Playing with Dynamite
Leanne Banks

www.millsandboon.co.uk

As a demolition expert, Brick Pendleton is used to being in complete control. So he’s shaken when his lover extinguishes their explosive affair before he’s ready to say good-bye. He’s never felt about any woman the way he feels about Lisa Ransom, but that doesn’t mean he can give her what she wants most of all: marriage and family.

Lisa knew from the start that Brick wasn’t looking for a wife, but couldn’t stop herself from falling for him anyway. Though the last nine months have been the most passionate of her life, she can’t stay in a relationship that’s going nowhere. And since the one man she wants isn’t interested in committing, Lisa sets out to find a man who will.

Brick can’t stand the thought of Lisa in another man’s arms, and does everything in his power to tempt her back into his. But if he’s going to hold on to the only woman he’ll ever love, he’s going to have to face up to his fears of forever.

Previously published.

This book is dedicated to all who feel the fear…and do it anyway.

Author’s Note

The technical knowledge required for blasting with explosives covers the gamut of chemistry, engineering, geology, etc. Amazingly enough, a certified blaster learns his craft primarily through on-the-job training instead of books. This could have made my research for Playing with Dynamite very difficult if I hadn’t had access to Dennis Gould, technical consultant/certified blaster extraordinaire of Piedmont Explosives. Thank you, Dennis, for your patience and generosity. I must also thank the Demolition Contractors’ Association of America for sharing information, and Alexander/Scott Inc. for providing pictures of nonelectric detonators. For clarification on another issue broached in this book, I’d like to thank the Anxiety Disorders Association of America.

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Epilogue

Chapter One

“It’s time to fish or cut bait, Brick.”

Lisa Ransom’s husky voice seeped through Brick Pendleton’s mind at some semiconscious level. Several moments had passed, yet his body still pulsed with the exquisite sensations of sexual release. Their lovemaking had seemed even more intense than usual.

He had seduced her with persistence and care until she had turned the tables and her hands had gently inflamed him. The heady scent of her arousal had narrowed his awareness to her and only her. Her soft gasp of pleasure as he sank his hard flesh deep into hers had torn at his control, but it had been the signs of her climax both inside and out that had put him straight over the edge. When Lisa held him, she held him with her smooth thighs, her moist femininity, her trembling arms, and with the dazed satisfaction on her face. She held him with everything.

At the moment, he could identify with the buildings he demolished every day. He felt gloriously wasted, and he’d loved every minute of it.

He reached for the woman responsible for his current state of sensual repletion and his hand encountered her foot. He frowned, his sense of well-being abruptly altered. She had apparently sat up in bed.

Fish or cut bait.

“Fish?” he repeated, pulling his hand back and rubbing his face in an effort to clear his head.

“Yes,” she said in a tense way that caused a sinking sensation in his gut. He had an uncomfortable premonition about what was coming. Reluctantly, he shook off his sexual lethargy and sat up in bed too.

“It’s what I was trying to tell you before you—before we—” Lisa exhaled in frustration. “Before we ended up here. I’ve tried to tell you, but you always managed to distract me. Brick, I want a baby.”

His breath lodged somewhere between his heart and throat. He stared at Lisa. Her long brown hair tumbled past her shoulders to the rose-colored sheet she clenched above her breasts. In the last six months, he’d made it his personal mission to learn every one of the five feet ten inches that comprised her luscious body, including the inches concealed by that cotton sheet. He knew she possessed the hourglass figure of his secret dreams along with a sweet, sensual generosity that had always brought him the greatest satisfaction.

Plus, she wasn’t the least bit intimidated by his large size, and since Brick was over six-three, he was accustomed to women being intimidated by him. Lisa, however, was fascinated by his size, and it had been his ultimate pleasure to indulge her fascination.

Touching her aroused his most primitive sexual instincts to a fever pitch. Exploring her personality…well, it sounded kind of smarmy, but the woman made him smile. He liked making her blush and laugh. And though he’d have a tough time explaining it, he liked the slightly awkward way she tried to make him welcome in her home. He worried that others would take advantage of her kind nature, so it was natural that he felt protective of her. With the exception of this baby thing she’d been hinting about for the last two months, Brick had been more than satisfied with their relationship.

He studied her face, noting that her lips were puffy from his kisses and she wasn’t smiling. Her usually warm green eyes were clouded with a faint sadness. And she’d just told him she wanted a baby. A sick feeling settled low in his belly.

“Baby?” He’d hoped this was a passing phase. He reached over the side of the bed for the roll of antacids in his jeans’ pocket. “You’ve got plenty of time to have a baby. You’re just twenty-nine and—”

“Thirty.”

Brick jerked back around to stare at her. “You didn’t tell me. When was your birthday?”

She pulled the sheet up higher on her chest. “A week and a half ago. You were out of town for three weeks on that special job for the Andersons.”

Discomfort simmered inside him. He’d been seeing Lisa for nine months, and for the last six they’d been intimate. He should have known when she’d had her birthday. Why hadn’t he thought to ask? “I called you when I was gone. You didn’t mention it.”

Lisa gave a little shrug. “You didn’t ask, and you didn’t call that particular day.”

Feeling as if he was a day late and a dollar short, Brick shook his head. “I sure as hell wish I had. Well, what did you do? Go to your parents’ and celebrate?”

Lisa’s eyelashes swept down like shutters over her eyes. “No. Senada gave me a little party.”

Lisa’s business partner, Senada, was one more reason for Brick to be chewing antacids. The woman was wild, and he didn’t particularly like her influence over Lisa. Despite her age, Lisa had a rare innocence about her that appealed greatly to Brick. “What kind of little party?”

“It wasn’t that big of a deal. She and a few other friends surprised me at the office.”

“She probably brought in an army of male strippers,” Brick muttered under his breath.

“Only one,” Lisa countered. She must have registered his disapproval because she quickly went on. “But my birthday’s not the real issue. It just helped me confirm what’s been on my mind for a long time. The issue is that I want a baby.”

Brick thumbed another tablet from the roll and popped it into his mouth. “Thirty’s still young.”

“I know, but I don’t want to wait until I’m thirty-five or forty and feeling desperate.” Lisa pushed back her hair. “It’s hard to explain, Brick. I just have this strong, strong feeling that now is when I want to have a baby.”

There was dead silence except for him crunching the tablet between his teeth. Brick felt Lisa’s expectant gaze on him. Marriage. His stomach twisted violently. “I’m not ready.”

Another dead silence followed his words. She squared her shoulders. “That’s what I thought,” she managed in a quiet, unsteady voice.

Appearing to brace herself, she took a deep breath and gave a tremulous smile. “It wouldn’t be fair for me to try to badger you into changing your mind, and I wouldn’t be happy staying in this—” she waved her hand searchingly “—non-relationship. So we can’t keep—” Her voice broke off, and she took a few seconds to get back on track.

“I can’t tell you how much these last months have meant to me. Being with you has made me more confident. I need to thank you for that and for everything you’ve taught me about myself.” She looked away self-consciously. “And for everything you’ve taught me about men.”

Everything you’ve taught me about men! Reeling from that last statement, Brick watched in utter disbelief as Lisa rose from the bed and quickly pulled on her robe. She set his clothes on the bed beside him. Lisa was talking, but he couldn’t hear for the roar in his ears.

He got out of bed and planted himself directly in front of her. “You’re dumping me!”

Lisa blinked. “I wouldn’t really call it dumping.” Her gaze slid away from him. “Would you please get dressed?”

Frustration bucked through him. “What’s the matter? You don’t like my body anymore?”

Lisa shot him a dark look. “I never said I didn’t like your body. It’s just distracting for you to stand there stark naked when we’re trying to talk.”

Brick saw the resolute expression on her face and swore. In heated silence, he jerked on his jeans and shirt. “If you wouldn’t call it dumping, then what would you call it?”

Lisa sighed. “We want different things. I want family and commitment. You want a good time. It’s stupid for us to continue to want things from each other that we just can’t give. I’ve been reading some books on the subject, and—”

Brick groaned and sat down on the bed to pull on his shoes. Not another one of those women’s self-help books. They would be the death of him yet.

“—they say it’s better if you make a clean break in this case. It has taken me two months to be able to do it, but I think it’s for the best.” Her voice wavered as if she were fighting back tears.

Brick was dealing with a surprisingly sharp pain in his chest. He stood. “So this is it?” he asked, still not quite able to comprehend it. “After nine months of being together, this is it.”

Lisa closed her eyes, appearing to gather her composure. “I guess it is,” she finally said in a small voice as she opened her eyes. “I wish—” She pressed her lips together and shook her head as if she’d made a vow not to make any more wishes concerning him.

With every passing second, she seemed to grow farther and farther away from him. She’d taken him by surprise, and he was left not knowing what to do. He’d been completely faithful to her and as thoughtful as he knew how to be. He’d also, however, assumed he had the upper hand in their relationship and always evaded any discussion about commitment. He was battling confusion at the same time he realized that she meant what she was saying. She meant to end it, and he wasn’t ready for that either. He plowed his fingers through his hair, not knowing what the hell to do or say. “Can I kiss you?”

Wrapping her arms around herself, Lisa took a step back. She shook her head again. “I don’t think it would be a good idea.”

Her refusal cut like a knife. “Then why’d you go—” He gestured toward the bed.

“I—I hadn’t really intended to, but you—”

“But I was ready and raring to go the second I saw you. Like I always am,” he finished in disgust, recalling her slight hesitation when he’d kissed the breath out of her and carried her to bed. Feeling lost, he shoved his hands in his pockets. “I guess this is goodbye.”

Lisa’s eyes welled with tears. “I guess it is,” she whispered.

Brick walked to the front door and put his hand on the cold doorknob. He hesitated. This was nuts. Maybe they could talk about it some more. Maybe Lisa could wait a little longer. Wait for what? his conscience chided. He was never going to get married and have children. Something inside him rebelled at the thought of not being with her anymore, though. Having no idea what he could say, he turned. “Lisa?”

“Go on,” Lisa urged. Her body was more shadow than substance in the dark hallway, but her voice was sure. “You’ve already said goodbye.”

With a bitter taste in his mouth, Brick opened the door and walked out.

Lisa didn’t breathe until she heard his footsteps completely fade away. Panic squeezed her chest like a huge rubber band, and she breathed so quickly, she feared she might hyperventilate. She grabbed a paper bag from a cabinet beneath the kitchen sink and yanked it over her head. She concentrated on breathing slowly and deeply.

Lord help her, she’d done it. After two months of rehearsing and letting futile wishes die, she’d ended her relationship with Brick Pendleton.

It would be easier to dismiss Brick if he were shallow or cruel, but Lisa knew better. He’d been fair and square with her from the beginning. Marriage wasn’t in his plans, he’d told her, and she’d accepted his stand until her feelings had grown to where she couldn’t conceal them. She knew Brick had been promoted to a division director in his business because of his hard work, honesty and fairness. He had the respect of not only his profession, but the whole community.

He was a man of action and compassion. When the Midwest had suffered from horrible floods, he’d organized a relief program that had benefited the flood victims and the citizens of Chattanooga who’d watched the devastation on the news every night and felt helpless.

He’d been a passionate and thoughtful lover. He always held her after they made love, and there’d been a few times she sensed the holding had been as much for him as it had been for her.

And she’d just told him goodbye.

“It’s the right thing to do,” she repeated to herself for the two hundredth time, and pulled the bag from her head.

She turned off the lights and went back to her bedroom. The bed was a tumbled mess, and the air seemed to mock her with his scent. Ignoring the quick clutch in her heart, Lisa stripped the bed and immediately tossed the sheets into the washer. She sprayed air freshener until she nearly choked from the “fresh spring” scent.

Lisa would be the first to admit she’d never been comfortable around men. Since she was a child, she’d always been the tallest girl in the class, and she hadn’t carried her height gracefully until a few years before when she’d stopped trying so hard to figure out how to attract men. Ironically, at the same time it seemed men had begun to notice her, but Lisa had plunged herself into making her catering business a success. Except for an occasional date, she focused her time and energy on her career. It was something she found she had a measure of control over, and that gave her the biggest rush she’d ever experienced.

Until Brick. When she’d first started dating him, one of her friends had warned her that she was playing with dynamite. Lisa had laughed and assumed the woman was making a little pun since Brick was an expert in demolition. Now, however, she knew the truth. Brick had turned her life upside down. He’d made her acutely aware of her femininity, her sexuality and, ultimately, her womanhood. Although he would be horrified to know it, he was responsible for bringing the desire for hearth and home to the surface.

For years Lisa had buried her secret wishes and desires beneath a more practical facade, but now she could no longer ignore the wishes of the real Lisa. The real Lisa had the audacity to want a man to share her life with, and a baby. According to five books she’d read in the last few months, there was no reason she couldn’t have what she wanted. It just took a little strategy and a lot of practicality, starting with the end of her non-relationship with Brick.

She looked at the sets of sheets in her linen closet and felt a strange tug. Brick had made love to her on every single set except one. Desperately fighting back a wave of melancholy, she unwrapped the brand-new sheets and put them on her queen-size bed. She took a shower in an attempt to delete the memory of his most recent possession of her.

Her teeth brushed and hair dried, Lisa turned off the light and slipped beneath the covers. The sheets were crisp to the point of scratchy. Her head ached from the too-sweet scent of the air freshener. Her eyes burned from holding back tears. Her stomach felt sick with regret. And her heart, oh Lord, her heart just plain hurt.

Suddenly, it was too much. She closed her eyes against hot tears spilling down her cheeks. Her body jerked from a broken sob. She’d known it was going to hurt, but she’d never dreamed she’d feel ripped apart. All her spraying and washing might get rid of Brick on the outside. But how, she wondered, could she get rid of him on the inside?

Three weeks later, Lisa went out with Mark, a nice, quiet tax attorney who would probably make someone a fine husband. Although she didn’t feel the faintest spark of attraction toward him, Lisa was determined to keep an open mind. After seeing a movie, they went to the bar where she’d first met Brick. She was uneasy from the moment she set foot in the place. She’d done her best to avoid Brick and the places they’d frequented.

Her skin buzzing with trepidation, she ordered a Margarita to calm her nerves. An odd mix of disappointment and relief fell over her when she didn’t see Brick, and she made idle conversation with the oh-so-serious tax attorney. Spotting a business associate, her date excused himself. In his absence, Lisa stared at the table and easily recalled the dozens of reasons why she’d always hated first dates.

“How’ve you been, Lisa?”

The low, husky voice jerked her attention away from the tabletop. Lisa stared at Brick, taking in his tousled brown hair and questioning eyes.

The memory of the first moment they’d met hit her like a cyclone. He carried his size with masculine ease. That was the first thing that had impressed her. She’d had a difficult time keeping her gaze off of him as he stood across the room at the bar. And she’d been shocked when he’d looked back. Not surprisingly, there’d been a woman standing beside him trying to get his attention. He’d been distantly polite while he finished his bottle of beer and kept his gaze trained on Lisa.

Lisa had grown so uncomfortable that she’d deliberately looked away and thought about making her excuses to her friends and leaving. When he’d shown up beside her table with a smile that said, “I’m harmless,” and violet eyes that said, “You’re mine,” it was all she could do to breathe, let alone speak.

Tonight, the violet eyes said the same thing, but there was no playful, harmless grin. She didn’t know if it was fear, passion or insanity, but her pulse skipped into double time.

He wore a white shirt open at the neck, the sleeves casually folded up. The light color emphasized his tan and brought her attention to his throat where, she’d learned, he was a little ticklish. They used to play a game where she nuzzled his neck with kisses and he would try not to laugh. She allowed her gaze to fall to his strong forearms. How many times had he lifted her and carried her as if she weighed no more than a child?

Not anymore.

Lisa sucked in a quick breath and felt the cork pop on all the emotions she’d stuffed down inside her. For one horrifying moment, she felt the strangest urge to cry.

Appalled at the thought, she swallowed hard, cleared her throat and recalled that he’d asked her a question. “I’ve been fine,” she managed. “And you?”

He shrugged. “Busy at work. I called you a few times and got your answering machine.” He hooked his foot on the platform where her table was located and leaned closer.

His position cut off the rest of the room and somehow made their conversation seem more intimate. Lisa shifted slightly away. “Yes, well—”

“My sister owns a riverboat down in Beulah County. She’s having a get-together for my six brothers, and I’d like you to come.”

“I didn’t know you had a sister and six brothers,” she said, dismayed that the small piece of personal information should affect her so.

“I guess I never got around to telling you. Would it have mattered?”

Would it have? Lisa faltered. She’d always sensed Brick kept his life strictly divided into different areas that rarely overlapped. He’d shared a little about his job with her, but nothing about his family. That had hurt. It had been one more piece of evidence that he wasn’t serious about her. “I don’t know.”

“Listen, Lisa, I’ve been thinking. A lot.” He put his hand over hers and stared intently into her eyes. His voice deepened. “I’ve been missing you a lot too.”

Lisa’s heart pounded against her rib cage.

“We had something damn good, and it seems like it was over in less than a minute. We called it off without looking at the possibilities.”

Lisa could feel herself sinking under his spell again, and she knew what would happen if she did. Just the touch of his hand made her tremble, and the look in his eyes could melt steel. If she followed her heart, she’d end up in bed with him within thirty minutes. It would be incredible sex. Her breasts tightened at the mere thought of it. After it was over, however, Brick would stall any deep discussions, and she’d feel emotionally frustrated.

“I don’t think—” She broke off, feeling both relieved and uneasy when she spotted Mark on his way back to the table. “There’s my date.”

Brick’s gaze widened. “Date?”

Lisa pasted a smile on her face and eased her hand from Brick’s. “Mark Lawford, this is Brick Pendleton. He’s a—a—”

Both men gazed at her expectantly.

“He’s a demolition expert,” she finished weakly.

Brick stared at Lisa in disbelief.

“Well, how about that,” Mark said, extending his hand. “You blow up buildings for a living?”

Brick tore his gaze away from Lisa and shook Mark’s hand. “Not really. I used to do more work blasting foundations,” he said, still blindsided by how Lisa had described him. Demolition expert. Not ex-lover, friend or the man who knew every inch of her body. He took a slow, deep breath. Brick prided himself on his great sense of humor, but his grin felt a little forced by the time he got to it. “I only use explosives every now and then. Most of my work is done with machinery.”

“That must be something. Hey, you want to join us? I’ll buy you a drink, and you can tell us some of your war stories.”

Brick slid a glance over to Lisa. She gave a quick, desperate shake of her head. He hesitated. If he were a nice, polite guy, he’d excuse himself, but he wasn’t feeling particularly polite right now. He slid into a chair directly opposite Lisa. “Sounds good to me. I’ll take a beer and tell you as many stories as you want.”

Over the next hour, Brick shared a few tales with Mark and Lisa. He noticed that Lisa avoided his gaze, and every time she did, he struggled with the perverse urge to do something to get her attention. Brick couldn’t see Lisa getting serious about Mark, but, then, he couldn’t see Lisa getting serious about anyone but himself. And he refused to consider the prospect of another man in her bed.

He shifted slightly and his knee bumped hers. She drew back and dodged his gaze again. Brick felt a lick of impatience and sipped his beer. “So what movie did y’all go see?”

Mark named an action flick, and Lisa toyed with her watch. She was doing her best to ignore him, and Brick was tired of being ignored. “Did you close your eyes during the shoot-out scenes?” he gently teased her.

If he’d been sitting beside her, he would have squeezed her waist. Instead, he extended his feet on either side of hers and put them just close enough to make her aware of him. Her startled gaze finally shot up to meet his.

Lisa struggled to disentangle her bare legs from his. The brush of denim and the strength and warmth of his knees capturing hers sent a chaotic heat pulsing through her bloodstream. “I kept my eyes open except for two times,” she admitted, glaring at him when she freed her legs.

Mark glanced from Brick to Lisa quizzically. “You never told me how you two met.”

Trying to salvage what she could of this disastrous date, Lisa forced a smile and said casually, “As a matter of fact, we met here about nine months ago.” She shot Brick a warning look.

Brick’s eyes glinted dangerously. “Nine months and twenty-three days,” he corrected. “And that was just the beginning.”

Chapter Two

“He’s kinda scrawny,” Brick said forty-five minutes later when Lisa jerked open her door.

“Everyone looks scrawny to you,” she retorted, completely exasperated. Back at the bar Mark Lawford had picked up on Brick’s tone and looked at Lisa with questions just waiting to be asked. Lisa had been so embarrassed, she didn’t have a prayer of forming an adequate response. She wasn’t pleased with the sense of relief she’d felt when Mark hadn’t kissed her good night. She wasn’t pleased that her first date “with a goal” had ended so disastrously. And she wasn’t pleased that she didn’t know who she was more angry with, Brick or herself.

She would never have let him in except that he claimed to have her address book, and when she’d checked her purse, sure enough, she’d found it missing. Her address book was one of the keys to her search for a husband. In the wrong hands, the information it contained would be humiliating. Lisa held out her hand. “Where’s my address book?”

“In a minute,” he promised. “Let’s have a drink and a little conversation first.” He strolled past her into the small den.

Lisa’s grip tightened on the door, and she closed her eyes in frustration. She’d done pretty well in her quest to get past Brick and start looking for the future father of her children, until she’d run into her former lover. Former lover. The thought caused her stomach to tighten.

Lisa slammed the door mentally and physically. Determined to get rid of Brick, she whipped around and went into the den. “I’m not going to offer you a drink,” she said through gritted teeth to the man who lounged on her sofa. “I’m going to ask for my address book, thank you, escort you to the door and say good night. That’s the program. Got it?”

Brick locked gazes with her for a long moment. After seeming to measure her determination, he frowned and pulled the small paisley cloth-covered book from his pocket. He stood. “What are three stars for?”

Humiliation crowded her chest. Lisa felt her cheeks burn with heat. She snatched the book from his hand. “It’s nothing you need to worry about.”

“Oh, but I do worry about you.” Brick took a step closer and looked down at her. “I wonder if you’re trying to cater too many parties. I wonder if you’re forgetting to eat dinner. I wonder if you’re working so hard that you forget to have fun.”

Lisa tried not to let his concern soften her resolve. “I ate dinner tonight, and I was having fun with Mark.”

Based on his expression of disbelief, Brick must have guessed that last comment was a stretch, but he let it pass. “I wonder if you’ve backed into something this week.”

Lisa pressed her lips together. The man knew entirely too much about her, even her little problem with backing into things with her car. Just that morning she’d barely missed a mailbox. “Not a thing.”

He paused and his face was utterly sincere. “Ever since you kicked me out of your apartment after making love to me like a wild woman—”

The reminder murmured in his low, husky voice singed her from head to toe. Taking a deep breath, Lisa stepped back. “I did not kick you out. It wasn’t as if we lived together or anything.”

He moved closer and lifted a strand of her hair. “Then what would you call it?”

“I—I—” She swallowed over her fumbling tongue. His nearness affected her as if she’d risen too fast after deep-sea diving. His gaze roamed over her from head to toe. He wanted to touch her everywhere he’d looked, she realized. Her body melted. “I invited you to leave,” she managed in a strained voice.

He lifted an eyebrow and twined his fingers through her hair. “Next time,” he said quietly, “I guess I’ll have to turn down that invitation.”

His thumb grazed the soft curve of her jaw, and Lisa had to resist the urge to turn her face into his wide palm. “Next time I won’t invite. Next time I’ll—”

He pressed his thumb over her lips, halting her threat. “I’ve missed you.”

She drew a shaky breath. His simple direct words had the impact of a bomb detonating inside her.

“I’ve missed holding you, kissing you, making love to you. And I’ve missed talking to you.” He lowered his head closer to hers so that she didn’t just hear his words, she felt them. He dropped his thumb from her mouth and curled his hand around her waist. “Tell the truth, Lisa. Haven’t you missed me just a little bit?”

Lisa experienced a rush of emotion inside her so intense that it hurt to look at him. She squished her eyes closed. “Oh, Brick,” she whispered.

His warm mouth captured hers, his tongue slid gently past her lips, and Lisa’s knees and resolve dipped. It was an I-don’t-want-to-do-without-you kiss packed with tender seduction. Her hands groped for his shoulders, and she was immediately enveloped in his arms.

With his hand at the small of her back, he matched their lower bodies together so that she felt him intimately against her abdomen. Lisa’s heart nearly burst. She’d missed him in this way too. Missed his arms around her, missed his hungry kiss, and missed the way he openly showed his need for her, a need he wanted her to satisfy.

Undiluted arousal surged through her like straight whiskey, robbing her breath and sanity. Her thighs tingled, a restless ache settled low in her belly, and instinctively she wanted to touch him where he grew taut and hard. He’d always liked it when she touched him. She skimmed her hand down his chest to his belly.

He gave an encouraging groan that vibrated deliriously through her mouth. She slipped her fingers closer to the very edge of his straining masculinity.

He shifted his pelvis toward her hand and pulled his mouth from hers. His head dipped toward her shoulder, and his uneven breaths matched hers. “God, I’ve missed you, Lisa. It’s been too long. Let me take you to bed.”

The word bed slapped at Lisa like two cymbals crashing against each other, reverberating throughout her overheated consciousness.

One of his hands rose to caress her breast, and she felt another sensual tug inside her. “Lisa,” he muttered, pressing his erection into her hand again, seeking her intimate touch.

Her mind and body were in total disagreement about what she should do next.

What was she doing? her conscience screamed. Lisa pulled back her hand and pushed against his shoulder. Three weeks away from him, one kiss, and she’d lost it. “Oh, Lord, what am I doing?” she whispered brokenly, turning away from him and immediately missing his warmth. She wrapped her arms around her waist.

Brick’s body rebelled at the sudden distance between them. He reached for her, but she jerked away from him. His hands felt empty beyond belief. What had happened? One minute she was the epitome of feminine heat in his arms, the next, she’d pulled away. Brick shook his head to clear it. She sounded almost as if she were crying. The notion nearly tore him in two. Wanting to hold her, needing to hold her, he touched her arm.

“No!” Lisa nearly jumped out of her skin. She pushed back her hair. “I don’t want—” She swallowed and shook her head. “I don’t want this. I didn’t want this.”

Brick paused, absorbing the quick hurt. “Yes, you did. We both did.”

“Okay,” she admitted. “My body did.” She took a deep breath and finally met his gaze. “But my brain didn’t. This—whatever it is between us.” She waved her hands in exasperation. “It’s useless. I tried to tell you before.”

Brick plowed his fingers through his hair. “It didn’t feel useless to me. Making love with you has always been more than—”

“That isn’t what I meant.” Her eyes darkened. “It was exciting. It’s always exciting, but after it’s over…” Lisa sighed and her explanation faded out.

“After it’s over, what happens?” he asked, feeling a sting of remorse. Had he been so inconsiderate that he’d foregone her pleasure for his? Lord knew, when he made love to Lisa, he had the sensation of a five-alarm fire that had to be put out, but her pleasure had always been important to him.

“After it’s over,” she began, and hesitated again. “You’re still you, and I’m still me. You still want no strings, and I still want a family. You usually go home, and the next morning I feel…” She shrugged. “Empty.”

Brick was the first to admit that the feminine psyche was a complete mystery to him. “Is this about me staying overnight? Because if it is—”

“It’s about you staying every night.”

Brick felt a muscle spasm in his jaw. Uneasiness grabbed and clutched at his gut. He shoved his clenched hand into his pocket. Hell, he simply was not ready to cut Lisa loose. He didn’t want to give her up yet. When he’d seen that little book of hers with his name crossed out, he’d felt undiluted panic. “We could live together.”

Her eyes rounded in surprise. Uncertainty flashed across her face, but only for a second. Lisa looked away. “I don’t think so,” she said quietly.

“Lisa, maybe this is just a stage,” he said, voicing what he’d been hoping because he couldn’t accept not being with her anymore. “Look at how wrapped up in your job you’ve been. Now, all of a sudden, you want marriage and a baby. Maybe this will all blow over in a couple of weeks or a month.”

“It’s not all of a sudden,” she wailed. “And I don’t expect you to understand because I don’t think you really know me that well.”

Affronted, Brick stared at her in disbelief. “What the hell—”

Lisa held up a hand. “You know me sexually, but not in other ways. The other ways a woman wants to be known by a man.”

With a sinking sensation, Brick sensed her resolve. It was something new, and he hadn’t come to grips with it. Before, she’d always been flexible, almost malleable, and he’d hoped he’d be able to talk her around this latest glitch the way he’d always done before. But she looked as if she’d faced something inside herself and come out stronger because of it.

Even though he topped her by five inches and outweighed her by a hundred pounds, Brick, who was known for his power, found himself envying her strength.

Lisa had made a decision grounded in what she thought was best. What she’d decided, he realized, was that she didn’t want him.

Brick pulled off the handkerchief he’d tied around his head to keep the sweat from his eyes and accepted the chair and cold beer his sister, Carly, offered. “Thanks.”

His brother-in-law, Russ Bradford, took another chair and saluted Brick with his own beer. “Appreciate your help. When you said you were coming down for the weekend, I swear I wasn’t planning to work you to death.”

“I’m a long way from dying,” Brick said, though he felt miserable inside. He knew Russ needed help, and Brick needed something to quell the restlessness within him. So far, he hadn’t found it. “Since I’ve been here so often lately, I thought I’d better earn my keep.”

“It’s no problem and you know it,” Carly said. “Are you sure you don’t want to come along for the dinner cruise on Matilda’s Dream? I could make space for you.” She grinned. “After all, you used to be part owner.”

“One of eight owners,” he said wryly. Brick’s six brothers, he and Carly had inherited the riverboat from an aunt. Russ had bought out the brothers’ shares and Carly had taken it over and made it into a successful business.

Brick wasn’t in the mood to socialize. If he were honest with himself, he wasn’t in the mood for much of anything. “Thanks for the offer, but I think I’ll stay here tonight.”

Carly frowned in concern. “Business okay?”

“Booming,” Brick said.

She exchanged a sidelong glance with Russ. “Anything else bothering you?”

Brick shrugged. “Nothing that a few more beers and a shower won’t cure.”

“What’s her name?” Russ asked.

Brick stopped midmotion in lifting the can to his lips, then set it down on the table. He didn’t look at Carly or Russ. He knew what he would see. Russ would be wearing that probing, no-nonsense, give-me-some-answers expression, and Carly would look worried. And Brick had thought he’d fooled them all. “It’s no big deal. It’s all over, anyway.”

“If it’s no big deal, then why have you been here five of the last six weekends?”

That stung. Brick tried to shake it off and forced a grin. “Hey, if I’ve been imposing, you should let me know. I’m sleeping all the way over on the opposite side of the house, so I’ve only heard you scream once or twice.”

His younger sister didn’t blush. She rolled her eyes. “I knew we wouldn’t get a straight answer from you. The CIA could take lessons from you on how to keep from disclosing secrets. You must not have been too serious about her, or you would have brought her down here for us to meet.”

Brick rubbed his finger in the condensation on the can. “Why would I do that?”

She looked at him with ill-concealed impatience. “Because that’s the normal thing to do. When you really care about a woman, you want her to meet your adorable younger sister and all six of your brothers. You don’t just want her to meet them. You want her to like them.”

“Yeah, well, maybe she didn’t want to meet my family.”

Silence hung heavy in the room, and Brick looked up to meet his sister’s gaze. “And maybe I waited until it was too late.”

The next day Brick returned to Chattanooga with Russ’s words ringing in his ears: “Too late is when she’s got somebody else’s wedding band on her finger.”

He hadn’t ever spent much time thinking about why he didn’t want to get married, because it was one of those things that he had decided when he was twelve years old. His mother had died, and his father might as well have. For the sake of the kids he’d remarried a sour woman who’d grown more sour because his father couldn’t love her.

Carly had spent a year stuttering, his oldest brother, Daniel, had become an old man before his time. His stepmother had nearly ruined Garth. Brick had watched his family flounder, and in the middle of it all, he had felt lost.

His mother had been the silken thread of joy that had bound them all together. He’d been angry that she’d left them. His anger had turned to fear when he watched what her death did to his father. All this, Brick realized, because his father had loved his mother too much. It was a knowledge that seemed to spring from his very soul.

At the idea of marriage, Brick experienced a physical and visceral response. His skin grew clammy, his mouth went dry and he felt as if he were going to throw up. Even now, as he drove into Chattanooga, he felt it, the powerful edginess that went beyond simple aversion. In the past he’d always put it down to exceptional male survival instincts.

Since two of his brothers and his sister, Carly, had taken the plunge and gotten married, though, he was forced to reevaluate. Daniel had been acting like a kid out of school since he’d married Sara Kingston a few months earlier. Brick never would have believed it, but since Garth had hooked Erin Lindsey, he was happier than Brick could have imagined. And Carly seemed utterly content in her marriage to Russ.

But Brick thought of a friend who worked in construction. The guy used to work the high beams until one day when he fell. After that, Brick’s friend told him that even the thought of going up again made him break into a cold sweat.

For a sliver of a moment, Brick wondered if a man could develop the same clinical kind of fear of marriage. Uneasiness trickled in. Brick snorted in disbelief. A phobia about marriage? Get real. What would they call it?

Ten minutes later, he was cruising the parking lot of Lisa’s apartment complex. After noting that her car was there, he parked and rang her doorbell. It was a warm day, so he decided to check the pool too. He knew Lisa usually took a break from working on Sunday afternoon.

She was stretched out on a chaise longue, slathering sunscreen all over her nearly bare body. Her hair was loosely piled on top of her head, and a huge pair of sunglasses with white frames was sliding down her nose. She wore a purple one-piece bathing suit with flowers all over it and skinny little straps holding up the delectably filled bodice. It was cut low enough in front and high enough on the thighs that Brick could have used some aspirin to bring down the sudden surge of his body temperature. His mouth watered just looking at her. Didn’t women realize that one of most men’s top ten fantasies usually involved taking off a woman’s bathing suit, lathering her down with something slippery, then having her return the favor to him?

He dipped his hand into the pool, splashed some water on his face, and walked toward her. He shook his head. One look, he thought, and she’d turned him inside out.

“Need some help,” he offered.

Lisa’s head whipped around.

He saw a spark of recognition and excitement flicker through her eyes just before she shoved the glasses back into place. Hoping like hell he didn’t screw up, he pulled a chair closer and sat down.

“No. I’m about done.” She smoothed the cream over her shoulders one last time.

Brick noticed a dot of unspread lotion on the inside of her left breast and felt a ridiculous envy for her suntan lotion. He hadn’t touched her intimately in over a month. “You missed a spot.”

Lisa glanced down the front of her, her sunglasses slipping again. “Where?”

Brick lowered his voice. “Where you used to let me touch you.”

Lisa went completely still. Her gaze automatically went to her thighs, and then to Brick. A memory taunted her of his hands caressing and teasing her until she arched against him, and his hard legs brushing against her softer ones as he slowly slid inside her… With devastating speed, she felt the beginning of her body’s automatic response. She bit the inside of her cheek. Edgy, she sucked in a deep breath and crammed her sunglasses back up again. “Oh for Pete’s sake! Where is it?”

Before she could blink, he put one index finger on her breast and gently spread the dot of lotion. One second, she felt the sensuous stroke of his finger and was struck by the fascination his heavy-lidded gaze didn’t hide. Then his hand was gone, and she was trying to get her brain to work.

“I wouldn’t want you to get burned.”

Lisa cleared her throat. She pushed down the cap on the lotion and tossed it into her tote bag. “No, I, uh, wouldn’t—what are you doing here?”

He shrugged. “Just got back from Beulah County and thought I’d see how your—” He paused, wondering what to call it. “—search is going?”

She eased back into her chair and closed her eyes. Perhaps if she didn’t look at him, her heart rate would settle down. “It’s going fine. I have a date tonight.”

“Is this a three-star man?”

Lisa refused to feel embarrassed about that again. “Of course.”

“You never told me what three stars means.”

“That’s right. It’s none of your business,” she said cheerfully.

“Must be damned convenient to be able to turn your feelings on and off like a faucet,” he said sincerely. “I haven’t had the same luck.”

Lisa blinked and stared at him. His words shook her. “Oh, for crying out loud, I never—”

“Just because you’re gonna marry another man,” Brick said the words, and felt as if he were chewing nails, “doesn’t mean we can’t be friends, does it?”

The sudden look of confusion on Lisa’s face would have been amusing if Brick hadn’t been fighting for his life. “Friends?” she said tentatively, as if it were a new word.

“Sure. It’s a lot better than being enemies.” It’s a lot better than nothing, he added to himself.

“We’ve never really been friends,” Lisa said, her voice laced in skepticism.

Brick had to work to take that jab in stride. “With all your…dates—” Brick forced the repugnant word out “—it would be nice to have a friend around, someone you’ve known for a long time, someone who knows you, someone you don’t have to impress.” He grinned. “Someone you could tell what those three stars represent.”

Lisa laughed uncertainly and shook her head. “You’re crazy.”

“C’mon,” Brick said, putting a little dare in his voice. “If I were your friend, you’d tell me, wouldn’t you?”

Lisa hesitated, looking doubtful. She cocked her head to one side, and Brick wished he could take off her sunglasses to read her eyes. She gave a sigh. “All right. The three stars mean the man likes women and children, and he’s not opposed to the general idea of marriage.”

“What about money, appearance, age and sex?”

Lisa gave a little shrug. “They’re all secondary to the other three qualities. Age and appearance can be settled on the first date, money by the second, and sex…”

Brick’s gut tightened.

“Sex would be last.”

Sex with another man would be never, if Brick had anything to do with it. He rubbed his hand over his mouth in restraint. “It sounds like a plan,” he muttered.

“It is. This book I’ve been reading says you can get married in less than two years. It talks about keeping a practical attitude and using your resources.”

The book again. “Using your resources?”

Lisa nodded. “One of the most interesting facts it reported was that many married couples are introduced by mutual friends, so the author suggested that you tell all your friends that you’re looking and ask for recommendations.”

Lisa looked at him and a strange expression crossed her face. Brick experienced an even stranger foreboding. In the back of his mind he could almost hear the cock of a gun. She leaned forward, and her sunglasses slipped again to give him a view of the complete sincerity in her eyes. Her lips curved into a slow, siren smile designed to drop a man at fifty paces. And Brick was at one and a half.

“Tell me, Brick,” she said sweetly, “can you recommend one of your friends to father my children?”

Chapter Three

She might as well have shot him.

Speechless, Brick stared at her for a full minute.

“Did you hear what I said?” Lisa asked. “I asked you if—”

“I heard you,” he finally managed, thinking he could use a double Jack Daniels straight up right now. Where had that breeze gone? he wondered as he tugged on his collar. “I’ll have to think about it and get back to you. I don’t usually evaluate my friends with an eye as to how good they’d be at fathering children.”

“I guess not,” she conceded, and spritzed her neck with a spray bottle of water.

His gaze homed in on the droplets dotting her chest. He wanted to lick every bit of water from her skin, spritz her, and do it again until his thirst was at least temporarily quenched. Instead he licked his lips and turned to the pool where a couple of kids played splashing games. “It sounds as if you’ve got this all planned out.”

“Some of it.” Lisa pulled a sheet of paper from her tote bag. “I got this in the mail the other day.”

Brick leaned forward to read it. “Meet your mate, not just a date. A dating service?” he said, unable to hide his horror. “Have you gone crazy? You’ll have every nut in Tennessee calling you day and night.”

She set her chin stubbornly. “It’s just one of my options. Senada’s also—”

“Senada!”

When Lisa’s chin rose another notch, Brick bit his tongue, laced his fingers together and cracked all his knuckles at once.

“She knows a lot of men.”

“That’s putting it mildly,” he muttered.

“She knows a lot more about men than I do and—”

“You always knew enough for me,” he pointed out in a dark velvet voice. “And what you didn’t know, I sure as hell liked teaching you.”

Lisa’s heart seemed to pause, then flutter wildly. She’d kept the conversation centered on her search for a husband as a means of protection because she felt more than bare beneath Brick’s gaze. She felt naked.

Every time his eyes lingered, she felt as if he’d touched her. Could he tell she was having a hard time breathing normally? Could he sense the way her nipples tingled? Did he know about the insidious moist warmth that built within her because her body simply couldn’t forget what he’d been to her? He was looking at her as if she were the only woman in the world, and despite all her resolutions her mouth was cotton-dry from his intoxicating effect on her.

Lisa swallowed hard. “You don’t understand. Senada’s had a lot more experience—”

“I know,” he said dryly.

“No.” She sighed. “Let me put it this way. Senada was the kind of girl who had five offers to go to her high school prom.”

“And?” Brick was waiting for the rest of the story. Something told him it would be important.

“And I got no offers,” Lisa admitted reluctantly. “I was in the National Honor Society, I took piano lessons, went to church like a good girl. I was great with books, but when it came to guys, I was…”

“Shy,” Brick supplied for her, feeling a twist of compassion. He recalled a few girls from his own high school days that had seemed awkward and shy with the boys. They’d often been the last ones picked for dates because their uneasiness had transferred itself to the boys.

She gave a small dip of her head. “That would be putting it very generously.”

“You’re not in high school anymore, Lisa.”

“I know,” she said softly. “I’m all grown up with a woman’s body and mind—and a woman’s needs.” She gave a rueful smile. “But I’ve still got the heart of a child, and Senada tells me I’ve got plenty to offer the right man. I just need to find him.”

Brick felt as if she’d just sliced him in two. He narrowed his eyes at the sharp pain. There was too much he hadn’t told Lisa. In his quest to remain uncommitted, he’d managed to be blind as a bat about her vulnerabilities. She was a gentle woman, beautiful both inside and out, and if he’d had his act together, maybe she wouldn’t be wondering if she would find the right man. If he’d had his head on straight, she’d be in his arms and he wouldn’t feel like someone had ripped out his guts.

Brick took the first step in a new direction. He tugged off her glasses, hooked his thumb under her chin and looked directly in her eyes. “You are so beautiful,” he said, hearing the roughness in his own voice, “there aren’t words enough to tell you. No matter what happens, don’t ever forget that.” He squeezed her chin slightly when she would have looked away. “Ever.”

A long moment passed, with the sound of kids doing cannonballs off the diving board in the background. In some corner of his mind, he heard a mother scolding her child. At the moment none of it meant squat to Brick if Lisa didn’t believe him.

She bit her lip, and her eyelids fluttered down. “I don’t think I could forget it.” Then as if she couldn’t bear the intensity emanating from him anymore, she lifted her chin away and quickly slid out of the other side of the lounge chair. “I think I need to cool off.”

Brick nodded and stood. His mind full and his heart heavy, he watched her ease into the water. The ironic realization sank deep into his gut that he had spent his professional life tearing down things, destroying them. He was an expert at it. Hell, he couldn’t enter a building without looking for the weak spots and figuring out how to bring it down.

He watched Lisa, and the sting of longing inside him grew. If he really wanted Lisa, then for the first time in his life he was going to have to put something back together and make it stronger than before.

“So, was the latest one any good?” Senada asked as she propped herself on Lisa’s desk and crossed her legs.

Lisa quickly moved her papers out of the way of her flamboyant partner. Senada Calhoun, who had inherited her long black hair, year-round tan, and large brown eyes from her Puerto Rican mother, had also inherited her Texan father’s ability to flirt. Thus she attracted men with the same ease that most normal humans brushed their teeth. Answering to the nickname Sin, Senada laughed and had a good time, but she didn’t take any of the lust-struck men seriously.

She had, however, begun to take a very personal interest in Lisa’s quest to find a husband. Lisa grimaced at the memory of her latest date. “He was interesting,” she said evasively.

Senada arched one dark eyebrow. “Interesting is a polite way of saying he was a loser.”

Lisa straightened the papers. “I wouldn’t really say he was a loser, but I don’t think we would be a good match. He was attractive, but he might like women a little too much. A year ago he joined this new alternative lifestyle group where a man’s spiritual value is measured by how many wives he has.”

“You’re too kind. The sleaze was already married,” Senada concluded without surprise.

“No. He’s hoping to marry six different women within the next year, though.” Lisa shook her head, remembering the dismay she’d felt when he’d told her the benefits of multiple marriage partners. “I’m working at being flexible, but I draw the line at polygamy.”

“What about the one on Thursday night?”

“He was nice. Five inches shorter than I am.” Lisa looked away from the amusement flickering in Senada’s eyes. “I realize appearances really shouldn’t matter, but…”

Senada giggled. “You don’t have to make excuses to me, la chica. Have you heard from Rock lately?”

Lisa smothered a laugh. “Brick. His name is Brick.” Since she’d broken up with Brick, Senada continually confused his name. Lisa was beginning to think it was deliberate.

Senada shrugged. “Brick. Rock. They’re both the same—hardheaded.”

“He stopped by to see me on Sunday.” Lisa caught the chiding expression on Senada’s face and rushed to explain. “He said he wants to be friends.” She still wasn’t sure how she felt about that.

“Uh-huh,” Senada said, her voice dripping disbelief. “You agreed, and all the while your little heart was going pitter-patter because you still—”

“I do not,” Lisa interrupted, desperate not to hear the rest of that statement spoken aloud. “And my heart is supposed to be beating all the time. I’d be dead if it didn’t.”

Senada sighed. “You really seem to like that not-quite-civilized, ruler-of-his-own-destiny type.” She narrowed her eyes and paused, then her lips tilted in a slow smile. “I think I may have the perfect man for you.”

The perfect man was out of town for the next few weeks, so Lisa accepted a few other recommendations Senada made. Between the spring wedding receptions, rehearsal dinners, graduation parties and dates with a purpose, though, Lisa felt burned out enough to accept an invitation from Brick to attend a fair in Beulah County.

She told herself it was to prove that they were indeed friends. The “lover” part of their relationship was passed, finished, completely done, never to be repeated. If she felt a twinge of regret at the thought, she ignored it. She also told herself she wasn’t the least bit curious about Brick’s family.

At the fair, however, she stared at the sight of all those Pendletons as they crowded outside Brick’s car.

Four tall men of varying ages with dark hair and Brick’s violet eyes stood with three women, two of whom appeared to be pregnant. When Lisa noticed the differences between Brick and his brothers, she saw that Brick was the tallest, his hair was slightly lighter and he exhibited a subtle masculine power that translated to pure sex appeal.

The pull was so strong that even with all these people around she had to force her attention away from him. It took a moment, but Lisa recognized the feminine version of the Pendletons as the young, slim woman who was not pregnant.

Brick instinctively put his hand at Lisa’s back as he made the introductions. “This is Lisa Ransom. She’s—” What? The woman who’d wrecked his mental health. The woman who’d left him because he couldn’t make a commitment. The woman who was planning to marry anyone but him as soon as possible. He began to sweat.

“I’m a friend,” Lisa said, giving Brick a meaningful smile. “I’m glad to meet you.”

He clenched his jaw briefly, then smiled and gestured with his hand. “Daniel and his wife, Sara.”

Lisa shook hands as he continued. “Garth and Erin, Jarod, Troy and Carly.”

A little boy wiggled between Garth and Erin. “Hey, I’m a Pendleton now too!”

“That’s right,” Brick said with a chuckle. “This is Luke, Garth and Erin’s son.”

“Lucky them.” Lisa took one look at the bright-eyed boy with a cowlick on the crown of his head and smudges on his chin, and she fell in love. “And it looks like more Pendletons are on the way, so I guess congratulations are in order. When are you due?”

“September for us,” said Erin, patting her stomach.

“Ours is due in November,” Daniel said, taking Sara’s hand.

Lisa sensed the love that flowed between them and felt a twinge of envy. She brushed it aside, though, and focused on getting a fix on the different personalities of Brick’s family. Daniel was extremely solicitous of his wife, Sara, but she supposed the same could be said of Garth and Erin. Jarod seemed to observe in silence, while Troy was loud.

“Are we overwhelming you?” Carly asked.

“Not really. When Brick told me how many brothers he had, I imagined six ‘Bricks.’”

“Heaven help us all,” Carly said, rolling her eyes.

Lisa laughed. “Now I see that one’s taller, one’s quiet, one cracks jokes.”

“Well, if you forget any names, don’t feel bad. Just ask me and I’ll be glad to give you a prompt. The twins, Ethan and Nathan, live out of state, so you’ll be spared remembering their names this time.”

“You own the riverboat, don’t you?”

Carly nodded. “My husband, Russ, and I do.”

“Oh, I didn’t realize you were married.”

Carly hesitated and lowered her voice. “Brick hasn’t told you very much about us, has he?”

Lisa felt another twinge of pain, despite a hundred silent reminders that she shouldn’t because her romantic relationship with Brick was over. “He, uh, mentioned you a month or so ago and…”

“Yeah, well, he mentioned you to us the last several times he visited.”

That stopped Lisa in her tracks. She glanced at Brick and found him gazing at her while his brother Troy was talking. For an instant, his eyes seemed to meld with hers. She felt a shudder inside her, like the first rumblings of an earthquake. His gaze was so determined. She shuddered again.

The corners of his mouth lifted in a slow, knowing smile that made her heart pound against her rib cage. Lisa absently pressed her hand against her chest to make her heart behave.

“If you decide to stay overnight, you’re welcome at my house,” Carly offered.

Lisa ripped her gaze from Brick’s. “Oh no. That won’t be necessary. I’m not—”

“And if you have any questions about Brick,” Carly said with a mischievous grin, “I’ve known him for twenty-plus years.”

Lisa was severely tempted. A dozen unanswered questions came to mind. She told herself it was normal. After all, she’d been involved with Brick for months, and there was so much she had wanted to know about him.

Before. Not now.

She stifled the urge to ask, and instead mustered a smile. “Thanks, but I think I’ll pass this time.”

Brick overheard Lisa’s response and didn’t know whether to be disappointed or relieved. He fought the overwhelming instinct to stuff Lisa in his car and drive back to Chattanooga. It was tough to explain why, even to himself, but he thought it had something to do with wanting to keep her to himself.

Selfish as hell, he acknowledged, but it didn’t change the way he felt. He didn’t want anyone messing with his relationship with her. He snorted. Why should he worry about them making matters worse when he’d already made a mess of it himself?

Brick dismissed the disturbing thoughts and snagged Lisa’s wrist. “C’mon. Let’s go throw a pie for charity. My old junior high school principal is the target, and I owe him.”

Lisa stumbled after him. “Owe him for what?”

“He stuck me in detention for my whole seventh grade year.”

“And you didn’t deserve it at all?”

Brick stopped and grinned sheepishly. “Maybe a little.”

“How little?”

“It was just a few harmless pranks…involving a frog and the English teacher, a food fight in the cafeteria and…” He hesitated and his smile faded slightly. “And the homework I didn’t do.”

“I can imagine the frog and the food fight, but my father would have killed me if I hadn’t done my homework.”

Brick looked away, squinting his eyes under the glare of the sun. “Yeah, well, my dad wasn’t paying much attention, my mother had died and my stepmother was a witch.”

The breeze picked up a strand of his sun-lightened hair, and Lisa felt a clutch in her chest. “Sounds rough,” she murmured.

He shrugged his wide shoulders. “You don’t want to hear about that, so—”

“But I do,” she said impulsively, then bit her tongue. “I mean, I enjoy hearing about your childhood. You haven’t really talked about it much before.”

He rubbed his thumb back and forth over her knuckles in a mesmerizing motion. “It wasn’t all happy, Lisa, and the time you and I had together was happy and good. Being with you was too special. I didn’t want to drag it down.”

She felt that same clutch again and swallowed hard. “Now that we’re friends,” she said in an effort to remind both herself and him, “maybe you won’t feel like you’re dragging anything down.”

He lifted an eyebrow and glanced meaningfully at her lips. “We’ll see.”

He tugged her toward the pie booth, and Lisa surreptitiously wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. It felt as if he’d put his mouth there, against hers.

“You wanna go first?” he asked as he paid the attendant a few bucks.

“I don’t know.” Lisa looked doubtfully at the principal’s friendly face behind the cutout cardboard. “I was never good at throwing things, or catching them for that matter,” she said under her breath.

“Then let me help you.” Brick gave Lisa a pie and positioned himself directly behind her. He wrapped one hand around her waist and meshed the front of his body with the back of hers. His chest rubbed against her back, the heat of his belly nearly scorching her skin, and his masculinity was deliciously pressed against her buttocks.

Lisa nearly dropped the pie.

“Whoa!” Brick caught it and reinforced her grip on it with his hand.

He stood so close that his familiar scent and the thud of his heart seemed to invade her body. He had a musky scent that she associated with sex and satisfaction. It was the closest she’d come to this kind of intimacy in weeks, and Lord help her, her breasts were tightening beneath the knit shirt she wore.

“I’m not sure—” She tried for a normal tone.

“C’mon. Just throw it a little high.”

Lisa closed her eyes and tossed it.

“Not close enough,” he muttered. “Let’s do it one more time.”

She remembered when he’d said those same words to her right after making love. “Oh, no.” She moaned.

“You can do it.” He placed another pie in her hand. Her surroundings began to feel surreal. The principal taunted Brick, but it was Brick’s voice and body that became her focal point.

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