Out of the Blue

by Dee J. Adams

  Her big sis had spent significant dough to repair this place. Casey owed her a chunk of change. Knowing Zoe, she’d wave her hand and say, “I’ll put it on your tab.” Her big sis made serious money working as a realtor. She’d tapped into the neighborhoods of the mega-famous and her portion of any sale equaled hundreds of thousands of dollars at one pop. The fact that she sold multiple houses a year made her a very wealthy woman. A fact she worked hard to hide from the average eye. She lived in a nice condo in Brentwood and invested her money to make even more. Casey was proud of her big sis, but it was hard to accept her constant generosity when Casey couldn’t pay her back. Although now, she had the opportunity. All she had to do was write a hit song. Or two. Possibly more if the gods were looking down on her kindly.

  The opening notes of Bob Seger’s “Old Time Rock and Roll” played and Casey reached for her phone in her bag. Brendan. It was only a matter of time before he called. She stared at his name and number on the screen, debated answering. She’d have to face him one of these days.

  He knew she was fine. He’d probably seen the note on the counter to his parents. The threat was gone with Mitch being dead, so she didn’t have anything to worry about… Unless she counted Jeff, which she didn’t. She had no plans to open the door blindly anymore. He wouldn’t catch her alone in her apartment unless he broke in and she didn’t see that happening.

  Still, after everything they’d been through, she couldn’t ghost him again. She swiped the screen. “Hello.”

  “Hello?” He sounded way too calm as he matched her tone. He was royally pissed. Good. So was she. “Is that all you have? Just hello?”

  “Look, I’m fine Brendan. I’m at home. I’m about to start working, so…” She took a deep breath. “Thanks for everything the past few days. I mean it. But it’s time I got back to the real world.”

  “Are you blowing me off?” She’d never heard him so upset and a piece of her crumbled inside. “What the hell happened? One minute we’re about to get your car and the next you’ve fucking disappeared. Gone. Not a word, nothing. Again. What the…what am I supposed to think, Casey?”

  What was she supposed to think after what he said? “Look, I heard your conversation on the phone. Not all of it, but enough to know that what you’ve said and how you really feel are two different things. Okay, maybe you felt sorry for me. Whatever. You don’t have to see me again. I’m trying to make it easier for you.”

  “Easier for me?” He sounded incredulous. “Ripping my heart out is what you call easier?”

  There was a knock on the door and Casey jumped a mile as she spun around.

  “It’s me,” Brendan said in the phone. “I’m at the door. Would you please open the door?”

  Casey’s cheeks burned. Numbly she disconnected the phone and opened the door. She wished she was stronger, wished she didn’t have her heart in her throat or on her sleeve. But looking at the same pain on his face only hurt worse.

  “What are you making easier for me, Case?” he asked softly. He shoved his phone in his pocket.

  “I know how you really feel,” she said just as quietly. “I heard you on the phone. I’m insecure. It’s not attractive. Relationships after one night stands suck. I heard it all.”

  He dropped his chin to his chest and exhaled before meeting her gaze. “May I come in?”

  She shook her head. “No. We should just say good-bye right here. Right now.” Even though it was going to rip her heart out.

  “You know what you didn’t hear when you listened to my half of the conversation?” Some of his anger returned. “You didn’t hear my brother on the other end of the phone! You didn’t hear him ask me for advice on getting rid of a one-night stand who won’t stop tailing him.”

  “But you said my name. Then you started talking about me.”

  “Bullshit, I did.” He looked around. “Can we finish this conversation inside? The last time I stood in this spot I got shot.”

  Oh, God, she hadn’t even thought of that. “Yes, I’m sorry. Come in.” She stood aside and closed the door behind him, her heart slamming against her ribs.

  He reached the middle of the room and turned. “I can’t believe you left without a god damn word, Case. That kills me. You have no idea how much that hurt.”

  “I didn’t think you wanted me around af—”

  “After hearing my side of a stupid conversation with my brother, who by the way has serious issues with keeping his pants zipped. He had a one-night stand that won’t leave him alone, so he called me for advice. He thinks because I work for a rock star, all I do is have one nighters and dump them afterward.”

  Casey’s chest got tight and a sliver of hope sent a ray of light through her dark heart. “Really?” She barely got the word out.

  He ran a frustrated hand through his thick hair. “Yes, really. You seriously have not been listening to a word I’ve said, have you? I care about you, Casey. A lot. A whole fucking lot. And I thought you cared about me. When you care about someone, it means you talk things out. You don’t run away.”

  “I know.” She covered her face with her hands before meeting his gaze. “This is all new to me. I just heard you and I ran.” She shook her head, terrified that she screwed it all up.

  Brendan glanced at the ceiling and exhaled. “I’m trying to tell you that I love you, Casey. I love you. I don’t want you to run away from me. I want you to come to me. I want to talk things out. I want to hold you. I want to console you when you’re sad or upset.”

  What? A knot lodged in her throat and she swallowed it back. “You love me?”

  Brendan opened his mouth then shut it. “Shit,” he hissed. “That was not how I envisioned telling you that.” He met her gaze, his eyes soulful. No trace of anger there. “Yes, I love you. I think I’ve loved you since that first day in Hawaii. I fell hard for you, Case.”

  She swallowed again. “But I told you I’m not that person, remember?”

  He nodded. “I remember. But I think you’re wrong. You are that person. Deep down, you’re strong. You’re capable. You fight for what you want, for what you believe in. You stand up for yourself and the ones you love.”

  This was nothing like Jeff. This was the reason she’d fallen so hard for Brendan in the first place. He said stuff no one had ever said to her before. Her eyes stung and her chest tightened.

  A few steps brought him right in front of her. “So yes, I love you, all the parts of you, even the screwed up parts that don’t trust what we have. What we can have if you give me a shot, if you trust me.” He took a tear away with a gentle swipe of his thumb.

  She was totally screwed up. She knew that. “I thought I knew what love was,” she said, trying to make him understand. “I thought I was in love, but I wasn’t. With Jeff, it was about doing things right and getting acceptance. It was about pleasing him all the time and being good and doing the right thing.”

  “I know. I’m not him.” His soft words tore down the last bit of wall that she’d been holding up.

  “I know.” She closed her eyes, nodded. “I know.” She had to quit comparing him to Jeff. Time to pull her head out of her ass and see him for the man he was.

  Brendan waited for Casey to decide. She looked completely torn up, with her eyes shut tight and her forehead furrowed. The answer came now, as far as he was concerned. She either trusted him or didn’t. She wanted him or didn’t. He’d have to accept whatever it was. He didn’t think he had the fortitude of his twin brother. Didn’t think he could hold out for a year or more waiting for Casey to work through her issues. Maybe it made him a dick. But honestly, he was only human. She’d caught his attention and held it from day one. He loved her humor and her creativity and couldn’t help but be floored by her beauty too.

  He took her non-answer as her reply and his heart never felt heavier. He would give his life for her…hell he nearly had. The sad truth stared him in the face. She didn’t feel the same way. Maybe she never would. Maybe she was right in the first pla
ce when she said she needed to get over the douchebag before moving on. Who knew how long that would take?

  Instead of waiting for the rejection he saw on her face, he brushed by her and headed for the door.

  “Brendan!”

  He stopped and forced himself to face her. “What?”

  “Don’t go. Please don’t go.”

  He clenched his jaw. Didn’t dream that her stopping him was a good thing. “Why? Give me a reason to stay.” That’s all he needed. One good reason.

  She stared at him and the agony in her eyes turned to something else. Something Brendan didn’t dare hope for. “Because you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. You, your whole family has supported me more in the last few days than my parents have in years. I was stupid for staying with Jeff for long. I’d be even stupider to let you walk out the door.”

  Brendan let her words penetrate his tattered heart and slowly, second by second, she reeled him in.

  “After everything you’ve done for me, I shouldn’t have run out the way I did. I should’ve asked you about it face to face instead of letting my imagination run wild.” She closed the distance between them, her steps tentative. “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t apologize.” He stepped closer too. “I don’t want you to apologize.” That was a sore spot for her. She’d told him as much. How she’d end up apologizing to Jeff for shit that wasn’t her fault. Maybe she had made some mistakes, but she realized it and that was all he wanted. “As long as you won’t run again. As long as we agree to talk everything out, it doesn’t matter.”

  Here they were. Face to face. A new beginning? He hoped so, but she still hadn’t reciprocated with the three little words that had spilled from his mouth.

  “It’s okay. I can say I’m sorry when I’m wrong,” she said quietly. “I was wrong to run. Apologies worked for whatshisname because I fed into it. It’s what I thought I had to do for him to love me. But I won’t go back to that again,” she hurried to say when he began shaking his head. “Unless it’s required. Like now. I’m sorry.” She moved even closer. Close enough to bring her mouth inches from his. “Do you forgive me?”

  With barely a shake of his head, Brendan did. His brain was starting to short circuit with having her so close. The flowery scent of her shampoo and lushness of those irresistible lips fogged his senses.

  “That was a yes, right?” Her words whispered over his mouth and her aqua eyes sparkled with hope.

  “Yeah.” He barely choked the word out.

  “Okay, good.” She wrapped her hands around his neck and got even closer, bringing them tightly together. “Can I seal it with a kiss?”

  Fuck it. It wasn’t what Brendan wanted. He wanted the words, but he wouldn’t turn this down for a million bucks, because it was a start. Maybe she didn’t love him now, but he didn’t need now as long he had hope for the future.

  Brendan sealed it for her. He bent the inch needed to put their lips together and kissed her. He didn’t attack. He loved. He brushed his lips over hers, wanted her to feel how much this moment meant to him.

  Chapter Thirty

  Casey soaked up having Brendan so close. She loved the way his lips teased hers with feather-light strokes and sweet seduction. But she wanted more. She wanted him to know she meant what she said. She was sorry and she wanted another chance with him.

  How many people got a second chance like this? A chance for that once in a lifetime thing that seemed so elusive. She’d thought she had to compromise to find love. To be someone she wasn’t to find a man who loved her. Brendan knew the woman she was and the woman she wanted to be and he loved all parts of her. The realization opened her heart.

  She took his kiss a step farther and darted her tongue across his lips, requesting entry. When he opened his mouth to her, she met his tongue in a sweet dance of sin. He tasted warm and minty. He tasted like Brendan. Sweet, brave and all hers.

  He loved her! The longer they kissed the more she realized what she had, what she’d nearly lost, and she wanted to make sure he knew she wouldn’t take him for granted anymore.

  What was the quickest way to get her point across?

  Show him.

  Then tell him! God, she hadn’t even said the words. He’d put everything out there and she’d just glossed right over it.

  That night in Hawaii had been magical. Hours of skin time. Kissing. Touching. Rolling together on a king-sized bed, giving and taking… That’s what she wanted now, and all day. Screw songwriting. She’d come up with a song later. Now belonged to Brendan.

  Casey slowly edged him backward, easing him around the furniture toward her bedroom.

  “What are you doing?” he asked between long, soul-destroying kisses.

  “Taking you to my bed for make-up sex.”

  He pulled back before she laid another kiss on him. “Casey, I didn’t mean for this…for my coming here today…to be about sex.”

  “You talk way too much.” She snagged his lips and he didn’t argue. He palmed her head and kept her sealed to his mouth. They made it right next to the bed, but the second she came up for air, he jumped in where he left off.

  “Look, seriously. If you need more time to process, I understand. I just wanted to clear the air with you.”

  “I think we’re crystal clear,” she murmured, taking a nibble from his neck. He shivered. She hid her smile before meeting his gaze. “Unless you don’t want to have make-up sex.”

  He looked so serious with eyebrows furrowed and his blue eyes full of concern. “That’s not it.” His stroked his hand down her side and her lids got heavier. “You know how much I want you. But I don’t want to rush you into anything either. I know Hawaii was a turning point and I know what I said about recreating it, but we can’t.” He shook his head. “I mean we can, but we can’t, because we can’t go back to that night. It won’t change that we’ll always have that night though.” His lips lifted in a grin. “It was amazing. One of the best nights of my life.”

  That same damn knot lodged in her throat again. She brushed her thumb along his scraped jaw and smiled into those serious sweet eyes that melted her. “Hawaii was great, but what’s about to happen here is going to be even better. You know why?” He shook his head, but didn’t interrupt her. “Because we didn’t love each other in Hawaii, and we do now.” Her words registered in on his face. “You heard me.” She stroked her lips across his. “I love you.” She held his head and looked him in the eyes. “I wasn’t even thinking about meeting someone new. Someone who might be the one, but you showed up anyway. You snuck under my skin. I’ve been so busy pushing you away that I wasn’t taking the time to realize that maybe I met you for a reason. What if there is no time frame on when you’re supposed to meet the right person or fall in love?”

  He blinked and she saw the emotion she felt mirrored in his eyes. “I love you. Right now, I want to show you how much. I want to thank you for being patient with me. For understanding that I had to work through some stuff to get to this point.” She ran her bottom lip through her teeth. “Want to know a secret? I haven’t been able to get Sunday night out of my head. I’m so crazy hot for you, I feel like I might implode.”

  The heat in his eyes made her flush. “Are you done talking yet?” he whispered, a smile creeping back onto his lips. He eased the sling over his head and Casey’s heart chugged along faster.

  She played it cool, canted her head and looked up as if considering something she might have forgotten. He laughed and pulled her against him in a giant hug. A Brendan hug with both arms wrapped around her tight. Casey let her happiness shine through as two fat tears leaked down her cheeks.

  “I love you,” he whispered fiercely.

  She pulled back and looked into his eyes. “I so feel a song coming on.” She kissed the grin right off his face at the same time she eased her hands beneath his T-shirt and stroked her palms up his abs to his chest. His groan rumbled through her. He didn’t need any coaxing as he helped her remove the shirt com
pletely.

  “Are you sure your shoulder is up to this?” she asked.

  “It’s not my shoulder that’s up for this, trust me,” he breathed, reassuring her with a joke. “Make-up sex, huh?” he said between deep, hot kisses.

  “Oh yeah,” she breathed. “Lots of it.”

  He groaned again before taking her mouth a little harder, crushing his lips over hers like a starving man. She loved his intensity, his strength. He pulled back quickly and had her shirt over her head in seconds, then stopped, looked her in the eyes and let his gaze roam lower to her chest. He stroked his thumbs along the edge of her lacey bra, sending darts of need straight between her legs and making her nipples press against the thin material. “I could stare at you forever,” he said softly.

  “You want to take it off, or should I?” Casey asked, hoping to find that brave girl from Hawaii.

  His gaze drilled into hers. “I want to.” Taking his time, he unclasped the front closer and slowly let the cups pull away to reveal her breasts. The erotic scratch and slide of the material rubbed against her protruding nipples and Casey closed her eyes, imagining his mouth and hands on the same spot. “You’re so sexy like that, Case.” He nuzzled her neck and his warm breath fluttered over her skin. “I want to make this last forever.”

  God that sounded good. To block out everything else. To forget everything they’d gone through the last few weeks and concentrate on each other.

  He pulled back, and looking into his eyes she saw regret. “I only have a few hours,” he said. “Seger called after my brother and I need to do a few things for him later today.”