Author: Roni Loren

He adjusted the crotch of his jeans, then picked up the phone to dial a familiar number.

“How’d it go?”

Jace tilted his chair back and closed his eyes. “It’s done. She’ll be there on Wednesday.”

“Thanks, man.”

“Dude, are you sure you want to do it this way? I kind of feel like a dick.”

Reid sighed. “Trust me. I know what she needs even if she doesn’t.”

Jace snorted. If he were a betting man, he’d put his money on Reid’s balls getting handed to him on a plate, but he’d learned long ago not to try to change his friend’s mind once he had it set on something. “I hope you’re right. For both your sakes.”

EIGHT

then

Brynn rolled her wrist, her hand aching from all the notes she’d taken during her boss Davis’s staff meeting, and sank back into the conference room chair. She glanced around the oval table and noticed everyone’s eyes had glazed over. Davis stepped around the whiteboard he’d been scribbling on and stood behind Brynn. “Any questions, people?”

Most shook their heads.

Davis’s hands settled on Brynn’s shoulders and squeezed, the unexpected touch jolting her from her daze. “Did you get all of that, Brynn?”

She cleared her throat and tried not to squirm beneath the unwanted touch. The man didn’t like her, so his seemingly friendly gesture was all for the benefit of the other workers. “Uh, yes, sir, of course.”

“Excellent. So Brynn will type up the notes for everyone and e-mail them to you before the end of the day,” he said, patting her shoulder one last time before heading to the door and swinging it open. “Thanks for all your attention this afternoon.”

Brynn gathered her things and followed everyone out. She’d hoped to pin down Reid earlier in the day to discuss the previous night’s disaster of a make-out session, but they’d all been so busy it’d been impossible to say more than a few passing words. So she was happy to see him veer toward her desk instead of his own as they trailed out of the meeting.

As she slipped into her seat, Reid sank into the chair at the front of her desk, his customary grin noticeably absent. “Hey.”

“Hey, yourself,” she said, dropping her legal pad and pen on her desk. “I was beginning to wonder if you were avoiding me.”

He frowned. “Course not, just been busy. But I do have to confess, I’m here to deliver a bit of good and bad news.”

“Uh-oh, why don’t you start with the good?”

He dug in his pocket, then tossed a key onto her desk. She picked it up and examined it. “What’s this?”

“It’s for a rental car. I have a friend whose dad owns a repair shop. He owes me a favor, so they’re going to try to fix your car for free. If it can be fixed, that is. In the meantime, he was able to hook me up with a loaner for you, so you don’t have to take the bus.”

“Oh, wow, you didn’t have to do that,” she said, stunned by his gesture.

“No problem, and hopefully, it will make you less mad at me for the bad news.”

She sighed. “Lay it on me.”

He sagged in the seat and blew out a haggard breath. “Something’s come up, and I’m going to have to move our date to tomorrow night.”

“Is everything all right?”

He nodded, but his frown lines didn’t match his assurance. “Yeah, it’s fine. I’d forgotten I’d promised to go to this thing tonight. I don’t want to back out.”

Brynn kept her expression smooth, though her chest tightened. She’d seen more people bail when they found out about her mother than stick around, and Reid’s change of plans sounded suspiciously like the warning shot before the classic cut-and-run. Maybe fixing her car was her consolation prize. “What kind of thing?”

He shrugged. “Nothing you’d be interested in. Otherwise, I’d bring you along.”

Sure he would. Right. She pasted on a smile. “No problem. Have fun.”

Roslyn stepped behind Reid and laid a hand on his shoulder. “Reid, dear, stop pestering Brynn. She has a lot of notes to type up before the end of the day.”

He glanced over his shoulder at her. “Yes, ma’am. I’ll be done in a second. She’s just clarifying something from the meeting for me.”

The dark-haired woman pursed her lips, but walked off without another word. Reid leaned forward and kept his voice low. “I promise we’ll do something tomorrow night.”

Brynn propped her legal pad next to her computer screen. “All right, sounds good. And really, thanks again for my car. I really appreciate it.”

He paused as if he were going to say something else, but then apparently decided against it because he rose and headed back to his desk. Yep, no doubt, he was going to bail. His whole essence screamed guilt. She clicked her fingers along her keyboard with a little more force than necessary. Well, better now than later. At least her heart hadn’t latched onto him yet.

She glanced over to his desk and tried to ignore the way her gut churned at the thought of him returning to the status of coworker only. Okay, so maybe she was a little attached. Nothing she couldn’t handle. She’d learned long ago that everyone lets you down eventually—it was just a matter of when.

Reid sat in Jace’s living room, nursing his second beer and staring through the TV, not really seeing the baseball game. He shifted forward in the overstuffed chair, bracing his arms on his thighs. He couldn’t get comfortable. Not in the room. Not in the chair. Not in his own fucking skin.

Maybe this was a bad idea.

Something nicked him in the head. “What the—?

He raised his hand in defense as Jace launched another peanut at him. “Calm the hell down, dude. You’re stressing me out.”

Reid set his beer down and wiped his damp palms on his jeans. “I think I’m just going to go.”

“The hell you are,” he said, lowering the volume on the television and angling himself on the couch so he could face him. “Look, she’s going to be here in a few minutes. You asked for my help, so don’t punk out on me. And what guy is going to bail when a beautiful woman is on her way over to fulfill your sexual fantasies?”

He groaned and sank back against the cushions. What had he been thinking? Jace had agreed to hook him up with a girl he knew—a girl who supposedly liked things a little rough in bed and preferred two guys to one—so that Reid could work through his shit.

Last night the whole idea had seemed like the perfect solution to his problem—a pretty girl who didn’t mind some kink, Jace there to keep Reid from crossing any lines, and no strings. But now that he was here, neither his heart nor his dick were onboard.

He needed to go.

The doorbell rang.

Fuck.

Jace grinned. “Right on time.”

Jace hustled to the door, leaving Reid with his warring thoughts and pounding heart. Part of him wanted to sneak out the side door and not look back. But the other part was still holding on to the hope that maybe this would fix it. Fix him.

However, when Jace pulled open the door, and Reid heard

the voice on the other side, his blood seemed to halt in his veins.

Mother. Fucker.

He hopped up from the chair and crossed the room in three strides, stepping up behind Jace. Brynn’s eyes locked with his over Jace’s shoulder, her teeth tugging at her full bottom lip.

“What are you doing here?” Reid bit out, then grimaced when he realized how rude his question sounded.

“Oh, hey,” she said, shifting her gaze between the two of them, looking as unsure of herself as he’d ever seen her. “I was just telling Jace that Roslyn found your wallet on the floor in the office. She, uh, knew where you were and asked if I would drop it by on my way home. She didn’t want you driving home without your license.”

He automatically grabbed for his back pocket—of course, nothing was in there. “Damn, how did I lose that?”

She shrugged, and then stuck out her hand, giving him the wallet.

“Thanks.” His fingers brushed hers as he took it from her, and his dick—which hadn’t twitched all night despite the upcoming threesome—instantly stirred to life.

God, what was it about this girl? Seeing her there, feeling the heat her presence alone fired within him, slapped him with hard reality. He was so screwed. He could fuck his way through sorority row and then hit every whorehouse on the way home afterward, but it wouldn’t matter. Nothing was going to slake the dark desire Brynn inspired.

The realization burned an aching hole in his chest. Maybe he’d never be able to trust himself around her.

She pushed her hair behind her ears. “So, yeah, I guess I’ll get going. Y’all enjoy your boys’ night.”

“You can stay and have a beer if you want,” Jace offered. “The Rangers game is on.”

He whipped his head in Jace’s direction. Had the idiot lost his goddamned mind?

Brynn snuck a tentative peek at Reid. His horror must’ve been obvious on his face because she quickly waved a dismissive hand. “No, I’m not going to interrupt. Far be it from me to interfere on dude time.”

Headlights flashed through the darkened street, and she glanced back as another car pulled into the driveway.

Reid’s heart leapt into his throat. Oh, shit.

“Right,” he said, stepping forward, his words tumbling out. “You’re probably not a baseball fan anyway. And the game’s a blowout so far. Why don’t I walk you to your car?”

Her brow furrowed as he took her elbow. “Yeah, okay.”

But as they turned to head down the sidewalk, Leah exited her car and sashayed into their path, looking like a teenage boy’s wet dream. Shorts hugging her ass, legs up to her ears, and non-God-given tits spilling out her top. Definitely not a baseball-watching outfit. Definitely not a dude. Facts not lost on Brynn.

She stiffened in his grasp and halted her step.

Goddammit. And goddamn his aunt for sending Brynn here. Even without trying, Ros had managed to meddle like she had some sixth sense on how exactly to fuck with his life.

Leah’s glossed lips pulled into a seductive smile as she approached. “Jace didn’t tell me we were bringing in a fourth, but…” She gave Brynn an up-and-down perusal. “I guess I’m open to new things.”

Reid closed his eyes, wishing the sidewalk would crack open and swallow him up. Fan-fucking-tastic.

Brynn’s fingers curled into fists, her nails digging into her palms, but she forced herself to choke down the rest of her reaction. She would not give Reid the satisfaction.

She eased her elbow from his grip and gave the supermodel-like girl a polite smile. “Thanks, but I was just leaving. I think I may be exactly one too many. Have a good night.”

Brynn hiked her purse strap further up her shoulder and traipsed past the woman.

“Brynn, wait—”

But she pretended she didn’t hear Reid and kept walking, her steps picking up speed. She just needed to get in her car, lock all of this out before she embarrassed herself. She had no claim on Reid. Had no right to feel so possessive. No logical reason to want to yank that bitch down by her ponytail and scratch her eyes out.

Two steps more.

A hand clamped over her forearm and spun her around. “I said wait, goddammit.”

“No, Reid,” she said, her voice losing its calm edge. “Let me go. I want to go home.”

“Look, just let me explain.”

She snorted and glanced back toward the house. Jace and Barbie had gone inside and shut the door. “I think I can figure it out. I don’t need a diagram. Thanks.”

“No, it’s not like that.” But the guilty shift of his eyes said otherwise.

She sighed. “Reid, it’s fine, okay? It’s none of my business. But I think it’s a good idea if we just end whatever has been going on with us right now.”