“What?”
“Give me your shirt and I’ll wash it.”
Brody looked down at the front of his t-shirt, stained and speckled with bits of hot dog and blue cotton candy. His jeans had managed to make it through the day unscathed, but his shirt was an entirely different story.
“Umm, okay,” he stammered, momentarily caught off guard by Avery’s somewhat unusual request. “But what am I supposed to wear home?”
Her mouth twisted into a coy smile and she took another step towards him. With only inches now separating them, she reached down and tugged at the hem of his lime green shirt. “Well,” she began, and moved a fraction if an inch closer, so close that she could hear the breath hitch in his chest. “If I have my way, you won’t be needing this until the morning.”
Brody didn’t need to be asked twice. Without a second’s hesitation he placed Parker on the ground and peeled out of his shirt.
This time it was Avery’s breath that hitched in her throat. The sight of Brody topless did things to her that was illegal in forty-eight states. The man was the very definition of sexy. Ignoring the knot in her stomach and the accompanying flash of heat that scorched every nerve ending in her body, she collected the clothes from the floor and turned around before he noticed how flushed and flustered she’d become.
Brody watched Avery disappear around the corner. He hadn’t expected her to want him to stay the night—not that he would say no to her request—and he wasn’t even sure at which point their day had gone from a friendly family outing to anything more than that, but who was he to complain. He’d steal every moment he could just to be with her.
Avery stood facing the washing machine. Her hands trembled. Had she really just said that? Yes, she had. She’d never been one to be forward, but this was Brody, not some random guy she’d picked up in a bar. Not a bar, a tattoo parlor, she quickly reminded herself. So why did it feel like her stomach was in her throat? Maybe because things with Brody were getting more serious than she’d ever intended or maybe it was because she knew the things he could—and would—do to her body. Then again, maybe… Stop overanalyzing it, you idiot!
“I need a cup of tea,” Avery said aloud, even though she was the only person in the cramped laundry closet. Reaching up to the top shelf, she grabbed the bottle of laundry detergent and absentmindedly began pouring it into the washer. “Damnit!” she cursed when she realized that she’d poured out almost an eighth of a bottle of detergent.
“Everything okay in there, Boo?”
“Yep, is everything okay in there, Slick?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Avery shut the lid to the washing machine then retreated to the kitchen, stopping briefly to add laundry detergent to the ever-growing shopping list stuck to the fridge with a piece of scotch tape. Her feet dragged across the linoleum floor, sore and swollen from overuse, as she crossed the kitchen and turned the stove on. It wasn’t until she heard the discreet creaking noise of Parker’s bedroom door being opened that she realized she’d left the baby monitor turned on. She tried to be as quiet as possible as she tip-toed across the kitchen and sat in the chair closest to the monitor. A rustling sound cackled through the speaker followed by squeals of laughter as Parker climbed into bed.
“I’m gonna tickle you,” Brody threatened in a playful tone.
“Nooooo.”
“Oh yes I am!”
Avery listened intently as the boys rough housed, Brody tickling Parker and Parker shrieking in delight every time Brody neared him. It continued back and forth until Brody stopped with the onslaught of tickles.
“Okay, buddy, it’s time for bed.”
“Aww,” Parker whined. “More!”
“Do you want me to get in trouble with your mom?”
Avery heard Parker answer with a definitive, “No.”
“Okay then, get into bed.” Brody waited patiently for Parker to climb under the covers, and when he was lying dawn and the sheets were tucked snuggly around him, Brody asked, “Do you want me to sing you a song?”
“Yes, please.”
Avery leaned in closer to the speaker and listened fixedly as Brody began to sing about all the ways Parker made him smile. With the tea now all but forgotten, she switched off the baby monitor and crept down the hall, stopping just outside the door of Parker’s bedroom, but not daring to interrupt.
The singing slowly came to a halt and was replaced by the sound of creaking floor boards. A few seconds later Brody emerged from the darkness wearing a smile that lit up his entire face. It wasn’t until he turned around that he noticed Avery standing in the hallway, watching him.
Startled by having been caught in the act, all he could do was shrug. “You heard that, huh?”
“Yep,” she replied, and glanced over Brody’s shoulder. Parker lay fast asleep in his bed, hugging the big blue bear. “Not too bad, rookie.”
Brody’s smile widened and he beamed with pride. “Thanks.”
“I didn’t know you could sing.”
Soft wrinkles etched his face as he frowned. His smile disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared. “There’s a lot you don’t know about me, Avery.”
The mood had suddenly turned somber. She hadn’t meant to hurt his feelings, but judging by the look on his face, she had. “I know that you’re trying your best to be a good father to Parker, and…” Avery paused to consider her next statement.
“And?”
“And I think it’s time we told Parker the truth.”
“Really?” Brody blurted out faster than he’d meant to, but this was the moment he’d been waiting for ever since finding out Parker was his.
“Really. Parker deserves to know who his father is. He already loves you so much. And you deserve to be a part of his life as his father, not as his mommy’s friend.” A huge wave of relief washed over her and for the first time Avery felt absolutely certain that she’d made the right decision. Maybe now was a good time to come clean, to tell Brody the one thing she’d been keeping from him for months. But things had drastically changed. Brody was a big part of their life now. Could she even go through with it now knowing how devastated he would be? And what about Parker? He’d be heartbroken. Before Avery could give it any more thought, she felt his rough, calloused hands on her forearms, his body pressing against hers, pinning her to the wall. There was an urgency to his touch now, something she hadn’t felt before. It felt different, more intimate than the other times he’d touched her.
“I love you, Avery.”
The words felt like a whisper across her skin, soft and delicate and full of promise. Any thoughts she’d had of telling Brody the truth had vanished, along with all sense of reason.
He kissed her, gentle at first but growing more passionate with every brush of their lips, every touch of their skin. Need overpowered passion and his kiss grew harder, his lips crushing hers, his tongue delving into the recesses of her mouth. She tasted of warm honey, sweet and rich. It was a taste he would never tire of as long as he lived.
Avery’s body quivered beneath his fingertips and she returned his kiss with just as much need as he’d kissed her. Waves of pleasure skittered through her body and her legs trembled, threatening to give out. She tugged at the waistband of his jeans, feverishly trying to unbutton them with one hand, as they stumbled across the hall to her bedroom and landed in a heap of tangle arms and legs on the bed.
“For fuck’s sake,” Avery blurted out. She pushed on Brody’s chest but he didn’t budge an inch.
“I’ll get it,” he growled—unfazed by her sudden outburst—and reached for the zipper of his pants. “Sometimes it sticks.”
Avery sighed and threw her head pack into the pillows, brushing away a clump of matted hair with the palm of her hand. “No, that’s not it.”
He cocked his head to the side and looked down at Avery, puzzled by her sudden resistance. “What’s wrong then?”
“My kettle’s boiling.”
“You’ve got to be kidding
me.” Brody tilted his and listened. Sure enough, he could hear the distinct sound of the kettle’s whistle. Begrudgingly he pushed himself off the bed and stood up. “I’ll get it.” He was halfway to the door when he turned to Avery and smiled. “Milk and sugar?”
“You’re joking, right?” Hurry up and get your ass back to bed.”
Brody sprinted the length of the hallway like a runner attempting the four minute mile, fast and furious. He fumbled with the knobs on the stove until he found the one he was looking for, and shut it off. When he was confident that he wasn’t going to accidentally burn the place down, he returned to the bedroom. But as he rounded the corner into the room, he was surprised—and somewhat disappointed—to find Avery sprawled across the bed, fast asleep.
“That was fast,” he murmured to himself. But as horny and hard as he was, Brody couldn’t bring himself to wake her. Instead, he collected a spare blanket from the chair in the corner of the room and covered her with it before crawling into bed beside her. Just being with Avery was enough. Sure, the sex was great, but he was happy just sleeping by her side. If he could wake up every morning to her smiling face, he would die a very happy man.
He lay in bed for what felt like hours, glancing around the room at the framed pictures that hung from the wall. A few months ago he’d sworn to himself that one day those pictures would include him, and now that day appeared to be closer than he could’ve ever imagined. Soon they would tell Parker the truth, and soon Avery would realize how much he loved her, that he’d never stopped loving her from the first time they met.
Maybe it was the sleepless nights he’d spent worrying about his divorce from Veronica, or maybe it was just sheer exhaustion, but his eyes grew heavy with sleep. Taking care not to wake her, he reached across the bed and turned off the light, but his hand grazed her camera, knocking from its place on the nightstand. With lightening fast reflexes, he grabbed it before it could hit the floor. Curiosity began to rear its ugly head and Brody couldn’t help himself. He turned the camera on and fidgeted with the buttons until he found the option he was looking for, the slideshow. One after another, images began to fill the screen, starting with the earliest pictures on the memory card, pictures from Parker’s birthday party. It didn’t come as any surprise that there were over 300 pictures stored on the camera. Avery never went anywhere without the damn thing, but what did surprise him was the subject of those pictures. Most of them were of him! He scrolled through the pictures one last time before placing it back on the night stand. One question plagued his mind as he drifted off into a restless sleep. “Why?”
Chapter 14
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Chloe asked for the third time in less than five minutes. “Don’t you think it’s a little too soon?”
Avery squeezed her eyes shut tightly and sighed heavily into the phone, repeating herself for what felt like the hundredth time. “Yes, Chloe, I’m sure, and no, I don’t think it’s too soon.”
“Have you even told him yet?”
What was this, the Spanish Inquisition? For once, Avery wished her sister would mind her own God damn business. “No, I haven’t told him yet. Besides, I’m still not sure what I’m going to do.”
“What do you mean you’re not sure?” Chloe hollered into the phone. “Daddy’s counting on you. Why do you think he spent a fortune sending you to Harvard? So you could take over the business when he retires. And he would’ve retired years ago if you hadn’t gone and got yourself knocked up.”
Avery sat in stunned silence, unable to speak. Had Chloe actually just said that? The very same Chloe that defended her against their father when she found out she was pregnant?
“I’m sorry. I should’ve never said that. You know how much I love Parker.”
“I’ve got to go,” Avery replied tersely.
“I said I was sorry.”
“No, I mean, I’ve really got to go. Now. Brody’s at the door.” Without giving Chloe an opportunity to respond, Avery hung up the phone. She didn’t have the time or patience to deal with Chloe’s drama, not today. Avery hated fighting with her sister, but Chloe had a knack of getting under her skin, and today was one of those days.
She paused in the middle of the living room, ignoring the loud rapping on the door. She needed a minute to collect her thoughts, but a moment was all she would get because Brody’s thunderous voice began echoing loudly in the hallway outside of her apartment.
“Avery, are you in there?”
This was it, the moment that had been culminating for the past two months, and she suddenly felt nervous. Forcing one foot in front of the other, Avery shuffled across the living room floor. “Coming.”
As much as Avery hated to admit it, maybe Chloe was right. She really had no other choice but to tell Brody about New York. After all, what her sister said was true. Her father had spent a small fortune to send her to one of the finest schools in the country. Ever since her 14 birthday, he’d been grooming her to take over the family business. While other kids spent their summers at camp or loafing around in front of the TV, Avery sweated her ass off in the mail room sorting letters and parcels, eventually working her way up to Executive Assistant of Allan Carmichael, CEO of Carmichael Enterprises. But the choice was still hers to make, wasn’t it? Confused and forlorn, she unlatched the deadbolt and opened the door.
“Hey there.”
“Is everything okay?” Brody asked, sensing that Avery was upset about something.
“What?” she chided. “I don’t even get a hello anymore?”
“Fine, hello, now are you going to tell me what’s wrong?”
Avery stepped aside and ushered Brody into the apartment. She had to tell him something, anything that would stop him asking questions. She had enough to deal with right now without having to tell him about New York. “Oh, you know, Chloe the eternal drama queen has to have a say in everything.”
“Anything I can help with?” he offered.
“No, not really, I think I can handle Chloe on my own.”
They shared a half hearted laugh as they made their way through the living room and into the kitchen. Brody knew Avery well enough to know that the subject was closed, that whatever was bothering her would remain a secret until she was good and ready to talk about it. Still, he got the impression that whatever it was appeared to be a little more serious than she let on. But it was none of his business, and he wasn’t about to press the matter any further. Instead, he focused his attention on the heavenly aroma that permeated the kitchen. The smell was familiar and comforting—chicken, most definitely chicken—but there was a hint of something else he couldn’t quite place. Basil maybe? No, that wasn’t it.
“What on earth are you cooking?” He began to salivate when Avery took a Pyrex dish out of the oven and placed it on the stovetop. Ah, chicken parmesan.
She looked at him coyly and winked. “It’s your favorite, isn’t it?”
“I can’t believe you remembered.”
“How on earth could I forget? You bought me enough chicken to feed an army, remember?” As if to make a point, she opened the door to the freezer and motioned to the extremely large box of frozen chicken breasts.
“Okay, Boo, I get the point,” Brody conceded. “Next time I’ll buy the hamburger patties. You know, mix it up a bit.”
“You think you’re being funny, do ya, Slick?” She slammed the freezer door and lunged towards him, but was stopped mid-stride when his hands encircled her arms.
“Wait!” He looked around the kitchen, trying to pinpoint what was missing. “Where’s Parker?”
“He’s in his bedroom playing. Why?”
“Oh, no reason,” he replied, and his mouth contorted into a sly grin.
Avery felt herself being pushed back further and further until her back pressed against the ledge of the linoleum countertop. He released his grip on her and his hands roved down her body, brushing ever so lightly against her breasts and continuing down to her waist. She felt a moment of weightles
sness as Brody hoisted her up and placed her on the edge of the counter, but not before placing a whisper soft kiss to the sensitive thatch of skin at the base of her neck.
“Brody,” Avery protested, but her efforts were futile. She was helpless to his touch, her body so responsive to the feather-light caresses that he bestowed upon her. She felt his hand leave her waist and snake around to the small of her back, pulling her even closer into his body until her legs straddled his hips. But now was not the time and this was not the place.
“Stop,” she whispered hoarsely, and slid back on the counter, away from the warmth and comforting touch of his body.
Brody pulled back and looked up at Avery. “What?” he asked, puzzled by the sudden cold shoulder. “Why?”
Avery nodded in the direction of the doorway.
Slowly, he turned around and saw what, or rather who Avery was looking at.
“Bwoodie!”
“Hey, buddy.” Brody turned just in time to catch Parker mid-air.
“Why are you here?”
Nothing like getting straight to the point.
“Your mom asked me to come over for dinner.”
Parker’s eyes lit up and grew as big as saucers. “She did?”
“She did!”
“Yay!”
Brody gave Parker a hug and set him down on the ground. “Do you want to help me set the table?”
Parker looked at Brody, confused. He’d never been asked to set the table before.
“I’ll tell you what, if you help me set the table, I’ll sing you another song before you go to bed.”
Without hesitation, Parker enthusiastically agreed to this unusual request. “Okay!”
Avery watched contentedly as Brody retrieved three plates, three knives, and three forks, and patiently showed Parker where all of them belonged on the table. And when the table was set and Parker was satisfied that everything was in the correct place, she joined them, bringing with her a steaming platter of Brody’s favorite food, chicken parmesan.
Inked Page 13
