Neutral Zone

by Amber Lynn

  Brady nodded as he threw the sheets off him and got up to walk over to the pissed woman. She still hadn’t gone all bitch on him like Curtis warned. It seemed like she was trying, but initial attempts weren’t sticking on Brady like they did other people.

  “I’m sure you will.”

  Brady had made it over to where she glared at him. Placing his hands on her hips, he pulled her close to him, feeling the skin-on-skin contact he craved as her soft breasts pressed against his hard chest. Without giving her a chance to protest, he leaned down and licked her lips quickly before smashing his lips against hers.

  The kiss wasn’t the smartest move to help with his mounting urge to fuck her, but he wanted to give her a little payback. He kept it short, just getting a good taste of the peppermint on her breath. When he pulled away, he saw her slightly dazed eyes quickly clear up and a hand flying towards his face.

  His arm moved fast enough to stop the slap, catching it in midair. Nina’s eyes were narrowed, a sign she was again trying to shoot him with the laser beams she wished came out of her eyes.

  “His clothes are in a box in the pantry. I figured you hate the kitchen enough that it would be the last place you looked. Once you get him dressed for the night, send him my way. I think I’m going to hit the hay.”

  Brady didn’t give her a chance to answer as he turned her around and smacked her bottom to send her out of the room. He stood there licking his lips to savor the taste of her as she looked angrily over her shoulder at him. Sighing, he reminded himself they still had over two weeks of fun in store.

  Chapter 11

  “Your one o’clock is here, should I show him in?”

  Nina glanced up from her monitor to see one of her assistants in the doorway. The woman with short spiky hair was doing her job, but dealing with people wasn’t in Nina’s wheelhouse for the day. She was on edge because getting under Brady’s skin was impossible.

  She’d spent two weeks trying, and nothing was working. If anything, he was getting under her skin with his nice guy, no cares in the world attitude, and his discipline was out of this world. She was starting to think there was something wrong with him. Maybe the lack of sex was rattling his brain, or maybe it was all the hits he’d taken on the ice over the years.

  “Remind me who’s my one o’clock.”

  There were five meetings she had to get through that day and only two of them were done. If she didn’t have to make sure everything was done exactly right, she would’ve delegated more of them. Thankfully, it was a Friday, so there’d be a whole weekend without meetings.

  “John Bertrund. He’s the, umm.”

  Nina cut her off before she could fumble the information, like it sounded Penny would based on the pause. She wanted to scream, but she took a deep breath and tried to speak without raising her voice.

  “He’s the head of our development team, Penny. You’ve been working here for three months. You should know that by now.”

  The attempt to keep calm lasted until the last sentence. Nina had been through a lot of assistants over the years, and for some reason, they never seemed to get any smarter.

  “Sorry, Miss Hughes. I’ve been trying to figure out who everyone is, but there are so many people. I know the names and faces, just not the jobs.”

  Penny was probably a sweet girl. Nina had no idea who she was as a person, but she was always quick to at least pretend to fix an issue. HR had hired her as a hasty replacement after Nina scared off the woman before her. So far, she hadn’t screwed anything major up, but Nina wasn’t holding her breath that would continue.

  “That’s fine. Just try a little harder, would you? Show John in.”

  Nina waved the woman away and looked back to her computer. She couldn’t remember why John called for the meeting, so she opened up the meeting on her calendar to see if it held any clues. The words “quick chat” did nothing to help. It did make her stomach sink slightly, because she had a fairly good idea why John wanted to see her.

  A knock on her door brought Nina’s eyes back to it. She sighed and pasted a smile on her face.

  “How’s it going, boss?”

  The man at her door also had a smile on his face, which was much more sincere than hers. In a way, it reminded her of Brady’s. There was a whole lot of cockiness mixed with a little charm.

  Brady pulled the smile off better, as much as Nina hated to admit it. She couldn’t stand him being the best at anything.

  “It’s going, John. What can I do for you today?”

  John looked over his shoulder, then shut the door behind him. Nina had hoped maybe the note about it being a quick chat would actually take only a few minutes. The door shutting made the chances of that fade. He was there to play, and she wasn’t in the mood, at least not with him.

  He leaned against the door in a stance Nina had seen many times over the years. The male species attempting to fluff his feathers to look pretty for a female. His tight slacks showed that he had clearly been thinking of Nina and the few times they’d played around in her office.

  Nina was used to guys having erections around her. She was living with one that never seemed to go away, yet another thing Brady excelled at.

  “I was thinking it was more what I can do for you. It’s been a couple months since we had a working lunch, and I’ve heard rumors that you’ve been a little irritable lately.”

  John worked a few floors below Nina, amongst some of the biggest geeks Nina had ever met. She considered the department the dungeon because of the fact it was filled with people who preferred the lights dimmed and stared at computer screens most of the day. There were a few guys down there who had skin so pale she was pretty sure they were vampires.

  Nina always thought the “rumors” made it to the dungeon slower than anywhere else, so the fact that John claimed he’d heard she was irritable meant people had been talking about it for a while. It was hard to believe that specific rumor ever died down.

  “If that’s why you’re here, you can leave.”

  She needed a good plowing, and John was someone who had provided a decent version of that in the past. Looking at his square jaw and dark eyes, Nina felt absolutely no attraction. Usually when he showed up, she would flirt and eventually end up demanding he took her hard and fast, once he was frustrated enough.

  The idea held no appeal, which should’ve triggered some red flags. It’d been over a week since Nina batted her eyes at anyone whose name wasn’t Brady. She should’ve wanted to try out her skills on someone to make sure she hadn’t lost her mojo, but she didn’t care whether John got hot and bothered when she tried to torture him.

  He wasn’t Brady. He wasn’t even a cheap substitute for the man filling her thoughts.

  “Really?”

  John’s stance changed as he let the arms he folded across his chest drop and confusion filled his face. Nina sighed and sat back in her chair so her head could rest against it. She’d turned down hundreds of guys over the years, so telling John sex wasn’t on the table should’ve been easy. Technically, she’d already done that, but he didn’t seem to be turning around and leaving her in peace very quickly.

  “Yes, really.”

  That should’ve been all he needed. Nina watched as his brow furrowed and his mouth opened a couple times like he’d speak, but nothing came out.

  “You know I hate explaining myself, so don’t make me. You know what? I am actually hungry. Do you want to grab some lunch?”

  He’d been the one to suggest a working lunch, even though it meant something different. Nina hadn’t eaten since she’d stolen a couple of Brady’s protein bars for breakfast. The things tasted like sawdust, but they were the last ones in the box, and she liked leaving empty food boxes for him to find.

  “You actually want to go eat lunch?”

  Poor John. Brady could really take some lessons from the man as far as how to act appropriately when you were confused.

  “I’m thinking Italian.”

  Nina opened the d
rawer next to her and dug out her purse. For some reason, it felt wrong that she was inviting John to the place Brady had taken her on their first sort of date. There had never been a label put to their lunch, but it was just as much of a date as any Nina had been on. Food was had, business relating to sex was discussed. That generally equaled a date in Nina’s world.

  The nagging feeling that she shouldn’t invite John along didn’t sway that decision. He hadn’t agreed, so there was a chance he’d say no, but the confusion cleared from his face and a smile spread across it.

  “You’ve never had to fuel up before sex. Does that mean you want me to block off the afternoon to burn the food off?”

  A knock at the door kept Nina’s response to just an eye roll. Once the disruption was dealt with, Nina was going to go have her lunch, but it was going to be alone.

  The fact that someone had the audacity to interrupt a meeting raised Nina’s ire. She wasn’t in a compromised position, but if it had been a month ago, she could’ve been. That was why her assistants had clear instructions never to interrupt if the door was closed.

  Nina growled softly when she saw the doorknob turn and open without her acknowledging the intruder. John scrambled forward as a force easily moved him out of the way.

  “What the fuck are you doing?” Nina yelled before she got a look at the person barging in.

  Seeing who it was didn’t change the question or the tone behind it. Brady hadn’t been to her office since the contract negotiations, so she was shocked to see him. The shock factor didn’t register on her face as she narrowed her eyes. She knew her face was eventually going to get stuck like that if Brady stayed in her life much longer, but she still glared at him.

  “Nice to see you too, sweetheart. When I got home from practice, I saw you had cleaned out the cupboards, so I figured you needed some lunch. I stopped by your favorite place and picked you up your usual.”

  Brady gave John only a passing glance, before stepping forward to put the food down in front of Nina. The man was obviously a mind reader, based on the red and green logo on the plastic bag in front of her.

  “I take it your day has been going miserably,” Brady said as he leaned across the desk and kissed Nina’s cheek.

  After her failed naked attempt to drive him crazy, and the steamy kiss that sent her on her way that night, their lips hadn’t gotten close to each other. Just the innocent peck on the cheek warmed her skin.

  “I told you, I don’t have bad days. Didn’t one of my assistants tell you I was in the middle of a meeting?”

  Nina sounded annoyed, but she was actually happy to have a little break in the sometimes monotony that came with running her business. With a smile on his face, Brady looked over his shoulder and pointed.

  “You mean those very attractive women who sit outside of your office and make bets about how noisy your meeting might get? Those assistants?”

  The look when Brady turned back around wasn’t so friendly. If Nina had to guess, she’d say there was even a little jealousy in his eyes. The thought perked her up a little, or that may have been the aroma of shrimp fra diavolo making its way to her nose.

  “So instead of waiting like a good boy, you decided to barge in to make sure I wasn’t breaking our deal.”

  The fake smile Nina had worked to make for John turned into the real thing as she thought about how Brady processed the idea of Nina being with another guy. She also reminded herself a talk with her assistants was again in order if they were talking about her having sex in her office in front of visitors.

  “Wait a second. Did you just say she cleaned out the cupboards? You stayed the night at someone’s place, Nina?”

  “Stayed the night?” Brady winked at Nina before he turned and hopped on her desk so he could face John. “Didn’t Nina mention that she moved in with me. We’ve been living in my nice cushy house together for over a week now, haven’t we, sweetheart.”

  Nina wanted to kick Brady in the back, not because she didn’t like him sharing the truth. It was just an urge she often felt around him. The only thing that stopped her from doing it was the fact that she enjoyed the way his shirt molded to his back muscles. If he wasn’t a work of art, he’d find himself being kicked around often.

  John’s face portrayed the right amount of disbelief that the statement deserved. He’d never been more than a fun fuck every month or so when the mood rose, which meant he knew exactly how Nina operated. John had always been okay with it, because he wasn’t the settling down kind of guy, at least not yet. Nina could tell that wouldn’t last forever, especially with the anger she saw in his eyes once the disbelief faded some.

  The jealousy she without a doubt saw didn’t have the same effect on her as thinking Brady could be upset about her spending time with another guy. John being jealous meant absolutely nothing to her. What Brady had shown was the first sign that she’d found something to get under his skin.

  “You moved in, with him?”

  Nina laughed to herself when she heard the disgust in John’s voice. She’d dealt with guys who disapproved of her decisions, but they had very little sway in how she handled situations.

  “At this point, I’m pretty sure she’s only there because she loves my dog, but she’s most definitely spending the night. Why don’t you run along and think about all the reasons why you don’t satisfy her enough for her to want to play house with you.”

  Brady jumped off the desk and moved borderline aggressively towards John. The other man considered standing his ground, but apparently something on Brady’s face told him not to push things. That’s what Nina assumed happened when John briefly looked in her direction and ran out of the room.

  “You’ve seriously fucked that and been loud enough about it that your assistants know it’s happened. Oh, babe, I’m going to ruin you for all other men.”

  He shook his head as he turned back around and plopped into one of the chairs in front of Nina’s desk. She’d stopped worrying about the little pet names he kept calling her. At first, they were annoying, but when everything coming out of his mouth tended to be annoying, they didn’t seem to matter much.

  “What are you doing here, Brady?”

  It was clear he decided to bring her lunch, but Nina was curious why. They spent hours together each day and for some reason he wanted to increase that. He thought he’d ruin her for other men, but she had a feeling he was only speaking from experience from his current life.

  “Making sure you’re eating properly. When I found that empty box of protein bars I was worried about you.”

  Leaning forward, he opened the sack and pulled out a pair of takeout containers. After a quick glance at the see-through lids, he put one of them down in front of her and the other in front of him.

  “I know how much you like eating the same thing, so I hope you don’t mind I got some plain old spaghetti and meatballs for me. Drills were killer today and I need some red meat.”

  With no further explanation, Brady opened his takeout lid and grabbed a fork he’d knocked out of the bag when he took the food out. The man could eat like a pig, and he proved it as he started shoveling food in his mouth.

  Nina just sat and watched as he put a whole meatball in his mouth. The messiness of it told her he wasn’t trying to be sexy, but seeing his jaw basically dislocate to fit the food in made her wonder what that mouth would feel like eating her out. Shaking her head, she snapped out of the daze and worked on getting her own food in her mouth.

  “Seeing that I ate your plastic food doesn’t tell me why you’re here, so spill. Your timing is a little suspicious.”

  Brady finished chewing with an evil smirk on his face. He surprisingly didn’t tend to talk with his mouth full, which was against the general pig comparison.

  “Oh that? That is what I call fortuitous timing. I wasn’t even aware your friend John existed, otherwise I’d be camped out in your office all the time. I really did just come to bring you food and make sure you knew that I saw the empty bo
x you left me.”

  He took another bite of food, while Nina considered whether he was telling the truth. She’d had people run background checks on Brady to make sure no surprises came crawling out of the woodwork, so she had to wonder what steps he’d taken to assure the same.

  “I take that back,” he said as he grabbed a napkin and wiped his face. “I also wanted to make sure you were officially invited to come watch me play the first game of preseason in a couple days. I know you usually go with Hannah and everything, but since we’re living together, I wanted to make sure you were going to be there to watch me on the ice.”

  Nina had to bite her tongue to keep her immediate response to herself. She liked that he was doing his little official inviting thing, but she already had planned on going to the game. It was sort of a requirement, since she was being introduced to the team as the new owner.

  “Well, thank you for the invitation. I imagine you’ll see plenty of me at the game.”

  She smiled and stuffed a piece of shrimp in her mouth to keep from saying anything more on the subject. She’d kept the secret from him for days. A couple more hopefully wouldn’t be too hard.

  Chapter 12

  A piercing whistle drew Brady’s and all of his teammates’ attention to their assistant coach standing in one of the doorways to the locker room. It was about twenty minutes until warm-ups and they were all busy trying to get ready. Brady had been in the middle of kicking a soccer ball around with Curtis and a handful of other guys.

  “Quick team meeting. Everyone get in here.”

  Chances were the meeting was just to announce who was playing. It was the first game of preseason, so there were a lot of rookies seeing if it was their year to make the team and a handful of guys on PTO – professional tryouts. Those guys were generally mixed with about half the guys with contracts to make a roster for the night.

  Brady hadn’t been given a clue whether he was playing, but he hoped he was. Nina had seen him play plenty of times before, but it was different with her out there watching now that they were living together. He’d tried for months to get her attention, and during that time he treated her like any other woman in his life when it came to them watching him play, nothing special.