A Santini Christmas (14 page)

Something close to relief moved over Jed’s face. “Ah, nice to meet you.”

Bran nodded, but said nothing. Very strange for him, especially since they were going to be in the same battalion.

Tess noticed Jed was holding a tray filled with food.

“
Why don’t you join us?” she asked.

Jed shook his head. “I’m eating with Reynolds and Gonzales,” he said, motioning to a table. She turned around, smiled and waved at the guys.

“
Okay.”

“
Still on for six tonight?”

“
Of course.” When he left, Tess turned around to find Bran frowning at her. “What?”

“
I just thought we could do something tonight,” he said, sounding a little put out.

Oh, and Prince Brandon didn’t like having his plans ruined. “Sorry. I made that date last week, not breaking it.”

“
Oh.”

And because they had been friends for almost ten years, she gave in. “Okay. You can stay with me; on the condition you mind your own business. Oh, and you have to buy food. I can’t afford to feed you. And, no women. You want sex, you go somewhere else.”

“
Do you think all I do is eat and have sex?”

She laughed. “Brandon Johnson, I was your best friend in high school. I know that’s all you think about.” She took another sip of her tea. “Oh, and you are in charge of cleaning up your bathroom. I am
not
going to do it. Men are disgusting.”

“
So, that’s the tour of the place.”

Bran looked around, thinking he would have been able to tell anyone this was Tess’ house. Mainly because it was in order. She liked everything in its place, and that was something he understood. It wasn’t part of being in the military. It was more about being a military brat.

Both of them had been born and bred into the military. Government issue. And for a woman, she had very few knick-knacks around the house. Mostly there were pictures of her, her family, along with some with his family.

“
I need to get cleaned up and ready for tonight. I would say make yourself at home, but I know you will without the invitation.”

He smiled at her. “Sure thing. I guess I can survive.”

She rolled her eyes and left him to get ready. It was nice to be back with Tess again. They had been thick as thieves through high school and most of their time at Annapolis. It had been difficult to keep in touch these days. He’d been deployed, as she had, and they both had demanding jobs when they were stateside. Now though, it seemed they were going to have time together and that would be fun.

As he wandered around the living room, his phone rang.
Jesse
.

“
Hey, bro, checking up on me?”

Jesse chuckled. “Well, you did say you would call when you got there.”

He had, then he’d seen Tess and forgotten all about calling his family.

“
I had to secure quarters.”

There was a beat of silence. “Don’t tell me you’re mooching off Tess.”

“
I am, although she seems too busy to care.” And it still pissed him off. It irritated him more that he didn’t have a right to be angry about the date. He wouldn’t have expected a male friend to break a date to spend time with him, but for some reason, he felt betrayed that she wouldn’t dump a guy for him. It wasn’t like she was going to marry the guy.

“
What’s that supposed to mean?”

“
She has a date tonight she refused to break.”

Another beat of silence. “You expected her to drop a date because you showed up? Did you give her any advanced notice?”

“
No.”

And Bran knew he was being an ass about it, but he was kind of disappointed that Tess was busy. They hadn’t spent any time together since…well since they both graduated from Annapolis.

“
I can see where she would have her hands full there.”

His tone rubbed on a nerve Bran didn’t know he had. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“
Come on, Bran. There aren’t that many women on base like her, you know that. She’s hot.”

The nerve was now beyond irritated. “And just when did you see her last?”

Now that he thought about it, the girl with the huge green eyes had grown into her long legs. Those sharp angles had turned into subtle curves and with her hair somewhat tamed, she sort of…well, any other guy would say she stole his breath away.

“
I was down there…well, about six months ago. I knew she was stationed there so I called her up and we had lunch.”

Bran pulled the phone away from his ear to look at it, then set it against his ear again.

“
You had a date with Tess?”

“
Good God, no. I can’t because, well, she’s like a little sister.”

Bran snorted. “A little sister you find hot?”

“
Couldn’t help noticing.”

“
At least she made time for you.”

“
I called her ahead of time because I didn’t presume. I know she’s a single woman on a military base. The fact that she’s sweet and good looking, well that adds to the package.”

“
Sweet?” he asked as he heard a sound behind him. He turned and every drop of moisture in his mouth dried up. Lord. Tess wore a pair of jeans, the type that hugged a woman’s hips, and a t-shirt that just barely touched the waistband. When she moved, he could see her belly button and good God, a belly ring. Her hair was a sexy mess of curls as if she had just gotten out of bed.

“
Bran? Are you there?”

Bran shook his head trying to get his brain to work again. “Uh, yeah. Just tired from the drive down.”

“
Okay. Well, I’ll tell the old man you’re there and MJ, before she calls again.”

“
She didn’t call me.”

“
She texted you. So you better text her back or the soon-to-be momma to be is going to be upset with you.”

He nodded and hung up without saying goodbye.

Tess smiled at him, making his pulse dance. “Let me guess, that was Jesse.”

She knew his family well. “Yeah. I forgot to call.”

She shook her head. “You know, I’m amazed they let you fly a Raptor. I would think you might forget where you parked it.”

He knew she was trying to lighten the mood. That was what he would have done in the situation, but his brain wouldn’t work. In fact, he was feeling a little lightheaded but it might have to do with the lack of sleep. It definitely had nothing to do with that belly ring, or his need to see what other interesting things he could uncover on her body.

“
You’re wearing makeup.” It came out as an accusation, but he couldn’t help it. He wasn’t used to seeing Tess Keller all made up. She wasn’t wearing much, but even as he said it, she slathered on lip-gloss. How did he not notice her lips were so full and sexy before now?

She smirked at him. “Yes, I do that sometimes. It’s kind of something I do on dates.”

“
You wear makeup.”

“
Uh, yeah among other things.” She rolled her eyes, a sure sign of irritation.

He frowned and opened his mouth to ask her just what those other things were, but the doorbell rang.

“
There’s Jed.” She walked to him and gave him a pat his cheek. “Don’t wait up.”

“
Don’t you have duty in the morning?”

She stopped with her hand on the doorknob. “First of all, I’m an adult and a lieutenant in the Navy, so I can decide for myself. But, to ease your mind, I’m off tomorrow.”

She left him standing there in the middle of the room, mildly frustrated and trying to figure out what the hell just happened.

It’s all Harmless until someone falls in love.

Melissa Schroeder’s Harmless series is entering the ninth year of publication. Each year more and more fans become addicted to the books. This year readers found themselves intrigued by two releases that included the first ménage and the very first cowboy. Come to Hawaii and find out why so many readers call themselves Harmless Addicts! Enjoy first chapters from A Little Harmless Fantasy and the first A Little Harmless Military Romance: Infatuation.

A Little Harmless Fantasy

What starts out as simple fantasy among friends, becomes an overwhelming need that none of them can deny.

Maura Dillon
has always been someone who lived life on her own terms. From the time she in college she knew she had different needs than most of her friends. But she never thought she would find herself torn between two very sexy men, or that they would want to add her to their relationship.

Zeke
and
Rory
have known each other for years. Their casual relationship has spanned a decade, but now that they are living together things are on a whole other level. Add in their mutual attraction for Maura and things are just getting out of hand.

Rory understands their desires and suggests a week in Hawaii. No rules, no limits, no regrets. But as their nights are filled with unimaginable erotic pleasure, there is someone lurking in the shadows. Someone who wants revenge, and will stop at nothing to succeed.

»
WARNING: this book contains the following: Two sexy men who are hot for each other and the heroine, more Hawaiian scenery, a Dom who thinks he can control everything, two lovers who know he can't, and scenes that push even Harmless Addicts over the edge.

Please enjoy this first chapter excerpt…

For the fourth time in less than ten minutes, Maura Dillon found her mind wandering. She looked out over the late afternoon Miami traffic and tried to concentrate on her brother’s voice in her ear, and just spaced out. A second later, she realized that her brother had stopped talking.

“
What did you just say?” She asked, leaning back in her desk chair closing her eyes. She felt herself drifting again, as if she were floating in the Pacific, enjoying the warm sun on her skin. She could almost smell the salt of the ocean and feel the breeze shift over her. It did nothing to help the pounding in her head. She felt as if she hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in three weeks. Probably because she hadn’t.

“
You sound distracted,” Conner said.

Inwardly, she sighed. Her brother could always sniff out her mood, even five thousand miles away. It was one of his most irritating traits—and he had a lot of them.

“
I’m not distracted. I’m just a little tired.”

There was a beat of silence. With most men, it didn’t mean anything. With Conner, it was a lethal situation. She turned her chair back so she faced her desk waiting for the other shoe to drop.

“
No, this is distracted, not tired. When you’re tired, you’re bitchy.”

She ignored that comment, mostly because it was true. “I got the preliminary report on that group you want us to work with.”

“
You’re going to ignore my question then?” her brother asked.

“
Yes. When did you get all loving and want to talk feelings?”

“
I didn’t say it was about feelings. You just did. So you
are
distracted.”

She was, but how did she tell her brother she was testy because she needed sex. She didn’t. She shared a lot with her brother, much to his irritation, but this, she could not. It was hard enough dealing with the dream team of Zeke O’Brian and Rory McAllister.

“
I’m distracted by this job. It doesn’t help that I’m now a blonde.” She shoved her hand through her now chin length hair. It had been a whim a few days ago and she had loved it. But, now she wasn’t so sure.