Skin Deep 3 Skin to Skin J.M.Stone

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.But he admitted that he wanted me again and that was huge giventhe fact that he d used the friend speech on me not too long ago.I let Grady out into the backyard, grateful that it was completely fenced in, and let him run wild whileI made a couple cups of coffee.I took them out onto the back porch with me and sat, cradling my cupin my hands as I watched the puppy chase a bird along the fence line.Brandon came out and sat beside me, having pulled on a pair of jeans and nothing else.Bare chestedand bare foot& holy hell, I wanted nothing more than to kneel at the altar of Sinfully Sexy Ass Menand thank the Chief of Staff for such a glorious bounty of hotness.We drank our coffee in the sunlight,watching the gamboling pup with amusement as he chased anything that moved, or even looked like itwould move, including his tail.After a while, Brandon stood and stretched, kissing me on the head as he took his empty cup inside.Ifollowed him, calling for Grady and bringing him inside with me.I dug out some of his toys and hepounced on them delightedly, falling for the distraction just like I d hoped.Brandon had disappeared down the hallway again, I m assuming to get dressed. You have a lot ofappointments today? I called to him.He walked into the living room where I was standing, still pulling his shirt over his head so hiswords were muffled at first. Yeah, I have quite a few, and of course we take walk-ins if we can.Why?I shrugged. No real reason, I ve just been actually contemplating getting another tattoo.His eyebrows rose and he gave me a quizzical look. Really? That d be& wait, another? You saidanother tattoo? he asked.I nodded and then regretted mentioning it to him as he approached me playfully, hands going to the tieof my robe and pulling.He was grinning and waggling his eyebrows at me, but I couldn t help thepanic that bubbled up.I was naked under my robe and it was pure daylight! I forced a laugh andslapped his hands away, hoping to put him off without offending him, or making him think I washiding something from him.Which I was, but&He pulled his hands back and his face closed up, eyes going cloudy and dark.He shut me out as Iwatched, all playfulness gone, the tender man of last night a memory.I swallowed hard, my heart sinking to the floor.I felt like an asshole, but there was just too much thatno one knew and things about me that I wasn t ready to share, not even with the man I was falling for.And crap on a cracker, I was falling for him hard. Ummm& so maybe I could set something up with you? Would you tattoo me? I asked, forcing a lighttone and trying to salvage any tiny little piece of the morning I could.He nodded sharply and replied, Yeah.Just let me know when you re ready.I ll see you later, I vegotta get to the shop. He turned on his heel and within moments, his boots were on, keys in hand, andhe was gone.I sank onto the couch, a sick feeling in my stomach.And that feeling was fear that I d just fuckedthings up before they d even had a chance to really get going.My phone rang about twenty minutes later.I d missed it by the time I got back to the bedroom where itwas still plugged into my charger, even though I d run like mad, hoping it was Brandon.I picked it upto see who it was and couldn t help the sigh of disappointment that escaped as I noticed it was Emmawho d called.I walked back out to the living room and sat, watching Grady play with his toys on the carpet while Icalled her back.She answered without preamble, asking, What the hell did you do to Brandon? He-uh-whuh& Ex-Excuse me? I stuttered, taken aback by her no-nonsense, but still friendly tone. He was at your house last night, he said he was just gonna stay there for a while since Luke and Ilike to play slap and tickle a little too much, and now he comes stomping in this morning and aboutbites my head off when I mention your name.So, again, what the hell did you do to him? she askedbriskly.I finally found my voice. I didn t do anything, Emma& I said, hesitantly.Okay, so that was a littlefib, but it s not like I could tell her, oh, I just pissed him off because I wouldn t let him see menaked after he fucked the living daylights out of me all night long, you know?She snorted. Yeah, and I m the friggin Pope. After a lengthy sigh, she said, wryly, Why don t youcome down here and talk to him, then? Fix whatever might be wrong because, honey, he s in a pisspoor mood and I m pregnant.That s a bad combination. I can t come down there.Allie dumped Grady at my house this morning in a drive-by-drop-off onher way to Cincinnati with Jacks.He woke me up standing on my chest.Emma was quiet for a moment. She did what? she asked, laughing. That sneaky little bitch.Shedidn t go to Cincinnati with Jacks.She s at home! What do you mean, she s at home? I asked her, incredulously.Emma s laughter rang out through the phone, the clear, gleeful sound making me smile. Grady got ahold of two of Jackson s shoes and chewed them up.And not of the same pair, either! Hewas threatening to do bad things to the poor little thing and Allie was so worried she must have snuckhim out to your house away from Jacks! Emma was laughing harder now. Oh, my God& she- wait, what? Jackson was threatening to do bad things? Like what? I wasgenuinely taken aback by that because I knew my brother and he d never hurt a hair on an animal shead, let alone his Grady.He loves that dog! He wouldn t hurt Grady! Allie said he threatened to& she dropped her voice and whispered in mock fear/affront, make himan outside dog!Holding back a giggle, I played along, No! He didn t! Jackson would never say those evil words&tell me it isn t so!Emma busted out laughing and I joined in, sobering shortly after when she asked if I was comingdown to the shop.I sighed. I really can t Emma.I don t want to leave Grady here alone in the house because Alliedidn t drop his crate off.She quickly waved away my excuse when she said, Just bring him with you.Call when you get hereand I ll just run him home.I have to go let DJ out anyway, and pick up lunch for the guys so it allworks out.Just get here and fix him! Fine, I said begrudgingly.We hung up and I gathered all of Grady s things, piling both of us into the car and heading downtownto Skin Deep, dread building in the pit of my stomach with every mile.Chapter 8Fifteen minutes later, Emma was gone, taking the wiggling little puppy from me with a jaunty waveand a casual, Good luck, thrown over her shoulder as she left without a backwards glance.The dread was still hanging heavy in my belly, and I had to force myself to walk into the shop,flinching when the first face I saw darkened in a scowl immediately. Hey. It came out timid but not shaky, thank God.He jerked his head at me in acknowledgement butdidn t speak.On a sigh, I crossed the floor to the counter where he was sitting. Can we talk for a minute,Brandon? Please?He shrugged his shoulder at me and waved a hand as if to say, go ahead. Look.I m sorry about this morning, but there s just things& I just don t& I have scars.It took me a second to get it out, but after a faltering start, the words tripped off my tongue anddropped like a bomb into the silence stretched out between us.I squeezed my eyes tightly closed, notwanting to see his face, not even breathing as I waited for his response.When the silence continued unbroken, I cracked one eye open and peeked at him [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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