by Marie Harte
Returning to the coffee shop to deal with yet another mess, he found his siblings and Maria still there, waiting for his return.
Mike’s shit-eating grin didn’t help. “Well, well. Your girlfriend sure is a looker.”
“We talked about it, and I agree.” Maria nodded. “If I swung that way, I’d totally do her.”
Olivia snickered. “And she’s a redhead. Totally your type.”
“Okay, that’s enough out of you three. We’re helping her move her stuff tomorrow. Boxes, furniture. Period. No mouthing off about me or making my situation at work any worse.”
Mike huffed. “Please. What situation? We all know Colonel Drey loves you.”
“Don’t you mean Uncle Drey?” Olivia asked, “Didn’t he and Dad just go golfing last week?” Their father, a retired colonel, had a lot of friends still on active duty. Growing up the children of the esteemed Colonel Michael Cava had put them in touch with a lot of higher-ranking officers from a young age.
Brad shrugged, never one to play on family connections. “So?”
“So you hanging out with Genevieve won’t impact you up at work with the colonel. You two are on your own. Genevieve.” Mike sighed. “Geez, even her name is sexy.” He let out a grunt when his wife elbowed him in the gut.
She glared at him. “Enough talk about another woman being sexy.”
“Now, baby, you know you’re the only one for me.” Mike gave her a big kiss. “I’m just trying to help out my pathetic, lovelorn brother.”
“He does need the help.” Olivia gave Brad a critical onceover. “He’s handsome enough, I suppose. Charming when he wants something. But Genevieve struck me as a tough sell. You can’t charm her pants off, Brad. Try talking to the woman like an equal.”
That stung. “Hey. I’m a nice guy.”
“Afraid of commitment, but nice.” Maria nodded.
Mike agreed. “So Dana busted you up. That was five years ago. Time to try again, I say.”
Five years and three months ago, to be precise. “I’m over Dana.”
“Hey, it’s okay if you aren’t. I don’t know that I’d be okay with women after what she did.” Mike frowned. “Woman dumped you for a higher-ranking model.”
“Mike.” Olivia punched him. Maria did too. “I think what our brother means,” Olivia said, “is that anyone would be leery of being in a fully committed relationship after going through what you went through with Dana. But there are so many great women out there. It’s time you stopped playing around and started seriously looking. Don’t you think?”
Brad pinched the bridge of his nose, knowing they meant well, even if they were intrusive. “You know, just because you three felt the need to get hitched doesn’t mean we all do. I was married. It ended. Period. Now I’m living the good life, single and sane. Don’t hate because you’re jealous.”
Mike conceded. “He has a point.”
“Michael,” Maria snapped. Considering the hassle she’d gone through to snag the big guy, Brad knew she thought she had cause to be wary of Mike’s attitude toward marriage. But after two and a half years of wedded bliss, he’d have thought Maria over her fears.
“I’m teasing, baby. You know that.” Mike smiled at her, and in his expression, Brad saw the love that should exist between spouses. Maria gave it right back to him, and Brad knew an unfamiliar touch of envy, wishing he had the same.
Odd, because he’d been both relieved and joyful being single. For years. Now… maybe his siblings hooking up into permanent, happy relationships was getting to him.
Then again, unlike Mike, Brad didn’t have to worry about a woman breaking his heart. He’d once given his love, his trust, his all to Dana. They’d dated for two years, married for another two and then—bam. She’d taken him to the cleaners in a nasty divorce. They’d married young, so they hadn’t had much, but he sure as hell missed his old sound system. His favorite leather chair, the damn dog…
What a bunch of crappy thoughts considering he had a sexy woman to perform for in a few hours. Why the hell dwell on a past he couldn’t change? “You married people should go home and do whatever boring things married people do nowadays. I finished my week and earned some downtime. Think I might watch a ball game. Or, I know! I’ll do whatever I want because I’m single and sexy.” He wiggled his brows.
Olivia grimaced.
Maria laughed. “Well, he is sexy.”
Mike didn’t seem to like that. “Now who needs to watch how she talks about the opposite sex?”
She leaned over to whisper something in Mike’s ear, and his sly grin spoke volumes.
“I so don’t want to know what she said.” Brad waved good-bye. “I’ll see you losers tomorrow. Kyle too?” he asked Olivia.
“Yeah. He’s helping Dad with something right now, or he’d have stopped by tonight.”
“What’s he helping Dad with?” Mike wanted to know.
“A fancy dinner he’s cooking for Mom.” Olivia grinned. Her new husband had incredible skills in the kitchen. The guy could even cook eggplant and make it taste good. “I think Dad is working up an apology for forgetting their dinner date last week. You know, when he went out with the guys instead?”
Mike nodded. “Oh yeah. I heard an earful from Mom about how I should treat Maria like gold. As if my woman would have it any other way.”
“You’re darned tootin’,” Maria agreed.
Brad cringed. “The sweetness factor with you three is making my skin crawl. I think I’ll go home and watch porn then scratch my ass and piss in the bushes outside to remind myself I’m single for a reason.”
“You do that and you’ll stay single,” Maria muttered.
Olivia snorted. “No kidding.”
Mike shook his head. “Say and do what you want. We all saw the way you eyeballed the tech geek. Pathetic, little brother.”
Brad flipped him off. “Whatever. Don’t be late tomorrow.”
“We’ll be there,” Maria promised.
Brad left with a spring in his step. Time to get his groove on with one sexy, stubborn tech geek. He had a hard time putting the word geek in front of her gorgeous face. Green eyes, dark red hair, a smooth olive complexion. With a body that didn’t quit, the woman was a walking advertisement for sex. Good thing he had a full box of condoms at home.
At the thought, he laughed and let himself through his front door. After a quick dinner and even quicker shower, he dressed in a pair of running shorts. He couldn’t tone down his arousal, no matter how he tried. Especially because he kept wondering if Genevieve had gotten herself off last night after watching him.
The hour finally approached ten, so he turned off the television and climbed the stairs. Once in his bedroom, he kept the lights off and wondered if she could see him. The moonlight tonight didn’t seem as invasive. Then again, if she hadn’t opened her curtains, his show wouldn’t matter, would it?
Walking to his open window for a better view, he looked across the way and saw hers open as well.
Perfect.
With a grin, he called out softly, “You there?”
Silence, then a whispered, “Yeah.”
“Can you see me?” He stepped back, secure in the fact that the closeness of the houses and height and angle of his window made the show only visible via her bedroom. Despite acting like a sexual adventurer, Brad liked to keep his liaisons between himself and his partner, not the entire neighborhood. “Genevieve?”
“Y-yeah. I see you.” She sounded nervous.
“Ready for your show?” he asked, feeling dirty and loving it. “You prepared to pay?”
“What? Pay?”
“Come on, sweetness. Tit for tat.” He grinned. “I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.”
“No way.”
“Maybe you need a little incentive?” He drew his shorts down, exposing his thick shaft. He dropped the shorts to the ground and stepped out of them. Then he took himself in hand and pumped. K
nowing she watched made him so fucking hard. “How about a little cream to get you going?”
“More like a lot from what I saw last night,” she said, clearly audible in the quiet of night.
“That’s right. A lot. All for you.” He palmed his balls, rubbing them with one hand while yanking on his cock with the other. The added stimulation of her gaze made it difficult to slow down. “Faster?”
“Yeah. I want to see.” She liked watching.
Beautiful and kinky and a redhead to boot. Oh yeah. He groaned and deliberately released his cock, letting it jut out from his body in a gentle bob. He ran his hand up his belly, pinching his nipples and petting himself before sliding back down to grab his shaft. Then he put more pressure under his cockhead, rubbing faster, harder.
He heard her soft moan, triggering a shudder and the dark coil of impending orgasm at the base of his balls. “Oh yeah. Fuck yeah,” he whispered and thrust into his palm. He’d come for her, a huge mess of seed offered to please the woman he intended to take to bed very soon.
“More,” she said from across the way.
He delivered. He jerked himself faster, nearing the pinnacle of his release then imagined her on her knees, blowing him, and he came like a geyser. He exploded, jets of cum falling over his hand to the floor. He milked himself dry, shuddering as he felt the ecstasy of release cascade through his entire body. More than anything he wanted to go next door and do that all over again, this time inside her. Would she be receptive?
“That’s a good night.” He wiped his hand on his belly then left the bedroom to clean himself up. He returned to his room to see her window closed, the room dark. “Coward,” he said loudly.
He received no response and, after cleaning the floor, settled into bed into a dreamless sleep.
The next morning he woke feeling refreshed, ready to greet the day by visiting his favorite voyeur. After dressing in shorts and a T-shirt, he threw on some running shoes and jogged next door. Half an hour early, but he wanted to arrive before the others.
He knocked and waited.
After a moment, she answered wearing shorts and a raggedy T-shirt that ruined him for the Ravens for sure. Her breasts clearly outlined in the soft cotton, black bird wings covering each mound, made him itch to cup her. No woman should look this grumpy and good before coffee.
She glared at him, her green eyes cloudy, her hair pulled back into a shiny ponytail. “Because of you I got no sleep.”
“Oh?” He stepped past her when she moved back to allow him entry.
The smell of coffee and sweet rolls filled him with a gnawing hunger, helping to take his thoughts from her amazing figure.
“Come on in. Help yourself.” She sighed.
With his mouth full of sweets, he asked, “How did I ruin your night?”
She scowled. “Chew, swallow, then talk. I’ll tell you, Major Cava. You waved that cock around like a giant flashlight and handled it like a porn star. It was tough to sleep is all I’m saying.”
He never in a million years would have pegged her as someone to be so open and frank about her sexuality. Which made it all the more vital that he have her under him as soon as possible. Nothing hotter than a woman who knew what she wanted and accepted it as her right. “Sexual frustration can do that,” he said into the sudden silence.
“No kidding.”
He finished his sweet roll then took the coffee she handed him. “I don’t suppose you finished yourself off last night?”
“Nope. I have more control than that.” She glanced down at his bulging cock and smirked.
“Honey, around you I seem to stay hard. I’m sitting here eating something sweet and imagining how you’ll taste when I’m going down on you.” He smiled at the shocked look on her face. So sexy—forward, yet shy too. Her contrasts totally turned him on. “What do you say we celebrate on your bed later?”
“Have to put it together first.” She poured herself some coffee and sighed after drinking it. “Do you always welcome neighbors with a show?”
“Nope. Just you. Consider yourself lucky.”
She stared at his erection. “Oh, I do.”
“How is it you’re like this here, but at work, you…” Uh-oh. Dangerous territory.
“At work what?” She waited.
“You’re a ball-buster.” There. He said it.
She shrugged. “I have to be taken seriously. It’s too easy around you macho military types to be dismissed as a mere woman. I’m nothing but professional at work.”
“But last night…”
She sighed. “I’ve been in a drought lately. Then I saw the hottest thing ever next door. You flipped a switch inside me needing a man for more than just moving furniture. Now I’m horny for sex.”
“For me, you mean.”
She flushed. “Not necessarily you. I’m a woman with needs. I suppose any good-looking guy will do.”
A backhanded compliment, but he’d take it. “Tell you what. How about all of us help you settle in. Then you let me ease that ache. We could be pretty nice neighbors, helping each other with certain…needs. Strictly professional at work though,” he insisted. As if he needed another work/sex relationship. No, dummy. Be smart. Don’t mix work and pleasure. Not again.
“If I say no?”
“Then we don’t have sex. Doesn’t change the fact I’m still overseeing our project for the colonel.”
She frowned. “First of all, it’s a joint project. Second, I’m fine separating work from pleasure. It’s you idiot XY types who can’t figure it out.”
“But I’m not like other men,” he teased and took a sip of coffee.
“So Marcy says.”
He choked, and she laughed. Before he could ask if she meant that or was just teasing him, the others arrived.
“I’ll think about the offer,” she said before moving to answer the ringing doorbell. “You did put on quite a show.”
While she went to answer the door, he grabbed a napkin to wipe up the coffee he’d spit out and did his best to calm his raging erection. The embarrassment of having his brother or sister spotting his arousal did the trick, and then he and the others were helping her move boxes and arrange furniture.
With Kyle, his sister’s husband’s, help, Brad put Genevieve’s bed together. A nice big poster bed that would look perfect fitted with some restraints to hold her down.
When finished, Kyle just stood there looking from the bed to him.
“What?” Brad sighed. “Just say whatever is on your small brain.”
“Big bed. Has a nice view.” He stared across the room into Brad’s house.
“Shut up.”
“I bet you guys are going to be super great neighbors.” Kyle winked. “Hey, don’t knock it. Rooming with your sister was the best thing to ever happen to me.”
“Thinking of you and my sister in any way but platonic is disgusting.”
“Maybe, but Genevieve isn’t my sister, and she sure the hell isn’t yours.”
“Don’t tell me Olivia put you up to some matchmaking too?”
“Nope.”
Brad felt a measure of relief.
“Maria did.”
He groaned. “I’m going to strangle her.” Sex with his gorgeous neighbor was one thing. A relationship quite another.
“Then you’d better move fast. If I know Maria, she’s downstairs working on your tech geek. Who’s very pretty, by the way.” Kyle grinned. “I gotta say, after all the shit you and your brother gave me about your sister, watching you fall is going to be fun.”
“Yeah, right.” Fall? Whatever. He wanted to fuck the woman, not move in with her and make wedding plans.
They finished upstairs and rejoined the others laughing in the kitchen. Seeing Genevieve’s broad grin and sparkling eyes did something funny to his insides. He hastily rid himself of any traces of lingering affection, focusing instead on the sexy pain in the butt she’d proven herself to be.
/> Right. No sense in going for anything more than a one-night stand.
That’s what a smart guy—stupid enough to sleep with her—would do.
Wouldn’t he?
Chapter Four
Olivia and Maria had been terrific. Genevieve had unpacked most of her kitchen and living room boxes. The guys had put her furniture together in the rooms where she wanted them to go, and the only things left to handle were her personal items, clothing, and her strange feelings for Major Hottie.
He lingered after the others left. “You know you really don’t have to take us all out to dinner.” They’d decided to go out the following weekend, her treat.
“It’s the least I can do. You guys really helped me out.”
“Better than the neighbor’s kids.” Brad nodded in the direction of her helpful neighbor and his high schoolers.
“Yeah.”
He stepped closer, watching her like a hawk. It hadn’t escaped her notice that he’d been studying her all morning, paying particular attention to her breasts and mouth. “So…any thought to giving me a show of your own?” He backed her against the kitchen counter and planted his hands on either side of her waist. “Well?”
Before she could answer, he gave her a whisper of a kiss, and her entire body contracted in one giant shudder. What the hell was that?
“Fuck. You’re sweet. I knew you’d be,” he said in a growl.
“I, ah, yeah.” She opened her mouth to say something else, hopefully something clever, when he kissed her again.
This time the tentative touch grew bolder. His tongue slid over her lower lip and penetrated with a lingering sweep. The intrusion hinted at things to come, and she trembled in his arms. He gripped her waist, no longer holding the counter.
When their mouths parted, they were both breathing hard.
“I still won’t go easy on you at the office,” she warned, searching for clarity through the haze of need making focus impossible.
“Good. Same goes for me.” He stared at her lips. “You have an amazing mouth. Such soft lips…”
“Oh boy.” She pushed him back, and he went without protest. She ignored the huge erection pointing straight at her. She’d seen him sans clothing and was already majorly impressed—no pun intended. “Contrary to popular opinion, I don’t just fall into bed with men. No matter how many times I’ve seen them naked.”