by Cat Johnson
She didn’t know what that could be. Chris had always seemed like an open book to her. A constant joker who rarely took anything seriously, yes, but he had lasted in the Navy for twenty years, so he couldn’t be too much of a screw up.
Some men were the marrying kind and some just valued their freedom, she guessed. Darci, on the other hand, wanted a commitment. A man she could see herself growing old with.
Though at this point, she might be willing to take any male for a night or two to break her long dry spell. She didn’t need a man ready, willing and able to commit to a lifetime for that.
The reality was that finding a guy, for a lifetime or even just for a night, would require she leave the sofa, and she wasn’t up for that tonight or most nights after working a long hard day. And the only men she came in contact with in the comfort of her own home were Rick’s closest friends.
That didn’t help her one little bit. Jon was taken. Against all odds, Zane was also taken. She swallowed the bitter taste at that thought and moved on. There was Brody, who was not her type at all. Thom fresh from a nasty divorce, though she’d heard mention he’d already met someone new. That left Chris.
In spite of his flirtations, serious or not, if Darci did decide to have a fling it could not be with Chris. She had to see him all the time. A one-night stand with her brother’s friend who’d she’d have to see again over and over seemed like a bad plan.
And Chris and Rick were far more than just friends. They were working together again in what she’d come to think of as the SEAL spin-off team Jon had created.
Spin-off. Jeez. She was starting to think of life in TV terms. She definitely had been watching too much television during her lonely nights at home with no dates.
Rick emerged from his bedroom in sweatpants and a T-shirt, his hair wet from the shower. “Did Chris leave?”
“Yeah, he said to tell you he went home.”
“Hm, strange. He said he’d hang around and we’d watch the game.”
Darci cocked a brow. “Maybe he left because he’s a gentleman.”
Rick snorted. “Doubtful, but what’s your point? Why would his leaving make him a gentleman?”
“He saw I was watching a movie. Maybe he didn’t want you to commandeer the remote and switch to the game, so he left.”
Rick frowned. “You could have gone to watch in your bedroom.”
“So could you.” Darci crossed her arms, not backing down.
“Me and Chris, hanging out on my bed together like a couple of girls at a sleepover? Yeah, no thanks. Not going to happen.”
She shrugged. “See. Then it’s better he left.”
Rick sent her a glance that told her exactly how he felt about the whole thing. His eyes cut to the television as he pulled his mouth to the side unhappily. “What are you watching anyway?”
“Sleepless in Seattle.”
He let out a humph but didn’t make a move. He was either too lazy to get up or he liked the movie but wouldn’t give her the satisfaction of admitting it.
That was fine. Rick could stay. She didn’t care why, as long as he didn’t bother her while she watched the ending. The ending was the best part. Besides, her evening spent at home watching movies felt less pitiful when she had company doing it.
“Wanna order something in for dinner?” he asked, his eyes on the television.
She’d have company and she wouldn’t have to cook. That plan sounded good to her. “Sure. You getting pizza?”
Rick shrugged. “That or Chinese. Which one are you in the mood for?”
“Chinese.” She’d never gotten around to making that salad and she’d lost the incentive to.
“All right.” He hoisted himself off the chair. “I’ll call it in. You want your usual?”
“Yup. Chicken and broccoli. And don’t forget to order my dumplings too.”
“You got it.” Rick went off to place the order and Darci snuggled lower beneath the blanket on the sofa.
Maybe having her brother around wasn’t so bad after all. He wasn’t such a bad roommate.
“What game is on tonight?” she asked.
“College basketball. You wouldn’t know the teams even if I told you who was playing.”
“You’re right about that.” She hesitated and then decided she could afford to be magnanimous once in a while. Besides, she had a bunch of eBooks on her tablet she wanted to read and had never gotten around to. “You can watch your game out here when the movie is over, if you want. There’s not long left.”
“All right. Thanks, Darci.”
“No problem.”
Phone in his hand, he began to tell their order to the person on the other end of the phone. He wandered over to her, a beer in his hand. He held the bottle out toward her, brows raised in silent question.
She nodded and reached out to take the bottle, mouthing, “Thanks.”
Her brother wasn’t always annoying. In fact, he could be a decent guy once in a while.
Maybe there was hope for the males of the human race, after all.
CHAPTER 3
After running Darci’s comment over and over again in his head the whole drive home, Chris’s mood was pretty damn foul by the time he walked through the door of the apartment he shared with his brother.
Just when he wouldn’t have minded being alone, shooting some whisky and passing out for the night, he saw that was not to be. Brody’s truck was in the driveway and the lights were on in the apartment.
As he turned the key in the front door, Chris drew in a deep breath and braced himself to be civil until he could say goodnight and stew in his piss poor mood alone in his room.
He’d been hoping Brody was still at the base. Or hell, even away for a training or an op. Things came up all the time in the teams, and chances were good Brody could have been called in. But Chris’s bad luck seemed to be holding and he’d have his brother’s company tonight, just when he’d rather be alone.
Darci’s words echoed in his head.
Always joking.
He’d asked her out and she’d laughed. Seriously laughed at him and assumed he was joking.
Christ. It was hopeless thinking he could make her see him any differently after all this time.
“Hey, you eat?” Brody stood in the kitchen, fridge door open.
Chris knew there wouldn’t be anything in there for him to find. He should have gone food shopping. He was retired while Brody was active duty. He supposed that made him the wife in this roommate relationship.
Wonderful. He was the damn woman.
If any woman heard him say shit like that, he’d be in for a lecture about how many women worked nowadays and managed to take care of the house too. And how many men stayed home to tend to the house and children while their wives worked.
He couldn’t see himself doing that. He supposed it was no wonder he was single. He was a throwback from the past. A time when a man asked a woman out and she said yes.
Chris drew in a breath. “Nah, I didn’t eat. And yes, I know there’s no food in there and I should have gone shopping and didn’t and I’m sorry. I’ll order something. I’ll pay for it.”
“Whoa. Step back.” Frowning, Brody swung the refrigerator door closed and turned to face Chris head on. “I wasn’t complaining. I was just asking a question.”
“Sorry.” Chris sighed. He moved to the kitchen drawer where they kept the take out menus. “What do you want to eat?”
“I don’t care, so order whatever you want and then you can tell me what crawled up your ass. A’ight?” Brody leaned back against the counter and crossed his arms, looking as if he was settling in for however long it took Chris to talk.
The last thing Chris wanted to do was talk about Darci with his little brother.
“It’s nothing. Pizza?” he asked. He wasn’t in the mood to worry about getting a fat gut at the moment, either.
“Sure.”
Chris grabbed the phone but didn’t dial to call in the order. The menu from the p
izza place wasn’t in the drawer where it usually was and he couldn’t remember where he’d left it.
He couldn’t seem to function with Brody watching every move he made like a hawk so he put down the phone again. “Seriously. There’s nothing to talk about.”
Brody cocked a brow, his gaze never wavering.
Chris shook his head. Since when did his younger brother think he could stare him down and win? He had close to a decade on the kid. He’d been winning stare downs against Brody since they’d been kids sharing a room barely big enough to fit their two twin beds with a nightstand in between. There was no way Brody was going to get him to talk when he didn’t want to talk.
The one thing Brody’s cocky show of bravado did was make Chris laugh. Given his crap mood, that was quite an accomplishment. He had to give Brody credit for that feat.
“Fine. Maybe I’m just feeling my lack of female companionship today. That’s all.” He shrugged, hoping that answer would satisfy his brother.
It was no secret Chris didn’t have the steady stream of women in and out of his bedroom. Not the way Zane had. Or, hell, even Brody.
His little brother didn’t hook up with the frequency of Zane before the fall—which is how Chris had come to think of Zane’s loss of single status—but Brody was no slouch in the pussy department.
A young, good-looking SEAL was never lacking in female company if he wanted some. Even though Brody didn’t broadcast what he did for a living, it was an easy assumption. Any woman out at a bar near the base who saw a group of guys, all in prime physical condition and usually running their mouths off, could guess what they were.
It wasn’t often, but sometimes Chris missed the old days when he’d been fresh out of BUD/S. Cocky and full of himself. Ready and willing to take on anyone, anytime. Men in a bar fight. Women for a tussle of another kind.
Age and experience had cured him of those foolish impulses long ago. But at times like this, it would be nice to transport back to his younger days, back to when the last thing he’d ever wanted was a relationship. When just a night would do. When the thought of having a serious girlfriend—or God forbid a wife—had scared him far more than facing down any insurgent hell bent on killing him.
Chris pulled himself out of the memories, glanced up and found Brody watching him.
Brody launched off the counter he’d been leaning against. “Forget about ordering in. Let’s go out to eat. And while we’re out, it’s lingerie night at the strip club.”
Chris raised a brow. “Lingerie night? Isn’t that kind of going against the main point of the strip club? That they don’t wear anything?”
“It’s just what they start out in. They take it off soon enough. Don’t you worry about that.”
Not sure this was the cure for what ailed him, Chris considered the plan. “I don’t know.”
“Bro, trust me on this.” Brody slapped Chris on the shoulder. “One private lap dance in the back VIP area and you’ll be good as new.”
Having a beer while watching a chick on the pole was one thing, but the back room was another. Chris wanted more than a quick grind, or rub and tug. He wanted a real date. With Darci. And what he’d gotten was her laughing at his invite like it—like he—was a joke.
That memory spurred him into a decision. “A’ight. Let me shower quick, then we can go.”
A grin spread across Brody’s face. “Sounds good to me.”
The universe had definitely shifted. That his overly serious little brother was the one taking him out to cheer him up was the exact opposite of how things usually were.
Chris took his time showering off the sweat from his workout. He even went to the closet and put on a collared shirt with his jeans rather than his usual T-shirt.
Then there was no more stalling. Time to go, and by the looks of him, Brody was long past ready to leave.
Brody drove them in his truck, which meant Chris would be free to indulge in a few more adult beverages than he would have allowed himself had he been behind the wheel.
He didn’t let himself feel guilty about that. Brody was technically on one-hour recall, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, so he had to temper his alcohol consumption in case he got called in.
Chris had been there and done that. His retirement from the teams meant he wasn’t at the military’s beck and call. He didn’t have to worry about things like getting that call anymore. He might as well take advantage of the freedom.
They parked at a barbecue place that was conveniently located next to the strip club. It didn’t take long for the hot wings they’d ordered, and the beer he’d washed them down with, to soothe Chris into a better mood.
Stuffed full and tipsy, Chris paid the bill and they moved next door.
Within the dim interior the girls spotlighted on the stage, both with lingerie and without, didn’t hurt his mood either.
They’d barely been there a quarter of an hour, not even long enough to finish the beer they’d ordered, when Brody leaned close. “So which one you want?”
“Excuse me?” Chris laughed. Were they window shopping for women now?
“Which one tickles your fancy?” Brody waggled his eyebrows. “She’s my treat.”
He rolled his eyes at his brother. “You don’t need to buy me a girl.”
“I’m not buying you a girl. I’m buying you twenty minutes in the back room for a private show with a girl. Anyone you want. So who’s it going to be? Who is the lucky lady who gets the pleasure of the Cassidy charm tonight?”
Chris laughed at Brody’s question, while in the back of his mind he couldn’t help but think there was one girl he wanted who he couldn’t have. Darci.
But damned if parts of him—long neglected parts—didn’t start to like the idea of a private show. Chris pushed the beer in front of him away. It had to be the alcohol making it seem like a good idea to go in the back room and let a stranger get him off by grinding against him.
And for an extra few twenties slipped to her in private, he could have a whole lot more than a dance from quite a few of the girls who worked there. At least that’s what he’d heard from a couple of guys. Illegal, yeah, but the girls got away with it somehow.
Apparently, as long as there were no fights and the patrons were on good behavior inside and outside in the parking lot after their visits, the local cops turned a blind eye to what went on in the back room of this place. Chris didn’t want to speculate but he suspected the owner made it worth their while to do so.
“I know which one you like.”
Chris turned to look at his brother. “Oh, do you?”
“Uh, huh.” Brody nodded, grinning.
“And which one do you reckon is my Ms. Right, in your opinion?”
“I don’t know if she’s that, but she could be good enough for tonight. The blonde.” Brody shot a sideways gaze at Chris. “Am I right?”
Damn his brother for knowing him too well. Yeah, Chris had noticed the blonde. He couldn’t help it. Aside from the bought and paid for tits, she reminded him of Darci. Her long legs. Her fair coloring. Even her haircut.
He grew impossibly harder just looking at the girl who looked like Darci.
How messed up was that? He was one sick bastard, hiring a substitute for the woman he wanted, but who wouldn’t give him the time of day.
And damned if he wasn’t going to do it. “A’ight. See if the blonde’s available.”
“Now we’re talking.” Brody rubbed his hands together and stood.
Chris shook his head. He needed to do something about his social life. Eventually.
Tonight, he was going to let this woman cure what ailed him. Let her ease the ache deep inside that Darci’s rejection had caused.
Tomorrow—he’d have to decide then what to do next.
CHAPTER 4
It was Valentines Day and a Saturday to boot, making it feel doubly bad that Darci was sitting at home in her pajamas in the afternoon.
She had no boyfriend. No date. No prospects
for even a girls’ night out since those were few and far between now that Jon had stolen her best friend from her.
Ali and Jon no doubt had some romantic evening planned while she had nothing but the sofa and the remote control and whatever movies the cable networks chose to run on television.
So what? Darci decided she’d just make the best of her me time.
A career focused, working woman needed to take time for herself once in a while. She could relax. Catch up on reading . . . wallow in self-pity.
Darci sighed. Her life truly was pitiful.
The one saving grace was that Rick’s life was just as pitiful as hers. He didn’t have any plans either. No romantic prospects for the holiday for him. That made her feel moderately better.
It was the damn greeting card companies and florists who created and marketed this holiday to make everyone feel as if they had to celebrate it in some big way or they were losers. She was convinced of it.
People complained that Christmas had become too commercial, but she’d argue Valentines Day was worse. Especially for a single girl.
Well, Darci didn’t intend to bow to the pressure of the commercialism. Not this year. At least there were some good movies on. Maybe she’d even make some popcorn later.
Did they have a bag of popcorn kernels in the cabinet? She didn’t know and she was too lazy to get up to check.
There was one way to find out. Her always-hungry brother who was always poking around in the cupboards would know.
“Rick?”
He didn’t answer. She craned her neck to glance behind her, toward his bedroom door, and heard the faint sound of water running coming from his bathroom. He’d come back from his run a while ago and gone directly into the shower, and he was still in there, by the sound of things.
That man took the longest showers on record. Maybe that was how he could go without having a girlfriend for such long stretches of time. Darci cringed at that thought.
Thank goodness they had two full bathrooms so she didn’t have to share with him. There were some things a girl didn’t want to think about her brother doing, especially not in her shower.
