Tess knew that on some level that was why she never got serious with a guy. She had always told people she wanted to focus on her career, but the truth was she was afraid. It hurt to admit it, but she didn’t want to be her mother.
“Deep thoughts, Keller?” Westin said. She smiled at the older nurse.
“Lots of things going on in my head, and none of them good.”
“I can imagine, especially since I saw that tall drink of water who brought you breakfast the other day.”
She felt her face heat up.
“It’s about time.”
She stopped working and turned her chair to face Westin. The older woman was giving her a knowing smile.
“What?” she asked.
“Honey, I have seen you love them and leave them, but it’s nice to see one of them tangle you up.”
She frowned. “What do you mean by that?”
“You make sure you keep them at arm’s length. I don’t blame you. I’ve been married to a Marine for the last ten years, and you have to make sure you put them in their place. Otherwise, they just roll right over you. You already have this one dancing to your tune.”
Tess shook her head. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
She had to remind herself that over and over. If she didn’t, Tess knew she would start to believe it. That would be disastrous.
“I do but I will let you live in your fantasy land. Some day you’ll wake up and be married.”
With that statement, her friend sauntered off. Tess knew marriage wasn’t part of the plan for Bran. He’d always said he didn’t want to marry early in his career. The type of job he had would make it hard on the spouse. Tess understood that. It still made her sad to realize that no matter what she said to him or anyone else, she wasn’t going to keep it simple.
And that just plain sucked.
* * * *
Bran was just settling down in his room when his cell phone rang. He looked at the caller id and wanted to groan. He wasn’t in the mood for his father, but Bran knew better than to ignore the General.
“Hey, Dad.”
“Good morning, Brandon. I’ve had a time trying to track you down.”
“What do you mean?”
“I called Tess Keller’s house and you weren’t there.”
“Why would you call there and not call my cell?”
“I tried. It kept going to voice mail.”
“Oh. There isn’t anything going on with MJ, is there?”
“No, you’re sister is fine. In fact, I am on my way there.”
He pulled the phone out from his ear and looked at it then put it back to his ear. “Is there something wrong? You’re taking time off…and you’re going to drive somewhere?”
That wasn’t like his father at all. His father was someone who rarely took time off and when he did, he usually stayed home.
“Yeah. You act like that’s a bad thing. I want to be there when my first grandchild is born.”
“Okay. Wait, you’re coming here? Where are you staying?”
“On base. I got into the VIP quarters. I should be there in about two hours.”
“Oh.”
“Tess invited me to dinner, and I’m assuming that you’ll be invited too.”
He realized then that might have been what she had been calling about.
“I’ll call her.”
“Good. I’ll see you in a bit. Where are you staying?”
He told him the name of the hotel. “But I’ll meet you on base. That way I can just drive us both to Tess’ house.”
“Sounds good, Brandon. See you in a few hours.”
He clicked off his phone and his stomach started to churn. When the General was coming into town, it wasn’t a good thing. He didn’t just drop by to talk. That wasn’t his way. Bran loved his father, but he had always run their house like a miniature military. They’d always had a bit of distance between them.
And, he didn’t need his father sticking his nose into his business, not now. He could really screw things up with Tess.
Just thinking her name brought back the memories of the night before and Bran couldn’t help it—his body reacted.
He didn’t know how he had ignored the feelings he had for her so long. Okay, in a way he did know. He’d avoided her. Kind of cowardly now that he thought about it, but he had done just that. There were times he’d been close to her duty station and not stopped by. At the time, he told himself it was because he was too busy…or that she didn’t have the time to spend with him. Looking back, he understood he’d been avoiding her. Well, that was over.
He still couldn’t believe she was trying to do the friends with benefits thing. He knew she was pretty open sexually, but that went beyond what he had expected. He dialed her number.
She picked up on the first ring. “It’s about freaking time, Johnson. Do you know who called me?”
“My father.”
“Your father. Wait, you knew about this?”
He paused. This was not the Tess he was accustomed to. She was shrieking. As if there was something really, really wrong.
“Why didn’t you tell me? I am having to run around the house cleaning it up.”
“First, I just got off the phone with him. Second, your house is clean.”
“Not enough for Mr. J.”
He hated to admit it, but the reverence he heard in her voice made him a little jealous. Of his father.
Being in love with her was really screwing him up.
“You didn’t have to invite him over.”
“Yes, I did. My father would be furious if I didn’t. I thought he would just say he was busy, blah blah. I didn’t expect him to say yes.”
This was completely out of character for her, but he rolled with it. “Well, he appreciates it. I’m picking him up.”
“Thank you. It’s the least you could do.”
He bit back a chuckle. Tess was back.
“And make sure you warn him I had to put up with you for a week. He’s not allergic to anything, is he?”
“No. Not that I know of.”
“Brandon Johnson. You don’t know if your father is allergic to anything?”
She was back to shrieking, so he decided to change the subject. “Everything will be fine. Also, I wanted to tell you that I am okay with the friends with benefits.”
She didn’t need to know that he was doing it with dubious intent. If he could stay close to her, he could control the situation.
There was a beat of silence.
“Okay.”
He was a little disappointed. He wanted her to get pissed and fight him, but he should have known she would dig in.
“Anyway, I have to get ready so I can pick the old man up.”
“Sure.”
“See you tonight.”
“Bye, Bran.”
He turned off his phone and got up to pace. He knew that while Tess kept things free and easy with other men, he was different. He didn’t fault her because, well…he believed in equal rights right down the line. But, with their entanglements, and the way she gave herself to him the night before…there was no doubt in his mind that she cared for him.
Now, he just had to figure out a way to get under her skin and get her to admit it. What he needed was a good, solid plan.
Then everything would be okay. Bran just had to make sure he didn’t screw it all up.
Chapter Eight
Tess dropped her fork on the floor and barely kept hold of the plate she had picked up off the table. She cursed under her breath as she leaned down to retrieve it.
“Are you okay?” Bran asked.
She glanced up at him. Worry etched his features and she understood why. She’d been a goofball since his father and he had shown up. She looked back to the bathroom door and saw that it was firmly closed.
“I love your father to pieces, but…I’m sleeping with his son.”
He smiled. “Yeah you are.”
She rolled her eye
s and grabbed another plate before heading into the kitchen. He was carrying the salad bowl as he followed her.
“Is that all you think about, Bran?”
“Is when I’m around you. And let’s face it. You’re the same way.”
She was. Worse, she had been having inappropriate thoughts about Bran all during dinner. If Mr. J knew what she had been thinking, he would have been appalled.
“I will admit no such thing.”
Bran opened his mouth, but his father was walking down the hall. “Dinner was fantastic, Tess.”
She smiled. There was a little bit of Mr. J in all the boys, and Bran had his smile. It was so easy to see the resemblance between the two when he smiled; although, she hadn’t seen him do it a lot.
“Thank you. I know you always enjoyed Mom’s vodka sauce with penne.” A quick call to her mother had confirmed that little nugget.
“And I appreciate it. I know that dealing with Brandon this last week had to have been a pain.”
Bran rolled his eyes and she laughed. “Yep. You know what a moocher he is.”
“I wish I could stay later, but I have an early start tomorrow. I’m heading out to see MJ and Leo. That drive down from DC seemed longer than the last time I did it.”
“Dad always says that trips wear on the body three times more past the age of fifty.”
He gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “Say hi to your parents for me.”
“I will.”
He turned to leave and Bran hesitated.
“Brandon?”
“Be there in a second, Dad.”
His father nodded and caught the keys as Bran threw them to him. He shut the door behind him, leaving them alone.
“What are you up to, Bran?”
He shook his head but he had a serious look on his face. She didn’t know why he had gone from the earlier flirting to this, but she didn’t like it.
“I’m not sure I’m cut out for this friends with benefits thing you want to do.”
The little jab pierced her heart. She hadn’t expected him to be that happy about it, mainly because she had been the one who had suggested it. Still, his decision now blindsided her.
“And why is that?”
“I…I guess we could talk about this tomorrow after the old man leaves.”
She set a bowl down in the sink and crossed her arms beneath her breasts. She needed protection against this. It was going to happen sooner or later, she just didn’t expect it to happen so soon.
“I think you’ve made up your mind.”
His brow furrowed. “In a way, but I just can’t deal with this and the old man.”
“Just go.”
“Sure,” he said easily, but the expression on his face told her he was still irritated.
“Don’t worry about it, Bran. I won’t bother you any more.”
He shook his head and stepped closer. “You bother me on so many levels, Tess, I don’t know which way is up.”
She opened her mouth to ask him what he meant, but he kissed her. Not passionately, but sweetly. A brush of his mouth over hers and just enough of a taste to make her heart melt. He pulled back and drew in a deep breath.
“I would rather stay, but Dad will be gone in the morning.”
She opened her mouth to say they were done, that he had called it off. But he set his finger on her mouth and gave her one his rare serious stares.
“No. I’ll call tomorrow.”
“Don’t. I know your answer, or can guess. I think it would be best to take a break if you aren’t going to agree. It will make it easier.”
“So, you’re giving me an ultimatum?” He didn’t look happy about that fact.
“Not an ultimatum. I just can’t take the indecision. It makes me think that you just aren’t that interested.” Suddenly she was so tired. She wanted to curl up in a ball and just sleep. First cry like a baby, then sleep.
“Dammit, Tess, I can’t handle these games.”
“I’m not playing anymore.”
She could tell he wanted to argue, but both of them knew his father was waiting out in the car. Instead, he stepped toward her, grabbed and kissed her again. This time, though, it was a bruising kiss that left her head spinning and her heart hammering against her chest. When he drew back, she had to fight the urge to follow him to kiss him longer.
“This isn’t over, Tess.”
With that, he marched out of her house. For a long few moments she stood there in front of her sink trying to get her head back on straight. He had ripped her well-ordered life to shreds and now she didn’t know what to do.
Damn that man.
* * * *
“You know when I met your mother, I made a muck of it too,” his father said.
Bran glanced over at him then back to the road. “What are you talking about?”
His father made the noise he always did when he was irritated. “Son, if I already didn’t have an idea you two were hot for each other, I would have known after tonight. I may be old, but I’m not stupid.”
“Hot for each other?”
He didn’t look over, but he was pretty sure his father rolled his eyes. The General had a lot of patience. It was one of the things that helped make him the general officer he was today. But, when it came to his kids, he had none.
“Why would you be a friend with a girl in high school and college?”
He pulled up to the VOQ and put his car in park. “What do you mean by that?”
“Listen, I let it go because…well, I figured you were being nice because her father worked for me. But, now…Lord, Brandon, someone else is going to scoop her up if you’re not careful.”
He gave up. His father might have been a busy officer building his career, but he had a sixth sense when it came to his sons. He always seemed to know when they needed a nudge. Of course, with MJ, his father said he stopped trying to figure her out about three months after she was born.
“I got it under control.”
His father actually snorted. “Didn’t look that way to me tonight.”
“Yeah, well, I’ve got a strategy.”
His father studied him for a moment, then shook his head. “You were never a thinker.”
“Gee, thanks, Dad. Supportive comments like that made me what I am today,” he said without hiding the sarcasm. Instead of getting mad, his father’s lips twitched.
“You’re someone who just springs into action. You are going against your nature here, son. The reason you’re one of the best fighter pilots in the Marines…in the military as a whole, is because you don’t think. It’s all instinct. You were born with it.”
“And, what has that got to do with my personal life?”
His father studied him and all of the sudden Bran was struck by how much his father had aged in the last few years. There were more than a few gray hairs now…and his eyes were really showing his age. Worry followed those thoughts. Did this trip have to do with his father’s health? It would be just like his father to keep it from them and go on some farewell tour. Before he could ask, though, his father spoke.
“Stop thinking.”
“What?”
“Brandon Johnson, when you think, you get in trouble. Don’t.”
“She wants to stay friends.”
“Your mother was the best friend I ever had.”
His father rarely spoke of the woman he had loved so deeply. All of them knew her death had been a blow to his father…and he never really recovered. Whenever he did talk about her, all the Johnsons knew to pay attention. Still, he was pretty sure he didn’t understand the situation.
“You don’t seem to understand. She said…”
Then he realized what he was about to tell his father. A sure sign he was really screwed up in the head. The woman had him all twisted up.
His father studied him for a second, then nodded. “Ah, something you don’t want to tell me? That’s fine. You love her.”
It wasn’t really a question, but Bran nodde
d. He did love Tess and not in that best friend kind of love he had always thought. She was sweet and kind, so dedicated to her job. Not to mention, she was beautiful and damned tough. He didn’t know if he ever wanted to go another day not knowing she was his.
“Yes.”
“You sound surprised.”
“I didn’t…well, it wasn’t something I realized until recently.”
“Blind as a bat when it comes to Tess.” His father shook his head. “You always were. Just make sure you treat her right. Her father was a good Marine, but both of her parents sucked.”
He chuckled. It was always weird when his father used words like sucked.
“I will.”
“Make sure you don’t wait. That is one woman you will have to go get.” His father sighed. “I should be getting in. That drive lasted forever.”
That comment had Bran worrying again. His father rarely mentioned age or how it affected him. “You’re telling the truth? There’s nothing wrong.”
His father gave him a smile. “Nothing wrong. Just old.”
He opened up the door and slipped out of the car. Then, he stopped and leaned back in.
“You know I’m proud of you, right?”
Brandon nodded.
“I know I’m not a man who expresses himself well. And while I think everything you have done in the Marines makes me look good as a commander, I would much rather have you happy, Brandon. Life is too short. Go get Tess.”
Then, as if he didn’t just order his son to go get a woman, he shut the door and sauntered up to the Visiting Officers’ Quarters.
Bran watched his father until he disappeared into the building. He backed out of the parking space and started back to his hotel. He wanted to wait until he got there to start worrying about what to do about Tess. He knew he was in for the long haul, but he hadn’t thought about what that meant. He came to a stop at a light and it hit him. It was like in that one blinding second he knew exactly what he wanted—needed—to do.
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