Hooked for Life (6 page)

He watched her face intently and her eyes opened. Smiling at him, she reached down to grip the counter with her hands, spread her legs a little wider and he sank the last bit in. She left no doubt what she wanted and he was going to give it to her.

Drawing out, he plunged back in deep, then again.

“Oh Darren!” she moaned and it sent him off the edge of reason. He thrust harder and faster against her, picking up the pace recklessly.

Her free breasts bounced up and down and his lunges got wilder, quicker, hurling them both higher and higher.

He was barely holding on when he felt her clamp down on his cock and then release in a rush of ripples. She screamed and it was music to his ears and he released his load deep within her.

After Darren had carried her to bed she had slept for a couple hours out of sheer exhaustion. The dawn was just peeking through the curtains when she carefully untangled herself from Darren’s body and found her clothes.

She dialed the only cab company in town from memory. That hadn’t changed, at least. She waited nervously for her ride at the window.

But then she had her doubts. Maybe she shouldn’t leave like this. But he had never said he wanted more and she couldn’t bear to hear him say last night was all he wanted.

Glancing around the living room, she noticed a shelf with her books lined up neatly on it. She was still shocked he read them.

She took one of them down, the first that had been published, a story of time that had separated childhood sweethearts. She had titled it
Hooked for Life
. Looking back on it now, she wondered if he had always been there in the back of her mind.

Suddenly sure about what she should do, she found a pen and signed her name on the back of the front cover. Then she turned to the back of the book and on the inside there she wrote what was in her heart.

A car pulled up out front and, assuming it was the cab, she left the book on the table and grabbed her purse. Letting herself out the front door quietly, she turned and was surprised to see a low-slung, flashy red car in the drive and Mike Spiker walking up the path to the house.

He had been Darren’s best friend all through school but Brady had never liked him. His blonde-haired, blue-eyed, movie-star good looks made him a favorite with the girls but Brady had avoided him like the plague. She hated his big mouth.

He looked up and paused when he saw her on the porch and she wanted nothing more than to go back inside. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and he grinned at her.

“Well, if it isn’t little carrot top Brady McBride.”

“Mike,” she said as way of acknowledgement and she desperately looked down the drive for the cab.

“You sure did grow up good. What are you doing here?” He raked his eyes up and down her, making her skin crawl. Obviously he hadn’t changed much and his question irritated her. She looked toward the road, praying the cab would show up.

“That’s none of your business, Mike.”

Darren woke up with a start, the spot next to him on the bed cold and empty. He sat up suddenly and glanced at the clock, surprised it was after eight. Pulling on some jeans, he went in search of Brady.

When he got downstairs, he heard voices on the porch. Jerking the front door open, he took in the situation. Mike, a friend he had forgotten he told could stop in this weekend, was looking Brady up and down, a shitty grin on his face that Darren remembered so well. Brady turned his way in alarm, her body held tense, and the awkwardness of the moment hit Darren like a ton of bricks.

Mike came up the stairs. “Darren, man, how are you?” He stuck his hand out and Darren took it, happy to see him despite the situation. Mike pulled him in for a quick hug and some back slapping.

“Mike! I forgot you were going to come over. What’s up?” Darren asked, smiling at his old friend.

“I wanted to discuss a business proposition with you. Do you have time now?” Mike asked as he looked pointedly at Brady.

“Yeah, I have time, come on in.” Darren moved out of the way to let Mike pass and moved to follow him. He had his back turned and was in the doorway before he realized what he had done.

Then he wanted to kick himself. He had left Brady on the porch without a word of explanation. He turned back around and the hurt on her face about killed him.

“Brady?” He reached for her but she took a step back, shaking her head no.

A cab stopped in front of the house and she went down the stairs.

“Brady?” He took a step toward her.

She turned to him, her eyes wet. “Take care of yourself, Darren.”

He watched as she walked to the car, got in and it drove away. In the seconds after the cab disappeared around the corner he knew he had fumbled badly and it was going to be hell fixing it, if he even could.

Turning to go back in the house, he noticed Mike behind him and knew he had seen it all.

“So, Brady, huh?” Mike said as Darren closed the front door behind him.

“Umm, yeah. How’s it going, Mike?”

If he thought it was strange to see Brady leaving in what were obviously the clothes from the night before and the broken dishes that were still on the kitchen floor he didn’t say anything, even if his eyebrows rose in surprise.

Darren ignored the unasked question and Mike took the hint he didn’t want to talk about it then took a seat at the island. Darren put coffee on, a major headache coming on.

“I just wondered what was up with you, it’s been what? Six years?” Mike asked.

“Has it been that long?”

Darren was finding it hard to focus on what Mike was saying as he rambled on about his great life in the city. His mind was too full of Brady and he swore he could still smell her.

He wasn’t playing football anymore either, even though he had played in college, but an injury had kept him from pro. He had always known playing professionally wasn’t for Darren. They had lost touch, growing apart the way friends do after school was no longer there to tie them together, and Darren wondered when Mike would get to the real reason he was here.

But he didn’t have to wait long. Mike didn’t waste much time before he got right to the point.

“I have an investment offer for you. I’m moving back home to open a sporting goods store and wondered if you wanted a slice. It’s still in the pre-stages but I wanted to get the offer out to you before you heard it from someone else.”

“I appreciate that, Mike, can you get some numbers around for me? I might be interested.”

They talked about the details for a few more minutes before Darren watched Mike drive away in a cloud of dust.

Running a hand over his face, he stood to clean up the broken dishes off the kitchen floor. Then he saw it. Her first book, his favorite, was on the coffee table, next to the vase that held the remaining few roses. He opened it, hoping against hope that she had left him something he could use to bring her back. But all that was there was her signature scrawled inside the front cover.

Pissed beyond belief, he chucked the book across the room where it hit the wall with a smack and fell in a sad pile on the floor.

He didn’t know who he was madder at, her for leaving or himself for thinking he could sway her. She didn’t need him and he should have expected that she would go back to her life without a second thought.

He had been stupid to think getting her into bed would give him an advantage. He should have just told her how he felt. He might plead but he damn sure wasn’t going to beg. Either she wanted him or she didn’t.

Dropping the broken dishes in the garbage, he went up for a shower.

By the time he got out, he had three voicemails from Lissa, demanding to know how the date went. He called her back but didn’t want to talk about it and delayed her until they could meet for lunch.

He got to the pizza place before Lissa. No surprise there, she was never on time. He ordered his usual and was already eating when she decided to finally show her face.

She sat across from him and began without preamble, “Well?”

“It went fine, Lissa. We had a good time.”

She stared at him blankly for a moment and then her eyes narrowed.

“Then what’s wrong?” she asked.

“Nothing. I’m fine.”

“Don’t lie to me, Darren. We have known each other too long. Tell me, maybe I can help.”

Darren heaved a sigh. “Mike Spiker showed up at the house before Brady left.”

“Mike Spiker? Darren, you sure do have shitty luck. I’m sure Brady wasn’t happy to see him. She never liked him.”

“Yeah, I know.”

Lissa sat for a moment and then she asked, “How did she take it?”

“She left and it’s over, Lissa.” Even just saying it made his chest tight.

Lissa sat back in her seat with a huff. “So that’s it? You’re just going to give up?”

“I tried, Lissa, she still left. I’m not going to waste my time chasing someone who doesn’t want to be caught.”

“You told her how you feel about her then?”

“Not exactly.” It didn’t surprise him in the least that Lissa had figured out the whole thing and she was right—she did know him well.

“Then she told you she didn’t want to be caught?”

“No. Listen, I don’t want to talk about it.”

“I’m sure you don’t.” But then she went on without missing a beat. She was like a damn annoying little dog that had a hold of his pant leg and he couldn’t shake her off.

“Darren, listen to me. You can’t leave it like this.”

“Why not? It’s obviously what Brady wants. How else would you explain her slinking off this morning? If I hadn’t woken up when I did she would have left without a word.”

“Whoa, wait a minute. This morning?”

Darren realized too late his slip-up.

“Did you have sex with Brady, Darren?”

“I really don’t think that’s any of your business, Lissa.”

“It is when you’re banging my sister!” Several heads turned their way and he tried to quiet her.

“Lissa, just leave it alone,” he pleaded.

“Fine. But I’ll say this. I never expected you to quit at halftime, Darren. No wonder Brady tried to leave without waking you, she probably wanted to avoid the awkwardness of you standing around with your hands in your pockets. Typical male, when it comes right down to it you chicken out.” She stood and threw her purse over her shoulder. “I never knew you to be a coward, Darren.”

With that parting shot hitting him square in the chest, she left him sitting there alone.

It took all of two minutes for her words to sink in before he was calling the hotel. She had already checked out. Then he called the airport. Her flight had taken off thirty minutes ago. Since she was midair he didn’t try her cell. He would give her a few hours before he went that route.

The more he thought about it, he wasn’t sure what he had to say was something that should be done over the phone anyhow. But it hurt that she had just gone back to her life as if nothing had happened between them. He didn’t like being on this end of a weekend fling.

Pissed he hadn’t caught her before she left town, he headed home to his empty house, glad when an unexpected business trip came up that would keep him busy for the next few days. It would give him time to think, time to regroup.

Brady was met at her front door by an ecstatic Brett. Dropping her suitcase, she scooped him up and cuddled him, scratching under his chin in just the right spot.

She still wasn’t sure if she had done the right thing by leaving Darren the way she had but she didn’t want to ruin the memory with any uncomfortable morning after issues. If she looked closely she was more hurt by his shunning at the door than she wanted to admit.

But that night as she lay in her cold, empty bed all her excuses deserted her and she just wished he was next to her.

Then she thought about what she had written in the back of the book and hope crept in. If he saw it she didn’t know how he would react. But that was a big if.

Writing it in the back of the book had been cowardly, she could admit now. But she couldn’t go back and change it. She might do the same thing over anyhow.

Her phone rang and her heart sped up. It could be him.

Lissa’s number stared back at her on the screen. Disappointment invaded her heart and she beat it back.

She hesitated and then didn’t answer. She was too wrung out to keep up with Lissa at the moment. What she really needed was a shower.

As soon as she was finished, what Lissa had said to her that night at the bar popped into her mind. How Lissa had wondered if they would be closer if Brady moved back home. Then came the guilt, so she called her back, promising she would keep it brief. Brady didn’t give Lissa any details, even though she practically begged. Yes, she had a nice time. No, they hadn’t made plans to see each other again.

Brady sensed Lissa wanted to say something but held back. No doubt she had talked to Darren today, and they had always been friends. In fact, Brady had always taken it for granted and now she wondered.