Neutral Zone (Love on Thin Ice Book 2)

by Amber Lynn

  Nina looked over her shoulder to see the owner of the voice standing in the door that connected the living room and kitchen. Of course, the man they’d been going back and forth about just happened to walk into the room with Curtis at his side. And of course, his skin was all glistening from either the sweat of a workout or the shower following a workout. Since he was in a t-shirt and pair of jeans, Nina thought it was probably the latter.

  “See, he doesn’t even protest being an idiot,” Nina said as she looked back to Hannah.

  She’d noticed the scowl on Curtis’ face, along with the shit-eating grin on Brady’s. Hannah’s expression was more on the mortified scale, but it was easy to get that reaction from Hannah.

  “Oh no, I protest that and the imbecile remark. I just prefer the topic of my dick, and the fact that you girls are sitting around talking about it. Sorry I didn’t get to chat with you last night, Hans. I take it from the bit of the conversation I overheard, my darling Nina has filled you in about our fun conversation last night.”

  Hannah’s face morphed into a glare that clearly said she wished she had something to throw at Nina. Nina took Brady’s words as a good thing. He hadn’t decided their conversation was all a dream, so their fun was still on.

  “Please tell me you aren’t seriously thinking about going through with it. I know how competitive you are, Brady, but I’m trying to limit my stress right now to make sure these babies don’t pop out too early, and the thought of you going even three days without sex is causing me anxiety.”

  And people said Nina overreacted. Curtis worried enough about Hannah’s words that he rushed over to comfort her, putting one arm around her and the other on the woman’s watermelon-stuffed stomach.

  Ugh.

  The picture of the happy couple made Nina’s stomach turn. Thankfully, Brady decided to join her on the couch to take her eyes away from the vomit-inducing scene.

  “Yeah, makes me sick too,” he whispered in her ear.

  Nina jumped slightly when she felt a finger touch the side of her face and tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. The touch was a little personal for her liking, but she didn’t stop it. She could smell whatever kind of woodsy shampoo and/or soap he used, and the scent made her lick her lips.

  There was no question whether Brady exuded masculinity, but the scent kicked it up a notch. If things worked out, she looked forward to getting the scent stuck in her sheets for a day or two. It would sure as hell beat the sweaty smell from her last toy.

  “Yeah, well, it’s good that you showed up. I was going to call you today to set up a time to talk about the particulars of our decision last night. I realized we need to have some checks and balances in place and at least some kind of punishment for whoever fails first, if we don’t make it the whole time, of course.”

  “Great,” Brady said as he bounced off the couch.

  He’d just sat down, so the move was a little surprising and caused Nina to tilt slightly in the direction he’d been sitting. She shook her head for a second and realized he was holding out a hand towards her.

  “I’m always hungry after a workout. Let’s go grab some lunch and talk about things.”

  He winked at her as he said the last word and seductively traced his tongue around his lips. The man was trouble, but Nina was great at dealing with guys like him. She smiled as she took his hand and waved at Hannah and Curtis as Brady led her out of the room. The couple just stood there, probably not anymore sure than Nina was about what exactly was going on.

  Chapter 6

  Brady hadn’t expected to find Nina at the house. There wasn’t an extra car in the driveway. It was Thursday morning, so he figured she’d be busy running her empire. The second he’d walked in the door, he’d heard her ranting and raving about him.

  The smile on his face had grown as she went on, and he waited for his chance to let her know he was listening. In usual Nina fashion, she didn’t balk or back down from what she’d said. Hannah looked like she was about to have a coronary, but Nina didn’t bat an eyelash at being caught talking smack.

  She was a hard ass, both figuratively and literally, judging from what he’d observed the times she walked in front of him. That fine ass was in the seat next to him as he drove around trying to decide what to eat. He hadn’t asked, but he was fairly certain his companion wouldn’t offer herself up as a snack.

  At least not until she was done with whatever game she had up her sleeve.

  “I take it Hannah isn’t on board with us playing around.”

  “Don’t get me started on that. The pregnancy hormones are driving her mad.”

  Brady cringed. There was no way he was going to touch a comment about a pregnant woman’s hormones, even if the woman wasn’t in the room. Knowing Nina, even in their casual acquaintance, he feared she’d said something similar to Hannah. Brady liked joking around with Hannah, but he knew there was a line you didn’t cross.

  “Or she’s someone in love and doesn’t understand how us having a little fun doesn’t end in disaster. I don’t get the sense she’s ever fucked someone to just fuck them.”

  Nina laughed and relaxed a little into the leather seat cradling her backside. Her tight red dress looked good against the black interior of his sports car. The dress wasn’t as provocative as the black one from the night before, but even in work-appropriate attire, she made Brady’s blood boil. Pictures of him bending her over her desk and fucking her senseless from behind kept playing out in his head.

  Fingers snapping in front of his face caused the stimulating scenes to vanish. If he had any hope of making it a day without needing sex, he had to stop letting his mind wander.

  “You’re driving, so quit daydreaming.” Nina sighed and returned to her comfortable position. “That reminds me, we need to talk about rules for our game. I’m sure you’ve already thought about this, so let’s just make it official, hands don’t count against you.”

  Brady’s forehead scrunched up as he tried to make sense of the words. The light in front of them turned yellow, so he slowed down to stop.

  “Hands don’t count for what?”

  “Come on. You’re supposed to be proving to me you’re not an imbecile.” A little frustration was clear in Nina’s next breath. “In your case, I’m talking about jacking off. I’m fine with allowing that as long as I get to use my vibrator.”

  The light turned, so Brady continued on their path. He understood what she said, but he was a little confused, which kept his forehead wrinkled.

  “Isn’t the whole point of your little experiment that after,” he paused for a second to recall the time frame they’d finally settled on. “What was it? Three weeks? Yeah, that’s it. Isn’t the point that when that time is up we’ll just explode all over each other?”

  A disgusted noise was Nina’s first response. Chances were she had the same general picture generated from the words, and of course, a very different response. That wasn’t surprising, since Brady couldn’t remember a woman he’d been with who rejoiced in getting spewed on.

  “Obviously, we’re going to have to talk about what will and won’t be allowed when that time comes, but those negotiations can come later.”

  “Fine, but you said we were going to go at it for days. I hope you don’t think that means I’m going to just climb on you and boringly hump you. That’s not how I operate.”

  He was fairly certain the same could be said for Nina, but it was important for him to make things clear. He’d been dreaming about her pretty little red painted lips around his dick for months, so he was going to do everything in his power to make sure they landed there eventually.

  “I wouldn’t be here if I thought that’s all I had to look forward to. It’s probably best if we save those particulars until we’re a little closer to the end of the game.”

  “Okay,” Brady nodded and went through the motions of pulling into the parking lot of an Italian restaurant he thought was classy enough for his companion. “What I don’t understand is why
the pretense of not having sex for weeks? I can take you back to my place right now and show you the time of your life.”

  Brady had asked the question the night before, but the answer wasn’t good enough. He didn’t think he’d get a better one. He still wanted to try to figure out Nina’s motives. After hearing Curtis talk about her for years, Brady knew understanding Nina wasn’t a trait anyone mastered. Even Hannah, who’d known her for decades, couldn’t make sense of most of the other woman’s decisions.

  “Because I don’t want to. I’m tired of boring, uninspired sex, and frankly, I really just want to fuck with you.”

  The remark made Brady reconsider parking close to the door. Nina’s four-inch snakeskin heels didn’t look fun to walk long distances in, so a spot a mile from the door held a certain appeal. It was too bad she waited until he’d already put the car in park to mouth off.

  With the driving out of the way, Brady turned the car off and spun as much as he could in his seat to face the crazy woman. As a big guy in a small car, the movement was pretty much limited to his head.

  Nina had leaned forward, looking out the front window to see where they stopped. She shrugged and sort of cocked her head to the side without changing the look on her face. He didn’t expect her to be impressed, but it did make him wonder what would impress the woman.

  Short of buying her an island full of unicorns, Brady didn’t think it was possible to impress someone like Nina. There probably wasn’t anyone else in the world like Nina, which was a good thing, but it made it difficult to get a clue what in the world the woman was really thinking. If there was someone else out there he could practice on without alienating Hannah’s best friend, life would’ve been so much easier.

  “After spending so much time with you over the months since our best friends got together, you’d think I’d have some kind of handle on you, but I have no idea what your angle is here. You want to fuck with me. Haven’t you been doing that the last six months?”

  Brady laughed sarcastically to himself and sat back. He knew he was an idiot, which was why he really couldn’t get too offended by her pointing it out. He didn’t like feeling like an idiot, though, and Nina was an expert at making a person feel like one.

  “I mean, I don’t mind playing along with this little challenge you have, especially since you so kindly gave me permission to masturbate whenever I want, but I’d kind of like some assurances that when the time’s up, I’m actually going to get my prize. And I’d really like that prize to come wrapped in a bright red ribbon and bow with nothing else on.”

  “If you keep dreaming about that, you’re never going to make it three weeks. Under this adorable outfit lies nipples the size of my pinkie jutting out from the most perfect titties you’ve ever seen.”

  Nina held up her pinkie for a second and then grabbed a breast in each hand. Brady didn’t need her to tell him how great they were. They taunted him from the top of every low-cut shirt and dress she wore, which was basically her entire wardrobe.

  “Yeah, well when this is up, I’ll suck those titties until you beg for mercy,” Brady said, feigning disinterest. “That’s beside the point if you’re just fucking with me. I know I seem like an easygoing guy, and most of the time that’s true, but if you’re seriously just getting my hopes up to pull the rug out from under me at a future date, I can be one vindictive son of a bitch.”

  It was easier to be vindictive when the fairer sex wasn’t involved, but Brady figured he could find some way to get back at Nina. He didn’t think for a second it would be easy. The woman looked at other people like ants just waiting for her to step on them. She didn’t act like a normal human, so finding a way to get under her skin wasn’t as simple as just wrecking her favorite toy.

  Not that setting fire to all her pretty shoes or accessories wasn’t a good place to start. It just wasn’t enough for someone like Nina, who would wave her hand after the fact and have everything replaced within a day.

  “That will make setting punishments in case one of us fails the game all the more fun.”

  Nina smiled as she opened her door and stepped out of the car. There was something about the way her red lips peeled back from her perfect white teeth that let a guy know he was in trouble. Maybe some guys missed it, and they were the true idiots, because Nina Hughes might as well have a forked tongue.

  Brady fought the urge to scramble out of the car after her. Earning her respect meant he had to think with the head on top of his shoulders, which wasn’t always easy. He made a show of taking the key out of the ignition slowly and checking his phone before getting out.

  “I’m pretty sure I’ve never heard someone say the way to a woman’s heart is making her wait.”

  “Good thing I’m not trying to do anything with your heart. I hear it’s more of a black lump of coal than a beating organ, so let’s not bring it in to this.”

  Nina rolled her eyes and pushed off the car where she’d been leaning against it. Brady really hadn’t taken that long to get out, but she’d gotten relaxed.

  “No worries about that happening here. Are we ever going to get around to the meal you promised? I was hoping to get over the specifics of everything today, so I could get them to my lawyer to write a contract up.”

  She didn’t wait for him to respond, or for her to even finishing speaking, before her heels clacked against the pavement, leading her to the restaurant. She kept saying things that took a second to process, leaving Brady to always be a few steps behind her.

  “Contract?”

  Brady hurried ahead to get the door. It was the one chivalrous type of thing he allowed.

  “Yup, I thought about it last night, and your whole speech about being a vindictive bastard sort of sealed the deal on there being something written and signed by both of us.”

  Nina stopped talking as she looked the hostess who greeted them up and down for a second and then kept walking. The brunette, who’d already pulled out two menus and was getting ready to greet them had a look of surprise on her face, with her jaw hanging open slightly. Brady was used to having the look bestowed upon him, but the woman’s eyes followed Nina on her walk.

  “Any way you look at it, if you’re going to move in with me, we definitely need to have some kind of contract. I don’t foresee us using the same bathroom, but leaving the seat up anywhere in my apartment is a big no-no.”

  Brady stopped in his steps, which happened to put him in front of the table Nina decided was theirs. She had no problem pulling out her chair and taking a seat, whereas Brady was stuck trying to string the conversation together. He’d caught up to the idea of a contract, and he was all for it, but moving in together was way out of left field.

  “Tell Byron we’ll take two of my usuals and a nice white that pairs with it. I think I’ll be hungry for dessert too, so have him whip us up something special.”

  The words sort of registered, but Brady was too lost to track them. He hadn’t even realized someone else had joined them. In his experience, ordering the meal came after the parties had settled down and ordered some drinks.

  “Right away, Ms. Hughes.”

  The woman who’d followed them to the table took off in a quick walk back towards the kitchen. Brady was used to charming the waitresses and having them mill around the table for as long as they could without being yelled at. He’d never seen one practically run from the table.

  “We’re going to be spending a lot of time together in these next few weeks, so you’re going to have to get used to people jumping to do what I say.”

  Nina’s harsh voice knocked Brady out of his slight stupor. The chair in front of him was pushed out, presumably by Nina’s feet, but Brady didn’t deny Nina could have been staring at it and the chair bent to her will.

  “I have no problem with you barking orders and people doing what you say. I’m still stuck on you talking about a contract and moving in together.”

  Brady pulled the chair out a little more and sat. As he put a white napkin on
his lap, he stared at the woman who’d been driving him crazy for months and seemed to be on the verge of making him certifiably insane.

  She didn’t show any signs of taking back her declarations, which only confused Brady more. If she wanted to fuck with him, claiming they were going to move in together was a great way to do it.

  “As much as I love toying with you, I want to prove that I’m serious about my little proposition. There needs to be checks and balances, and neither one of us can be sure that the other isn’t fucking someone new each night unless we’re living under the same roof.”

  It was a little worrisome that her words made sense. It was downright frightening that Brady was considering the idea. He’d never lived with a woman in his adult life. He’d had to room with guys at various times throughout his career, so he had an idea that he could live with another human, but he wasn’t sure the two of them living together was the best idea.

  That didn’t stop him from putting his charming smile on and nodding slightly. Poor Hannah was going to have a heart attack if she was already pissed just hearing about the stupid bet.

  “I’ll agree to move in together, but it’s got to be at my place. My dog isn’t fond of new places, and he’s probably a little too big for your apartment.”

  Chapter 7

  “I don’t know if anyone has ever told you this, but that is not a dog. That’s a straight up horse I could climb on and ride around your living room.”

  Nina had barely stepped foot into Brady’s lush bachelor’s pad when the horse caught her eye from its spot on a brown couch. She wasn’t a dog expert, but she thought it looked like a mastiff. Its cheeks hung down from the sides of his face with drool hanging off the ends of them.

  Signing a contract without checking out the place she would live for the next few weeks was a big mistake. Brady had assured her his four-thousand-square-foot house had plenty of room for the two of them, and the dog he’d forgotten to mention weighed more than she did. It wasn’t like Nina pictured a poodle or Chihuahua when she thought of Brady. She just hadn’t let her mind imagine the horse.