The Best Thing

  They finished downstairs. She turned to face him, her features much less tense than they'd been when she'd walked in. "It's a spectacular home, Brody."

  "Thanks. Would you like something to drink?"

  Tori swallowed. The tour of Brody's house had delayed the talk he insisted on having with her, the one she'd avoided by embarrassing herself and running like hell out of the restaurant.

  "Sure. A drink sounds great."

  They made their way back into the kitchen, where he opened that incredible refrigerator. She hated to admit to being jealous of his appliances, but she was.

  "I have beer...uh, beer, and water. Oh, and soda."

  Needing the bolster of courage, she said, "I'll have a beer, thanks."

  He popped the tops off the bottles and handed her one. She took a couple long swallows, then followed him into the living room, taking a seat on one of the ultra-comfortable sofas. She liked the big double windows in the living room, could already picture a giant Christmas tree there, covered with lights and ornaments.

  "Do you cut a real tree to put in that window?"

  He followed her gaze. "Huh?"

  "For Christmas. You have such high ceilings, and that window is perfect for your Christmas tree."

  "Oh. No, I don't put a tree up."

  She frowned. "Why not?"

  "Who's going to see it, Tori? It's just me here."

  "So?"

  "Do you put a tree up in your apartment?"

  "Yes. It's only a foot tall since I don't have any room, but of course. It's Christmas. You have to have a tree."

  "No, I don't."

  "Scrooge."

  He laughed.

  "Seriously, Brody, you need a tree. This place is begging for a tree. It would look beautiful there."

  "And again, no one would see it."

  An idea formed in her head. "Your house is so big. We should have the company Christmas party here."

  He gave her a blank look, then shook his head. "No."

  "Why not? There's plenty of room here. I haven't booked the venue yet. That was on my schedule for next week." She shifted, looking around the room. "The kitchen is enormous, you have that game room off the garage with the pool table and arcade games. People would love it. I've often thought we should make our parties a little less stuffy and a lot more fun."

  "Not a good idea. At all. I don't want all those people here."

  "Why not?"

  "Because..."

  She waited for his good reason why not. It didn't come.

  "See? It's a great opportunity for you and your brothers to start inviting your clients into your homes. It makes your relationships with them more personal. Wyatt has a perfect home for it, too. There's plenty of room there, too. And with Ethan and Riley building that big new house, he can take a turn, too, though I think you and Wyatt should go first, since they're going to be busy the next couple years with the new baby."

  He leaned back on the sofa. "Just planning our lives away, aren't you?"

  She lifted her chin. "No. I'm planning the company Christmas party. You and your brothers make the final decision on that. If you absolutely hate the idea, just shoot it down."

  "I didn't say I hated the idea. I need to think about it. We'll discuss it at the meeting on Monday. And I don't want to talk about work." He swept his knuckles across her cheek. "I want to talk about that Olympic dash you did out of the restaurant."

  She looked down, studying her jeans. She was hoping he wouldn't bring that up, but how could he not? "Yeah. About that. Sorry."

  "It's okay. I didn't pick the right place to have that conversation. It was my fault."

  She tipped her gaze to his. It was nice of him to take the blame, when she knew it fell squarely on her. "No. It wasn't. You were trying to figure out what the hell was wrong with me. It was all me. Trust me, I know this."

  He let out a soft laugh. His touch was gentle as he swept a stray hair behind her ear. "Tori, there's nothing wrong with you."

  If only he knew. It was best he didn't. She liked things the way they were, but as they sat here, she knew--one way or the other--things were going to change, starting tonight.

  But which way? She could either talk to him, tell him everything, or she could choose another way. She could stop fighting what she'd wanted all along.

  She shifted, leaned into him and laid her hand on what was a spectacularly solid thigh. His face registered surprise for a fraction of a second, but then he pulled her closer, his hand coming around to cup her neck.

  "You sure?"

  "Yes. I'm tired of fighting it."

  He traced her bottom lip with the pad of his thumb, making her shudder, her senses alive with need for him.

  "It shouldn't be a fight, Tori."

  She took a deep breath. "Just shut up and kiss me."

  Fortunately, Brody was a man of action. He kissed her, and everything inside her went instantly hot. And damp. It was just like the Christmas party last year, just like that night in her apartment. Brain cells began to burst, she lost all sense of time and place, and she focused only on the way his lips took command of hers, the way his tongue wound around hers. He wrapped an arm around her and dragged her onto his lap, the feel of all that solid muscle underneath her shocking her.

  And when he began to move his hand over her ribcage, her heart stuttered, then raced. He paused, no doubt waiting for her to push him away and make a run for the front door. But she covered his hand with hers and brought it over her breast. He molded his hand there, teased her by brushing his thumb over her, making her nipple harden and tingle, promising what she could have if she surrendered.

  She'd surrendered the minute she walked through his front door. She didn't have the energy to fight this anymore. Not when it was what she'd wanted for so many years.

  With a low growl, he brought her closer to him, cradling her against his chest as he deepened the kiss. He was everything she wanted, knew she shouldn't have, and tonight, she just didn't care anymore.

  And when he made a swift move and slid her underneath him, his big body covering hers, she wrapped her legs around his thighs, aching at the intimate contact. He rocked against her and she wanted to weep. It felt so good, and she needed release desperately. She'd denied herself for so long--stupidly, foolishly holding on to the notion that if she kept herself from having what she wanted, time would stand still and nothing would change.

  But the world did change. She'd changed, and tomorrow, so would her life, which she wasn't going to worry about tonight, because the only thing she was going to concentrate on tonight was having Brody.

  He lifted, giving her the opportunity to finally be close enough to look her fill of him, to touch him in all the ways she'd denied herself for so long. She laid her hands on his thighs, swept them inward, biting her lip as she zeroed in on one very sizeable erection.

  Her gaze swept to his and he cocked one of his famous grins at her, then laid his hands on either side of her head and bent to give her a smoldering kiss that rocketed her senses. He lifted her shirt, his hands big and warm on her belly as he snaked them upward.

  "Too many clothes," he said, raising her shirt over her head. For some ridiculous reason, she blushed, likely because she'd allowed very few guys to see the goods. She was damn picky about who she slept with, and of course there was the ridiculous torch she'd carried for Brody all these years.

  But him looking at her? Yeah, she'd fantasized about this moment. She had a rockin' body and she knew it. She worked out so she could eat whatever she wanted. She was curvy in all the right places and she loved her curves. Obviously, Brody liked what he saw, because his eyes darkened and he traced a finger around the swell of her breast, dipping his fingertip inside the cup of her bra.

  She suddenly found it hard to breathe as his touch sent wild sensation rocketing throughout her nerve endings.

  "God, you're beautiful, Tori."

  He bent, kissed the swell of her breast, and she was afraid her heart would bu
rst. She breathed heavily and she knew he could hear her but there was honestly nothing she could do to stop the dizzying heights the touch of his lips to her breasts took her to.

  He dropped down beside her and she was ever so grateful for this oversized couch, because Brody wasn't a small guy. She heard his boots drop to the floor--he must have toed them off, so she kicked off her shoes, and suddenly their feet were entwined. That made her smile, because there was something both playful and yet so intimate about it.

  He didn't seem to be in any hurry to get to the good stuff, another thing that surprised her. He lazily drew circles over the swell of her breasts with his fingertips, while he played with her feet. He still had all his clothes on and she still wore her bra and jeans. Somehow, she had expected this explosion, with clothes flying everywhere, the two of them falling to bed and having a quickie. Yet here they were, lying on his sofa side by side while he mapped her breasts.

  Brody constantly surprised her.

  "You're quiet," he said.

  "I'm...shocked."

  He lifted up on his arm. "Yeah? Why?"

  "I don't know. I thought this would go...faster."

  He laughed. "You have an appointment later that you need to get to, or a curfew?"

  She smacked his shoulder. "No."

  "Then we have all night, don't we?"

  "I guess we do."

  He kissed her shoulder. "I've thought about you--about this--for a long time, Tori. I want to get to know your body. I'm not in any hurry."

  She let out a sigh. He was just too damn perfect, which ratcheted up her anxiety level to the nth degree. Why couldn't he be a jerkwad who dragged her to the bedroom, screwed her brains out and dumped her back at her car with a pat on the butt and a transparent promise to call her tomorrow? It would make this so much easier.

  Instead, he was putting slow seduction moves on her that were shattering her from the inside out.

  He reached behind her and undid the clasp of her bra. Her breath caught as he drew it down, his gaze on hers as he grabbed the other strap and pulled her bra off, baring her breasts.

  He cupped one, lazily brushing his thumb over an aching nipple, then bent to take it between his lips. She arched into him, a part of her unable to believe that she was here, that he was touching her, had his mouth on her. She tangled her fingers in his hair and held him there, hoping this moment would never end. The pleasure was unbearable, and when he lifted and smiled that devilish smile at her, every female part of her tightened.

  He smoothed his hand down her stomach, popping the button on her jeans with ease. He eased the zipper down and she reached for his wrist to stop him.

  "I'm not going to be the only one with no clothes on," she said.

  He grinned, and rose up on his arms to climb over her. "I can fix that."

  He held out his hand and drew her off the sofa. "Let's go play on that big bed."

  With a shaky sigh, she let him lead her into the bedroom. He flipped the light on and pulled her into his arms, kissing her so thoroughly she was lightheaded, before depositing her on the edge of the bed.

  He drew his shirt over his head, and she sucked in a breath at his wide shoulders, expansive chest and those abs--oh, dear God his stomach. She always ogled the male fashion models and their six-pack abs, figuring they were an anomaly. Apparently not, because Brody had a stacked eight-pack going on. She reached out to smooth her hand over his rippled muscles.

  "Damn," she said.

  He grinned. "Thanks. You have a pretty hot body yourself, though I can't wait to get you naked so I can put my hands and mouth all over you."

  She shuddered at the thought. "Let's get you naked so we can get me naked and move on to the fun stuff, then."

  She loved that he was in no hurry to get to her body. And when he unzipped his jeans and dropped them to the floor, leaving him in just his boxer briefs, she wondered what the hell he was doing in construction, when his gorgeous face and body could be blazing the billboards just like those athletes and models. With no sense of modesty he shucked the briefs, and she sent up a short prayer of thanks that she was going to have sex with this amazing man tonight.

  She unashamedly looked her fill, then her gaze drifted up to his face where he quirked a smile.

  "Now it's your turn," he said.

  She reached for her jeans, but he pushed her back on the bed.

  "It's more fun if I get to do that."

  He peeled her jeans down her hips and over her legs, then draped her clothes over the chair next to the bed.

  "These are nice," he said, smoothing his hand over her peach-colored silk-and-lace panties. He drew her legs over the edge of the bed and cupped her sex, then dropped down to his knees between her legs.

  He pressed a kiss to her hip bone, slowly dragging one side of her panties down. Then he moved to the other side, kissed her hip bone again, drew her panties over her hips and pulled them down her legs. He flung them over his shoulder and spread her legs. Tori breathed deeply as he looked up at her.

  "Has anyone told you how beautiful you are?" he asked.

  "Not lately."

  "I've always thought you were beautiful," he said, smoothing his hand over her thigh and down her leg. He pressed a kiss to her knee. "But, Tori, you're beautiful everywhere."

  She couldn't breathe as he pressed kisses to her inner thighs. And when he put his mouth on her sex, she nearly died from the pleasure. She arched her hips upward, lost in the sensations as he played a masterful game with his tongue that took her right to the very edge of oblivion.

  He gripped her hips and she reached for him, holding on to his hands as his expert mouth brought her so close to orgasm she bit her lip to keep from coming. Because this was pleasure she'd waited seemingly a lifetime for, had fantasized about, and now that it was real, she wanted to hold on, to savor the moment. But oh, he was so good, and she couldn't stop the rollercoaster of her climax as it plummeted her right over the cliff.

  She cried out as she came, and Brody stayed right there with her, clasping her hands and using his mouth to heighten her pleasure until the pulses died down and she lowered her hips to the bed.

  Brody raised up and scooted her further onto the bed as he climbed up her body, his mouth coming down on hers in a blistering kiss that stole what few senses she had left.

  He let go of her only long enough to grab a condom and put it on, and then he rolled her underneath him and slid inside her. She gasped as he filled her.

  He stilled, and she held on to his arms, watching him, feeling him expanding inside her.

  "Fucking perfect," he whispered as he brushed his lips against hers.

  Emotion swelled and she pushed it aside. This wasn't emotional. It was sex and nothing more. And as he moved against her, nearly shattering her again, she shielded her heart and closed her eyes, focusing only on the incredible sensations every stroke he made evoked.

  "Tori."

  Her heart clenched at the soft timbre of Brody's voice, like a caress, licking at the core of her soul.

  "Tori, look at me."

  She opened her eyes and he moved inside her.

  "Stay with me."

  He surged within her and grabbed one of her hands, lifting it above her head. He ground against her, slow and easy, the movement so intimate as he locked gazes with her. She felt each stroke all the way to her toes. What this man did to her tore her apart. Somehow she knew it was going to be like this--consuming every part of her and beyond just the physical. And as he brushed his lips across hers, the searing tenderness of it was her undoing. A cry tore from her and she shattered, tightening around him as she came.

  With a low growl, he thrust into her in rapid succession, clenching her hip as he buried himself deep and shuddered with his own climax. She wrapped her legs around him and held him, lost in the sensations--lost in Brody.

  She'd long ago lost her heart to him. Making love with him had only cemented the love she had felt for him all these years. And as he rolled her
over to her side and wrapped her tightly against him, she wondered how she was going to survive this with her heart intact.

  Brody had expected great sex. Tori was fiery and passionate in everything she did, and he knew that would extend to the bedroom. What he hadn't expected was the lightning bolt of emotion that had hit him when she'd turned those emerald-green eyes on him, the connection he'd feel to her when he was inside her.

  He liked sex--a lot. It released endorphins and hey, it was fun. What wasn't to like about it for both parties? But he'd never connected emotionally to it, because he'd never been attached to anyone before.

  Until now.

  And as he held Tori and stroked the softness of her skin, he wondered what the hell he was going to do about everything he was feeling right now, because this was new territory. Normally he'd cut and run, because he liked to keep things light and easy and non-complicated.

  But this was Tori, whose middle name was complicated.

  Which left things between them--where, exactly?

  He tipped her chin and brushed his lips across hers. She smiled up at him, her eyes half lidded and sleepy. She snuggled up against his chest and pressed her body against his, where she fit perfectly.

  Typically when a woman insinuated herself into his bed for the night, he'd start to think about how fast he could get her out of his house in the morning.

  With Tori, he didn't feel that way. He felt...comfortable with her here. In his bed, and in his house.

  And maybe in his life.

  He should go to sleep before he started to think too much about what the hell that meant. There was already too much going on in his head as it was.

  Chapter Seven

  When Tori woke the next morning, she had a few seconds of disorientation. First, she was in a very comfortable, oversized monstrosity of a bed, so it definitely wasn't hers.

  Second, underused muscles were sore, and then she remembered last night.

  And Brody, which reminded her where she was.

  In Brody's bed, with no Brody in sight. But she smelled bacon. And coffee. And her stomach growled in response.

  She started to throw the covers off to get dressed, but Brody came through the door right then with a tray.

  "Don't get dressed," he said. "I have coffee and breakfast."

  "In bed? I can come into the kitchen."

  "No." He set the tray down and poured a cup of coffee that he filled with two dollops of cream, then added a spoonful of sugar, just the way she made hers. He handed her the cup. "I want us to eat in bed."