Home to Me (The Andrades, Book 2) (18 page)

Nick looked quickly at Gio. “What did you tell Luke?”

Gio shrugged one shoulder. “Just the truth. Westlake was trying to play hardball and you backed him right into a corner—exactly how I would have done it. It was impressive. Luke usually hears about how I want to strangle you. I thought it would be nice to share something good for a change.”

Luke added, “And I thought that sounded like something we should all celebrate.”

Nick couldn’t keep the sarcasm from his voice when he turned to Max and said, “So, essentially we’re celebrating that I’m not a complete loser in the eyes of my brothers.”

Max clapped Nick on the back and said, “We all hoped this day would come. Should we toast with beer? Champagne?”

Without missing a beat, Nick said, “I actually don’t drink anymore.”

That seemed to surprise Max, who looked at his two other brothers and asked, “Am I the only one here who is shocked to hear those words?”

Gio laid his napkin on his lap and picked up his menu. “I guessed as much when Nick showed up to work every day.”

Luke smiled and followed suit with his own napkin. “People tell me everything. It’s the price I pay for being the sane brother.”

Max laughed. “Hey, I’m the sane one.”

Nick picked up his own menu and spoke as if to himself. “Funny, I thought it was me.”

In a much more relaxed manner than usual, Gio added, “I always knew it wasn’t me. I got the looks and brains instead.”

All three brothers jokingly made sounds of outrage. Max turned to Luke. “Nick is sober. Gio has a sense of humor. Are you a veterinarian now? Did I accidentally enter a parallel universe because I don’t recognize any of you?”

The waiter came by, interrupting the conversation. After all four had given their orders and were alone once again, Nick said, “It was time I made a change. Something clicked inside me when I heard our uncles talking about family and how our father would have been proud of us. I didn’t think he would be. Proud of me, that is. I hadn’t done anything to make him proud. I wanted to be more like the rest of the Andrades and”—he looked around the table before continuing—“no offense, less like us.”

Gio cleared his throat. “I felt the same way. So much of what I was angry about didn’t matter anymore when I thought about the next generation. I don’t want to be us, either.”

Luke interjected, “We don’t have to be. Yes, we have to be us, but we don’t have to be at each other’s throats all the time. We’re not enemies, we’re brothers.”

Max studied each of his brother’s faces. “You’re all serious? This isn’t some sort of sick prank? I’m sorry, I’m having a hard time swallowing this.”

Nick smiled at his youngest brother. “Would it help if I told you that Gio is still an unbearably pompous ass most of the time? I just keep that fact to myself now.”

Gio’s eyes narrowed. “Or if I said that I’m waiting for the day human resources files a group complaint because every secretary in the building discovers she’s not the only one he’s sleeping with?”

“I haven’t slept with every secretary. Aren’t there hundreds? That would take me months.”

A muscle in Gio’s jaw clenched visibly. “Look me in the eye and tell me you’re not doing something you shouldn’t be and I’ll relax.”

Nick threw up his hands in the air. “You’d never believe me if I told you, so why waste my breath?”

Max started laughing. “Okay, I feel better. Now I know I’m sitting at the right table.”

Luke said, “You can laugh, but they are much better than they were.”

With a more serious expression, Max said, “I admire you, Luke, for always believing things will work out. I won’t say I’d bet on you being right, but I admire your optimism.”

Gio’s hand clenched on the table. “When I was on Isola Santos I felt like an Andrade. And their motto is: Family is everything.”

Nick shook his head with humor. “I wonder what the Stanfield family motto is?” He laughed sarcastically. “I’ll have to ask Mother. That should be entertaining.”

The meal arrived but no one moved to touch their food. Luke said, “It doesn’t matter what the last generation of our family believed. We decide what our legacy will be. The four of us.”

Gio nodded. “Speaking of the four of us, Julia and I are serious. We’ll be picking a wedding date soon. I want the three of you there.”

Luke said, “Of course we’ll be there.”

Max hedged. “It’ll depend on my schedule.”

With a frown, Luke countered, “You’ll make time for your brother’s wedding.”

Unapologetically, Max shrugged. “Hey, I just did the big family wedding thing. I don’t know if I can handle another of those soon. Tell me where you want to honeymoon, though, and I’ll hook you up with a penthouse.”

Nick shook his head. “Seriously, Max?”

With quick irritation, Max snapped, “Don’t judge me, Nick. You’ve done whatever you’ve wanted, however you’ve wanted to, your whole life. Now, just because you’re sober for a few months and working at the family company, you think you’re the better brother?” He stood up and slammed his napkin down on the table beside his untouched plate of food. “I can’t do this again. You had me fooled at the wedding. That’s how this works. You lure me back with a promise of sanity and then the crazy returns. I’m happy you’re all getting along right now. I don’t believe for a second it’s going to last, and I don’t have the time or the energy to sit around and pretend I do. Send me an invitation, Gio, and if I’m free I’ll be there.” He turned to Luke. “Thank you for calling me today, Luke. I know you meant well.”

Gio stood. “Sit down, Max.”

Max looked at his oldest brother coldly. “You don’t tell me what to do, Gio. You never could and you never will.” With that he turned and walked out of the restaurant.

“He’s beginning to sound like me,” Nick drawled.

Gio sat back down, shaking his head. “I don’t understand. He wasn’t like that the last time I saw him.”

Luke looked every bit as mystified. “He’s not usually so angry.”

“He must have stayed at Mother’s five minutes too long,” Gio said, then reached for his fork and knife.

It was ten o’clock in the morning on a crisp fall day when Rena stepped out of a taxi and wiggled in an attempt to adjust her panties without touching them. She put her hands in the pockets of her blazer and tried to hold the elastics of her underwear while shimmying her ass back and forth. It didn’t help, but she wasn’t alone at the large flat field she’d driven to.
That’s what I get for thinking I could do kinky well.

After a few days of brainstorming how to make her day with Nick as sexy as he’d made their last romps, Rena had visited an adult toy store. She didn’t consider herself a prude, but as she’d stared at the options displayed on the wall, all she could ask herself was, “What is that and who would use it?”

Thankfully, a woman had come over and asked if she could be of assistance.

“I’m looking for . . .” Rena had hesitated, blushed, then started again. “Something really sexy but not over the top.”

“For yourself or for your partner?”

“For both of us?”

“Sure,” the woman had said casually as if Rena had been asking to see a watch or bracelet. “Let me show you some suggestions.”

Rena had taken one last look around the wall covered with enormous dildos, strings of beads, and plugs of all shapes and sizes and readily agreed, “Please do.”

She’d followed the clerk to a section full of items she was comfortable with—basic vibrators. She’d received one as a joke at her housewarming party, and like the tool set she’d gotten, she’d eventually put it to use.

“I’ll be taking it on a date,” Rena said, without meeting the eyes of the other woman.

The clerk held up a box of vibrating thong panties and said, “These are very popular. You wear them and give your partner the remote control.”

Rena accepted the package and her confidence grew.
I’m a grown woman, and there is nothing wrong with trying something new now and then
. She turned the package over and read the description on the back, then smiled. “It’s perfect.”

However, nowhere during the process of cashing out did the woman mention how intimately the underwear’s mechanics would lodge itself if worn while driving. Or walking. Every time Rena moved, the bullet-shaped insert rubbed against her already excited clit and scrambled her thoughts.

And it’s not even on yet.

This is going to be incredible.

A middle-aged gentleman dressed in a bright-yellow company T-shirt, his attire matching that of the other three men with him, waved her to approach. She did and hoped her gait didn’t reveal her secret. “Good morning.”

“Good morning, Ms. Sander. We have everything set for you.” He shook her hand enthusiastically and introduced her to the other men on his team. “Is your friend on his way?”

“He should be,” Rena answered, looking at the inflating hot air balloon and basket behind him. “How long will we be able to be up there for?”

“You paid a deposit and agreed to one hour, but you can have more time if you want it.”

How long does one need to have a wild encounter in a hot air balloon? She studied the basket. It wasn’t large enough to lie down in.
I guess we’ll be standing up.
She bit her bottom lip.
That can be nice, too.
“How high will we go?”

I hope they won’t be able to see us from down here.

“I can take you up twenty-five feet or a hundred, depending on the wind. So far everything looks like a go, but I like to make that decision when I’m up there.”

When he’s where?

Rena’s head snapped around and she asked, “Don’t you stay on the ground?”

Both of his eyebrows rose comically. “Ma’am, I’m the pilot.”

Rena looked back at the balloon. “But this is a tethered ride. We just go up and then come down. We don’t go anywhere. I’m sure we don’t need a pilot.”

“Did you read our website? We do tethered rides at fairs and large events. You booked a regular trip.”

“No,” Rena said slowly. “So you can’t just let us go up and then bring us down?”

“Lady, this isn’t a kite. A balloon in a ten-mile-an-hour gust of wind could drag a couple of trucks with ease. We didn’t bring the equipment to tether it.”

“Oh, I was hoping we could go up alone.”

“That wouldn’t have been possible either way. You’d have to know how use the burner and the valves properly.”

“Would you give me a quick lesson if I paid you double?”

“You’re not understanding what I’m saying. As soon as it leaves the ground, it’s a registered flying aircraft that requires a licensed pilot.”

“How about triple? In fact, name your price. If you’re worried about me damaging your balloon, how much could it cost? I’ll buy it. Just give me the basics of how to work the damn thing.”
Okay, I sound desperate, but you would, too, if you were wearing vibrating underwear and thought you’d be alone up there having a hour of wild sex.

“I have a team assembled here for a reason. It’s more dangerous than it looks. There is no amount of money that would make me risk my pilot’s license. You go up with me, or you go home and forfeit your deposit. Your choice, lady.”

“Looks like her friend is here,” one of the T-shirt-clad men said when a car parked beside hers.

“You think he’s as bat-shit crazy as she is?” another of them asked.

Rena spun on him and glared. “I can hear you.”

He shrugged and tipped his baseball cap at her.

Rena stared longingly as Nick, dressed in jeans and a cable-knit sweater, stepped out of the back of a town car, a picnic basket in hand. Their eyes met and heat flooded through Rena. Everything around them faded away while he ever so slowly walked toward her. The grin he gave her was the sexiest thing she’d ever seen and knocked the air right out of her.

“I think I know why she wanted you to stay down on the ground, Hank,” one of the younger men joked.

Rena kept a smile on her face and said, “I will tip each of you a thousand dollars if you don’t embarrass me.”

The pilot, stood beside her and said, “Best behavior, boys. With that kind of tip we could buy a new basket for the third balloon.” He turned to Rena. “Besides, I’m guessing she wants a short flight now.”

Rena nodded curtly.
This doesn’t have to ruin our day. Nick doesn’t know what I had planned. Be cool, Rena. Play this off like you planned it this way.

Nick walked across the grassy field to where Rena and a group of men were standing in front a hot air balloon. He was surprised by her choice of location. He hadn’t known what to expect when a driver picked him up at his hotel and handed him a picnic basket and a small wrapped gift, with instructions not to open either. Of course he’d opened both. The champagne and chocolate-covered strawberries had led him to believe she’d planned something more intimate than the option laid out before him now.

As for the remote control that he’d tucked into his jacket pocket—well, he hoped he was right about what that was for. He was tempted to find out right then and there, but decided against finding out in front of an audience.