. I’m only asking that you give me a chance. If I screw up, send me on my way.”
“I will. And I’ll like it.”
Thomas laughed. “Good. Now let’s go get that sauce or your mother will skin us both.”
Chapter Thirteen
Brianna took the stairs carefully. Her knees were weak, and she could barely feel her feet. Last night, she had tried to get Thomas to stay overnight. When she kissed him good night, she had whispered that he should sleep in her room with her. He’d stammered an odd jumble of words, something about getting ready for tomorrow, and ran out of the house as if the devil were chasing him. And she still didn’t know why.
But tonight she was going to finally ask the question she’d been avoiding—and she would actually get an answer. He’d promised her that much. But after his flight last night…she didn’t think she would like what she would hear. And if that wasn’t enough to make her palms sweaty and her knees wobbly, she was about to meet his sister for the first time, along with Erica’s husband. A husband who just happened to be Thomas’s best friend.
Pressure much?
At the bottom of the stairs, she leaned against the wall. Laughter rose from outside. She pushed away from the wall and peeked out the front window. Thomas, dressed in a black suit and blue tie, kicked a soccer ball. She craned her neck until she could see Zach, a smile tugging at his lips as he answered something Thomas said and angled to intercept a pass.
Thomas laughed, called out a reply, and punted the ball back to Zach. They kicked the ball back and forth a few more times, while across the yard, Katelyn and Cody played tag. Brianna pressed her knuckles to her lips. They looked like a family. A happy family.
Her family.
When was the last time she’d seen Zach smile like that? Probably long before Michael had died. Before he’d gotten sick. Sometimes she liked to think Michael was still around, watching over them. Maybe he’d like the scene in the yard. A sense of peace filled her as she imagined him at her side. In her mind, his smile was warm with approval.
No one had wanted him to die, least of all her. She still missed him. Always would. But she couldn’t go on feeling guilty for the rest of her life, ashamed of her feelings for another man. Thomas belonged here if he wanted to be here. With them.
He could be a good father. As good a father as Michael would have been. The past two weeks had shown her that Thomas had an amazing amount of patience and tolerance with her children. Whether temper tantrums, fights, or tears over a broken baby doll, he’d been there. He’d helped make the kids feel better—and helped her feel better, too.
No more running away from him. No more second-guessing. She wanted him to stick around. If he gave even one sign of being willing to move here with her, she would beg and plead for him to take the position. To stay.
She checked herself in the wall mirror, smoothed her hands over her sleek sheath dress, and stepped outside. All four heads turned to her when the door opened but she had eyes only for Thomas right now. “Hi,” she said shyly.
“Hi, yourself.” His gaze caressed her from head to toe. He kicked the ball back to Zach and walked toward her, his steps predatory, lithe, his heated gaze never leaving her. “You look… God. Breathtaking.”
She lowered her eyes and tucked her hair behind her ear. “So do you. Even when you’re playing soccer in a suit.”
He rubbed the back of his neck with a sheepish smile. “It’s fun. I didn’t realize how much I missed it until I started playing again.”
Zach jogged closer. “Were you watching, Mom? Thomas was teaching me some of his ancient tricks from when he played.”
“Ancient? Watch yourself, boy. I already feel old enough, thank you.” Thomas ruffled Zach’s hair. The boy flushed. “But you really don’t need my pointers. You’ve already got a better kick than I ever did.”
The sheer pride in Zach’s eyes took her breath away. Did Thomas even realize how much he’d done for Zach? And to see them finally getting along…it had been rocky, but she was glad she’d trusted him.
“Thanks,” Zach said. A car door slammed, and his gaze shifted past Thomas. “Here come the babysitters. I told you guys I could have watched them.”
“A thirteen-year-old alone all night with his siblings? I don’t think so.” Brianna snorted. They would probably come home to find Cory and Katelyn covered in chocolate and running around high on a sugar rush, while Zach played Call of Duty online with Chris. “Maybe in a few years.”
The couple who came up the walk wasn’t nearly as frightening as Brianna had envisioned, even if Erica was intimidatingly lovely, the kind of woman the old Brianna would have been afraid to speak to. The resemblance between her and Thomas was unmistakable, from the deep, dark brown eyes to the infectious smile.
Her petite curves made even jeans and a T-shirt look classy—completely at odds with the rough, rugged, tattooed man at her side, who looked like he’d be more at home in a biker bar. Good god, those blue eyes were devastating, and despite herself Brianna flushed. Erica was one lucky woman.
Then her gaze drifted to Thomas—how the suit sat on his broad shoulders, unable to cage the luscious slopes of hard-packed muscle. The slightly dangerous edge to his smile, just that hint of promise that told her just what a feral beast he could be the moment they were alone. Yes, Erica was one lucky woman.
But so was she.
Cody trotted over and tugged her hand. “He’s a Marine, right, Mom?”
“Real-life and in the flesh.” She bit her lower lip and darted Thomas a nervous glance. “Are you sure Erica and Jeremy don’t mind watching them?”
“Trust me, she owes me. I had to take care of her when she was pregnant and Jeremy was away on deployment.” He made it sound like torture of the worst sort. With a shudder, he captured her hand. “Pickles at midnight. Ice cream at two
.”
Brianna laughed. “I remember those days. Once I sent Michael out for a Big Mac at eleven at night. When he came home, I didn’t want it anymore—but I wanted a milkshake. And he went right back out, the lovesick sop.”
He rolled his eyes. “Sounds like Erica.”
As the couple drew closer, Brianna smoothed her hair and smiled. “Hello.”
“Hi,” Erica said, and, without a moment’s hesitation, pulled Brianna into a tight hug. Brianna tentatively hugged her back. She hadn’t expected or hoped for such a warm welcome. “Nice to meet you, Brianna. I’ve heard so many wonderful things about you.”
“Uh, thanks.” Her cheeks heated. “I’ve heard a lot about you, too.”
“Don’t believe any of it.” Erica grinned. “Tommy probably made it all up.”
“Brat. I told you not to call me that.” Thomas pulled his sister into a tight hug.
Jeremy offered his hand, those stunning blue eyes glittering. “Hello, Brianna. Nice to meet you.”
Brianna slipped her hand into his—and yelped when he, too, dragged her into a rough bear hug. Her blush felt like it was spreading down to her knees, and she awkwardly pressed her hands against the second hardest pair of abs she’d ever felt as she pushed herself back.
“Well. Um. Nice to meet you, too.” She fiddled with her hair and pressed close against Thomas’s side. “Thank you both for watching the kids overnight.”
“No problem. We needed a vacation from base life and it gave my mom an excuse to spend a few days playing doting grandmother with our little guy.” Erica lightly slugged Thomas’s arm. “Then the next step will be helping this idiot find a new house.” Her sly look slid from Thomas to Brianna and Brianna could have melted into the sidewalk.
Wait, what? He was house hunting? Her heartbeat sped up. “Oh. I see.”
Thomas cleared his throat. “I said that we might be looking at houses. Not definitely.”
Love Me Page 12
