He held on for several seconds, then realized what he was doing. Unfortunately, his brain realized it seconds after the rest of his body did, and there was no way to hide his physical reaction to her nearness. His cock was rubbing against her delectable ass, pressing insistently against the zipper of his jeans, broadcasting his undeniable attraction to this woman.
“Is that a cell phone in your pocket, Mr. McCord?” she teased. “Or are youreallyhappy to see me?”
Brady released her and backed away, focusing on the breathing techniques that had always helped in stressful situations. And despite his better judgment, this was a stressful situation—possibly the most stressful he’d had in a long damn time.
The bells over the door jingled, and he knew without turning who it was. There was only one person it could be because that was the way this day was going for him.
“Hey, man. I was lookin’ for you,” Donovan said.
Brady glanced over his shoulder and jerked his chin in a silent greeting. He couldn’t turn around for obvious reasons. The last thing he needed was for Donovan to kick him in the teeth because he sported a hard-on the size of Texas in Reilly’s presence.
Donovan walked into the store, his forehead creased as he assessed the situation.
Brady started doing algebra in his head to wrangle his damn dick into submission.Two times two is four. Four times four is sixteen. Sixteen times sixteen is two fifty-six. Two fifty-six times—
“Hey, look,” Reilly sing-songed. “There he is now. You’re right. Hewasn’tunder the tree.” She threw up her hands. “Who knew?”
“What’s goin’ on?” Donovan asked, glancing between the two of them.
Brady was hoping Reilly would explain that he’d come in looking for Donovan so her brother didn’t think Brady was hanging around for the hell of it, but she hurried off to the back of the store, leaving him to deal with her overprotective, clearly not-happy brother.
Granted, Donovan was the reason Brady was there, so technically, the guy had no reason to be unhappy with him. Right?
Right.
Donovan leaned to the side, watching his sister scurry off. When he peered back at him, Brady had the ridiculous urge to assure him that nothing was going on between him and Reilly.
There wasn’t.
Then again, for as long as Brady could remember, he wished there was.
Okay, that wasn’t true. It hadn’t been all that long. A year or so. Maybe two. Fine. It was more like three, but it hadn’t been longer than that. That was a fact since Brady had been married before then, so he couldn’t have been interested in his best friend’s little sister.
Not that any of it mattered. Considering Reilly Jameson was fifteen years younger than Brady, he had absolutely no business wanting her at all. Ever. She was far too young for the likes of him. Young and uncorrupted, unlike Brady.
“Do you have the papers?” Brady asked when his dick began to simmer down.
“I stopped by to pick them up, but they weren’t open. I’ll try again in a couple of hours.”
Brady nodded.
“You wanna grab some lunch or somethin’?” Donovan asked, moving toward the register.
Brady stared at him, trying to remember why the hell he’d come here in the first place.
Thankfully, the door swung open, the bells jingling merrily to announce a customer.
***
Oh, man.
Oh man, oh man, oh man.
Reilly stood in the small stock room at the back of the store, her palms flat on the wall as she tried to catch her breath. Her smile was so wide her cheeks hurt and her breaths were sawing in and out of her lungs.
Her body tingled. It actually freaking tingled from Brady’s touch. Even now, when he wasn’t touching her, she could feel the heat of him, the solid steel of his body as he held her close. And she couldn’t forget that unmistakable bulge in his pants. The one that had been pressed against her ass only a few moments ago.
Reilly: 1.
