Chapter Fourteen

Brett tossed his suit in a bag for the dry cleaner and left his bedroom in search of a snack. A full meal would have to wait until Jen arrived, but if he didn’t grab something in the meantime, his insides were going to digest themselves. He’d had groceries delivered this week, so he had no shortage of options tonight. Having a fully stocked kitchen also meant he and Jen could stay locked inside all weekend and not venture out to any restaurants. The last few times they’d dined out, he’d felt as if they sat in a giant fishbowl. People had no qualms about watching them. They didn’t have any problem approaching him when they were out either. If he was alone or with Carl, he didn’t mind the unexpected interruptions. It was all part of being a public figure. When he was with Jen it was different. They had a limited amount of time together. He didn’t want to waste it talking to businessmen or other politicians. When it happened, Jen brushed off his apologies and insisted it wasn’t a big deal. He appreciated her constant understanding, but knew it might not last forever.

After he grabbed a beer, he raided what had turned into his snack cabinet. He’d loaded it with all his favorite junk food as well as Jen’s so she’d have it when she came over. He’d even added several boxes of dog treats to the kitchen closet for Bo, who was another regular visitor. In fact, Bo even had his own dog bed in the living room now.

Tonight he pulled out the roasted almonds and tossed back a handful before he even closed the cabinet door. Brett washed them down before carrying both the beer and nuts back to the living room. While he waited for both his furniture delivery and Jen, he’d catch the baseball scores from today’s earlier games. He had no idea how long he’d be waiting. Jen hadn’t been able to tell him exactly when she’d get here. She and Kristen had taken their scout troop on a nature hike this morning as part of their animal habitats badge, whatever that was. She’d promised to come over as soon as they finished. The furniture company had given him a delivery window of between four and seven. So it was likely he’d have time to catch part of the Boston-Baltimore game slated to start at five.

Brett switched on the sports channel. Instead of the popular commenters being on the screen, an ad for Ted Smith greeted him. He ignored it and ate another handful of nuts while a faceless voice droned on about Smith’s political expertise and stressed how tirelessly he’d worked during his time as lieutenant governor. The ad ended by asking voters what they wanted in Washington, someone with tested political experience or a novice. The question caught his attention.

Novice, my ass. He’d never held an office but his dad and his uncles had. He knew what went on both in the Senate and behind closed doors in Washington.

The doorbell stopped him from taking another swig of beer. As much as he wanted to see Jen, he hoped it was the men with his new furniture outside and not her. He hadn’t told her he’d ordered the stuff she’d deemed necessary weeks ago, and he wanted to see the surprise on her face when she saw it.

Neither Jen nor his new furniture waited on the porch. “Leah.” They hadn’t spoken since the fund-raiser in Boston, which wasn’t unusual. He’d never been much for lengthy phone convos. “Come on in.” He gave her a hug after she walked in and then closed the door. “What are you doing out this way?” For the past several years, Leah had called Connecticut home and, like his cousin Scott, worked in New York City.

“Tory is flying in for a friend’s wedding this week. I’m meeting her in Boston. We’ve got plans for the night,” Leah answered, referring to Victoria Sherbrooke, their second cousin and one of Leah’s best friends. The two of them had been born two weeks apart and had roomed together at Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire.

As far as far Brett knew, Tory still lived in California but made regular visits to the east coast, although he couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen her. And he was okay with that. He’d never been close to her or her brother. Truthfully, he’d never been close to any of the Sherbrookes on the west coast.

“Courtney’s coming with us.”

He hadn’t seen his cousin Courtney since his move back, even though she worked in Boston. According to Aunt Marilyn, Courtney’s mom, she’d planned to attend the fund-raiser at the Harbor House but the flu had knocked his cousin on her butt. “Tell Court I said hi,” he said.

Leah nodded and looked around the sparsely furnished living room. “Seriously, Brett, you need to do some decorating in here. I’ve seen patient waiting rooms with more character than this.” She dropped her oversized purse on the coffee table. He never understood why she carried around something so large. The thing was big enough to conceal a twenty-pound medicine ball. “My offer still stands. I’ll take care of everything for you, all you need to do is give me a key.” She pointed across the room toward Bo’s bed. “And what’s with the dog bed? I don’t see a dog. Do you make guests sit there?”

“Don’t worry, I’m working on it.” He loved his sister, but he’d ask Jen’s ten-year-old niece to decorate long before he’d let Leah do it. “The bed is for Jen’s dog. She usually brings Bo when she spends the weekend. But if you want to use it, feel free.”

“If even her dog has a bed here, you are in deep.” She plucked a few almonds from the container he’d left on the coffee table. “Courtney and I were speculating who’d get engaged next, since her brother already took the plunge. We both thought it would be Curt, but if Jen’s dog has a bed here, maybe it’ll be you.”

“I guess you and our dear cousin do need something more interesting than fashion to discuss.” Brett waited for the reaction the comment would earn him.

“Oh please. I heard all about the betting pool Trent and Jake have going, so none of you are any better.” Leah grabbed a few more nuts before heading for the kitchen. “I hope your fridge has more stuff in it than this room.”

***

Since a bright red Porsche was parked in Brett’s driveway, Jen pulled to the curb in front of his house. She didn’t know who owned the car, but she hoped it wasn’t Carl. She’d spent enough time in the man’s presences at the fund-raiser to last her a lifetime. And that was saying a lot. She usually could tolerate being around anyone. Carl, though, had rubbed her the wrong way.

“Come on, Bo.” She grabbed his leash and her purse. If Carl was here, she’d have to deal with it until he and Brett finished whatever issues they had.

She gave Bo a chance to take care of business before stepping onto the porch. The previous weekend they’d sat out there and enjoyed breakfast. She hoped they had the opportunity to do so again tomorrow, assuming the rain held off. If not, maybe she’d surprise Brett and serve him breakfast in bed. The man certainly deserved to be pampered a little when he got some downtime.

The front door swung open, and Leah rather than Brett greeted her. “My brother’s upstairs on the phone with Carl,” she said, explaining why she’d answered the door and not Brett. “I’m not sure how Brett stands working with the man.”

She’d had similar thoughts herself. “Brett says he’s one of the best.”

“Dad says the same thing, but there’s something about him I don’t like. Since I don’t have to work with him, it doesn’t really matter.”

Once again Jen shared Leah’s opinion.

Jen walked inside and stopped short. When she’d left last weekend, only the sofa and coffee table had been keeping the silly large-screen television company. Now, armchairs and two end tables helped fill the room. “He got furniture.”

Leah laughed. “I know. Really, it’s about time. I was thinking about going and ordering it for him.”

The gray leather chairs matched the gray sofa well, but they weren’t what she would’ve picked out. In her opinion, the room needed some color. The walls were a boring off-white, and he’d never bothered to hang any pictures. The windows remained bare expect for the blinds, and the hardwood floors were beautiful but plain. She would’ve gone with some furniture in blue or perhaps dark purple instead. While she was at it, she’d also add an area rug to the room and some curtains.

“He even bought a kitchen table,” Leah said.

“No way,” Jen said with exaggerated surprise. “This I have to see.”

“When they delivered the furniture tonight, I was stunned too. I can’t believe it took him so long. He’s owned the home for a year.” Leah leaned down and scratched Bo behind the ears. “You must be Bo.” The dog rewarded Brett’s sister by licking her hand. “I saw your bed in the corner.”

“I think he prefers your brother’s sofa.”

Brett entered the room and came straight toward her. “And the bed in the guest bedroom.”

They had found Bo asleep in the room down the hall from the master bedroom more than once. Not that she blamed Bo. At home he slept with her, and a real mattress had to be more comfortable than his dog bed. Brett didn’t give her a chance to comment or even say hello. Instead his mouth covered hers hungrily, sending spirals of ecstasy through her body despite the fact his sister stood in the room mere inches away.

As if from a great distance, she heard someone clear her throat. Then the sound came a second time.

“Hello,” Leah said. “I’m still standing here. Can you save it for after I leave?”

When Jen realized Brett had no intention of ending their kiss even though they had an audience, she pulled away.

“You know where the door is, sis. Make sure you close it on your way out.” Brett winked at Jen and lowered his lips toward her neck.

Leah crossed her arms and treated her brother to a glare capable of freezing a person solid. “I support your campaign and this how you treat me. Typical.” Her frown faltered and a smile peeked out. “Jen, maybe you can finally teach my brother some manners.”

“It might be too much of a challenge for me, but I’ll do my best.” Jen giggled when Brett tickled her. “Since I’m starving and someone finally invested in a kitchen table, maybe you can give me some pointers over dinner.” Brett tickled the spot at the base of her spine again, but this time she swatted his hand away.

“Love to. I’m not meeting Tory and Courtney at Platinum until nine.”

***

She grabbed a pepper off Brett’s pizza and popped it in her mouth. He’d left the food behind while he took another phone call from Carl. It was the third time he’d spoken with Carl since she’d arrived. Either the man didn’t care or didn’t realize Brett needed a life outside the campaign. If Brett did win the election, was this what he had to look forward to? Constant phone calls at all times of the day and night? She hoped not.

“He won’t call again tonight.” Brett dropped onto the sofa and pulled her legs across his lap again. “And assuming no other relatives make a surprise visit, we should be alone for the rest of the weekend.”

Jen hadn’t minded the visit with Leah. “I like your sister. She reminds me a little of Kristen.”

He reached for his plate. With his sister over, they’d ordered pizza and saved the two filets he’d intended to grill tonight for tomorrow night. “She’s got her moments.” Brett raised the pepper-and-clam-topped pizza toward his mouth. “They are few and far between, but she has them.”

His comment earned him a poke in the side. “Oh my God. You’re so full of it,” Jen said. “It’s obvious you’d do anything for her. And vice versa. You’re lucky to have such a great family.”

Brett shook his head. “I plead the fifth. Should we put the movie back on?”

She watched his lips close around the pizza. The man really did have not only the most gorgeous mouth but also the most talented one. He could clear every thought from her head with a single kiss. And the way he made her body react when he used his lips on her breasts or anywhere else brought her to her proverbial knees every time. Even just looking at them now and thinking about how it felt when he wrapped them around a nipple sent heat to her core.

“Sure,” she said in an attempt to keep her mind on something other than how much she wanted to tug him off to bed and have her way with him. While she planned on doing just that again tonight, she’d at least let him finish his late-night snack first. Jen hit Play on the remote control. “You know what this room still needs?”

“No.”

“Curtains. Maybe a rug too,” she answered, looking around the living room rather than at the television screen. “What do you think?”

Brett shrugged and reached for the second slice of pizza on his plate. “There are some in my bedroom. I got them this week. I just haven’t had time to figure out how to hang them.”

Jen knew he’d been out all week attending one event or another. “When did you manage to do so much shopping?”

“There’s this great invention called the internet. You can log on and order whatever you need from stores. Then it gets shipped to you.”

His comment didn’t deserve anything more than an eye roll. “You ordered your furniture from a website?” She purchased everything from books to cooking pans on the internet, but furniture was different. Before she invested in a chair or a sofa, she wanted to sit on it, test it out and make sure she found it comfortable.

“And the curtains.” He took a large bite of his pizza. “Ordered all the food in the kitchen on the internet too. The store delivered it right to the door.”

Until the election was over, she agreed he needed all the help he could get when it came to everyday tasks. “I wish I lived closer. Then I could do things like grocery shop for you.”

Brett set aside his plate and ran a hand up her thigh and under the hem of her pajama shorts. Her skin prickled at his touch. “I wish you lived closer too.” His voice grew husky. “If you did, I’d have you help me with other things all the time.” He slipped one finger under her panties and touched her. Desire shot through her and she got wet. “Maybe you can help me with them now.”

He dipped his finger inside, and her muscles clenched around him. “I’m more than happy to help you anytime, anywhere.” Jen sealed her promise with a kiss, ending conversation for a while.