by Carr, Mari
“Laura wins!” Georgie shouted.
Laura grinned.
“Again,” Nick said, reaching for two more beers. “This time we’ll put a wager on it to make it more interesting.”
The alcohol gave her courage…and confidence. “Fine. What’s the bet?”
“If I win, you go up on the lifeguard stand and flash us.”
Suddenly, the idea of trying that didn’t sound so bad to Laura. Hell, it might even be fun. “Okay. If I win, you go up on the stand and flash…” She paused as their friends laughed. “Your ass.”
Nick laughed. Then shook on it.
“Let the games begin.” Laura lifted the can to her lips…
Laura squinted against the bright sunlight shining across her bed, groaning. Reaching up, she covered her eyes, trying to rub away the splitting headache. Somewhere along the line, someone had driven an ax through her skull. Then, she recalled how many beers she’d drunk. Crap. Self-induced agony. She had no one to blame but herself.
“Good morning, hotshot.”
“There’s nothing good about this morning.” She licked her lips, wondering where all the moisture in her mouth had gone. Each of her teeth felt like they were covered in tiny fuzzy socks.
Bryan chuckled. “Yeah. I was afraid of that.”
“What the hell happened?”
Bryan sat up, reaching for a bottle of Advil and some water. “I’d say you made a couple of questionable decisions around six o’clock.”
His tone was pure humor. If Laura’s head didn’t feel like it was on the verge of exploding, she would have laughed. Questionable was an understatement. “I was on the lifeguard stand, wasn’t I?”
“Laura. I think it’s safe to say I’ve lived a very rich and fulfilling life. I’ve seen my daughter born, the Grand Canyon, the Northern Lights and Springsteen in concert. But seeing you up on that stand, flashing those sexy tits of yours probably ranks up there as one of my top five Most Beautiful Sights ever.”
“I may kill myself. After I throw up.”
“You don’t remember?”
She started to shake her head, but the motion sent a spike of pain behind her eyes. Then she realized she recalled more than she wanted to. “Yeah. Bits of it. Maybe. Shit. Did we even go into the concert?”
Bryan laughed. “Oh hell yeah. It was great. You danced and sang the whole time. ‘Fins’. ‘Volcano’. You and Nick really nailed a duet of ‘It’s Five O’clock Somewhere’.”
“So in other words, I made a total ass of myself?”
Bryan shook his head. “No. Not at all. You were having fun, Laura. Personally, you made the night for me. You were funny, uninhibited, silly. I don’t think I realized how many restraints you put on yourself ordinarily. It was nice to see you cut loose without worrying what people thought.”
Was that what she normally did?
Of course, it was. Wasn’t that the whole purpose of this year? To get out and break free from her routine. To experience all the things she’d missed.
She’d told her friends at New Year’s she wanted to rediscover the girl she used to be, but that was the wrong goal.
She didn’t need to find her younger self. That version of her had been innocent, naïve, sort of stupid and easily led by others. There was no way she wanted to go back to that.
She also didn’t want to be the Laura she’d been before the divorce. Defined by a husband who wanted a wife who would cook, clean, raise the kids and stay quiet. In the end, all that got her was an empty nest with a distant, cold husband.
So Laura had spent the first year following her divorce walking on eggshells. She never colored outside the lines, never felt like she deserved to feel happiness. She’d lived on copious amounts of guilt, feeling selfish for breaking her family apart simply because she longed for something more, something better.
No, what she really needed to do was reinvent herself. Become the kind of woman she could look straight in the eye each morning in the mirror and respect.
She rubbed her forehead wearily. She wasn’t sure she’d found that woman yet. At least not this morning. Opening her eyes to look at anything hurt too much.
“You’re overthinking this,” Bryan whispered, running his fingers through her hair, then stroking the creases in her brow that became far too noticeable when she was worried.
She smiled at him. “You’re right. I am. I live my life in a constant state of analysis. It’s exhausting.”
“Want to disappear for a little while?”
Her body responded before she could. Whatever spell Bryan had put on her physically, she hoped to hell it never broke. “What did you have in mind?”
“How bad does your head hurt?”
She rubbed her forehead and closed her eyes. “On a scale of one to ten, it’s probably a five, maybe a six.”
“Then I guess I’ll have to be creative, make sure you don’t have to move around very much.”
Bryan drew the covers down. Laura wasn’t surprised to find herself naked. She vaguely recalled walking upstairs last night with Bryan, giggling as they undressed. Then…she’d immediately passed out.
Bryan opened her legs, kneeling between them. He gazed at her body before looking into her eyes again. “Let’s play a game.”
“Okay,” she answered without hesitation.
“We’re back in high school. My dad didn’t get transferred. We stopped being blind and stupid and realized we were meant for each other.”
Life before Mason. She liked this game already.
“I invited you to be my date for the senior prom.”
She recalled her real prom. She and Mason had gotten into a fight over something stupid and she’d spent the first two hours of the evening in the bathroom crying. She couldn’t remember what they’d fought over, but she suspected the argument had been based on something small—made larger by teen drama and angst. They’d made up just prior to midnight and danced the last slow dance together. At the time, Laura recalled thinking it had been the most romantic dance of her life. Now when she looked back at that prom, all she saw was the crying. It was fairly prophetic in terms of how her life would turn out.
Oh, to go back and do it all differently.
Then she pictured Bryan in a tuxedo. He was giving her that chance. “I would have loved to go to prom with you.”
“After the prom, I surprised you with this hotel room.”
Laura glanced around her bedroom and grinned. “Scandalous. What if our parents find out I didn’t spend the night at Rachel’s house?”
Bryan ran his hand along her thigh. “It’s a chance I’m willing to take.”
“I’ve never had sex before. I’m scared.”
He smiled, clearly pleased with her willingness to play along. “I won’t hurt you.”
She lifted her arms and Bryan leaned forward, accepting her embrace. She kissed him softly on the cheek. “I know you won’t.”
Bryan cupped her face and kissed her, the touch surprisingly innocent, almost chaste compared to all the kisses that came before. “I’ve always wanted to kiss you, Laura. Ever since I saw you in Ms. Rodgers’s homeroom in seventh grade.”
She laughed quietly. “You were wearing a New York Yankees baseball cap. I swore I could never be friends with a Yankees fan.”
Bryan grinned. “I won you over despite that.”
He had won her over—then and now—with his quick wit, kind words and his genuine interest in her. He’d always engaged her in conversation, always wanted to know what she thought and felt about things. They’d spent four years in constant conversation and that deep desire to simply talk and listen hadn’t waned with the passage of time. Bryan still listened to her. It was a precious gift.
“Lost you again, didn’t I?”
She drew her finger along his handsome face. “I’m having trouble focusing this morning. I’m sorry. My head is a million miles away.”
“Yeah. But your body is right here.” Bryan’s erection lay thick and hard agai
nst her opening. “Do you want to talk instead?”
“No.”
“Do you want to forget the game, the past?”
She nodded. “I want to forget everything.”
He studied her face for a long, quiet moment, his eyes serious, concerned. “Okay.”
And just like that Bryan swept her away, erasing her regrets, her sadness, even her damn headache. He lifted her legs and pressed inside her.
She locked her ankles at the small of his back, tilting her hips to encourage him to go deeper. His pace was steady and slow, a far cry from the usual rough sex they shared and enjoyed. This wasn’t like the other heated interludes.
Bryan was making love to her.
The second that thought hit, she was bombarded with conflicting emotions—happiness and terror battling for supremacy.
Her face must have given away some of her anxiety. Bryan stilled. “Laura?”
“I’m scared.”
He kissed her gently. “I know. I am too.”
Leave it to Bryan to know exactly what she was thinking and how to make things better. Somehow he always seemed to know the best answer, the one that would set her mind at ease. There was very little she could hide from him, but that realization wasn’t as scary as it should be.
He understood her.
He got her.
It was comforting. Nice. So did she really want to keep fighting this?
No. She didn’t.
Laura bent forward and gave him a long, sexy kiss. “Thank you for taking care of me last night.”
“I like taking care of you.” Bryan pressed a kiss to her forehead.
She lifted her arms and pulled him closer, hugging him. For six months, he’d stood beside her as she struggled to rebuild her life, herself. He’d dealt with her tears, her fears, her drunken escapades and her eccentricities.
Bryan had taken everything she’d thrown at him in his stride and his presence made her stronger. Gave her the courage to take chances, to let her hair down, to try different things.
She owed him for so many things, but the main one was for helping her to believe in herself again.
She pushed against his shoulder, forcing him to his back as she came over him.
A spark of humor flashed in his eyes. “Last night before you passed out, you promised to fuck my brains out.”
Laura winced. “Wow. How classy of me.”
He gripped her hips. “There’s not a man in the world who would complain about a promise like that.”
“Do you mind giving me a rain check on that?” She bent forward and kissed him softly. “I sort of have something else in mind right now.”
He stroked her cheek, his eyes darkening with lust and something else she was afraid to name. She recognized it, but the word was simply too tough to say. Maybe in time…
“I’ll take whatever you want to give me, Laura.” He spread his hands out as if to say, “I’m yours.”
It was an offer she simply couldn’t refuse. She lifted her hips, coming back down on his cock so slowly they both groaned. Her commanding lover was true to his word. He let her direct their lovemaking, allowing her to set the pace.
Their bodies came together, melding as one with perfect symmetry. This man was made for her. And she for him.
Soon she took him faster, her orgasm coming to claim her. Bryan stroked her clit gently, the touch sending her over the edge. Her pussy clenched him tightly and Bryan gave way to his own climax. They rode out the glorious storm together, then she lay down on top of him, his chest her pillow.
And they fell back to sleep.
Chapter Seven
Laura Sanders
The TV shows I grew up on lied to me. I mean look how easy it was for The Brady Bunch to merge two families into one. How simple it was for three guys to raise daughters in Full House. Lately my life feels more like True Blood and I’m that crazy blonde woman who works at the vampire bar. You know…the one who’s had the life sucked out of her and been brainwashed so many times she doesn’t know which end is up anymore. Yep. I’m her.
Laura looked around the table and tried to calm the butterflies in her stomach. Bryan and Trina had joined her and her kids at a local restaurant for dinner. It was the first time Bryan had met Kevin or seen Katie since that uncomfortable night at the hospital.
Kevin had come to visit for the weekend. Though he only lived a few hours away, his new job—and Laura suspected a new girlfriend—kept him busy at home. She missed him terribly, so she’d been excited about spending time with him.
She’d recently mentioned Bryan and some of the things they’d been doing together over the past few months to her son and Kevin had insisted on “meeting Mom’s new boyfriend”.
Unlike Katie, Kevin had taken the news that Laura was leaving his dad in stride. Her son was the king of easygoing, and she’d never been more grateful for his understanding than she had been the last couple of years.
Whenever they spoke about the divorce and why she’d made the choices she had, Kevin’s standard answer had always been, “You gotta do whatever will make you happy, Mom. Life’s too short to be miserable.” Laura had held onto those words like a life preserver through the roughest times of the separation, then the divorce.
“So let me get this straight,” Kevin said, laughing. “You were doing shotguns at a Buffett concert? Awesome, Mom.”
Trina and Bryan laughed, but Laura didn’t miss the distinct look of disapproval Katie gave her. She was glad Bryan hadn’t mentioned her trip to the top of the lifeguard stand.
Laura shrugged. “Yeah, well, I didn’t feel so awesome the next morning. I don’t foresee me attempting that game again anytime soon.”
Kevin reached for a breadstick. “I love Buffett. I’m jealous you went. If your friend gets tickets again, you have to snag one for me. How was the concert?”
Laura was still a bit hazy on the actual concert part of that evening.
Bryan chuckled, then saved her. “It was great. The place was packed and he covered all the biggies. Highlight of the night for me was when he sang ‘Tin Cup Chalice’.”
Kevin’s eyes widened. “Get out. That’s my favorite of his too. Most people don’t even know that song.”
Laura tried to restrain her grin, then gave into it. From the impressed look on her son’s face, it appeared he’d just shared a serious bonding moment with Bryan. Thank God. She really wanted her kids to like Bryan. Though they still hadn’t attached a label to their relationship, they were spending more and more time together. Bryan had clothes in her dresser, a toothbrush in her bathroom and his favorite brand of beer in her fridge.
He was filling a void Laura hadn’t realized was there until he reappeared in her life.
Trina leaned closer to the table. “By the way, Laura, I love your hair. Did you do something different to it?”
Laura instinctively raised her hand to her hair. “Yeah. Michael, my hairdresser, talked me into side bangs and more highlights for summer. You don’t think it’s too much?”
Trina shook her head, smiling. “Not at all. Very hip.”
Katie didn’t seem to agree. “I didn’t know you wanted to be a blonde.”
Laura laughed uneasily. “Crap. Is it that light? I wasn’t really going for blonde as much as I was trying to cover the gray.”
Katie didn’t reply and Laura caught Kevin giving his sister a dirty look. Terrific. Her twins had always been incredibly close, the best of friends. The last thing Laura wanted to do was cause a rift between her kids.
Kevin reached over and good-naturedly messed it up. “It doesn’t look that blonde. I think it’s a great style for you. Makes you look younger.”
Katie’s attention drifted to her plate and she didn’t make any other attempts to join the conversation. Trina and Kevin got into a heated discussion over who was the greatest guitar player of all-time: Clapton or Hendrix. Bryan put in a plug for Van Halen, while Laura mentioned Santana, but they were both instantly shot down. Laura laughe
d at Kevin and Trina’s hilarious argument, delighted when Bryan looked at her and winked.
“Do you know if your company is hiring?” Kevin asked Bryan.
Bryan grinned. “You already thinking about switching careers?”
Kevin shook his head and chuckled. “No. A friend of mine graduated with a degree in engineering, but he’s having a hell of a time finding a job.”
Bryan reached into his back pocket, pulled out his wallet and handed Kevin one of his business cards. “Have your friend give me a call early next week. I’ll check with my boss and see if there are any open positions. Do you think your friend would be willing to relocate if there’s nothing available locally?”
Kevin nodded, taking the card. “He’d probably move to Timbuktu at this point. He’s really frustrated. Thanks a lot, Bryan. I appreciate it.”
“No problem.”
“So you two really never dated in high school?” Katie asked. It was the first time she’d joined the conversation since Trina had mentioned Laura’s hair.
Laura and Bryan both shook their heads.
Bryan glanced at Laura and smiled. “No. Seems crazy to me now that I never asked her out, but back then, she was just my best friend. I guess somewhere in my screwed-up teenage mind, I didn’t want to mess that up.”
Laura pointed her fork at him. “Or it could be you couldn’t see me since you spent all your time worshipping Rachelle Matthews from afar.”
Bryan laughed. “Oh my God. There’s a name I haven’t heard in years. Damn. Rachelle.” Bryan wolf-whistled, the gleam in his eyes proving he was enjoying jerking Laura’s chain. “She was a looker. Wonder if I could find her on Facebook.”
Laura gave him a dirty look. “I don’t know, but you’re certainly free to look her up tomorrow since you and I won’t be hanging out anymore.”
Trina giggled as Bryan put his arm around Laura’s shoulders. “Rachelle couldn’t hold a candle to you then or now.”
Laura flushed when he bent closer and pressed a quick kiss on her cheek. While Trina and Kevin didn’t appear to mind the show of affection, Laura couldn’t ignore the sadness that crept into Katie’s eyes.