Damage Control (8 page)

His finger found her clit and stroked the hard nub. Her body jerked. She dropped her hands to his chest to hold herself up. His thrusts grew faster and she responded, increasing the tempo. The pressure on her clit was too much. She came like that, her hands on his chest and her body writhing above him. The tremors seemed to go on forever, dragging her along on a tide of sensation. Light exploded behind her eyes. Soon even her arms wouldn't hold her up and she dropped to his chest, spent. It wasn't long before he followed her into orgasm.

Sometime later, Andrea stirred and kissed Brian softly. God, she could get used to being held by this man.

But she'd better not. Sex was one thing, and friendship was another, but deep emotional attachment was a whole different animal. The first two came easily. The third, she'd fight that, no matter what it took. She wasn't ready for a relationship, and he hadn't even indicated that he might want one. She moved off him and started pulling her clothes back on, reinforcing her desire to keep things casual.

“Be right back. I have to go get cleaned up a little.” He stood and walked down the hall toward the bathroom, hitching his pants up as he went—but not before she caught a glimpse of the tattoo low on his back, just above his rear. It was simple, Asian letters done in black ink. She hadn't noticed that the last time they'd been together, but then again, she'd been otherwise occupied.

Interesting. Her curiosity piqued, she started to wonder what else there was to find out about him. And here she'd thought, after five years, she'd known all there was to know.

“What does it say?” she asked him when he came back into the room, pants zipped but not buttoned.

He looked confused for a few seconds before he laughed. “Are you talking about the tattoo on my back?”

“Yes. What do the letters mean?”

“They mean I was drunk one night back in college.”

His shrug made her smile. “Seriously. Does it say something, or did you just pick out the design at random?”

“I didn't pick it out at all. My girlfriend at the time did.” His skin flushed a little and he rolled his eyes. “It's stupid, but it means wild.”

Andrea couldn't help it. She burst out laughing. Steady, change-resistant Brian was branded as being “wild”? This was too good for words. He must have really changed since his college days. “Are there any more secret tattoos I should know about?”

She expected him to say no, and almost fell on the floor when he nodded. “I have a dragon on my left ankle and a snake on my left wrist.”

Under the strap of the watch he never took off, even in the pool at the gym. “You really were crazy when you were younger, huh?”

“Not too bad. I had my moments.”

She hadn't had any of those. Her days had been taken up with studying and extracurricular activities. She wanted some wild days now. She was due. “Is there anything else I should know about you?”

He winked before bending down to pick up his shirt. “Probably. You'll find out, but I have to warn you, I've become a pretty boring person over the years. Of course, you know that already. Do you want me to go home, Andrea?”

Did she? It took her all of two seconds to come up with her answer. “No. But I want to be clear on something. I'm not looking for a relationship. At least not anything more than we already have.”

“You want a friends-with-benefits kind of thing.”

He understood her so well. “Are you okay with that?”

“If you're going to stop sending me those mixed signals, hell yeah.”

Chapter Five

Why the
hell
had he ever thought sleeping with Andrea again would be a good idea?
Friends with benefits?
He had to have been out of his fucking skull to even suggest it.

Brian braked at a red light and shot a sidelong glance at the woman beside him. God, she was beautiful. Even now, he wanted to touch her, to run his fingers through the golden silk of her hair. Instead, he raked a hand through his own. Could he get any more hopeless? What was he doing, waxing poetic about her hair, of all things? She'd made it clear that romantic feelings had no place in this…fling. It had to be a fling. There was no other word for it. It wasn't a relationship, because people involved in one of those talked once in a while. In the past week, since he'd proposed her little
friends with friggin' benefits
scenario, all they'd done was fuck.

Not that he was complaining about that aspect of this new territory. He'd never been so satisfied. Physically. He'd been with her every single night. For a few hours, until it had been time to go back to his own apartment. Emotionally, well, that was a different story. If he'd known she was going to stop confiding in him, or that their easygoing friendship would hit the rocks so quickly, he never would have shown up with the pizza in the first place.

Because her car was in the shop, he'd offered to make the half-hour commute to pick her up and bring her with him. Big mistake. A half-hour in the car with Andrea, surrounded by her scent and struck with the near-constant need to touch her, was not a place he needed to be right before facing his parents. Especially his mother. He hadn't seen her in a few weeks, and she was sure to have another lecture for him.

“The light is green,” Andrea said softly, turning a curious gaze on him. Her words jolted him into action and he put his foot on the gas.

“Oh, right. Sorry.”

“What's the matter today? You're so quiet.”

I miss my best friend.

Of all the stupid, sappy crap. Like he'd go and admit something like that to her? Not in this lifetime, or the next. “Nothing. I'm fine. Thanks for coming with me today.”

Her fingers brushed his arm, but they were gone too quickly. “Your mother invited me. She likes having the whole family around, doesn't she?”

Brian nodded. His mother loved being surrounded by her children—and the recent addition of some long-awaited grandchildren. His sister Amanda had given birth a few months ago to daughter Kylie. Amanda's boyfriend, Joe, had two grown kids of his own, but Miriam Storm considered them grandchildren anyway. And now, with his brother David married to Lucy Parker and a stepfather to her four boys, their mother had even more reasons to smile. Thankfully, she was now too busy to bug Brian about getting married. He understood where she was coming from, but he had no plans to settle for anything less than everything when it came to his future.

Every couple months, his mother and father held get-togethers for the family, and for the past five years, they had extended invitations to Andrea as well. The message was clear. Andrea was family. This time, though, his mother had told him she had a special announcement to make. He had to wonder which one of his siblings was expecting a baby now. It could be any of the others save Amanda. Brian was the only single one left of five.

And didn't that just grate. He tightened his grip on the steering wheel. Over the past few years, the urge to settle down had gotten stronger and stronger. It figured that fate would keep him from attaining that goal. He hadn't even come close.

He shook his head, trying to focus on Andrea's question. They'd agreed to keep their…whatever she wanted to call it secret from everyone, including their families. No sense alerting anyone—especially his mother, who tended to get a little crazy sometimes—to the problems that had suddenly developed between them. And they did have problems, no matter what Andrea might think. At present count, they were way too numerous for comfort.

“Yeah, she loves having us all around. She always tells us she's been waiting way too long for grandchildren. As if we didn't know already. She's been hounding all of us just about nonstop for ages.” And there had been that time a few years back when she'd tried rush things along by relentlessly pushing Brian to set Andrea up with his brother, Jake. Luckily, neither of them had been interested and now Jake had a wife. Up until Jake had met Amber, he'd been a big believer in one-night stands. Andrea deserved so much more than that.

And he was the man who could give it to her? If so, he'd done a hell of a job showing it so far.

“You seem…surly today.”

He shot another glance at Andrea. “Surly” was a good choice of words. He was acting like an ass again. Not the way to show her they could really mean something to each other. “Sorry.”

To his surprise, she laughed. “It's okay. I've met your mother. I understand why it can be a little stressful to visit her.”

He raised his eyebrows, but he didn't refute what she said. If she wanted to think he was dreading visiting his family, let her. It would be so much easier for her to take than the truth.

He pulled up in front of the family house and smiled. There were so many memories attached to this place. Good memories and bad. It didn't matter. Routine and familiarity brought him comfort when the rest of his life was a wreck, like it was right now with Andrea. At least for today, they could pretend everything was still normal between them.

As they walked up to the front door, he barely resisted taking Andrea's hand. Keeping himself from touching her in public didn't come easily. He wasn't a huge believer in public displays of affection, but he liked to hold a woman's hand when they walked down the street. Instead, when he and Andrea walked anywhere, a few feet separated them. She used to welcome his hugs and the occasional arm around her shoulder, but that was when they'd been friends. Now the only time he could touch her at all was when they were behind closed doors. He gritted his teeth.

His palm itched to press against the small of her back, and he allowed himself that one indulgence, but only for a second before he dropped his arm. Actress that she was, Andrea didn't show any sign of reaction, but at least she didn't try to hit him. The touch wasn't nearly enough, but it would have to do.

Just before he opened the front door, she surprised him by grabbing his hand and squeezing his fingers. “I love this house. I always have. Coming here is so much fun. It's always so warm and inviting.”

He nodded, understanding she was comparing it to the cold, sterile place she'd grown up in. As crazy as his mother could get, he had to admit he'd gotten damned lucky in the family department. He and his siblings were closer now as adults, than they'd been in childhood.

He turned the knob and pushed the door open, and they stepped over the threshold into the big open space of the living room. It looked like they were the last to arrive. His sister Rachel and her husband, Doug, sat nestled on the love seat against the staircase. Amanda, Joe, David and Lucy sat on the couch across from them, with Lucy's two youngest blond sons at their feet. The oldest two—twins Trevor and Lucas, were huddled together in a corner with their video games. Jake and his wife, Amber, stood against the wall by the door leading to the kitchen, and his parents stood in front of the fireplace, his mother ready to hold court. Even after all these years, not much had changed.

Miriam Storm loved being the center of attention. Sometimes he swore she'd had five children and had made such a push for grandchildren so she could have a big audience.

She smiled when she saw Brian and Andrea. “Good. You two are here. We can start now. As I mentioned on the phone, your father and I have an announcement to make.”

“Don't keep us in suspense any longer,” Amanda said, rocking a sleepy-looking Kylie in her arms. “What's going on?”

Their mother's grin widened more than Brian had seen in a long time. “Your father and I have decided to sell the house and move into a condo in the new over fifty-five development they're building across town.”

 

 

 

The second Andrea heard Miriam's announcement, her gaze flew to Brian. Just as she expected, he looked shell-shocked. His jaw had dropped and his eyes widened. His throat worked as he swallowed. Oh, damn. This was so bad. Why had Miriam blindsided her children with this news? Just because they were excited didn't guarantee the kids would be. Poor Brian. Her heart ached just looking at him, though she had to give him credit for hiding his emotions.

Family was a big deal to him. He always talked about his brothers and sisters and growing up in this house. How he'd always known he wanted to raise a big family in a house just like this someday. His whole body had stiffened, and the look of disbelief on his face made her want to pull him into her arms and hug him. He wouldn't appreciate the gesture, though. Not in front of his family. Brian, like most men, didn't want anyone to know he was
sensitive.

She sighed. What a crime it would be for his relatives to find out he actually had
feelings.

When he leaned back against the wall, hands in the pockets of his khakis, she looped her arm through his and moved a little closer, pressing against his side. Brian was a touchy-feely kind of guy. She hadn't been much for that sort of thing when they'd first met, but she'd learned to accept the occasional hug or friendly touch over the years—though she still couldn't comprehend a family who actually
hugged
on a regular basis. She and her sisters were close, but the open gestures of affection didn't really enter into the relationships.

She expected Brian to move away, but instead he leaned closer, bumping his arm against her shoulder. A brief smile let her know he appreciated the small amount of comfort she could offer him.

Glancing around the room, she noticed different levels of shock and disbelief on everyone else's faces. Rachel was the first to get up and hug her parents.

“Congratulations, guys. That's great news.”

No big surprise there. Out of all the children, Rachel was the most distant. Always calm and in control. Even if the news upset her on the inside—though Andrea doubted it would, since Rachel didn't seem like the type to be swayed by memories—she would never reveal her true thoughts, at least not surrounded by the whole family.