Hooked for Life Read online

  Untangling herself, she leapt from bed and desperately searched for her clothes.

  “Darren! Smoke!” She gave him a good slap on his firm ass as she went past to make sure he was awake.

  Confusion colored his face for mere seconds before he ran naked from the room. Brady found her panties and threw his shirt around her as she dashed out the door behind him.

  The hallway had smoke near the ceiling but they didn’t see any flames as they flew down the stairs.

  They barreled into the living room, skidding to a halt just as the beautiful roses sitting on the coffee table burst into flames.

  “Oh shit!” Darren yelled before running to the kitchen and filling a pitcher with water, then dashing back and dumping it on the burning petals. The fire went out immediately but the room was full of smoke and smelled terrible.

  The sight of Darren, naked and tousled, jumping back from the cold water that was running in streams off the table and onto the floor, struck her as funny and she burst out laughing.

  When he asked, “What’s so damn funny?” and crossed his arms over his chest, Brady just laughed harder. It was a deep, cleansing laugh, the kind that brought tears to her eyes and stole her breath, but she couldn’t stop and before long he joined her, which only made it worse. Feeding her laugh with his own chuckles.

  Moving to the closest chair, Brady sat with shaky legs. Darren was still chuckling when he left the room to find some clothes. When he came back she was still giggling, his perfect seduction scene ruined.

  “Well, that didn’t go exactly as planned,” he said with a smile as he blew out the candles that hadn’t already sputtered and gone out.

  He had pulled on a pair of faded old jeans but hadn’t bothered to button them up, and the trail of hair leading down from his bellybutton to disappear under the jeans drew her gaze again.

  “Let me help you clean up.” Brady stood and went to the kitchen. “Do you have a bucket or something?”

  “Don’t worry about it, Brady, Marge is coming in the morning to clean up.”

  “Oh god,” Brady said as she just stared at him.

  “Yeah, I see your point. Maybe we should clean up.”

  “You think?” Brady asked. “Unless you want the whole town to know we almost burned down the living room?”

  “I’d rather keep it between us.” He chuckled as he handed her a bucket and went to a closet for more paper towels.

  They labored together and made short work of sopping up the water and bits of flower petals off the hardwood floor. It didn’t take long to get it all soaked up and by the time they were finished Brady was starving.

  “Thanks.” He gave her a smile as they both stood off the floor. He took the bucket from her hands and pulled her back to the kitchen.

  “Sit down and I’ll warm us up some food.”

  She took a seat at the little island and watched him move about the kitchen.

  “Do you like to cook?” She had just had the best sex of her life with this man and she didn’t know much about him.

  “I can do the basics but I never took the time to learn more than that. I travel a lot for work so I eat out most of the time.” He took one dish out of the microwave and stuck another in. “What about you?”

  “I have to be in the mood to cook but when I am I do a decent job of it.” He put a plate in front of her and then grabbed the warmed dishes and set them within easy reach. He sat next to her and they dished their plates companionably.

  Brady dug in, too hungry to stand on ceremony and take bird-sized bites. “How did you get into marketing?” she asked between forkfuls.

  “It was kind of a fluke. I waited too long to register for the classes I wanted for my second semester of college and it was all that was left. It didn’t take me long to figure out I had a knack for it and by my third semester I switched my major.”

  “You like it?”

  “It’s not what I imagined myself doing but, yeah, I like it.” His plate was already empty and he wiped his mouth with a napkin.

  “Why didn’t you get married?”

  Darren knew the question would come at some point and he was surprised it had taken her this long. Although they had been busy. He took his time answering. He didn’t want to lie but he didn’t want to tell her the truth either. He honestly didn’t think she was ready for that.

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to pry, you don’t have to answer.”

  “No, that’s okay. I guess it just boils down to the fact that I wasn’t in love with her.”

  She nodded and he knew she wanted to say more but she surprised him when she didn’t go on.

  “What do you do for fun over there in the big city?” What he really wanted to know was if she was seeing someone. She could be, in this day and age of casual relationships. It probably wasn’t something she would share with Lissa but he hoped her going out with him meant she wasn’t.

  “I wouldn’t know. I spend most of my time writing. But Brett keeps me company.”

  His heart sank. “Brett?”

  “My cat. Fifteen pounds of gray, spoiled fur.” She smiled and he wondered if she could see right through him.

  “Why Brett?” He couldn’t resist asking. It was an odd name for a cat.

  “I like football so I named him after Brett Favre.”

  “The quarterback? I thought you didn’t like football.” He remembered Lissa telling him that.

  “I didn’t until I watched you play my junior year.”

  If he wasn’t mistaken her face went a little pink and then her eyes lowered to the counter.

  “I didn’t know you watched me play.”

  “I didn’t want anyone to know.” Her voice was quiet and he knew she didn’t want to talk about this but he couldn’t leave it alone. If she had watched him play in secret then she might have had feelings for him then, and it wouldn’t be so hard to get her to agree to continue to see him now.

  “Why not?”

  “I didn’t want a repeat of the lunchroom that day. Lissa did find out eventually but I swore her to secrecy.”

  The unpleasantness of that day descended on them and he left it at that, not wanting to spoil the good mood.

  Brady pushed her plate away and his shirt gaped open, giving him a great view of her cleavage. His cock swelled in his jeans and he shifted on the stool.

  She was gorgeous in nothing but his shirt and he wanted her again. Now that he had her in his bed, the pressure was off and he had time to tell her how he felt. There was no more need to rush her, he was confident she would continue to see him. They were good together. Amazing sex was only going to help him in the long run. Plus, there was still time tonight to fill her mind with nothing but him. He wanted to block out any other man she had been with in her mind. Until there was nothing left but what they had here tonight. Tomorrow was another day and it would give him time to bring up the hard stuff then.

  It no longer scared him, the strong feelings he had for her. Once he had seen her again and realized where his heart truly lay, he felt much better about the whole situation.

  It was cemented in his mind that he could make her happy. His heart skipped a beat when she turned her clear green eyes on him and smiled a little.

  Her hair was tousled, her cheeks pink and her eyes bright from his earlier attention. It had damn near killed him to take his time like that but in the end it had been more than worth it to see her shatter repeatedly in his arms.

  Thinking about her under him had adverse effects and he shifted again on the stool.

  Brady cleared her throat and looked as if she was about to say something but, looking at his face, she stopped. He tried to rein it in but it wasn’t happening, especially after she licked her lips and he got a glimpse of her tongue.

  He glanced back quickly at her eyes and there was a come get me look if he ever saw one. He wasn’t the type of man to disappoint.

  Grabbing her hand, he pulled her from her stool to stand in front of him. He spread his l
egs so she could move in closer and she laid her hands on his bare shoulders.

  Her fingers were warm and he couldn’t help but notice how her breasts were lined up perfectly with his face.

  From his lower seat on the stool he looked up at her face as his fingers went to the little white buttons on his dress shirt. He opened them one by one, her nipples going hard and puckered after the first one slid from its little hole. When he reached the bottom her hard nipples hooked the fabric and kept it from opening all the way.

  He couldn’t keep from staring at the skin he had revealed. Starting at the base of her neck he trailed his finger down the line between her full breasts to her bellybutton then grazed the top of her black panties.

  Her breath stopped and then released in a big whoosh when he started back up again. When he got to her collarbone he stopped and then used both hands to slide his shirt down over her nipples, strangling a low moan from her.

  But his patience was wearing thin. He needed her. Now.

  Pushing the shirt from her shoulders, he watched as it fell off her, sliding to the floor in a forgotten heap. She wrapped herself around him then, her arms going around his neck, and she hooked one of her legs over his. It was incredibly hot and made him impossibly harder.

  He saw her mouth descending and he rose up to meet her lips hungrily. There was no room for slow and sweet this time.

  Grabbing her ass in both hands to steady her, he stood from the stool. Her other leg came off the floor to wrap around his hips and he held her easily against him.

  He couldn’t quit kissing her, the taste of her filling his mind, clouding his brain until all that was left was the feeling of her warm, silky skin sliding against him.

  He wanted her under him and the closest flat surface was the island behind them. Letting go of her ass with one hand, he swept his arm across the surface of the island, sending their dishes crashing to the floor.

  Darren heard some of the dishes crack and shatter as they bounced against each other. It startled Brady and he felt her jump in his arms. But he didn’t give her time to object, laying her back on the counter.

  Her hair was spread out around her head and her back arched, lifting her breasts closer to his mouth. Which was exactly where they should be. Sucking the tip of one in his mouth, he rolled the other nipple between his fingers.

  She moaned again and the sound sped his heart up another notch.

  Sliding his hands down her ribs, over her belly and to her hips, he got to her panties, which were in his way, so he ripped them off her hips, letting them fall in pieces on the floor.

  Unzipping his jeans, he jerked his cock out and had a condom on in record time. Her bottom wiggled in need and her pussy was practically dripping.

  He could wait no longer and slid her down the counter and onto his pole in one quick jerk. A shriek ripped from her throat and he stopped cold, hoping he hadn’t hurt her. She was so tight he could feel every quiver of her muscles trembling around him.

  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.

  Chapter Six

  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.