Blushing Pink (35 page)

"No... but why don't you come back to bed?"

By the light that streamed from her laptop, she could just make out the silhouette of Brian's body under the covers, and his hands behind his head.

"I will, but I just want to write while I'm feeling inspired," she said.

"What are you working on? Your novel?"

"Yeah."

"What's it called?" he asked, scratching his chest and starting to come fully awake.

"Chasing the Story,"
she answered. "It's about these two reporters who are competing, and then they get involved in all this stuff, and then they fall in love along the way." Okay, she was babbling. Maybe this was another postcoital quirk she had, what did she know?

Brian leaned over and switched on the bedside lamp. They both squinted and screwed their faces up as they adjusted to the light.

"What are you doing?" Reese asked, as he started to sit up.

Instead of replying, he absently ran a hand through his rumpled hair. His back was to her; she couldn't help gazing at his sleek, tanned skin, and the muscled strength beneath it. He leaned down to pick his boxers off the floor, and in doing so, exposed some of his bare butt. She bit her lip and stared shamelessly.

After he slid his boxers on, he walked around the bed and toward her, grinning. A big, infatuated smile broke immediately across her face. "Hi," she said softly as he approached her and tugged on her hand to coax her up out of the chair. "What are you doing?" she asked again, rising to her feet.

He still didn't answer, but leaned down to kiss her—softly and slowly—letting his lips linger on hers. Her hands slid over his shoulders, and clung so that she could prolong the kiss. She could taste his sleep breath, but instead of being turned off, she was enticed. It tasted raw and rugged... sexy. "I'm sitting down," he said suddenly, and stole her seat in the chair.

Before she could protest, he pulled her down onto his lap. A giggle slipped out as she struggled to get off of him. He held on to her even as she insisted, "No, please, I'm too heavy," so finally she gave up trying to convince him that she could do serious permanent damage, and cuddled happily against his chest.

"Can I read some of your novel now?" he asked.

Reese's eyes grew huge, because that was the last thing she had expected—and it definitely was the last thing she was ready for. She had only six chapters so far, and it was all pretty rough—though she loved it—but still, she just couldn't imagine showing it to another person. Not yet, and definitely not Brian.

What if he hated it? What if he thought she was a terrible writer? No, that would just be way too embarrassing.

"Um– ."

"Please," he said softly, smoothing his palm over her bare leg. "Please, just a little?"

"Okay."
What!
Damn it, when it came to Brian, she was just too weak.

Turning her laptop a little so he could get a better view, Brian scrolled to the top of document and began to read.

It took only a few moments for Reese to become frantic with self-consciousness. He was reading with no expression, stone-faced, obviously loathing her book, and she wanted him to stop reading it.
Now.

"Actually," she said suddenly, "um... that's enough..."

She leaned to turn the laptop away, and Brian said, "Hey, don't do that." He tilted it back and continued to read.

"No, really... I-I changed my mind—"

"Shh, I'm at a great part," he said, eyes fixed on the screen. Did he actually like it... or was he merely being polite?

"Brian, you don't have read anymore, really—"

"Shh,"
he said. "I'm trying to concentrate."

She saw the faint trace of a smile on his face, so she smiled, too. "Okay, sorry," she said, and then tried to move off his lap, to keep his circulation moving. Only he didn't let her go; he kept her snugly in his arms while he read on.

She tried to relax against him, to rest her head on his shoulder, but it was nothing more than a pose.

Her body was coursing with a nervous kind of adrenaline. Would what he say when he finished? Would he be encouraging? And would it all be bullshit?

When Brian was finished, an odd expression crossed his face—maybe a mix between confusion and frustration. He turned his head, looking disappointed.

She swallowed hard—it was worse than she thought.

"So?" he said.

"So what?"

"So what happens?"

"What do you mean?"

"After Trent and Monique get to the abandoned warehouse," Brian said urgently. "C'mon, what happens? You just left me hanging."

"Oh," she said, relieved. Then, assessing his expression, she felt a smile tug at the corners of her lips, because he was such an adorable sweetheart, she didn't ever want to lose this moment. She blew out a breath with mock regret. "Gee, I don't know."

"What do you mean, you don't know? You can't tell me what happens?"

She shrugged guiltily. "I'm sort of making it up as I go along."

"Oh, my God, I can't believe this!" he said, acting outraged—but she saw the laughter in his eyes. "You could've at least warned me before I got hooked."

She laughed as he stood up and lifted her with him.

"Sorry, I wasn't thinking," she said, giggling as he carried her.

"All right, that's it. Now you're gonna pay." He flung them both onto the bed.

"Oh, no, what are you gonna do?" she said, hugging him.

"Mmm..." He slid his hands under his shirt she wore to cup her breasts. "I don't know yet... I'll make it up as I go along." She giggled a little more, and then pulled back so she could look at him. He looked back—straight into her eyes—and she felt a kind of heady euphoria swirl around inside her. She sighed blissfully as Brian dropped a kiss on her forehead.

"By the way," she said softly, "I meant to ask you, how's Danny? Any word from the doctor?"

"Yeah, he said she's okay, but he thinks all the stress she's under might affect her pregnancy." Worry crossed his features, and Reese ran her hand gently along his jaw to comfort him.

"I'm sorry," she said, "but I'm sure she'll be all right. After the baby's born, she's moving in with your parents, right? In Miami?"

"Yeah, I'm really hoping everything works out."

Reese smiled at him, and continued to stroke his jaw. "It will. You'll be an uncle." He shrugged casually, so she decided to let it be for the moment.

His lips captured hers in a soft, gentle kiss, as he caressed her face with his fingers and ran them up through her hair. "Hey, remember that night I ran into you outside Roland and Fisk? You know, when you were running from that psycho?"

"Uh-huh," she said, sinking her cheek more deeply into his palm.

"Remember I told you I was so late because I was busy?"

"Mmm-hmm... what about it?"

"Total lie," Brian said huskily. "I made that up."

"But why?"

Vaguely grinning, he replied, "Because I thought if I came at the end of your shift, we might go out after. That night worked out exactly like I would've wanted it to." He kissed her and added, "Except I went home."

Grasping his head, Reese pulled him in and kissed him with all that she had. "Brian," she said against his mouth, "what's gonna happen?"

He stilled, and she could feel how desperately her eyes were searching his. Finally he said, "Whatever you want. Tell me what you want me to do, and I'll do it."

Reese's heart fluttered wildly. What should she say? Should she play games? Keep an air of mystery? Or should she simply lay it all out there?

"Get rid of Veronica."

She should really be ashamed of herself. Veronica was a human being with feelings, and what's more, she was a fellow woman. She didn't deserve to be discarded like worthless baggage. But, damn it, that was exactly what Reese wanted. She wanted her dumped, dropped, kicked to the proverbial curb, and out of Brian's life, once and for all.

She couldn't help it—in such a short time, she'd become so possessive of him, it was difficult to understand herself. But he'd asked her what she wanted, so she'd told him.

"I'm sorry," she said even though she really wasn't, "but that's how I feel. I want to be with you, but if Veronica is gonna be in the picture, then it's not gonna work. And I don't care about all the semantics of how she fits into your life, or if you're 'technically' together or not together, or any of that."

"Look, Brian, the truth is, I think I'm at a point in my life when I just don't want to waste my time. If that scares you then I guess I understand, but..."

She paused, hoping he'd take the opportunity to say something reassuring. But he didn't. In fact, he didn't say anything. Not for a long moment anyway; then his face broke into a warm smile, and he whispered, "That doesn't scare me."

"It doesn't?"

He shook his head. "No way. I want to be with you, too." Elation coursed through her, and she found it hard to speak. "Reese, I just want you to know that Veronica and I talked about her coming to Ben's wedding a long time ago—way before I saw you again. We'd only talked casually about it, but then recently she told me she was counting on it, and... look, I know there's no good excuse."

"You probably think my situation with her is nuts, and I guess it really doesn't make much sense...." His voice trailed off, and a look of genuine weariness crossed his face.

"You still have feelings for her, is that it?" Reese asked, painfully dreading the answer.

"No! No, no—I mean, not the way you think."

He went on to explain why he had first considered getting back together with Veronica, how lonely and miserable his life had become, how he'd since realized it wasn't what he wanted but he didn't know exactly how to handle everything—so he'd handled it all like shit.

Reese pondered everything, then asked, "So how long were you guys together?"

"Eight years."

"What!" She bolted upright in bed. "Eight years! Nobody told me
that."
Covering her eyes with her palm, she shook her head, and mumbled, "Oh, my God. Eight years, eight freaking years."

Abruptly she rolled toward the edge of the bed, saying,
"Good-bye,"
when Brian's hand caught her arm.

"Reese, what?" he said, concerned.

"Brian, please," she said, facing the other side of the room. "Eight years, that's like...
forever."
He tugged on her arm until she reluctantly turned back around. She brought her hand up to pinch the tension out of her forehead.

It wasn't working. "Oh, this is so much worse than I thought—you're in so much deeper than I'd ever realized."

"No, no," he insisted, sitting up and bringing himself closer. "I'm not—
really."

"Right, after that long, you guys probably know
everything
about each other—how am I supposed to compete with that?" Out of context, she mumbled sadly, "And she's a dancer."

"You're
not
competing, believe me. And even
if
you were, there'd be no competition." Reese rolled her eyes, not looking too convinced.

"Come here," he said softly. "Come on..." He coaxed her into his arms with his gentleness and his warmth. Anyway, she was so crazy about him, she couldn't imagine resisting.

Her head was tucked under his chin, as they were both awkwardly sitting on the bed now, with their arms around each other. Brian was stroking her back, and Reese was trying not to dissolve into a weak, spineless puddle. "As far as Veronica knowing everything about me," he said, "well, I don't know about that. I mean, I'm not the same person I was when I was with her. I've changed a lot, and so has my life."

"So what are you saying?" Reese whispered.

"I'm saying that we're not the same people we were when we were together—there's nothing left between us. I mean, nothing left to build on, anyway. At this point, it's all just residual bullshit."

She paused, and then pushed back to look into his eyes. "Well, I'm sorry, but I can't deal with residual bullshit, either. If we're going to have any kind of relationship, it has to be you and me—not you, me, and an unstable ex who won't let the dream die."

He grinned at that, in spite of her serious tone of voice. "It won't be like that," he promised. "Look, let's just get through the wedding, and then I'll tell her once and for all."

"Tell her what?" she pushed. She
had
to push. Weak, yes, but she'd meant what she said. She wasn't going to share him.

"I'll tell her that we don't have a future together. Period. It will be the truth."

Reese swallowed, and looked down at the bedspread. She could almost feel herself trembling. She wished Brian didn't have such a devastating effect on her. (Actually, she didn't.)

Brian rose up on his knees in the center of the bed and pulled Reese to him, bringing her up on her knees, too. "Then it'll be you and me," he said gruffly, hugging her tight. "I want that, too."

"You do?" she whispered.
"Yes,"
Brian said. "Just you and me." Reese smiled into his shoulder and clung to his strength and silently prayed,
Forever.

Chapter 27