Just What I Need (The Bradfords) (13 page)

They’d all called Sara princess as long as they’d known her. And it fit. Ben chuckled at the mildly pained expression on Sam’s face. But the fact that he said nothing—and didn’t move—was testament to the fact that he was exhausted.

Thank God.

Dooley leaned forward from the backseat to look at Sam, clearly as surprised as Ben that Mac’s comment about Sara’s tattoo got almost no reaction.

“Anyway, real men can eat pink icing and sprinkles,” Dooley said. “It’s better than a guy who eats cream filled long johns.”

He looked pointedly at the pastry in Mac’s hand. It was still mostly intact. How any of them could eat donuts after all the pancakes was beyond Ben, but they really were the best in the city. And if there were three things these guys all had in common it was passion for their women, passion for their work and passion for food.

Sam yawned again. “What’s wrong with long johns?”

“Besides that they’re pretty Freudian?” Dooley asked.

Mac frowned. “What are you talking about?”

“They’re sexual.”

“No way.”

The other guys chuckled.

“Sure they are. Homosexual in your case.”

Mac turned slowly to look at Dooley. “
Excuse
me?”

“Come on man, the shape of it,” Dooley said, gesturing toward the donut, “the cream in the middle, it’s even named
John
.”

Mac’s eyes narrowed and he licked a blob of cream off his index finger. “Girls have cream too.”

“Oh-ho, no way,” Sam said, sitting up straight.

Damn.
Ben sighed. Now Sam was wide awake.

Kevin chuckled. “Are you really gonna tell me that
anyone
questions Mac’s sexual orientation?”

Dooley shrugged. “It’s Freudian. That means it’s about deep-down stuff.”

Sam snorted. “Not sure this is the group to be talking about deep-down stuff.”

Mac took the long john, licked the frosting from the length of it, then took a huge bite, licking the cream from the end.

Dooley hooted with laughter. “Love your confidence, man. If anyone can get away with putting Johns in their mouth, it’s you.”

“Sara might have something to say about that,” Ben said, reaching for a final glazed donut.

Mac finished the long john off in one big bite. “Sara would be fine if she got to watch.”

Sam groaned. “I feel sick.”

Mac gave a wicked grin.

“Isn’t it better that we talk about him being with a
guy
?” Dooley asked.

“You’d think, wouldn’t you?” Sam asked. He paused to yawn, then said, “No matter how much I hate him talking about sexing Sara up, I’d kick his ass if he messed around with anyone else—including a John.”

Mac laughed, clearly unconcerned. “Sam knows Sara’s with me for the long haul. And there’s
nobody
I’d rather have in my bed—like it or not.”

Sam sighed and leaned back in his chair. “I know.”

“And there’s no John or Jane that can outdo Sara in a negligee, on a pink fur wedge and covered in…”

“Not making me feel better,” Sam broke in.

“You feel fine,” Dooley said. “Everything’s good. The girls are doing great. Going home next week.”

Dani had called as they were sitting down for pancakes to say that Natalie and Ellie were going to get to go home in a few days. “We were supposed to take your mind off of things at the hospital,” Ben pointed out. “Worked didn’t it?”

Sam yawned and nodded. Then he looked out the front windshield and froze.

There were two little girls with their mom.

Their faces were covered in frosting from the donuts they held with both hands.

Ben grinned and glanced at his brother-in-law. Sam’s eyes were on the girls.

“Your mind’s never really off of them from now on, is it?” Sam asked.

Ben thought of Ava and the baby they’d be welcoming in a few months. And in the center of all the thoughts and emotions was Jessica—the amazing, sweet, bossy, brilliant, loving woman who’d agreed to spend her life with him.

“Nope,” Ben said, “you’ll look at the world differently from now on.”

“I think we should all have daughters. Girls are good,” Kevin said.

Ben took in the two little girls in front of them. The hair bows, the sparkly sandals, the painted fingernails. Yeah, girls were good.

Sam tipped his seat back and sighed. “Girls have made every one of us better.” He yawned big. “But I loved you guys, even before you became great men.”

There was absolute silence in the car after that statement. Ben glanced behind him. All the guys seemed at a loss for words.

They all felt that way—of course. Including the acknowledgement that they were all better with their women in their lives.

Sam’s eyes slid shut.

“Delirious from lack of sleep,” Mac whispered loudly.

“No, come on,” Sam protested, eyes still shut. “Mac, you’ve always been like the big brother. You’ll stand up for any of us, but you’re also the one to kick us in the butt. Since you married Sara now you’re happy too. And with Elijah you’re more patient.”

Sam folded his arms and seemed to settle deeper in his seat.

“Ben’s always been everyone’s hero. But Jess has let him see that he doesn’t have to be perfect to be loved and Ava’s made him more silly and fun.”

Sam yawned, then continued, “Kevin is comfortable in his skin now more than ever. He doesn’t have to be a football star or a devout church-goer to know who he is. And he’s gonna be a great dad—patient, steady, forgiving.”

Sam tipped his head to rest it against the window. “Then there’s Dooley, the one who’s more serious because of Morgan. You invest more in your relationships now. You’re all there now and as a dad you’ll be totally protective and will worry all the time and Ben will have to tell
you
to chill out.”

They were all quiet. That was…a lot.

Finally Kevin said, “What about you, Sam?”

Sam sighed a huge, contented sigh. “I’m complete. Nothing’s missing, nothing’s halfway anymore.”

Ben smiled at the goofy grin on Sam’s face. He felt the same way. He looked at the other men in the car.

They all did.

The family was a lot bigger than the three Bradfords now but it was very much
their
family. And it was strong. The foundation for them all.

Sam’s soft snore was the thing that finally broke the silence.

Mac chuckled. “Delirious for sure.”

But Ben knew if it was delirium—it was contagious.

And there was no cure.

“So, if we take him home, can we carry him in to bed?” Ben asked.

Kevin and Mac looked at each other. “Uh, yeah,” Kevin answered.

“Great.” Ben turned and put his SUV into gear.

“So, wonder if the girls are done with their stuff,” Dooley said as they pulled out onto the street.

“You bored with our company and conversation already?” Kevin asked.

Dooley waggled his eyebrows. “I’m not gonna let you all have little girls and not have one or two myself.”

Kevin laughed. “Yeah, Eve and I have some catching up to do too.”

“You, my brother, deserve to have
boys
,” Mac said to Dooley. “Rotten, ill-mannered, messy, loud
boys
.”

In the rearview mirror, Ben saw Dooley raise an eyebrow. “Well, you know, our kids won’t be
blood
relation. My boys could teach your girls a lot.”

Mac scowled. “My daughters will be too good for your sons.”

“But they’ll be Morgan’s sons too,” Dooley reminded him.

“True,” Mac muttered. Morgan most certainly improved the gene pool. Mac nudged Ben’s shoulder. “Hey, hand me that book.”

Ben grabbed the huge gift bag from the floor between Sam’s feet. It held the gifts the guys had put together. Dooley had included a T-shirt that said
D.A.D.D—Dads Against Daughters Dating. Shoot the first and the word will spread
. Ben had added liquor—the good stuff. Mac had put in a box of condoms, and Kevin had given Sam a book titled
The Idiot’s Guide to Raising a Daughter
.

“You worried?” Dooley asked.

Mac flipped the book open. “Nope. Exactly as I expected. Right on page one it says ‘never let your girls date someone with the last name Miller’.”

“I didn’t say anything about
dating
,” Dooley said.

Kevin was, fortunately, sitting between Dooley and Mac.

After some jostling, name calling and other insults, they were all laughing.

“Oh, hell, I’ll read the book too,” Dooley finally said. “Never hurts to be prepared. Even if I don’t have a girl, Ben and Sam—and the rest of you jokers—will probably need some help.”

Ben smiled as he turned onto the street that led to Sam and Danika’s house. It was true that all of the kids this group produced were going to have plenty of adults in their lives—supporting, praising, protecting.

And driving them nuts.

In that special way only family could.

About the Author

Erin Nicholas is the author of multiple sexy contemporary romances. Her stories have been described as toe-curling, enchanting, steamy and fun. She loves to write about reluctant heroes, imperfect heroines, toe-curling-enchanting-steamy-fun sex and happily ever afters.

You can find Erin on the web at:

www.ErinNicholas.com

ninenaughtynovelists.blogspot.com

on Twitter:
www.twitter.com/ErinNicholas

and even on Facebook:
www.facebook.com/erin.nicholas.90

Look for these titles by Erin Nicholas

Now Available:

The Bradfords

Just Right

Just Like That

Just My Type

Just the Way I Like It

Just for Fun

Just a Kiss

Just What I Need

Anything & Everything

Anything You Want

Everything You’ve Got

Hotblooded

No Matter What

Coming Soon:

Hitched

Just One Night

With friends like these…they may never date again!

Just the Way I Like It

© 2012 Erin Nicholas

A Bradfords series free short story.

Out of their entire group of friends, Kevin Campbell and Doug “Dooley” Miller are the last bachelors standing. And if their friends’ wives have anything to say about it, they’re both going down—the sooner the better.

Sure, sometimes it’s torture to stand by and watch their friends enjoy true love. But all that touching, teasing, and goo-goo eyes? It gets old. Plus, Kevin and Dooley have their reasons for staying single, and a trio of meddling women can’t change that.

Or can they?

That’s the question that’s making them nervous.
Very
nervous…

Warning: This Bradfords series epilogue contains six meddling friends, two sworn bachelors and a bunch of crazy set-ups. It’s also a sneak peek at the next two books where Kevin and Dooley do find true love…without any help from their friends.

She’s unforgettable…and that’s exactly what got him into trouble the first time.

Just a Kiss

© 2012 Erin Nicholas

The Bradfords, Book 5

As a paramedic in the busiest ER in the city, Kevin Campbell knows there’s no such thing as a typical night—but this one definitely has them all beat.

His dad’s been stabbed with a fork, his mom’s been in a fight, and it’s all because of a younger half-brother he never knew existed. And if
that’s
not enough, everyone seems to agree that Kevin should take the boy in for the six months during his mom’s rehab. Oh, and the annulment he thought he got fourteen years ago? Never went through.

It’s really too bad he gave up drinking and swearing.

Eve Donnelly is shocked to see Kevin again, but not surprised they’re still married. After all, she was the one who refused to sign the annulment papers. Now that she’s got Kevin back in her life, nothing else matters. Not even her past fourteen less-than-virtuous years. In fact, the truth about her life without Kevin isn’t even worth bringing up. She hopes.

When Eve offers to help Kevin with his younger brother, a sweet, devout preacher’s daughter seems like an answered prayer. Besides, things can’t get more
complicated. Can they?

Warning: Contains a bad boy gone good, a good girl who knows all about being bad, and lots of hot, sweet, so-this-is-how-married-couples-do-it sex.