In Bed with Mr. Wrong (4 page)

“But…you’re perfect for each other.” Avery handed Drew back his beer and frowned.
“You’re like…disgustingly perfect for each other. She needs someone who’s going to
be strong and steady and stand by her while expanding her horizons. You need someone
who’s going to create a home you actually want to come back to.” She waved her hands
like a magician. “See? Perfect.”

“You’re crazy.” He turned and stalked down the hallway, leaving them to their game.

The worst part was they
had
clicked once their clothes came off. He’d never felt like that when he’d been with
women in the past, the primitive satisfaction of knowing he was the only one who made
her body spark to life. That look in her eyes as she came was branded in his mind,
completely at odds with how she’d been at dinner. It didn’t make any sense, because
he was pretty sure he didn’t even
like
Bri.

One thing was certain—she thought this was over and done with between them. Well,
he damn well didn’t. He wanted to know which was the real Bri—the snarling harpy from
their date or the sweet, sexy thing from the porch—and the only way to do that was
to see her again. They were going to talk this out, even if he had to lock her in
a room to do it.

Chapter Four

By the time Avery’s birthday party rolled around two days later, Bri was desperate
for anything to distract her from memories of her night with Ryan. She’d gone through
two sets of batteries, thanks to her buzzy friend Avery got her for Christmas, and
her libido was showing no signs of slowing down. Years of reading racy romance novels
had given her more than her fair share of erotic inspiration, though the man she imagined
now shared Ryan’s face and body.

The birthday party was exactly what she needed. It would be impossible to think about
sex surrounded by her friends and Avery’s super-traditional family. If her best friend’s
grandfather couldn’t put a damper on any situation, Bri didn’t know who could. Damage
control alone would keep her busy for a few hours.

Or so she thought until she pulled up to Chilly’s Bar and Grill and her headlights
caught Ryan’s beat-up old Suburban. She mentally kicked herself. Of course he would
be here. He and Drew had grown up with Avery. And it’s not like he had the decency
to spare her the humiliation of facing what they’d done.

She could do this. There would be plenty of other people around. There was no reason
she even had to exchange words with him.

Satisfied she had the situation well under control, she grabbed the massive collection
of balloons filling her tiny car and climbed out. Snow crunched under her boots, and
she slipped. She grabbed the top of her car with her free hand, but there was no stopping
her downward momentum. She slid right down the side and landed on the ground, clutching
the balloons in a death grip. “Crap.”

Maybe no one had seen?

“You’re doing that thing again—the one where you personify the librarian cliché.”

She closed her eyes, wishing she could just melt into the surrounding snow. It would
be her terrible luck that the one person she wanted to avoid was the one who saw her
make a spectacle of herself. Embarrassment heated her as she struggled to her feet,
smacking the bobbing balloons out of her face. And there Ryan was, leaning against
the wall of Chilly’s with his arms crossed over his chest, looking particularly attractive
with his dark jeans, boots, and thick green coat.

She shook off her skirt and glared. “I don’t think
you
should be throwing stones. An Army coat? Really?”

“Air Force.”

She knew that. Drew never stopped bragging about how his little brother had made it
through one of the toughest boot camps any of the military branches had to offer,
or how he was a genuine hero—the man who saved other heroes.

That didn’t mean she was going to stand here and let him look down on her for preferring
to spend her time surrounded by books rather than out in the world going on adventures.
“Same difference.”

“Still sticking with that same song and dance, I see.”

“Why would I suddenly change my tune?”

“I could think of a few reasons.”

She tried to fight down a blush as a vivid memory of
exactly
why swept through her mind. But she refused to be that woman, the one who had sex
with a man and then suddenly fell all over herself to become whatever it was he wanted.
“That’s so strange. I can’t think of a single thing. Have you burned anything down
recently?”

His mouth tightened, but she was saved from whatever he was about to say by Avery
appearing in the doorway. “What are you doing standing out in the cold? Get your ass
in here.” She glanced over and did a double take when she saw Ryan. “Uh, unless you
want to stay outside. In that case, carry on.”

She thanked God for the opportunity to escape without looking like she was escaping.
“I was just on my way in.” She gathered the balloons more firmly in her hand and followed
Avery inside, leaving Ryan to brood in peace alone.

“Sorry I interrupted.”

“Don’t be. There was nothing to interrupt.” It tasted like a lie, but she wasn’t going
to let the encounter with him set the tone for the rest of the party. She smiled at
Avery. “Happy birthday, by the way.”

“I suppose.”

She stopped walking and
looked
at her friend. There were dark circles under her brown eyes and her skin was unnaturally
pale. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Except my
yé-ye
just made his usual pointed comments about how I’m the last person in the family
who can carry on the honor of procreating and keeping our heritage going, if only
I’d stop being so stubborn and settle down with a nice Chinese man.” It all came out
in a single breath, and she actually sagged against the wall as if it’d taken all
her strength to say it. “And I’m twenty-six. That’s a whole year closer to twenty-eight.
I feel like I’m running out of time.”

She should have seen this coming. It was bad enough that Avery’s mother had been diagnosed
with uterine cancer at twenty-eight, but her older sister, Alexis, had, too. Every
birthday was like a ticking time bomb for Avery, counting down the days until she
had to get a hysterectomy. Bri let the balloons go and hugged her friend. “It’s going
to be okay. Your grandpa can jump off a cliff, because your worth isn’t tied up in
making pure-blooded Chinese babies for him. Even
saying
that sounds so wrong.”

She laughed. “Yeah, I know. And to be honest, I’m less worried about making him happy
than, you know, actually making the babies. I want some.”

It was a totally understandable desire—one Bri shared. “We’ll figure it out.”

Drew appeared in the doorway leading into the rest of the bar. “What are you two doing
hiding in the hallway? Is this one of those girl bonding moments?” He glanced between
them and brightened. “Or are you going to make out? Because I can get on board with
that.”

“You’re a pig.” Avery let go of Bri and straightened her spine. Typical of her to
show only a moment of weakness before charging on with life.

“Oink.” He met Bri’s gaze as Avery walked past, and she recognized the concern there
he’d never let their friend see. Drew was great at distracting people with his dirty
jokes and wry humor, but his carefree attitude masked a lot of things.

After the revelation with Ryan and his family’s past last night, she couldn’t help
but wonder what else she didn’t know about Drew.

“What’s Avery’s problem?”

As if the thought of Ryan had conjured the man himself, his voice washed over her
body, all warm, and deep, and decadent. Bri spun around, hating that he’d managed
to sneak through the door and surprise her. Did he have to look so… God, there weren’t
words for what he looked like.

He crossed the distance between them, worry written over his face. “Is she okay?”

Right. He wasn’t as affected by her presence as she was by his. Better to remember
that if she was going to keep her panties where they belonged—something made more
difficult by the way he seemed to care about Avery as much as his brother did, at
least in his own way. She squared her shoulders and grabbed the balloons within easy
reach. “She’ll be fine. She’s just going through a rough patch.”

Before he could ask her anything else to weaken her resolve, she hurried through the
door and followed Drew and Avery into the bar.

…

She was afraid to be alone with him. He couldn’t decide if that counted as a victory
or a defeat, so Ryan snatched up the rest of the balloons and walked into Chilly’s
main room. He’d waited outside because he knew it was only a matter of time before
his favorite little librarian showed up, though they’d been interrupted before things
could get interesting. That was fine. He had all evening to push Bri’s buttons. He
could be patient.

He searched for a chair, pleased to find the only open one sandwiched between Drew
and Bri. She looked horrified when he settled into the seat beside her, purposely
brushing against her side as he made himself comfortable. Good.

Avery’s dad waved from his place at the head of the table. “Hey, Ryan. Destroy anything
since you’ve been back in town?”

Ryan sighed, and as everyone at the table laughed and laughed, he officially regretted
coming home. His frustration peaked when he glanced at Bri. Her eyebrows were raised
and a smirk twisted up one side of her lips. Of course she would sit there looking
so damn superior—the entire room wasn’t laughing at
her
.

He reached under the table and squeezed her thigh. “Actually, yeah. I’ve been burning
up some panties lately.”

Avery’s dad looked stunned, and her grandparents glared, but everyone else laughed.
Everyone except Bri, who blushed a deep red and smacked his hand away. Good. She should
know what it meant to be a resident of Wellingford. It wasn’t always a positive experience.
He nodded at Avery’s sister, who sat across the table. “Hey, Alexis.”

“Hey.” She didn’t look much happier than Avery.

“How are things? When’s the wedding?”

If Bri’s elbow in his stomach wasn’t enough of a hint, the way Alexis looked sick
told him he’d fucked up. She gave him a smile that was so fake his teeth hurt. “Eric
and I didn’t work out.”

Ryan Flannery strikes again.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

“It’s okay.” She shot a look at her grandparents, and sighed. “Mostly okay. Excuse
me, please.” Then she was gone, making her way in the direction of the bathroom.

He sat back, feeling like the world’s biggest ass. “I didn’t know,” he said again.

“It’s a recent thing. Don’t worry about it,” Drew said, then turned to field a question
from Avery’s grandmother.

“You would have known if you weren’t so busy running away from this place.” Bri spoke
so softly he almost didn’t catch her words.

“For the last time, I’m not running from anything.” He smoothed her hair off her shoulder.
“I sure as hell didn’t run from you the other night.”

Bri huffed out a breath and reached for her water. She fumbled it, knocking the glass
over—and into his lap. Ryan cursed and she stammered out something that might have
been an apology, followed by, “I can’t believe this is happening.” She grabbed a handful
of napkins from the dispenser in the middle of the table and started dabbing at his
crotch.

He groaned, instantly going harder than a steel pike as she patted him. She was so
busy trying to clean up her mess, she didn’t seem to realize what part of him she
was spending so much time stroking until he cleared his throat.

Bri froze. “Oh crap.”

He pulled the wet napkins from her suddenly limp hands. “This was fun, but I can take
it from here.”

Her goddamn perfume teased him much the same way her pink lips did, tantalizing and
yet subtle. She finally looked at his face and frowned. “You’re doing it again.”

“Doing what?” He knew exactly what she meant, but he wanted to see if she’d actually
call him out on it. “I didn’t knock over your water—you did.”

“You’re staring at me like you’re thinking—” She blushed and frowned harder. “Knock
it off.”

“You’re projecting. I wonder why?” He abandoned the napkins and traced a finger up
her thigh, chuckling when she shivered. “Could it be that you recently had your mind
blown?”

She elbowed his side again. “Shut up. We’re in public.”

“That didn’t bother you the last time we were together.” Nor did his touch, since
she hadn’t shoved away his hand yet. Interesting.

“Oh my God, will you stop talking?”

“It’s not my fault someone has their panties in a twist.” He trailed his hand higher
than was proper and squeezed her thigh. A flush stole over her chest, creating a fascinating
contrast to her white V-neck T-shirt.

She leaned in, kissably close. “Don’t think for a second that you had more than a
passing effect on my panties.”

The heat and unmistakable challenge in her eyes was all too similar to the other night
on the porch, right before she’d called his bluff and kissed him. It wouldn’t take
much to shove her over the edge again. He opened his mouth, though he couldn’t say
for sure if he was going to push her away or closer…

Drew cleared his throat. He leaned on the table, his gaze jumping from Ryan to Bri
and back again. “Is there something I should know?”

“I…” She went red and then pale. “Excuse me. I need some fresh air.” And then she
was gone, moving so quickly she was almost running.

“What the hell was that about?” Drew said, though his face said enough—he knew. Goddamn
it. His brother shook his head. “You sure know how to clear a room—and you didn’t
even use any stink bombs this time.”

“Shut the fuck up.” Ryan pushed out of his chair and headed for the door, cursing
when his wet pants clung to his hips. Even as he pushed out into the cold night air,
he told himself he wasn’t chasing Bri down. But when he saw her leaning against almost
the same stretch of wall he had earlier, he walked over. “Listen—”

“No,
you
listen.” She stepped up and smacked her hands against his chest—and then left them
there. “I don’t care what happened the other night. It’s not going to happen again.”

“Who said I wanted it to happen again?” He did, though. He wanted to kiss his way
across the flushed skin of her chest and pull down her shirt to taste her nipples.
Just one more time.

“Why, you!” She shoved at his chest, but he didn’t move. “You’re insufferable—an arrogant
ass of a man and—”

“You want me.” He stepped into her and put his hands on her hips, mimicking the way
they’d stood the other night before things got so out of control. Bri froze, her body
tensed as if she couldn’t decide whether to kiss him or run back into the bar. He
didn’t give her time to decide. He pulled her closer, until she could feel just how
much she affected him. “You want me so bad, you can’t see straight. You’ve touched
yourself thinking about me. And all you can think about is how badly you want to do
it again.”