Damage Control (9 page)

Soon the room was buzzing with congratulations. Brian dislodged her arm and, with a quick smile in her direction, told her he was going over to speak to his parents for a second. “Want to come?”

“No, thanks. You go ahead. I want to say hi to your sister and see the baby.”

“Okay. I'll be right over there if you need me.”

She had to laugh at the teasing tone in his voice. When she'd first met Amanda, they hadn't gotten along. Over the years, they'd learned to tolerate each other, but hadn't really become friends until Amanda had met Joe. Andrea had always thought of Brian's oldest sister as flighty. It wasn't until recently that she'd realized her assessment was wrong. “The same goes for you. Come find me if you need to get away from all of this, okay?”

With a nod, Brian walked away.

Andrea moved over to where Amanda stood, cradling the gorgeous, blonde-haired baby in her arms. The little girl had the Storm family features, but the coloring of her fair-haired father. Andrea smiled down at the child. “She's gorgeous.”

Amanda beamed in response. “Thanks. I like to think so, but of course, I'm biased. I still can't imagine why I never wanted one of these in my life.”

Andrea could relate. Her brother, Todd, had a couple of preschool-aged boys, and though she loved them to pieces, she was always more than happy to give them back to their parents.

“Do you want to hold her?” Amanda asked when Andrea ran her finger down the smooth skin of Kylie's arm.

“No, thanks. Maybe another time.”

Amanda grinned. “I was like you before I had her. The nervousness passes, you know. By the time you get out of the hospital after having the baby, you feel like you're an old pro. Of course, it helps to have someone like Joe around. He's been through this before with his older kids, and he knows what he's doing.”

“She seems like a good baby.”

“She is. I got very lucky. I never thought I'd say this, but I think I want more. Joe insists we get married first, but I don't want to jinx anything. I haven't exactly had the best luck with weddings.”

Andrea laughed. That was a huge understatement. Amanda had been married three times before she met Joe. It would have been more, if fiancé number four hadn't left her at the altar.

“What's going on with you and my brother?” Amanda asked without preamble, managing to change the subject and set Andrea off balance at the same time.

Andrea groaned. Leave it to her to get right to the point. Amanda had never been one to mince words. She had no problem saying whatever she felt, no matter what the situation. Andrea's gaze flickered to where Brian stood near his parents before returning to Amanda's. “We're friends. We've been friends for a long time. I don't see that changing anytime soon.”

She said the words, but already she could feel her face starting to flush.

Amanda smiled, and the knowing look in her eyes made Andrea cringe. The last thing she needed was everyone finding out what was really going on. If it got back to Gerald, she could kiss any promotion—and her job—goodbye. Ridiculous reasoning given that the office was thirty minutes from Lilton, where the elder Storms had raised their children and their boys still resided, but she couldn't afford to take any chances.

“Uh-huh.” Amanda turned and handed the baby to Joe before she snagged Andrea's arm and led her into the kitchen, away from the crowd. Once the swinging door closed behind them, Amanda settled at the table and picked up a carrot stick from a platter stationed in the middle of the round surface.

“You might as well tell me,” she said in between bites. “It's not like I don't already know.”

Andrea slumped into the chair across from Amanda, picking up a celery stick and studying the ribs to avoid answering the other woman's question. Had Brian told Amanda what was going on? She'd kill him if he had. He'd promised not to say a word to anyone.

Though she'd told Claire, hadn't she? It wasn't right to expect him to keep it from everyone. “Did he say something to you?”

“No.” Amanda tapped the tabletop. “You're sleeping with him, aren't you?”

Was it really that obvious? Andrea groaned. “It's nothing. Really.”

“That's too bad, because I know my brother. He isn't looking for nothing.”

As if she didn't know that already. Andrea took a bite of the celery and chewed thoughtfully for a few seconds before she answered. “He knows I'm not ready for a relationship. He says he's fine with that.”

“He also told my parents he's fine with them selling the house, when it's clear to everyone around him that he's not.”

“What do you want me to say?”

“Look, I'm not trying to give you a hard time, but maybe you need to rethink this. I like you a lot, but I don't want to see Brian get hurt. He deserves better.”

Andrea swallowed hard. She didn't need the lecture. Her conscience had been giving her one since that first night. “I know. Believe me, I know.”

“That said, he really needs a friend right now, too.” Amanda smiled, and the tension in the room broke almost as quickly as it had appeared. “I'm really not trying to give you a hard time. I just know what it's like to be hurt and I don't want to see it happen to
anyone
. Go talk to him. I need to go check on Joe and the baby.”

Amanda quit the room, leaving Andrea to think about what she said. Of course she was right. Brian deserved all the happiness he could find. But he'd agreed to keep things casual. Had even been the one to suggest their current relationship. “Friends with benefits” had been his words, not hers, though she'd readily agreed. He wasn't as needy as Amanda seemed to think he was. He was a grown man, perfectly capable of making his own decisions. If he decided he wanted to sleep with Andrea, she'd be ten times a fool to tell him no.

Instead of going back into the living room to face his family, she slid down a little in the kitchen chair and picked up a piece of raw broccoli from the platter. If Amanda had known, Rachel, the observant one, probably did, too. If Brian hadn't told Jake and David, he would soon. She dropped her head to the tabletop and groaned. What they must think of her. She'd never be able to face this family again.

A few minutes later, Brian stepped into the room. “Why are you hiding?”

She laughed, though it sounded a little strained to her own ears. “I'm not hiding. I came in here to talk to Amanda.”

His expression turned suspicious. “Did she give you a lecture?”

Instead of answering the question, she patted the chair Amanda had vacated. “Sit. Maybe we should talk.”

A nervous grin spread over Brian's lips. “Is this one of those
it's not you, it's me
sort of talks?”

Maybe it should be. Guilt swelled her gut and clogged her throat. Amanda was right. Brian deserved better than what Andrea could give him. No matter how she tried to reason it, what she was doing to him wasn't fair.

Now wasn't the time to get into
that
particular issue. They had more important things to deal with. “No. It's a gab session between friends.”

“Uh, not really my thing.”

“Just sit down, okay?”

He shrugged, but settled into the chair anyway. “What's up?”

“How are you doing?”

Understanding lit his eyes, along with a flash of something akin to anger. “This is about the house, isn't it? If so, save the sympathy. I'm fine. Whatever Amanda said, she's probably blowing the whole thing out of proportion.”

She nodded, settling her hand over his. Typical male denial. Though he'd learned to open up to her over the years, she would never understand why he felt the need to put on the tough act. “I know how much this place means to you.”

“It's just a house. I don't see what the big deal is.”

“Brian, really. I'm more than willing to listen.”

His gaze darkened and he leaned forward, narrowing his eyes at her. It was a few seconds before he spoke, and when he did, the tone in his voice made her blink. “First of all, I couldn't care less what they do with this place. It's theirs. I moved out over a decade ago, and this has nothing to do with me. Second of all, confiding in you is the last thing on my mind. Listening hasn't exactly been your strong suit lately.”

Andrea leaned back in her chair, taken aback. What had come over him to make him so ticked off all of a sudden? Part of it could be the denial he was in over his parents selling the house, but there was more to it than that. His anger was, once again, directed at her. “What's that supposed to mean?”

“Not a goddamned thing.” His expression softened a little and he let out a harsh sigh. He dropped his gaze to the tabletop, his shoulders rising and falling with each breath, as if he was trying to collect himself. She hadn't had many glimpses of this side of him. He wasn't passive by any stretch of the imagination, but before, when they'd only had friendship between them, he'd been so easy-going.

She liked the passion she was seeing in him, but the anger unsettled her. Probably because she knew she'd caused it. She reached her hand out to him, settling it over his, and he flinched.

“Brian, talk to me. Please. We can't work this out if I don't know what's going on.”

He barked a bitter laugh. “You got your benefits. What else could you possibly want?”

The tone of his voice told her there was something
he
wanted. Something he wasn't getting from her. Her heart constricted. He'd told her he was okay with the situation. Why had he lied? Clearly he wasn't nearly as fine as he'd professed. “You should have told me you didn't want to do this anymore.”

His head snapped up, his gaze locking with hers. Disbelief warred with the aggravation she caught there. “I want you, Andrea. Don't ever doubt that, no matter what happens.”

“Then you have me really confused. I don't understand what the problem is.”

He pushed out of the chair and paced across the room, shoulders hunched and fists clenching and unclenching. When he finally stopped, he fixed her with a glare that had her gulping. “You know what? It isn't important. Let's get out of here.”

 

 

 

Brian wanted to speed down the road toward his apartment, but he forced himself to keep the car at a reasonable pace. He might be feeling self-destructive right now, but that didn't mean he needed to endanger Andrea along with himself. He was the one with the issues. Andrea, as always, was perfectly in control.

The fact that she was trying to calm him even though his anger was directed at her made his teeth clench. Her hand resting on his arm was almost too much for him to take. Did she really think she would be able to offer him comfort right now? Everything in his life that had been constant had suddenly been shaken up. Over the past few years, he'd thrived on consistency. Now it had all been pulled out from under him.

Instead of getting angry with her, instead of venting his frustrations, he kept his mouth shut and fumed. Yeah, it freaked him out that his parents were selling the house, but the situation with Andrea was what was really bothering him. If things had been fine between them, he probably wouldn't have gotten upset at all.

She squeezed his arm. “Keeping it in isn't healthy.”

Damn it.
She knew him too well. That was the problem with having a fling with one's best friend. There weren't many secrets between them. Now she seemed to be able to read him even better than she had before. “I'm not keeping it in. I'm fine.”

“No, you're not. Talk to me, Brian.”

Her request irked him. This was the first time in a week she'd seemed to be interested in anything but his body. He wanted to open up to her, but at the same time, he couldn't. He no longer knew how. Things had gotten too messed up. Instead of taking her up on her offer, he braked in front of his apartment and shut the car off. “Are you coming upstairs or do you want me to drive you home?”

“Are you going to talk to me?”

“No.”

“Then I think I'll just call a cab. It'll save us both a lot of trouble and a very uncomfortable ride back to my place.”

She got out and started walking down the sidewalk, pulling out her cell phone as she went, but he jumped out of the car and called to her to stop. No way did he want her to leave right now. He'd do whatever it took to keep her with him, even if it meant opening up when he wasn't sure if he could trust her anymore.

She turned around, her hands on her hips. The look in her eyes was pure fire. “What?”

“Don't go, okay? Please.”

For a harrowing few seconds, he thought she might deny his request, but then she strode over to him and took his hand.

 

 

 

What am I going to do with you?
Andrea followed Brian into his apartment, squeezing his fingers just before she dropped his hand. He was such a guy. Never wanting to talk about his feelings. Sure, he'd confided in her in the past, but she was starting to realize most of the stuff he'd said had been superficial. The tattoos he'd never before mentioned—and kept hidden—showed her there was a lot about Brian Storm she had yet to learn.

She looked forward to uncovering every detail. But not now. Now he needed to vent his frustrations, one way or another.

He closed the door behind them and reached for her, and she didn't even think about turning him down. If he needed touch instead of words, who was she to deny him? At the moment, faced with the very real possibility of losing him, she needed to feel connected to him again.

His lips came down on hers in a crushing kiss that sent a jolt of pure lust straight through her. He nudged her backward until she hit the wall, and even then he crowded closer, pressing his body against hers. His tongue stroked into her mouth at a fevered pitch, his hands roaming her body and pulling at her clothes. Already she could feel his erection straining against her belly, and her body responded in kind, dampening and softening in anticipation. Her fingers worked the zipper on his khakis and she freed his cock from the confines of his underwear.