CHAPTER TWO

VALERIE

Towel drying my hair, I looked at my reflection in the mirror, and all I could think about was that damn kiss. A kiss with my new roommate, thanks to freaking Vaughn McGuire!

He left. Just like that, and I didn’t have a good feeling about it. He had called and left me a message last night, but I hadn’t been able to make out what he’d said because of bad reception, and now I was left to wonder what the hell he had gotten himself into. If I was honest with myself, I’d suspected something was up with him, but I would have never thought that my only friend would up and leave out of nowhere without a word.

He was gone and left me behind with a stranger. A man I’d freaking paraded around in front of half-naked, called gay, and kissed. All in less than fifteen minutes.

Queen of First Impressions strikes again!

Glancing over at my wall clock, I sighed and had no choice but to get my ass in gear. After plaiting my hair into a French braid, I rubbed lotion over my arms and legs before getting dressed into my deep purple scrubs. With one last glance at my dresser, I picked up my clear watermelon lip gloss and put some on my lips. I usually didn’t, but why not today? It was the last day before a couple of glorious days off. Sure, that’s why you put it on, a voice in my head chimed, and I bit my lip before grabbing my glasses and backpack.

“Nice place, man,” I heard a deeper voice ring out in the living room and prayed this one wasn’t as much of a jerk as my new nameless roomie.

“Thanks,” roomie’s voice sounded out as I stepped into the room.

“Well, hello,” a deep voice said, and I looked out trying to school my expression, but I knew that by the way the new guy smirked he didn’t miss my reaction.

He was hot.

Almost as hot as my new roomie.

Broader and bearded. Damn, that is something that needs to be on a t-shirt.

“Hi,” I mumbled, fixing my glasses and looking over to my roomie, who was now scowling as he looked back and forth between his guest and me.

“Valerie Duncan, this is my oldest brother, Garrett. Garrett, this is Valerie.” Oldest brother? How many of them did he have? Were there more tall, dark, and handsome men wreaking havoc in southern California?

“Oh.” I smiled at Garrett, who was looking at me with a curious look. “Has anyone ever told you, you kinda look like that one guy from those comic book movies?” His serious face softened and broke out into a huge smile, then a bark of laughter came from him, which was cute. If a guy that big and bearded could be labeled as cute.

He stopped laughing and walked toward me. His hand extended, he spoke. “Once or twice. Though, I’m probably more distinguished.” He winked, and I gave up my fight of trying to stay unaffected and smiled at him. “That guy seems like he’d be a little whiney,” he observed, and I laughed as his big hand took mine.

“Nice to meet you. I’m sorry. I would offer you something to drink, but I have been working like crazy, so I’m not sure what’s in the kitchen.”

“Are you Vaughn’s girlfriend?” My roomie coughed up some of his coffee, and I shook my head.

“No, I live here.”

“Live here?” he asked, his grin growing. “Bryan, you didn’t tell me you were going to have a roommate.” Thank you, big brother! His name was Bryan. It fit him.

“Especially one so beautiful,” Garrett continued, and my cheeks reddened as I shook my head.

“I’m not—”

“You wanna start unloading the truck? Let me talk to my roomie here, or else she’s going to be late for work,” Bryan mumbled, not sounding a bit happy.

“Shit. He’s right. Look, umm—“ I looked at my roommate, and as I stared at him with clear vision, my cheeks stayed warm. I’d kissed him! “Bryan, is it?”

“You can keep calling me handsome.” He titled his head, his eyes glittering, and I rolled mine trying to keep my cool.

“This is probably my cue to get his shit unloaded. Valerie, it was a pleasure.”

“Call me Val, and you, too, Garrett.” I smiled, watching the behemoth of a man exit the house and walk what looked toward a moving truck. “How much stuff do you have?”

“What?” He scowled.

“This place isn’t the Taj Mahal, Bryan.”

“I know. Vaughn said I can take up some space in the garage.”

“The garage?” I frowned, shaking my head. “I don’t think so.”

“Why not?”

“Why not?” I asked, feeling my blood pressure start to rise. Freaking jerk Vaughn and his half-assed freaking plans and schemes! “Because I’m storing something in the garage.”

“Whatever it is, I’m sure we can move things around in there.”

“No… you can’t,” I snapped, grabbing my keys out of the small pocket of my backpack.

“Why not?”

“Because. You don’t just scoot over a Woody.”

“What?” He laughed, looking like he thought I was crazy.

Telling him to follow me, I led him to the front of the house. I stepped to the garage door, dropped my backpack on the driveway, about to lift the door, but he stepped in close, his body radiating off his scent and warmth.

“Let me,” he said, and I shrugged trying to act like he didn’t affect me. Staring at his arms lift the old wooden garage door, I was distracted by everything him and watched as he reacted to my Woody.

“Holy fuck,” he whispered in awe, and I smiled glancing over at my baby. “This… this…” He looked back and forth from me to Ruby. “This is yours?”

“Yeah.” I proudly smiled, looking at my baby, “1951 Ford Woody. Now do you see why nothing can go in here?”

“She’s a beauty, Blondie, but I don’t see the problem.” He frowned as he looked around. “There’s tons of space around the car.”

“We live in California,” I told him and watched him blink slowly.

“We do.”

“If we have an earthquake, where do you think those boxes will fall?”

“Baby, there’s an earthquake, that’s what insurance is for.”

“Look, I pay—”

“I do, too. I paid three month’s rent in advance.” Shit. That amount of money in Vaughn’s hands wasn’t good. Especially if he decided to do something stupid with it.

“Look, I don’t have time to argue,” I clipped, and he tilted his head toward me.

“We still need to talk.”

“Look, Bryan,” I started to say but couldn’t seem to keep talking when he was looking at me that way. Full of charm and confidence.

“I like it more when you call me handsome.” His eyes glittered with mischief, and my body tingled. Tingled!

“Look, Bryan, I have to work. I’ll be back late tonight. We can catch up tomorrow, or if you’re up, tonight.”

“Fine.”

“Great.”

“Nice meeting your Woody, Blondie.”

“Her name’s Ruby, and if you so much as lay a finger on her, I will kill you.”

A deep chuckle behind me made me jump as Garrett’s arm went over my shoulder. What is it with these touchy-feely guys? Did they miss the ‘keep your hands to yourself day’ in kindergarten?

“I like you, Val. Takes balls to threaten a cop.”

“Cop?” My face paled. Jesus, Vaughn, what did you do?

“You can call me Detective Handsome.” I shook my head and started walking over to my bike.

“Whoa, wait.” Bryan jogged over to me as I grabbed my helmet

“What?”

“This is yours?” he asked, clearly surprised. Great. He was one of those guys who didn’t think women could own a motorcycle.

“Jesus, for a detective you’re not too fast on the uptake. Does your department know that?”

“Look, I’m sorry we got off on the wrong foot,” he blurted, and I looked at his eyes just as I pulled my helmet over my head.

“Okay.” He took the wind out of my sails. There was no way I could hold on to being pissed if he was apologizing. “I’m sorry, too. I think if we…” I stopped talking as his hands came up and buckled my chin straps, and just like that, breathing became close to impossible.

There was something sweet about someone doing that for you. It’d been a very long time since anyone cared about my well-being. His thumb skimmed my cheek, and before I could find my words, he cleared his throat. “See you later, Blondie.”

“Right.” I stiffened, fighting not to let him see how much I wanted him to keep touching me.

We stood there, frozen in time, the moment growing longer but in no way awkward, until Garrett called out for him and he shook his head, waving bye at me as he walked away. My eyes roamed his muscular back and firm ass, and I sighed.

If this was my morning, I wondered what the rest of my day had in store for me.

BRYAN

He tried not to stare at her as she straddled her bike, starting it up and leaving way to damn fast.

But he failed.

He watched every movement. Fuck. Garrett was wrong when he’d said she was beautiful. She was whatever word meant more than beautiful. Hell, he didn’t even think a fucking word existed in the English language that would adequately describe her. She was gorgeous and sexy, beautiful and really damn cute; all mixed in and sprinkled with fierce sassiness.

And he was fucked.

He had to live with her.

Live with the most irresistible woman he had met. Ever.

And he’d already fucked up her first impression of him.

Half-awake, he had stepped into the kitchen and had seen a blond bombshell. No other way to describe the sight that had been laid out in front of him. With nothing on but a tiny white towel, wearing a face of an angel with lips made for sin. Shit. If her face wasn’t enough, then there was her body. Her body was made for him. Like a fucking pin-up doll, with hourglass curves and an ass that had his hands aching to touch.

If he could have created his dream woman, she would have looked like the woman in his kitchen, and without thinking, his inner asshole had started talking for him. Assuming she was his new roommate’s woman or date from the night before. He had shot for smooth but knew he’d come off sleazy the moment the first word had escaped from his mouth.

But she hadn’t just let him use her as a doormat. Vulnerable in only a towel with a strange man in her home, she had dished it right back at him. He smiled, trying to ignore the way his cock wanted to harden at the thought of her. He didn’t know if he wanted to high-five her or spank her for it.

And damn, when she’d tripped and he’d caught her in his arms, he’d gone rock hard in zero to sixty milliseconds. He’d never had a reaction to a woman like that. Not even to his ex-wife when they’d first started to date as teenagers and teenage hormones had run rampant.

“Val’s fucking cute, man,” Garrett mentioned with way too much appreciation in his voice, and the hairs on Bryan’s neck bristled.

“What?” He felt his face turn into a fixed scowl. He didn’t like the easy way she had smiled at his oldest brother.

“Your roommate,” Garrett pointed out, and Bryan felt the jealousy start to bubble up. What is his problem? He wasn’t the possessive or jealous kind.

“What about her?” he asked, turning, trying to sound like he could give a shit.

“She’s fucking cute,” Garrett repeated, and he breathed in deep trying to act like she wasn’t anything to write home about.

“Eh.” He shrugged looking up at Garrett. The asshole was the tallest of the Wright brothers. GI-freaking-Joe body even after getting out of the service.

“Right, B,” Garrett scoffed, looking too amused.

“What?”

“Let’s keep pretending you didn’t notice.”

“I don’t know what—“

“You wanna act like you didn’t notice how hot she is, that’s on you. She is pretty freaking gorgeous.”

“She’s alright,” he mumbled, carrying a box toward the far end of the garage, looking at the sweet badass car in the garage.

“Right.” He could hear Garrett’s eyes rolling. “That’s why you weren’t drooling over her.”

“I don’t drool over any woman,” he stated, and Garrett’s obnoxious laughter, a sound he wasn’t used to hearing from his brother, rang in the air. And even if it was at his expense, Bryan enjoyed the sound.

“I was around when you first met Court.”

“No shit. I met Courtney when we were kids,” he huffed, not in the mood to talk about his ex-wife.

“What I’m saying is, I think you like your new little roomie.”

“Want me to braid your hair next? Afterwards, we can give each other a pedicure?” he asked like an asshole.

“So, you’re saying you didn’t notice your roommate is fucking hot? Like pin-up-model hot?”

“In those scrubs and those glasses?” He shrugged, trying to get a way to end this fucking conversation.

“Man, even in those scrubs she looked like a pin-up. And her voice. Holy fuck,” Garrett kept going, and he was done listening to his brother talk about his little blonde that way.

His blonde?

“She’s okay. A little too frumpy Plain Jane for me,” he said, not meaning it at all, just needing the conversation to end.

A quiet gasp and Garrett’s hushed curse hit his ears before silence fell all around the driveway, making him stop in his tracks. Turning around, a box in his hands, he locked his eyes with her pretty, jade-green ones. He watched hurt dissolve into indifference pretty quickly, but he had hurt her, and for that his gut roiled.

“I forgot to tell you to take out the trash. The truck comes by in the mornings. It was Vaughn’s job. Since you’re subletting, it’s now yours,” she clipped, heading back to her bike.

This time, he didn’t fight the urge to stand there and watch her. He stood, watching her full hips sway back and forth, as if on purpose. Her voluptuous ass hugging the back of her ugly scrubs. Without a second look at him, she rode away. A weird sensation hit his chest, almost like heartburn but duller, making him rub over his heart.

Yup. He’d totally fucked up.

But it’s better this way, he remined himself. Even if he could taste the sweet, minty freshness of her mouth and his hands felt like they’d memorized what she had felt like under them. It was better if she thought he was an uninterested dick.

He wasn’t looking for a happily ever after. He couldn’t give that to anyone. And everything about the blond goddess screamed she deserved one. He didn’t know how he knew that; he just did. One look at her, and any man in his right mind would want to tie her to him and never fucking let go.

Been there, done that, burned the fucking commemorative T-shirt.

He didn’t have what it took to give a woman a happily ever after that included a white picket fence and the two point five kids it went with.

He never would.

No matter how much he wanted it.