He gave me a sad smile. “Duke is like a brother to me. He and I have been through hell and back since we were nineteen. The trust we have is airtight—or was.”
“There’s no crime in being attracted to each other,” I said.
“Maybe not, but what we just did can never happen again.” His voice hitched.
It felt like he’d knocked the wind out of me. In part, I could understand the war Brian was fighting between what he wanted and his loyalty to my brother. I’d known Brian a long time, and he was as stubborn as Duke. But I wasn’t one to give up.
I slid between him and the window, the cold glass grounding me and clearing my head. “You can’t live by Duke’s rules. You need to go after what you want.” I slipped my fingers into the waistband of his jeans and held on to his belt.
He gazed down at me, his green eyes nailing me to the window with warmth and passion. “And what do you want?”
“Lots of things. Freedom from the chains of my past. A man who will love me for who I am and doesn’t define me by what happened to me. A family of my own. Kids. Honesty. Trust. Happiness.”
“You don’t have any of those things now?” He searched my face.
I bit my lip. “No, that’s my truth. What’s yours?”
A grin spread across his handsome face. “The same as yours, except I don’t want a man but a woman who will love me.”
I giggled. “Good to know you don’t swing that way.”
He joined me, and the sound of his laughter made me sigh.
Then he lifted my arms over my head and pinned me against the cool glass. “You’re making me crazy, baby girl.” He dragged his nose along my neck.
My chest rose and fell as I moaned, feeling his erection pressed into me. “Whatever happened to ‘vanilla bean’? That’s what you used to call me.”
He eased away, smirking. “You remember that?”
I pushed off the window, fixing my crinkled blouse. “Of course. I even remember the day Duke brought you home.” I’d been twelve, and my belly had flipped like that of a gymnast performing a mat routine.
Crap, I’d brought up Duke’s name.
An edgy quietness stretched between us as his wheels turned. “Seriously, Grace. We can’t do this again.”
As much as I hurt, I wasn’t about to beg a man for his affection or push him into anything. That wasn’t me. However, Iwanted to knock some sense into Brian so he would stand up for what he wanted.
I’d talked to Duke on the way to Emma’s checkup. My brother was thrilled that Kelton and Judge Dixon had come to an agreement on my penance. What he wasn’t happy about was Brian. He felt betrayed. But that wasn’t my story to tell. It wasn’t for me to play referee either.
I grabbed my purse, holding back tears. “If it makes any difference, Dillon supports you and me.”
“I’m not the man for you.” He tucked his hands into his jeans pockets. He looked boyish, like he’d lost his best friend.
Irritation scraped along my arms despite my feeling that I was driving a wedge between him and Duke. “That’s not for you to decide.” My tone was caustic. “And it’s not Duke’s decision either.” I pinned him with a glare. “I’m a grown-ass woman. I might not know how to love a man or even give myself to one, but I know who I want, and I can make my own decisions.” I stomped across the room to the door, my heart punching my ribs like a boxer in a ring.
“Grace.”
I didn’t turn around.
“Did you still need my help?”
I pivoted on my heel. “That’s your response to what I just said? Unbelievable. No, I don’t need your help. I figured out the answer myself.”
“Liar.”
He knew me well. I didn't have any idea how to find out if John’s son was targeting me. But I’d thought a lot about it during the last week, and opening that can of worms would only cause more issues. I needed to move on.
More importantly, I didn’t want to use Brian. I’d also thought a lot about what Duke had said outside Deek’s Bar last week, about how I used Dom to help me when Miguel was hunting medown. I didn’t want to do that with Brian. I’d had no romantic feelings for Dom at the time, but I couldn’t say the same now about Brian. All it had taken was one taste, one touch, and that crush was morphing into something deeper.
