“Yep.”
“Do you think we might be able to go back and tour another room? I feel a real need to do some two person meditation.”
“I think we could look into that,” he said, a smile breaking over his face.
And felt a very firm squeeze on his cock. He blinked in surprise.
“Did you just grope me?”
“Must have been that ghost,” she said primly.
12
“IT’S GETTING DANGEROUS to hang around you people,” Delaney said.
Seven women sprawled around the living room of Cilla’s Brentwood home. Once, they’d lived there as college housemates. Now, they were back to celebrate with Kelly the night before her wedding to Kev Cooper.
“What did we do?” Trish asked as she came back from the table Cilla had set up as a mini bar with fresh orange juice and champagne on ice.
“Betrayed me,” Delaney explained. “We used to be hot chicks on the loose. Now, what, Cilla and Sabrina are married, Kelly’s got one foot down the aisle—and a bun in the oven, I might add. You’re living with Ty.” Here, she glowered at Trish. “Paige isn’t living with Zach but she might as well be. Hell, Thea, you and I are the only ones left. It’s a sad day.” Delaney shook her head and upended her glass to get the last swallow before rising to get more.
“I love mimosas,” Kelly said wistfully.
“That’s why we’re drinking them for you, sweetie,” Sabrina said, leaning over to give her a kiss. “It’s your bachelorette party. After this, we’ll dial up some porn on cable—”
“Oooh, goodie, the Home Shopping Network,” Cilla squealed.
“Uh, Cilla, honey, we’re talking about the real thing,” Delaney said. “You know, naked guys, cocks, blow jobs?”
“You choose your porn and I’ll choose mine,” Cilla retorted haughtily.
“Anyway we’re celebrating for you tonight and then you get a rain check,” Sabrina continued. “And after you give birth to little Elmo—”
“I thought we picked Chester,” Delaney called.
“No, it was Maynard,” Trish corrected, then frowned and blinked owlishly at her glass. “I’m almost sure it was Maynard.”
“You’re all evil,” Kelly told them, “trying to give my sweet cupcake a goofy name.”
“We’re only trying to be helpful,” Delaney told her, sitting on the couch next to Paige. “Besides, if you and Kev won’t decide, someone’s got to help out the wee nipper.”
“Kev says he picked the girl’s name. If it’s a boy, it’s up to me. It’s too much pressure,” she complained.
“Then go back for another ultrasound and get the sex,” Paige said briskly. “That way you can be prepared.”
Delaney rolled her eyes. “Says the woman who will know the sex of her child a week before conception. Hey, ow,” she said, rubbing her ribs and eying Paige reproachfully. Paige gave her a sunny smile.
“I think it’s kind of nice,” Trish put in. “I mean, what else out there in life can be truly a surprise?”
“That’s kind, Trish,” Kelly said. “At least someone cares about me.”
“Well, if you’re going to pout, here.” Sabrina handed her a glass.
Kelly took it and sniffed. “What’s this?”
Sabrina’s lips twitched. “A virgin mimosa.”
“That’s it, you’re all uninvited from the wedding.”
“Wait a minute, I flew in from Portland for this,” Thea protested.
“Come on, I guarantee we’ll take you out and get you drunk after you’ve given birth,” Delaney promised.
“Swear?” Kelly demanded.
“Cross my heart. So come on, everyone, a toast.”
“To what?”
Delaney thought a minute. “To the best thing that’s happened to each of us this summer. You first, then pick the next person,” she said to Kelly.
“My bodacious ta-tas,” she said, peering down proudly at her now generous cleavage. “This pregnancy thing is great.”
“I bet it’s Kev’s best thing of the summer, too,” Sabrina said with a grin.
“You know it. He’s talking about keeping me permanently pregnant.”
“Wait ’til he sees you in that wedding dress,” Sabrina said. “The man’s going to think he’s died and gone to heaven.”
“By the way, I pick you,” Kelly added.
“Easy peasy. News that PBS is funding Stef’s new doc, which means that I’ll get lucky all weekend.” She winked. “Trish, darlin’, on to you.”
“Ty wrapping The Weight of Water last week and coming home,” Trish said promptly.
“How long’s it been?”
“Three months, and I only went to visit him once.”
“I bet you had plenty of phone sex,” Delaney put in slyly.
“Hey guys, my cousin, remember?” Sabrina interrupted. “Too much information.”
Trish grinned. “I’ll have mercy on you. Cilla, you’re up.”
“Getting the word that we’re opening a Cilla D. boutique in Cancun next month,” she said. “As designer, I’m going to have to be there for the opening. And you’re such supportive friends I’m sure you’ll all fly out to be there with me, right?”
“You betcha,” Delaney said.
“Certainly,” Trish agreed.
“Paige is next, by the way.”
“Finishing for Alma, the interior designer’s Client From Hell,” Paige said and downed the rest of her drink. “Can I get a hallelujah on that?”
“Hallelujah,” everyone chorused.
“The woman almost drove me out of my mind, but I hung in there.”
“What doesn’t kill me makes me strong,” Thea quoted to her.
“Then I’m entering the Olympic weight lifting competition next summer. Unless I’m somewhere having my head examined,” she reflected. “She wouldn’t stop with me until I agreed to take on her vacation home.”
“Are you nuts?” Delaney demanded.
“I tripled her fee and pushed it out a year and she still wouldn’t take no for an answer. Oh, what have I done?” Paige asked, her voice vaguely panicky. “I think I need to start drinking. Oh, and Thea, front and center.”
“I got laid,” Thea said casually, picking a speck of dust off her sleeve.
Delaney spluttered into her glass. “You what?”
Six faces stared at Thea, round-eyed.
“What?” she asked, fighting a grin as she sipped at her mimosa.
“You got laid?” Cilla repeated, as though she’d misunderstood.
“I got laid,” Thea confirmed. “Not just once. Not even just once a day, as a matter of fact. A lot of times a day. ’S like riding a bike.” She could feel the goofy smile spread across her face.
“Oh, Thea!” Trish ran over and grabbed her in a hug. “That is so excellent. Good for you!”
“So, is it still going on?” Sabrina asked. “Who is he?”
“A guy up in Portland. Makes beer.”
“I like him already,” Delaney said.
Paige leaned forward. “Is this serious?”
“A guy up in Portland, remember?”
“So? You’ll stay wet.” Cilla giggled. “Besides, you could always live down here and just fly in for sex.”
“Right now, it’s just for fun,” Thea said. “I’ll let you know if I start signing up for frequent flyer programs.”
Delaney raised her glass. “This definitely deserves a toast. To Thea, to all of us.”
“For everything we’ve done, for everything we’re going to do,” Sabrina put in.
“And for the fact that we’ve stuck together through it all,” Trish added.
Glasses clinked and they drank.
“I swear, though, Thea, if you wind up with this guy long term, I’m never going out of town again,” Delaney vowed. “It’s dangerous.”
“It’s not a long-term thing,” Thea assured her.
“With this crowd’s track record? I’ll believe that one when I see it.”
; BRADY UNLOCKED THE DOOR to Robyn’s house and led a panting Darlene inside. “Okay, champ, you’ve done your workout. Now for the groceries. I’m guessing dinner is a happy time for you, huh?”
Darlene did the swivel thing with her head, pop eyes staring as he slid the lid off the ceramic crock that held the dog food. She bounced around his feet, as much as a dumpling on legs could, anyway. At least until he poured the kibble into the bowl. Instantly, she was all business.
“Yep, all you women are alike. Once I give you what you want, you’re done with me.”
It was about time to start getting serious about a new dog, he thought as he watched her tuck in. Another border collie. He liked them smart and athletic.
Smart and athletic.
And that quick, Thea was back on his mind. Not that she was ever far from it.
He wasn’t used to missing a woman so much. She’d left the day before. Twenty-four hours had passed. No time at all, for most of the relationships he’d had in his life. Forever for this one.
He hadn’t liked trying to fall asleep without the warm bundle of her against him. He hadn’t liked waking alone. Things came up at the theater that he wanted to talk to her about. Things came up that he wanted to show her. Mostly, he just missed her.
Even with Darlene bouncing around, the house seemed empty. He found himself drifting down the hallway to the room where Thea slept. On the back of the door hung her cream silk robe, with its splashy oriental looking flowers that always gave him vague fantasies of geishas and incense. He brushed his fingers against the fabric to feel its softness. He picked up a sleeve and rubbed it against his cheek.
It smelled like her.
The scent hit him with an almost physical punch and left an ache in its wake, an impossible bone-deep craving to have her there in his arms. If he closed his eyes, he could conjure her in his mind, as vividly as though she were there. Well, not quite. If she were there, she’d have been naked and on the bed. Or on the towel-draped kitchen chair beside it.
He opened his eyes and sighed. She wasn’t there and she wasn’t going to be for another day and a half.
On a scale of one to ten, it sucked wind.
He wandered over to the chair. He’d had friends before who’d gone off the deep end. How pathetic was it for a guy to be moping like a lovesick fool because his girlfriend wasn’t around? Brady had watched them and pitied them, poor slobs.
He’d never in a million years expected to be one of them.
He was Brady McMillan—he didn’t do serious. Only serious had happened to him when he wasn’t looking, a long, tall drink of serious named Thea Mitchell.
But they had this geographic problem, namely, that she lived in L.A. Soon, he didn’t know when, she wouldn’t be gone for a day and a half, she’d be gone for good. It wouldn’t be one night without her, or two, it would be a whole lot of nights.
His mind balked at the thought. It didn’t suck…it was intolerable. Literally. He wasn’t prepared to have her gone from his life, not when she was such a part of it, not when she made him complete, not when she made it all work.
Not when he was in love with her.
Good lord.
Three weeks, he thought frantically. There was no way a guy could fall in love in three weeks. There was no way he could have fallen in love in three weeks. They barely knew each other. He’d had lots of girlfriends where things had been dandy at the beginning and only went south later. Falling in love this fast made zero sense.
He had a nasty feeling it didn’t matter.
If the emotion had been a car, he’d have been walking around it, kicking the tires, opening up the hood. Checking out the driver’s seat. Good MPG, definitely fast acceleration.
Time to take it for a test drive, he thought, and really let himself think what it would be like to feel for her that way.
It felt real.
It felt familiar.
It felt right.
Brady had always been a believer that you dealt with what was. Denial was a waste of time. Life was to be experienced, good, bad and…disquieting. He was in love with Thea Mitchell and the smartest thing he could do was accept it.
It wasn’t going away.
The second smartest would be to keep this bombshell to himself for a bit. There was stuff going on with Thea that he didn’t understand. Smart, strong, gutsy, yeah, but complicated as hell. And until he understood what some of those complications were, he’d be better off slow-playing things. He had a feeling if he mentioned a word of how he felt to Thea, he’d find himself standing and coughing in the middle of the dust cloud she left behind when she bolted.
And there was too much chance of her bolting already.
First things first, get her to realize on her own that they were good together. Of course, then there was the geographic question, which had no easy answer. Maybe she’d move to Portland, he thought hopefully. She loved the city already, he could hear it in her voice. It wouldn’t take much to tip it for her.
And if she couldn’t see her way clear to doing that, then hell, he’d follow her to L.A.
He wouldn’t like it, he recalled Thea telling him.
He’d learn.
Suddenly, he was hit by an overwhelming urge to hear her voice. Not to tell her anything in particular, just to say hello. Lots of people did that, he reasoned, but she was at a wedding, with friends she hadn’t seen for a few weeks. She was probably busy hanging out with them.
Didn’t matter, he thought as he dialed. She could give him five minutes.
“Hello?”
“Your dog knows more people in this neighborhood than I know in the entire city, and I’ve lived here my whole life.”
Then he heard her laugh and his life fell into place. “Darlene’s a natural extrovert.”
“She also can’t find her way across the front yard without a map.”
“Pugs are notorious for lack of direction. That’s okay, she’s female—if she gets lost, she’ll ask. Unlike a guy.”
“Feisty.”
“I thought that was how you like ’em. So whatcha doing?”
“Walking Darlene, rock climbing. Missing you,” he added without thinking and cursed himself. He felt as if he was walking a tightrope in the dark, convinced he was going to make a misstep.
“I miss you, too.” Pleasure filled her voice.
“Are you having fun with your buds?”
“Oh yeah. Right now, we’re watching a threesome.”
“Excuse me?”
She giggled. “A threesome. Randy’s getting a blowjob and he’s going down on Angel. What?” she said to someone in the background. “Oh, Angela, sorry.”
“Wait a minute. Randy? Randy who?”
“Randy the guy who runs the talent agency, and let me tell you, these are some talented women he’s got here.”
And he could hear the moans. “Where are you?” Brady asked in a strained voice.
“At Cilla’s. We’re having Kelly’s bachelorette party. We’ve been drinking mimosas all afternoon and now we’re onto the porn segment of the festivities.”
He let out a silent breath. “A movie.”
“Yeah, what did you think?”
“Never mind.”
“It’s kind of sexy. Seeing her wrap herself all around him makes me wish you were here to wrap around.”
“I wish I was there to be wrapped around.”
She made a humming noise. “We should watch one together sometime. I bet you’d like it.”
“I bet I would.”
“Or maybe I can call you later when things are a little more private and we can…entertain ourselves.”
And as she purred the words, he felt his cock shift a little. “So ah, you and your friends, are you all bridesmaids or whatever?”
She laughed over the groans of one of the women wailing in ecstasy. Funny how the laugh turned him on ten times as much as the ostensibly sexual noises. Yep. Definitely getting hard.
“I don’t think you could fi
nd six women less likely to dress identically and parade in public if you tried. Kelly’s sister’s standing up with her; we’re providing the moral shupport.”
His lips twitched. “Moral shupport?”
“Moral support,” Thea said with dignity.
“Mimosas all afternoon, I think you said? You must have been trying to drown the pain and sorrow of being away from me.”
“Oh, that’s what I was doing. I wondered. I thought I was having fun with my girlfriends.”
“Come home, you can have fun with me,” he invited.
She laughed, a peal of delight. “You’re cute.”
“And you might be just a bit hammered, darlin’.”
“Not a chance. I think you’re cute when I’m shober.”
“Shober?”
“When I haven’t been drinkin’ mimosas all day, I mean,” she corrected.
“I’d start throwing some water in there if I were you or you’re going to be hurting tomorrow.”
“Oh, mimosas’re half orange juice. They’re healthy,” she informed him.
There was a ringing noise in the background. “What’s that?”
“Time for the pizza portion of the festivities,” she chirped. “I guess this means I have to go.”
“Have fun,” he told her and ached to say more.
She laughed at something someone said in the background. “Oops. See—” And with a click, the line went dead.
And he sat staring at the phone, without her.
SHE SHOULD HAVE LISTENED to the advice about the water, Thea thought the next day as she sat between Cilla and Paige at the wedding. Kelly had gotten them all up at seven. Six hours later, thanks to coffee, water and bagels, Thea was feeling vaguely human.
Kelly, meanwhile, had spent the day chirping about the virtues of being a teetotaler.
“Not only did we have your drinks for you, we’re having your hangover for you,” Sabrina had groaned. “The least you can do is not rub it in.”
The water and coffee had revived them all enough to help Kelly get ready. In honor of the occasion, Thea had even put on lipstick.
And now, the moment was here. Thea hardly recognized Kev up front, with his hair combed for once, his habitual shorts and jeans replaced by a casual suit.
“Did you think Kev even owned a suit?” Paige whispered.
Hot Moves Page 14