by Lee Kilraine
He only lived two houses down from Beatrice and Agatha, which, on nights like tonight, had its drawbacks. It was hard to refuse to come over to help when they could see his truck in the driveway. And he couldn’t just say no because they had this look they’d lay on him for a week afterward, one that made him feel like he was fifteen again and being sent to the principal’s office.
The walk back in the cold air was good, though. He needed something to cool himself off and bring him back from the edge. What the hell happened to his brain every time he got around Lu? Maybe it wasn’t her? Maybe it was him?
Hell, ever since the wedding his brain had been going places he really wished it wouldn’t. The guilt, the senselessness of what had happened and why, was fucking with him. Based on all the other guys at the wedding—that was normal.
What wasn’t normal was being attracted to some whack-job who’d wormed her way into his life, who’d lied to him and then had stolen his cabin out from under him. Ha! And wasn’t that enough to make him want to punch a wall? Maybe it was all wrapped up together. Could this obsession with Lu be his way of punishing himself?
He had no idea, and frankly, he was tired of thinking about it. So he was going to have a beer or two with his brother and ignore everything else. Letting himself into his house, he rubbed Houdini when he threw himself belly up in the foyer. The cat eyed him from the kitchen counter.
“Hey, cat. What did I tell you about that?” He stared the cat down to no avail, so he moved over and picked it up and put it on the floor. “Houdini, dude, you’ve got to control your cat.”
Darn if the dog didn’t look guilty about the situation. The cat, on the other hand, couldn’t have cared less. Maybe if he came up with a name for the cat, it would listen more.
Houdini barked when Kaz came in through the front door but quickly assumed the submissive, please-pet-me position. Anyone who thought pit bulls were vicious needed to come meet Houdini.
“I’m glad you called. You’ve been so busy lately, none of us see you anymore.” He raised up the two six packs of beer he’d brought with him. “I brought some of my home brews.”
Tynan took out two beers and slid the rest on the top shelf of his fridge. He pried the tops off using the bottle opener on the wall and handed one to Kaz.
“The other night I was Dad’s favorite son when I rescued him from Ma’s meat loaf.” He tilted his beer bottle at Kaz and then took a drink. “Oh, that’s good. Tonight you’re my favorite brother.”
“Let me guess . . . Sijan’s out in LA, Quinn is making whoopee with his woman, and Paxton didn’t pick up his phone?”
Tynan grinned. “That, and you brought me your home brew.”
They settled in the den on his oversized couches and Tynan clicked the TV on to a football game. Houdini strolled in to lay belly up at their feet until Tynan patted the couch next to him. He jumped up and made himself comfortable as close as he could curl up to Tynan. The cat perched on the coffee table and stared at them.
It was nice catching up with his brother, drinking a beer, watching sports—just living life. The perfect distraction from the woman two houses away who was still managing to drive him crazy, even after he’d fired her and didn’t have to bump into her all day long. Didn’t have to have that sweet little ass right in front of his face as it wiggled all over his construction site. Or watch her fragile frame handle a surprising amount of hard work. She might be tiny, but she was fit. The way her legs had squeezed around his waist not even an hour ago . . .
“Ty, come in, Ty.” Kaz waved a hand between Ty’s face and the TV. “I asked how you feel about Lu being back in town.”
He shrugged. “Why would I have feelings about it? It’s America. Lu can come and go wherever and whenever she pleases and it has nothing to do with me. I mean, why would I care, right?”
Kaz quirked an eyebrow at him. “Right. Why would you care?”
“Because she stole my damn cabin, that’s why.” Tynan drank down the rest of his beer, went into the kitchen, and grabbed two more. Jerking the bottles into the opener with enough force to spill some of the beer, he had to pause and find paper towels to wipe the floor. “Damn woman.”
Back on the couch, he started on his second beer, switching the channels on the TV, not finding a single game that looked good.
“You just clicked past the Panthers game.” Kaz pointed at the television, turning to look at his brother in confusion.
“She didn’t know a damn thing about construction either. Maybe someone should warn Dave that she probably can’t cook worth a damn either.” Then he remembered her chocolate cake and the salmon from a few nights before. She’d probably made tonight’s meatballs too. So cooking was the only thing she hadn’t lied about.
“Well, since you don’t care, no big deal, right?” Kaz sat back with a grin on his face and took a long pull on his beer.
“Damn straight.” He clicked through the television channels again, picked something, then stood up to look out the front window as car doors started slamming. “Looks like book club is over. Why do people even read books when you can finish a damn movie in two hours?”
Kaz choked on his swallow of beer. “It’s a mystery. You know, Ty, there’s an Eastern philosophy that says what a person needs the most will revisit him again and again, until he accepts the lesson the universe is trying to teach.”
Tynan stared at his brother. Kaz had always had this inner calm. But Tynan had never been able to find that quiet peace in himself. He always needed to be moving, be doing, the more adrenaline the better. The closest he came to peace was when he’d been out on a mission. He could lock it down then. Lower his breathing and heart rate, clear his mind with only the mission and the enemy on his mind.
Hell, he didn’t even sleep peacefully. He moved so much in bed, he’d even had a girlfriend break up with him because of it. Lu didn’t seem like the type of woman who would complain about that. Besides, she was so petite, she’d probably only take up a corner of his king-size bed. And why in the hell did his mind go there?
“What do you think the universe is trying to teach me by siccing Lulubelle Swan on me over and over again?”
Kaz shrugged. “You tell me. But here’s a thought . . . I wonder what it would have been like if the two of you had met under diff—”
“I’d rather go back to talking about your Eastern philosophy. But first I need another beer.”
“Hey, even your problems in the bedroom could be solved with Eastern philosophy.” Kaz pointed his beer at Tynan for emphasis. “Ever heard of Tantric sex? It’s delayed gratification. Nonorgasmic intercourse. Pretty much what the universe just handed you, according to the Grapevine.”
Tynan stared at his brother. “Kaz, it’s scary some of the shit you know, but everything’s in working order. How about another beer?”
They had several more beers. Kaz ended up using the guest room rather than driving home. Tynan was feeling nicely relaxed for the first time in weeks. Not drunk, just maybe skirting the edge and floating down to sobriety softly.
He stood out on the back porch and thought about the universe and Kaz’s woo-woo theories while Houdini and his cat sniffed around the backyard. Seemed kind of cruel for the universe to send a woman who was supposed to teach him something at the same time he’d put a moratorium on relationships. Or was that Kaz’s point? Was he supposed to learn to be unselfish? Learn to listen better?
Deep, committed relationships had never been his thing. Mostly because his military lifestyle was hard on a relationship. He’d seen too many friends go through messy divorces. He didn’t do one-night stands either. He usually found a woman who was as focused on her career as he was. One wanting a mutually satisfying sex life on the side. And when the mutual satisfaction ran its course sometimes she ended it first, sometimes he did. No hard feelings.
Was that selfish? Was that an asshole thing to do? Hell, he figured being honest was the most respectful thing he could offer. Maybe he needed a woman’s
opinion. Maybe that was why the universe put Lu back in his life, so he could get her perspective? Ha! Maybe he’d had one too many beers and nothing to eat all day but those two meatballs over at Agatha’s.
His phone rang and he pulled it out from his back pocket. Calls this late at night were either no good or booty calls from a current girlfriend. He didn’t have a current girlfriend. Aaand it was Lu. Huh. The universe at work again because based on the hot make-out session they’d had tonight and their history—this call could go either way.
“Yeah?”
“Come get your dog.”
“My dog is right here—” He looked around the yard; no Houdini.
“Your dog is sitting outside my window barking at me. Why does he hate me so much?”
Good instincts? No, that wasn’t fair, but the dog did seem sensitive to people’s moods. He probably caught the tension between the two of them. “Gee, I don’t know, Lu . . . maybe he ranks honesty high up like I do.”
She sighed through the phone. “One day you might consider asking why I did it.”
The sigh had sidetracked him and he was too busy imagining her naked to pay attention to what she’d said, but he opened the back gate to head through the Wilsons’ backyard and over.
When he didn’t answer she sighed again. “Obviously not today. Could you come get your dog before he wakes up Beatrice and Agatha?”
“I’m on my way,” he whispered, so as not to disturb the Wilsons.
“Can you walk faster? Now the little beast is growling at me.”
He was there before she finished the sentence. He hung up his phone and stood next to the dog. His gaze took in her long, loose hair flowing down over her shoulders, mussed up like she’d been rolling around in bed. Looking at her, the glow of moonlight teasing over her, he thought of a few ways he’d like to muss up her hair, and that thought made him want to growl. Lu rested her forearms on the windowsill. “I was wondering . . . do you think we’d be friends if we’d met under different circumstances?”
“No.”
“Well, you didn’t have to answer so fast. You could have at least pretended to think about it for ten seconds.”
He shook his head. “I don’t need to think about it. I don’t have female friends. I have female acquaintances, I have females I love who love my brothers, and then I have females I want to sleep with.”
She leaned against the windowsill, and shrugged. “So, I’d be a female acquaintance.”
“No.”
“Well, I definitely don’t love one of your brothers, so . . . oh.”
“It’s a hell of a situation.”
Lu stood up straight, her face brightening in the soft moonlight shimmering down. “Hey, except for J . . . my old boyfriend, no other guy has ever wanted to sleep with me before.”
Don’t you believe it, Tink. “Well, I’m not very happy about it.”
“I can sense that.”
“You know what I think it is? I think it’s because I know I don’t really want you, so my brain is messing with me and making me think I want you more.”
She leaned out of the window to peer closer at his face. “Have you been drinking?”
“It’s not that crazy. It’s like when someone on a diet suddenly thinks about cake 24/7—even if they don’t really love cake? But if they go on a cake binge before the diet and get it all out of their system, then they don’t crave cake.”
“I’m not sure I like where this is heading.”
“You liked it damn fine in the kitchen a few hours ago.”
“But now you’re drunk and I don’t want to take advantage of you.”
“I’m not drunk. I’m just feeling no pain. Hell, we’ll be doing each other a favor. So let’s get naked and burn this crazy attraction out of our systems. Then I can go back to being pissed at you and you can do whatever it was you came here to do in the first place.”
“Well, it sounds like a stupid plan, and coming from me, that’s something.” Lu looked him up and down and backed up from the window a step. “Come on in and let’s get this over with.”
Chapter Eighteen
Lu watched Tynan fit his big body in through the window casing. It was a squeeze with his wide shoulders, but he made it look easy. As if this wasn’t the first time he’d slipped into someone’s window.
Holy lord, she felt like there was a swarm of dragonflies darting around her stomach. If she thought about it—and boy, she was trying not to—this was actually the best-case scenario. With Tynan half-drunk, she didn’t have to worry about him remembering many details tomorrow. And if he wasn’t tipsy, he would never have suggested this.
And even though she was terrified, she wanted to touch his rock-hard body. She wanted his large, strong hands to touch her body. All over. Blood rushed to her cheeks just thinking about it.
She was also self-conscious. No man other than Joe had seen her naked. She hated to admit it but she was nervous about not being curvy enough. Stupid, totally stupid. She knew it in her head, but still . . . she crossed her arms over her chest in an effort to lift up her small breasts. Maybe a half-drunk guy in fuzzy moonlight wouldn’t notice.
“Okay, I’m in. Ow. What did I hit?”
“My nose. Ouch.” His forearm must have connected with her nose when he turned from the window and into the room. “I’m pretty sure I’ll have a black eye tomorrow.”
“Crap. Here.” He took her arm and led her the few feet over to the bed. “Lie down and I’ll go get a washcloth.”
Lu lay down on the bed and stared through the gray shadows up to the ceiling. Her eyes were watering with the pain, but growing up a tomboy, this wasn’t the first time she’d been smacked in the nose.
She heard Tynan’s footsteps return, his shadowy figure looming up out of the darkness, and then he smacked his shin into the bed. “Ow. Dammit.”
“Sssh. You’ll have the sisters calling the police if you get any louder.” She held out her hand for the washcloth, but he sat on the bed and dabbed the cool cloth on her nose himself.
“It’s fine. Quinn would vouch for me.” He took the damp cloth and tossed it back into the bathroom sink before returning. He stretched out onto the bed next to her and stared up at the ceiling.
“Hey, you falling asleep?” She nudged her arm into his.
“No, I’m just figuring out how to start.” He sighed a put-upon sigh. “You can’t just jump into this without a plan, you know.”
Lu turned her head to look at him. “I didn’t know. So much pressure.”
“Tell me about it.”
Just her luck he was probably so drunk he was about to pass out. Oh, well; she didn’t want to miss this opportunity, so she’d have to take control. Besides, she’d read somewhere that breasts looked bigger when a woman was sitting up, not lying down.
She sat up next to his hip. “To express my sincere apology for lying to you—”
“We’re not talking about that tonight.”
“Gah! Sooner or later we’ll have to.”
“I vote later.”
“Fine. In the name of feminism, I’ll make the first move. No pressure for you.”
“I like it.” He crossed one foot over the other and slipped his hands under the back of his head, elbows splayed out on the pillow. “Ready any time you are.”
“Just like that?”
“Just like that.”
Come on, Lu. It’s dark. He’s half-lit. Heck, he’d probably think this was all a dream tomorrow. She took a deep breath and whipped her T-shirt off over her head.
“Damn, you really went for it. I’m going to need some light.”
“No! I mean, I’d rather we keep the light off.” Sliding off the bed to stand up, she stripped off her pajama pants while she still had the nerve. She stood feeling totally exposed wearing a pair of tangerine bikini panties and moonlight.
Tynan sat up like his back operated on a spring. “I need to take over.”
The air seized in her lungs and she covered
her breasts with her hands. “What? Why? Did I do something wrong?”
“Oh hell no. I’ve just never been good at staying still.” And like a puma, he moved with speed and grace until she lay on the bed looking up at him. “Stop me when I do anything that scares you and jump in when you’re ready.”
She popped up on her elbows. “What do you mean ‘scares me’?”
“Kidding. Relax. What’s our safe word?”
“What? No.”
“Lu, I’m kidding.” He stretched out next to her and traced his hand up one arm, caressing along the long line, over her shoulder, and up to her jaw. He ran one finger along the seam of her lips and she gasped at the touch. Her breath was coming out in short, little pants. The light touch was too much and not enough.
He leaned forward and nibbled his lips along her bottom lip and then, while she was breathlessly waiting for his nibble to turn into a kiss, he touched his other hand to her waist and ran it up her rib cage, and suddenly her chest felt tight. Tense. Her nipples tightened to sharp points of anticipation.
“Please . . .” She begged, and she wasn’t even sure for what. Anything. Everything.
He kissed his lips up her throat, stopping to nibble and lick along the way. He scraped the soft spot below her ear with the lightest touch and said, “You can have whatever you want.”
“Touch me. Please.”
Thank God he didn’t dissemble. He instantly moved one large hand over her left breast and caressed and cupped it in his hand, lifting it up for his mouth. She squeaked when he took her nipple in between his lips and sucked.
“I think I might faint.”
He lifted his head to look down into her face. “Don’t. Or I won’t be able to do this . . .” And he kissed his way in a straight line down her chest, her stomach, her abdomen, down to her silk panties. Oh God. She turned her head to bite the pillowcase so she wouldn’t scream.
He spread her legs and slid her panties over to the side and slid his tongue into her heat. And she was gone. Her body shuddered and she reached out her hands to touch his shoulders. She couldn’t believe she’d wasted time when she could have been running her hands along those bulging muscles already.
