by Deanna Chase
“I am? Why?” he asked, eyeing her carefully. A rumble of laughter was starting to build in his chest at the rise he was getting out of her. His friendship with Rex wasn’t in any danger. In fact, he knew Rex had asked her to dance just to get under Brian’s skin. It had been a dare of sorts.
“Because you just are,” she said, sounding exasperated. “I’m not at the winery, am I? I didn’t even know about the event. Instead I’m here with you. That should tell you something.”
A slow smile spread across his face. She was right. It told him everything he needed to know.
An hour later, Brian paid the bill, stood, and held his hand out to her. “Ready for that walk?”
“I’m going to need it after mac and cheese last night and the burger and fries tonight. Jeez. I feel like I’ve gained ten pounds in two days.
He let his gaze roam over her, loving every inch of her curvy figure. “Not possible. But if you did, I’d say it went to all the right places.”
Shannon gave him a look that said he’d lost his mind.
He just laughed and tugged her out of the brewery. The air had turned slightly chilled, and when he noticed gooseflesh pop out on her bare arms, he steered them back to his SUV that was parked in front of Chad’s music store.
“Are we driving somewhere?” Shannon asked with a small frown.
“No. You look chilled.” He opened the back door behind the passenger seat and pulled out a gray zip-up sweatshirt. “I thought you might need this.”
And there was that expression again. The tender one that made him feel as if he could see right into her soul. Damn if that look wasn’t going to be the end of him one of these days.
“Thank you,” she said, slipping it on. The sweatshirt was at least two sizes too big for her, but Brian loved that. There was nothing sexier than seeing the girl you’re crushing on wearing your clothes. It was as if he’d claimed her as his by loaning her a piece of his clothing.
Get a grip, Knox. You’re not in high school, you poor bastard, he told himself. He stifled a chuckle and slipped an arm around her waist, pulling her to his side.
“You’re laughing again. What is it this time?” she asked as they started to make their way down the street toward the river.
“I’m not laughing,” he lied. “I’m just enjoying an evening walk with my future fiancée.” He winked at her, and she blushed. Damn, he liked that.
“Fake fiancée,” she corrected. “And don’t get presumptuous. You might’ve started off strong, but who’s to say you won’t have a weak finish?”
Brian stopped in his tracks and stared down at her, both eyebrows raised. “Weak finish? Are you kidding me? I’m a closer. I always get the job done.” His voice had gone smoky, and there was no hiding the desire there. He reached up and brushed a lock of hair out of her eyes as he added, “Trust me on this one.”
Shannon licked her lips just as she dropped her gaze to his mouth.
Hell. She was going to kill him, wasn’t she? “Shannon, if you keep looking at me like that, I’m going to kiss the ever-loving hell out of you.”
“Okay,” she breathed.
That was it. He was done. There was no holding back. She’d given him the go-ahead, and nothing on earth was going to stop him now. He pressed both of his palms to her cheeks and leaned in until his lips were barely an inch from hers. But as much as he wanted her, he needed to be certain she was just as into this as he was. “You’re sure?”
Shannon reached out, grabbed his shirt with her fist, yanked him the rest of the way so that their bodies were pressed together, and answered by covering his mouth with hers.
His hands immediately slipped into her hair as he tilted her head to the side for easier access. The kiss was hot and hungry. They’d been doing this ritual dance for months, and now it was as if they were both starving.
Shannon let go of his shirt, slipped her arms around his waist, and started to glide her fingers up and down his back. Her touch was heaven, but not nearly as magical as her mouth. Gods, he loved the way she tasted of salt and cider and something slightly sweet.
“You taste like sugar cookies,” she murmured against his lips.
He pulled back and chuckled. “What? How is that possible?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know, but I freakin’ love sugar cookies.”
In the next instant, her lips were on his again. By the time they pulled apart, they were both breathing heavily. Brian pressed his forehead to hers and whispered, “Do you have any idea how much I want to take you home right now?”
She let out a slow breath. “About as much as I want to take you home.”
Brian let out a low growl. “Dammit, Shannon. Don’t say things like that unless you mean it.”
“Oh, I mean it.” But even as she said the words, she pulled back and bit her bottom lip. “The problem is I need to get home and talk to Silas. He’s going to need to talk to me about the lawyer.”
“Right.” Brian closed his eyes, trying to will his body to calm down. “Of course you do. Can I walk you home or did you drive to work?”
“I walked, but I thought we were headed to the river,” she said.
“Shannon, if I take you down to the river, I’m ninety-five percent sure I’m going to try to get you naked under one of the trees. As much as I would love to spend some more time with you, it might be best if we call it a night.”
She threw her head back and laughed.
“Oh, like you wouldn’t be thinking about it?” He eyed her, all but challenging her to deny his claim.
“You’re right. I would be. I just find it extremely amusing that you’re so open about it. I like that.” She pressed up onto her tiptoes and brushed her lips over his one last time. “It’s part of the reason why I like you so much. I love that you don’t hold your thoughts back… Well, you usually don’t.”
Her expression had turned rueful, and he was certain he knew exactly what she was talking about. The memory of the night when he’d walked out on her flashed in his mind, and the image was so vivid it made him take a step back and run a hand down his face.
“Do you think you’ll ever tell me what really happened that night?” she asked.
He jerked his head back up, surprised she’d been so blunt about it. Though he shouldn’t have been. That was just Shannon’s personality and one of the reasons he found her so attractive. “Yeah. I’ll tell you on the way back to your house.”
Chapter Ten
Shannon was quiet as she walked side by side with Brian down Main Street. She desperately wanted to hear why he’d rejected her that night, but she also suspected it was something deeply personal that he wasn’t comfortable talking about. It was better to let him find his way into the conversation rather than push it. He’d already said he’d tell her. She just needed to wait him out.
They’d gone quite a few blocks and had just turned down one of the pretty tree-lined residential streets when he asked, “Have you ever heard about Sienna? Skye’s biological mother?”
“A little bit. Not much to be honest. I know she used to be engaged to Jacob,” she said carefully. She’d heard that there’d been quite a bit of drama. That Jacob had been engaged to her and she’d left him for Brian. That along with a messy paternity situation had been entirely too Days of our Lives for her.
Brian let out a bitter laugh. “Yeah. She was. But she told me it was over.”
Shannon wanted to keep her mouth shut, wait for him to continue, and let him get it all out before she commented, but she couldn’t stop her mouth. The words just flew out. “So you slept with your best friend’s ex?”
Brian winced.
“Dammit. Sorry. I didn’t mean to say that.” She clamped her hand over her mouth and wished for the ground to open up and swallow her whole. Judging Brian for a past mistake wasn’t fair. And she didn’t have any of the details.
“It’s all right. It’s a question I’d be asking, too. The short answer is yes. I slept with her. There are a few thi
ngs you should know for context, though.”
Context? What did context have to do with anything when it came to messing around with your best friend’s girl? Wasn’t that against the bro code or something?
“I can see those wheels turning in your head, Shannon,” he said, sounding resigned.
“Are they that loud?” She was grateful when her tone sounded sympathetic rather than like Judgey McJudgey Pants. No one needed that energy.
“Very,” he said. “Anyway, as I was saying… I’d been half in love with Sienna for years. But for obvious reasons, I never acted on my feelings.”
“That’s rough, having feelings for someone who is unlikely to be able to reciprocate.”
“Yeah. It was. I kept trying to date other people, but I never felt even half as much with them as I did Sienna.”
Gods. Was he still in love with her? Is that why he hadn’t been able to sleep with her that night? And if so, what had changed?
Brian continued as if he hadn’t sent her into a tailspin of what-ifs. “Then she showed up on my front step, declaring that the engagement with Jacob was off and saying she needed somewhere to stay until she found a new place. Obviously, I let her in. It was late, so I set her up in a guest room and decided I’d call Jacob in the morning to let him know she was with me.”
“Did you call him?” Shannon asked, somehow already knowing the answer.
“No. Like I said, it was late. Sienna was a mess. I led her into the kitchen so she could tell me what happened. We ended up drinking a fair amount of tequila, and then we went to bed… in separate bedrooms. Even though I had feelings for her, I wasn’t interested in taking advantage of someone who was an emotional mess. Not to mention I didn’t want to hurt Jacob.
“It sounds like you were trying to do the right thing,” Shannon said, trying to be supportive.
“Obviously I didn’t try hard enough,” he said with a scoff.
Shannon paused when they ended up in front of her house. “I take that to mean you found a way to crawl into her bed anyway?”
“I didn’t crawl into hers. She crawled into mine,” he said bitterly. “By the time I was fully alert enough to understand what was going on, we were already way past the point of no return if you know what I mean.”
“She… took advantage of you.” Shannon said it so quietly he barely heard her.
“I guess that’s true to a certain extent, but it wasn’t as if I was unhappy when I realized I was sleeping with the woman I’d been crushing on for years.” His bitterness had only intensified, and Shannon contemplated telling him he could stop. That she’d heard enough. But before she could get the words out, he started talking again. “The next morning, I couldn’t stomach the idea of calling Jacob to tell him I’d taken up right where he’d left off. So I just didn’t.”
“I can understand that,” Shannon said, placing a hand over his heart. “You didn’t intentionally try to hurt anyone.”
“Maybe not, but I found out later that they weren’t even broken up yet. Sienna had lied to me. And not only that, but she told me she was pregnant with my child.”
“Skye,” Shannon added, as if either of them needed a reminder of the child in question.
“Yep. Sienna said she was mine, and I had no reason to not believe her. Not then anyway. The truth that Jacob was her biological dad came out much later.” His shoulders tightened as his voice broke on the word later.
“I don’t know what to say, Brian, other than that’s a really effed-up situation,” Shannon said, having no idea how to lend rock-solid support for this one.
“You don’t need to say anything, really. It’s in the past, and I’m over Sienna. I have my best friend back, and now there’s Skye.” His lips turned up into a sweet smile as he said the little girl’s name. “I’m not her dad, but I am her godfather. Jacob and Yvette are happy to let me take her off their hands periodically, so it’s not like I lost her from my life.”
“But…?” Shannon prompted. He’d started this story as preamble for why he’d run out of her bedroom. There had to be more.
He let out a humorless laugh. “But… for months I took care of Sienna. She had a mental health crisis and needed someone. I was her only real emotional support, and that was fine right up until she dropped the bomb that Jacob was the baby’s father, not me. I lost almost everything twice because of her.”
“Your friendship with Jacob and your daughter,” Shannon said, trying to ignore the ache in her chest.
“And Sienna. I did love her. In my own way,” he said, this time not looking at Shannon.
“All right, but what does that have to do with me?” Shannon finally prompted.
He didn’t hesitate to look her in the eye. “I haven’t slept with anyone since that disastrous night, Shannon. It’s not that I don’t want to. I do. Very much. But I guess I’m also partly terrified that if I get involved with someone I really care about it’s going to blow up in my face again.”
As Brian’s gaze bored into Shannon’s, she couldn’t shake the full-body shudder that overtook her. The gorgeous man in front of her just told her, in his own way, that he’d freaked when she’d invited him to bed because he was afraid of losing her.
“I’m not interested in a hot fling or a one-night stand,” he said. “I want something that lasts, and I guess, in my mind, sex before an emotional connection is the kiss of death.”
Had he really just said that he didn’t want a one-and-done relationship? That he cared enough to pass up sex? That meant he wanted more from a relationship. And she was just the girl who could give it to him.
“I don’t want to mess this up with you, Shannon,” he said. “I like you far too much.”
Shannon felt her cheeks flush again and dipped her head, trying to hide it.
He laughed. “You’re damned cute when you’re laughing and turning all shades of purple.”
“Ha, ha. Funny.” Only it wasn’t funny at all. Brian had just confirmed that, given half a chance, he wanted a relationship. But did she? Staring at him with a fresh perspective, she took in his long limbs and muscular arms and decided there was far more to him than she’d ever realized. She hadn’t given him nearly enough credit. The fact was, she knew exactly what she’d been craving all along.
Family, connections, commitment. She wanted it all and had known it for a while. Was there a possibility Brian wanted that, too? Maybe, but did he want it enough to overcome his fear of commitment and/or abandonment? She was suddenly more than willing to find out.
“Come here,” she said softly.
Brian didn’t hesitate. His arms went around her, and the two of them hugged as if there were no tomorrow. Then he brushed his lips over her jaw. All it took was a turn of her head, and their lips met again. The kiss was passionate, desperate, full of emotion. And although she’d already declared that he shouldn’t come inside, Shannon couldn’t just walk away and wait an entire week to see him again.
“Will you come here for dinner tomorrow? I have the afternoon off. I’m not the most fabulous cook, but I do a few things well.”
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” he said quickly, all the weariness draining right off him and into the atmosphere.
“Just don’t break my heart,” Shannon said. Then she turned around and disappeared into the house.
Chapter Eleven
“So. Looks like you’ve decided to stop torturing the poor bastard,” Silas said from his spot on the couch in the living room.
Shannon tossed her keys into the bowl next to the front door and smirked at her brother. “Nosy much?”
“It’s not nosy when you’re making out right next to the window. It’s not like I could miss all the spit-swapping and butt-groping.”
“No one was groping anyone’s butt.” Not that she hadn’t wanted to. Goodness that man was hot.
Silas snickered. “Please. You were five seconds from mauling him.”
“That’s…” She shook her head. “We are not talking abo
ut this.”
A bark of laughter followed her as she made her way into the kitchen to make a half pot of decaf coffee.
Silas appeared and pulled a cheesecake out of the refrigerator. Without even asking, he served up two slices.
Shannon glanced over and smiled to herself. He knew her so well. She took his cue and poured two cups of coffee then joined him at the table.
“Thanks, Sis.”
“Right back at ya.”
They took a moment to savor their dessert, but after a few bites, Shannon couldn’t wait any longer. “What did Lorna say?”
The small smile he’d been wearing since she’d arrived home quickly vanished. “It’s not worth it. She says six months. The media storm and the hell Mom will cause between now and my birthday are too big a cost.”
Shannon was afraid of that. “You know she can’t force you to do anything you don’t want to do, right?”
“She can if she blackmails me,” he said glumly.
“So, let’s work through the worst-case scenarios. She torpedoes any new offers that come in over the next eight months. You still have your show. The minute you turn eighteen, you can fire her and go with someone you trust.”
“Someone like you?” he asked hopefully.
“Don’t start with that,” she said with a laugh. He’d been telling her for years he wished she was his manager instead of their mother. While she understood where he was coming from, Shannon was far from the ideal candidate. She didn’t have the connections needed for that type of work. “I’d be terrible for your career.”
He sat up straighter and stared her dead in the eye. “No. You wouldn’t. Listen, Shan, I’m not sure you understand what has happened since Timekeeper Academy has taken off. Offers roll in on their own. And if I want something, all Mom has to do is make a phone call. That leads to either a private audition or a meeting with the casting director or even sometimes the producers. It’s not like it was before. Doors are wide open. What I need is someone who understands me and will advocate for what I want, not the biggest paycheck or how to turn me into some global tabloid name that has nothing to do with the acting I want to do.”