Making the Grade

by Marie Harte

  Brian’s hands found her waist, then her breasts and stayed there.

  Faith had every intention of slowing things down, just as soon as she could catch her breath—until he cupped her breasts and gently pinched her nipples.

  Her celibate streak was ending. Tonight.

  “Brian. God.” She yanked him back to kiss her and kneaded his thick shoulders, wanting to get closer. She couldn’t think, on fire to have him inside her.

  Somehow she lost her shirt and bra and was rubbing up against his naked chest. Crawling closer to get where she needed to be, she straddled his lap, aware of his mouth on her breast and his hands on her ass, toying with the thong now wet against her.

  He pulled it, grazing her clit, and she crested the edge of climax. Slow down, Faith. Your hormones are leading you in the wrong.

  Screw that, she told her subconscious. I need this.

  “In me. Now,” she panted before diving in to kiss him again. She grazed his chest with her nails, and he bucked as he fiddled with his pants. Reaching down to help him, she gripped a very thick, very long cock.

  Heaven, if she could just hold off her looming orgasm long enough to come around him.

  Feeling him fumble beneath her, she took the matter out of his hands and ripped open the condom he’d been holding, then squirmed out of his hold to kneel before him. A glance showed his eyes heavy lidded, his chest rising and falling, his cock flushed and wet at the tip.

  She couldn’t help herself and leaned down to lick him.

  “Faith. Fuck. I’m gonna come so hard. Put it on me.”

  She slid the condom on him, and before she could do anything else, he dragged her up over him. He didn’t even bother to take off her thong. Instead, he pulled the string to the side and slid his thick shaft all the way inside her.

  She came on a cry, bombarded by sensation. Brian pulled her down for another kiss while he ground up into her. Some frantic pumps, then he swore as he shuddered, coming inside her.

  Faith clamped down on him, her orgasm long and powerful. Jesus, she’d never come so hard before. And from so little foreplay.

  He shifted inside her, and she moaned, loving the feel of him. The scent, touch and taste of the man went straight to her head.

  She leaned down to kiss him, thanking him with more than words.

  He kissed her back, and for a few moments she felt nothing but bliss.

  She knew the moment he pulled back. He tensed, then eased her up off him.

  “Let me go take care of this,” he said gruffly, nodding down at his condom.

  She watched him go, dazed and unable to do more than put her shirt back on, sans the bra, and lower her skirt. When he returned from the bathroom, he looked presentable enough. But the flush and replete look in his eyes gave him away.

  “That was amazing,” he said, looking her over.

  She smiled. “It was.” She couldn’t help blushing. From zero to sixty after one kiss. So much for going slow with this new relationship. “Brian, I—”

  “Guess I’ll head out now. I have work early in the morning, unfortunately.” He bent down to kiss her. To take the sting out of his rejection? “I had a wonderful time. We’ll have to do this again, Faith. Happy Valentine’s Day.” He smiled, but the gesture lacked warmth.

  Then he was out the door and gone.

  Confused and not sure what the hell had just happened, Faith went over the night’s events in excruciating detail. He couldn’t have had any problem with the evening or the sex. Not after she’d come seconds before he had. Yet she had the feeling she’d just been tenderly, politely blown off after having had the best sex of her life.

  He didn’t call the next day, or the next. She canceled her weekly therapy appointment, indulged in some superfattening ice cream and worked her ass off at the office. When Brian still hadn’t called by Friday, she knew she’d been right.

  After leaving work for another blah weekend—dateless, angry and hopeless about relationships—Faith pondered what to do. Instead of giving in to the good cry she could feel building inside her, she yanked on her workout clothes and jumped on her tread climber. Half an hour later, she continued to exercise while Snapped played on the television, cursing Brian Goode with every step.

  After a miserable week spent analyzing what the hell was so wrong with him that he couldn’t stop thinking about a money-grubbing brunette who’d made him come in two seconds, Brian banged on his sister’s door without regard for time. He didn’t care that it was a Saturday morning, or that it was barely past six. This couldn’t wait.

  Her lover Harper answered the door, wearing a scowl and a pair of boxers. “Brian?”

  “I want to talk to Freddy. Move it, Conan.”

  “Are you fucking kidding me? It’s six a.m.”

  Brian stormed past him. “Is she up?” He knew she wasn’t, but he was pissed and needed to share.

  Dylan Warren, Freddy’s second significant other, appeared in the living room with a concerned expression. “Brian? Is everything all right?”

  “No, everything is not fucking all right. Freddy,” he yelled. “Get your sorry ass out here. Right. Now.”

  His sister appeared, looking like a discontented fairy. Same blond hair as Brian, but pixie short, standing up in clumps, and she wore a scowl to go with her bloodshot eyes.

  “What the hell, Brian?”

  He grabbed her by the overlarge sleeve of the men’s shirt she wore and dragged her past her startled lovers. “Why the hell did you set me up with Faith?”

  “Um, you made me?”

  “I asked you for her number.”

  “Blackmailed me into it, actually.”

  “Because I wanted a date with a nice woman. Not another money-grubbing witch.” Angered all over again at himself for falling back on bad habits—ignoring how amazing sex with Faith had been—he took out his frustration on his sister. “I thought you had my back. Aren’t you the one who said you’d help me screen the gold diggers? You practically threw me at her.”

  She blinked at him, the sudden clarity leaching through her fog and widening her light-blue eyes. “Oh, er. Faith.”

  Dylan joined her side and frowned. “What’s going on?”

  Harper groaned, the giant dropping into the couch behind them. “I knew this was going to bite you in the ass, Smurfette.”

  “Shut up, Harper.” Freddy squirmed under Dylan’s and Brian’s stares.

  Brian frowned. “I know that look. What did you do?” She had the same guilty expression she’d worn as a kid whenever she was up to no good. He could read his sister like a book. Apparently so could her boyfriends.

  “Freddy.” Dylan crossed his arms over his chest. “Faith is a patient. You said you only wanted her number to go out for coffee. Not for Brian. You promised you wouldn’t interfere with his pitiful social life in any way.”

  “Pitiful? Thanks a lot.” Brian groaned. His whole fucking week went from bad to worse. “Dylan, tell me you’re not Faith’s therapist. You told me she was a nice woman.”

  “She is a nice woman.”

  “With a smokin’ hot rack,” Harper muttered.

  Freddy glared at him.

  “What? You know it’s true.”

  Dylan sighed. “What Faith and I discuss is confidential—”

  “Fuck me sideways.” Brian let his sister go.

  “I take it the date didn’t go well?” Freddy asked. “She refused to talk to Hailey about it. I know. I asked.”

  Brian shot her a look that had her taking a step back behind Dylan.

  “Uh-oh.”

  Dylan pulled her out from behind him and forced her to the couch next to Harper, who sat her on his lap and kept her in place with his massive arms. “Talk, woman.”

  “It’s not my fault. It’s not,” she insisted. “It’s Hailey’s.”

  God, it was almost incestuous. The three Warren brothers and their girlfriends were fucking up Brian’s life. And one of those girlfriends happened to be his own sister!r />
  Dylan frowned. “What does Hailey have to do with this? Wait. Did Derrick put her up to it?” Derrick, Dylan’s twin brother, had been known to screw with Dylan on occasion. But Hailey, from what little Brian knew of her, was a genuinely sweet woman who was engaged to the youngest Warren brother—Gage. So why the hell would Derrick be involved?

  “Christ, my head hurts. There are only three Warrens, right? Or is a fourth going to come out of the woodwork to screw with me too?” Brian stood over his sister, his arms crossed, his temper frayed and ready to explode if Freddy didn’t open her mouth and explain. “Talk.”

  “Fine.” She blew out a breath and her bangs fluffed. “You were so hot and bothered to go out with Faith that I had Hailey plead your case. Except Faith hates rich guys, so we kind of lied and said you were a friend of a friend and had no money. Strictly lower-middle class.”

  Brian just stared at her, his mind buzzing. Suddenly, all those money comments and Faith’s humor about them took on an all-new meaning. She hadn’t been playing with him for his wealth, but teasing him good-naturedly, one friend to another. In a restaurant she must have thought he’d splurged on. Fuck.

  “What?” Dylan asked.

  Harper groaned. “Oh boy. Freddy, I’m gathering your small untruth didn’t go well. Brian does not seem like a happy camper.” He frowned past Brian at something on the wall. “Fuck, man. It’s not even eight on my day off. Freddy, tell the man all of it.”

  Brian had the satisfaction of seeing her cringe before his temporary joy faded. Annoyed with himself, his sister and life in general, he glared at her and kept his mouth shut before he said something he’d regret.

  Freddy looked genuinely shamefaced. “I’m so sorry, Brian. When you first tried to talk to her, Faith wouldn’t return your calls, and she’s so perfect for you. So I thought if we convinced her you weren’t one of the rich, assholey types she used to date, you two would hit it off. I mean, Hailey, Sydney and Faith are tight, and we all love you. I thought between the three of us, we could help Faith find a guy worth dating. From your entrance this morning, I can see I screwed up.”

  Before she could pester him for details, Brian stopped her. “No. Don’t ask. Not now.” He turned and left, slamming the door behind him.

  He’d made a real hash of things. Mostly not his fault, but still, he could have been less of a dick and tried to talk Faith honestly about what he wanted. If he had, he would have realized she was so much more than he’d thought. By now, she’d realized he hadn’t called her on purpose.

  Maybe.

  He hadn’t been a complete prick last week. There might be a way to salvage things. He had to get her to give him a second chance. The question now was how to smooth over that blunder with the woman he’d half fallen in love with upon first sight.

  Faith glared at her best friend. Stupid Hailey. A blond bombshell with large breasts, glorious hair and a softly rounded belly just beginning to show her pregnancy, she had the nerve to have found one of only three Mr. Rights in all of Augusta, Georgia.

  “I’m not talking about him,” Faith insisted. “We went through this.”

  For the past week, she’d done her best to avoid Hailey’s inquisition. And Sydney’s, and Freddy’s, and her friends Amy’s and Beth’s as well. But she’d run out of options, because Hailey refused to budge from her front door.

  “I brought chocolate.” Hailey held up a bag from Smits and Plass. As if she’d been programmed, Faith’s thoughts went to that rat, Brian.

  “Oh, fine. My hips and thighs might thank you, but I won’t.”

  Hailey sighed and stepped inside the apartment. “I’m so unappreciated.”

  “Shut up.” But Faith smiled. She’d missed her friends. Wallowing in self-pity wasn’t as much fun as laughing with the girls.

  Hailey chuckled as she glanced out the large window overlooking the quad. “The good old days of ogling Mr. Tool.”

  Faith laughed with her. “Oh yeah. My entertainment hasn’t been the same since he moved in with you. So do you still make him strip naked and dance around for you?” Only Hailey could have met the love of her life doing a striptease in front of his window—across the way from Faith’s apartment.

  Hailey huffed. “For the record, we never saw him naked. He used to walk around in his tighty-whities.”

  Faith cracked up at Hailey’s scowl. “Okay, I admit. Your man was never naked. But a girl could hope.”

  “Bitch.”

  “Bimbo.”

  Hailey sniffed. “And I brought you chocolates…”

  “Give.” Faith yanked the bag to her and inhaled. “Oh man, I needed this.”

  “I’ve given you time. I’ve even held off Sydney from coming over to torture you. Now tell me how your date with Brian went. I’m dying to know.”

  Faith ignored her in favor of a vanilla cream. “God, this makes your nagging almost palatable.”

  “Big words do not intimidate me, Faith.”

  Faith groaned. “Fine. Brian was nice, fun and charming. We had a great dinner, came back to my place, and before I knew it, we had sex. Like, I-lost-my-mind-it’s-that-good sex. Then he left and I haven’t heard from him since.” There. She’d laid it on the line.

  Hailey stared at her agape.

  “You’ll catch flies if you don’t close your mouth.”

  Hailey snapped her mouth shut. “You did not bang Brian Goode.”

  “I did. And then he cut and ran.”

  Hailey frowned. “Brian? He’s such a great guy.”

  “Yeah, so you said. Many, many times. And because you said that, I went out with him. You owe me this candy.” Faith took another rebellious bite.

  “I don’t get it. He’s so nice. Sydney loves him, and the only other guy she can tolerate is Derrick.”

  “Her hot boyfriend. Yeah, I know. Rub it in, why don’t you? You have Gage. Sydney has Derrick. Freddy has Dylan and Harper. And I have chocolate.” She bit into another cream. This one raspberry.

  “What happened?”

  “I wish I knew. Face it. Men are assholes.”

  “Faith.”

  “With the exception of the Warren brothers. Happy now?”

  Munching chocolates, she wasn’t prepared for tears to fill her eyes. How embarrassing to break down in front of Hailey. And how maddening to cry over Brian Goode. The dumbass.

  Hailey, thankfully, hadn’t noticed. She was staring at the floor by the front door. “What’s that?”

  Faith blinked away her tears and cleared her throat. Time for a coconut cream. There had to be one in the bag. “What’s what?” she asked as she searched.

  Hailey poked her in the shoulder.

  “Hey.”

  “That.” Hailey pointed. “Looks like an envelope with your name on it.”

  She followed Hailey’s finger and saw it. Her heart raced, because she knew who it had to be from. There was no rhyme or reason to her intuition, but whenever she dealt with Brian, she had the same butterflies in her stomach.

  With slow, deliberate steps she retrieved the note by the door. She opened it and read, becoming angrier with each passing word.

  Dear Faith,

  I apologize for not calling you sooner. I’ve been extremely busy at work. I really enjoyed our time together. You’re a beautiful, charming woman any guy would be lucky to go out with. I’d love to get together with you again. You’re an amazing woman.

  Yours,

  Brian

  PS. I can’t tell you how much I look forward to seeing you again.

  “Why, that arrogant asshole.” Faith fumed and handed the note to Hailey, who’d demanded to see it.

  “I don’t get it.” Hailey glanced up from the page. “What’s wrong with this? He says he’s sorry and he misses you.”

  “Please. He says he wants to ‘get together again’. Ha. I know what that means.”

  Hailey shrugged.

  “It means he wants to do me again. As in, have sex. Too busy to call? To friggin’ text? Whatever
. He didn’t even have the balls to talk to me face-to-face. What a loser.”

  She took the note back from Hailey and crumpled it in her hand.

  “So, I guess a second date isn’t happening.” Hailey sighed. “Gimme some of that chocolate.”

  “Here. Have at it.”

  Hailey frowned. “Why are there thumbprints in all of these?”

  “I wanted coconut cream. Would you rather I bit through them until finding the one I wanted?”

  “Geesh. No. Forget I asked.” Hailey chewed, then asked, “So now what?”

  “Now I go back to my life and forget I ever knew Brian Goode.” I just have to figure out how to stop dreaming about him, and I’m golden.

  “Okay. Gotcha. So can we talk about my bachelorette party now? That’s if it’s okay to talk about me marrying Gage. You don’t hate all men again, do you? Your man-hating mode is scary.”

  Faith swore. “Hell. No, men are fine. I guess. Just not that one.” She glared at the paper in her hand and threw it at the floor.

  She and Hailey talked about the bachelorette party scheduled for next month. Faith couldn’t be happier for Hailey. For a long time, Hailey had been shy of dating, like Faith. But Hailey’s problems stemmed from being too pretty for her own good, not from dating to compensate for feelings of inadequacy and insecurity—negative emotions Faith could now recognize in herself.

  Dylan had been helping her to be a better person. Through the delicious Dr. Warren, Faith had learned to trust her instincts and believe in herself. Though she’d thought Brian was an okay guy, so maybe Dylan was off the mark.

  An apologetic letter. She snorted with amusement.

  “What?”

  “Oh, nothing. Just looking forward to the stripper we hire for your party.”

  Hailey laughed. “Fine with me. Just make sure you tie Amy and Beth down. Those two can get wild.”

  Faith’s friends all worked in the same logistics firm. Sydney was the oddball, a realtor who worked for herself. “Yeah, right. Amy’s dating Jeff in legal, and Beth finally came off her high horse and admitted she’s been doing her boss.”

  Hailey goggled. “Beth? No way.”