A chorus of Whats chimed in all at once.
Josh snapped his finger. “So that’s what was up with his head. He said he’d fallen and hit it on something, but it looked like an odd spot to hit your head.”
Mari twirled a noodle around her fork. “He walked in unannounced while the girls and I were playing hide and seek. I thought he was a burglar.”
Nate’s folk clattered onto his plate. “So, what, you whacked him over the head instead of calling the police?”
“Something like that.”
Kendra picked up her glass of water and tipped it toward Mari before taking a sip. “Remind me never to sneak up on you.”
Mari rolled her eyes. “Anyway, he’s fine. We’re fine. He’s going back on tour in a few weeks.”
Sadie sat back in her seat and crossed her arms. “On tour? So, he’s what? A musician?”
Her aunt leaned forward with her elbows on the table and smirked. “Actually, Brandon is the drummer for—wait for it—Andrew Davies.”
Sadie’s eyes about bugged out of her head. “No. Way. Mari’s Andrew?”
“None other.”
Mari huffed. “He is not my Andrew. Stop it, you two.”
Kendra picked up her mostly empty plate and stood. “No way, girl. You’ve been fangirl crushing over that dude since I met you. Didn’t you wear black for a week last year when he got engaged?”
“I did not.” Three days tops.
Sadie stood as well and started collecting dirty plates. “You did too. I always thought it a little crazy, but every girl needs a crush, and you were raised in Gatlinburg, Tennessee so that your crush was a country star made sense. Now for me? Vanilla Ice was my man.”
Kendra snorted. “You’ve got to be kidding.”
“What? Don’t tell me you didn’t have all his songs memorized.”
“Of course I knew his songs, but crush on him over pretty much any of the Backstreet Boys? No way.”
And before Mari could respond, the dirty dishes were forgotten, and her mother and aunt were in the middle of the kitchen, doing some crazy dance moves that shouldn’t even be legal and singing some “Ice, Ice Baby” song that sounded like it belonged in Frozen.
Mari turned to the guys. “Are you both going to sit there and let them humiliate themselves like that?”
Josh pushed out his chair. “Heck no. I’m gonna join ‘em.”
And just like that, a dance party straight out of a bad 1990s prom erupted in the Meyer’s family kitchen.
Mari stood back, shaking her head and laughing until her Mom bebopped over and grabbed her hand. “Come on, honey. Let me show you the Running Man.”
Eh, why not. Thankfully, as she mimicked her mother’s crazy footwork, all thoughts of a certain drummer and a certain kiss drifted into the background.
Chapter 14
Brandon plopped down on the basement couch and clicked the TV on.
News. Click.
News. Click.
Infomercial. Click.
Commercial.
He tossed the remote beside him and ran a hand through his hair. He needed a distraction.
He checked his watch for the hundredth time.
Ten-fifteen.
She should be home by now.
Natalie had mentioned Mari was going to her mom’s house for dinner, but dinner should have been over hours ago, right?
What if her car had slipped on ice? Granted, most of it had melted by now, but some of the backroads still had slippery patches. She could be in a ditch somewhere, freezing to death.
So much for his plan of making sure he was in his room when she came home. Note to self: Buy a TV for the bedroom if he was now going to spend his evenings in there.
Lord, this is driving me crazy. Where is she?
As if by divine answer, the walkout basement door jiggled then opened.
Mari stomped her boots on the rug, then kicked them off and set them on a shoe rack she kept by the door.
Part of him wanted to march over there and demand to know where she’d been, but another part wanted to sweep her into his arms and kiss every inch of her non-frozen, very much alive face.
Then the rest of him knew he had no right to do either. She was a grown woman living on her own. She didn’t report to him or anyone else, just like he didn’t report to anyone else either. And he was supposed to be keeping his distance.
Playing keep away wasn’t his strong suit.
He turned back toward the TV and propped his feet up, hoping it gave the appearance of being engrossed in whatever show was coming on after the commercial.
“Hey there.” Mari stood beside the couch, pulling off her gray, knitted scarf. “You still up?”
He shrugged. “Just watching TV. I can turn it down if it bothers you.”
She shook her head. “It’s fine.”
“You have a good day?”
“Yup, you?”
“Decent. Went and visited Andrew. He’s home recuperating from surgery. Ornery and in pain, but knowing him, he’ll be back on his feet in no time.”
Her footsteps moved toward the kitchen, but he forced himself to stay put and not follow her. A moment later, the fridge opened. “You have dinner? I brought leftovers from my mom’s house.”
He turned his head to see her wiggling a Tupperware container of some type of noodles. “I ate with Natalie and the girls, but thanks.”
Her eyebrows hiked and—was the pink on her cheeks from the cold outside, or from him? He didn’t think he’d said anything blush-worthy.
She cleared her throat. “Uh, nice show you’re watching there.”
What? He wasn’t watching—The TV. It’d been on commercial. He turned back to see—
Oh, crud. He scrambled for the remote and clicked the power button just as a woman started sashaying down a runway in nothing but cowgirl boots and fancy looking underwear that left little to the imagination.
He stood up and ran a hand over his face that was probably crimson red. “I was just, uh, flipping through channels and accidentally—” Not that he wouldn’t have been tempted to flip past a Victoria’s Secret-like fashion show a little slower, especially a few years ago. But he knew too many guys addicted to porn, and he wasn’t about to give Satan that foothold.
“You don’t have to explain anything to me.”
Tossing the remote aside, he walked over to where she still stood in the small kitchen. “Yeah, I do.”
“No, you—”
He leaned a shoulder against the fridge and stuffed his hands in his pockets. “Mari, I’ll be the first to tell you I ain’t perfect. But I’ll have no woman thinking I’m the kind of guy who would sit in my living room watching a bunch of women parade around in their skivvies and call that entertainment.”
Her head cocked to the side as her lips softened into a tiny smile. “That’s a relief.”
“You gotta promise me you’ll stick to those pajamas you wore the other night while we’re roomies though, okay?”
Her laughter was the best sound ever. “Deal. Speaking of pajamas, it’s late, and I need to hit the sack. Morning and two hungry four-year-olds come bright and early.”
“I can imagine. I have a full plate tomorrow too, so I should be headed there myself.”
Mari shot him a confused look and took a step back. “Uh, yeah. Okay.”
He stood up. She didn’t think he meant— “I mean, headed to my room to sleep. Not—you know, in your room. Crap. Maybe I should just move to a guest room upstairs.” Even though it would seriously cramp his style. He was used to late nights and late mornings, and with the twins two doors down, he’d be guaranteed to get neither anymore.
Mari gave him a playful shove in the arm. “I knew what you meant, goof. You don’t have to move upstairs. I was just curious what kind of full plate a drummer could have on a Monday when the lead singer in the band was on medical leave.”
That question he could handle. “Ah, but there are many things you don’t know about me, Na
nny Mari.”
She crossed her arms. “Are you going to be mysterious or will you enlighten me?”
“It’s not a big deal really. A buddy and I started an audio-visual company on the side a year and a half ago. He works it full-time now, and I work when I’m not on tour or at rehearsal. It’s just the two of us, but we’ve been growing so fast we’re planning on hiring our first two employees soon and saving to invest in a bigger office.”
Mari’s hand flew to her heart, and she staggered back against the kitchen cabinet. “Wait a second. Did I—did I just hear the great Brandon Stone admit that he was—planning something? Like, for the future? As in allocating resources and taking steps to do something specific, decided in advance, instead of running with whatever insane idea happens to hop into his brain at the moment?”
He smiled and shoved his hands in his pockets. “I told you. I’m full of surprises.”
“This business have a name?”
“Yes, but beware. Drake picked the name, and I was outvoted.”
She laughed. “Is it that bad?”
“AV Design Pro. Nice and boring.”
“Aw, I don’t think it’s bad. It sounds nice and professional. What did you want to name it?”
“I had about a hundred different ideas, but he shot ‘em all down. Evidently having words like dudes in the title wasn’t appropriate.”
“You’re making that up.”
“A little.” While he didn’t seriously want to put dude in the title, he thought what they’d come up with was a little lame.
“I gotta hand it to you. I’m impressed and apologize for underestimating you. Evidently you’re a little more peanut butter than I thought.”
He shot her a fake scowl. “You take that back.”
“Nothing wrong with admitting you’re normal like the rest of us. It’s good to think about the future from time to time.”
He took a step forward. “Normal? No. No, you didn’t just call me that.” He reached out for her, but she giggled, twirled away and ran toward her bedroom door.
Without thinking, he gave chase and caught her wrist in his hand just before she reached her room, then pulled her to him.
She came without much fight, her other hand resting on his arm. “I really need to sleep, Brandon.”
“Take it back, and I’ll let you go.”
“I was just speaking the truth.”
He slid his other hand around her waist and leaned closer. “If you don’t, I might have to show you just how wildly unpredictable I can be.”
He fully expected her to scurry away from him.
Wanted her to, in fact.
But instead, her hand moved up his arm, then behind his neck, and her body closed the last sliver of gap between them. “Well, maybe I’m not quite as normal and prudish as you seem to think I am.”
Heat spiraled through his veins as he slid both arms behind her back and lowered his lips to hers.
This time, there was no tremble, no hesitance at all from sweet Mari. Only bold desire and need.
Her response to his kiss thrilled him, and he slid his hands up her back and plunged his fingers into her hair like he’d wanted to Saturday night but hadn’t dared.
He’d kissed plenty of women in his day, but this—this woman reached inside him and made him want to shout for joy and groan with pleasure all at the same time. He deepened the kiss, slowly, testing, not wanting to scare her, but she met him move for move as if she were just as hungry for him as he was for her.
She pressed even closer, her subtle curves fitting snug against his chest, her hands grasping his shirt collar.
Suddenly the bed just a few feet behind her looked way too tempting.
His mind filled in all sorts of blanks as to what his body would love to do next, but Natalie’s words from last night echoed in his brain. “Don’t mess with her, Brandon.”
It was as if God himself was speaking to him, reminding him that, while he’d given away his virginity as a stupid youth of nineteen, he was fairly confident Mari had been much smarter.
And he was not about to steal or allow her to give him something that he had no right to take from her.
Even though God knew exactly how badly he wanted to.
He’d also made a promise to God when he’d given his life back over to Him two years ago, that he’d wait until he was married before he slept with a woman again.
Saturday night didn’t count.
Slowing the kiss, he summoned all his willpower and finally lifted his head.
Only—
The nanny had other ideas.
Her mouth left a trail of adorably sweet kisses down his cheek and jaw and then—oh sweet Jesus. She found his ear and—
Lord, give me strength. “Mari?”
She stopped—both to his relief and his profound disappointment—and looked at him, her face flushed and—instantly mortified. “Oh my goodness. I—”
He pressed a quick kiss to her lips to help ease her embarrassment. “I think we both need to go to our own beds, the sooner, the better.”
Her fingers fluttered to her mouth as she took a step back out of his arms. “I’m sorry. I can’t believe I—”
He squeezed her free hand then took a step back for safety. “You’re not nearly as normal as I thought you were, Nanny Mari. And that is a very good thing. Now go get that sleep you were needing, and don’t let the bedbugs bite.” He winked, then turned and hightailed it to his room before he could change his mind and make a very, wrong decision.
Chapter 15
She was a hussy.
One of those women who threw themselves at men with a hike of their girls and a wink of their eye.
She’d had crushes before. Andrew Davies, case in point. Even one boyfriend in college, but that had lasted a month, and when he’d tried to skip to third base before they were barely out of the batter’s box, she’d given him the boot.
After that, she’d determined no man would take her off the path she was on.
She’d channeled all the girly dreams of one day having a husband into her stupid crush on one hunky country star who looked perfect for her in every way.
But now—
Oh but now.
Brandon Stone had captured her heart.
Maybe it was too soon to say that. He’d captured something, though, and left her body feeling tingly and liquid and full of life like never before.
Good girls shouldn’t feel this way, should they?
This was everything her mother had warned her against.
Her mother, who had gotten pregnant with her at sixteen. Who’d warned her daughter against the dangers of men who had only one thing on their mind due to their hormone-raging bodies.
Well, evidently women could have that same problem too, because she had no idea what had come over her out there.
He’d just looked so—good. And that kiss—
Sigh.
Every logical thought in her brain screamed for her to look at all the reasons Brandon Stone was a bad idea.
He was a drummer. Unstable. He didn’t even have his own place, even though she would bet money it wasn’t a lack of cash but the fact he was sinking all of it into his side business.
A business that made her realize she’d been hasty in her judgment of him. There was more than what met the eye in that man.
And what met the eye was pretty dang hot, too.
Falling onto her bed, she smothered her face with her pillow. What in the world was she going to do?
Usually she would call her mom about stuff, but there was no way she was going to tell her mother she’d almost just had sex with Andrew Davies’ drummer.
That would go over well.
Aunt Kendra—eh. She’d want to have a sleepover and do nails and talk about “boys.” Her sweet aunt hadn’t accepted the fact Mari was no longer a baby.
Danielle.
Duh! Of course.
Fishing her phone from her pocket, she texted her friend. You still
up? SOS!!
Five seconds later, her phone vibrated with her friend’s smiling face on the screen.
She rolled over and answered it while staring at the ceiling. “I almost slept with him.”
Mari held the phone away from her ear as her friend screamed, “What?!”
“We—didn’t. But I need to talk to someone.”
“Uh, okay, back up. Last time we talked you’d given him a concussion. How did we get from that to almost sleeping with the dude?”
“Kissing. A great deal of kissing. Well, I take that back. We kissed on Saturday night while watching a movie and then again tonight—but tonight was—different. Obviously. I didn’t know I could feel this way about a guy—but I’m not stupid. I know this is just a crazy chemical reaction of hormones, and I need to get my head on straight. So I need a lecture on how to do that, okay?”
“I mean—do you like him, Mare?”
She closed her eyes, and his smiling, goofy self came immediately to mind. Fort building with the kids and silly picnics and giving the girls piggyback rides and his hands all up in her hair— “Oh yeah. Way more than I should. He—he’s not my type at all. We’d be horrible together, Danni. I really need to figure out how to not like him.”
“Well, that makes no sense. I mean, how do you feel about him when you aren’t kissing him?”
“I—sometimes he makes me want to scream and kick him in the shins. But most of the time he makes me laugh and challenges me—but what am I saying? I’ve known him for like four days. How well can a girl really know how she feels about a guy after one weekend?”
“Yeah. But you’ve also been living with the guy for all four of those days. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying you go hopping into bed with him or start picking out wedding rings. But he sounds like he’s worth giving it a shot and seeing where it goes.”
Mari curled up on her side and sighed. This was not how she expected this conversation going, but—maybe? Was Danielle right? Could there possibly be something there in this impossible-sounding relationship?
Could God give her a guy who was everything she wasn’t but was everything she never realized she needed?
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