"Well, I can't complain about having to work with you."
"That's not the part that bothers me.” A few feet from her room, she could hear her cell phone ringing. She'd turned it on to check messages and hadn't remembered to turn it off. She caught it just before it shot over to voice mail. The number was unfamiliar.
"Hello?"
"Brianna, good. Hope I'm not interrupting class.” Darcy didn't bother waiting for assurances. “I want to have the first meeting tomorrow night, my house, six o'clock. You know where it is. See you then?"
Tomorrow was their usual movie night. “I—"
"Great. Let Ken know, will you? I know you two are close.” She hung up.
Brianna hit the “end” button, turned off the phone, and lifted her arm to throw it into her bag. But breaking the phone wouldn't do any good, so she relaxed and dropped it into the outer pocket.
"Darcy's calling our first meeting tomorrow night."
Cable seemed to read her mind. “It's all right, we can go to the movie the next night.” He rubbed her arm and she wished he could hold her. But they were both very careful at school and anywhere they could run into parents or school administration.
"Sure, we can.” She checked the clock. “I have to call Ken before the kids get back. You want to drive over together?"
"Of course.” He started to walk out to his own room. “I'll get you at what, quarter of?"
Brie nodded, already on the phone with Ken, already regretting not waiting until the end of the day. She could hear her kids coming down the hall, and Ken seemed to want to chat about his ideas.
"Ken, that's what the meeting's for. I have to teach now."
"Sure, right, no problem. And thanks for that great job you did on the Moore account. They were thrilled.” His voice was warmer than usual, and she cringed.
"Okay, good. Bye, Ken."
"See you tomorrow night, Brie."
She hung up and briefly dropped her head onto her arms with a groan. Ken had never called her Brie before.
By the time she climbed into Cable's truck the next night, she was in a sour mood. Cable, being a guy, didn't notice. And she didn't think he'd appreciate her regaling him with Kira's story, or the McDonald's issue. Brianna didn't really care about the McDonald's, or what the rest of the town thought about it, but she could never forgive Darcy for trying to trap Jake into marriage and didn't think she could work with her on this committee.
So why didn't she just drop off it? She was an adult. She didn't have to do things she didn't want to do.
Except she'd already agreed, and it was her own fault she didn't know who'd she be working with before she said yes. She shouldn't have been daydreaming at the meeting, and now she'd have to pay the price.
Besides, then she'd be leaving Cable to Darcy's devices. That wouldn't be fair to him. Maybe Ken and Darcy would hook up, she mused. That would solve a lot of problems at once.
"Which way?” Cable asked at the end of their street. She directed him to Darcy's old condo, which she'd apparently moved back into. She must have been renting it while she was gone. It only took them a few minutes to get there, and Brianna climbed the steps to the front door with a sense of dread in the pit of her stomach.
"Brianna!” When Darcy opened the door she welcomed Brie like a long-lost friend, hugging her and making her gag on the woman's perfume. Or disgust, it didn't really matter which. She choked it back and introduced Cable.
"Ken here yet?” she asked, moving into the elaborately decorated living room. Darcy had pads of paper and pencils stacked on a coffee table next to catalogs and a few scattered sheets that looked like someone had been sketching the ballroom.
"Not yet.” Darcy kept her wide smile as she accepted their coats and offered them drinks. Cable asked for a beer, but Brianna declined, knowing she was punishing herself for no good reason. The heat was on the high side in here, the air dry, but she couldn't bring herself to accept anything from the woman she hated.
It didn't help that Darcy was looking so good. Brianna could see her through the kitchen door from where she sat in a chair set near the coffee table. She wore ivory wool slacks and a peach-and-ivory V-necked sweater that hugged her ample breasts but didn't make her look trashy. Her blond hair was now nearly platinum—maybe to hide gray?—and hung in waves to her shoulder blades. She also wore heels and swayed gracefully as she walked.
Brianna had on her favorite jeans and a Brook Hollow Mustangs sweatshirt. She hadn't even bothered freshening her makeup, and now, as she watched Darcy hand Cable his beer and sit next to him on the sofa, she wondered what the hell she'd been thinking. The woman was clearly out for him, and while Brianna had no false modesty about her own appeal, she wasn't in Darcy's league.
The doorbell rang, and Brianna considered moving to sit next to Cable, but the thought of being joined by either Darcy or Ken was unbearable.
"Ken, of course you know Brianna.” Darcy took his coat and smoothed it over her arm. “Have you met Cable yet?"
Ken's head bobbed. “Yes, yes, I met Cable in the coffee shop, and saw him at the meeting. Nice to see you.” He turned to Brianna, and his eyes lit up. “Brie. You're looking lovely this evening.
"Thank you, Ken,” she managed to say after suppressing a snort. “You look good, too,” she added, surprised that it was true. Instead of his usual geeky clothes he was wearing charcoal gray dress pants and a royal blue pullover. The color seemed to eliminate his usual pallor, and she noticed for the first time that his eyes were blue. Then she realized it was so easy to see that because he wasn't wearing his glasses. She bit back the question, not wanting to seem interested, but assumed he'd gotten contacts. Man, she hoped he hadn't gotten them for her.
"Okay, then.” After neglecting to offer Ken anything to drink, Darcy motioned to a seat, then folded herself gracefully onto the floor at the coffee table across from Cable. Of course, that placed her cleavage prominently in Cable's vision, Brianna thought, and heaved a mental sigh.
"I was working on some preliminary ideas.” Darcy lifted the sketches and handed them to Cable, then pulled a pad full of writing toward herself. “I'd like to do something a little classier than in past years."
Since Darcy had been gone for at least two years, Jake had been in charge of the only ball she'd been to. Was she going to jab at him every time they met over the next couple of months?
Still talking about lighting and fabric, Darcy intercepted the sketches Cable started to hand to Brie and set them on the table. She did it smoothly, like she didn't realize what his intent was, but it made Brie grit her teeth.
The evening went on like that. Darcy solicited suggestions, then focused completely on Cable and didn't let Brie or Ken so much as open their mouths. Ken didn't seem to mind; he pretended, but spent most of his time looking at Brianna. Cable, too, was totally clueless.
Two interminable hours later, Darcy jotted a list of instructions for each of them, handed them out, and went to retrieve the coats.
"So, Brie, can you, um, come by my office tomorrow and get a couple new accounts to do?” Ken sidled closer to her, his demeanor unchanged by his new appearance.
Brianna sighed. “Sure, Ken.” She wanted to refuse, but year-end was approaching and she didn't feel right leaving him in the lurch with tax season so close.
"He likes you,” Cable observed once they were in his truck.
Now Brianna did snort. “Suddenly and without reason, too. But that just makes this committee perfect. Ken can make moo eyes at me while Darcy plies her wares on you."
"Huh?"
"Oh, please. Don't tell me you're oblivious to her moves."
Cable shook his head. “I don't know what you're talking about.” But he couldn't prevent a little smile, and Brie tried not to pout.
"I did notice she made a lot of digs at your family. What's up with that?"
Grateful for the opening, Brianna launched into the story. “Well, Jake always loved Kira, but when he thought he had cancer he told h
er so, and she didn't love him, so he tried to move on and started dating Darcy. Then Kira realized she did love him after all, and so Jake thought he'd break up with Darcy, and she pretended to be pregnant so he'd have to marry her, which he resisted but probably would have done just because he's such a great guy. When he figured out what she was doing and called her on it, she ran against him in the mayoral race and forced him to drop out because Kira was pregnant, and had gotten pregnant when Jake was trying to dump Darcy, and it was a big mess but she was just rotten."
"Wow.” He laughed. “Take a breath. So how'd Jake get elected if he dropped out?"
She grinned. “He's just that good. And Darcy's an outsider. She wanted to build a McDonald's, which threatened a couple of restaurants here in town. Apparently, she decided to come back and do it anyway. I don't know why."
Cable pulled into his driveway. “So now you think she's after me to spite you?"
"No way.” Brianna got out and walked with him to his front door. “I think spiting me is icing on the beefcake."
They'd barely cleared the doorway when Cable slammed the door behind them and looped his arms around Brianna. “It doesn't matter what she's trying to do. I'm yours, Brie. She doesn't appeal to me."
She narrowed her eyes at him. “How can she not appeal to you?"
He raised one eyebrow. “I've seen you in workout clothes."
It wasn't the right thing to say. She leaned back, but he didn't release her. “Seriously, Cable. If you weren't dating me, would you date her? And I want an honest answer, or I won't trust you."
He shook his head. “I don't know.” He thought a minute. “Okay, yeah, sure, if you didn't exist, she might turn me on. There's nothing wrong with the package."
She'd asked for honesty, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt. “I don't know, maybe we should cool it. I've unintentionally been in triangles before, and they never work out well. It's not worth anyone's pain, even Darcy's.” She wasn't sure she really cared about Darcy's pain, but the rest was the truth. Last summer's little war hadn't just been about golden treasure. It was unlikely this triangle—quadrangle, if they included Ken—would end in harpoonings and sinking boats, but even simple hurt feelings were bad enough.
Cable looked down at her with no expression she could read, but something roiling in his eyes. She squirmed away.
"Maybe I should go home."
"No way.” He unzipped his leather coat and hung it over the newel post, then reached for hers. “We're going to talk about this."
Brianna let him remove her coat and followed him into his living room because she didn't want to go home, but the more she thought about it, the more important it seemed that she end things now, before they got deeper, before anything got out of hand.
When she would have sat on the rolling chair in front of his desk, he grabbed her hand and pulled her to the giant cushy sofa in front of the fireplace, the only other place to sit in the room.
"Do you really want to stop seeing me?” he asked.
Brianna frowned. He had to phrase it that way. “I think it would be better to stop seeing you."
"That's not what I asked."
"I know.” She took a deep breath and let her insecurity come out. “I don't want to stop seeing you, but ... I don't get the feeling you want me very much, and if you don't, you might as well, I don't know, head for greener pastures."
He was silent for a minute. She kept her gaze on the patterns her fingers traced in the soft nap of the sofa. Finally, when he still didn't speak, she glanced up at him through her lashes. The intense look was back, with the roiling emotions even more visible in his eyes, but now he showed more on his face, too. Indecision, concern, and a tension that could only be lust. Her pulse quickened and her body seemed to soften all over.
"Cable?"
"I haven't pressed you because I felt you had reservations, and I didn't think you'd really want it to get physical when there was something holding you back emotionally."
Perturbed, she pushed to her feet and paced a little. “Men are not supposed to think that way, Cable Addison.” She stopped in front of him, feeling better now that she had the height advantage. Vulnerability was much more manageable from here. “Yeah, I was holding back. You've got a temporary job and an adventurous history and as soon as I fall for you, you'll be moving on."
"I thought you had your own thirst for adventure."
"Had. I told you, I got over that.” Something of the haunting she felt in her heart must have passed over her face, because he looked speculative, then seemed to dismiss it.
"Come here.” He held out his hand, and she hesitantly took it and let him pull her back down, this time right next to him, hip to hip, upper bodies half-turned so his face was right over hers. “Let me show you what's going on with me,” he murmured, lowering his head. The kiss was as good as all the ones that had gone before it, but this time he held her differently. Whereas before he'd been tender and gentle, even reverent, this time his hands on her back and arm were almost demanding.
And Brie responded. Holy hell, did she respond. Desire had always grown slowly under his kisses, unfurling under careful sunlight and sprinkles of rain. This kiss was a match tossed into tinder. Her breasts ached and she went wet and achy right away. His right hand started to move toward her breast and she moaned, but his fingers dug into her arm instead. He closed the kiss and pulled away, his breathing harsh, his eyes closed. His left hand tightened on the nape of her neck. Finally, his whole body tightened, then released with a short shudder.
"Does that give you an idea of how I feel?” he asked, opening his eyes but not putting any more distance between them.
"It tells me you're horny,” she said, her voice coming out weaker than she'd like. “And, um, that's a good thing, by the way."
"I'm not going anywhere, Brie.” He let go of her left arm and stroked her cheek. “The past is definitely the past. If my teaching job ends here, I'll find another one nearby. We're not on the prairie.” He swallowed. “Can you believe that?"
She could for now, if it meant they'd take this upstairs. No one could predict the future, and she'd gotten as much assurance as she could ask for.
"Yes, Cable.” She tilted her head and ran her tongue over his lips. “Thank you. Can we stop talking now?"
Pulling her hard against his chest, he had one thing to say before his mouth found hers again.
"Hoo-yah."
CHAPTER 5
Cable kissed Brie's shoulder as he slid from the bed, smiling at her sprawl. She lay on her stomach, arms over her head, one knee bent, in a position of complete exhaustion.
All his doing, of course. Brianna had been revved by the time they got to the bedroom, pushing for hard and fast, but Cable knew when slow and unrelenting was better. She'd come twice, screaming, and then taken him in for a third orgasm she called more psychological than physical. And then she'd fallen asleep.
He walked naked down the hall to the bathroom, flicking on the shower. He was wide awake, and hoped the warm water would relax him enough to join Brianna in sleep. Before he could get in, he heard his cell phone ring. Dashing back to the bedroom, he grabbed his jeans from the floor and pulled the door closed behind him before digging the phone out of his pocket. The glowing readout gave the time as 0113. The phone number was his sister's, and his heart caught for a second.
"Hello.” He moved away from the bedroom, hoping Brie hadn't been awakened. “Alena?"
"I'm sorry to call so late,” she said, her voice calm and steady. That didn't mean anything, though. She was older than him and had endured his escapades with panache when they were growing up. And her husband was a cop.
"I wasn't in bed. What's up?"
"Everyone's okay. Nothing's happened. Well, nothing bad. But I couldn't wait until morning to check on you."
He eased into the bathroom and shut off the water, perching on the closed toilet lid. “Check on me why? Everything's fine here.” He turned toward the wall and kept his voice
low, just in case Brianna came out of the bedroom.
There was a beat of silence. “They didn't tell you?"
"Apparently not."
"It's Sid Carothers."
Cable didn't need her to say more than that. “He's out."
"Yeah, he came up for parole, I guess. Frank told me he was asking around your old haunts, looking for you. And you know how vocal he was when he went to jail, about what he'd do to you when he got out. Frank just got home, or I would have called sooner."
Her husband Frank was a beat cop, one of the best, and a rare one who didn't have bigger aspirations. He'd been like a big brother to Cable when he and Alena first hooked up in high school. He'd inspired Cable to go through the academy, and had also been a big part of the fiasco that made him quit the force early on and go into the service, instead.
The fiasco that had at least put Sid Carothers in jail.
"So, what, you thought I'd be crying in my cereal or something?” he teased his sister.
"Yeah, right, and shaking all the way to school. But you don't have to cry to be bothered by something."
He shrugged. “What's to be bothered about? No one who knows where I am would tell him. And I think I can handle a piss-ant like Sid Carothers."
He listened to Alena agree through a yawn, and reached over his shoulder to scratch an itch on his back. He couldn't quite reach it, and an instant later froze as fingernails scraped over his bare back.
"I gotta go, Laney. I'll call you later this week, okay? Or call me if you hear anything I should know."
"Okay, hon. Love you."
"Love you, too."
He snapped the phone closed and pretended to relax under Brianna's ministrations. Her nails eased the itch that crawled all over his back like it was trying to avoid her, but he didn't know how much she'd heard and how much more he'd reveal if he talked first.
"Your sister?” Brie finally asked when he didn't volunteer anything.
"Yeah, down in Florida."
"It's late,” she observed, but mildly. He wasn't looking at her face so he couldn't tell if the mildness was feigned.
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