Cashmere and Camo

by Erin Nicholas

  “Of course.” She got right up, surveyed the table to see what everyone needed, and headed into the kitchen.

  “Well, I’m glad you had fun,” Brynn said to Sam, scraping her chair back and standing. “Thanks for coming over.”

  There was a moment of hesitation, from everyone. Was Brynn following Cori into the kitchen or was she actually dismissing Sam?

  “Uh, yeah, my pleasure,” Sam said. He also stood. “Maybe we can—” He glanced at Noah. Noah lifted an eyebrow. “—chat again some time,” Sam finished.

  Clearly Sam wasn’t comfortable asking Brynn for another date with Noah sitting right there.

  Good.

  He shouldn’t be comfortable asking her for another date at all. The guys in town, Sam included, knew that Brynn was dating very casually. That she wasn’t looking for anything serious. That she was only staying in town a few more months. That she was, at the very least, a very good friend of Noah, Evan, and Parker’s and, like three big brothers, they weren’t going to let anyone get too close or serious if that wasn’t what she wanted.

  Noah hadn’t specifically spoken to Sam about his date with Brynn, but he’d known about it almost immediately. She’d asked Sam as he was paying for a slice of peach pie. He’d practically gotten a medal of honor from the other guys who had been in the shop and witnessed it. But Noah hadn’t felt the need to have a one-on-one with Sam. Because he knew how the date was going to go, and he didn’t really care how Sam felt about it or what he tried to change about the plan. He was date number four. Period. That was it. And now that the night was almost over, he’d fulfilled his purpose and could move on.

  It looked like Brynn was ready for him to go.

  Cori brought a big plate of food in and set it in front of Noah.

  “Are we playing again?” she asked, looking from Brynn to Sam—the only other two people standing—and then at Noah.

  Noah just picked up one of the dough pockets and bit into it. This one was Philly cheesesteak. Nice.

  “I was just going to walk Sam out,” Brynn said. “I have an early morning tomorrow.”

  She was going to walk Sam out? Noah chewed, trying not to react to that. That was the nice and polite thing to do. She’d invited Sam over and now he was leaving. Big deal.

  Noah reached for another dough pocket. This one was buffalo chicken. Also very good. And there were at least five others on that plate. He was just fine right here for the next couple of minutes. The amount of time it should take Brynn to walk Sam to the door, say goodnight, and come back to the dining room.

  Cori didn’t say anything about Brynn’s supposed early morning. She just nodded. “Okay. Well, Sam, thanks for coming.”

  “Thanks for having me. It was really fun. The food and everything was great.”

  “I’m glad.” Cori gave him a smile.

  Brynn started toward the front of the house, and Sam really had no choice but to follow. The dining room was quiet after they left. Noah reached for another dough pocket.

  Barbecue beef. Awesome.

  Cori propped a hand on her hip. “I don’t know that I have enough supplies to support a big Marine eating his feelings.”

  “Shut up, Cori,” Noah told her around a bit of beef and barbecue sauce.

  She chuckled and took a seat across from him. “How long until you follow her out there?”

  “Ten minutes.”

  “That long?”

  “I’m sure Sam’s coming up with some lame way to stall. I’ll give him a chance to try before he’s sent on his way.”

  “Makes the crash and burn more painful, right?” Evan asked, sounding amused.

  Noah scowled at him. “Right.” He reached for another dough ball, hoping for a pepperoni pizza one this time.

  Evan shook his head. “These poor guys.”

  “Fuck that,” Noah snapped. “They know the situation. If they want to get more out of it, they can try, but I’m not going to feel bad when it doesn’t work.” He bit into the pocket. Damn, teriyaki chicken. Still, it was good.

  “What if it does work?” Parker asked. “Eventually she’ll be done with the six required dates and could go out with one of them again, right?”

  Noah looked at Parker with narrowed eyes. Was he trying to piss him off? “She’s going back to New York.”

  “She wouldn’t have to,” Ava said. “We could definitely figure out a way to make this work like I’m doing with Carmichael Enterprises.”

  Noah didn’t respond to that. But the dough balls he’d been eating seemed to be forming a knot in his stomach. “She does have to. That’s the plan.”

  “If you want her to stay, I think you’d just have to tell her,” Ava said.

  Her tone had softened and Noah fucking hated that. He didn’t want them sympathizing or giving him pep talks…or tempting him.

  New York was where her life was, and Rudy had pulled her out and put her in Bliss so that she could get closer to her sisters, maybe learn a few things about her father, learn to interact and even enjoy people outside of her lab, and practice dating. This was just her training ground. If Rudy had wanted Noah to be with Brynn, he wouldn’t have set it up for her to date six men. He wouldn’t have put a twelve-month stipulation on it. If Rudy had wanted Noah to be with Brynn he would have just said that.

  And that realization seemed to hit Noah directly in the chest.

  That was the bottom line. Rudy knew Noah. Noah had shared some things with Rudy he hadn’t shared with anyone else. Rudy knew about Noah’s father always putting him in charge of his sisters and mom and praising him when he came home. And the relief that Noah always felt when his dad was home again. How he’d felt free.

  And Rudy knew about Jared asking Noah to take care of Maggie. And how Noah didn’t feel free at all. Never would. There was no end point there, and he couldn’t take his eye off the ball for even a second. The last time he’d done something for himself—joining the Marines and getting the hell away from everything—Maggie had spiraled. He felt guilty as hell about that ever since. He should have come right home and stayed. He had needed the Marines. Maggie had needed him.

  Rudy knew all of that. And he definitely hadn’t asked Noah to take care of Brynn himself, personally, romantically, forever.

  “I don’t want her to stay,” he said flatly, pushing his plate back. And that was absolutely true. If she stayed he’d have to watch some other guy make her happy—or try. And Jesus, if watching her find her fairy tale ending with some other guy sounded torturous, watching her not be ecstatically happy would kill him. And he’d have to kill the guy.

  Speaking of the guys on that list, Sam and Brynn had now been outside together for ten minutes.

  He wiped his mouth, tossed his napkin on the table, shoved his chair back and stood. “Curfew time.”

  No one said a thing to stop him.

  Noah headed down the short hall and stepped into the foyer. He rounded the corner practically reaching for the door before he even saw it. Which meant he almost ran Brynn over.

  She was standing in the alcove, leaning against the wall, reading on her phone.

  He pulled up short. “What the hell are you doing?”

  She looked up at him. “Finally.” She turned her phone screen off and tucked it into her pocket.

  “Finally?” he frowned. “What’s going on? Where’s Sam? Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine. Sam said he’d had a nice time, I asked him if he knew his ex was going to be in town for a wedding this weekend, he said he’d been considering skipping the wedding because of that, I told him that I thought he should show up anyway, he thought about it, agreed, and said goodnight.”

  Noah was just watching her, feeling a little…flummoxed. “So you just encouraged your date to maybe get back together with his ex?”

  Brynn nodded. “I heard her mom talking with the mother of the bride and she said that her daughter never got over Sam. I especially paid attention once they said his name. I asked Hank if it was the same
Sam and he said yes.” She pushed away from the wall. “So, that’s all done.”

  “And you’re fine?” Noah didn’t really care about Sam and his ex. The woman in front of him was all that mattered.

  “I’m fine.” She stepped toward him. “But I want to be great.”

  “Wha—”

  Brynn grabbed the front of his shirt in her hand and pulled him toward her. She went on tiptoe as he stumbled forward and pressed her lips to his.

  He wasn’t sure what exactly was going on, but Brynn was kissing him, so he didn’t care. And it felt a little like…forgiveness.

  He kissed her for a long moment, relishing the feel of her under his hands, the taste of her, the smell of her. But eventually he pulled back. “I’m sorry,” he said against her lips.

  He’d been an ass the other night. But she had been waiting in the foyer for him and was now kissing him so maybe things weren’t so bad.

  “I know,” she told him.

  And just like that he felt some of the tightness in his chest ease.

  “I’ve been trying to keep you safe and happy and then I’m the one that fucks it up.”

  She pulled back and looked up at him. “Noah?”

  “Yeah.”

  She reached up and put her hands on either side of his face. “I know you would do anything for me. And that makes me safe and happy. Bottom line. No matter what else you say or do or don’t do. I know that you will be there. But—” she went on before he could respond. “—you’re not the only one in charge of my happiness. I can make myself happy. So when you screw up, because you’re human and not perfect and torn between what you want and what my dad wanted, I’ll be okay. Because I know how you feel about me. And because I’m very capable of thinking that through and remembering the whole picture, not just that one moment. And I know myself. I know that if I talk to my sisters, or go for a walk, or get lost in a book, or go to the pie shop, I’ll feel better. So you are not fully in charge of making me happy every single second of every single day. You can mess up and I’ll still be okay.”

  She moved forward and he backed up a little, dazed and amazed. You can mess up and I’ll still be okay. He wondered if she had any idea how much that mattered, how much that helped him.

  Brynn turned them, putting his back against the wall, then leaned in and said softly, “And right now, nothing would make me happier than putting you up against this wall and touching you. All over. A lot.”

  His entire body, and hell, his soul, reacted to that. The whole speech really. He lifted his hands and cupped her face, the way she’d done to him. He stared down at her. She met his gaze directly and gave him a smile that he couldn’t even describe. Except that he knew she really was okay. Better than okay. She was…confident. Yeah, one of those Rudy words that had been so important to him. She knew herself and what she wanted. That was one of the things they were going for here. And it was there. In her eyes. In the way she was standing with him. In her words. Most especially, in his gut. He felt it.

  “You’re pretty fucking incredible Brynn Carmichael, you know that?”

  “Thank you for noticing.” She gave him a little smile.

  But he shook his head seriously. “I’ve been noticing for a while now. Like since I met you.”

  “Then trust me,” she said, also solemn. “Trust me to know when I’m happy.”

  He nodded. “I’ll…try.”

  “Good enough for now,” she said. Then she pulled his head down for a kiss.

  He needed to figure this all out. But then her tongue stroked along his lower lip and… yeah, he’d figure it out. But later.

  Much later.

  He should not feel like he needed to claim her or brand her or erase all memory of any other guy, like the one she’d just been on a date with, but he did. He so did.

  Still, this whole thing with her backing him up against the wall was pretty great. She was taking some control, going for what she wanted. And she wanted him.

  That was more than pretty great.

  She slid her hands up under his shirt, her hands against his sides, and he groaned. She ran them up and down, sending shocks of desire through him. His body tightened and he had the need to press into her. But he couldn’t from this position. She was in charge. For now, anyway.

  “Brynn—” He now knew how those little needy pleas he got from her actually felt. He needed her to touch him, to press closer, to relieve some of the pressure he felt building.

  Her hands stroked over his chest, then around to his back. Her fingers dug into the muscles on either side of his spine, and she pulled herself closer to him. She bumped against the hard ridge behind his zipper and she gave a little moan.

  He was going to let her do this. He was going to let her lead this. He was.

  He hoped.

  Noah grit his teeth as she arched closer, grinding against him, then slipping her hands lower to his ass and gripping there as she pressed closer.

  Okay, he could let her lead, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t get his hands on some skin too. Noah slid his hand up under her shirt and relished her little gasp as he deepened the kiss as he stroked up her sides to cup a breast with one hand. Her nipple pebbled and he ran his thumb back and forth across the sweet tip. His other hand slid low to her ass and he brought her up against him more firmly.

  “Yes,” she breathed against his mouth.

  Yes. That seemed to sum everything up so perfectly.

  He held her tight against him, letting her grind and rub. He squeezed her nipple and she whimpered. Then her hand was sliding between them and down over his cock. Denim between them or not, he felt like his whole body was on fire, and she was the sweet, cool water he needed to put it out. He pressed into her hand, letting her feel how much he wanted her, nearly begging her for more. More touching, more pressure.

  He felt the button on the top of his hands give and the zipper slip down. He knew he should stop her, but he also knew no one from the other room would be coming out here, and he honestly wasn’t sure he’d care if they did. He had to have Brynn’s hands on him. Now.

  Her hand slipped between his stomach and the top of his jeans and into his boxers, and then she was stroking his length. Skin on skin. Hot, greedy skin on hot, needy skin.

  She ran her palm up and down over his aching cock and then she wrapped her hand around him.

  He tore his mouth from hers, needing to breathe. “Brynn,” he choked out.

  “God, I love touching you,” she told him, almost panting.

  “I fucking love it too, Beautiful.”

  “So you don’t want me to stop.”

  He rested his forehead against hers and chuckled gruffly. “Never.”

  “Seriously? Because I want to do this. A lot. Like—”

  He pressed into her hand. “Seriously. Keep going, Brynn.”

  She gave a little shiver and he knew it was pleasure and excitement, and he felt something that felt a hell of a lot like humble. She wanted to touch him. She wanted to pleasure him. This goddess who he would do anything for wanted him. So fuck yes, she could have him.

  “Tell me what to do,” she whispered as she ran her hand up and down.

  He squeezed his eyes shut. “You’re doing just fine.”

  “But I want to really do it. Teach me.”

  She was all about him, and he wasn’t sure anything in his life had ever been hotter.

  “Curl your fingers around,” he managed, the idea of it nearly enough to do him in. Her doing any of this was heaven. Wanting him to coach her? Pure ecstasy.

  She did as he instructed, gripping him lightly.

  “Squeeze harder.” He was having a hard time pulling air into his lungs.

  “Really? How hard?” she asked.

  They were safe in this little alcove. Their friends would no way come out here now. Noah had to let go of her to push his jeans to his knees. Brynn actually pulled back slightly so she could look down. He chuckled even as he felt his heart try to stop beating
.

  “Hard,” he told her. “You’re not going to hurt me.” Her hand was small and he was, well, pretty good-sized if he did say so himself, and there was no way she was going to do him any damage.

  Her hand was still inside his boxers and he let her just feel now, but she had a lot more room to work without the denim in the way. She gripped him, squeezing harder, and he worked on keeping his lungs working. “Now up and down,” he told her.

  Brynn moved her hand along his shaft, squeezing and milking him, going up and down in a near perfect rhythm. She was a natural.

  “You know what makes hand jobs even better?” he asked huskily.

  “What?”

  “Getting to touch you back.” He moved a hand up under her shirt again, pulling the cup of her bra down, and taking her nipple between his thumb and finger.

  She sucked in a shaky breath. “I never knew that could feel that good.”

  He rolled the hard tip, moving his hips slightly as he thrust into her hand. “It’s all good with us, B,” he told her. “It’s all good.”

  She nodded and looked up at him. “Yeah. It really is.”

  Not that she would know. The thought hit him unexpectedly. She didn’t even know how great it was because she had nothing to compare it to. But he shook that off quickly. He didn’t fucking care that she didn’t know. This was amazing. He knew it. And she trusted him. He didn’t need to prove to her that this was different than it would be with anyone else.

  He slid his other hand into the back of her shorts and panties and over the bare, smooth, firm curve of her ass.

  She kept stroking him, squeezing, then letting go slightly, then squeezing again as she went from tip to base.

  Noah slipped his hand lower, feeling the heat and dampness before he even got to her center.

  “Oh, yes,” she hissed.

  His middle finger moved lower, sliding through her wetness. He pressed into her, just slightly, and her hand stopped moving on his cock.

  He laughed softly. “You stop moving, I stop moving, B.”

  She quickly resumed the stroking and he moved up to her clit, circling and swirling over the sweet spot. A shiver went through her and she gripped him harder.