They all knew M would rather have his heart cut out with a rusty spoon then venture into what he considered women territory.
“Damn right there’s a problem,” he groused, pining Briley with a menacing stare. “Some guy’s downstairs claiming to be your fiancé.”
A chorus of gasps, muffled laughter and a few choice four letter words rang through the room.
“Uh, Bri, is there something you forgot to tell us?” Recee asked, coming to her feet, looking more formidable than an Amazon warrior, in her navy business suit and heels.
Jumping to her feet, Briley grabbed her bag and made for the door. “I’ve got to get out of here. Tell the boys I said hello and I’ll see everyone at poker night.” She practically ran across the room, only to hit a brick wall otherwise known as M’s chest.
“Not so fast, Ms. Thing.” M caught her around the waist. “I think you owe us a few answers especially if you know this guy.”
“What’s his name?” Emma wanted to know.
“Driver’s licence says Carter Moore with an address over on Captain Drive
.” M offered the information easily.
“You took his driver’s licence?” Briley felt horrified. First, she’d developed some weird emotions for Carter. Now the object of her wayward emotions stood somewhere in the bar beneath her feet and he’d been interrogated by the head of security.
“How else did you expect me to run a background check on him?” he asked, looking genuinely puzzled by her attitude.
She shoved out of his protective hold. “Oh no, you don’t, M. You will not, under any circumstances, run a check, background or otherwise, on Carter. Leave him alone.” The last words were practically screeched in M’s dark face.
Instead of getting offended or yelling back, M raised a massive paw masquerading as a hand and scratched his shaved head. “Well, see, I wish I’d known that before I came up here.”
Grabbing the front of his purple Club B polo shirt, Briley twisted the material in her hands. “What does that mean? What did you do to him?”
“You know Brock and Ethan were down there. They were with me when this guy came in and started asking for you. Since we didn’t know him from Adam, Brock offered to run a quick check while Ethan keeps him company.” He flicked a quick glance at his watch. “Brock’ll be done by now.”
Unable to hold the reins of her legendary temper, Briley released M’s shirt, fisted her hand and slammed it straight into the guard’s rock hard stomach.
“Shit, ouch, shit, ouch, shitshitshit.” She yelped in pain, jumping up and down while holding her injured hand. “M, you shit-eating insect from France, when my hand heals, I’m buying brass knuckles to come after your ass.”
“It’s okay, honey. M didn’t mean to hurt your hand,” Olivia soothed, coming up with an ice-filled bag.
“Why would I want to hurt Briley?” M stood among the affronted females, puzzlement written all over his face.
“She tried to punch you in the stomach, you steroid reject.” Recee told him while doing her best to incinerate him with her death glare.
Shock filled his chocolate-coloured eyes. “Briley hit me?” He looked up and down his body with confusion, his dark eyes twinkling with suppressed amusement. “Where?”
“Oh, that does it.” Briley pulled away from her well-meaning friends. “I’m not going to buy brass knuckles, I’m buying the whole damn hand.”
“Um, Bri, I don’t think they make brass hands?” Emma offered, but quickly backed away under her friend’s angry stance. “Never mind.”
“M, go back downstairs. Tell the boys we’ll be there in a few minutes. First, we have to make sure Bri didn’t break her hand on your stomach.” Olivia politely pushed the large man out of the room before closing and locking the door.
Still they heard M’s cursing from the other side of the wooden panel. “Damn women, how the hell was I supposed to know she punched my stomach?”
Briley was at the doors in seconds, determined to cause the man as much pain as possible before every bone in her body broke from hitting him.
“No way, killer.” Recee slung an arm around Briley’s stomach and steered her into Olivia’s private bathroom. “Let’s make sure there’s no trip to the ER in your future.”
“Oh yay, we’re going to the hospital?” Emma’s beaming face poked around the bathroom door frame.
“No, Em, you can’t go. Remember what happened last time we went to Avalon General?” Trinity asked from behind her.
Emma’s face drooped in disappointment. “I just wanted them for research.”
“I know, sweetie,” Trin patted her hand, “but stealing corpses is frowned upon in this country.”
Chapter Five
Carter stared at the two men staring back at him. Any other man might be scared standing in his shoes, but Carter Moore had grown up around much scarier men. While these two and the huge security guy might try to beat the living hell out of him, twenty years of various martial arts assured him that’s all they’d do—try.
He gave a mental shrug. Might as well get the shit flowing. “So you two always greet customers with this much care?”
The one with short blond hair raised a brow at him. “It is when some guy off the street says he’s marrying Briley.”
“Have that happen a lot, do you?”
The dark-haired man an inch or two shorter than him spoke. “Never has happened that I’m aware of.”
Blondy nodded his head. “I think Emma would have told me if Briley got engaged.”
“Yeah, Olivia would have said something,” the dark one said before they both turned and looked at Carter again.
Something told him these two weren’t club bouncers. Not with the way they mentioned two of Briley’s four closest friends. For the sake of a harmonious future, Carter levelled his temper and did his best to appear non-threatening. Thank God for Briley’s personal files otherwise he’d never had learned so much about her in so little time. Yeah, it had been a little sleazy of him to snoop through her personal information, but how else would he have found her again?
“So you two know Briley?” Maybe they could tell him what made the woman run from his bed. Especially after a night of the best sex in recorded history.
He’d woken up a week ago in his bed all alone. No Briley, no note and no explanation. Granted, Carter hadn’t been around the block that many times, but he knew a beat and retreat tactic when he saw it. Too bad for Briley, he had no intention of letting her go.
Briley belonged to him just as much as he belonged to her. She either hadn’t realised it yet or thought she could fight it. Either one didn’t matter to him. Carter knew in the end she would be his. Love this deep and strong would accept nothing less.
A form of silent communication passed between the other men. They were debating on how much to tell him or maybe blow him off completely. Didn’t bother him a bit. They had their way of doing things, but so did he. Thanks to his snooping and nimble fingers, Carter knew more about these two men standing in front of him than they probably knew about each other.
When the phone in his hand beeped, Carter read the information on the screen and smiled. “So the rock you bought Olivia really set you back, huh, Ethan?” He turned to look at the menacing blond. “You didn’t do to shabby with Emma’s stone. Watson’s, right? Upscale place to go for rings or so I’ve been told.”
Taking an inordinate amount of pride at their looks of confusion and suspicion, Carter waved his phone in the air. “Gentlemen, this is the age of electronics and I’m their god.”
Granted, it might have been rubbing their faces in it a bit too much, but these two were guarding the gate keeping him from Briley. The other man or mountain, Carter didn’t know which, had disappeared with his driver’s licence ten minutes ago. Probably trying to run his own background check. Carter managed to stifle a laugh. Yeah, good luck with that, he thought.
“How did you get that information?” Brock asked and took two menacing steps forward. “Th
ose files are supposed to be hacker proof.”
Ethan, placed a hand on the angry man’s chest. “Hold up, Brock. He’s here for Briley. Remember the hell we went through with them?”
Brock stopped trying to get around Ethan. He went still before a wide shit-eating grin crossed his face. “Oh yeah.”
Nodding his dark head in smug satisfaction, Ethan stepped back and smirked.
Suddenly, the situation didn’t feel as hopeful as it had a few minutes ago. Something either had happened or would happen that made these men feel a hell of a lot more confident.
“What?” Carter asked, trying to read the twin expression on the men’s faces. “Is there a secret decoder ring I need to get? Riddle a sphinx? Come on it’s one woman. It can’t be that hard?”
Instead of answering him, Ethan and Brock shared another look and burst out laughing. They laughed so hard tears dripped from their eyes and they ended up holding on to each other to keep from ending up on the floor.
The laughter gave Carter a queasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. Men didn’t laugh like that unless something worse than a decoder ring or sphinx ended up in the mix.
“Fine, I’ll muddle through on my own, but where I come from, men stick together,” he muttered, disgusted with the hint of fear lacing his voice.
“Sorry, man.” Brock wiped the wetness from his eyes as he released his hold on his friend. “It’s just that we’ve been there, done that and have the scars to prove it.”
“Yeah,” Ethan spoke after several attempts to clear his throat, “if you really are serious about Briley…?”
“I am.”
“Then we’ll do our best to shield you, but with them,” he hesitated then looked over at Brock and shrugged, “it’s sometimes every man for himself.”
“Oh yeah, here’s a piece of advice,” Brock said, leaning closer like he needed to whisper the words. “Grab your balls and hold on because you’ll never see the hit coming otherwise.”
Carter jerked his head back. “What the hell is that supposed to mean? What hit? What’s coming after me?”
“Not what, man, who,” he told him, sympathy written all over his handsome face. “And by the sounds of the screaming and heels, here they come.”
Sure enough, now that Ethan had mentioned it, Carter did hear muffled voices though he couldn’t tell if they were raised in anger or not. The voices were quickly followed by the sounds of several pairs of heels hitting metal.
“Brace yourself,” Brock muttered.
“Incoming,” Ethan warned. “Assume crash positions.”
All three men turned as the steel door to Carter’s left slammed open and five gorgeous, generously curved females stepped out with fire in their eyes.
“Oh shit,” Carter muttered, but not low enough.
“Amen, my brother,” Brock responded and took three giants steps away from him.
The low, rhythmic tap of a high heel had Carter fully turning to face the sound.
“Oh hi, honey, did you miss me?” Before Briley could blink much less protest, he closed the distance between them and covered her mouth with his own.
Chapter Six
Briley had intended to tell him off. She wanted to shove the word ’fiancé’ up his ass. She’d even thought of throwing the term ‘stalker’ at him. Instead, the sneaky nerd kissed her and all the arguments, all her defences melted.
She tipped her head to him and instinctively parted her lips, thinking that maybe having Carter around might not be such a bad idea. His hands slid down her arms and she was suddenly crushed to him. He whispered her name then devoured her.
He tasted of coffee, gum and that something that was uniquely Carter. When his tongue teased the seam of her lips, Briley let him in with no hesitation. Why not? His was the taste she’d been dreaming about for the past seven nights. Seven sleepless nights filled with memories and longing.
So she let him conquer her mouth. It wasn’t anything she hadn’t been wanting since she’d left his bed. She kissed him with all the pent-up desire in her. His mouth demanded. Hers answered. He slid his tongue into her mouth and moved it in such a way that Briley almost climbed him like a rabid monkey.
Carter’s own hips weren’t still. He was shifting and rotating his very happy penis against the V of her thighs while her breasts pressed against the hard heat of his chest. The combination sent waves of excitement and need through her.
Briley forgot where she was. Forgot the people surrounding them and, for a blessed moment, succumbed to the needs of her body.
Until someone tapped her shoulder and M’s familiar voice intruded. “Ah, Briley, it’s delightful to see you know this guy, but do you mind not showing us exactly how well you know him?”
With a start, she tried to jerk out of his hold, but Carter’s arms kept her firmly flush against his body even as he lifted his head.
“It may not be such a good idea for you to walk away from me, right now. Some of my equipment may be harmed.” His breath whispered against her ear.
Briley fought the shudders that wanted to race across her skin at the light caress. “Like I care what happen—”
“Maybe not right at this moment, but there might be a time in the future that you’ll be interested in my equipment again. I’d hate to have to turn you down just because I’m in traction.”
A smirk curved her lips before she could stop it. Only Carter could make her smile at a time like this. With her friends and three protective bodyguards standing around in a circle watching them.
“Fine,” she spoke into the fabric of his shirt, “but at least loosen the strangle hold.”
At once, his grip eased.
“Thanks.”
Carter grinned at her then pressed a quick kiss to the tip of her nose. “Anything for you, my love.”
“Awww, how sweet.” This from Emma, the world’s biggest fan of romance.
“Yes, it’s cute the way he wants to get in one more kiss before he dies.” And there was Recee, who didn’t believe in romance or in strange men feeling up her friends in public.
“I’m dying?” Carter looked down at her, a confused frown replacing his smile.
“If I have anything to say about it,” Recee said and cracked her knuckles.
“Can I at least have one last request?” he pleaded pitifully.
“Carter, I wouldn’t advise teasing her. She flunked out of her last three court-ordered anger management classes,” Briley advised him while looking around for possible help.
Olivia and Emma stepped firmly to her side. It would have been a nice show of support except Briley knew these two were in the firm ‘keep Carter’ camp.
Recee and Trinity took position in front of them. Arms crossed, feet braced with matching ‘fuck you’ smiles on their faces.
Where the hell had M run off to when she needed him? Maybe he needed to swallow another two by four to replace the one she’d broken her hand on.
“Briley, don’t you dare bring up those classes. I did everything I was supposed to do. That instructor just didn’t like me. She wanted to fail me the minute I stepped into the classroom.”
Briley nodded her head, but still didn’t move away from Carter’s front. There was something to be said about safety in numbers. “I know, pumpkin, but it may have something to do with catching you with her boyfriend in the hall.”
Recee, being Recee, waved the accusation away. “Like I knew he belonged to her? He didn’t have a sold sign on his forehead. And,” she pointed a long finger at them, “he was the one who made a boob grab before knowing my name. Besides, for an anger management instructor she had failed miserably in controlling hers.”
“Recee, why don’t you step away from the nice man holding Briley and give M the knife. I’m sure he wants to admire it.” Olivia’s soothe-the-crazy-person voice spoke over the pounding of Carter’s heart in Briley’s ear.
“Knife?” Carter’s body tensed at the word. “You let the insane carry weapons?”
“Relax.” Briley patted his back. “She’s only used it a few times since that last class. They really are working well for her.”
“I think I’m scared,” Carter confided.
“You’d be an idiot if you weren’t,” Briley assured him.
“Will our kids turn out to be as crazy as their aunts?”
Right there, Briley knew he was a keeper. Anyone who could face her friends and know there were her family had the balls to face a future with her.
“Because I’m thinking shock therapy might get expensive,” he added.
Then again maybe not.
She looked up into his serious face with those rimless glasses and jabbed a long fingernail straight into his side. “That was not a sweet thing to say.”
“What?” he protested, freeing one arm to pull up his shirt. “I think you’ve drawn first blood. How will we explain this to our grandkids on our fiftieth anniversary?” Concentrating on his nonexistent death wounds, Carter missed the flash of temper in Briley’s eyes.
“I mean if I have to suffer through the therapy, then I should at least get the chance to complain about it ahead of time.” He dropped his head and tried to look pitiful.
She gave up. Carter Moore was a loon, crazy, two crayons short of a full box. If she lived to be a hundred, Briley would never understand men much less this one.
“Did you come here just to make me as crazy as you?”
His head came up and he gave her a mischievous grin. “Nope, I came to take you ring shopping. I already know where those two got theirs. We now have someplace to start.”
“Olivia?”
“Yes, Briley.”
“Give Recee the knife back.”
* * * *
Carter Moore was a happy man. His business made money, his hairline showed no signs of receding and Briley hadn’t killed him yet.
He’d been very careful since Friday night. He’d made his intentions known, and now, he needed to wait. Too bad he sucked at waiting, but he was determined to allow Briley a few more days to get to know him. Besides, falling in love meant more than brain-melting, toe-curling sex. Love, in his mind, was conversations over dinner, secrets whispered in the dark of the night, mutual respect and snuggle time in front of a raging fire.
Beguiling Briley Page 5