My Best Friend's Ex (3 page)

An eternity passed before Brooke smiled.

She stepped back and worked her way out of his arms.

Reluctantly, he released his grip and watched as she
surveyed the surrounding walls.  Deciding her silence meant she intended to
take the second option, he moved to where he’d left the paint roller. “It
shouldn’t take me long to clean this up. Let me use the last of the paint in
this roller, and then I’ll take care of this mess.”

“Can I use your shirt?” She worked her jacket off her
shoulders and slipped it off her arms.

Confused by her question, he glanced at her dark blue
jeans and off-white, cotton sweater. She wasn’t exactly dressed to paint. 
Making the connection, he fingered the buttons of his shirt, releasing them
quickly from their mooring. “Sure, but you should probably take off your jeans
too. You don’t want to get paint on them.”

“Is this an exchange? My pants for your shirt?” She
grinned and continued, “Because if it is, I’m getting the better part of the
bargain.”

“Then we have a deal?” He slipped his shirt off and
handed it to her before she had time to change her mind. If she enjoyed the
view of him running around without his shirt, he saw no reason to complain.
Especially if it’d help get her out of her clothes.

“Gosh, you must spend hours in the gym. You are
ripped.” She slipped her arms into the sleeve of his shirt and stared at his
chest.

“Probably no more than you do. From what I remember
you were fast becoming a gym rat, too.” He turned his back to her and bent to
retrieve the roller. He had to get back to work or he might change his mind and
opt to head straight upstairs with her. That kiss a few minutes earlier had
fried a few mental synapses and ignited a hunger in his groin.

Damn
, but he
wanted her. Now, more than he had at the store.  While there, he’d been able to
resist temptation because they were in a public place. Here didn’t present the
same problem. Reminding himself not to rush her, he turned his focus to the
half-painted wall.

Stepping forward, he rolled the brush over the one
spot he had left to do and tried to ignore the alluring sound of clothes rustling
in the background. “Once, I finish this wall. We’ll put everything away.
Tomorrow, after the walls have had a chance to dry, I’ll move the furniture
back into place.”

“Then I don’t need to do any painting?”

Turning, he opened his mouth to respond, but no words
escape. Instead, he stood there gawking at her like a fish out of water. Not a
man alive could blame him. She stood in front of him, the perfect example of
how he pictured her in his fantasies. The shirt, she initially put on over her
sweater, now showed signs of only covering her bare skin. Her jeans and shoes
were gone. Her sexy legs, spilling out from under his shirt, ran for miles
until they ended at the tip of her cherry-red covered toenails.

He gulped in air and stared. “Brooke, I...”

“Want me to pour the paint back into the bucket?” She
glanced around as if oblivious to his daze state. “Or maybe, I should fold up
the drop clothes where you’ve already painted.”

Held in place by the blinding heat sizzling through
his body, he choked out, “It’s whatever you want to do.”

She grinned and glanced at the wall behind him. “Since
you’re almost done, why don’t I wait until you’re finished? That way, I won’t
do something, you don’t want me to do.”
          He forced his gaze away from her sexy body and guided the roller over
the wall, trying his best to concentrate. With each painstaking stroke, he
envisioned having her back in his arms, her body glued seductively to his.

 The task, which he normally did with ease, taxed his
muscles and stretched his patience to the breaking point. Why had he started
this project today? He’d known she’d be coming over. Strangely, he’d thought he
needed the distraction. Now, he wished he’d set a timer and stopped hours ago.

“Wow, I can’t believe you did this whole room by
yourself.” Her words reminded him, she stood only a few feet away.

He turned, caught sight of her sexy form and dropped the
roller back in the paint tray. “I’m done. The cleanup can wait until later.
Right now, all I want is a shower.”

A very cold one if she’s changed her mind about
joining me.

“Not a problem, I’ll put everything away while you’re
upstairs.” She bent and grabbed the edge of a drop cloth positioned along an
adjacent wall. The tail of his shirt drifted up over her thighs. The sight of the
silky length of her legs had him moving without any conscious thought to do so.

He took three involuntary stepped toward her before he
pulled himself to a halt. “No.”  

She straightened. “Why not? You’re tired. The least I
can do is clean up.”

“No. I don’t want to go upstairs and worry about you
down here working on this mess. If you’d like to help, you can come upstairs
and wash my back.” Shocked by his demands, he longed to retrieve his misspoken
words. “I...”

“Wait, doesn’t a helper have to do something before
they’re allowed to head for the showers?”  She tugged on the hem of his shirt.
The nervous movement and the uncertainty on her face calmed him.

Suddenly, he realized she was struggling with the
attraction between them the same way he was. Pleased by the thought, he set a
hand on her waist and drew her closer. “There are no rules. I’d be more than
happy to have you join me.”

He breathed in her alluring scent, and his mouth
watered. “In truth, I’m not sure I’ll survive if you don’t come upstairs with
me.”

She rubbed a tentative hand across his chest. “Good,
because though I think we’d be wise to wait, I’m struggling to keep my hands
off you too.”

Released from his misery by her admission, he dove for
her lips. He needed another taste of her as much as he needed his next breath.  Like
a blossoming flower, her mouth opened under his and allowed him to feed on her
sweet nectar. He couldn’t seem to get enough and plunged his tongue inside
again and again. His hand roamed down her back and slipped under her shirt,
found the small divot at the base of her spine.  The plush curve of her rear
enticed him, and he slipped his fingertips under the waistband of her panties.

Wiggling in his arms, she twisted her mouth away from
his. “Garrett, please we have to stop or we’ll never make it upstairs.”

Aroused and impatience, he backed off enough to sweep
her up into his arms and turned for the stairs. “Then we best be on our way.”

She giggled and held on by putting her arms around his
neck. “Are you sure we shouldn’t clean up your living room first?”

His blood raged through his body. His thoughts centered
on getting another taste of her. His feet sped over the steps and down the hall
in record time. Once he stepped over the threshold of his bedroom, he paused
and set her down. His hands dropped to the top button of the shirt that she
wore. “Please tell me this is what you want because if I manage to get you out
of this shirt, I won’t be able to stop.”

The unrepentantly, male scent of him clung to her
skin, drowning her in a fragrant aroma of sensual heat and set her body on
fire. His face, which lay in the shadows, gave him the unfamiliar look of a
stranger. Yet, something inside her recognized him and demanded so much more. He
was the man of her dreams, the only one she made love to in her fantasies.

“Garrett.” She rubbed her lips along his jawline and
decided to have him without regrets. “Please make love to me.”

His fingers curled around the lapel of the shirt she
wore, and he yanked the fabric apart. Buttons pinged off the wood floor seconds
before she was thrown off-balance and fell onto his bed. Clinging to his biceps,
she tumbled with him across the mattress.

The free-fall into sensual bliss had her gasping for
air. At his mercy, he raked his hands over her body, tugging, pulling,
stripping away every scrap of clothing until she lay breathless and naked
beneath him. Sensation ruled, and reason vanished. Floundering, she wrapped her
hands over his shoulders. “Wait.”

“I can’t,” he groaned. His mouth covered her breast.
The intense, wet heat scorched her. His teeth, lips, and tongue teased the
tender flesh and drove her slowly out of her mind.

Just when she believed she couldn’t take a moment
more, he switched to her other breast. He ruthlessly explored her weakness
until her body became his to control, the low moan rumbling in her throat an
admission of surrender.

Her skin burned as his fingertips slid over her
curves, mapping the lines of her body and exposing secret spot she hadn’t even known
existed. He built a fire inside her, one that threatened to consume. She cried
for mercy, for relief, for oh, so much more.

After what seemed like an eternity, he lifted his
head. The blackened intensity of his gaze was a dead giveaway to his desire. Without
a word, he crushed his mouth over hers.

She went wild, bucking and wriggling beneath him. Her
hands slid down his back and met the rough fabric of his jeans. Needing him
free of the barrier, she tugged at the waistband and ripped her mouth from his.
“Garrett, please.”

How he knew what she wanted, she couldn’t say, but he
rolled off the side of the bed and stepped out of his pants. Even in the dark,
his body was impressive. She automatically reached for him.

“No. I’m not done with you, yet.” He leaned forward
and scraped his teeth across her inner thigh. The tantalizing caress had the
strong muscle quivering with desire. His mouth continued along an erotic trail
and sampled each inch of her exposed flesh.

Her heart pounding in her chest, she curled her
fingers into the bedspread. Shudders ripped through her, demanding relief.
Light-headed, she arched her hips and opened herself to him.

He feasted, driving her closer and closer to the edge.
Passion coursed through her turning her body into molten lava. Her orgasm
erupted, sending a flood of pleasure through her system. She sobbed out his
name.

The mattress swayed. He lifted his head and skimmed
his hands along her ribs, rising over her. Each touched thrilled. Each caress renewed
the hunger inside. Greedy for what he was offering her, she gave him whatever
he wanted, shifting and rocking to the heart-pounding pace he set.

Without hesitation, she gloried in tasting, touching,
demanding more and giving it. The fire between them locked her to him and him
to her. They became one, pulsing together to an ultimate high. The view from
the top of such bliss stunned her. She screamed, her mind and body shuttering
with the joint explosion of pleasure.

Drifting slowly back to reality, Brooke tried her best
to calm her breathing and think. Seeing him without his shirt on had pressed
all her buttons, she’d known within seconds of stepping into his house she’d
sleep with him.

Now, what?

Could she claim she’d lost her head or admit she’d
wanted him since high school? Neither appeared to be the right thing to say, so
she held her tongue, hoping against hope he’d say something.

“You’re thinking too hard about this.”

His sexy voice evoked a tingle of awareness, which
flutter down her spine. She closed her eyes to memorize the pleasure of simply
lying in his arms. “All right, then tell me what we do next?”

He rose onto his elbows and stared into her face. A
wicked grin played over his lips. “Well, I promised you dinner.”

“Yes, you did.” She rested her hands on his chest and
enjoyed the tickle of curly hair against her palms. “Which means, we should get
dress.”

“No. Let’s keep it simple and choose only one article
of clothing.” He rolled off the bed and bent to retrieve his pants.

“And why would I agree to such a thing?” She stared at
his sculptured shoulders and fought with the sin it’d be to cover such
perfection.

“Because you like ogling my chest,” he teased and
stepped to the dresser, which was positioned against the wall leading into the
master bathroom. “Also because I’m feeling generous, I’ll let you borrow one of
my T-shirts.”

Glancing around, Brooke noted that other than the dresser
and bed, the room had only one other object worth mentioning, a large flat
screen television. It hung on the far wall and had a stand with assorted
equipment positioned under it. She recalled leaving most of her clothes on a
chair in Garrett’s dining room. His shirt, her bra, and panties were all she’d
had on when they came upstairs.  Pleased by his offer of clothing, she sat up
to have a lump of soft fabric hit her in the chest. “Hey.”

“Sorry, I guess my aim was a little off.” He leaned
back against the dresser and stared. His dark brown gaze zeroed in on her
breasts and slid progressively southward along the length of her body. The heat
radiating from his eyes had a heated blush rising in her cheeks.

Tugging the T-shirt over her head, she hoped to hide the
passionate effect he had on her. Once she had her arms in the sleeve, she
shifted to the edge of the bed and stood. “So what do you want me to do why
you’re firing up the grill?”

He laughed and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
“Nothing, just stand around and let me admire the view.”