“That’s not the point. How are you here?”
But Brian didn’t seem to hear me. “We were going to celebrate with veal medallions in red wine reduction fromMarcio! Your favorite!”
“We are?” I hated veal.
“Werrrrre,” he repeated, pursing his lips. “Veal medallions don’t exactlykeep, you know. Especially not fortwo hours. They’re probably all dried out.”
“Right.” I rubbed my shoulder, which was aching like a bitch. “Sorry about that.”
“And now, on top of my completewaste of effort, we’re going to have to spend the weekend fixing sheetrock too! It’s a good thing you’re cute, Jamie.” Brian shook his head and his anger morphed into a fond smile. “But you’re still gonna owe me so many sexual favors.”
“Sexual… Wait, for what?”
“It’s fine,” he said, waving a hand. “This is going to make a hell of a funny story one day. Besides, I’ve never really been a fan of the red walls in here. They’resodated. This is an opportunity to do it over. Maybe then you’ll consider making over the rest of the place.” He glanced around the room thoughtfully. “How do you feel about navy blue? It’s bold, but with the right curtains, it could be iconic.”
“Navy blue?” I found myself looking around the room too, before shaking my head. “No.”
“No, you’re right. We’d have to refinish the table then,” he mused. “Wecould, though. And redo the floor too. Make it moreours.”
And just like that, everything Everett had been saying clicked.
I could try and try and try for a hundred years, and Brian would never fit into my life or into my house. I would never look at him the way Diane looked at Hen or talk about him with a smile in my voice the way Everett did with Silas. I thought being with Brian was better, easier, than being alone. Safer, even. But it wasn’t. And webothdeserved better.
“Brian,” I said sharply. “You don’t need to fix up the walls. You don’t live here.”
He blinked at me, brown eyes filled with hurt. “You don’t have to take that tone. I’m well aware! As if you hadn’t told me a hundred times that you hate having peoplein your space. As if you didn’tfreak outwhen I so much as left atoothbrushin your bathroom.” He set his jaw. “I happen to work for a construction company, Jameson. I just wanted to help.”
I tried to rotate my shoulder to ease the pain. “Look, it’s just—”
“I’m trying to behelpful,” he said. “I’m trying to show you that I care. That I’m ready to take things to the next level whenever you are.” He ruffled my hair and gave me a tentative smile.
I stood up, dislodging his hand, and slid the chair back along the floor with a loud scrape. “I thought we said no pressure.”
“I’m notpressuringyou. I—”
“Brian, how’d you get in here?”
He frowned. “With akey, obviously. Unlike some people, I don’t go around breaking walls and—”
“Which key?”
Brian sighed deeply. “The spare key from the drawer by the fridge. I grabbed it last time I was here. And don’tstress, okay? I already put it back.” He rolled his eyes. “I know you go crazy about that kind of thing.”
“Uh, yeah. You might say that. Considering last fall, a guy Iworked withconfessed to killing three people,including my own sistertwelve years ago.”
“Right. That.” Brian’s mouth twisted to the side for a second, before he recovered his smile. “But I also knew you wouldn’t mind once you saw the surprise.” He stepped closer so all five hundred acres of his nakedness and arousal were pressed against me, and I was so horribly and thoroughlynotinterestedI could have wept. “Youdon’tmind, do you?”
“Uh.” I took a step back, putting some distance between us. “Actually, yes.”
“What?”
“Yes,” I said again, more firmly this time. “I do mind. Brian, we need to talk. That’s what you wanted to do tonight, right? Talk?”
Brian’s eyes narrowed so quickly I almost wondered if I’d imagined it. He blinked innocently. “Ididsay that,” he agreed, stepping close once again. “But then I realized it’s been two weeks since we made love. So you might say I…realigned my priorities.” He wiggled his eyebrows and took a step closer again.
I took another step back, feeling my cock shrivel in my pants.
It made me shudder when he called it that.Making lovesounded so damn hokey. But it hadn’t sunk in that he used it as anything but a stupid turn of phrase until now.
