Feeling her heart flutter, she couldn’t help smile. “So what changed your mind?”
He slid over and lifted himself onto his elbow to face her. With his hard body up against hers, he looked deep in her eyes. “You did.” Bringing his hand behind her neck, he pulled her gently to him and kissed her softly, stopping to suck her bottom lip for a moment. “Though I didn’t admit it then, you sucked me in from the moment I first laid eyes on you. Your lips alone are enough to drive me insane.” He ran his tongue across her bottom lip slowly. Then those intense eyes of his were on hers again. “I thought it was just a physical thing, something I could easily ignore like I always do when I meet attractive women, but little by little,” he said, leaning in and kissing her very slowly—very deeply—before pulling away, “I could tell there was more to you. After spending just a few hours with you, I knew I’d be in danger of wanting to come back for more of you.” He smiled. “Then you kissed me. Just one taste of this mouth,” his eyes dropped down to her lips, “and I was a goner.”
He took her mouth again and kissed harder now. With the excitement of knowing how crazed he could get from just kissing her and after what he’d just told her, she was hot and tingly all over. She brought her hand around his strong back, running it up and down and beginning to feel a little crazed herself.
Feeling his heartbeat thunder against her chest as he held her tighter had her having second thoughts about the nothing-more rule she’d set for tonight. But she had to keep a straight head. Her insides were a burning mixture of desire and excitement but at the same time fear. A part of her was completely intrigued by him, this incredibly complex man who was telling her he wanted more. Another part of her was afraid of what she was getting into. No attachments ever? No friends? Was she ready for someone so complicated in her life?
Falling deep into his amazing kisses and his gentle yet possessive embrace as he continued to kiss her endlessly, she could already feel herself giving into the idea.
He finally pulled away to catch his breath and stared deep in her eyes. “Brandon?” she asked, breathlessly.
“Hm?” he said, kissing her lips again softly then her chin and working his way down her neck.
“Are we friends now?”
His kisses ceased for a moment before he kissed then sucked on her neck softly. “Nope,” he said before sucking her neck a little harder, every part of her body trembling in response.
Confused because he’d just given her this speech about how he was making an exception for her, she had to ask. “Why not? I thought—”
He lifted his head and latched his teeth onto her bottom lip before she could finish, then bit down just enough to make it hurt so good—a sensation she’d never felt before. Sucking it one last time before pulling away, he stared at her very seriously, and his expression went soft again. “Silly girl,” he said with a peck. “I already told you my stand on men and women being friends.”
“But—”
His mouth was on hers again, kissing her in that crazed way he had the first day, the way that made her wild with desire, and she moaned in reaction to it. She wrapped her arms around him as he lifted himself onto her, obviously being careful that he didn’t touch her bad ankle. Pressed against her like this, there was no denying he was as aroused as she felt, and he continued to devour her mouth, her lips, and her tongue, like a man on a mission to make her come by just kissing her.
Just when she thought she couldn’t take it anymore, that she might shamelessly moan, he pulled away and stared into her eyes very seriously, his hands cradling her face as he tried to calm his own labored breathing. “We’re not friends. We never will be, okay?” She nodded, not sure if she should be hurt or not. “I’m just gonna be upfront about this now so there is no doubt. I don’t mean this sexually, Regina. In that sense, we can go as slow as you want, but if, after this weekend, we’re not more than friends, then things go back to the way they were before Friday. If I’m gonna make this exception, then it’s either all or nothing. Anything in between is unacceptable.”
He stared at her for a moment, no doubt waiting for a reaction from her. She tried not to look as alarmed as she felt about the loaded statement he’d just dropped on her.
“All?” she asked cautiously. “What exactly do you mean by all?”
His brow lifted, and he continued to look at her very intensely. “I mean I’m not breaking my rule of no attachments to become friends with a woman who fascinates me and I can’t get enough of kissing. It would never work. Since I did offer my assistance for the entire weekend, you have it until then, but if you’re not looking for more than just a friend you enjoy kissing, then I’m out after tomorrow.”
At the risk of sounding dense, because she wanted to make sure she was absolutely clear on what he was saying, she had to ask. Her insides were already going nuts, and she didn’t want him to notice. Was he really saying what she thought he was saying?
No longer able to remain composed and hold back how secretly thrilled this made her, she smirked. Already lying here in bed with Brandon was something she never would’ve believed she’d be doing just a few days ago. So asking what she was about to ask after spending just two days with him seemed even more absurd. Still, before she agreed to anything, she wanted it unmistakably clear. “Are you asking me to be your girl, Sergeant Billings?”
Finally, a smile softened what had now turned into an unyielding near glare after she’d apparently taken a bit long to respond for his liking. He nodded, but like so often when he responded to her before, he said nothing more.
As absurd as it seemed, she did feel as if she were his girl already. Not since college had she done the casual thing, and she certainly didn’t plan on moving on by starting off with just a casual thing now. Although ever since last year, she hadn’t considered doing anything. She still wasn’t sure she was ready, but he was being so all or nothing about it, and she didn’t want to risk him going back to the guy she once thought him to be now that she knew how amazingly sweet he could really be. She smiled. “I’d ask you to let me sleep on it, but I get the feeling I won’t be getting any sleep now. I know myself. I’d toss and turn over this all night.”
“What’s there to toss and turn about?” he asked. “I’m not asking you to marry me, Ms. Brady.” He leaned in and kissed her softly. “Not yet anyway. I just need you to understand this now.” He looked into her eyes, suddenly going very serious again. “I don’t do the friends’ thing. So if you decide it’s all you wanna do, I don’t want you to be upset later because it’s not gonna happen. If you prefer we don’t take this any further, Monday things go back to the way they were before.”
Regina stared at him for moment. She would’ve liked to have tried the friends’ thing first before getting into anything too intense with him. But admittedly she’d never had a friend she kissed the way she and Brandon had already. So what difference did it make if they made this official? It was better than doing this and then wondering what this was. She’d already begun to wonder. Like he’d said, “At least this way there were no doubts.”
Smiling big, she could hardly believe she was about to agree to this. She nodded very softly at first and then with a lot more enthusiasm as she saw that beautiful smile spread across his face. “Okay,” she whispered.
“Okay, what?” he asked.
“I am not calling you sir!”
Brandon laughed heartedly and kissed her. “That’s not what I meant. I mean I wanna know exactly what you think you’re agreeing to.”
She looked at him, confused and a little embarrassed. “Being your girl, right?”
He leaned in and kissed her so deeply she began to squirm, but she wrapped her arms around him tightly, relieved she’d clearly gotten it right.
Pulling away just slightly, he looked deep into her eyes. “My princess,” he whispered.
The term of endearment and how sweetly he said it took her by surprise, but she immediately loved it, so she smiled big. “I like that,”
she whispered back.
As unexpected as this sudden change in her life was, Regina’s heart pounded with the eager anticipation of what was to come.
~~~
The next day had been as wonderful as the rest of the weekend. She’d been able to keep her family at bay by telling them a little white lie. She knew her mother would want her there again for their Sunday family brunch. But there was no way she could go with her ankle like this. And Brandon had been right. It was better that she not tell them about her injury just yet. They’d make a big deal out of it, so she told them she was still having some things delivered and while they’d told her they’d deliver on Sunday they didn’t give her a time. She also mentioned having a major breakthrough at work and had some things she really wanted to work on ASAP. That wasn’t entirely a lie, so she felt less guilty about the first lie.
Brandon had been as sweet and attentive as he’d been from the first day. Then things took an unexpected change. After the struggle of getting Regina down the stairs Monday morning, he insisted they stay at his single-story place at least for that week.
“No sense in having to deal with those stairs all week,” he’d said. “We’ll take whatever you need to my place for the week, and maybe by the weekend your ankle will be strong enough for you to climb up on your own.”
At first, Regina tried to protest she couldn’t do that—just move into his place for the week and intrude on his life that way. But after getting that scolding look because she was apparently being difficult and he was only trying to make life easier not just on her but himself, she gave in.
Monday she’d given Brandon a tour of her small office space at work when he walked her there in the morning. They’d arrived early before anyone else was there because they’d made sure to allow enough time for her to walk as slowly as she needed from the parking lot to the building. Then, just as she’d finished the tour, Antonio and a couple of the other guys she worked with arrived. Regina made sure she introduced Brandon as her boyfriend since he’d been so adamant that he didn’t do the friend thing. She’d gotten the distinct feeling from the way Brandon eyed them the moment they walked into the office Brandon might be ticked if she hadn’t introduced him that way.
He appeared pleased enough but still planted a long deep one on her just before he walked out of her office. He finished it off by telling her to have a good day and that he’d be back at the end of the day to help her to her car. Then he gave the guys, but especially Antonio, one last very significant look.
Monday night they’d gone back to her place as she gathered everything she’d need at his place for the week. Or rather she told Brandon where he could find everything, and he’d fetched it all, including her fancy single-cup coffee maker. She’d already begun to notice what a control freak Brandon was, so it didn’t even surprise her when he’d wanted to know how to work it even though he hated coffee. He told her he wanted to make it for her in the mornings so she could concentrate on taking her time getting ready.
“Rushing could lead to injuries,” he’d said as she showed him how easy her coffee machine was—fill with water, drop the pod in and hit start.
That night, he also surprised her with another question as they lay there in bed, enjoying their now usual goodnight kissing. He’d been lying over her, his body half on hers when he pulled away and stared at her very seriously for good long moment. “The morning we got stuck in the elevator, two Fridays ago,” he said, and she stared at him, the memory of that morning coming back to her.
It was hard to believe how drastically things had changed between them since that morning. She nodded running her fingers through his hair. “Yeah?”
“Your co-worker Antonio, the one you called to get the power back on?” Again she nodded, curious now where he was going with this. “You thanked him for doing something for you. You called him sweetie.”
“You remember that?”
This time he nodded, still staring at her a little too seriously. “What did he do that had you smiling so big and made you even more anxious to get to your office?”
Regina’s lips parted, still stunned that he remembered these things with such detail. Even she’d forgotten about that conversation until just a few days ago.
Brandon’s eyes moved down to her lips, and he pecked them softly. “Tell me,” he whispered.
“He bought bagels for everyone, and he brought me my favorite.”
“Which is?”
She smiled, knowing once she told him he’d likely never forget. “Blueberry.”
He nodded again, and she was certain that confirmed that the fact had been locked away in his memory vault, which apparently held on to even the most insignificant of things. “You’d only been there a week. How’d he know it was your favorite?”
Regina tilted her head with a smirk. Would he always pay attention to the smallest of details? “The very first day, when I was introduced to the whole office, they had a list of very important questions for me. How do I take my coffee and was I a donut or bagel girl were among them. When I said, “Bagel,” he immediately asked what my favorite was.”
Brandon’s eyebrow went up, but not in a playful way. “Immediately, huh? You and he talk on the phone outside of work?”
Uh oh, now she knew exactly where this was going. “Not really.”
“Yes or no, Regina. Not really isn’t gonna fly.”
Just like when he’d made it clear that it was all or nothing, as nervous as he could make her, being so upfront, Regina had to admit she appreciated his not beating around the bush. She hadn’t even noticed she had a missed call from Antonio Thursday night until the Friday morning when she got a text from Antonio asking if she was okay. After their post-When Harry Met Sally conversation and especially after his all or nothing proposal, the thought had crossed her mind that any relationship with Antonio outside of work might be an issue. But just like everything else when it came to Brandon, she never imagined they’d be addressing this so soon.
“I exchanged numbers with everyone in the firm. Things do come up after hours, so occasionally, we may need to speak outside of work.”
“But he’s not your friend?”
The caveat in his tone was undeniable. Brandon wasn’t just asking a question. He was making a statement. He’d certainly made himself clear last night, and he was doing it again now.
“He’s my co-worker,” she said, feeling a little stupid now that she’d actually laid the syrup on when talking to Antonio that morning on purpose. The last thing she would’ve imagined then was that it would come back and bite her in the ass in this way. “Subordinate actually, but I prefer to see them all as co-workers.”
“You call all of your subordinates sweetie?”
“Okay,” she said, straightening out a little. For someone who liked cutting right down to the chase, he sure was dragging this one out and painfully so, since they both knew what he was trying to insinuate. “First of all, no, I don’t. Second, I’ll just admit it because I don’t want this to become an issue moving forward. That morning I was extra nice to him because you were standing right there listening. You’d been pretty curt with me up until then, and I just wanted to make a point that I wasn’t the anti-social one. I can be very nice when people are nice to me. But no, that was the first and last time I ever called him that.”
His continued heavy stare dug into her. Now that she knew how closely he was paying attention to even the smallest of things, she wondered what was going through his mind. To her surprise, his stern expression softened. “You are very nice,” he said, kissing her softly, “and very beautiful.” He kissed her chin then moved down to her neck and sucked, making her squirm in response. Kissing his way back up to her lips, he stopped, and their eyes met again. “He shouldn’t be an issue. I was gonna let it go actually. I didn’t wanna make a big deal out of something so trivial, but after seeing the surprised look on his face today, it made me wonder just why the fuck he’d be so surprised that you were with someone, s
o I had to ask.” He smirked, though it wasn’t as playful as his usual smirks. “As of right now, I’m not fond of any guy so willing to go out of his way for my princess, but I’ll take your word that he’s nothing more than your eager-to-please subordinate. Just be warned. Unless you want me to really hate the guy, please never let me hear you call him sweetie again.”
“I won’t,” she whispered with a smile, and Brandon took her mouth in his again.
Her insides churned with a mix of excitement and nerves as he kissed her slowly but incredibly meticulously, not missing a single spot of her hungry mouth. She wondered even through her suddenly aroused state how long it would take for her to get used to Brandon’s emphatic way of getting straight to the point when it came to certain things. There’d be no guessing games in this relationship about things of this nature. That was for sure.
~~~
By Thursday, they had their routine down. That evening, Brandon had to make a run because she was getting low on the wrap for her ankle, even though it wasn’t nearly as sore as it had been days ago. He still insisted she continue to wear the wrap. He also said he’d be stopping to pick up dinner and a few other things he was getting low on from the market. As usual, he refused to take any money from her.
From the first day Regina had stepped foot into Brandon’s meticulously organized apartment, she’d been even more overwhelmed with concern over what she’d gotten herself into. She was almost embarrassed now that he’d been witness to her less-than-organized place. She wasn’t a slob or anything, but Brandon’s apartment was a perfect exhibit of a neat freak bordering on OCD.
Regina had teased him about it, and he shrugged it off, explaining he hadn’t always been this way. Being a Marine had a lot to do with it, and then becoming a drill instructor had made him even worse. Only Regina was the one using the word worse. He’d used the phrase “helped me become even better organized, not just at work but in my personal life.”