by Lea Hart
He looked down at the wood floor. “I’m not an adrenaline junkie.”
“I know. But to be able to serve this country, protect people and test yourself in the harshest environment seemed like the perfect place for you to see who you were.” Covering his hand, she smiled. “And you are an adrenaline junkie.”
“Maybe. But the things that make my heart pound have changed over the years. And those are the only things that I’m interested in pursuing.”
A loud knock on the front door echoed through the house, and then the sound of it opening had Brock on alert. When Pete’s loud voice echoed through the house, he figured his time was up. “Well, I’ll get out of your way.”
“Don’t be silly. I know how much you love my shrimp and grits. I’ve made an onion remoulade to go with it. Stay and eat with us. If you come up with any good ideas, then I promise to give you some ice cream.”
“Don’t have to ask me twice.” Leaning against the counter, he watched Pete stroll in. The way his buddy was looking at Lilly made him realize that there was something more than friendship going on between them. At least there was for Pete. His suspicion was confirmed when Pete’s smile dropped as he caught sight of him. “Hey, Pete.”
“Brock,” Pete responded quietly. “Wasn’t expecting to see you here.” Walking over to Lilly, he kissed her cheek and gave her a bottle of wine and a loaf of French bread. “Hey, sugar. Smells terrific. As usual.”
As usual? How many times had Pete been over here? Crossing his legs, Brock drank his tea. Bottle of wine. How stupid. He could’ve brought a bottle of wine. “Need any help?” he called out as Lilly patted the shrimp dry.
“No, I’m almost ready. You all go sit down and get out from underfoot.”
“Yes, ma’am,” they said simultaneously.
Brock picked up the cutlery on the counter, then opened a drawer and pulled out another set. He might not have been invited, but that didn’t mean a thing in the end. The idea that Pete was interested in Lilly put more of a flame under his butt. Right now, his ass was on fire, and he planned to do something about it.
One week into the New Year and he was about to take the biggest risk of his life. Forget years in the military. Doing something about his feelings for Lilly was scary shit. He picked up the basket of napkins and walked over to the table. It would be interesting to see how invested his friend was in something happening with Lilly. Pete had never mentioned her to Brock, but that didn’t mean a thing. It had been his experience that if a man was interested in a woman, he didn’t talk about it. He just went out and got her. “You heading over to Hank’s later for the game?”
“No. Lilly needs me, and I’m not leaving until she has everything she wants.”
Brock watched a satisfied smile cross his friend’s face. Where was the laid-back man he’d known since he was in high school? Nodding, he gave Pete his own confident smile. Game on. If Lilly had needs, then he was going to make sure he was the only one who took care of them. The fact that this was the second time he told himself that made him more resolute about his plan.
No one was more tenacious, and he planned to prove that to Pete, Lilly, and anyone else who might be interested. “Better go see if Lilly needs anything.” He stood and walked into the kitchen. “Can I help?”
“Grab the salad out of the fridge and take the bread in.”
“Okay.” He noticed the funny look she threw him and decided to ignore it. There was no way he could explain his actions because he didn’t completely understand them himself. It had started on Thanksgiving, and every day since then only proved that it wasn’t going away. It being his desire to stop denying himself what he wanted. The Bertrands and the Landrys had spent the holidays together for as long as he could remember, and when he sat across from Lilly this time, he couldn’t pretend he didn’t want her the same way he did when he was eighteen. Four years in college and eight years in the Marines had only put the feelings on hold. But now that he was back home, they’d returned tenfold. So here he was in her kitchen, acting like an idiot.
“Brock, we’re ready to eat, so shake a leg.”
“Yeah…sorry.” He grabbed the salad and bread, then walked to the table.
Once they were all seated, Pete lifted his glass in a toast. “To book twenty-one. May it be the best yet.”
Lilly clinked his glass and then turned and clinked Brock’s. “Thank you. Right now, I think it’s a stinker, but who knows? Maybe I can salvage it.”
“It’s going to be a bestseller,” Brock said before he dug into his food and groaned. “Damn, girl, you can cook. This is delicious.”
“You didn’t say that back when I was experimenting in high school. Brody was the only one who was brave enough to eat my creations back then.”
“After I got food poisoning, I became more cautious,” he said as he covered her hand.
Pushing his hand away, she laughed. “It was never proven that my food made you sick.”
“True,” he responded with a laugh. “But it wasn’t disproved, either.”
Pete cleared his throat and spoke. “So, what do need my help with for this book?”
Lilly sat back and carefully wiped her mouth. “I want to choke the antagonist to death. It has to be personal, and I thought choking would be a good choice. I was thinking of linking it back to the killer’s sexual appetites. It’s much darker than anything I’ve ever written, and I’m not sure if I can pull it off.”
“If you don’t try it, then you won’t know. Got to stretch if you want to grow,” Brock said. He returned to eating and listened to Pete and Lilly throw ideas back and forth. It was interesting to see the process she went through when she was building a story. He added a couple of ideas and noticed that she wrote them down. Take that, Pete! She needed ideas, and he had a ton of them.
Just as they were finishing the meal, Pete’s phone rang, and he excused himself. When he stepped into the hall, Brock lifted Lilly’s hand and kissed it. “Thanks for letting me crash your date with Pete.”
“It wasn’t a date.” She then lifted her glass of wine. “We’re friends, and he’s helping me out.” Glancing over her shoulder, she sighed. “I wish I was attracted to him because he’s a good man. Unfortunately, you can’t fake chemistry. It’s either there or it isn’t.”
“I think he has a little crush on you, so you may want to let him down easy,” Brock responded.
Before she could reply, Pete walked in, shaking his head. “My mama’s bathroom is flooded. I’ve got to go over and take care of it.”
Lilly took his hand. “You want me to come with you? I’m pretty good with a mop.”
“Thanks, sugar, but you’re on a deadline, and you need to get your next chapter written.” He lifted his plate. “I think we came up with some good ideas.” Pressing his mouth to her cheek, he grinned. “I’ll see myself out.”
“Call me if you need help,” Brock said as Pete took his dishes into the kitchen.
“Thanks, man.” Pete waved to them and then walked down the hall.
“I guess I’d better help clean up and leave you to your writing,” Brock said.
“Sit and relax. I’m not ready to start working.”
“I’d love to.” Seemed that showing up at Lilly’s on a Sunday afternoon without an invitation was going to turn out after all.
***
The story Brock told himself as he lifted Lilly’s cuffed hands above her head was that this was all material for the book. His body was on fire and he was having a hard time catching his breath, but it seemed like a fair price to pay in the name of art. “What do you think, Lilly?”
“About?” she replied on a shuddering breath.
Her chest was rising and falling in a way that told him she liked being held down. At least, she did when he was the one doing the holding. He’d never really been interested in bondage, but if that was what Lilly wanted, then he was game. As long as he was the one in control. “Is this something that would work for the scene between the
characters?”
“Definitely.”
“All I’m getting is one-word answers. Are you okay?” She nodded as he pressed himself into her soft, welcoming body. Her back was against the wall, and he made sure that all she could see and feel was him. Their breath mingled as they locked gazes, and he prayed she wasn’t going to object to what he was about to do. “When you told me the characters had once been intimate, it made me think the man would want that again. And if she was restrained against the wall, he would have no choice but to kiss her…to see if the heat was still there.”
“Sure…could happen.”
Holding her cuffed hands tighter, he leaned down slowly and ran his nose along her cheek. The scent of her shampoo enveloped him as the satin feel of her skin drew him nearer. “Maybe we should try it and see if it works.”
“Brock,” Lilly murmured.
“Yeah?”
“Kiss me already.” Tilting her head, she waited.
“Thank God,” he whispered as he lowered his mouth and held her jaw steady with his thumb. When he deepened the kiss, he released her hands and felt them slip over his head. The metal cuffs bit into his neck as her body melted. Surrender. Something he thought she would never do.
Sliding his hand down to her waist, he pulled her closer. They were hip to hip, breast to chest as he took her mouth in a series of savage kisses. As close as they were, it wasn’t close enough. Her soft breasts were crushed against him as her hips cradled his painful erection perfectly. Holding himself in check by the thinnest of threads, he kissed her until he had no breath left in his body. The only thing that saved them was Lilly pulling away and gasping for air. Tightening his hold, he tipped his head and laughed. “Definitely think the kissing would work for the book.” When she shuddered, he figured he was right. “But to be sure, we should keep doing it.”
“I thought we were doing research, but that kiss was something else altogether,” she said against his chest. “Are we pretending that kiss wasn’t about ten or fifteen years past due?”
“I’m not pretending. I just needed an excuse to put my mouth on yours. Seems I finally found one that worked.”
“There will be no undoing us until we’re undone. I can see that now,” Lilly said quietly.
Pressing a kiss to her forehead, he nodded. “There’s nothing civilized about what’s going to happen. You can’t stuff desire down for as long as we have and expect things not to explode at some point. You okay with that?”
Lifting her arms over his head, she rested her cuffed hands against his chest. “Might not have much of a choice.”
“God damn, Lilly. Not only do I want to ravage you in ways that might be illegal in some states, I freaking like you. I always have.”
“You didn’t always make that evident.” Holding up her hands, she then winked. “Uncuff me, Brock, and we can talk about some of your ideas. Just know they’ll probably end up in a book.”
“More than happy to provide whatever material you need.” He pulled his keys out of his pocket and unlocked the cuffs. Rubbing his fingers along her wrists, he made sure she wasn’t hurt. He wasn’t willing to experiment with metal against her soft skin again. “Honey, when it’s time to restrain you again, I’m going to have to stick with silk ribbons. I couldn’t abide you getting hurt.”
Holding her hands up, she inspected them. “I’ll make sure to text you the address of the fabric store. They have satin ribbons in about any color you want.”
Pulling her close, he dropped small kisses all over her face. “I’ll get an assortment.”
“Are we going to stop fighting?”
“Absodamnlutely. We’re going to try kissing and see what happens.” Grinning, he tightened his hold.
Wrapping her arms around his middle, she squeezed him. “I’m not sure what’s happening, but we seem to have gone from zero to a hundred in ten seconds. Five minutes ago, I wasn’t sure we could make it an hour without arguing, and now we’re talking about satin ribbons and illegal ravaging.”
“It was ten seconds that was years in the making,” he said. “I’ve thought about this for longer than I care to admit, so for me, it’s not that fast.”
“Well, that’s a rationalization that I can live with. I might’ve thought about kissing you once or twice. Maybe it’s not such a crazy thing.”
“Not crazy at all.” When she buried her face in his chest and started laughing, he figured he could die a happy man. It looked as though he had a chance with the woman he’d always found irresistible. The fact that their desires were finally in sync made him happier than he ever would’ve guessed. If there was going to be a man in Lilly’s life, it was going to be him. They were going to either succeed beautifully or perish spectacularly. Whatever happened would be better than nothing at all.
CHAPTER FOUR
Tuesday
Lilly sat on the grass next to the small lake behind her townhome and watched her dog snuffle in the grass. The sun was starting to descend, and she wondered how cold it would get later. It had been thirty-nine degrees on Sunday and today hit a high of seventy-two. If that wasn’t a sign of global warming, she didn’t know what was. Leaning back, she lay down, stared up at the sky and let her mind wander. She’d been deep into her writing for most of the day and hadn’t given herself a chance to think about what had happened with Brock. As the last of the puffy clouds drifted out of sight, she remembered the feel of his lips. Pressing her fingers to her mouth, she felt an echo of the tingles he’d sent through her body.
When she asked him to handcuff her, she’d had no idea what she was in for. One minute they were working out the logistics of the scene, and the next he had her pinned against the wall and was kissing her like he owned her. It was the sort of kiss she’d been waiting for. The heat that had caused them to bicker for years turned into something else last night. Something hot and out of control.
Popcorn wandered over and lay down next to her. “You’re supposed to be running around, getting your exercise. I guess you like it about as much as I do. Must be because we’re getting old.”
“You’re not old,” a deep voice called out.
Lifting her head, she saw Brock walking toward her. “Compared to you, I’m not.”
“Three years, Lilly.” Collapsing next to her on the grass, he grinned. “That’s not much.”
“Eight years in the military makes you about a hundred years older.”
“That’s true.” Leaning over, he ran his hand along Popcorn’s head and then kissed Lilly lightly. “How did the writing go today?”
“Well. The muse was with me, and I didn’t struggle with the chapter.”
“Must have something to do with the kissing we did last night.”
“Not sure.” Turning her head, she gazed into his eyes and was surprised by what she saw. Desire, heat and a bit of mischief, if she wasn’t mistaken. “What are you doing here?”
“I heard what Tina’s up to, and I wanted to talk to you about it. The report she filed the other day strongly suggests that you were responsible.”
“It’s such an amateur move. Clearly, she has no experience with mayhem and shenanigans. Accusing someone without checking to see if it’s possible is just foolish. It proves that you’re up to no good, and in her and Drew’s case, that’s all they’re about.”
“How’d this whole thing start?”
“It’s a story driven by envy. Wish I could make it more interesting, but I can’t. The seven deadly sins get you every time.” Sitting up, she crossed her legs and then took her sunglasses off. “I wrote my first two books during the time Drew and I dated, and now I have a movie deal based on the series.” Kissing her dog’s head, she frowned. “There are six books in the series, and he’s claiming that he’s owed some amount of money because he was around when I started it.”
“So that low-life scum-sucking son of a bitch is trying to get money out of you?”
“Yep.”
“His family has four car dealerships and they
’re in high cotton. What the hell does he need your money for?”
“It’s not the money he wants. It’s revenge. He asked me to marry him and I broke up with him instead.”
“So it’s pride that’s driving this, not envy.”
“Pride started it and then envy drove the sucker home.” The sun was almost gone and the sky had lit up with all the pretty colors. Orange, pink, and saffron mixed together just like a bowl of sherbet. Shivering, she hunched over. “Did you know that pride is said to be the foremost of all the seven deadly sins? It’s also the only one with a virtuous side. It is the sin from which all the others arise.”
“All those years spent in parochial school have served you well. I’m impressed you remember.”
“The only thing I remember from my catechism classes is what St. Augustine said: ‘It was pride that changed angels into devils.’ I hurt Drew’s pride and he never forgave me. That incident set this whole thing in motion. I had no idea he was going to propose. In fact, I thought he was going to break up with me. We were about a year past our expiration date. We were college sweethearts and stayed together after graduation out of habit and nothing more.”
“That was years ago. Why is he kicking up a ruckus now?”
“That’s where the envy comes in…Tina has never cared for me, and when she and Drew started dating, she decided to seek her revenge. The movie deal made the local papers, unfortunately, and she somehow convinced Drew that he was due a piece of the action. When I say convinced, that’s exactly what I mean. Drew doesn’t have an ambitious bone in his body and has more money than he’ll ever need.”
“Apparently he has a lot of asshole in him, though. How does he expect to hold up his head in town after this?” He slid his jacket off and draped it over her shoulders, then took her hands and covered them with his.