by Tessa Bailey
After parking my car, I wandered into the house and heard voices coming from the kitchen, so I headed back there. Alec was at the table inhaling pancakes and bacon while my mom was pulling stuff out of the fridge.
“This explains it then. Mom lured you over as slave labor with the promise of home-cooked food,” I teased Alec before snagging a piece of bacon from his plate.
“Not cool, man. Grab your own if you want some,” he complained.
“Good morning, Andrew,” my mom greeted me as she came over and gave me a hug. “You want some breakfast too? You know how I love to feed my boys.”
“Not really a boy anymore, Mom, but I can always eat a little something if you’re making it,” I agreed. “But will you put me to work like you’re going to do with Alec if I say yes?”
“Oh, I’m not going to make him help too much. I really wanted him over now because I had him ask Jo to get here early so we could chat before everyone else arrived,” she explained.
“Joe who?” I asked.
Alec slapped me upside the head. “Weren’t you listening to a word I said during our call yesterday? Jo went to school with me at Brower and just took the job as the new PT for the team.”
His explanation didn’t make it any clearer for me. “And Mom thinks you’d be stoked that he’s going to be here for the barbeque why exactly?”
“Holy shit!” Alec exclaimed. “Jo is short for Jocelyn. From Brower? Most of her friends call her Josie, but the guys got in the habit of calling her Jo. She’s definitely not a dude.”
“I’m excited to see her again and so proud she graduated with her doctorate and is going to be working with you now. I always did wonder if you two would make a good couple. Such a pretty girl and so sweet. I still don’t understand why you two never did date in high school,” Mom said, making her reasoning behind the invitation clear.
“She never dated any of the guys on the team,” Alec offered. “She said it would make things too complicated since she was helping out our trainer back then.”
“Well, maybe she’s changed her mind about that rule now,” Mom suggested.
“Or maybe you could talk her into making an exception for you,” I told him. “Your moves with the ladies have to be better than they were back when you were a gangly teenager. If not, I could try to help you out with her.”
“I didn’t say I wanted to date Jo,” Alec argued, looking uncomfortable about the topic of conversation as he hunched over his plate and tried to ignore our teasing.
“And I didn’t hear you say you didn’t want to date her either,” I retorted. “As your big brother, I guess it falls to me to check her out and make sure she’s good enough for my baby brother.”
“Jesus, Andrew. Back off,” Alec complained. “Don’t do anything to embarrass her. She was a good friend to me back in high school. I don’t want to lose that. And don’t give her the third degree either or do anything to make her think I’m going to ask her out when I’m not interested in her that way. No matter what Mom thinks.”
“No need to get your panties in a twist, bro.”
Alec stood up and glared at me from across the table. “Seriously. Mom was right when she said Jo was sweet. But she’s shy too, and I don’t like it when people mess with her. Even you. She’s had a tough go of things and I won’t sit around and watch anyone ruin today for her.”
I held up my hands in capitulation. “Okay. I swear I won’t do anything to upset the girl if it means that much to you.”
“Now, honey, calm down. Nobody’s going to embarrass Jo,” my mom reassured him. “But I really do wish you’d reconsider asking her out.”
“Jesus, Mom!” Alec exclaimed. “Enough with the asking-her-out stuff. It’s not like that.” He brooded silently as we both ate breakfast and then jumped out of his seat when the doorbell rang. “I’ve got it,” he grumbled before walking to the door.
“Hi, Alec. I hope I’m not too early,” I heard a woman say softly after the sound of the door opening. Just the sound of her voice sent a chill up my spine.
“Not at all,” Alec replied. “Mom was just saying how excited she is you could come over before everyone else so she could catch up since it’s been so long since she’s seen you.”
“How sweet. It’s hard to believe it’s been seven years already. I guess they’re right when they say time flies,” she replied.
“And I told you that you didn’t need to bring anything,” he scolded her in a teasing tone as they moved close to the kitchen.
I stood up from the table and hadn’t even taken a step when they made it into the kitchen. Alec hadn’t been kidding when he’d said that she wasn’t a dude. Jo, the girl my mom was urging my brother to ask out, was the caramel-haired beauty I hadn’t been able to get out of my mind since she was in my club. For her bachelorette party.
And then it hit me. My brother couldn’t ask her out because she was probably already married. It had been a little more than a month already.
I glanced down at her ring finger and was shocked to find it bare. While I stood there in a stupor my mom had moved to give her a hug.
“Josie, it’s so good to see you again,” she greeted her enthusiastically. “Oh my, you’ve grown up so much.”
“I certainly hope so, Mrs. Rourke. You haven’t seen me since I was just eighteen. It would be pretty bad if I hadn’t changed in all that time,” she replied.
“I’m not sure how it’s possible, but you never managed to meet Alec’s older brother while you were at school,” my mom said as she led Josie over to where I was standing. “Andrew, this is Josie.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Andrew,” she said, holding her hand out to me.
“You, too,” I replied as I reached out for her. When our hands touched a shock of electricity arced between us. I glanced down at her left hand to make sure I wasn’t imagining the lack of a wedding ring before. Nothing was there. No rings at all. No white band showing that it had been recently removed. “But we did almost meet recently.”
“We did?” she asked with her brow furrowed in confusion. “I’m sorry, but I’m not sure what you’re talking about.”
“Your bachelorette party. It was at one of my clubs. The Box,” I explained.
A red stain spread across her cheeks at my words.
“Bachelorette party?” Alec asked her. “You aren’t getting married and forgot to tell me about it, are you?”
“It wasn’t a real one. It was a fake bachelorette party,” Josie mumbled in response.
“A fake bachelorette party?” my mom repeated. “I’ve never heard of such a thing.”
“This is so embarrassing,” Josie whispered. She took a deep breath before telling us what happened. “One of my friends had a work thing going on where she needed to know what the bachelorette party experience would be like at the club. But she didn’t know anyone who’s getting married anytime soon so she asked me to pretend for her. I know it sounds crazy, but you’d have to know her to understand how she managed to talk me into it.”
Alec started chuckling midway through her explanation. “It was Cee-Cee, wasn’t it?” he asked.
“Yeah. You know how she is,” Josie answered with a sheepish grin on her face.
The sense of relief I felt upon learning that not only was she not married already but she also had no plans to get married floored me. The chemistry I’d felt when I’d seen her at The Box was still there, if not stronger now that I was standing so close to her.
“She always could talk you into just about anything. Glad to see some things haven’t changed too much,” Alec told her.
I still hadn’t let go of Josie’s hand. I stood there with it grasped in mine as I listened to her banter with my brother. When her attention finally returned to me, she looked down at our entwined hands before she looked back up at my face questioningly. Then she tugged lightly and I released her.
“Now come and tell me all about what you’ve been up to lately while I send the boys outside to he
lp their father,” my mom told Josie as she practically shoved us out the door for some girl talk.
I didn’t want to leave Josie behind, but I knew I’d find the time to speak with her before she left. I hadn’t approached her when I’d thought she was engaged, but now that I knew she wasn’t? Well, that made her fair game.
Chapter Five
Josie
I enjoyed the barbeque a lot, even with Alec’s mom interrogating me about what I’d been up to since my senior year of high school. Any time I was been around her, it always left me with a warm feeling even while it made me miss my own mom a little more. People started to arrive about an hour after I’d gotten there, and Alec made sure I met all the players and their wives, families, or girlfriends. Jason and I chatted for a bit since he was a familiar face, and I noticed that Alec’s brother kept glancing our way with a frown on his face.
I was surprised by the fascination I felt for him. He and Alec looked so much alike. Same dark-brown hair, although Andrew wore his a little longer with a lock that kept falling onto his forehead. Same bright-blue eyes, except Andrew’s held a heat in them when he looked at me that Alec’s lacked. Both men were over six feet tall, but Andrew had a slight advantage over his brother there too. Somehow, the slight differences between the two left my head reeling when I looked at Andrew. Alec had never made me feel anything other than comfortable in his presence.
Crowds had never really been my thing, so after a little while, I headed for a black-and-cream bistro set in the corner of the back patio, underneath a tree. Sitting in the shade, I could watch everyone as they talked and enjoy a semi-private moment to myself. Or at least I thought I could until I was interrupted.
“You didn’t explain what kind of work project your friend had that she needed you to pretend to be a bachelorette that night,” I heard Andrew drawl, startling me because I hadn’t been expecting anyone to come up from behind me since there wasn’t anything but the grassy yard and a shed beyond the trees.
“Andrew,” I gasped.
“Sorry for startling you,” he apologized. “Mind if I take a seat?”
“Sure.” I nodded, and Andrew sat down across from me in the open chair.
“I’ve owned bars for more than five years now and I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a fake bachelorette party before. I’ve got to admit it’s piqued my curiosity. I can’t help but wonder now how many of the parties we’ve hosted have been in honor of someone who isn’t even getting married.”
“I’m pretty sure it’s a safe bet that it doesn’t happen often,” I assured him. “I’ve certainly never heard of one before Cee-Cee asked me for some help.”
“Any chance Cee-Cee is Cecily from Pied Piper PR?” he asked.
I really didn’t want to answer because I didn’t want to mess anything up for my best friend. She had managed to land his account in part because of her stupid idea for that party, but I was afraid he would get pissed. While I was trying to come up with something to say to change the topic, I found myself staring into his eyes until mine drifted down to his mouth as he smirked at me.
“It was actually kind of brilliant,” he reassured me. “So if you’re worried about your friend, don’t be.”
“Then yes,” I admitted. “My incredibly creative best friend does work for Pied Piper PR and was the brains behind the whole fake-bachelorette-party idea.”
“It looked like she went all out for it, too,” he said before taking a sip of the beer he’d brought over with him.
The scent of his aftershave drifted towards me on a breeze as I breathed in deeply, trying to calm my nerves. It had the opposite effect though. Damn, he smelled good.
“Yeah, she’s big on planning things and isn’t one to do things halfway. She even managed to get us into the VIP area,” I told him.
“I wonder how she managed that,” he muttered before his gaze drifted from my face down to my neckline. “I have to say I like this look a helluva a lot more than the ‘suck for a buck’ shirt she had you in at the club.”
I could feel my face heat at his words. I hadn’t been very happy with the attention we’d gotten when I’d put it on, but then I’d had to take it off before we’d been able to move to the VIP area. I hadn’t admitted it to her then, but it had been a huge relief.
“Wow,” I murmured. “I guess I really did have reason to be embarrassed by that stupid shirt if even you noticed and remembered it.”
“It wasn’t the shirt that made me notice you. You were memorable before you even put it on, Jocelyn,” he told me.
I took a gulp of the white wine I’d been sipping before he’d joined me, but it went down the wrong pipe and I coughed while trying to drag air into my lungs. Andrew jumped out of his chair and hurried around the table to lift my hands in the air and roughly pat my back.
“Thank you,” I gasped once my breathing had returned to normal.
“As much as I’d love to hear you pant, this isn’t really how I pictured it happening in my head,” he teased.
He didn’t move back to his chair. Instead, he stayed squatted down next to me with his hand resting low on my back. He was lightly rubbing, his fingers trailing drawing circles through my shirt. I could feel the heat radiating from his skin through the fabric. A trail of goose bumps followed the path of this touch.
“You pictured it in your head?” I repeated dumbly, stunned by his admission.
Andrew rose to his feet, capturing my hand along the way and pulling me up so I stood with him. He stepped closer to me and lowered his head so he could whisper in my ear.
“From the second I laid eyes on you in my club, I pictured the things I wanted to do to you in vivid detail. The only thing that held me back was the knowledge that you belonged to someone else,” he admitted. “But that wasn’t true, was it?”
His voice had deepened as he’d spoken until he was practically growling his words. A shiver raced up my spine, and I couldn’t help but admit the truth instead of being angry about his high-handedness when he didn’t even know me.
“No, it wasn’t true,” I agreed.
“You don’t belong to another man,” he repeated, demanding I confirm what he already knew to be true.
“I belong to no one but myself,” I murmured.
“Yet,” he hissed.
I took a small step backwards, needing some extra space between us. His presence was overwhelming me as though he were pumping testosterone into the air. I’d had my fair share of relationships throughout the years. Who hadn’t by the time they turned twenty-five? But I didn’t think I had ever felt such an instantaneous and strong feeling of desire for a man before. And it scared me a little how much he could make me feel so quickly. No man should be able to get my panties dripping wet with a few touches and a whisper in my ear.
“That remains to be seen,” I disagreed. “I’m not sure what type of women you’ve dated in the past, but don’t expect me to hand my panties over in a sign of submission just because you say you want me.”
His blue eyes lit with humor at my words and a dimple flashed in one cheek with his smile. “I don’t usually bother with dating, but it appears you’re going to be the exception to the rule for me in more ways than one since I’ve also never had a problem getting a woman out of my head before—not that any really got into it in the first place. But trust me when I say you’ll hand your panties, and anything else I want, over to me when the time comes,” he warned me.
What little wits I had about me scattered at his words. I’d never dated a guy who was so blunt with me. If anyone had asked me a day ago if such a strong come-on would appeal to me, I would have said, “Absolutely not.” But knowing that Andrew wanted me that much woke something primal inside me. There was a magnetism about him that made it almost impossible to deny the attraction between us.
“I wouldn’t bet on that,” I cautioned. “I may be the quiet one in my group of friends, but that doesn’t mean I’m just going to yield to you with a snap of your fingers.”
Heat suffused my skin as I pictured us entwined on a bed. His fingers playing over my skin before sinking inside me. I shook my head to scatter my thoughts so I could concentrate on our conversation.
“I’m not sure I’m ready for things to move this quickly.”
“Things? What things?” I heard Alec say as he walked up to us.
Andrew took a slight step away from me, but he kept my hand in his as he turned to his brother. As though he were staking claim to me or something.
“Nothing for you to worry about, Alec. I was just asking Jocelyn out on a date,” he answered.
Alec frowned as he looked between us, clearly not happy by what he saw. “Josie doesn’t look very comfortable right now, bro. Why don’t you come talk with me for a minute?”
Andrew squeezed my hand as he moved away from me. He didn’t let Alec lead him very far away though, and I could still hear their conversation.
“What the hell are you doing?” Alec asked his brother.
“Trying to get Jocelyn to agree to a dinner date,” Andrew replied. “Not that it’s really any of your business.”
“She’s my friend,” Alec hissed back. “And didn’t I tell you to stay away from her?”
“You’re not her keeper, Alec. She’s a big girl who can take care of herself,” Andrew argued. “Besides which, I’m your brother. Shouldn’t you worry about my feelings more than hers?”
Alec snorted. “You don’t need me to worry about your dating life the way you go through women. But Josie isn’t like the chicks you’ve slept with before. She deserves a real relationship instead of a couple of dates and a quick roll in your sheets.”
“First of all, I resent the implication that anything I do in bed is quick,” Andrew joked before getting serious. “Not that you need to know this, but she’s messed with my head for over a month and I didn’t even know her name,” he argued.