“Come here, Brodie,” Kade said, his voice as deep and dark as his gaze, the order in it unmistakable.
She knew what would follow if she stood up. She heard it in his voice, saw it in the desire flashing in his eyes, in the way he gripped the counter, tension rippling through his arms. He wanted her...
Brodie knew she shouldn’t, knew this was a mistake but she stood up anyway. On shaky legs, she crossed the space to the kitchen, walked around the island and stopped a foot away from him. Seeing a half-empty glass of orange juice, she picked it up and took a long sip. Excitement and desire caused her hand to shake and orange juice ran down her chin.
Kade wiped the droplets off with his thumb. “I have to kiss you.”
Brodie started to speak but Kade shook his head. “No, don’t say it’s a mistake, that we shouldn’t be doing this. Just forget about everything else. This is just about you and me... There are no other complications right now. They’ll be back later, but right now...? There’s nothing but you...and me.”
“I was just going to tell you to hurry up,” Brodie whispered, lifting her face. “Hurry up and kiss me, Kade.”
Kade leaned forward, cupped the side of her face in his hand and lowered his mouth to hers. Part of her thought that if Kade did nothing else but kiss her for the rest of her life, she could die happy. Another section of her brain just squawked warnings: they had to be friends only. She still had to be his matchmaker. They shouldn’t be doing this. If the media found out they would go nuts. Then Kade took control of her mouth, her brain shut down and she felt energized, revitalized, as if he’d plugged her in to recharge.
“Take me to bed, Kade,” she muttered against his lips as her arms looped around his neck and her fingers played with the taut skin there.
Kade groaned. “Yeah, that was my intention. Except that my bed is too far.” Kade used his forearm to push everything standing on the center island to the far edge of the block before bending his knees and wrapping one arm around her hips. In one easy, fluid movement he had her sitting on the island, their hands and mouths now perfectly aligned. Brodie placed her palms on Kade’s shoulders and tipped her head to give him better access so he could brush his lips against her neck, her jaw, her cheekbones.
“You are so beautiful.”
She wasn’t, not really, but right now she believed him. Feeling sexy and confident, she dropped her hands and gripped his T-shirt, slowly pulling it up and over his chest, wanting to get her hands on those muscles. Kade used one hand to finish pulling the T-shirt over his head and toss it to the floor. Brodie sucked in her breath. His track pants were low on his hips, displaying his ripped abdomen, those long obliques over his hips. Those sexy muscles made her feel squirmy and stupid and so, so wanton.
Brodie’s fingers drifted over his abdomen and hips, the side of her hand brushing his erection. She heard Kade suck in a breath. Liking the fact that she could make him breathe faster, that she could make his eyes glaze over, she pushed her hands inside his pants and pushed them over his hips to fall into a black puddle on the wooden floor.
“Whoops.” She smiled against his mouth.
“Since the urge to strip is all I ever think about when you are in the room, I’m not complaining,” Kade said, his mouth curling into a delighted smile.
His smile could melt ice cream, make women walk into poles and stop traffic. It heated up every one of Brodie’s internal organs and made them smile, too.
He had a hell of a smile, Brodie thought, especially when she felt it on her skin.
Nine
A few days later, Brodie parked her car next to Kade’s and ran an appreciative hand over the sleek hood. Had Kade realized this car was something he’d have to give up or, at the very least, that he’d need to buy a new one to transport the baby? There was no room for a car seat and she doubted a stroller would fit in the trunk.
So much was changing, Brodie thought as she headed to the entrance of his apartment building, quickly keying in the code to open the front doors. She and Kade were sort of lovers, kind of friends, about to be parents. The parenting bit was the only thing she was certain of, she thought as she walked into the private elevator that opened into Kade’s hallway.
Kade could rocket her from zero to turned-on in two seconds flat. And he was funny and smart... She was crazy about him.
Brodie rested her head against the panel of the elevator, petrified she was building castles in the air. She was pregnant and it was so natural to look to the father of her baby for sex, for comfort. It made complete sense. Who wanted to be a single parent, who wanted to go through this frightening, exhausting, terrifying process alone? But castles built on fantastic sex and thin air and wishes could collapse at a moment’s notice. Kade wasn’t going to be her happily-ever-after guy. She didn’t believe in happily-ever-after. She believed in getting through, doing the best she could, building a safe and secure life. There was only one person she could rely on 100 percent and that was herself.