He smiled and she waited for her heart to kick in. It had before. Before Bran had gotten there. Okay, not that much. Not the way it did when she’d heard Bran laugh at some stupid joke he’d made. She had thought she moved on from her high school crush, but now here she was comparing Jed to Bran, and that just wasn’t fair.
“Plus, I always space out when I watch the water. It’s so calming,” she said.
His face cleared and his smile widened. “So, Johnson, not competition, then?”
She blinked. It was odd that he would get worried about her attention. Less than three years before she’d still considered herself an ugly duckling. Okay, maybe not that, but odd to say the least. She’d been too skinny and too geeky for most boys to pay her any attention. Now though, she rarely had a weekend without a date unless she didn’t want one.
“Uh, no. Bran and I went to high school together. My father worked for his…that kind of thing. I don’t think Bran sees me as date material anyway, but then, he’s a pilot.”
Jed rolled his eyes. No matter what service, all pilots had horrible reputations. Jed knew she refused to date them for that reason. It was acceptable to be friends, but when a pilot pushed for more, she usually pulled away.
“Ah, okay. I just wanted to be sure with him staying at your house.”
She snorted. “That’s not going to last long.”
He opened his mouth to respond, but the waiter bringing their drinks and taking their food orders interrupted. When they were alone again, he apparently wasn’t done with the subject of Bran.
“Why do you say that?”
“Say what?” she asked.
“Say that Johnson won’t be around that long.”
“Well, Bran doesn’t understand that I’m not going to clean up after him. Also, not cooking for him. He’s not used to women acting that way around him. You know what that’s like.”
It was his turn to blink at her. The long silence told her she’d said something goofy again. Dammit. Bran was back in her life for less than twenty-four hours and she was losing control of her mouth.
“It’s just that…okay, Jed you know you’re good looking, so we don’t have to pretend here.”
He said nothing for a second or two, then slowly, his lips curved. There was that little ping and instead of making her nervous, it comforted her. “So…you think I’m good looking.”
Tess knew she could play this one of two ways. Being cool probably wasn’t going to work so she settled back against her chair and laughed.
“Yeah, Jed, I think you’re good looking.”
“Good. Because I think you’re hot.” Then he wiggled his eyebrows, pulling a giggle out of her.
“Yeah?”
“Now that we have that out of the way…why don’t you tell me all about your day?”
She settled back, happy to be on a subject that didn’t make her nervous.
* * * *
Bran was frowning at his cereal the next morning when Tess finally ambled out of her room. She wore a t-shirt and shorts. Damn, when did her legs get so long? She had always been a tall woman, but now, those legs were no longer the toothpicks they’d been in high school. Lean with just enough muscle to make them shapely, he could just imagine how it would feel to have them wrapped…
Whoa, Johnson. What the hell is wrong with you? He shook his head trying to forget what he’d just been thinking. It was way out of line. Instead, he frowned harder at Tess.
“So, I see you finally got out of bed.”
She looked at him, then down at his cereal. “You just got up yourself, Bran. I know you can’t wait to eat in the morning.”
Dammit. Having a woman who knew him so well wasn’t advantageous for him. Bran knew it was horrible, but he usually liked to keep things on the surface with women. He wasn’t around for the long haul…and it also gave him a little edge. With Tess, he didn’t have that.
“Okay, I did, but I drove a long ways yesterday.”
She rolled her eyes and walked into the kitchen. “And I stayed out late last night with Jed. Suck it up, Marine.”
“Yeah, about that.”
“Yes?” she asked as she started her k-cup to brew.
“I didn’t know you dated so much.”
She looked at him. “Not that I date a lot, but I guess…compared to high school and the academy, I do date more. Probably not much more than anyone else our age, though.”
He grunted and decided it was better not to touch on the topics of high school and Annapolis. Those seemed to be some kind of sore subjects with her.
She pulled out some creamer and poured it into her coffee.
“So, what are your plans today?” She slipped onto the stool next to his. Their shoulders brushed as he drew in the just-showered scent of her. He could smell the herbal soap on her skin…and it made him sweat.
Damn.
“Bran?” she asked when he didn’t answer.
He released a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding and rolled his shoulders. “Not sure.”
“Shouldn’t your answer have something to do with looking for a house?”
“Kicking me out, Keller?”
She shrugged. “I like my space.”
He didn’t like the sound of that. It irritated him that she seemed to have this whole other life now. At one time, they had been thick as thieves. Now, they seemed a bit awkward and it felt like she didn’t want to spend time with him.
And the fact that this felt a little bit like jealousy didn’t sit well with him either.
“You’re off today?”
“Yep. One of the joys of swapping shifts. I get three days off. I had planned on hitting the beach.”
“It’s supposed to rain. So you can help me find a place.”
“Yeah, exactly what I need. Traipsing around in the rain with you sounds like a lovely day.”
He frowned. Bran normally liked her sarcastic tone, but for some reason, it rubbed him the wrong way this time. He was sure it had anything to do with the fact that he was still tired from the trip and hadn’t slept the night before.
“I’ll spring for lunch.”
She slanted him a look. “No fast food burgers.”
“You used to live off those.”
“I haven’t been in a fast food restaurant for three years, except the food court at the exchange.”
“Okay. But, no lobster.”
She patted him on the cheek. It was totally normal that when she looked at him with her hand on his face, his heart jerked a little bit, right?
“You pilots are always so cheap.”
She slipped off her stool and turned to head back to her room.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked.
“Every time I go out with a pilot, they are so cheap. Not that I go out with a lot of them, I have pretty much sworn off them. Maybe it’s just me that brings it out in them. Although, most guys aren’t like that when I go on a date with them, so I am just assuming all of you are cheap.”
“How many pilots have you dated?” And how many of them would he have to beat over the head?
“Ahhh, I think three. No, wait; there was the Air Force Major last year. I went out on a few dates with him while he was on vacation.” The way her voice rolled over the words, along with the secret little smile she was sporting, almost had him losing his temper.
Why was he so pissed? He didn’t understand it. “Well, he was Air Force, so he doesn’t count.”
She laughed as she walked back to her room. “You keep telling yourself that, Bran.”
Then she disappeared, leaving him alone with his thoughts. That wasn’t exactly a good thing. Why was he acting like an ass? She might not realize it, but his thoughts were…well, weird. This was Tess Keller. Best buddy a guy could have of the female variety.
Maybe it was the long drive coupled with the sleep deprivation caused by wondering where she had been the night before. He just had to get back to being her friend and all these weird feeli
ngs would go away.
* * * *
“So, what was wrong with the second house we looked at?” Tess asked, trying her best not to get irritated. From the beginning of the day, Bran had been unbearable. Every house and apartment they looked at, he had something horrible to say about it. And it wasn’t getting any better. They had looked at five rentals and if she didn’t cold cock him at this point, it wasn’t that long off.
“It was too far from the base.”
She sighed as she pulled into her driveway.
“You’re gonna have to find a place to live,” she said, getting out of the car and turning around. She almost walked straight into her property manager, Diana Michaels.
“Oh, Diana, was there something you wanted?”
She shook her head, her blue gaze going from Tess to Bran. Great. There was no doubt about it—Diana was Bran’s type. Blonde hair, blue eyes, and lots of teeth. Former cheerleader for sure. And well…she had some other attributes Tess was sure a plastic surgeon helped her with.
“No. I was just showing the house two doors down. Hi,” she said. The whole thing was said without taking her gaze from Bran.
Tess knew there was no way out of this. “Bran, this is Diana Michaels, my property manager. Diana, this Bran Johnson, an old family friend.”
Diana glanced in her direction, then back to Bran.
“Oh?”
Bran looked at the woman like she was insane. Diana, for her part, was licking her lips.
“Yeah, I’m looking for a place to rent. Do you know of any place?”
Diana’s lips curved, then she gave him a full grin. Oh, good lord, she looked like the raptor in Jurassic Park.
It was inevitable so Tess jumped in. “Yeah, Bran, why don’t you go with Diana and talk about it?”
“Wait, what? Aren’t you coming?”
She shook her head. “I want to get a run in today. Have fun.”
Then she hurried into the house trying to ignore the way it made her feel…again. She had been through this all through high school. Bran had always treated her like a little sister and at first that had been fine. Then, he had become the football captain, the all around hunk of the school, and she had been his…little buddy. She shut the door behind her and tried to wish away those horrible memories—even if it had never worked before. It was pathetic. She was over him. If he was too stupid to see her for who she was, she didn’t want him. But those memories still hurt.
Her phone rang, bringing her out of her thoughts. She frowned at the caller id and didn’t pick up because it was a cell phone number. Her outgoing message played then she heard a familiar voice.
“Hey, you stupid idiot, pick up the phone.”
Tess laughed when she realized it was MJ, Bran’s sister, leaving the message.
“That’s not a very nice message to leave me,” she said, still chuckling.
“Oh, sorry. I figured you would be at work today.”
“I switched a shift yesterday with someone, so I now have a three day vacation. You know how rare those are.” MJ was a physical therapist at Brooks Army Medical Center in San Antonio.
“Yes. Is my idiot brother there?”
“He’s out looking at a house.”
“Oh, that didn’t sound good. What did he do? Did you have to kick him out?”
“Well, first he just showed up yesterday and assumed I would take him in.”
“They’re all like that. Well, not Jesse. He plans everything. Drives me batty. But Bran, he’s the worst.”
“Then, he was pissy because I wouldn’t cancel a date.”
There was a beat of silence. “Oh, really.”
“Yeah. Hopefully Big Toothed Diana can help him find a rental.”
“Big Toothed Diana?”
Immediately she felt guilty. Diana had always been nice to her and, truthfully, she was only getting rude about her because she’d brought up all those feelings she had before. It wasn’t Diana’s fault.
“Sorry. My property manager.”
“So, at least he’s looking at places.”
“Yeah. Although, everything we looked at today wasn’t what he was looking for.”
“Bran can be particular about things.”
She wanted to get off the subject of her best friend. “So, how’s the pregnancy going?”
And MJ did exactly as Tess had hoped and started rambling off her last trimester complaints. It was easy to hear the joy in MJ’s voice and even easier to forget her worries and just enjoy.
* * * *
“So, you know Tess from way back?” Diana asked.
Bran nodded as he looked over the kitchen. It wasn’t as nice as Tess’ but then, he wasn’t one to do a lot of cooking. And he only had himself, unless his family came into town. That wouldn’t happen all at once because…well, they were a bit fractured with their schedules.
“Our dads worked together.” He opened the refrigerator and poked his head inside. When he straightened, he almost ran into Diana who’d snuck up on him.
“So, there’s nothing there?” she asked.
“Uh…”
For the first time in a long time, he was really uncomfortable with a woman. Not in a good way. The way she was eyeing him made Bran think she was weighing and measuring him for dinner.
He slipped around her. “Nothing there?”
“I just wanted to warn you that Tess…well, she’s always had a reputation.”
The alarm bells started to ring. Predatory females were not his kind, especially when they were petty. “Is that so?”
Diana nodded and leaned closer, as if she had some kind secret to share. “Yes. She dates, a lot.”
“And?” He asked, barely holding onto his temper.
“Well, you know women like that.”
Apparently she didn’t pick up on the warning in his voice. He crossed his arms and stared at her. “No. Why don’t you tell me?”
Finally, Diana picked up on the tone. She blinked and her smile faltered. For the longest time she said nothing. Then, she shook her head. “I’m sure you are going to love the rest of the house. Two of the bedrooms are small, but the master bedroom is rather large.”
He followed her down the hall, wondering if he were more irritated with Diana or Tess. The fact that she had a reputation—that didn’t sit right with him. But at the moment, he wasn’t sure why it didn’t; beyond the fact he didn’t like anyone to think badly of Tess. Still, Diana’s comments didn’t irritate him as much as the jealousy her comment provoked.
He just needed to get his head screwed on straight and everything would work out. One thing he knew was that he couldn’t screw up his friendship with Tess, and he would do anything to ensure that.
Chapter Three
A day later, Bran smiled as he closed his eyes and sniffed. Salt water clung to the air. He opened his eyes and looked out over the white sand beach.
“This is the life,” Bran said, as he stretched out on his towel. It was a clear day, with just a little bit of wind off the water to make it bearable. The soft sand beneath his body was warm and he had already started to drift, when Tess pulled off her shorts then her top.
Holy mother of God.
She was wearing a little bitty red bikini. It was a far cry from the racing suits she’d used to wear. For a second, he couldn’t form a coherent thought. She’d gained some curves and now had a bit of roundness to her stomach. Not fat, but womanly. And those legs…they went on for-freaking-ever. The suit covered all the important parts, but it was enough to make a man’s fingers itch to discover more. Not to mention that little belly ring. God, it drove him crazy just thinking about it.
He shook his head and noticed a few men looking in their direction. Dammit. “Uh, did you leave some of your bathing suit at home?”
She frowned down at him. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“Well, you are showing off a bit of skin there, Keller.”
She shook her head. “I’m not showing off any more
than those bathing beauties you were just drooling over so shove it down your pie hole.”
He didn’t like that at all, but the truth was, he didn’t have a right. She wasn’t his sister—although MJ would argue that didn’t give him a right either. Plus, he was just friends with Tess.
She could be more.
Oh, shit. His brain must be fried if he was lying there thinking that he should romance his best friend. Hell, romance was too nice of a word for what he was thinking about at the moment. He could just imagine slipping his fingers beneath the fabric of her suit and the way her flesh would smell of sand and ocean.
“Did you put on any sunscreen?” she asked, thankfully cutting into his thoughts. If he didn’t learn some control, he would embarrass himself.
“Yes.”
“Well, I brought more in my bag if you need it.”
“You don’t look like you get out in the sun at all.”
Smiling, she shrugged. “I wear a lot of sunscreen, plus, the hat.”
He glanced up at the massive straw hat. “Yeah, that’s kind of hard to miss.”
She laughed and settled on the towel next to his. “I got it down in the Keys last time I went.”
It was then he realized he didn’t know much about his old friend. They had remained somewhat close at Annapolis, but since then, they had drifted a little. They’d both been busy with their training and their careers…and he’d admit it. It had been easier than dealing with the weird feelings. Those had started when they had graduated from Annapolis. That day she had hugged and kissed him and Lord, he’d felt something close to lust. For his best friend.
He pushed that memory away. “So, you go down to the Keys a lot?”
She shook her head as she pulled out her Kindle. “Every now and then.”
“Is that where you got the belly ring?”
She didn’t say anything right away and he wondered if she planned on even acknowledging his question.
“No.”
When she didn’t continue, Bran realized she really wasn’t going to tell him unless he pushed. Part of him wanted to ignore it…just blow it off. He tried to. But within a few minutes he understood it was going to drive him crazy not knowing.
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