Starting Over (Treading Water Trilogy) (27 page)

At his house, Brandon went straight to the closet in his bedroom and rifled through his clothes until he found his khaki suit in a dry-cleaning bag way in the back. He hadn’t worn the suit in years, so he assumed Valerie had taken it to the cleaners for him. He sure as hell hadn’t done it.

Valerie’s words kept running around in his mind. “It’s not the all-consuming love I felt for you. Everything else pales in comparison.” It made Brandon sick to think about how careless he’d been with her feelings. He wished there was something he could do to make it up to her, but he knew he had to leave her alone and let her live her life. All he could do now was make sure he never hurt anyone else like that.

He grabbed a royal blue dress shirt and a yellow tie and draped the dry-cleaning bag over the clothes. Unearthing a pair of wing-tipped shoes he’d forgotten he owned, he threw them into a bag and went into the bathroom to take a quick shower.

After he’d changed into jeans and a shirt that hadn’t fit him in years, he returned to the bathroom in search of condoms. When he reached into the cabinet under the sink, his hand closed around a fifth of Jack Daniels.

He slowly brought the half-empty bottle out from under the sink and sat down on the floor, wondering what in the hell he’d been thinking when he stashed a bottle of whiskey in his bathroom. Balancing the bottle between his hands, he watched the amber liquid slosh from side to side.

It would be so easy to take one sip. To unscrew the lid, tip the bottle up, and take one long drag
. He could feel the heat of the whiskey burn through him just imagining it.
No one would ever have to know
. But then he thought of Daphne and Mike at home waiting for him. This wasn’t his home anymore and sitting on the floor with a bottle in his hand wasn’t his life anymore. No, his home and his life were with them now.

Getting up from the floor, he opened the bottle and poured the whiskey down the sink with the water running to get rid of it before he could smell it. In an urgent rush to get out of that house, he dropped the bottle into the trash, grabbed the box of condoms from the cabinet, tossed it into his bag, and ran out the door a minute later.

He stopped at the grocery store on his way back to the apartments to buy orchid corsages for his girls. His father had always done that on Easter for Colleen and Erin, and Brandon thought it was a nice tradition to continue. When he got back to the building, he hung the clothes on a door frame in Mrs.
Oczkowski’s
apartment and stashed the flowers in her new refrigerator.

Before he went upstairs, he called Erin.

“Hey, Brand.”

“Did I catch you in the middle of bedtime?”

“Nope, Tommy’s doing it. I’m trying to finish the Easter baskets. What’s up? Daphne and Mike are still coming, right?”

“Yeah, they’re looking forward to it. I was wondering if you can do me a favor tomorrow.”

“Sure, what do you need?”

“Can you invite Mike to spend the night at your house?”

Erin snorted with laughter. “What’re you up to?”

“None of your business. Will you do it? Please?”

“I wish I was mean enough to make you beg, but lucky for you I’m feeling generous. I’d love to be in on your scheme.”

“It’s not a scheme. Exactly.”

Erin laughed. “No problem. I’ll think of some way you can pay me back. In fact, we have a couple of weddings coming up. You can babysit for one of them.”

“You’d trust me to do that?” he asked, touched.

“Of course, I would.”

“That’s kind of a crooked deal—I’m asking you to watch one kid, and I’m getting five in return?”

“How bad do you want to get laid?”

“Pretty bad,” he confessed.

“Then I’d say it’s fair.”

Brandon cracked up. “You should’ve been a litigator.”

“I try to use my gifts for good rather than evil, but every so often, it’s fun to be evil.”

“I like your evil side better when it’s directed at other people.”

“I’m sure you do.”

“Um, listen, there’s something you need to know if you’re going to have Mike. I want you to tell Tommy, too, but no one else, okay?”

“Okay. What is it?”

Brandon told her about Mike’s grandparents.

Erin gasped. “Oh, my God! What’re we going to do?”

Brandon appreciated that his sister made his problem her problem. He expected nothing less from her. “I’m handling it, but I wanted you to know about it because that’s the only way Daphne would ever leave her.”

“She’ll be safe here. You know that.”

“That’s why I asked you. Thanks, Erin.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Brandon flew up the stairs. Forty-five minutes away from her felt like forever. He tapped on her door.

She answered wearing a short floral satin bathrobe over a nightgown that ended at mid-thigh. The delicate glasses were perched on her nose, and her hair was in a high ponytail. “You don’t have to knock,” she said with a shy smile that stopped his heart.

He was struck dumb by the fragile sweep of her neck, the rosy glow of her skin, the sexy glasses, and the satin robe.

“Brandon? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” he whispered as he removed her glasses and put them on the table by the door. He ran his hands slowly down her back and lifted her. Wrapping her legs around his waist, he turned and pressed her against the door to close it.

Seeming breathless, she waited for him to kiss her.

He dodged her lips and ran his tongue along her jaw and ear.

Her fingers clutched his shoulders as he rolled her earlobe between his teeth. When he moved on from her ear, she brushed her lips against his and moaned with frustration when he turned his attention to her other ear.

His mouth went dry when he discovered she was naked under the nightgown. Carrying her to the sofa, he laid her down and knelt on the floor. “Is Mike asleep?” he whispered against the soft skin of her inner thigh.

“Out like a light,” she managed to say as his lips moved on her leg. She arched her back in encouragement.

He slid a finger through her damp heat to the place that throbbed with desire. Making lazy circles with his finger, he watched her eyes flutter closed, and her breathing become ragged. He could tell she wasn’t expecting him to replace his finger with his tongue or to push two fingers into her. Her eyes flew open, and she gasped as the combination of fingers and tongue sent her into orbit.

“Oh, God,
Brandon
,” she gasped as she came apart under him.

He stayed with her as she trembled and shook, and without giving her time to recover, he took her up and over once more. Then he stretched out next to her on the sofa. That was when he noticed the tears on her face. “What, baby?” Alarmed, he kissed away the tears. “Did I hurt you?”

“No.” She shook her head and held her arms out to him. “No.”

“Then what is it? Why are you crying?”

“I love you, Brandon.”

He could feel her heart beating fast as he rested against her chest. “And I love you. I want you so much. I’ve never wanted anything the way I want you.”

She combed her fingers through his hair. When he felt her other hand on his chest, he discovered she had unbuttoned his shirt. Raising herself over him, she tugged her hair free from the ponytail and kissed her way down his chest.

Brandon ran his fingers through her long, soft hair and sucked in a deep breath when her tongue left a damp path on his stomach. He clutched her hair. “Daph,” he said, strangled with desire. “Stop.”

She fixed her eyes on his, pulled at the button to his jeans, and unzipped him.

He reached for her hand. “Daphne, come on…”

“What?” she whispered, pulling her hand free and pressing it against his erection. “You can make me crazy, but I can’t return the favor?”

“You don’t have to. Come up here.”

“I know I don’t have to.” She slid her hand into his pants and wrapped it around him. “I want to.”

Brandon closed his eyes and fought for control as she stroked him. He was winning the war until she replaced her hand with her mouth. “Jesus…
Daphne
…”

“What?” she whispered as she went back for more.

Surrendering, he whispered, “Don’t stop.”

“Wasn’t planning to.” The heat of her mouth, the drag of her tongue, the tug of her hand… The combination was overwhelming. Then she sucked hard on him and took him somewhere he’d never been before, somewhere he’d never expected to go. If this was love, he finally understood, right in that moment, why people went to such enormous lengths to get it and keep it. Now that he had it, there was no way he’d ever let it go.

“I hope you know CPR,” he muttered when he’d recovered the ability to speak. “I think you stopped my heart.”

Resting on top of him, she giggled. “Let’s go to bed.”

“I can’t.”

“You can,” she insisted. “Come on, I’ll take you.”

“No, I mean I really can’t. I can’t sleep with you tonight and not make love to you. Tomorrow night.”

“What about it?” she asked, running her fingers through his chest hair.

“Tomorrow night, I’m going to make love to you.” He slid his hand up and down her back. “At least twice—maybe even three times. And then I’m going to sleep with you in my arms. But tonight I can’t.”

She shivered. “Thanks for the warning.”

He would’ve laughed, but it required too much effort.

“Where will Mike be in this scenario of yours?”

“I’ve got it covered, don’t worry. What time is church?”

“Eleven thirty at Holy Redeemer.”

Brandon groaned.

“What?”

“That’s the mass my parents go to. My mother will see me there and declare an Easter miracle.”

“We can go somewhere else if you want.”

“No, that’s okay. Not that you’ll need them, but you’ll score a thousand easy points with my mother for getting me there.”

“Free points are good. I’ll take ’
em
.”

Brandon summoned the small bit of energy he had left to sit them both up. “I’m going to go.” He hooked his arm around her neck and captured her mouth in a deep, sensual kiss. His tongue tangled with hers in a dance that left him breathless. “I love you, and I have no idea how I’ll get through tomorrow when all I can think about is getting you naked.”

Smiling, she buttoned his shirt. “Try not to think about that while we’re in church.”

“I’ll be thinking of nothing else.”

“Neither will I,” she confessed.

He stood, zipped his jeans, and offered her a hand up. Running his thumbs along her jaw, he dipped his head to kiss her once more. “Tomorrow night,” he whispered in her ear. “One more night.” He kissed her cheek and left.

When he was stretched out on Mrs.
Oczkowski’s
sofa, he realized he’d forgotten about the Easter bunny’s chips.

Chapter 24, Day 74

By the time Brandon arrived on the third floor at eleven the next morning, he’d been to a meeting and then rushed home to get changed for church. The door to Daphne’s apartment was open, so he stopped to listen.

“Hold still, Pooh. I’m almost done.”

“Hurry up. You’ve already brushed it six times.”

“Don’t you want to look pretty for Easter?”

“I
do
look pretty for Easter. Brushing my hair
again
isn’t going to make me any prettier. When is Brandon getting here?”

“Any minute.”

“Good.”

He peeked around the corner.
Oh, look at them
. They wore matching yellow cardigan sweaters over pale yellow sundresses with tiny blue flowers all over them. Mike’s hair shone from all the brushing, and it fell to her shoulders. Used to seeing her in red high tops, Brandon thought her tiny white shoes and lacy socks were adorable. Daphne adjusted Mike’s small straw hat before the girl squirmed out of reach.

Daphne stood up, and Brandon muffled a gasp watching the silky dress cling to every curve.

“I think someone’s spying on us, Pooh,” Daphne said without so much as a glance at the door. “Why don’t you go see who’s out there?”

Mike scampered into the hallway and laughed when she found Brandon leaning against the wall like he belonged there. “You’re busted,” she said. “Hey! You match us!”

Brandon looked down at his blue shirt and yellow tie. “So I do.”

“We look like we go together,” she said, pleased by the coincidence.

“We
do
go together.” He twirled a lock of her hair around his finger. “I almost didn’t recognize you without your pigtails and overalls.”

She rolled her eyes. “You can’t wear
overalls
on Easter. Everyone knows that.”

“I love your dress.”

“Mom made our dresses. She makes them every year.”

“Does she now?”