Romance: Seducing The Quarterback (69 page)

I walked into my house and Brady was there waiting for me.
He stood in the kitchen at first, but walked over to me when he saw me pulling
my suitcase through the door.

“Hey babe,” he said, kissing me and grabbing my suitcase.
“Let me take that.” He looked at me, checking in to see how I was doing. If I
was still angry. I wasn’t.

I smiled, happy to be home. I’d stayed at my mom’s for three
nights, but only with Austin for two of them. Brady put the suitcase down and
hugged me. I wrapped my arms around his familiar frame and felt my body grow
warm with my love for him.

“I’m sorry,” I said.

“Honey,” he pulled away, looking into my eyes. “I get it. We
all need a break sometimes. I’m sorry I didn’t realize the toll this was taking
on you. Let me bring your suitcase upstairs. There’s an envelope for you on the
kitchen table.

I looked at him quizzically and walked to the table. There
was a manila envelope there addressed to me. He didn’t bring my bag upstairs,
but, rather, watched me open the envelope. I opened it and out fell two
boarding passes to Cancun, the flight leaving later that afternoon.

“Honey!” I exclaimed. “What…?” I couldn’t finish the
sentence.

“We’ll change out what you have in here for some shorts and
bikinis, and we’ll be on our way in just a few hours.” He walked over to me and
kissed me. I kissed him deeply, and, as his tongue explored my mouth, I met his
with mine. I hugged him and let my body fall against his.

“You are so good to me,” I said.

“I love you,” he said. “And I want more than anything for
you to be relaxed, happy, and fulfilled. When all of that happens, I know that
a baby will follow soon after. And, I think we should try for that baby a lot
while we’re in Cancun for a week.” He grinned at me and raised his eyebrows.

I laughed. “Let’s go pack; by the look of this flight time,
we have to get going pretty quickly.”

We packed and called a cab to take us to the airport. We
hadn’t planned on checking anything, which made the trek through the airport
pretty fast. I slept through most of the flight, finding myself suddenly quite
exhausted. While I was awake, I kept my eyes closed anyway so I could think
about Austin and what I was going to do.

We landed smoothly and Brady led me outside. I had never
been to Cancun, and the craziness of customs, the lights and music from the
duty free shop, and the masses of people selling timeshares was overwhelming.

“Come here, love,” he said, pulling me to the left. There
was a car there with our last name on it, and I looked at Brady. “I hired a
driver for the week,” he said simply. “That way we don’t have to worry about
cabs or renting a car.”

Our driver’s name was Juan, and he had lived in Cancun his
entire life. He described some of the touristy spots we could visit, and he also
gave us a list of a few lesser-known places where we could get a feel for the
true culture of Mexico. He recommended we visit a cenote nearby, and even
suggested some ruins to the south of Tulum that he said we could drive to if we
wanted to take an afternoon and drive a few hours.

“I’m at your beck and call,” he said as he dropped us off at
the resort, which was actually quite a distance away from Cancun proper. We got
closer to the ocean and I felt my heart lifting.

“Thanks, Juan!” I said, smiling broadly at him. Already I
could feel the sun on my skin and my body being warmed by the heat. “Right now,
I want the pool and a bar, preferably together!”

Brady carried our bags to the room, which turned out to be a
suite. The living room was enormous and it opened up to a master bedroom with a
whirlpool Jacuzzi and a walk in shower, along with enough space in the center
to have a dance party. On the other side of the living room was a beautiful
kitchen with an island, which opened to a dining room adjoining the living
room. Off the bedroom and the living room was an enormous deck I imagined I’d
spend a lot of time on since it looked directly over the ocean. It had to have
cost a fortune. I looked at him.

“What are you doing?” I asked suspiciously.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“Um, a flight on less than a week’s notice, a private
driver, a suite in a swanky resort… I mean, what are you doing? Are you dying
or something? Are you divorcing me?”

He laughed and walked over to me. He put his arms around my
waist and pulled me in toward him, beginning to sway his hips and guiding mine
to do the same.

“I love you more than anything, and I want you to have a
week where you are treated like the beautiful, amazing queen that you are. I
don’t want you to lift a finger this week unless you want to. You can have
whatever you want. I’ve arranged already the things I know you will want, but
if there’s anything I missed, just say the word.” I looked over his shoulder
and saw a bouquet of roses, a bottle of champagne chilling in a bucket, and a
box of chocolates.

“So far, my love, it looks like you’ve done perfectly
right,” I said, drawing him in for a kiss.

We changed into our swim suits and walked down to the beach.
The white sand was warm under my feet but not too hot; it was as if it was
almost temperature controlled. The breeze was beginning to pick up, and I held
Brady’s hand as we walked, our feet getting run over by the water with every
wave that rolled in.

“There are tons of places for us to eat, but the resort is
all inclusive and has an amazing restaurant.” He pointed it out to me. Just in
front of the large white building which housed several hundred rooms as well as
the lobby, was a thatched roofed restaurant. There was a pool with a swim up
bar, and the smells wafting from the restaurant were incredible.

“Look over there,” Brady said, nudging me and pointing to
the water. A fishing boat was unloading several baskets of fish to two men in
chef whites. “That can be your dinner tonight if you want.”

“Holy shit,” I said. “Talk about fresh fish.” I looked back
at the restaurant. “Do you want to check it out?”

“Let’s keep walking a bit; we can see if there are other
places we want to try. Then, I think we should come back and at least have
happy hour there… and maybe we can order room service and eat in tonight.” He
leaned down to kiss me; I turned to face him and pressed my lips to his. The
salt water was already in our skin and his lips tasted delicious. I pulled
away.

“Salty,” I said. “Yummy.”

He squeezed my hand and kissed me again. We walked a few
more miles down the beach, then turned and back to our hotel. We stopped in at
the restaurant and ordered two hurricanes, a drink I remembered from college,
though, here in Mexico, it packed a whole new level of punch.

“Do you want to eat here,” Brady asked, “or should we grab a
menu and order from the privacy of our balcony?”

I smiled at him, recognizing the look in his eyes. “I think
you’ve got something up your sleeve, husband of mine, so I’m going to take you
up on your suggestion that we go upstairs and order room service.”

He smiled and paid for the drinks, which we took up with us.
An hour later, we had our dinner brought up to us. It arrived on a cart with a
white table cloth, a lit candle, and a rose in a vase. We brought it out to the
balcony and settled in. The food was so good I actually felt myself getting a
little aroused by the full sensory experience. I looked at Brady.

“I have a really great idea for dessert,” I said.

“That’s funny,” he said, sitting back with a beer that the
room service attendant had brought up with dinner, “I happen to have a really
great idea for dessert as well.”

“Should we go into the bedroom and see if our ideas work
together?”

He nodded and smiled. He stood and came around to my side of
the table and held out his hand. I took it and, hand in hand, we walked into
the bedroom to make love.

***

The whole week was like that first day. Every morning he
woke me up with champagne and strawberries, freshly squeezed orange juice, and
warm croissants. The driver was ready on a moment’s notice to take us anywhere
we wanted to go. On our fourth day, I finally checked my phone. There were a
few messages from Austin, wondering how I was doing, wondering where I was.

I deleted the messages and turned my phone off again. I knew
I would need to deal with Austin when I got home. What we’d done was wrong and
it couldn’t happen again, no matter how much we both may want it to. I looked
over at Brady, reading a magazine on our lanai and sipping a cup of coffee. I
was a married woman. I couldn’t go around having sex with anyone, never mind
having sex with my brother, step- or not. The question was, how to tell him. I
knew he would probably understand; after all, he did care about me. How, then,
would I be able to resist him? Even the thought of him now began to arouse me;
I felt the space between my legs growing wet and my nipples hardening against
my bikini top. I ran my hand across my stomach and felt a shiver move through
me.

I shook my head, trying to shake the fantasy out. I turned
my phone back on. One text couldn’t hurt, could it?

Hey, Bro, I’m in Cancun for the week. Having fun in the sun!

I sent the text along with a selfie of me in my bikini top.
I made sure to crop the picture to just below my breasts so he could get the
full visual. I didn’t need to wait long for a reply.

*wolf whistle* You are one hot woman, Sis.

I smiled, texted back
See you soon!
And then turned
my phone off again.

“Were you texting?” Brady asked. “Everything okay?”

“Oh of course, I said. I was just texting Austin about some
stuff at home,” I said. I had to admit, the lie floated very easily off my
tongue because technically it wasn’t really a lie, right? I brought my phone
back to my purse and moved toward Brady.

“Should we go get something to eat?” I asked.

“We can get whatever you want,” he said, kissing me on the
forehead. “Are you having a good time?”

“I’m having an amazing time,” I said. “And,” I added
flirtatiously, “I think we should start a little earlier tonight on our baby
making than we did last night. See if we can get a few more rounds in.” Sex
with Brady was exactly what I’d expected married sex to be. It was fine, not
great, but sex was sex, right? While we’d been in Cancun, we’d been
experimenting a little bit. Moving around the suite, different times of day,
which, I had to admit, had added quite a bit of excitement to our routine. That
morning, we had done it on the kitchen floor while we enjoyed mimosas and
chocolate covered strawberries.

“I’m game for that,” he said. “Wanna start right now?” He
leaned in to me and began to kiss me, delicately pulling on my bikini tie and
releasing my top.

I giggled and pulled away, grabbing at my top. “Down, boy!”
I laughed. “Right now, I’m hungry for food. I’ll be hungry for you in just a
little while.”

Brady appeared to pout and then grinned. He stepped back
into me and put his hands on my shoulders and pulled me in to him. “I like us
in Cancun,” he said. His words echoed through his chest into my ears and I
could feel his heart beating against my cheek. I took a deep breath. I liked us
in Cancun, too. It was far away from any temptations I was facing back at home.
Temptations I knew I couldn’t give into again, regardless of what I’d texted
Austin.

When we walked in the door, the smell of home hit me and I
felt a sense of peace. I had to admit, going on the trip had done me a world of
good. I felt that relaxation, happiness, and fulfillment that Brady had desired
for me. I was craving a glass of wine but I was also hoping that we had gotten
me pregnant during the vacation, so, until I knew one way or the other, I was
swearing off alcohol.

We got home in the early afternoon, and Brady decided to go
in to work for a while. I cranked some music and started to clean the house. I
got lost in the rhythm of cleaning and, before I knew it, it was time to start
preparing dinner.

I looked at the clock; it was 4pm. Brady said he’d be home
around seven or eight. I had enough time to throw a roast in the crock pot and
cook it on high. I put the roast in the crock pot and chopped potatoes,
carrots, and onions. I skipped adding wine, opting for a coca cola instead; I
smiled at the thought of a baby, cells dividing and multiplying inside of me,
maybe even as I stood there.

With dinner cooking and the house clean, I got online and
started looking at baby nursery images on Pinterest. There were so many amazing
ideas out there, and I started to think of how the nursery could really take
shape.

When Brady arrived home it was just after seven o’clock. He
kissed me, then asked what smelled so good for dinner.

“I cooked a roast,” I said, then laughed at the expression
on his face. “I was feeling domestic! Plus, I really wanted a home cooked
meal.”

“Amen, my love,” he said. “I’ll set the table. What do you
want to drink?”

I almost said wine, but sighed. “I’ll just do water. In a
wine glass!” I added, then patted my belly. “Positive thinking, right?”

“You know it!”

Brady set the table and then carved the roast as I put the
potatoes, carrots and onions into a separate bowl. I tossed a simple salad,
then, just as we were sitting down to eat, the doorbell rang.

“I wonder who that is,” Brady said. He walked to the door
and opened it. “Austin! What’s up, man?”

Austin was here? I felt my stomach drop. What was he doing
here? I walked around the corner from the kitchen to the entryway and saw
Austin, standing there in his leather jacket and jeans. He smiled. “Hey, Sis,”
he said.

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

“I knew you were on vacation so I thought I’d swing by to
check on the house.” He held up the spare key I’d given him when we’d moved in.
“I didn’t know how long you were going to be gone.”

“Thanks, man, that’s really cool,” Brady said. “Hey, we’re
just sitting down to dinner. There’s plenty, do you want to join us?”

I opened my mouth to object but closed it. What was I going
to say, that my stepbrother wasn’t invited to dinner, especially when he’d come
all the way over here trying to do us a favor?

“Sure, come on in!” I said brightly instead. “I made a
roast.” I took Austin’s jacket and hung it in the closet while Brady grabbed an
extra plate and set of silverware. Austin sat at the table and noticed the
waters in our wine glasses.

“What’s going on here?” he asked. “Someone not drinking alcohol?”
He looked at me.

“We’re hoping,” I blushed, “that our time on vacation sort
of… loosened things up a little.”

He looked closely at me. “Your vacation,” he said. “Sure, of
course.”

Brady came over with an extra glass. “Do you want actual
alcohol?” he asked. “You’re welcome to have wine, a beer, a cocktail,
whatever.”

“Sure, I’ll take a beer,” he said. “I’ve been drinking way
too much red wine lately.” He looked at me and smiled. When Brady went to get a
beer from the fridge, Austin nudged me. “Hey,” he said.

“What are you doing here?” I seethed under my breath.

“I wanted to see you,” he said, whispering. “I missed you.”

Brady closed the fridge and came back with a stout, all
smiles. “Here you go, man.” He poured it then sat down to continue dinner. “We’ve
got tons of stories about Cancun, don’t we, babe?” He reached over and grabbed
my hand, squeezing it. I watched Austin’s eyes travel from our hands up the
length of my arm and land on my breasts. I flushed.

“We sure do,” I said.

“Your face is red,” Austin said, a light smirk on his face.
“Are you all right?”

“I think it’s just because the temperature of the meat is so
hot,” I said. “That happens sometimes.” I took a big gulp of water, partially
to cool myself down and partially to end the conversation.

Brady and Austin had quite a bit in common and I was happy
they liked each other, though I felt tremendously awkward sitting here with
both of them. Never in the furthest reaches of my imagination would I ever have
imagined that I’d be sitting at the same table with two men that I’d slept
with, never mind one being my husband and the other being my stepbrother. I got
up from the table and refilled my water.

“Everything okay, honey?” Brady asked.

“Yep,” I said. “Just thirsty.” My tone was a little testy
and I tried to relax.

Brady and Austin’s turned the conversation to motorcycles.
Austin was an expert, of course, and Brady was an enthusiast, though he didn’t
own his own bike. I remembered my conversation with Austin in the restaurant
where he had promised to take me for a ride on his ultra fast motorcycle sooner
rather than later. As they talked, my eyes drifted to Austin and I imagined
riding on his bike with him, my thighs around his hips, squeezing tight, and my
arms around his waist. II would feel the expanse of his back against my
breasts… it was a fantasy I could have spent a lot of time in, had Brady not
pulled me out of it by asking me what I wanted for dessert.

I almost laughed, thinking of the real answer I wanted to
give. Instead, I said, “I think we have ice cream, and probably some cookies in
the cabinet. Or, we could always go out and grab something. McCovey’s is just
down the street.” McCovey’s was an ice cream parlor that was known for its hot
fudge sundaes and banana splits… even more than other ice cream parlors.

“I could run and pick something up,” Brady offered. Before I
could protest, Austin jumped in.

“That would be great! he said. “I’ll stay here and keep Gabi
company.” He put his arm around me and pulled me to him, grinning.

“Perfect,” Brady said as he grabbed his keys. “I’ll be back
in ten minutes.”

He walked out the door. I watched as he pulled out of the
driveway and then turned to Austin, my blood boiling with anger just as much as
desire.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” I shouted. “You
didn’t come here to check on the house any more than the sky is a pale green!”
I pushed his chest and he stepped back.

“Oh come on, Gabi, chill out. I came to check on the house,
of course. The fact that you happened to already be home was just a bonus.” He
stepped back toward me and pulled me into a hug. “I missed you…” I pulled away
from him.

“Not in my house!” I said through clenched teeth. “If Brady
ever found out, it would kill him!”

“Brady who drinks water in wine glasses?” he said. “Was that
your idea or his? You two are so cute together.” He was teasing and being a
complete ass.

“Shut the fuck up,” I said. “If I throw you out of here, I’m
not going to be able to explain to Brady why you suddenly disappeared while he
went out to buy
you
dessert. So, I’m not going to kick your ass out the
door. But you need to stop staring at me and making me uncomfortable!”

“The only thing making you uncomfortable, sweetheart, is the
fact that you can’t keep your eyes off of me. You’re wet right now, aren’t
you?” He winked at me. I kind of wanted to kill him, because he was right. I
was incredibly turned on by him, even by fighting with him. In fact, the energy
between us as we argued was making me even more aroused than I had been the
first night we’d been together.

“That’s none of your business,” I said. “Now behave
yourself, because he’s going to be back in about two minutes.”

“When do you want to go for that ride?” he asked as he
walked back and sat at the kitchen table.

“What ride?” I asked, an image of him on top of me on his
couch, my legs spread and my feet in the air filling my thoughts. I felt myself
blushing from head to toe.

“That ride I promised you at the restaurant. A lifetime ago.
I promised you a ride.” He winked at me.

“Oh, I’d say you delivered on the ride, Austin.” I
emphasized his name rather than calling him “Bro.”

“Nothing says we can’t go for another. There’s a lot more
miles left in the tank on this machine.” He patted his crotch softly and I
swallowed as I saw the bulge in his jeans.

“I’ll be right back,” I said weakly, then bailed for the
bathroom. I splashed my face with cool water, then sat on the closed toilet
seat trying to cool myself down and get my breath back under control. He had no
right to be so hot, so flirtatious, so insistent, and so related to me!
Not
related,
a voice in my head said.
Not by blood. And blood is the only
relationship that counts for family relations.

I didn’t need to remind the voices in my head that I was
married. Cripes. I took my head out of my hands when I heard the front door
open and Brady and Austin talking to each other. I took one last look in the
mirror and made my way back into the kitchen.

“Hey, honey,” I said, walking to Brady and kissing him on
the lips. “Thanks for the dessert.”

“Hohoh!” Austin catcalled.

“I will bring you dessert any time if I’m going to get a
greeting like that,” Brady said, smiling at me and holding me at my elbows.
“Miss me that much?”

“You have no idea,” I said.

We had our dessert and then I stood to begin to clean up the
kitchen. “I’ll do the dishes if you guys want to go out to the garage and talk
bikes or dude stuff or whatever,” I said.

They took me up on my offer, which got Austin out of the
house. I had no worries that he would say anything to Brady; I was just
relieved that I’d survived dinner and dessert.

I settled down on the couch, the kitchen clean, and flipped
through the channels on television. I flipped through over a hundred, then went
back and flipped through them again. Nothing caught my eye. I turned the TV off
and walked out to our back patio with my book of crossword puzzles. Crossword
puzzles were a guaranteed way for me to keep my mind from turning in on itself
and creating problems. I read for an hour, then, since it was after ten o’clock,
I went upstairs and went to bed.

I had no idea how long Austin and Brady were out in the
garage, but I’d been asleep for what felt like hours when I felt a body slide
into the bed next to me and put his arm around my shoulder. “Mmmmm, hi honey,”
I said, snuggling in. I realized I hadn’t said a name not because I didn’t know
who it was; it was obviously Brady. I didn’t say a name because I didn’t know
for sure who I wanted it to be. I shook my head, trying to get rid of the
thoughts. Before long, I fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.