Fortunately, Brandon had one less thing to worry about when it came to this sudden enormous change in his life. Rodriguez had been sent out of state to cover for another sergeant. He’d be gone at least a month. He knew how hypocritical that would look. Although Brandon was very hard-nosed about the rules being followed at work and Rodriguez’s comments about being willing to risk his job were off the charts stupid, Brandon’s reaction had been a bit over the top. So while he’d had no intention of keeping his relationship with Regina a secret from anyone, he certainly wasn’t looking forward to that conversation with Rodriguez.
To his relief, Regina had been right about one thing. His not having friends in his life was not for lack of personality and being able to hold a conversation with someone. He was way more comfortable having her in his life and even staying in his place than he’d ever imagined he would be.
Saturday morning, Brandon started to slip out of bed to go make her coffee. As much as he hated the stuff, he loved seeing that smile on her face when he brought it to her. Since being on the receiving end of Regina’s grateful and breathtaking smiles, he was beginning to understand what the allure was for her daddy and possibly most of the men she’d ever met to want to spoil her. Making her happy and taking care of her had quickly become his first priority. It was the weirdest phenomenon. He’d always heard that giving was so much more satisfying than receiving, and this entire past week had been proof of that. He’d never felt as satisfied as when he saw that content smile on her.
Just as he got up, her phone rang by the chair where she’d left it, and it woke her. Frowning, he walked over to pick it up and bring it to her. He glanced at the name on the screen. C. Devereux.
“Your friend Chris from New York,” he said, making sure she knew he remembered what the “C” stood for.
Her eyes widened, and she took the phone but didn’t answer him. Brandon waited for her to comment, say something, anything that might explain her strange reaction to this guy. But she offered nothing, so he had to ask. “Aren’t you gonna answer?”
Looking up at him, she started to say something then seemed to change her mind and answered the phone instead. “Hey, Chris.” She smiled, pulling a strand of hair behind her ear. “Yes, I got it. Thank you so much. That was very sweet of you. No, no, everything is fine. I meant to call and thank you, but this week has been so crazy it totally slipped my mind.”
Brandon stood there, watching her, his jaw tensing at her telling this guy how sweet it was of him. Did all her guy friends go out of their way to do sweet things for her? This was exactly why he didn’t believe for a second that men and women could be friends. So this guy sends her a book, and she never responds. Can’t he take a hint? He has to follow up and call her and pretend he was worried because she hadn’t bothered to call him and thank him? Brandon could already tell he wasn’t going to like this old friend of hers, if, in fact, that’s all they’d ever been.
“In a few weeks? Yes, I’d like that. We can do coffee or dinner or something.”
Oh, hell no. She wasn’t going to start this shit. She had to know that unless she was planning on bringing Brandon along for that coffee or dinner with this guy this would never work. Panic crept in him slowly because things had been so perfect all week. Even when he’d brought up Antonio and her relationship with him, it had gone smoothly. He didn’t want to ruin things by getting into an argument now, but there was no way he could begin to hide what he was feeling.
“No,” she said, her voice going a little strange. “I have had my moments when I’ve been very tempted to call you.”
She glanced up at Brandon and cleared her throat, sitting up a little as he struggled to remain calm and not glare at her. Very tempted to call him?
“Listen, I gotta go, but it was really good to hear from you, and, again, thank you so much for the book. Call me when you’re in town.”
She hung up and smiled at him. “Were you going somewhere before the phone rang?”
“To get you coffee,” Brandon said with no intention of letting her brush the subject of her friend away again as she’d done before. “Your friend’s gonna be in town?”
She nodded, bringing her legs to the side of the bed. “In a few weeks.”
“And you two are getting together?”
“Most likely,” she said, getting up. He reached his arm out to help, but she motioned that she had it.
She hadn’t worn the splint all day yesterday, and she was actually walking on her ankle now. She said it didn’t hurt to step on it anymore, but Brandon had still warned her to take it easy.
“You said this was an old friend. How long have you two been friends?”
Without looking at him, Regina reached the bathroom. “Did I say old really? Not too long. We met last year. I’ll be right out.”
Last year? After her husband passed? A part of Brandon wanted to just let it go—not stir the waters. But he’d picked up on something ever since her reaction to the book this guy sent her. There was something about this subject—this guy. Something made her nervous to talk to Brandon about this friend. He’d since decided he wouldn’t push it, that it wasn’t a big deal. The guy didn’t even live in California. How much trouble could he be? But now he was calling her, and she was talking about meeting up with him? A guy she’d been very tempted to call?
Brandon was determined not to make a big deal of this, but he was absolutely getting to the bottom of this today.
A few minutes later, he heard the toilet flush then the water running. More minutes passed. Then she opened the door, her toothbrush still in her mouth, and she smiled. Even with a mouthful of toothpaste, bed head, and no makeup on, she was adorable. He couldn’t help smiling, but it only made him more anxious about this guy she thought she’d be getting together with.
After rinsing and wiping her mouth with a towel, she walked out. “You know what I’m craving?” she said, all bright-eyed. “Chocolate-chocolate-chip waffles.”
He hated to put a damper on her cheery mood, but he had to know. “We can go get some if you want. But you wanna tell me about this friend of yours from New York first?”
Her smile instantly vanished, and she started toward the bed. “No, not really,” she said, surprising him.
Brandon thought for sure she’d try to make light of it and change the subject. This just turned up the need to know more about this guy a few hundred notches. “Why?”
“Because it’s not something I feel like talking about.” Her response was abrupt—terse—not at all what he was expecting.
Taking a few steps toward her, he chose his words wisely because he could feel this getting tense already. There was no way he was letting this go now. “Why do I get the feeling there’s more to this friend that you’re not telling me?”
She turned to him with a look he hadn’t seen on her since the day she confronted him at the base, the glare that had him holding back a smile then. Only now he was in anything but a smiling mood. “We’ve been together for all of one week, Brandon. You really think I’ve told you everything about my life? I agreed to do this with you because I didn’t want things to go back to the way they were. I like having you in my life, but, Jesus, give me some time. There are some things I’d rather not talk about just yet.”
Brandon didn’t want to regret having done this with her. He didn’t want to regret that they were just into this one week and already the thought of her having a guy friend she didn’t want to tell him about had him wanting to punch a hole through a fucking wall. “Like ex-boyfriends or male friends you plan on getting together with?” he asked, every word louder than the last. “Because I’ll be damned if—”
“Chris is a she,” Regina said sharply, but then the severity in her own expression lessened, and the corner of her lip rose. She reached out and touched his face with her hand, relieving some of the enormous pressure already brimming in every one of his muscles. “If that’s what you’re worried about, don’t. You’ve made it very clear how you
feel about men and women being friends, and if you recall, I agreed with you.”
He reached for her, pulling her into his arms, and buried his face in her neck. The relief was replaced by instant fear—fear that he was going to blow this. Even he hadn’t anticipated his reaction to be so heated. “I’m sorry.” He kissed her neck twice before pulling away. “I had a feeling I might suck at this, but I promise I won’t always be like this. I just . . .” He shook his head. “I’ll give you all the time you need. If you’d rather not talk about her yet, I’ll wait. I won’t be so—”
She kissed him, not letting him go on, and that was a damn good thing because, unbelievably, another thought he never expected to be thinking had begun to cloud his mind. For a moment of insane desperation, he actually considered doing something he long ago vowed he’d never do for anyone—beg. As much he felt for Regina, even she wouldn’t make him break that vow.
He had to get it together. His insecure ass was going to destroy this—this thing that after only a week he could already tell was the best thing that’d ever happened to him. Still, his reaction to thinking she didn’t want to tell him about another guy in her life hadn’t been unfounded. “I’m sorry I misunderstood,” he explained. “I really thought it was a guy you were on the phone with and sent you that romance novel.”
He kissed her deeply, wanting that last comment to register loud and clear. He wasn’t apologizing for nearly losing it because of that. If that were ever the case, she should expect nothing less. In fact, it’d probably be even more severe. The longer he was around her—spoiling her—claiming her with every kiss every time they made love, the likelier it’d be that he’d have less control over his emotions over anyone coming between them.
She ran her fingers through his hair as their kissing began going into that familiar, wild, uncontrolled place. Just like that, as always when he kissed her, he was instantly aroused, and his throbbing erection was already impossible to conceal through his thin boxer briefs. Remembering she was hungry and this was his chance to appease her with what she was craving, he pulled away gently, but she pulled him back, holding his shoulders tight.
Taking that as an invitation to dive in, he did so as wildly as only she could make him, as he had that very first time he kissed her madly. He picked her up, and she wrapped her legs around him instantly. “Careful,” he reminded her, mindful to not hurt her ankle.
He may never beg, but spoiling and appeasing his girl he could do. In fact, he couldn’t think of anything that felt better than seeing that beautiful smiling face or, in this case, her crying out in pleasure. Just like the spoiling, he wanted to make something perfectly clear: she didn’t need anyone else spoiling her or making her cry out in pleasure ever again.
Laying her down on the bed, he pulled her panties off and spread her wide. Her eyes went equally as wide. Since the first time they’d made love, while he’d made sure she was satisfied to near exhaustion, they’d done it his new favorite way every time—feeling her come while he kissed her insatiably, something completely and utterly new to him. He knew if things didn’t work out between them it would never happen again. That was something reserved exclusively for Regina, and he would never even try it with anyone else. So he could not get enough of it.
But right now was all about spoiling his little princess. Getting comfortable between her legs, he smiled because he hadn’t done a thing yet, and already she was trembling. The whole giving-feeling-so-much-better-than-receiving theory certainly applied here. The moment his mouth and tongue began greedily sucking up every ounce of her sweetness and he heard her moan in pleasure, he knew it. Just like kissing her, this was just another thing he’d never get enough of.
Chapter Sixteen
Regina
That Sunday was the first time since Regina’s fall that she felt ready to get back in the driver’s seat. She didn’t think her family would fall for another excuse not to make it for their Sunday brunch, and she had to admit she missed them and was looking forward to seeing them again.
Fortunately, Brandon immediately mentioned that her visit to her parents would work out perfectly since he had errands to run and wanted to get back in the gym. Feeling guilty that it was her fault he’d neglected working out and possibly doing other things he normally did, she didn’t dare ask him to come with her. Secretly, she’d been relieved. She knew she was a grown-ass woman, and if she chose to all but move in with her boyfriend of just over a week, it was her business, and her family had no say in it. Still, she preferred to wean them to this unexpected change in her life. It was better to tell them about him first rather than just showing up with him.
Seeing her family once again had been great. As expected, they grilled her about Brandon the moment she’d mentioned meeting someone. They still didn’t know the half of it, but she did tell them she was very serious about him and told her sisters that he was possibly the most amazing kisser ever. Of course, they all asked when they could meet him, but she made no promises. She only assured them that it would be soon.
On her way back from her family’s brunch, Regina smiled, feeling her insides simmer with the excitement of simply knowing she’d soon be indulging in those amazing kisses again. To her surprise, Brandon walked out the door of his apartment as soon as she pulled in.
“Feel like Tiramisu?” He asked with a breathtaking smile.
Her brunch with her parents had been hours ago. Most of the last couple of hours she’d spent being the center of attention as they all continued to interrogate her about her new man. Tiramisu right then sounded perfect.
Nodding, she walked toward him. “You bought some?”
“No.” He held his keys up. “We can go knock another Gaslamp restaurant off your list.”
Regina had told him about her and Janecia’s quest to try every restaurant on that strip. She’d also told him about how weak-minded she was when it came to cravings setting in. Advertisers loved simpletons like her because the moment she saw anything tantalizing on TV or anywhere she’d have a craving for it until she got it. Last night they’d been lying in bed with the television on when Brandon clicked on a cooking reality show where the contestants were asked to make Tiramisu, one of her all-time favorite desserts. Brandon had laughed at the way her eyes sparkled as she watched the judges tasting the dessert. He’d even offered to go out and buy her some, but she declined, feeling like a spoiled brat. At the same time, she’d felt like the luckiest girl in the world to have found such an amazing guy, who’d be willing to run out and buy her cake just because he thought it would make her happy. Now he was offering to take her to get some.
“Yes!” She smiled brightly before kissing him as she reached him. “I don’t deserve you,” she said as she pulled away.
“Because I’m taking you to get Tiramisu?” He grinned playfully, already tugging her along toward his Jeep.
“No, because you remember everything, Brandon, even the silly things I tell you, and then you turn it around and do something so sweet. Do you even like tiramisu? Its main ingredient is coffee or espresso, and I know you don’t care for either.”
“I’ve had it before and it’s okay. I can always order something else.” They reached the passenger side of his Jeep, and he pulled her to him then leaned against the door, kissing her, her insides melting instantly. Pulling away, he stared in her eyes. “If I tell you something, you promise you won’t laugh?”
She stared at him curiously, and already she was smiling silly. “What?”
“I missed you like crazy today. You talk about having your woman card being taken away once. I should have my man card pulled and burned.” He chuckled now, making her laugh nervously as her insides went wild. “Once I was done with my errands and my workout, I didn’t even know what to do with myself.” He lowered his voice, leaning his forehead against hers. “I shouldn’t even be telling you this, but for the past hour, I’ve been looking out the window every five to ten minutes.”
Regina giggled, relieved tha
t she wasn’t alone in how terrifyingly fast she’d fallen for him, so she admitted, “Okay, maybe I drove home a little faster than I should have. The closer I got, the heavier my foot got.”
He lifted a brow, feigning anger about her speeding but didn’t quite pull it off. Then he kissed her, squeezing her even tighter than before. “Let’s go get you dessert, princess,” he whispered in her ear.
As they drove down the busy strip, Regina was still feeling a little dazed by his thrilling admission, when her eyes narrowed in on something, making her sit up a little straighter. They were passing by the very bar she’d spotted him with that blonde the last time she was here. Her joyful splendor was quickly jolted by the irrepressible jealousy at the thought of Brandon kissing that woman and how he’d done it so blithely in front of everyone watching.
They drove into a parking structure as Regina struggled to conceal her sudden unreasonable anger. He’d just admitted to her he was as crazy about her as she felt for him. Still, the visual of his lips on that woman, especially now knowing firsthand the power behind those kisses, had the demanding question spilling out before she could think straight. “What was her name?”
Brandon turned to her, brows furrowed as he pulled into the parking space. “Who?”
“The blonde,” she asked, swallowing hard. “The one you left with that night I saw you here.”
Frowning, he pulled the keys from the ignition. “Why?”
Why? Good question. She was an idiot. Was she really going to pick a fight with him now after he’d been so wonderful to her all week over someone in his past? But the visual assaulted her again, and she thought of how he probably took the girl back to his place and made love to her the incredible way he always did to Regina, kissing her the entire time, until the two-bit whore was screaming his name.
“Because I wanna know,” she said, her words even more demanding.