by Candace Shaw
Then there was Bryce taking her out of her normal routine of cuddling on the couch, eating pizza and watching classic movies. He actually cooked dinner, lit the fireplace, had a decent conversation and brought her coffee in the morning. If she was going home every day to something like that, then maybe she wouldn’t work as much. Not that she wanted to go home to Bryce. She groaned and tapped her fingers on the steering wheel, shaking her head.
Okay, I’m just going insane because I’m almost thirty. That’s all.
Sighing, she pulled into her garage, jumped out of the car, grabbed her helmet from a shelf and hopped on her motorcycle. She needed to ride and clear her head, yet the only thought in her brain was when she’d been wrapped safely in Bryce’s embrace.
Chapter 11
Bryce arrived thirty minutes late to the birthday party for the twins. That wasn’t his intent, but his meeting with another potential attorney ran longer than expected. He stepped into the foyer of his brother’s lavish mansion not far from his own. Luckily, it was still cocktail hour and he hadn’t missed the dinner. A party hostess took the gifts from him and set them on a table overflowing with bags and wrapped boxes for the birthday girls. He hadn’t been sure what to give them. He’d thought about the exact same present but decided against it. They had similar yet different tastes, and he wanted them to love their gifts. He especially wanted to give Sydney something meaningful to her. He consulted Steven, who said Megan was almost out of her favorite perfume, Amarige, and for Syd, he bought a Pandora charm bracelet with motorcycle and helmet charms. He felt it represented her sweet yet tough side.
Bryce’s eyes sought out Syd. He spotted her chatting with one of Steven’s golf buddies, Ross, near the grand piano, where Braxton was playing a jazz melody of songs. She was breathtaking in a straight peach dress that hit her curvy body in all the right places. Her hair was piled on her head, and her feet were encased in a pair of sexy stiletto sandals. His mind trekked to untying the tie around the skirt of the dress, unpinning her hair and pulling her legs around his waist but leaving the shoes on.
“What’s up, baby brother?”
His older brother’s greeting tore Bryce out of his fantasy, and he turned to see Steven in a red polo-type shirt and khakis. He handed him a glass of Hennessy and gave him a hug.
“Can’t complain. How’s Washington, Senator?”
“The same. We’re going to start dinner in a few. Megan is around here somewhere delegating as if we didn’t hire the caterer and a staff for a reason.” Steven paused and raised his glass with a nod. Bryce turned to see Ross raising his glass with a knowing gleam in his eyes. Syd nodded and smiled, as well.
“Sooooooo what’s going on with that?” Bryce asked, trying his hardest not to glance back over his shoulder. He couldn’t hear what they were discussing because of the music, but he did hear Sydney’s distinct laugh. A cute, flirty one. His chest muscles tightened.
“Oh, Megan thought it would be cool to introduce them. She thinks Syd needs a man, and she thinks you need a woman.”
“Ha, this coming from the person who didn’t want any blind dates,” Bryce said, taking a sip of his drink.
“Yeah, she thought about you and Tiffani together,” Steven said, leading Bryce into the empty dining room. He really wanted to stay in the living room to eavesdrop on Ross and Sydney.
He shook the ice around in his glass and took a sip. “Mmm...sweet lady, great kid, but not my type. I need someone with a little more fire in her.” His mind traveled to Sydney’s blazing eyes and tough yet sweet personality. He wanted an even balance, and definitely not a girlie girl who wouldn’t dare ride the back of his motorcycle.
“Yep. That’s what I told Megan. So she did place cards,” Steven stated, waving his hand across the long table that was set for twenty people. “The woman to your left is someone she wants you to meet.”
“Oh, brother.” Bryce chuckled. “I thought this was for close friends and family.”
“Well, Stephanie, that’s her name, is one of Megan’s old friends from college. She just moved back into town. She’s an attorney, too.”
Moments later, Megan instructed everyone to enter the dining room and find their place cards. Bryce was elated that Syd was across from him a few seats down, with Ross on her left and Megan’s best friend and business partner, Jade Whitmore, to her right. Megan had decided to place herself and Sydney in the center of the table since it was their birthday dinner, while their parents sat at each head. He was between Stephanie and Braxton. And while Stephanie was an attractive lady, she just didn’t have that passion blazing in her eyes that he found alluring.
Bryce tried to make polite conversation with Stephanie while eating his split green pea soup. But she just wasn’t his type, though she was intelligent and knowledgeable about the law. She’d recently passed the Georgia bar and was looking for a job. However, he couldn’t focus on their discussion because one of his ears was burning with listening to Ross and Sydney’s conversation. Well, it was mostly Ross speaking as Sydney sat there nodding and eating her soup. By dessert, Bryce was more tired than Sydney must be of listening to golf stories and Ross’s political views. Some of which Bryce knew Steven wasn’t in agreement with, but he liked how his big brother never pushed his political agenda on others.
He took a bite of his delicious turtle cupcake that Tiffani had made, grabbed his cell phone, set it in his lap and sent a text to Sydney.
Who’s the lame guy you’re with?
He watched Syd slide her phone off the table and glance at it, her facial expression never wavering.
You know Ross. He’s a friend of your brother. So what about you and Stephanie?
She’s cool. She’s an attorney.
I know her. She’s one of Megan’s old friends.
Didn’t you all go to college together?
Yeah, but we never got along.
So are you going on a date with this dude? I thought I heard him say something about golf lessons followed by dinner.
She placed her phone back on the table as her parents made a toast to her and her sister. And then the entire group sang “Happy Birthday” in unison.
Bryce downed his Hennessy and clenched his jaw, upset that she never responded to his text. Moments later, everyone made their way back into the living room with their dessert and coffee or after-dinner drinks. He noticed Syd take the back staircase alone. He dipped toward the front staircase and strode upstairs to see her disappear around a corner. Stepping up his pace, he caught the door of the bathroom before she closed it.
Her eyes were round like saucers as she quickly pushed the door shut and locked it “What are you doing here? Can I have some privacy please?”
“Wanted to talk to you alone.”
“About what?” she asked with a twinkle in her eye. The profiler in her was obviously sizing him up.
He closed the gap between them. “You didn’t answer my last text.”
She smirked. “Oh, that. You jealous, baby?” she asked sarcastically, taking her makeup bag from her purse and setting it on the counter.
“No. He’s just not your type.”
“Really?” She crossed her arms in front of her chest and tilted her head up to him. “And who is my type?”
He pulled her to him and kissed her, sinking his tongue in slowly before stepping it up a notch with zealous, wild kisses that she matched. He lifted her up onto the counter and slid his hand under her dress to her panties and glided a finger deep into her as she clutched his shoulders and let out a gasp.
“Shh...baby,” he whispered on her lips, slipping in another finger, which caused another passionate gasp from her that he stifled with his mouth. He kept his eyes focused on her as she breathed against his mouth. Her head leaned back toward the mirror, and he placed tender kisses on her neck and down her cleavage, trailin
g back and forth as she wrapped her legs around his waist just as he’d imagined earlier. With his free hand, he untied the bow at her waist and the wraparound part of the skirt fell open, exposing her succulent thighs that he yearned to be in between. He lifted her head toward him and kissed her as her hips bucked against his fingers. He knew her release was near, and while her fervent moans were the best song he’d ever heard, everyone downstairs would hear, as well. His kiss became deeper as she quivered in his embrace and the panting on his lips intensified. As she calmed down, she glared at him with the fire he loved to see mixed with something wicked as she traveled her hand down to his slacks, unbuckled his belt roughly, zipped down his pants and pulled his erection out of his boxers. Stroking it hard up and down, she kissed him furiously, gyrating her tongue in his mouth and pushing him against the opposite wall.
“I thought you were going to behave?” he whispered teasingly.
“But you don’t want me to. Remember?”
“Mmm...da...” He couldn’t believe he sounded like a gibbering idiot, but her hands were massaging him just right.
“Shh...baby,” she whispered seductively, lowering herself to the floor. She kissed the tip, licking it gently in a circle, and glided it into her warm mouth slowly as far as she could go, which wasn’t all the way, but he didn’t care. Her sexy, juicy lips engulfed him up and down. The soft pleasure moans she made in the back of her throat continued to drive him insane as she tightened her mouth around him. He placed his hands on her head, trying not to mess up her up-do while she ravished him. She glided back and forth, sometimes teasing the tip and then diving back, sinking him farther into her heated, wet mouth. Bryce tried to stand up straight and hold back the groan rising in his throat, but none of that happened as he slid down a tad on the wall. Sydney reached her hand up to his mouth to muffle him but didn’t waver from the erotic session.
When she sped up, he reached around to his back pocket, pulled out his wallet and a gold-wrapped condom and opened it. He pulled her to her feet and pushed her back toward the counter, lifting her on it again. He brought her legs up to his shoulders, slid on the condom and in one push, delved all the way into her as far as he could go. She grasped his arms as he lowered his head to her mouth to silence both their moans and matched his kisses with his thrusts. Deep and hard. He’d never felt so connected to a woman. Everything about her was pulling him into her abyss of ecstasy. Her sweet smell. Her strength. Her smile. The way her eyes lit up whenever she looked at him. He no longer cared about their agreement. He had to make her all his.
She trembled in his arms, which meant her orgasm was near and so was his after the mind-blowing job she did earlier. Sliding her legs to around his waist to hold her better, he lifted his lips from hers as she let out a silent scream in the air all while keeping her eyes focused on his. Clutching her arms around his neck, her muscles clenched his manhood as she shook against him. He buried his head in her neck and held on to her for dear life as if she were a life buoy.
“Are you okay?” he whispered.
She nodded, and he backed way as she tied her dress back around her waist. He flushed the condom and zipped his slacks back up as she fixed her makeup and a few loose strands of hair that had fallen out of the hairpins. His arms encircled her waist, and he placed a gentle kiss to the back of her neck. He saw her beautiful glow through the mirror as his eyes caught hers in a penetrating stare.
He leaned down to her ear. “When is this shindig supposed to be over with?”
“Soon. Steven and Megan have to be at the private airfield before midnight. He has a fund-raiser brunch to attend tomorrow in DC.”
Bryce glanced at his watch. “I’m leaving in thirty minutes. Follow me in ten. Come to my home so I can finish making love to you. I’ll have the garage door up so you can just slide right in...like I plan to do later on.”
She turned her head and kissed him provocatively, causing his manhood to stir again. He cleared his throat and slid his hands off her. She grabbed some tissue and wiped her lipstick off his mouth and neck. “I’ll go back down first,” he said, placing his hand on the doorknob.
She nodded, and he listened outside the door to make sure no one was in the hallway. They were in the guest quarters of the mansion so he didn’t expect anyone up there considering there was a powder room downstairs. He opened the door, peeked out and made his way into the hallway as she closed the door behind him.
When he made it back downstairs, everything was still going on as it was twenty minutes ago. Braxton was on the keys and Megan was chatting with Tiffani and complimenting her on the cupcakes.
“Hey, bro. Where were you?” Steven asked, approaching him from his left.
“I had some business that needed handling.”
Steven nodded. “So...how do you like Stephanie?”
“Mmm...thinking about seeing if she wants to interview for a job, but that’s about it,” he answered while glancing out of the corner of his eye as Sydney reappeared in the room. She joined Megan and Tiffani by the grand piano. He noticed Ross pull her to the side and from his wistful expression and Sydney’s shaking of the head, she must’ve declined his golf date. Ross shook her hand and walked over to him and Steven.
“No love connection, huh?” Steven asked Ross.
“Nah, man. She said no.”
Bryce rested his eyes on Sydney, who glanced his way. He rubbed his watch and walked over to grab another turtle cupcake. They were almost as addictive as Sydney. Thirty minutes later, he bid good-night to everyone and stated that he had a hot date.
* * *
Later on that night, his birthday girl lay in his embrace wearing nothing but the charm bracelet and an exhausted yet satisfied smile. She felt perfect in his arms. In his bed. In his home. In his world. Bryce wasn’t going to rush her, but he damn sure wasn’t going to beat around the bush, either.
Around two o’clock in the morning, he was awakened by a noise. He reached over to Syd but all he squeezed was a pillow and not her cute butt. In the dark, his eyes made out her silhouette in the shadow near the window putting on her dress.
He swung his legs out of the bed and sat on the edge. “Where are you going?” he asked gruffly.
“Home,” she answered matter-of-factly.
“I’m not one of those men who kick women out after a night of passion,” he said teasingly. “You can stay for breakfast and past that if you want.”
“I know, but I have to be up early in the morning and I need to change clothes. Can’t wear this.”
“Where are you going, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“I do mind,” she said in a brusque tone.
“Okay...”
She sighed. “I got a text from Mumford when you left the bathroom. I just need to go to the GBI office for a few hours to help with a case. That’s all.”
He flicked on the lamp next to the nightstand. “So you’re going to start working around the clock again... on your vacation?”
“No. I told him I can only be there from nine to one. He was rather shocked yet pleased I gave a time. He was even more shocked when I told him I couldn’t come right then. But Watkins was there and the kid is trying. He’s just not as good as me.”
“Well...it was your birthday dinner celebration, and you’re on vacation.”
“Mmm, that’s not why I said no,” she said plopping in the chair in the sitting area and slipping on her heels. “I’ve left events all the time early or arrived late. Work has always come first.”
“Then why didn’t you go last night?”
“Because I wanted to spend it with you,” she said quietly.
He got out of the bed and kneeled in front of her. “I have some sweats and a T-shirt you can throw on. Just leave from here. I don’t want you driving across town from Buckhead to Decatur at two in the morning. I’ll make sure
you get up in time. I’ll even make sure you have some coffee. Okay?”
* * *
Sydney drove to the GBI office not believing she was in Bryce’s sweats and T-shirt. Luckily for her they’d shrunk in the dryer, and he could no longer wear them. They were still a tad too big for her but she was comfortable. Very comfortable.
She couldn’t believe she’d actually stayed the rest of the night. Being held in his secure embrace was soothing. His quiet snoring on her neck was peaceful, and he knew how she liked her coffee. That was a plus. When she’d opened the gift in the car before arriving at his home, she was quite surprised to see the charm bracelet. It reminded her of their time spent in Vegas. She glanced at it now on her wrist as the charms dangled from the pink leather band. It was definitely her. She didn’t like a lot of flashy jewelry. She usually only wore a watch and a pair of diamond studs her parents gave her when she graduated from law school. After slipping the bracelet off her wrist, she placed it in her purse as she pulled into the parking lot of the GBI headquarters. Even though she worked with all men who didn’t care about trinkets and whatnot, they would definitely notice if she wore a cute bracelet with a pair of sweats. That simply wasn’t like her.
Her mind rewound to the fact that they hadn’t managed to leave the sex part of their relationship in Vegas. She thought that would be much easier to do, and she reminded him when she left that it couldn’t happen again. He’d simply nodded and shrugged as if it wasn’t a big deal before laying a tender kiss to her forehead. She didn’t know how long that was going to last, especially when he winked and curled his lips into a cocky grin as if it wouldn’t be the last time. Sighing, she closed her thoughts on Bryce as she entered the building. She needed to place her focus on profiling the next creep who was breaking the law. However, she wasn’t going to stay longer than the time frame she had given Mumford. While she was anxious to get back to work, she was enjoying her vacation and the realization of needing to change her habit of working around the clock. Thanks to Bryce, Sydney was beginning to understand what it meant to divide her time between her career and spending it with loved ones.