Closing his eyes, Brad took a deep breath trying not to voice the first words that came instantly into his head. He loved Lee but sometimes he wished that his brother would keep his mouth shut. Alicia was the woman he wanted and if Lee didn’t like that, he didn’t give a damn.
“Lee, I wish you would stop trying to find another woman for me when you know I’m in love with Alicia. Can’t you just be glad you’re married to Cherise and about to become a father? Do you constantly have to throw my miserable life up my face?” Getting up from the table, Brad tossed his napkin down.
“I knew it would be a mistake to show up tonight. I’m tired of you treating me like I’m a kid instead of your thirty-two year old brother. I think I should leave before I say anymore and don’t count on seeing me for any weekly dinners for a while.”
Storming away from the table, Brad headed for the door and just as he was about to open it a hand touched his arm. Spinning around, he was about to snap at the person until he saw Cherise standing there. He was surprised that she could move that fast as pregnant as she was.
“Brad, come back to dinner,” she suggested as she removed her hand off his arm. “You know how Lee can get sometimes when he gets on a roll. He loves you. Just give him a chance to apologize.”
Bending down, Brad planted a kiss on Cherise’s cheek and then rubbed her belly before rising back up. Sometimes it was still hard for him to believe this was the same woman who was going to toss Traci out of her life, if she had married Zack. Cherise had changed so much and it was for the better. He was touched that she was concerned enough to come and get him, but he wasn’t going to stay any longer.
“No, I think it’s best if I go home. I wasn’t having that good of a time anyway.”
“Are you sure?” Cherise asked, softly. “You might miss another one of my famous fights with Lee. We still haven’t settled if I’m going to take an early maternity leave or not.”
At first, Brad hadn’t been sure if Cherise would be a good fit with his family because she had been so feisty when he got introduced to her. Now, he didn’t know how his family worked without her. Sure, Cherise fought with Lee but he could always see their love glowing beneath the surface.
Brad shook his head. “No, I think I’m going to leave. I had a long day at work and I wanted to relax in front of the television before I hit the bed,” Brad lied, hoping Cherise wouldn’t pick up on it.
Tilting her head to the side, Cherise studied him for a few seconds. “Don’t you dare lie to me, Brad. I know you’re leaving because of what Lee said about Alicia. You know that he can’t help but to give his opinion about everything, right?” she asked. “He loves you so much and only wants to see you content like the rest of his brothers.”
“Yeah, I know,” Brad admitted. “But he can’t determine who I need to find happiness with. If I want to be with Alicia then it’s my business not his!”
Moving closer to him, Cherise replaced her hand on his arm. “Are you sure that she wants to be with you? I know that I tried to keep Lee away from me but that was because I had such deep feelings for him and we both knew it. I’ve met Alicia only once, but she seems to be hiding something very deep. Do you think you can break past all of her barriers?”
Brad laid his hand on top of his sister in-law’s and gave it a slight squeeze. “Yes, I know I can. All I need to do is spend more time with her. Cherise, I love Alicia and I’m not going to give up until I’m positive nothing will come of my feelings. Can you understand that?”
Smiling up at him, Cherise nodded her head. “I understand completely,” she replied as she removed her hand from underneath his. “If you need any help from me let me know. I’m very good at setting up a romantic dinner for two and don’t let Lee’s big mouth get you down. I’ll have long talk with him tonight.”
Brad was touched that Cherise wanted to stand up for him. She was a wonderful woman and Lee got very lucky getting Cherise as his wife. She never allowed him to take control of everything and that is what his domineering brother needed: a woman who was his equal but would fight for him too if the situation called for it.
“You don’t need to do that for me. I know how Lee is and I’m just going to blow off what he told me tonight,” Brad said.
“Oh, I’m going to talk to him after everyone has left. He might not understand what he is doing is hurtful to you. So, I don’t want you to think anymore about it. Go home and call Alicia.”
Brad couldn’t keep the shock off his face. How in the world did Cherise know that he was going to do that? He hadn’t even admitted to himself yet that she was one of the reasons he was leaving the dinner early.
“How...”
“Brad, you’re a Drace. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that you were going to call Alicia as soon as you walked out that door. Now, give me a hug.”
Bending down, Brad gave Cherise a quick hug. “My brother really did well by coming to his senses and marrying you,” he whispered in Cherise’s ear making her giggle.
“Lee may not think that most of the time,” she whispered back before he ended the embrace.
“You know that you have Lee wrapped around your finger and soon the babies will too.” Brad hated that Lee was always trying to tell him what to do, but he was glad that Cherise finally gave his overbearing brother a chance.
“Okay...I need to go. Tell Lee that I’ll talk to him later which means that I’ll call him and not the other way around.” Brad wondered if Lee had enough self-control not to leave a message on his cell phone before the night was over.
Laughing, Cherise spun around and headed back towards the dining room. “You know that I can tell your brother that, but if he listens is a totally different thing.”
Brad knew that Cherise was telling him the truth, but she couldn’t fault a guy for trying. Moving back to the front door, he took a last look back at the dining room and listened to the laughter going on before opening the door and going out.
Chapter Two
Glancing down at the cell phone in her hand, Alicia wondered how she was going to present her boss’ idea to Brad. The last time the two of them had spoken to each other things hadn’t gone over too well. She left like she usually did and Brad was upset she hadn’t stayed to talk about their situation. So, she just couldn’t call him up, ask for permission to interview his entire family and think that he would agree to ask them about it.
Brad had asked her out on a date to spend the weekend with his family on vacation, but she’d turned him down flat. There was no way she could spend that time with him seeing how content and loving his brothers were with their families when she was so miserable with her own life.
No!
She wasn’t going to think about that. She loved her job, life and everything else that she had going on for her. Being in love wasn’t in the cards for her right now, so she was going to focus on her career and ending up where she wanted to be in her ten year plan.
Sure, a new job and a bigger bank account wouldn’t keep her warm in the middle of the night. Or listen when she had ideas about work when something good just popped into her head out of nowhere.
Most women needed a man at their side to make them feel worthwhile, but that wasn’t her. She was strong, independent and self-sufficient. She didn’t need anyone there to hold her hand or cuddle up with her on the couch to watch a late night movie.
She had gotten this far in life without help from anyone else and she would continue to do so and in the end all of her sacrifices would have been worth it.
How long are you going to keep lying to yourself, her mind taunted? You know that you want Brad in your life more than anything else in this world. Even landing a bigger office and position at the news station didn’t compare to how much she wanted Brad in her life, but it wasn’t going to occur. She had burnt too many bridges with him.
Alicia shook the crazy thought from her head. She couldn’t let her mind go down that road. She had to focus on one thing at a time. The most importan
t item on her life’s agenda now was her career and she wasn’t about to change that for anyone. If love came to her so be it, but she wasn’t going out looking for it.
Okay, she had to stop thinking about this nonsense and get down to business. Shaking off her nerves, Alicia went over in her mind what she wanted to tell Brad and then dialed his number. The phone rang a couple of times before he finally answered it.
“Hello?”
Alicia tried to calm down her racing heart at the warm, rich sound of Brad’s voice. Just the tone of it sent her down a path of steamy nights rolling around in bed. Lord, it wasn’t right that one man could make her entire body melt with one spoken word. She had to keep her wits about her.
“Brad, it’s me, Alicia,” she spoke up when she finally regained her voice well enough to speak.
“Sweetheart, I know. I saw your name on my Caller Id, but I thought I was seeing things at first. How are you doing?” his deep, rich, tempting voice asked.
Sweetheart...Alicia wouldn’t admit it to Brad, but she liked when he called her that.
“I’m doing well.” Alicia kicked off her shoes and relaxed on the couch. Taking to Brad always made her feel so comfortable and peaceful, she didn’t know what it was about his tone but it did something to her.
“That’s good. Why are you calling me? I thought you told me that you weren’t going to talk to me anymore after our last conversation? What can I do for you?”
She heard the slight hesitancy in his words, but Alicia wasn’t going to allow that to stop her. “I need to talk to you. I know it’s late, but do you think that you can come by for a few minutes? It’s really important.”
There was a long pause and Alicia wondered if Brad was even going to answer her. Maybe he was remembering the last time they were together and it wasn’t sitting well with him. She might have ruined her chances spending any time with him and that hurt her more than not being about to do the project Tiffany wanted.
“Yes, I can come over. When do you need to see me?” Brad asked.
Alicia clutched the phone to her ear and sent up a silent prayer that Brad hadn’t blown her off. God, he was such an amazing man. He was going to make some woman a wonderful husband.
“Do you think that you can come over tonight? I know it’s very short notice, but it’s really important.” Please let him say yes.
“Tonight...” Brad said.
“Yes.”
“Okay, I think I can swing by there before I head home,” he replied and then ended the phone call before she could say another word.
Alicia looked at the phone in her hand with semi-shock. Did Brad mean that he was actually going to show up for her tonight because she had asked him? Would it be in the next hour or three hours from now? Well, it didn’t matter how long it took because she was going to wait up for him.
After he showed up and she confessed the reason she called him over to her house what would Brad tell her? He wasn’t the type of guy to tell her to shove the idea up her ass or anything. No, he was too much of a gentleman for that kind of comment. God...Brad agreeing to ask his brothers wasn’t the only hurdle that she had to jump over.
The other Drace brothers had to give the green light for it too, but Lee would be the hardest sell. He hated her with a passion sorely for the way she had treated Brad over the years. However, she couldn’t blame Lee for his low opinion of her. Brad had been open with his feelings and she constantly ran from them.
A sudden knock on the door drew Alicia’s away from her inner thoughts. Getting up off the couch, Alicia hurried over to the door and swung it open. She was glad that she was holding on to the door frame because if she hadn’t been she would have fallen over after looking at Brad.
Damn, was it right for one man to look this perfect without even trying?
Brad stood there, devilishly handsome and almost too much for words to even form in her head. His usually sun-blenched hair was slowly getting back to its naturally dark brown color since he was spending less time giving tennis lesson and working indoors more.
The porch light glimmered over his attractive face highlighting the angles of his features. His lips were firm and sensual which only enhanced his compelling eyes and the hint of a shadow of a beard that touched his jaw. It look like he hadn’t bothered to shave this morning and the little rougher look was turning her on.
Years of playing tennis and being athletic had given Brad a beautifully proportioned body with rippling muscles that strained against the white dress shirt he was wearing. Alicia couldn’t believe how acutely conscious she was of Brad’s tall physique. Slowly, Alicia dragged her gaze away from Brad’s powerful body up to his face. ”Wow...you got here fast,” Alicia said, hoping that Brad hadn’t noticed her drooling over him.
Brad smiled down at her making her heart skip that familiar beat. Damn it! He knew that she had been staring at him, but she wasn’t about to admit it.
“I was only about a block from your house when you called me,” Brad confessed. “I wanted to come over and see you since we haven’t spoken to each other in a while.”
How was it possible for Brad to be this handsome and sweet at the same time?
Alicia was so taken back that she didn’t know what to say, so she did the only thing that she could. “Would you like to come in and tell me why you were a block from my house when you don’t live anywhere near my neighborhood?”
Easing past her, Brad walked into her house making the large area suddenly seem a whole lot smaller.
“Well, are you going to answer my question?” she asked, closing the door behind her.
Sliding his hands into the pocket of his slacks, Brad spun back around to face her. “I was having the weekly dinner at Lee’s and some things happened, so I decided to leave early to come and see you. You don’t know how pleased I was that you called me.”
God, how could she have forgotten about the notorious weekly dinner at Lee’s mansion? Lee Drace was one of the bluntest men she’d ever had the displeasure to be around.
He wasn’t fond... No, he hated her and never had a problem telling her what he thought. It was a wonder that Brad was still even friends with her at all.
“You don’t have to stand there in the middle of the living room,” Alicia told Brad as she walked past him. Taking a seat on the couch, she waved her hand toward a chair across from her. “Have a seat.”
Instead of sitting in the chair she offered him, Brad decided to sit very close to her on the couch with an inch barely separating them. “Thanks, I would love to sit by you,” Brad said, trailing his finger down the side of her arm.
The light touch was making it hard for her to concentrate and control the shiver that raced through her body every time Brad touched her. Most women in town had a thing for the other Drace brothers and were devastated when they had gotten married and started families of their own. However, the man she was drawn to was sitting right next to her slowly driving her crazy.
“I don’t recall telling you to sit next to me,” Alicia teased as she leaned away from Brad instead of moving closer like she desired.
“Okay, I’ll stop messing with you.” There was a trace of laughter in his voice as he moved away from her so they were no longer thigh to thigh. “I’m going to be good. Tell me why you called me. Was it because you were lonely without me or were you craving one of my kisses?”
Nibbling at her bottom lip, Alicia pondered how to start off the conversation about what her boss Tiffany wanted her to do. She decided she might as well jump right into it.
“My boss called me into her office today and gave me a new assignment. I’m really excited about it. I mean if I do a good job this could lead to other things maybe bigger and better job opportunities.”
“That’s wonderful,” Brad replied, smiling at her. “What’s it about?”
“She wants me to do a special about some very influential men here in Houston.”
Brad tilted his brow, looking at her uncertainly. “I don’t thi
nk I’m following you. Why would you want me to come over to hear about you interviewing some men? Are you saying that you want to use me to make one of them jealous like you tried to do with Max?”
Alicia quickly shook her head. “No, it’s not like that. I apologized for that. Max wasn’t the man I thought he was. I’d have never asked you to do that for me. It was truly wrong and I’m sorry.”
“I know how it is to be in love with someone who doesn’t see you the same way. Now, let’s forget about Max and you finish telling me about this wonderful new job assignment.”
“I can’t believe how understanding you are,” Alicia said, surprised again by this unpredictable man. “Most men would have been so upset that they wouldn’t have said another word to me.”
Brad ran the tip of his fingers down the side of her face. “If you ever stop running from how you feel about me, maybe you will see that I’m not like most men.”
Alicia opened her mouth and then snapped it shut, stunned by Brad’s bluntness. It took her a second or two to regain her thoughts. “My boss wants me to do a story about you and your brothers,” she blurted out.”
Slowly, Brad’s warm fingers dropped away from her skin and then he moved back from her before completely getting up. A chill suddenly filled the room that she wasn’t prepared for and honestly didn’t want.
“Are you telling me that you invited me over here so you could get a news breaking story about my family?” Brad demanded glaring at her.
His expression grew harder and resentful as his mouth dipped into an even deeper angry frown. “You already know how private my family is. We don’t talk about our private lives unless we really have to.”
More Than Friends: Brad Page 2