How long did he have to lie there, in a crumpled heap, waiting? She’d never thought about that. She’d seen the same clip as everyone else—the part where he lost control and tumbled like a rag doll down the cliff, hitting rocks and trees along the way—but not this extended version. This wasn’t for public consumption. She hadn’t even considered how hard it would be for emergency help to get to him or how it must’ve felt for him to lie there suffering. It was a miracle they’d been able to rescue him at all.
“Are you wondering how you survived?” she asked.
He scratched his head as he relaxed into his seat. “I’m wondering how I screwed up so badly, how I put myself in that position in the first place.”
“You’re good at what you do, Brandon, but…anyone can make a mistake.
Especially on a slope like that.”
He took the remote and snapped off the TV as if he couldn’t bear to see any more, and she frowned as she studied his leg. “I hope you’re really going backpacking across Nicaragua in two weeks because, if I remember right, I was invited to join you.”
“I’ll take you next summer.” He shifted so he could remove the ice packs on his leg.
“So that invitation—it was just a fake?” Nudging his hands away, she stripped off the packs.
“Sort of. I have to leave town, but I won’t be doing any backpacking.”
“Where are you going?”
Obviously uncomfortable revealing this information, he cleared his throat. “There’s a doctor in Europe. Thinks he can fix my leg.” He motioned to a small refrigerator in the corner near the wet bar. “The packs go in there.”
Apparently sitting up with his leg in a brace wasn’t an unusual occurrence. “You need another operation?” she asked as she opened the fridge.
“At least one,” he answered. “In order to regain full range of motion, it might take more.”
“And you’re not telling anyone because…”
Velcro rasped as he removed the brace and set it beside his chair. “I can’t risk losing my sponsors. If they think I’ll no longer be a force in the industry, they’ll sign someone else.”
“I see.” She folded her arms. “And you haven’t told anyone here at home because you’re afraid we might leak the truth to the press?”
“Figured if I’m going to lie, I might as well be consistent among all my friends.”
“What about your family?”
“What family?”
“Your mother loves you, Brandon.”
“And she loves Bob and Kyle and will soon have a grandbaby. I’m a big boy.
I’ve made my decision and I’ll live with the results. There’s no need to worry her.”
How many times had his parents warned him not to take the risks he took? “That’s gallant of you. I think. Except, if I was your mother, I’m pretty sure I’d want to know.”
“I’ve considered that. But if I tell her, I essentially tell my stepfather, too, and I don’t want to hear him say, ‘I told you so.’ I especially don’t want to put up with having him act as if I deserve this.”
She could understand his feelings. She’d heard Bob expound on the subject of Brandon and his choice of career before, when she was at the Housemans’ with Kyle. At the time, she’d agreed with him. Now she felt…torn. She wanted Brandon to be happy, wanted to see him excel at what he loved. She just didn’t want him to lose his life chasing the next adrenaline rush.
“I heard the condescending way he was talking to you tonight.” Groggy from sleep and possibly the painkiller, he seemed a little out of it, so she helped him to his feet. “Let’s get you to bed.”
“My stepfather is a pain in the ass,” he grumbled, but he settled an arm over her shoulders so he could take some of the pressure off his bad leg.
She decided it was better not to comment on that, since she’d once been sympathetic to Bob’s frustrations where Brandon was concerned. “Back to Nicaragua.”
“Are you sorry the trip’s off?”
“I’m wondering why you invited me to go at all.”
“Wishful thinking.”
An adventure like that had sounded nice. It still did. “And I knew you’d refuse,” he added.
He also knew it made a great cover, a believable cover, for the length of time he’d be gone. She had to hand it to him, he was good at hiding the problem.
Until he’d winced earlier, she’d never even suspected. “And if I hadn’t?” she asked.
“You could come to Europe with me, travel around while I recuperate—as long as you stop by to see me once in a while.”
She could imagine how lonely that would be—to have an operation in a foreign country when all your friends and family thought you were having such a great time they didn’t bother to write or call. But, assuming he wasn’t any more serious about having her join him in Europe than he’d been about Nicaragua, she let that comment slide. “You made yourself climb these stairs. Maybe if you didn’t push yourself so hard, your leg would have a chance to heal on its own.”
“Stairs are the least of my worries. I’m going to have to do much more than climb up to my loft if I want to hang on to my career.”
He was scared, she realized. Scared that everything he’d been was somehow gone. He had to recreate himself.
She could relate to that. She’d embraced moving to Sacramento, had been eager to have a year to herself to see what she could do to expand her professional aspirations. But then her life had taken the Kyle-Noelle detour and she’d been floundering ever since.
“Would it be so terrible to retire?” Finished navigating the stairs, she guided him into the hall. “Surely you can’t expect to ski such dangerous runs forever.”
“No, not forever. Just another two or three years. I’m not ready to give it up.
When I go out, it’ll be on my terms.”
The conviction in his voice told her that even if his efforts didn’t pay off, he’d put up one hell of a fight. “Then I believe you’ll make a comeback. If not this season, the next.”
He didn’t respond. She feared he knew her encouragement was simply that— encouragement.
“For now you need to get some sleep,” she said. “Or you won’t convince anyone that leg has healed.”
They’d reached his room. She hesitated at the entrance, expecting him to continue on himself but, keeping one arm around her shoulders, he touched her face with the opposite hand.
When she looked up at him, he held her chin so that she couldn’t look away as he murmured, “Come to bed with me.”
***
Brandon knew Olivia had every reason in the world to say no. She’d just been through a terrible breakup. She probably wasn’t over Kyle. The last thing she needed was to make love with a man who’d soon be leaving, most likely for months. At the moment, he had no clue where his life was going, whether he’d ever ski again, what he’d do if his comeback turned out to be a bust.
But he couldn’t help trying to capture and hold on to the special quality that made her so difficult to forget.
“Brandon—”
At the distress in her voice, he released her. He wouldn’t pressure her, didn’t want her to regret giving in once it was all over. “Never mind, honey. I know it’s been a hell of a year for you.” Figuring she’d hurry to her own room, he limped to the bed and dropped onto the mattress. His damn leg was aching again. Some days were worse than others. Tonight, the pain had gotten so bad he thought it might drive him insane.
But then she was there with her clothes off, and the pain disappeared beneath a flood of euphoria.
***
Olivia supposed she’d known this was coming. Brandon had always been different from the other boys and, as an adult, he was different from the other men she knew, too. So even though a lot had changed in recent months, nothing had really changed. Meeting him again had shown her that as much as she’d cared about Kyle, she’d already accepted that their romantic relationship was over. She’d gott
en farther beyond the heartbreak of it than she’d dreamed.
“That’s it, honey,” Brandon whispered as she slid her hands up under his T- shirt to run her fingers over the ridge of his pectoral muscles, his nipples, the sprinkling of soft hair that covered his chest. She liked that he was encouraging her to cast her inhibitions aside, to touch and taste him as eagerly as he was touching and tasting her. They hadn’t even bothered to turn off the lights. Being able to see his expressions and reactions added a whole other dimension.
When her bare skin first came into contact with his, he sucked air between his teeth and held her still as if he needed a moment to recover. “You’ve got me so excited I can hardly breathe,” he whispered hoarsely.
She loved the power that knowledge gave her. He probably realized she would or he wouldn’t have made the admission. He was generous that way, and she appreciated it. “There’s just one problem…”
He gazed up at her. “What is it?”
“I don’t want to hurt your leg.”
Even the guttural sound of his laugh made her happy. “I don’t want you to worry about that,” he said. “All I can feel is how badly I want you. Kiss me.”
When her mouth met his, Olivia groaned. It felt as if she’d been waiting for this day since the last time he’d kissed her, in high school. Closing her eyes, she parted her lips and welcomed his tongue in her mouth, enjoying the fact that she was in control and he didn’t seem to mind.
“You kiss even better than you feel,” he told her. “Good. Because I want to kiss you again.”
He rolled her beneath him as the kiss grew wetter and more heated. Then, anchoring her hands to the mattress above her head, he lowered his head.
Olivia gasped when his mouth closed over her breast. She was so wound up, so desperate to release the building tension, she wanted to rake her nails down his back. But she could only arch into him because he was still restraining her hands.
“Ah, you like that?” he murmured as his tongue made arousing circles.
She liked him. She almost said so—almost blurted out that these sensations would be meaningless to her if he were anyone else. But she knew that would make him uncomfortable. It’s impossible not to love him, his mother had said. That was true—but it was equally true that he’d never commit.
He spent considerable time on her other breast, the sensitive skin on the inside of her arms and her neck before releasing her wrists. Then she was free to touch him wherever she wanted, and she took full advantage of it—until his mouth returned to hers and his fingers found the part of her that wanted him most.
“Brandon…” Her voice caught on his name.
He was so engrossed it took him a second to respond. “What, sweetheart?”
He sounded dazed. She knew she probably sounded the same. Or maybe she sounded desperate. She was certainly feeling desperate, craved nothing more than the completion he promised.
“Do you have birth control?” she asked. “Because I…I have nothing.”
“I bought some condoms this morning.” His mouth was at her breast again but his fingers…they were torturing her even more sweetly.
“This morning?” she repeated.
He lifted his head long enough to grin at her. “I was thinking positive.” She cocked an eyebrow at him. “Oh, you were.”
“Couldn’t help hoping.”
Catching handfuls of his hair, she laughed as he settled himself between her legs.
“Do it now,” she whispered.
He kissed her tenderly. “I’ve waited a long time for this.”
She liked that they’d left the lights on, that she could see him. He was male beauty and athletic grace. “God, I love—”
He hesitated. “What?” he whispered when she stopped.
She’d been about to say, “Everything about you.” Those exact words almost came out despite her efforts to hold them back, but she managed a more acceptable substitution. “The way you make love.”
He stared down at her. “Thank you. I love the way you make love, too.”
That was nice of him, she thought. He sounded so sincere. Then she locked her legs around his hips, drawing him as deep as possible.
Chapter Eleven
Brandon reached for Olivia before he even opened his eyes, but she was no longer in his bed. His hands met with cool, crisp sheets instead. Only a hint of her perfume remained.
He rolled toward the scent, breathing it in, remembering. Then he shoved himself up on his elbows to listen.
Silence. She wasn’t showering. She wasn’t moving around in the kitchen. She was gone from more than just his bed.
“Damn,” he muttered, disappointed. But at least his leg wasn’t painful. The terrible ache that was becoming such a part of his life had disappeared as completely as Olivia had. Of course, given how often they’d made love in the past three or four hours, he had too many biochemicals flowing through his bloodstream to feel anything unpleasant. But these days he checked for pain every time he woke up because he never knew when just walking was going to be a battle.
Today was a good day. He was exhausted after being up so much of the night, but it was the kind of exhaustion that comes with complete satisfaction. The only thing better would to be to feel her bare skin under his hands one more time.
He almost drifted back to sleep. But then he began to wonder if she was gone until she ran some errands, until after the wedding, or for good.
Dragging himself out of bed, he tested his leg to see if it would complain when he put pressure on it, breathed a sigh of relief when it didn’t and went to check the other bedroom.
“Already?” he grumbled when he saw it. She’d taken her suitcase with her.
***
“Are you really with Kyle’s brother?” Nancy asked.
Olivia had been so busy this morning pulling together the last-minute details of the wedding that she’d managed to avoid spending any time alone with her mother or her sister. To get everything done, she’d had to stay focused. When Nancy and Noelle stopped for lunch, Olivia grabbed a sandwich and moved gratefully on without them to get the right colored candy for the reception.
Fortunately the jars she’d ordered online had arrived. That meant she didn’t have to use the less attractive ones she’d bought yesterday. But now that the chairs, tables and decorations were in place, and the caterers, minister and disc jockey were primed and ready, she only had to make sure everyone was prepared for the photographer at three. So she and her mother were getting a manicure while Noelle was having her hair curled and stacked in an arrangement that could’ve been featured in Bride Magazine.
“No. Brandon and I are just friends,” she said, pretending to be preoccupied with her nails so she wouldn’t have to look up.
“You’re staying with him,” her mother pointed out. “You’re staying with him instead of us.”
The nail tech had left to see to a walk-in customer. Olivia wished she’d come back. “He has an extra room, Mom.”
“You’re saying you slept in it last night?”
Olivia wished she could insist she had. She should’ve stayed in her own bed. She’d been a fool to get up and go find him, a fool to allow herself to get in so far over her head.
Did she want to be mooning over Kyle’s stepbrother for the rest of her life? Definitely not—but she had a feeling it might go that way. She’d never had such a strong reaction to any man. Since they’d been together, she hadn’t been
able to think of anything besides the tender way he’d held her and the feel of his mouth on hers…not to mention the many intimate places he’d put his hands.
She’d come to Whiskey Creek brokenhearted over Kyle and would be leaving brokenhearted over Brandon. That shouldn’t have been possible in such a short time. But it was her own fault. She hadn’t given herself a chance to recover from Kyle before taking on an even bigger threat to her peace of mind.
“More or less,” she muttered when her mother leaned forward, demandin
g an answer to where she’d slept.
“More or less?” Nancy echoed. “Oh, no! Noelle was right. She told me the two of you are sleeping together, but I didn’t want to believe it. I don’t know what’s wrong with you girls. First her, and now you! You’ll do anything to hurt each other.”
“What’s happened between Brandon and me has nothing to do with her or Kyle. We aren’t trying to hurt anyone.”
“Then why are you getting involved with someone so close to both of them?”
“Brandon has never been close to Noelle. He hasn’t even been close to Kyle.
And I’m not ‘getting involved’ with him. I admit things got out of hand this weekend. I—I haven’t been myself, wasn’t prepared to deal with…temptation.” Or not in such a potent form, she added silently. “It’s not every day that your sister gets pregnant by the man you thought you’d marry yourself,” she went on. “Don’t you think that could throw a girl off track?”
Her mother winced, but Olivia could see the nail tech finishing with the other client and wanted to wrap up the conversation before she returned.
“Anyway, it’s over,” she continued. “I’m heading home after the wedding and trying to forget this weekend ever happened.”
“So it’s not an ongoing relationship.”
She pasted a pleasant expression on her face because the nail tech was walking toward them. “Of course not. Brandon’s going backpacking across Nicaragua in two weeks. Then he’s got the ski season. Who knows when he’ll be back in Whiskey Creek? And I’ve already moved my business to Sacramento, just like I planned.” A plan that had sounded so ideal in the beginning but had, in the end, cost her so much.
The worry lines on her mother’s face softened. “That’s a relief.”
“Why would it matter to you?” Olivia asked.
“Our lives are complicated enough at the moment. I don’t like what Noelle has done, but I can’t change it, either. At least I know Kyle will make a good husband. That gives me hope that we can all get past the rough start. I’m not sure I’m convinced of Brandon’s integrity.”
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