by Tess Summers
They’d been back in California a week when Brenna asked Cassie for advice. She’d confided in Cassie at the hospital about everything that had transpired the night of Danielle’s accident and the morning after. The intimate things he’d said, as well as his reaction when he was angry and thought she’d cheated on Kyle with him.
“What am I going to do?” she lamented while they were drinking wine on her patio.
“I don’t know? Maybe give him more time to cool down and try again in a few weeks?” Cassie offered.
“What if he finds someone new?”
The younger girl frowned. “Then I guess he finds someone new, and you two weren’t meant to be.”
“Maybe he’s back with Sarah.”
“Brenna, you can’t keep doing this to yourself. If he finds someone new, if he’s back with Sarah, if he decides to never forgive you–those are all his decisions. If he chooses any of those, then that right there should tell you something. Ron is a good guy, I don’t deny that. He’s very noble. But you deserve someone who is going to fight for you.”
“Do I? Do I really? Look what I’ve done.”
“You tried to protect yourself from getting hurt. Yeah, maybe you went about it the wrong way, but anyone who knows your history can’t blame you for what you did.”
Brenna nodded. “That’s true.”
Then doubt crept back in. “But didn’t I owe it to him to give him the benefit of the doubt?”
Cassie snorted. “Like he has for you?”
She sighed. “You’re right. But what if he’s waiting for me to fight for him? What if, when we’re in our nineties, we find each other and discover we were both waiting on the other?”
Her younger sister rolled her eyes. “Write for Hollywood much?”
Brenna glared at her then softened her gaze when Cassie leaned over and squeezed her hand.
“Bren, it’s not like you haven’t tried reaching out to him to explain things. Maybe you just need to let it go for a while, get on with your life. If you want to try again in the future, you’ll know when the time is right. But perhaps your Prince Charming is still out there. Have you considered that?”
“I have, briefly. Like all this happened for reasons I still don’t understand. But every time I think about, it seems everything that happened was to bring Ron and me together.”
Cassie shrugged. “I know you love him and God knows, I’m no relationship expert, look at my track record, but there are plenty of fish in the sea, and you, my beautiful sister, are quite a catch.”
Brenna gave a half smile. “Maybe I’ve been going after the wrong bait. Good looking men with nice bodies don’t seem to be working for me.”
“I think you need a young stud, or an older, distinguished gentleman, for a rebound fling.”
With a long sigh, Brenna countered, “Maybe I need to join a convent.”
Cassie winked. “Nah, you wouldn’t look good in a habit.”
“Spend my days drunk?”
“Too many empty calories.”
Brenna pretended to snarl at her sister. “Will you just let me be miserable in peace?”
Cassie stood and picked up their empty wine glasses. “No-can-do, gorgeous,” then headed into the house.
Maybe Cassie was right; she should get on with her life. That would mean she’d have to admit Ron wasn’t coming for her. Was she ready to admit that?
The realization was like cold water in her face. What choice did she have?
****
Ron
You’d think I would be over her by now.
It’d already been a month, but every time Ron thought about Brenna, he still got angry. Not only angry with her, but angry with himself. He slept with her when she was with someone else, and that was just not something he did. The worst part was whenever he played it back in his mind, he found himself trying to justify it.
Kyle practically threw them together.
Cassie, too.
Brenna told him she and Kyle were not together.
How could she have put him in that position? Ron was not the kind of guy who cheated or helped someone else cheat. Semper Fi wasn’t just a slogan to him, it was how he lived his life.
And that’s what stuck in his craw; when he replayed the morning after they were together, he remembered admitting to himself that even if he had known she was with Kyle, he probably would have still slept with her.
She had a done a number on him. He fell for that ‘poor widow who’d been cheated on’ bullshit; hook, line, and sinker. She must have seen him coming from a mile away.
Fuck her.
And yet, she haunted his dreams. When he slept, she was still the woman he loved. The one that made his cock hard with one look, and his heart sing with just a touch or word. He’d wake up smiling, then reality would creep in, and he was mad all over again.
He needed her out of his system, one way or another.
Chapter Forty-Four
Brenna
Cassie arrived, uninvited, at the beach house for breakfast one Friday morning at the end of June.
“I am a basket case,” she said as she paced around the kitchen island.
“What’s wrong?” Danielle asked, pouring her and her aunt a bowl of cereal.
Grabbing the milk from the fridge, Cassie sighed.
“Work wants me to go to the Heroes Calendar judging.”
Danielle responded, “Oh! That sounds like fun!”
Scowling, Cassie replied, “Luke’s one of the contestants.”
Brenna listened from her barstool, drinking her tea. She had lived in San Diego long enough to know that, aside from their annual ball, the biggest money maker for the Wounded Warrior Project was the Heroes of San Diego calendar and all the events that went along with it. Tomorrow night’s affair was going to be a big bash of sexual energy; voting for the men who would be featured in the calendar followed by an auction for dates with them.
Brenna knew Luke was on the calendar fundraising committee and he was single; it made sense that he participate, given he was partially responsible for its success.
Brenna giggled. “So?”
“So, we haven’t talked in over a month! I’m going to have to watch all these women throw themselves at a guy I may or may not be hung up on!”
Cassie was right–there were going to be women who would be willing to pay top dollar for a date with Mr. Sex-on-a-Stick.
“So you should bid on him! I think I’d go just to watch that.” she snickered.
Cassie grabbed her arm. “Oh, yes! Please go with me!”
Brenna hesitated so Cassie started giving her an obviously rehearsed sales pitch.
“I’ve got an extra ticket, it’ll be fun. Hot, shirtless guys who save the world, alcohol, more hot guys, what more could you ask for?”
Cassie turned to Danielle. “Sorry, Dee, it’s twenty one and older.”
The twenty year-old college girl finished chewing her cereal before responding. “That’s quite all right. The last thing I need burned into my brain is seeing my mom and aunt ogling oiled up, half-naked men.”
Turning back to Brenna, Cassie continued. “Maybe there will be someone up for auction who strikes your fancy.”
“Maybe,” Brenna said, trying to put on her best poker face.
There was only one hot, shirtless hero who struck her fancy, even if she had finally admitted they really were over.
****
Brenna and Cassie arrived early enough to get a seat near the stage. The place reminded Brenna of strip clubs she’d seen in movies–minus any poles. It was dark, and the stage was set higher up from the tables.
In order for the audience to have sufficient information on who to choose for the calendar, the contestants were expected to come out and do their best to win the crowd’s vote. She was quite certain women were going to be going wild when the yummy looking first responders and military men graced the stage, shirtless and strutting their stuff.
The auction would be so
mewhat different. There was a program detailing the men who had volunteered to be bid on–their vitals, and what they were bringing to the table as far as the date was concerned. You could tell the men who were players based on their date packages. They offered wine, dinner, dancing, and included extras like a midnight picnic on the beach, or some were even more blatant with suggestions like, dinner…. and breakfast. The men who seemed to be less one-night-standish proposed going to lunch, followed by mild, non-romantic things like, playing tennis, or seeing a play, or a tour of where they worked. One even offered a helicopter ride.
That’s when her heart stopped.
General Ron Thompson was Bachelor Number Eleven, and he was giving a tour of the base, followed by a gourmet lunch, and a helicopter ride as his date package.
“Oh my God, Cass. Ron is in the auction.”
Her sister leaned over and looked to where Brenna was pointing in the program.
“Huh, imagine that,” Cassie replied nonchalantly and sat back up straight.
“Cassandra Jo Sullivan, did you know about this when you invited me?”
Her sister didn’t answer the question, instead pointed out with a smirk, “Well, if you paid good money to go on a date with him, he’d have to talk to you, now wouldn’t he?”
Cassie may be on to something.
“I see your wheels turning, don’t deny that you’re thinking about it!” the younger girl teased.
Brenna shrugged. “We’ll see. Who knows, maybe someone else will spark my interest instead. I mean, Craig Baxter is willing to give a full body massage.”
She held up the program and pointed to a picture of the very attractive SWAT Captain Baxter.
“That’s the spirit!”
They both knew Brenna was full of shit, but she appreciated her sister letting her have the moment to at least pretend to play it cool.
She didn’t care the cost–she was getting that date with Ron.
Now, she needed a drink. There’s no courage like liquid courage.
After they had their cocktails in hand, Brenna continued looking at the program.
“Aw, how sweet. Luke’s date is walking shelter dogs, a deli lunch, and a tour of the SWAT station.”
Cassie rolled her eyes, then looked around at the ladies starting to fill up the room.
“Yeah, chicks are gonna eat that shit up. Once these bitches get a look at him… ugh.”
Brenna remembered that feeling of having women clamoring for her man’s attention. She was curious to see how Luke–and Ron–handled that tonight.
They ordered another round just when Luke and a gorgeous blonde man appeared at their table.
“Ladies, so glad you came out tonight!”
Brenna smiled at Luke and answered, since Cassie seemed to be having trouble speaking. “We wouldn’t have missed it! Such a great cause. Won’t you gentlemen join us?”
They sat down and Luke made introductions. “Cass, Bren, this is my friend, Ryan Kennedy. Ryan, this is Brenna Roberts and her sister, Cassandra Sullivan.”
Brenna detected a slight frown on Luke’s face when Ryan gave a flirtatious smile and brought Cassie’s hand to his lips.
“It’s very nice to meet you.” He cocked his head when he looked at Brenna and offered his hand. “Ms. Roberts, a pleasure.”
The men disappeared to the bar and when they came back, Brenna noticed a definite change in Ryan’s attitude toward Cassie; he had toned it down considerably. They made small talk, and the girls learned that Ryan, a fire captain on the fundraising committee, was Number Eight in the calendar competition and Number Ten for the auction. He was one of the men providing a romantic date.
When Brenna teased him about that, he replied, “See the girl over there in the red dress?”
He subtly pointed to a stunning brunette with long, wavy hair.
“After six months of dating, she decided three weeks ago that we needed time apart.”
“That’s rough. I’m sorry.”
He shrugged his shoulders, trying to act unaffected, but she could see the hurt in his eyes and gave a sympathetic smile when she offered, “Her loss.”
“Maybe you could bid on me,” he said to Brenna with a crooked smile.
Cassie interjected, “I think my sister has her sights on the one right after you.”
Luke and Ryan exchanged knowing looks, and a slow smile appeared on Ryan’s face.
“Oh, you’re the screenwriter?”
What the fuck?
“Yeah, I’m a screenwriter. I don’t know if I’m the screenwriter.”
Luke gave a lopsided grin. “No, you’re most definitely the screenwriter.”
She wanted to grill him about what the hell that was supposed to mean, but the music stopped, and the place went dark. A spotlight followed an emcee as he took the stage and greeted the crowd. After the usual pleasantries, the tuxedoed man explained how things were going to work tonight, in case one couldn’t follow along with the program. Then he began to introduce the event’s committee members, with the spotlight finding each one as they stood and waved to the crowd. Brenna caught her breath when her sexy-as-hell Marine was illuminated.
He’d obviously been out in the sun, because his tan skin was in stark contrast to the crisp, white button down shirt that he left untucked from the Levi’s he was wearing. Of course, he’d be wearing the pair of jeans she liked best on him.
Fuck was he hot. She certainly didn’t like the pretty women at his table stroking and pawing his back and arms as if they were congratulating him on a job well done. The way they were pushing their tits at him, Brenna knew they wanted to do more than congratulate him. The smile he was giving them was his best fake one–she at least took comfort in that. Still, even fake, he had the most gorgeous smile.
“Looks like you might have some competition,” Ryan whispered in her ear just as the spotlight shone on him and Luke when they were introduced. They both gave a relaxed wave to the crowd, and Ryan threw his arm around Brenna’s shoulder.
“A little jealousy never hurt,” he said with a wink.
She smiled and rolled her eyes, shaking her head. “Just who are you trying to make jealous?”
He feigned to be hurt. “Why, General Thompson, of course.”
“Not your ex?”
“Well, if she happens to get jealous in the process,” he grinned. “That’s a bonus.”
The man on stage finished the introductions and called for the calendar men to go backstage.
The fire captain motioned to Luke. “That’s us.”
Luke stood and winked at Cassie.
Brenna saw her whisper something in his ear, and he pulled away with a smile.
“What was that all about?” she asked the younger girl after the two men had walked away.
Her little sister shot her a devilish smile, but didn’t say anything more.
Chapter Forty-Five
Ron
Ron had seen Brenna with that hose dragger, Ryan Kennedy. He had to be at least ten years her junior. Not that he could fault the man–she was as hot as any woman in here, including ones half her age.
Still. Where was Kyle? What the fuck was she doing with the fire fighter?
What she used to do with you.
His gut clenched when he answered his own question. The thought of her lips wrapped around Ryan’s, or Kyle’s, or anyone else’s dick made him see red.
He needed to quash those thoughts. They were over, she could put her lips around any cock she wanted; that was no longer his problem. She seemed to have moved on–again, maybe it was time he did too.
Maybe some hot woman would bid on him tonight. He knew at least one of the women fawning all over him at his table would. Except, try as he might, he wasn’t interested. It appeared the oldest Sullivan sister had ruined him for anyone else. Logically, he knew that it was only a matter of time before he was ready to get back in the saddle, but from where he was standing right now, he didn’t see it happening anytime soon.
He needed to forget about Brenna once and for all. She was a liar and a cheater, no matter how fucking gorgeous she was. Once his promotion happened, he would be in the country more, and he could devote more time to someone. Now, it was just a matter of finding the one.
Who knows, maybe the one was here tonight.
Or maybe for the time being he could be happy with the one… night stand.
The sexual energy of the place was almost palpable as the calendar contest got underway. He had to admit, Luke’s idea of having the judging before the auction was brilliant, since most of the men currently on stage were also donating a date to be sold to the highest bidder. The women were almost in a frenzy wanting more after the guys left the stage. Once the men made their way back with an opportunity to go on a date with them, the purse strings were going to be loosened.
It was for a fantastic cause, so he didn’t feel bad about that in the least.
He stole glances at Brenna, which annoyed him. They were finished, he didn’t give a damn what –or who- she was doing. Still, he noticed that she didn’t seem as impressed with the shirtless guys as the other females were. Every time he looked at her, she was either looking at her phone, chatting with her sister, or had a polite smile on her face while she looked at the participants on stage. That was vastly different from some of the women around him who were cat calling and practically drooling.
Probably because she already had her calendar boy shored up.
He didn’t give a shit. She could play her fucking games with some other poor schmuck.
The emcee announced the auction was about to start and Brenna had the same polite, but disinterested, look on her face. Once Ryan and Luke returned to the table from their calendar display, everyone at their table seemed to be having a fun, spirited conversation. When it came time for Ryan’s romantic date to be auctioned, the firefighter stood to take the stage. Ron saw Brenna pat his back and mouth good luck just before he left the table.
She gave the opening bid but quickly dropped out once the offers reached five hundred dollars. He smirked. She gave a fuck of a lot more than that to WWP when she sent him a check from her movie studio.
