And apparently, Kade had helped her through one of the nights. Guess he was good enough to share bodies, just not life’s trials.
Maybe she was right. He’d certainly let Shayla and her baby down in a big way.
Feelings of inadequacy and failure seized his body with a ferocity that crushed the air from his lungs. Breathing was becoming a chore. He released her and began to dress.
“Do you have to go?” She ran a hand down his back.
“Yeah, I have to be at the station in less than an hour.”
Not exactly true. He had two hours, but because he’d just told her that, he’d be there in less than one. It would bother him now if he didn’t. He zipped his jeans then sat on her bed. Keeping his word had never been a problem, until this last damn deployment. But hey, when he fucked up, he really fucked up.
Jamming his feet into his boots, he bit back a curse and pushed as much of those dire thoughts away as his oxygen deprived mind would allow, then stood.
“Kade, are you all right?” she asked, stepping in front of him to slowly button his shirt. “I’m sorry. It’s just, I’ve been through the waiting and it sucks. I refused to do that to you.”
His heart squeezed at her pinched expression. “Hey,” he stilled her hands and held them to his chest. “You don’t have to explain or apologize. I’m just glad you’re okay, and sorry you had to face that on your own. You should be celebrating.”
One of her hands slid inside his now buttoned shirt to lightly stroke his skin. “I was kind of hoping you’d help me with that…”
One hell of an invitation.
It was there in her spoken words, saucy gaze, tempting touch…incredible naked body pressing into him. And yet, those feelings of inadequacy still rolling inside him won out.
Holding her gaze, he brought her hands to his lips and kissed her fingers. “That’s quite an invitation, honey, but unfortunately, I have to go.” Needed to go. His head was beginning to pound with unrelenting force. He placed a kiss to her temple. “I’m glad you’re okay.”
Too bad he wasn’t.
The very fact he released the gorgeous, willing, naked woman and walked away from her invitation to a morning of hot sex proved he was a damn sight far from okay.
Four days later, Brandi was supervising the installation of tile in the McCall’s bathroom and couldn’t resist touching the smooth, beautiful glass. Since she was touching, it made sense to help install. She’d just set a square in place on the third row from the bottom of the shower when Jordan walked in.
“This is looking all kinds of fantastic, Brandi,” her friend said, standing back with folded fingers to her mouth as she stared, small smile tugging her lips. “I can’t wait to use this room.”
She laughed. I bet. Even she had visions of using the shower…with a certain sheriff. In fact, images and memories of the magnificent man had plagued her all week.
“But, right now, I came up here to fetch you. It’s time for a break.” The smiling woman gently pushed her toward the hall. “You’ve been working nonstop for days.”
She laughed and moved out of the way to allow one of the other workers to take over. “It’s my job,” she said, falling into step alongside her friend.
“And jobs have lunch breaks,” Jordan stated, leading them downstairs to the kitchen where Kerri was setting out dishes of chicken Caesar salads with dressing on the side.
Her stomach dutifully growled. “Yeah, okay. Lunch is a good idea.”
All three of them laughed as they sat. The unexpected break and lunch with friends was just what she’d needed. Jordan was right. She had been working a lot. Since the Masters’ party, business had picked up. She’d signed up two more projects, worked on two proposals this week and had another still yet to finish.
“Are you all right, Brandi? You look kind of tired,” Kerri said, pouring all the dressing from her packet onto her salad.
Lucky shit. “Yeah, just busy.” She drizzled half of her Caesar dressing and set the packet aside. Better to use up her daily allotted calories on food than condiments.
Jordan nodded. “Work picking up since mom’s party?”
“Yes, scheduling and keeping more than two jobs going at the same time is going to be a problem.”
“Can you afford to hire some help?” Kerri asked.
Brandi stilled, forkful of salad poised mid air. “I...I don’t know.” She chewed on a cucumber, and thought. A helper. Maybe. Then she could schedule more than two jobs, and have others lined up when one finished.
“Seems to me you could benefit greatly by hiring an organized individual with a good eye for design,” her client suggested.
“Oh, absolutely. Do you have one hidden away,” she joked, stabbing a tomato.
Jordan glanced up and pointed at her with her fork. “As a matter of fact I do. Well, my sister and I do. And you’ve met her.”
She set her fork down and stared at the girls. “I have?”
“Yes, Shayla, the woman renting the apartment above our restaurant.”
Oh, great, the thin, gorgeous redhead.
“You’re right,” Kerri said, eyes-widening with approval. “She’s been helping us out. Her attention to detail is great.”
Jordan nodded. “Our storage room is so organized now, we have all this extra room we can hold meetings upstairs if we wanted.”
“And she used the Dewey decimal system on my recipes. It’s amazing,” Kerri gushed.
Jordan finished the last of her salad and sat back. “You should drop by the restaurant and talk with her. Shayla’s a hard worker and smart. And I think she could use the job. She has a darling one-year-old daughter, and her younger sister will be moving in with her when she stops dorming at a local college over the holiday break at the end of the year.”
Brandi chewed and thought. “I could use the help,” she said, pushing her empty plate away. If the woman was as organized as they said, and could multi-task, then her skills were worth checking out. “I’ll drop by sometime this week. Thanks.”
“Good,” Kerri said. “Because Connor and I were talking, and we’d like to hire you, too.”
Her head snapped up. “What? Me? But Wild Creek is perfect. What did you want to do?”
A big smile crossed the pretty cook’s face. “We’ve decided to stay there, but want a place within the place.”
“I don’t follow.”
“We want to section some of the upstairs off as kind of our own suite of rooms,” her friend replied. “Complete with a state of the art gourmet kitchen, of course.”
“Of course.”
Already her mind was working on scenarios and possibilities. It would be a big job, but certainly doable. Excitement raced through her veins. “You wouldn’t touch the outside?”
“Nope.” Kerri shook her head. “We’d need to partition some of the upstairs, and we have a door to the outside if we incorporate the balcony entrance.”
“True. Bullet and I used the balcony and stairs to the driveway all the time on his walks,” Jordan said, and at the mention of his name, the gorgeous retired police dog ambled over, from his bed in the corner. “Didn’t we, boy?”
The German Sheppard’s tail wagged so fast his back end moved.
Brandi joined the sisters in a lighthearted laugh. The dog was really so sweet. But, it was time to get off her butt.
“Well, I have to get back to work. Thanks for the tip.”
“Hang on.”
“Yeah, don’t you have something to tell us?” Jordan asked, small smirk on her client’s lips.
Her heart shifted in her chest. Were they talking about her biopsy? No. Only two men knew about it, and neither would talk. What else could they mean?
Crud.
Kade.
She decided to play stupid. “Ah, no. I don’t think so.”
“Really? Nothing?” Jordan stared at her with those damn, dark, all-seeing eyes.
Brandi sighed. “Look, Kade and I are just friends.” With a whole lot
of benefits. Great ones. Really great ones. Big ones. Shoot. She reached for her water. Funny how hot it was getting, despite the central air.
Bulldog McCall smiled broadly and leaned back in her chair. “Interesting. I wasn’t talking about Kade, but now that you’ve mentioned him, I think maybe we should.”
“No, no…we shouldn’t. We really shouldn’t.”
Lovely. Now Kerri was smiling.
“A double denial,” the cook stated with a nod. “We definitely should.”
Jordan’s brow rose. “I suppose you’re going to claim his truck was parked outside your house all night on Thursday because he ran out of gas?”
“Oh, hell no. That guy would never run out of gas. Not with his stamina.”
Kerri’s indrawn breath and pink cheeks were the first indication Brandi had spoken her thoughts out loud. Dammit. And if that wasn’t clear enough, then Jordan’s chuckling was confirmation.
She shot from her chair. “Oh, look at the time. I’d better get back to work.”
“Oh no you don’t,” her client insisted, hand snaking out to clamp around her wrist.
Kerri shook her head. “Not after a statement like that.”
The sisters were too much. Looking all hopeful.
Smiling, she shook free and held up her hands. “Forget it. I don’t kiss and tell.”
“So, there was kissing involved.” Kerri beamed.
Jordan snorted. “I’d say a whole hell of a lot more for Brandi to make a statement like that. But we’ll leave it right there. I just want to say I think it’s great. You and Kade. You’re perfect for each other.”
Why did people keep saying that?
Putting her hands on her hips, she frowned at the sisters. “Hold on. There is no me and Kade. It was just…just…”
“Sex,” Kerri answered, cheeks turning pink again.
“Actually, it was great sex,” she felt obligated to say. The sheriff had outdone any man she’d ever known, which technically wasn’t many, but he’d also bested her fantasies, and well, she did have a fantastic imagination. She had it in writing from her seventh grade English teacher.
“Yeah, I’m guessing that would tie into the stamina statement.” Her client grinned.
Instead of embarrassment, she felt the warmth of satisfaction flow all the way to her toes and couldn’t help but smile.
“Must be something in the Harland County water,” Kerri remarked, then slapped a hand over her mouth as her blush turned crimson.
Apparently the speaking out loud syndrome was contagious.
“Amen to that,” Jordan chimed in. “And not that this isn’t a fascinating subject, because let me tell you, Cole put the ‘S’ in stamina, but I’d like to get back to my original question, Brandi. Don’t you have something to tell us about your violin?”
Ah, so that was what the woman was getting at. Her past. She’d rather talk about sex with Kade.
Even though playing dumb hadn’t worked before, she thought maybe she’d have better luck this time. “Like?”
“Like, when will you tell everyone what you used to do? And can we hear you play again? And will you please play at the pub sometime?”
A heavy weight settled over her shoulders. She sat down and sighed under the pressure. “I don’t think anyone would be all that interested in hearing about my prior job.”
“Wrong.”
“And as for playing again,” she went on as if Jordan hadn’t spoken. “I’m not really up to it yet. It’s just associated with too many dark memories.”
“But I’m sure there are lots of good memories, too. And maybe now, here in Texas, you can make some new ones.” Kerri stared at her, brown eyes big and earnest.
The woman had a point. And her cell was a Godsend because it began to ring. “Sorry,” she told the girls as she fished the phone blaring David Garrett’s version of “Thunderstruck” from her pocket. Her heart dipped a little at the fleeting thought it might be Kade, although, she’d never given him her number.
Glancing at the caller ID, she held back a sigh. A different military man. “Hi, Dad.”
“Hi, sweetheart. You are going to the dinner, aren’t you?”
Right to the point as always.
“Yes. I’ll be there.”
“Good. Are you going to sit with your old man and your brother, Ben?”
“Of course.” She smiled. “It’ll be nice to see you both again. I miss you.” The words fell from her mouth before she could stop herself, and she was surprised to realize she meant every word. She did miss them both.
“Miss you too, sweetheart. When you coming back home?”
Another sigh left her lips. Not that again. “I am home, Dad.”
He grunted. “We’ll discuss it when I see you. Uh, got to go, hun. There’s a Battalion meeting in less than five. See you Saturday.”
And just like that, he was gone. Nothing new there. Higher ups said jump, he asked how high. Of course, Major Wyne was just as good at doling it out. And as for discussing, his idea of a discussion was a ‘this is how it should be done, now do it’ mentality.
Guilt squeezed her insides. That wasn’t fair. He was actually very patient and caring. Dennis Wyne had been an angel when her mother had needed one, taking her to and from treatments and appointments. She knew the man could very well have turned his back on the sick woman and her daughter, allowed others to take care of his wife, but he hadn’t. No. He’d nursed her and attended to her needs right up until the end. He’d gained Brandi’s love and respect and had had it ever since. He’d been Catherine Wyne’s rock and strength. And although Brandi had been ten when her mother married the man, he’d never treated her any different than his four sons. He even adopted her and gave her his last name. And when her mother died two years later, he’d never wavered in that love.
“Your family must miss you,” Kerri said, bringing Brandi’s mind back to the present.
Shrugging, she shoved the phone back in her pocket. At times, she missed them a lot. Like this past week. She really could’ve used her big brothers and their caring and kidding and all things brother to keep her mind occupied. Their constant banter and teasing always made her feel safe and loved. Then there was her little nephew. God, her arms ached to crush Tyler close and hold him tight.
Instead, she’d held onto an entirely different kind of male. Her good parts instantly tingled at the memories.
“Did you tell them about Kade?”
She reeled back and blinked at Kerri. “What? No. What for?”
“Well, you’ve been having sex with him, and most women tell at least one person in their family about a guy they have sex with,” the cook stated matter-of-factly.
“What?”
“You told your brother, Ben, about Kade, remember? In the apartment when we were going over plans.”
“No, I didn’t. You did,” Brandi reminded the former cop. “Yeah, thanks for that, by the way.” Then a slight problem dawned on her, and she groaned. “Oh, great.”
“Ben’s coming to Texas with your dad, isn’t he? That’s what that phone call was about.” Jordan’s smile was practically too big for her pretty face.
“Yeah, for a Dining Out dinner for anyone who served in one of the joint task forces in an overseas operation. They’ve been involved in several. I don’t remember which one this is for, but it’s being held in Houston this year.”
“That’s wonderful,” Kerri gushed.
“Yeah, until my dad volunteered me to play at the dinner.” She would rather attend out of respect than a command.
“But you’re so good. Why is it a problem?”
She sighed. “It’s not that. I-I stopped playing when I was told what to play and when to play. This just brings it all back. But, I’d do anything for the troops, so of course, I haven’t declined.”
“Have you picked up the violin since Sunday?”
“Yeah, several times.”
“Your asshole ex-boyfriend isn’t going to be there, is he?”
Brandi blinked…in unison with Jordan as they stared at Kerri, the sweet cook. She’d never heard her friend say a bad word about anyone.
“Kerri,” Jordan said. “I can’t believe you called Brandi’s ex that.”
“Sorry, but he is.”
“No.” Jordan shook her head. “An asshole serves a purpose.”
Brandi snickered. “True. And no, Ed is not going to be there. Just my dad and brother, and a few others from the PA Guard. And, of course, other soldiers from across the county.”
“Oh, well, what about for Texas? Will Kade be there representing the Texas Guard?”
“No.” Thank heavens. She’d checked that straight out. Called in a marker to a friend in the Guard and had them look up the list. Despite the size and number of soldiers in the Texas Guard, Brandi wouldn’t put it past her bad luck to have the First Sergeant on the list. But he wasn’t. “A Colonel Dwyer, and a few more are representing the local regiment.”
Jordan scrunched her nose. “That’s too bad. Kade would’ve loved to hear you play. I’m sure of it. He loves a good fiddle.”
“Well, it wouldn’t matter anyway.” She shrugged. “They have me down to play some Beethoven and Bach.” Although, she did plan to throw in some good ole Texas fiddle. Seemed fitting considering the dinner was hosted in Texas.
Her client nodded while scratching Bullet’s neck. “So, will your father and brother come back to Harland County with you when it’s over?”
Brandi blinked. “I-I don’t know. They didn’t say. Probably not. Dad’s always on a tight schedule. Probably just stay the night at the hotel where the dinner is being held, and fly out the next morning.”
Which worked for her. There wasn’t enough room in her little cottage for all three of them.
“That’s too bad,” Jordan claimed. “I would’ve liked to have known what he thought of Kade.”
“What is it with you and Kade?” she asked, head beginning to ache.
“No, it’s you and Kade.”
Oh, for the love of… “There is no me and Kade.”
And in walked Cole…and Kade.
When her mind finally caught up with her mouth, and all the heat rushed to her face, Brandi noted the sheriff didn’t appear to be angry. Just stared, one eyebrow slightly raised. Besides, the guy had nothing to be angry about anyway. He was the one who’d left while she was stark friggin’ naked…and had invited him to stay.
Her Uniform Cowboy (Harland County Series Book 3) Page 18