He watched as Anthony’s expression shifted from doubtful to confident.
“You’re right,” his friend said.
“I know damn well I’m right,” Reid replied. “Come on. I’ll follow you to your cousin’s so we can check out the app, and then I’ll follow you to a tire shop so you can get a new one before they close.”
It took less than ten minutes to reach the little wood frame house in the Bywater neighborhood. When Anthony’s cousin, Gabriela, answered the door, it was immediately apparent she’d been running on very little sleep. But her bleary eyes shone with excitement the moment she started talking about the app. She walked them through a demonstration, with Anthony going into the hall bathroom while Reid went back outside to his truck, away from wifi so that his phone could run entirely on cellular data. He was able to see the plumbing without a problem.
He returned to the living room. “Both the picture and his voice were clear as a bell,” Reid said. He held his phone up. “This is some cool shit.”
“You outdid yourself, Gabby,” Anthony said, giving his cousin a hug.
“For real,” Reid agreed. “It’s as if I was right there with him. If there was a real plumbing issue, I wouldn’t have had any problem helping him diagnose and fix it. This app is a game-changer.”
“When do you think you’ll be ready to start beta testing?” Gabriela asked.
“As soon as possible,” Anthony said. “There’s just one thing we’ll need to do before we pull the trigger.” He looked over at Reid.
Reid held his hands up. “I emailed Jonathan all our questions. He said he’ll get back in touch with me by the end of the week.”
“That’s not what I was talking about,” Anthony said.
“Oh, you mean Alex.”
Anthony nodded.
Yes, they needed to finally tell Alex about this new venture. It was the one thing Reid had been dreading from the moment Anthony approached him about this idea. He could no longer avoid it.
“I’ll tell him on Monday,” Reid said. “I think it’s better if I do it on my own.”
“You sure about that?”
Reid nodded. “No fear, right?” He and Anthony clasped hands.
Gabriela offered to follow Anthony to the tire place so that she could finally get some fresh air after being huddled in her house for the past week. Reid slipped Anthony a fifty dollar bill and told him to take her out to dinner while they waited for the tire to get fixed.
Seeing that it was still pretty early, he sent Alex a text message, asking if he could come over to the house to talk to him. Better to rip the Band-Aid off instead of fretting over it all weekend.
But before he could pull away from the curb in front of Gabriela’s house, his phone rang. It was Brooklyn, asking him to come over to her parents as soon as possible. The fear he heard in her panic-stricken voice caused him to break out into a cold sweat. Before she could tell him the problem, there was a loud thud in the background. She asked him to hurry and disconnected the call.
Reid risked several speeding and red light camera tickets, but the fines would be worth saving those few precious seconds to get to Brooklyn.
She was standing on the sidewalk waiting for him when he pulled in front of her parents’ Treme home. Reid had barely put the truck in park before he was out of there, rushing to her. Her distress was tangible.
“I didn’t know who else to call,” she said. “It’s my dad.”
Reid followed her into the house and up the stairs.
“I would have called Smitty, but he’s out of town. Dad didn’t want me calling the ambulance, because the last time they had to come over his insurance didn’t cover it and they were stuck with a three thousand dollar bill.” She pointed to a door. “He’s in here.”
“Don’t come…back in here,” came a voice drenched in fatigue.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Brooklyn called as she opened the door. Reid followed her into the narrow bathroom. The man sprawled awkwardly in the bathtub had the weathered skin of someone who’d worked out in the field for most of his life.
“I tried to get him out, but he’s too heavy to lift on my own and too weak to give me any help,” Brooklyn explained. She shot an agitated frown at her father. “It also doesn’t help that he’s too busy trying to keep himself covered.”
He’d noticed the wet washcloth providing a poor shield over the older man’s crotch. Reid understood his indignity. If he had a daughter, he wouldn’t want her to see him buck ass naked either.
“Maybe you can catch him under one arm and I can get him by the other?” Brooklyn suggested.
“I don’t want you in here,” her father said.
“Let me see if I can lift him on my own first,” Reid said. She started to object, but Reid stopped her. “Try to see it from his perspective,” he whispered.
She rolled her eyes in frustration, but she relented, motioning for him to go ahead.
“Fine.” She blew out an agitated breath. “I’ll be out in the hallway,” She turned to her father. “You do realize I’ve seen naked men before, right?”
Reid’s breath seized in his lungs.
Please don’t say you’ve seen me naked.
Thankfully, she stomped out of the bathroom without revealing anything that would make the impending situation even more awkward than it already was. Reid went over to the bathtub and hooked his arms underneath Warren LeBlanc’s armpits. He knew within seconds that this wouldn’t work. He was too afraid he would hurt the older man.
“Give me a sec,” Reid said. He reached over and grabbed a large bath towel from the towel rack. “Throw this over your lap.” Then he approached from the front, pulling him up in a fireman’s hold and lifting him out of the tub.
“Whoa, whoa. I’ve got you,” Reid said as he started to slip. “I’ve got you.”
Brooklyn rushed into the bathroom. “What’s wrong?”
“Get out!” both Reid and her dad shouted.
She huffed in frustration, but did as they asked.
“So damn…hardheaded,” Warren said.
Reid set the man on the closed toilet seat, then went into the hallway. “Towels?” he asked Brooklyn.
She pointed to a door across from the bathroom. Reid grabbed two big towels from the linen closet, and the robe from the hook on the back of the door as he returned to the bathroom.
He started to help the older man dry off, but he gave him a husky, “I’ve got it,” and gingerly toweled himself dry. He was taking way too long, but Reid understood what it meant to let him have that small bit of independence. He patiently waited, patting the water spots on his on shirt with another towel.
“Can I come in now?” Brooklyn asked from the other side of the door.
“No,” they both called.
She growled.
Once Warren was done toweling himself dry, Reid handed him the robe and said, “I can help you get dressed if you need me to.”
He shook his head. “Let me rest. Just for…a minute.”
Reid heard some kind of commotion and another voice seconds before the door burst open.
“What happened? Are you okay?”
There was no doubt the woman who’d just come through the door was Brooklyn’s mother. She was an older version of her daughter, with that same smooth, dark brown skin, and those beautiful high cheekbones.
Brooklyn followed her into the bathroom, explaining what happened, and how she called Reid to help her lift her dad from the tub.
Her mom, who introduced herself as Anita LeBlanc, graced Reid with a grateful smile as she edged past him and quickly made her way to her husband.
“Thanks, young man,” Warren LeBlanc said. “Now…y’all go so I can get dressed.”
“Yes, I’ve got it from here,” Anita said.
Reid could tell Brooklyn was reluctant to leave, but he caught her by the shoulders and nudged her forward, out of the bathroom and into the hallway. “Come on. Let’s go downstairs.”
; She nodded. “Okay. But just one thing first,” she said, then she turned, threw herself into his arms, and kissed him like her life depended on it.
* * *
Brooklyn rolled the unopened can of Dr. Pepper between her palms. She’d grabbed one for herself and Reid once they’d come downstairs, but the thought of consuming anything made her stomach turn. Or maybe it was the cauldron of nerves swirling in her belly that was having that affect.
Unable to stand being in the dark a moment longer, she set the can on the coffee table.
“I should go up there and see if my mom needs help.” She started to rise, but Reid clamped his palm on her thigh and forced her to sit back down.
“Your mom said to leave her to it. Don’t you think she would have called for us if she needed help?”
Just as she was about to argue, her mother came walking down the stairs. Brooklyn bounced up from the sofa.
“You’re still here?” her mother asked, her brows arched in surprise.
“Of course we’re still here. How’s Dad?”
“He’s fine,” she answered with an unconcerned wave. “This was my fault. I forgot to put the shower stool back in the tub after I was done with my bath last night. Warren didn’t think about it until he was already in the tub.”
“When did he have to start using a shower stool?” Brooklyn asked.
“Just this past week, which is why it didn’t occur to him to bring it in there. The doctor advised him to start using one to prevent exactly what happened today.” She hunched her shoulder. “He just isn’t used to it yet.
Brooklyn pitched her head back and drew her palms down her face. “Shit.”
Her mother put a hand on her arm. “It’s okay, honey. These things are going to happen.”
“That’s the problem. I’m not ready for any of this.”
“It’s life, baby. You take it as it comes and learn from it. For example, from now on that bench will be next to the tub at all times.”
“Or maybe we can finally add a full bathroom downstairs with a walk-in shower,” Brooklyn suggested.
Anita LeBlanc folded her arms over her chest. “You got walk-in shower money?”
Brooklyn rolled her eyes.
“I wouldn’t worry about the money,” Reid said. “Your daughter has already saved the ass—uh, the behinds of enough people at Holmes Construction that she can get anything she asks for. Just let us know where and you’ll have a crew out here on the weekend to start building a new bathroom, ASAP.”
Brooklyn knew he couldn’t speak for the crew at HCC, but maybe she could work out a deal with Alex. One way or another, she would make sure her father never had to worry about falling in the damn tub again.
Her mother turned to Reid. “Thank you for coming when Brooklyn called. You saved Warren from additional embarrassment.”
“He needs to get over it,” she said. “There was nothing for him to be embarrassed about.”
“I can understand where he’s coming from,” Reid said. “And it was no problem. Brooklyn knows that I’m always just a phone call away.” His gaze caught hers and held. “Whenever and wherever she needs me, I’m there.”
Brooklyn’s heart melted like butter on a hot roll. She could tell by the way her mother’s eyes lit up that she was experiencing the same heart melting. Reid didn’t know it, but he’d just garnered himself a new fan.
“Are you staying for dinner?” her mother asked. Brooklyn had to refrain from laughing at the schoolgirl hopefulness she heard in her voice. Reid Holmes had that effect on women. “Warren and I were just going to have some leftovers, but I can cook something.”
“No,” Brooklyn said. “You don’t need to cook. I promise to invite Reid to dinner another time, when things aren’t so crazy.”
“Yeah, I’m good for tonight,” he said. “But I’ll take you up on that dinner invitation soon.”
“In that case, I’ll go and take my own shower,” her mother said. “Work was crazy today. Lock up, will you, baby?”
“I will,” Brooklyn said.
Her mother kissed her cheek, caught Reid behind his head and pulled his face down so that she could do the same to him, then went back upstairs. Brooklyn picked up her purse and then motioned for Reid to go ahead of her out the front door so she could lock up behind her.
She didn’t make it past the first step before her legs gave out. She collapsed onto the top step, dropping her head to her knees and dissolving into convulsive gasps that shook her entire body.
“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” Reid said, settling beside her and gathering her into his arms.
He rubbed his hands up and down her back as Brooklyn continued her uncontrollable, hiccupping sobs. It was as if all the pent-up anxiety of the last year had finally been released in one rioting deluge of emotion. She’d been paralyzed with fear of what was slowly happening to her dad. Being given this glimpse into what life would be like for him—for all of them—it was just too much to take.
“I’m sorry,” she said after she was finally able to get a modicum of control over her emotions.
“What are you apologizing for? You’re allowed to break down every now and then, Brooklyn.”
She wiped at her eyes and sniffed. “Am I allowed to use your shirt to wipe my nose?” she asked with a hiccupping laugh.
Reid cupped her cheek in his hand and used the hem of his shirt to wipe her face, snotty nose and all. If she hadn’t realized she was in love before, Brooklyn definitely knew she was there now.
He lifted her chin and peered into her eyes. “You okay now?”
She started to nod, but then shook her head. “No,” she admitted. “I’m not okay at all. I don’t know if I can do this, Reid. I don’t know if I can handle watching him go through this.”
And just like that, the tears started again. Reid wrapped his arms around her, slipping his fingers in her hair at the nape of her neck and massaging the back of her head. He didn’t try to placate her with meaningless platitudes. He just held her while she cried. Brooklyn knew it came from a place of understanding. He’d been here before. That thought made her cry even harder for what he’d gone through when he lost his mother. Having worked on the Dynamo Diane comic these past weeks, she felt a connection to Diane Holmes despite never meeting her.
Brooklyn and Reid sat on the front steps of her parents’ house for another twenty minutes. Not a single word had been said between them, but Brooklyn had never felt a stronger connection to anyone. Words weren’t needed.
“I think I’m okay to get up,” she said.
“You sure?” Reid whispered.
She nodded.
He gave her upper body a light squeeze. “Why don’t you leave your car here? I don’t want you driving in the state you’re in. I’ll take you home and then bring you back later to pick it up.”
With a nod, Brooklyn allowed him to help her up, and together they walked to his truck.
“Are you hungry?” he asked.
Her first instinct was to tell him no, but now that the stress of the last hour was behind her, she was ravenous. “Yes, but I don’t want to go out. What I need right now is my couch and some comfort food.” She reached over and grabbed his hand. “And you. Can you spend the night?” she asked in a hoarse whisper.
“For future reference, that’s a question you never have to ask.”
Brooklyn couldn’t put into words how grateful she was for the smile he managed to put on her face.
They made it to her apartment in under fifteen minutes. The moment they entered the door, she took the keys from Reid’s hand and set them on the table next to the door, then she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down for a deep, soulful kiss. They continued kissing as they made their way past the living room and down the short hallway toward her bedroom, shedding clothes on the journey, their mouths parting only long enough to pull their shirts over their heads. With only their underwear separating them, Reid wrapped his arms around her and carried her down to the bed.<
br />
Unlike the first time, Brooklyn didn’t try to fight the feelings of love that overwhelmed her as Reid tenderly worshipped her body. She yielded to the sensual pleasure rioting throughout her bloodstream, craving even more. She wanted everything he had to give her.
When Reid flipped her onto her stomach and lifted her up so he could enter her from behind, Brooklyn clutched the bedding between her fingers and held on for dear life. She rocked back against him, relishing every thrust of the solid muscle plunging deep inside her. He quickened his pace and, before she had a chance to prepare herself for it, a powerful orgasm hit her like a sonic wave, resonating throughout her entire body.
Her limbs liquefied. Brooklyn fell onto the mattress, with Reid following her down, his heavy body imprisoning her on the bed. After pressing a kiss against the back of her neck, he rolled off her and pulled her in close to him, his front against her back. Brooklyn rested her head against his bicep. The firm muscle was quickly becoming her favorite pillow.
“You doing okay?” Reid asked.
A smile instantly angled up her lips. “I am soooo much better than just okay.” She looked back over her shoulder. “You have no idea how badly I want to make a joke about the way you lay pipe, but I’m sure you’ve heard all those before.”
The entire bed seemed to shake with his laugh. “I’ve never had anyone make a joke about me laying pipe.”
“Yeah right.” She twisted around to face him and snuggled against his chest. She couldn’t seem to get close enough to him. Reid drew his fingers up and down her arm, his caress gentle, hypnotic.
“I’m serious,” he said.
“That’s, like, the perfect joke for a plumber. Did your past girlfriends have zero sense of humor?”
“I thought I wasn’t supposed to talk about women I’ve slept with while we’re in bed together?”
“Not unless I bring them up,” she said.
“Is that a new rule?”
“Yes.”
He chuckled, then sighed. “To be honest, none of my past relationships—if you can call them that—were ever deep enough to even discuss professions. I’ve never wanted to get that close to anyone else. Until you.”
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