One of the Guys (12 page)

“They’re never going to repave this,” Jaynie muttered.

Brian glanced at her. “Sure they will. Then we’ll get a hurricane that tears it all up to hell again.” He did a three-point turn and then pulled his car off the busted pavement in case anybody else came down the narrow lane. He slid out of the car, turning to offer Jaynie his hand. She slid her feet out of the skimpy, strappy sandals and left them on the floor before taking his hand.

The pavement was hot and rough under her feet. There was a warm breeze that smelled of the ocean and Jaynie smiled. She loved it here. Not just this stretch of beach, though it was pretty with its sugar-white sand and blue-green water, but living here, right on the Gulf. She couldn’t imagine living anywhere else. Even with all the tourists that came in droves. Brian led her off the pavement onto the sand, holding her hand as they followed the path that led to the beach.

There were no condos this far down and the closest house was nearly a quarter mile away. It was completely, utterly peaceful. Nerves jangled inside her while they walked through the surf. She glanced up at Brian but he was staring out over the water.

“Why did you let Dean think we were getting married?” Brian glanced down at her. “Because we are.”

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The calm, utterly confident way he said it was nearly as disturbing as the way he smiled at her. Like he didn’t have a single doubt in the world that what he said was anything less than completely true. Self-conscious, she laughed. “You know, it sort of helps to be in love with the person you plan on marrying.” Then her smile turned bitter.

She’d been in love with Dean and he’d cheated on her.

“Yeah, well, I’m willing to wait for you.”

She stopped in her tracks. He kept walking until he had to either stop, let go of her hand or pull her along behind him. “You’re…you’re willing to wait for me?” she repeated. She licked her lips and tried to wrap her mind around that statement.
Was
he
…
was he saying
…?

No. Damn it. He couldn’t be. “Are you saying…?” But she couldn’t even form the words to ask him.

Brian didn’t seem to need for her to, though. He closed the distance between them and reached up to curve a hand around her neck. He leaned in, pressed a gentle kiss to her lips. “Don’t look so scared, Jaynie. I’m not asking you for anything, at least not right now.”

“You can’t really…”

With his lips still pressed against hers, he grinned. “Sure I can. You know, it’s your fault. You said all you needed was a night—that was all it was supposed to be. But I haven’t slept good since. Well, except when I slept with you. Slept real good then.”

“Good sex doesn’t equal love.”

He lifted his head and studied her face. He still had that strange, gentle smile on his lips. “I know that, Jaynie. But memories of good sex won’t keep you awake night after night. At least not for months on end. It won’t turn you in to some dopey teenager who hangs around after work, hoping to catch even the quickest look at his kid sister’s pretty best friend. Good sex won’t leave you tied up in knots like this. So if it’s not sex, there’s only one other thing it could be.” He threaded his hand through her hair and angled her face up.

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When he kissed her again, it was soft and gentle. Nothing sexual about it at all, though heat went shimmering through her. “Relax,” he whispered. His hands slid down over her shoulders, settling low on her back. As his hands started to massage the tense muscles, Jaynie leaned against him and wished she could relax, just as simple as that.

But it wasn’t going to happen.

* * * * *

The door flew open and Kate came breezing in, wearing a two-piece swimsuit covered with a tropical-print sarong knotted over on smooth hip. “Hey, Brian, you know where Jaynie is? She isn’t…oh.”

Jaynie opened one eye, saw Kate’s face and flopped over onto her belly.

She cuddled up against his side, her face buried in the sheets and he watched as she settled back into sleep. At the foot of the bed, Kate was still staring at them. Her eyes were wide and round, her mouth an O of amazement.

“Did she… are you…Brian!”

Growing up with Kate enabled him to follow that scattered sentence well enough and he could have answered easily enough but he wasn’t ready to explain this to her.

Not right now, not until he had a better understanding about what was going on.

Especially on Jaynie’s part. He was still coming to grips with his own perceptions about Jaynie but he could handle them.

It was harder trying to deal with his insecurities. If she didn’t—no. He wasn’t ready to think about that yet. Not with Kate still standing over them and staring at them as if she had no idea what could have been happening there.

“What is Jaynie doing here?” she asked.

Stirring in his arms, Jaynie lifted her head and glared at Kate through the mess of her hair. “She’s trying to sleep. Go away. You can interrogate me later.” 88

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Kate walked out of the room, still looking a little shell-shocked. As the door closed behind her, Brian pressed his lips to the top of Jaynie’s head. She wiggled closer and mumbled unintelligibly under her breath. Then she sighed, a deep soft sound, and went back to sleep. Her body went lax and her breathing slowed. Once he knew she was asleep, he pulled away from her and rolled out of bed.

Jaynie might not be ready to face an interrogation but Brian figured he might as well get it out of the way. And there were a few things he wanted Kate to know, anyway. He dragged on a pair of loose sweats and headed out, closing the door behind him as he left.

He found her in the kitchen, stirring a cup of coffee and staring outside with a bemused, vaguely worried look on her face. She hadn’t put on any makeup yet—kind of unusual for her—and her hair was pulled back from her face in a loose braid. “You look like Mom standing there,” he said softly.

Kate glanced at him, smiling faintly. “If you’re trying to distract me, it’s not going to work.”

Brian shrugged. “Just stating a fact. I remember when I’d come down in the morning after getting ready for school, she’d stand there, looking outside. I could always tell when she was thinking about Dad. She’d look sad, worried—then she’d see me and it was like whatever I thought I had seen disappeared.” He poured himself a cup of coffee then moved to the island. He leaned his hips against it and, as Kate turned to face him, met her gaze levelly. “I know why Mom looked worried. Money, raising two kids alone, missing Dad.” Their dad had been a firefighter and he’d died when Kate was only three. Brian still had some vague memories of their dad, enough of them that sometimes he was startled when he looked in the mirror. He looked just like his dad. In middle school, he’d shot up to six-foot-three practically overnight and up until his junior year in high school, he had been painfully klutzy, rail-thin, big hands, big feet and absolutely graceless. Then he started catching up with his body, his muscles filling out and basically just growing 89

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into his size. That was when he’d first noticed the similarity to his father. He had his mother’s eyes, but everything else about him came from his father.

Kate was the opposite—slender, fair and delicately pretty, just like their mom but instead of the blue-green eyes Mom had, Kate had their dad’s dark, dark brown eyes.

Right now, with that thoughtful, worried look on her face, Kate looked so much like their mom, it was eerie.

“What are you standing there worrying about?”

She slid her glance upward and then smiled sweetly. “Gee, I do wonder.” The smile left her lips and she said, “Brian, I can’t believe you did this. You got any idea how hard yesterday had to be for her?”

With a shrug, Brian said, “Actually, I don’t think yesterday was all that hard for her after all. She’s over him, Kate.”

“You don’t know a damn thing about women. She’s been with the guy her entire life. She isn’t going to get over him as quick as that.”

“She might if she wasn’t as in love with him as she thought.” Brian stared into his coffee instead of at Kate, but the dark, steaming brew didn’t hold any simple explanation. “Maybe she was just used to him. Jaynie likes the status quo, Kate.” Kate rolled her eyes. “She wasn’t going to marry him just because she was used to him. She loved him—she probably still does.”

A smug grin curved his lips and Brian shook his head. “She isn’t in love with him, Kate.” She might not love Brian yet, but he had no question about how she felt about Dean. She might have come to Brian that once out of hurt and need, but what was going on now wasn’t about hurt. Just about need—her needing him nearly as much as he needed her.

“Even if she isn’t…Brian, look at me.” He met Kate’s level stare. “Even if she isn’t in love with him, you don’t need this. I was hoping maybe it is just a thing, you know?

One night. God knows I wouldn’t blink twice over Jaynie having a night or two. Or ten.

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But I’m looking at you and I’m not seeing this as a ‘thing’. You’re serious.” She looked away from him as she added, “I haven’t seen you serious about a girl in like…never.”

“And the problem with that is?”

Kate set her coffee cup down so hard it sloshed all over the counter. She didn’t even notice as she glared at him. “The problem is, I don’t want you turning into a rebound guy. You deserve better than that. I don’t want you getting serious about her if she’s not ready to get serious about you. She’s my best friend, Brian. She’s part of my life and I don’t want whatever this is to cause problems between you two later down the road.”

“I’m not going to be a rebound guy,” Brian said quietly. Although deep inside, he knew he was lying. He was worried. Just a little.

Kate was right about one thing. He hadn’t ever had a woman in his life whom he really felt serious about. This had come on him out of the blue and yeah, he was still more than a little dazed by the intensity of it. But it felt right.

It
was
right. Jaynie was right for him and that was all there was to it as far as he was concerned.

“You can’t know that.” Kate’s voice was gentle, her gaze concerned.

He shook his head. “Jaynie isn’t the type to jump into a relationship unless she’s really ready for it.” But even as he said that, he couldn’t help but think about the night that had started all of this. Overhead, he heard floorboards creek and he heaved out a sigh. “Look, can you not worry about this right now? It will be okay.” She scowled. “Not worry about it, he says,” she mumbled. She saw the splattered coffee on the counter and turned to grab a sponge from the sink. Sopping up the coffee, she rinsed out the sponge and Brian thought maybe she would actually do as he asked and let it go.

But he should have known better. Katie wasn’t done yet. She rinsed the sponge before turning on him. “If she hurts you, Brian, I’m going to be pissed. Very pissed. But she’s in a bad place right now and probably not thinking clearly.
You
, on the other hand, don’t have such an excuse. You hurt
her
, I’m going to kick your ass.” 91

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Grinning, he pulled her against him and hugged her tightly. He let her go but when she turned away, he tugged on her braid. “You couldn’t kick my ass if you had to.” Kate sniffed. “Could too. I remember a time or two when I did just that.” Brian rolled his eyes. “The only time you got a couple of good punches in on me, I was sick with the flu.” He heard footsteps and looked up as Jaynie came into the kitchen, wearing the button-down peach shirt he’d worn yesterday with his suit. She had rolled the sleeves up over her elbows and the shirttails hung practically to her knees. She looked adorable. A grin tugged up the corners of his mouth and he added,

“The other time you got in any good hits was because Jaynie here helped you.” She looked between Kate and Brian and just shook her head. “Need coffee.” She didn’t bother pouring a cup, just took the one Brian had left on the island and huddled over it.

Brian found another cup and poured himself more coffee, watching Kate from the corner of his eye. She stared at Jaynie with a worried look and he tensed, swearing silently. She wasn’t going to let it go. Damn her stubborn head.

But then she sighed. She looked at him and the look in her eyes spoke volumes.
Be
careful
.

Brian could have assured her that he had every intention of being careful. He wasn’t going to ruin this. Not if he could help it.

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Chapter Seven

They hadn’t talked about it. It had been nearly a week and the inquisition she’d been expecting from Kate had never come. She’d thought that Brian would want to talk as well but he didn’t seem too concerned with changing anything. Monday, they rode to work together and he managed to get her out of bed early enough to go for breakfast before going to the office.

Tuesday night, he had taken her to a little seafood restaurant close to the Alabama–

Florida state line and they’d ended up spending a few hours at the Flora-Bama lounge as well.

Under most circumstances, Jaynie couldn’t drink at a party or at a bar. Not since college. But with Brian, she felt safe enough—knew she
was
safe. And she’d had a margarita or three. By the time they’d left, Jaynie had been slightly drunk and she vaguely remembered spending the entire drive home with her head in his lap. Not resting, either. If they’d gotten pulled over, they would have given the cop one hell of a show.

Friday night found them sharing pizza and arguing over the wording for a newspaper ad. Their small practice was getting too big for the two of them to handle—

unless they wanted to pull ten-, twelve- or fourteen-hour shifts, which neither of them wanted to do. They scheduled appointments, but it wasn’t the appointments keeping them there until eight or nine o’clock. It was the emergencies, a dog that got hit by a car, a ferret that got a little curious and ended up eating something it shouldn’t.