“You said this was an old friend. How long have you two been friends?”
Without looking at him, Regina reached the bathroom. “Did I say old really? Not too long. We met last year. I’ll be right out.”
Last year? After her husband passed? A part of Brandon wanted to just let it go—not stir the waters. But he’d picked up on something ever since her reaction to the book this guy sent her. There was something about this subject—this guy. Something made her nervous to talk to Brandon about this friend. He’d since decided he wouldn’t push it, that it wasn’t a big deal. The guy didn’t even live in California. How much trouble could he be? But now he was calling her, and she was talking about meeting up with him? A guy she’d been very tempted to call?
Brandon was determined not to make a big deal of this, but he was absolutely getting to the bottom of this today.
A few minutes later, he heard the toilet flush then the water running. More minutes passed. Then she opened the door, her toothbrush still in her mouth, and she smiled. Even with a mouthful of toothpaste, bed head, and no makeup on, she was adorable. He couldn’t help smiling, but it only made him more anxious about this guy she thought she’d be getting together with.
After rinsing and wiping her mouth with a towel, she walked out. “You know what I’m craving?” she said, all bright-eyed. “Chocolate-chocolate-chip waffles.”
He hated to put a damper on her cheery mood, but he had to know. “We can go get some if you want. But you wanna tell me about this friend of yours from New York first?”
Her smile instantly vanished, and she started toward the bed. “No, not really,” she said, surprising him.
Brandon thought for sure she’d try to make light of it and change the subject. This just turned up the need to know more about this guy a few hundred notches. “Why?”
“Because it’s not something I feel like talking about.” Her response was abrupt—terse—not at all what he was expecting.
Taking a few steps toward her, he chose his words wisely because he could feel this getting tense already. There was no way he was letting this go now. “Why do I get the feeling there’s more to this friend that you’re not telling me?”
She turned to him with a look he hadn’t seen on her since the day she confronted him at the base, the glare that had him holding back a smile then. Only now he was in anything but a smiling mood. “We’ve been together for all of one week, Brandon. You really think I’ve told you everything about my life? I agreed to do this with you because I didn’t want things to go back to the way they were. I like having you in my life, but, Jesus, give me some time. There are some things I’d rather not talk about just yet.”
Brandon didn’t want to regret having done this with her. He didn’t want to regret that they were just into this one week and already the thought of her having a guy friend she didn’t want to tell him about had him wanting to punch a hole through a f**king wall. “Like ex-boyfriends or male friends you plan on getting together with?” he asked, every word louder than the last. “Because I’ll be damned if—”
“Chris is a she,” Regina said sharply, but then the severity in her own expression lessened, and the corner of her lip rose. She reached out and touched his face with her hand, relieving some of the enormous pressure already brimming in every one of his muscles. “If that’s what you’re worried about, don’t. You’ve made it very clear how you feel about men and women being friends, and if you recall, I agreed with you.”
He reached for her, pulling her into his arms, and buried his face in her neck. The relief was replaced by instant fear—fear that he was going to blow this. Even he hadn’t anticipated his reaction to be so heated. “I’m sorry.” He kissed her neck twice before pulling away. “I had a feeling I might suck at this, but I promise I won’t always be like this. I just . . .” He shook his head. “I’ll give you all the time you need. If you’d rather not talk about her yet, I’ll wait. I won’t be so—”
She kissed him, not letting him go on, and that was a damn good thing because, unbelievably, another thought he never expected to be thinking had begun to cloud his mind. For a moment of insane desperation, he actually considered doing something he long ago vowed he’d never do for anyone—beg. As much he felt for Regina, even she wouldn’t make him break that vow.
He had to get it together. His insecure ass was going to destroy this—this thing that after only a week he could already tell was the best thing that’d ever happened to him. Still, his reaction to thinking she didn’t want to tell him about another guy in her life hadn’t been unfounded. “I’m sorry I misunderstood,” he explained. “I really thought it was a guy you were on the phone with and sent you that romance novel.”
He kissed her deeply, wanting that last comment to register loud and clear. He wasn’t apologizing for nearly losing it because of that. If that were ever the case, she should expect nothing less. In fact, it’d probably be even more severe. The longer he was around her—spoiling her—claiming her with every kiss every time they made love, the likelier it’d be that he’d have less control over his emotions over anyone coming between them.
She ran her fingers through his hair as their kissing began going into that familiar, wild, uncontrolled place. Just like that, as always when he kissed her, he was instantly aroused, and his throbbing erection was already impossible to conceal through his thin boxer briefs. Remembering she was hungry and this was his chance to appease her with what she was craving, he pulled away gently, but she pulled him back, holding his shoulders tight.