by Linda Kage
Beyond embarrassed that everyone was acting so blasé about me trying to seduce their brother, I muttered, “This whole thing is growing more ridiculous by the second.”
“Nonsense.” He surprised the crap out of me by pecking a quick kiss to the top of my head before whisking his way toward the exit. “Just trust us.”
I ground my teeth, tempted to call after him that I was getting sick of everyone telling me that, but Caroline was still right there, and she’d been so nice to me today, I didn’t want to hurt her feelings by claiming I couldn’t trust her.
“Where is he going?” I asked instead as I watched Brandt’s whistling brother stroll from the house.
“He’s putting stage two into effect,” Caroline answered before grasping my chin and forcing me to lift my face. “Close your eyes.”
I blinked at her, only to realize Zoey had returned with her makeup kit, and Caroline wanted to doll me up.
“Why?” I asked uncertainly, moving my face backward. “What’s stage two? And what was stage one?”
“Don’t worry about it, honey,” Caroline answered right before Zoey said, “Ooh, that’s the perfect color for her.”
“I know, right? I had a feeling jewel tones on her would kick ass.” Caroline turned back to me. “I just want to play around a little,” she reassured me.
“Oh.” I obligingly closed my eyes but still jumped when she began to apply foundation.
“Why did you get her three different pairs of lingerie?” Ten asked, making me crack open the eye Caroline wasn’t working on to realize he’d gotten hold of my bag...and was browsing through everything inside.
He lifted three hangers full of unmentionables. “You do realize it’s only going to take one of these bad boys to bring Brandt to his knees, right?”
“Oh my God,” I moaned, sinking lower into my wheelchair.
Caroline growled. “Stop poking through Sarah’s underwear.” She snagged the three hangers full of matching bra and panty sets from his hands where he was holding them up to examine them. “Give the girl some privacy.”
“Sorry,” Ten told me, even though he didn’t appear to be very apologetic, especially when he leaned closer and whispered, “I’d go with that red and black set if I were you.” Then he flashed me the okay sign and grinned. “Total winner.”
I laughed, even though my face was scorching hot.
Behind me, the door came open, and thankfully Caroline rushed to shove my underwear back into the sack and out of sight. But when she saw who’d entered, she relaxed. “Oh. It’s just you.”
“Quinn!” Zoey gasped and hurried for the entrance.
I turned in time to watch her step up onto her toes to hug her husband hard. “You’re home early today.”
“The last surgery I was going to assist with was canceled.” He glanced at the rest of us over his wife’s shoulder. “What’s going on?”
“We’re practicing fancying Sarah up so she can seduce Brandt,” Caroline answered bluntly before taking her attention from my face to glance his way. Then she let out a loud whistle. “Damn, Dr. Hamilton. You look good in scrubs.”
Ten choked on his surprise. “Excuse me?”
“What?” Caroline shrugged. “I’m just saying...damn. He looks good in scrubs.”
A confused Quinn looked at his wife, raising his eyebrows. She blushed. “Did you check in on Eva and Pick before coming home?”
“Yeah,” he murmured. “Her contractions are still three minutes apart, and she’s only four centimeters dilated. It’ll be a couple more hours yet.” After taking me in, then Caroline and Ten, he turned back to Zoey. “Does Mason know about this seduction thing?”
“Oh, sure,” Ten answered. “We consulted him before the girls took her panty shopping. No, he doesn’t know about it. Are you insane? We actually value our lives.”
“Um...okay, then.” Quinn scanned the room. “Where are the kids?”
Before anyone could answer, a cacophony of sound entered the hall. Then two boys followed by a giggling towheaded girl raced into the room as Teagan tried to catch up with Luke and JB.
“Aww,” Caroline called, watching her eighteen-month-old daughter. “She’s chasing the boys already.”
“What?!” Looking suddenly panicked, Ten snatched Teagan off the floor and into his arms as she passed. “Not until she’s thirty-fucking-five.”
“Dada,” Teagan cheered, patting his face with her chubby little fingers.
Ten kissed her on the nose. “Yes, baby, I love you too. And I’m the only man you’ll ever love.”
“Okay, now that’s sexier than any pair of scrubs,” Caroline decided, abandoning me so she could wrap her arms around her husband and daughter together and give them both kisses.
Across the room, I swear Zoey murmured, “Not hardly,” as she cuddled against Quinn’s arm before he bent down to greet his two sons, who seemed happy he was home.
I sat there, watching the two families and feeling really kind of pathetic and embarrassed for even remotely thinking I should try anything with Brandt.
He’d been right. It would’ve totally ruined our friendship, but not just that. Our families were so entwined together as friends; it might’ve even caused a rift in our entire group.
Not wanting to do that, I started for the door, ready to go and needing to hide out in my room until my shame dissipated.
But Caroline called after me. “Sarah? Wait! What’re you...where are you going?”
I paused, feeling crappy for just taking off. But no one here needed me. And I really felt the urge to slink off in shame. “I’m going to head home,” I said, barely looking her way.
“Um...okay. Here. Don’t forget this.” She made certain to hand me my bag, adding a conspiratorial wink as she did. Then she whispered, “Good luck.”
I didn’t answer. I just left, waving to the others before blowing out the door and hurrying as fast as I could to my car.
I was tempted to throw the entire sack in the trash as soon as I rolled into my room. But after I tossed it on the bed, I paused and eyed it curiously. I hadn’t bothered to try anything on at the boutique. After the sales clerk measured me, and it matched my usual sizes, we all figured that would be close enough.
They had made sure to find me a front-clasp bra, something I could manage on my own. And the red silk and black lace set really had been—okay, so I was tempted to try them on once. I had to at least know how I looked in that pair...or maybe in all the pairs.
Feeling giddily naughty, I closed the blinds and then stripped out of my clothes. I tried on the pale blue one first, then the pink set. Finally, I tried on the red, fringed-in-black ensemble. After inspecting myself in my full-length mirror, I decided the wheelchair kind of threw off some of the sexiness, so I climbed out and sat on the bed, posing and then laughing because I looked ridiculous.
Well...kind of ridiculous, anyway. Caroline had prettied up my face and my hair looked good. And okay, the bra made my breasts really push up and seem almost full and rounded. And with the cut of the panties, the way they emphasized the curve of my hip and dip in my waist, I might actually consider myself half-decent-looking.
Actually...I was amazed how nice I did look. Hesitantly, I reached out to slide my finger down my ribcage and over the dips and curves until I reached my hip. Someone somewhere could possibly even think I looked beautiful.
For the first time in my life, I felt pretty, like really pretty. And it wasn’t just my physical appearance, it was a feeling, like...I’m not even sure…something deep inside me, a self-awareness that started out as a sensation in my toes, then traveled up my legs and settled warmly in my belly before moving up to brighten my heart.
Maybe I wasn’t completely hopeless. Maybe somewhere, someday, someone might even love me.
A rapping on my window made me scream in surprise. Crap! I hadn’t been expecting that. Heart leaping into my throat, I scurried to grab my clothes, but the knocking kept coming and seemed to gain intensity w
ith every bang.
With no time for clothes, I grabbed my terrycloth robe lying at the foot of my bed, wrapped it securely around me and lifted the window blinds.
I wasn’t sure why I was surprised to see Brandt; he was the only person to ever visit me via window. But I was surprised, anyway, and not necessarily in a good way.
What the heck was he doing here?
I had a bad feeling this visit was going to end not-so-well.
BRANDT
This Seth douche was pissing me off. I’d been by his apartment half a dozen times now, and he’d yet to answer the door. I even sat outside his building in my truck once, hoping to catch him coming or going, but no luck. Mason had never gotten his last name and I didn’t bother to grill Sarah for it. She would’ve just refused to tell me.
But she had let it slip she’d met him at the writing center. So I’d stopped by there once when I knew she wasn’t working and asked around a little. But even if the girl who’d been working then would’ve helped me—which I had a feeling she might have by the way she kept smiling at me and twisting her hair around her finger—she had no idea how to look up all the Seths who’d ever been tutored.
I went as far as to look up every Seth on campus in the school directory. There’d been twenty-one, and none of their addresses matched the one on Locust Street that I kept visiting. I had a bad feeling the fucktard might just get away with hurting Sarah without a single broken bone to his name, which bothered me on a whole new level of pissed off that drove me insane.
“So I guess Eva went into labor today,” Colton announced from next to me at the supper table, ripping my thoughts from murder and mayhem.
“What?” Aspen screeched across the table from us. “Why didn’t you say something earlier? I didn’t know about this. How did you find out?”
I frowned. Yeah, I hadn’t heard about it either. I was sure Sarah would’ve texted me first thing when she found out, and she would’ve had to be one of the first ones to know because Mason and Reese were set to take care of Pick and Eva’s older kids while they were at the hospital.
Curious about that, I tugged my phone from my pocket and checked the screen for messages.
She hadn’t tried to contact me all day.
Huh.
I went into my message history to realize we hadn’t texted in days. The last time I’d talked to her had been the night of our date.
Swallowing, I wondered if she was still upset because I’d turned her down. I’d thought we’d ended our argument on good terms, but if she hadn’t bothered to tell me about Eva then...something must be wrong.
“Yeah, I was over at, uh, Caroline’s today when she got the call,” Colton was telling Aspen as I contemplated shooting off a text to Sarah, but I wasn’t sure what to say.
I kind of wanted to demand an explanation why she hadn’t told me my boss was about to have baby number four, but I didn’t want her to know I was hurt she hadn’t already told me.
“Caroline already knew?” Aspen asked, sounding a little hurt herself. “Why didn’t she tell me?”
Yeah, why was everyone being so goddamn secretive today?
“Um...not sure,” Colton hedged, sounding suspiciously...suspicious. I glanced at him, frowning, but he looked too busy finishing the last of his steamed carrots to notice much of anything going on around him...which was bullshit in itself. He hated steamed carrots.
“I got the dishes,” he announced suddenly, something he never volunteered to do.
“Uh...okay.” Aspen blinked before sharing a look with Noel, who simply shrugged and then made a face saying he wasn’t going to question their good fortune.
Bringing my hand to my mouth as I watched the scene unfold around me, I narrowed my eyes at my little brother, knowing something was up.
“Yeah, I’ll help him,” I announced, watching Colton’s shoulders tighten as he opened the door to the dishwasher.
“Well...” Grinning, Noel wiped his face with a napkin and tossed it on his plate before reaching for Beau, who sat in a high chair between him and Aspen. “Why don’t the three of us getting out of KP duty head to the living room and enjoy our freedom, huh?”
Aspen beamed at the opportunity to spend some quality time with her two guys, so she hurried to her feet after him. Before she disappeared from the kitchen, she slapped a grateful kiss to my and then Colton’s cheek.
“So...” I started, keeping my eye on my little brother as I gathered up stray plates from the table. “You went to Caroline’s today?”
He shrugged and sent me a quick glance over his shoulder before taking the plates from my hand so he could load the washer. “Yeah. Just checking in, you know, making sure they’re all okay.”
“Mmm hmm.” I folded my arms over my chest as I rested my hip against the counter. “And are they? Okay, that is?”
“What?” Colton glanced up, frowning in confusion. Then he straightened and reached for a glass to dump free of water into the sink. “Yeah. Sure. Why wouldn’t they be?”
“No reason.” I lifted an eyebrow as I watched him work so hard. “Do anything else today?”
He paused before turning to me fully. “Why do you ask?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. You just act like there’s something you’re not telling me.”
His face showed surprise before he cleared it. Then he snapped his fingers and pointed at me. “You know, there is. I mean, it was nothing big. Just...Sarah asked me to have sex with her.”
I came away from the counter and dropped my hands to my sides. “What?”
He must’ve said that wrong, because there was no way he said Sarah asked him to—
“I’m considering it,” he answered with a cocky grin.
Without thinking, I reacted, grabbing his shirt and yanking him close to growl into his face. “Touch her and I will break you in half.”
He laughed.
The little bastard actually laughed before he shoved me back. “Relax, asshole. It’s not like you want her.”
Arching an eyebrow, I stared him down hard. “What makes you think that?”
“Well...” He lifted a single shoulder. “You haven’t claimed her already, and if you don’t claim a woman as beautiful as she is, someone else will eventually. Say, like…me.”
Shit. Was that what had happened? She’d asked me to sleep with her, and I’d said no, so she’d moved on to the next guy in line?
Did she have a fucking list of candidates or something?
“Motherfucker,” I muttered, storming toward the back door.
My punk-ass brother laughed after me. “God, you are so predictable.”
I was too busy stewing to reply or even really listen to what he was babbling about. I practically sprinted to my truck. Glad I already had my keys in my pocket, I palmed them as I slid behind the wheel and cranked the engine.
Making it across town in record time, I skidded to a halt at the curb in front of Sarah’s house and slammed the door before racing to her window.
I pounded on that glass, surprised I didn’t shatter the damn thing before I remembered Mason, Reese, and the kids weren’t home so I could’ve gone straight to the front door without disturbing anyone else.
Oh, well. This would get to her faster, anyway.
When a shadow of movement shifted across the closed blinds, but no one opened them, I scowled harder. Why were her blinds closed, and why did the shadows seem to move away from me instead of closer to open the damn window?
Fuck, maybe she’d already gone to someone else to break her in, and they were in there right now together...naked.
I pounded harder. “Dammit, Sarah,” I growled under my breath. “If you have some fucking loser with you—”
The blinds came up. Sarah’s surprised face gaped out at me, but at least she looked to be alone, thank God.
Of course, then my worry spiked right back to insane levels when she bit her lip, cracked the window only an inch, and said, “Um...sorry, but now’s not really a g
ood time. Can you—”
“What the fuck?” I exploded. She was wearing her robe and clutching the front together with one hand. “Is someone with you?”
“What?” She blinked, clearly not expecting that question. “No. Why?”
“Let me in.” I reached for the small gap we’d been talking through so I could open it myself.
But she hissed, “Brandt! No. I’m not...I’m not decent.”
Squinting at her, I wondered if she’d just gotten out of the shower maybe. But her hair was still dry and...what the hell? She was wearing makeup. A lot of makeup, like as much as she’d worn the night of her date with Seth the Dick.
Holy fuck. Maybe she really did have some guy in there with her. Was she lying to me?
Fed up with this, I yelled, “Did you go to my brother for sex?”
“What? Shh...” she gasped, glancing around me as if she expected every neighbor on the block to pop their heads out their front doors to listen in on our conversation.
Okay, so maybe I had asked that a little too loudly. But booming had worked. She jerked the window up and hissed, “Get inside right now, and keep your voice down, you idiot.”
I climbed inside, barely holding my temper in check. Once in, I immediately glanced around for proof of another man. We seemed to be alone, but a pile of her clothes lay pooled in the middle of the floor. I frowned at them suspiciously while Sarah clapped the window shut behind me in irritation.
“Now...” she growled, clearly annoyed. “You want to tell me what the hell you were yelling about outside my house where just anyone could hear you?”
I turned slowly to watch her sitting on the other half of the bed. My gaze scanned the robe she was clutching closed, all the way down to her bare toes. Her legs were naked too, up to her knees where the robe covered the rest of her.
Dear God, could she be completely naked under there?
“Brandt?” she demanded, and by the expression on her face, she would’ve been tapping her toe on the floor if she’d been standing.
“Did you or did you not,” I asked slowly, “ask Colton to sleep with you?”