Making the Grade (7 page)

She swallowed audibly. “Mind?”

Brian moved closer. Caging her between him and the sink. “About the club. I could get you a tour sometime if you like.” Anything to get closer to her. Man, he had it bad.

She looked at his mouth. “I-I’ll think about it.” Then she ducked under him and joined the others back in the living room.

Brian took a moment to will his body to relax before rejoining the group and found Faith bragging about how she’d beaten him at bowling.

Freddy smirked. “Brian always was a sore loser. How did he take it?”

“I am not,” he disagreed. “If I remember correctly,
you’re
the one who used to cry a river when you lost at anything. She cheats to win, you know,” he said to her partners.

Dylan smirked. “We know.”

“I do not.” Freddy frowned, but she smiled at Harper when he whispered something in her ear.

Derrick snickered. “Well, Dylan’s just as bad. He can’t stand always losing to me.”

Sydney nodded, sitting in his lap. “It’s true. Derrick’s the Warren twin that never loses.”

Brian noted Faith’s smugness directed his way. “Well, I’m ready to go double or nothing. Freddy, get the game.”

His sister groaned.

“What?” Faith asked.

“He’s a pain in the ass about Cranium. It’s a thinking game, and it’s kind of fun. But it’s only for four. We’ll have to team up.”

Faith rubbed her hands together. “Fine. I’ve played this once or twice before. Bet you, Brian, that I beat you.”

Hailey looked back and forth between them, then at her fiancé. “Stakes?”

Sitting next to her, Gage kissed her on the cheek. “We’ll call ’em at home.” He wiggled his brows, and the others laughed.

Brian shrugged, feigning indifference. “I’m game.”

Faith frowned, then nodded. “Fine. Me too. Winner calls the bet.
After
the game.”

He smiled. Time to get his groove on.
 

Faith didn’t understand how, but he’d beaten her. Badly. She was a smart woman, could draw, sculpt and usually spell pretty well. But she’d been so distracted by the thought of Brian invested in a sex club—because she kept envisioning him
participating
—that she’d lost her marbles. And the game.

The sly grins he kept giving her afterward made it difficult not to squirm on the couch. She was aroused, and the jerk knew it. His gaze had settled on her breasts one too many times to be accidental. After saying goodbye to her friends and thanking her hosts with hugs and kisses, she left with Brian, realizing she’d have to sit with his smug self all the way home.

She crossed her arms in the passenger seat as he entered and started the Audi.

They sat in silence for a moment.

“I can feel you gloating,” she said.

His low chuckle did nothing but heat her blood.

“I’m the master of Cranium. Because I’m so smart, you see,” he explained. “Now, hmm. What should I lay claim to? What are my winnings worth, do you think?” He drove them back, not toward her apartment, but toward the Hill.

“Brian?”

“Relax. It’s only ten. I know you have to work tomorrow. I do too, but my clients are in the afternoon. I figure we can go back to my place for a drink…or something…while I try to decide what you owe me. You actually owe me double, since I did say double or nothing.”

She groaned.

He chuckled and rubbed her thigh, which made her blood thicken and pool between her legs. “Don’t worry. Whatever I decide won’t be anything you can’t live with.”

“I feel
so
much better now.”

He laughed again, and though she didn’t like to lose, she couldn’t help sharing his enjoyment. God knew if she’d won, she would be rubbing his face in it.

“I had a good time tonight,” she admitted.

“Me too. I know it might seem weird, Freddy with two guys, but she’s always been a little different.” He paused. “It wasn’t easy growing up with my dad. But luckily for Freddy, she went to live with my mom when my parents divorced.”

“And you?” She’d heard a few things about his father from Hailey, who’d heard them from Gage and Dylan. None of it good.

“I lived with my father before I saw the light and moved the hell out.”

Wanting to ease any discomfort he might have felt with the conversation, she shared, “At least you knew your father. Mine took off after knocking my mother up. A hit and run.”
Oh my God. Did I really just say that?
She’d grown way too comfortable talking to Brian, treating him the way she’d treated her friends.

Instead of looking horrified, he laughed. “A hit and run, eh? That’s one way of looking at it. I always thought of my father as a Mack truck that ran right over my mother. So I guess we have that in common.”

She grinned, pleased more than she could say that he had a sense of humor about himself. “What’s your mom like?”

His whole mien softened. “She’s sweet, kind of innocent still. She’s been staying with my aunt Selma in Paris, and she’s never been happier. I’m so glad she’s finally away from my hit and run.”

“We won’t even get into talking about my mother.” Best to end that discussion before it could begin. She loved the woman, but she couldn’t say she liked her very much. “Other than her though, I have no siblings, cousins or any other family. Just my friends.”

“Nothing wrong with that.” He didn’t give her sympathy or pity, and she liked him all the more for it. “Good friends are like gold. I’m happy to say I’ve kept in touch with a few, so moving back here after being gone ten years wasn’t too hard. I still had the cornerstones for a social life. Don’t tell Harper this, but I actually enjoy his company when he’s not leering at my sister.”

She laughed. “The Warrens are good people too.”

“True. But all that togetherness feels weird to me. It was just me and Freddy for a long time.”

“I know how that feels.” Did she. “When I was dating a while back, my steady boyfriend became my center, but I never let go of my girlfriends. I love Hailey and Sydney. Amy and Beth are pretty great too.”

“I don’t think I’ve met them.”

“No, you wouldn’t have. They mostly hang with me at work and sometimes at small gatherings when it’s just us girls.” She didn’t want to think about what her friends would make of Brian. They’d be all over him like he was covered in Swiss chocolate.

He pulled in to the driveway of a huge house, one that sat in a familiar neighborhood.

“Oh, that’s right. You live near Derrick, don’t you?”

“He’s down the street, yeah.” Brian opened his garage with a button, pulled inside, then closed the door behind them.

They sat in silence before he exited and helped her out.

“Oh, um, thanks.” Nonplussed at the gentlemanly gesture, she tried not to shiver when he put his hand on the small of her back.

“Welcome to my parlor,” he said in a deep voice and gave an evil laugh.

“Very funny.” She glanced over her shoulder and saw him wink. Instead of worrying about what he might choose for his bet, or being nervous about being alone with him, she found herself enjoying his company.

Why she’d lost her nervousness, she had no idea. Perhaps their intimate sharing in the car? Treating each other like friends and not just potential fuck buddies?

He opened the door and led her into his home.

And
bam
, her anxiety returned.

Faith saw money everywhere she looked. Nothing over-the-top showy, but quality furniture, countertops, appliances. She could only imagine how much he’d spent on his comfort. No doubt more than what she made in months.

It made her ashamed of what her apartment must have looked like if this was what he saw on a daily basis.

“Faith?” He frowned. “You okay?”

“I need a drink.”

He nodded. “Wine, beer, water. Whatever you want.” He moved around her and walked to the fridge.

To her amusement, when he opened it she saw his food was organized and way too neat. “You’re a little OCD, aren’t you?”

His faced reddened, and she found him absolutely adorable. Her unease about his wealth began to fade.

“I wouldn’t call myself obsessive—”

“Just compulsive?”

“Smartass.” He grabbed a water, twisted off the lid and drank.

When he finished, she took the bottle from his hands and drank—her mouth right over where he’d had his—then handed it back.

His eyes darkened. “Hmm. The bet. What should I pick for you? Something worthy of my grand win.”

“Please. You got lucky.”

“Lucky? I spelled ‘obsequious’ backwards.”

She shrugged, feeling warmer the more he stared at her. Why the hell had she not put up more of a fight over being near the man in private? She knew better. Her control over her sexual impulses improved with distance. But in close quarters? In the privacy of his own home, where no one would see her lapse in judgment?

Hell.
She was dying for a repeat performance of their first time.

“How about this?” He took another swallow of water, watching her all the while.

“Yes?”

“Well…”

“Quit dragging it out, Goode.”

“Snippy little thing.” He moved in on her, and she sucked in breath. Brian leaned close, his lips almost touching her collarbone.

“Brian?” she whispered, totally turned on.

“You smell good. All the time.” He leaned back and smiled at her.

The warmth in his gaze lured her forward…until he stepped away. “Come on in to the living room.”

Swearing silently, she followed him after getting a handle on her stupid hormones. “Okay, the bet?”

“You agree to join me at the club this weekend. One room. Just you and me. Any fantasy you have, and I mean anything, and it’s yours. But you have to be honest with me. No holding back.”

She blinked. “Um, what?”

“You heard me. Or are you too chicken to play?”

Oh, a dare. That set her back up. “I thought it was double or nothing?”

He grinned, a mean smile that looked totally out of place on the charmer’s face. “I get to play out my fantasies as well. With you.”

She licked her lips. “I thought we weren’t going to have sex again until we knew each other better.”

“You never knew your father, you don’t talk to your mother and you have no siblings. You love your friends, are loyal, funny and sexy as hell. You favor milk chocolate over dark, crave coconut cream, hate being used, don’t like rich assholes—which obviously excludes me—and use Dylan Warren as your therapist. Oh, and you have the sexiest body I’ve ever seen.”

She just stared at him.

“Ask me any question you want to know. I’m an open book.”

She didn’t know what to ask.

“I like you. A lot,” he admitted. His words warmed her from the inside out, because he wasn’t looking at her body, but her eyes. “You’re so funny and snarky and sweet too, when you’re not telling me to kiss your ass and rejecting my apologies.”

Her cheeks heated, and he grinned.

“I know I’m not the only one feeling things between us. Am I?” He sat down in a large leather armchair and tugged her down into his lap, forcing her to straddle him.

She felt his erection beneath her, sensed the heavy rise and fall of his chest so close to hers. He tucked her legs on either side of him and pulled her tighter against him, putting her crotch in direct contact with the hard, hot part of him.

“Fuck,” he muttered. “I can’t help it, Faith. Around you, I’m perpetually hard. But I don’t just want you for your body. Despite what you might think, I didn’t bring you back here to take advantage of you. I’m not taking off my clothes tonight. Period. I want you to trust me.”

“Oh.” She didn’t know what to say, because she couldn’t think much past the need to have him inside her again.

“What about me? What do you know about me?” he asked and nuzzled her neck.

She sighed as she felt his lips over her throat. “You’re amazingly skilled with that mouth.”

He chuckled and ran soft kisses along her neck to her ear. “What else?” He nipped her earlobe, and she instinctively ground over his lap. He groaned. “Faith?”

“You love your sister and mother but don’t like your dad. You have friends and must be a somewhat okay guy because Sydney thinks you walk on water.”

“Good old Sydney.” He rubbed her lower back, his hands precariously close to her ass.

“You’re not a bad speller, you’re fun at parties, and you’re a stand-up guy,” she said truthfully, acknowledging to herself she respected him. “You’re wealthy but don’t act all stuck up. Oh, and you’re not that great at bowling.”

He squeezed her ass. “Not nice.”

She gasped and moaned when he arched up into her. “And you have a really big cock.”

“Damn, Faith. I’m trying to be good, here.”

She chuckled when he let her go and leaned back against the couch. “Good? So that hard-on riding against me is what? A peace offering?”