Unexpected Rush (Play-By-Play #11)

by Jaci Burton

  He liked food. All his brothers did. His mother made sure they could take care of themselves in the cooking department, at least as far as the basics. And now that Flynn was opening a restaurant, Barrett had learned a thing or two about upping his game beyond just eggs, burgers and tossing a steak on the grill.

  Like tonight’s dinner. When he’d been out in San Francisco visiting Flynn several months back, his brother had showed him how to fix the stuffed chicken breasts with grilled vegetables. Not hard, really. It had become one of his staple meals.

  As he loaded the finished chicken and vegetables onto plates to carry inside, he wondered why no guys had bothered to fix a meal for Harmony. Even bacon and eggs could be impressive if done the right way—and at the right time.

  Men were such douchebags sometimes. And the old ways of thinking that women were supposed to do all the cooking were long gone. His mother, a former career attorney, had made sure to teach all her sons that rule. She might have given up her career to stay at home with her kids, but that didn’t mean she did all the work around the family ranch.

  Everyone pitched in. Which didn’t mean the boys did the outside work while Mom and his little sister, Mia, did the cooking and cleaning inside the house, either. According to Mom, guys were more than capable of cooking a meal, doing the dishes, and scrubbing toilets. Just as women could operate the tractors outside.

  Barrett had grown up doing it all. He’d like to think he was pretty well-rounded.

  He carried the plates inside and laid them on the dining room table. Harmony had already set the table.

  “Perfect timing,” she said, coming into the dining room from the kitchen. “I just opened a bottle of wine.”

  “I’ll go wash my hands, then we can eat.”

  He dashed into the bathroom to wash up, then met her back in the dining room.

  “I have to admit, this all smells really good,” she said, as he pulled a chair out for her at the table.

  He took a seat next to her, anxious for her to take a bite of the chicken.

  Instead, she lifted her glass of wine and tipped it toward him. “Thank you for coming over to cook dinner for me.”

  He tipped his glass to hers. “You can thank me after you’ve tasted it.”

  Her lips curved. “Are you nervous?”

  “No. Confident.”

  “Good. I like my men confident.”

  Her men. Barrett was not one of her men. Never would be. But he was confident—he just needed her to eat the damn food so he could get the hell away from her sweet scent and the temptation to run his hands over her soft skin.

  She finally set her wineglass on the table and cut into the chicken. He waited while she took a bite and swallowed.

  Her eyes closed and she made a sound—a moaning sound. He resisted groaning in response.

  “This is excellent.”

  He slanted a smile at her and started eating.

  “Okay,” she said after she’d had several bites of the chicken and the grilled vegetables. “You can cook.”

  He took a couple swallows of wine. “Did you think I was lying?”

  “No. I don’t know. Maybe I did. I’m frankly surprised. My last . . . well, let’s not go there.”

  “Let’s do. Tell me about bathroom counter guy.”

  “Levon? He was . . . high maintenance.”

  “In what way?”

  “His clothes had to be impeccably pressed. I’m pretty sure the only things that ever went into the washing machine were his underwear, and even that is suspect. Everything else went to the dry cleaner’s. His house was spotless. He had cleaning people come in three times a week.”

  Barrett raised a brow. “A bit of a neat freak, huh?”

  She cut into another piece of chicken, then waved her fork at Barrett. “That’s an understatement. He yelled at me once because I forgot to take my shoes off at the front door. He didn’t want his precious mahogany floors scratched. And I was wearing tennis shoes at the time.”

  “What an asshole.”

  She laughed. “Yeah, kind of. At least not the kind of man I wanted in my life long-term. I like a neat and orderly house, but if I want to toss my purse on the dining room table, I’d like to know the man in my life isn’t going to have a nuclear meltdown over it.”

  “Definitely the wrong guy for you.”

  “I agree.”

  They finished dinner, carted their plates into the kitchen and loaded them into the dishwasher. Barrett picked up the bottle of wine from the dining room table and they settled into the living room.

  What he should be doing is making a fast exit. But he didn’t want to be rude by eating and running, so he’d stay a few minutes longer. Then he’d make a clean getaway, having fulfilled his obligation.

  She kicked off her sandals and pulled her legs up on the sofa, then picked up her glass. “You got the contracts?”

  “I did. Already signed them. They’re in my car. I meant to bring those inside with me.”

  “No hurry. But the sooner we get those executed, the sooner we can get started and finished. I know you’d like to move into your house.”

  He nodded. “The condo’s a little tight for me. I’m on the road a lot during the season, but off-season it gets claustrophobic.”

  “I’m sure it does, big guy like you in a condo.”

  “Yeah, it wasn’t exactly my best move. I should have leased a town house, kind of like what you have here. You have more space than I do.”

  “I wanted more room than a traditional condo. The town house affords me that. I would have preferred a house, but then there’s all that lawn maintenance.”

  His lips curved. “Not a fan of mowing?”

  “I don’t mind it, but my business has taken off, and I often have evening and weekend meetings. I’d like a bigger place with space for an office. Maybe sometime down the road I’ll opt for the house. Right now, letting the homeowner’s association deal with it works for me.”

  He studied her in her cute little dress and her perfectly manicured turquoise toenails and matching fingernails. She had tiny feet, too, her heels smooth as polished stone.

  “I can’t imagine you pushing a lawnmower.”

  She cocked a brow. “Is that right? Who do you think mows the lawn at Mama’s house in late summer when you and Drake are out of town at some road game?”

  “Don’t you have a lawn service?”

  She laughed. “Mama would never allow a lawn service. She thinks it’s a frivolous expense.”

  “That sounds like her.”

  “And with her bad back, she can’t handle the mower anymore. So I do it. Which is another reason I didn’t buy a house. I have to make the time to do the yard work at Mama’s. No way I could find the time to do that at her house and mine.”

  He made a mental note to mention that to Drake. If Drake could convince Mama Diane to move into a new house, he could wear her down on a lawn service, too.

  “You’re just a tough girl, aren’t you?”

  “It’s not that hard to mow the lawn, Barrett. Or run a weed whacker. Mama did it for years until her back issues. We Evans girls are made of strong stuff.”

  “And yet you look tiny and fragile.”

  She snorted out a laugh. “I also take kickboxing classes, so don’t mess with me.”

  “That sounds like another challenge.”

  “You might be all big and muscular, but we could go a few rounds. Who knows? I might be able to take you down.”

  An instant visual of Harmony—naked and sitting on top of him—hammered his brain.

  That would be one hell of a takedown. A tangle of limbs, her writhing on top of him, her sweet body undulating as she rode his dick . . .

  Goddammit. What was it about this woman—this particular woman—that stirred him up like no other woman had before? He’d never had a problem walking away from a woman. Some were the right woman, and some weren’t. And when they weren’t, he never looked back.

  So what
was he still doing here, and why hadn’t he left yet? He stared at the now empty bottle of wine on the table.

  This was the time. He’d done what he’d been asked to do. They’d shared a meal. Dishes were done. They’d had after-dinner wine and conversation. He could make a polite exit.

  “Oh, but speaking of things that maybe I can’t do, I was wondering if you’d help me with something while you’re here.”

  So much for his exit. “Sure.”

  “It’s upstairs in my bedroom. Follow me.”

  She slid off the sofa and he followed her upstairs, careful to stay right next to her so he wouldn’t be tempted by visuals of her legs or her butt.

  She walked into her bedroom, and he prepared himself for some kind of assault, like her pushing him against the wall and rubbing her body all over him.

  He was strong. He could withstand temptation. He’d just tell her no—politely but firmly, while reminding her about his friendship with Drake.

  “Okay, so here’s the deal,” she said, pulling him from his righteous fantasy. “I bought these shutters for the bedroom windows, and I thought I could save on installation costs by doing it myself. The problem is, it’s kind of a two-person job because these things are heavy. I was wondering if you’d be willing to give me a hand.”

  Okay, so no assault. Instead, a home improvement project. He hadn’t even been in the vicinity of guessing her motivations.

  “Oh. Sure, I can do that.”

  She grinned. “Awesome. Thanks.”

  She hadn’t stripped down or pushed him against the wall or rubbed her body on his. Instead, she led him into her spare bedroom, where two boxes sat on the bed.

  So maybe that seduction fantasy had been all in his head, not hers.

  “These are the shutters?” he asked, focusing instead on the task at hand.

  “Yes.”

  He picked up the boxes—she was right, they were heavy. He carted them one by one into her bedroom and laid them on the floor.

  In the meantime, she’d grabbed a cordless drill while he unpacked the boxes. Then she disappeared again, and he had no idea where she wanted these. He assumed the two windows on either side of the bed, since that’s where they’d seem to fit, but he didn’t want to make assumptions, so he started reading the instructions.

  When she came back upstairs with a ladder in her hands, he got up and took it from her.

  “Jesus, Harmony. I could have gotten that for you.”

  She lifted her gaze to his. “I don’t have the expectation that you’re the man and I can’t do anything for myself. I planned to install these shutters myself. It’s just the windows are higher than I expected, the shutters are heavy and I was a couple hands short.”

  “You know, I get that you’re all female empowered and all that shit, and I have no doubt you can move mountains on your own. But it’s still okay to ask for help if you need it.”

  She arched a brow. “I just did, jackass.”

  He wasn’t insulted. He liked when she got feisty and stood up for herself. It made him like her even more. He didn’t enjoy women who were doormats, who let a man walk all over them. Harmony obviously wasn’t that woman and he respected her for it.

  So he laughed and took the ladder from her. “Okay, let’s take down these curtains.”

  “They let too much light in,” she explained.

  He set up the ladder against the first window, climbed up and pulled the curtains off the rod, then used the drill to remove the screws. He shoved the screws in his pants pockets and dropped the drapes onto the floor.

  “And when I sleep, I want to sleep. Plus, the shutters are prettier.”

  When he just stared down at her, she quirked a smile. “Okay, I can see you don’t care at all about the reasons for the change in window treatments.”

  “Not so much.” He climbed down, kneeled on the floor and broke open the plastic package in the box. He took her hand, flipped it over so her palm was up, and dropped the screws in her hand. “Hold these and follow me.”

  He picked up the first shutter frame and positioned it against the window.

  “Screw.”

  She handed him a screw and he drilled it in. It went that way for a while, until he had the frame mounted, and then the shutter.

  “You make it look easy,” she said after he finished the first window.

  He smiled at her as he picked up the ladder and moved over to the second window. “I’m a lot bigger than you, so for me it is easy. I can see how this would have been unwieldy for you.”

  “I can handle most any project around the house. I’m handy with power tools. I hung the drapes myself.”

  “You did a good job.” He took the curtain down and mounted the shutter on the second window. When he was done, he folded the ladder and took a step back so she could inspect his work.

  “These shutters are beautiful, just as I envisioned. I don’t know what I was thinking putting drapes in here. It was a wrong decision. This is so much better.”

  “Glad it worked for you.”

  She closed the shutter louvers and darkened the room. “Perfect. I won’t have any trouble falling asleep now.”

  “And I won’t have to worry about you tossing and turning at night.”

  She laughed. “Yeah, I can imagine that’s going to occupy a large amount of mental space in your head.”

  He carried the ladder and the tools back downstairs and put them in their places in her neat and orderly garage. She actually had a toolbox out here with more than enough tools to handle any task.

  Good for her. He came back into the house.

  “So was that another decorating project to deal with you being upset?”

  She cocked her head to the side. “A . . . Oh. No. It was actually something I’ve wanted to do for a while now. I just needed two people to get it done. The painting, however, was definitely a redecorating project. I like to paint or redecorate and it helps me think and work through problems.”

  He kind of had an idea where this was going. “Problems like ex-boyfriends?”

  “Maybe something like that.”

  “Gotcha. So any other ‘honey dos’ you want done before I take off?”

  She leaned against the kitchen counter. “No. All the light bulbs are currently in working order. Though I can replace those myself.”

  He moved in closer to her. “I’m sure you can do most anything yourself.”

  She pushed off the counter and stepped toward him. “Yes, I can. Though some things are more fun done with someone else.”

  He knew exactly what she was talking about, and the look she gave him not only gave him dirty thoughts, but made his cock come to life.

  He took a step back. “Harmony.”

  She took a step forward, pressing her hands against his chest. “Barrett.”

  The last damn thing he wanted was her hands on him. It was also everything he’d thought about lately. Her hands on his chest. On his cock. Along with her mouth.

  Fuck.

  He grasped her wrists. “Not a good idea.”

  She lifted her gaze to his. “Why not?”

  “You know why not.”

  She raised a brow. “If you tell me right now that you’re thinking about my brother, I’m going to seriously question which side of the field you’re playing for.”

  He took her hand, slid it down his chest and laid it on his now-hard cock. “That has nothing to do with your brother, and everything to do with you. Which is a problem.”

  She let out a soft laugh, then rubbed his erection with the palm of her hand. “Yes, a pretty sizable problem from what I can tell.”

  He wanted her hands on him. He wanted to take this further. He wanted to kiss her pretty mouth and slide his tongue inside to taste her.

  He wanted a lot of things, but he’d learned a long time ago that he couldn’t have everything he wanted, and some temptations were better left alone.

  Harmony was one of those temptations. And he owed it to Drak
e to keep his hands off his sister. So he took a step back, regretting every inch he moved backward.

  Harmony cocked a brow. “You sure about that?”

  “Not really, but it’s a choice I’m going to have to make.”

  “Because of Drake.”

  He nodded.

  “Okay. I’m not going to throw myself at you, Barrett.” She walked him to her front door, then turned to face him. “But I think it’s the wrong decision. And when you’re lying in bed tonight with your cock aching and hard, think about that decision and what you could have had tonight. Because we’re two grown-ass adults and you should be able to make your own choices about who you see—and who you take to bed.”

  His cock was already hard. But this was complicated. “Good night, Harmony.”

  She opened the door for him. “Good night, Barrett.”

  He walked outside, blasted by the hot, humid air, which didn’t improve his frustrated, irritated mood at all.

  As he slid into his SUV and started the engine, he turned the AC to arctic, hoping it would cool down his desires on the drive back to his place.

  Unfortunately, the cold AC made him think of Harmony being in the car with him—naked—the air vents blowing on her nipples, arcing into tight points. She’d rub them, teasing him as he drove.

  Shit.

  By the time he pulled into the garage of his condo, his dick was rock hard, throbbing, and he needed some relief.

  Too bad he’d walked away from a very willing and receptive Harmony.

  He’d made the right choice, even if his dick didn’t think so at the moment.

  He threw his keys on the kitchen counter, grabbed a beer from the refrigerator and, leaving the lights off, walked into the living room. The drapes were drawn, so he stared through the French doors into the darkness.

  He wished Harmony was standing next to him. Her scent still lingered around him, so he took a deep breath and closed his eyes, imagining her moving in front of him to put her arms around him, pressing her breasts against him. Her hair would tickle his chin and he’d grab a handful of it, tilt her head back so he could take her mouth in a deep kiss.

  His cock strained against the zipper of his jeans. He set his beer down on the coffee table and returned to the back door. In the dark he had plenty of privacy, so he unzipped his pants, drew them and his briefs down over his hips and pulled out his cock.