Missing (The Brannock Siblings Book 3) (7 page)

He chuckled and took a step closer. She still didn't move
away, too intrigued to give a damn about her personal space.

"Yes. Arch enemy. And no, I'm not trying to make you
feel better, I'm just trying to be honest."

She rolled her eyes, but didn't put as much bitterness into
it as she had in the past and he noticed. Honest. It would have been more
honest if he had told her he was a cop. Then the last few months wouldn't have
been wasted. His hand came up to her cheek and brushed a stray lock of red hair
back behind her ear and her inner rant vanished.

"I thought I knew your voice like I knew my own. I
mean, I'd dreamed about it every night, how could I miss it?" he said
softly and she felt her body start to lean forward, reaching out for his
warmth. The same warmth she had expected to feel later tonight with someone
completely different in her mind.

"Same here," she blurted, squeezing her eyes shut
tightly and cursing herself for not holding her tongue. This man didn't need to
know how upset she actually was. It would give him too much power over her and
the amount he had already was dangerous. He had literally been her best friend
and it was killing her to know that he had been her enemy all along. The one
type of guy she had promised herself she would never associate with.

Her head was spinning with the craziness of it all.

"You're my best friend, Aiden."

Great, now he was reading her mind. She needed to make a
move and get him out of there. She was too close to bursting into tears and
there was no way she could do that in front of him. She stepped around him and
grabbed the doorknob, but his voice stopped her.

"Everything I have told you since we met online is
true. I haven't had a date in a long time, I just don't have the time or the
desire to do what I had done for so long. Meeting you on that site changed
everything."

She whipped around and faced him, gathering all the icy
hatred she could and forcing it into her voice because she wasn't going to be
the vulnerable one here and let her need for love make the decisions for her.
If he thought that his previous playboy ways were truly the problem, let him.
It was the only argument she felt confident about.

"You mean to tell me that you don't have flocks of
women groveling at your feet and begging for a date. That I'm the one you've
been waiting for? God, don't be so dramatic, Fergus. Or should I call you
Fergie?" she stated sarcastically with a wicked smirk. She knew that would
piss him off and hopefully get him to leave.

Something snapped inside of him. Something powerful. His
expression shifted and for a split second, she thought he was ready to kick her
ass, but then just as suddenly, the angry look on his face changed. It was no
longer angry, but it was still just as intense. With narrowed eyes, he stepped
forward, like a predator, trapping her against the door. She spread her palms
out at her sides and tried to hold onto the worn wood for dear life with the
pads of her fingers.

He was toe to toe with her and leaned in even further,
placing his palms against the door on either side of her head, caging her in.
Her heart raced frantically and she tried not to breathe, but it didn't help.
She could still feel the heat coming off of him and the electricity crackling
between them.

"A lot of things that I would let you call me, Red. A
few examples; Gus. Babe. Baby. God. Yes. Harder." He drew in a long breath
and exhaled slowly, his blue and grey eyes hooded and dark, flickering back and
forth from her eyes to her mouth again with something close to need.

If her heart wasn't pounding so hard, she would have thought
she was dead already. He leaned in closer until his nose barely grazed hers and
she could feel his erratic breaths caressing her lips. That's when she realized
how badly she wanted him to kiss her. To gather all that intensity, all that
anger, frustration, and enmity they had been throwing back and forth at each
other over the last few months and take it out on her in ways she could only
imagine. He was the type of man to turn all of that into passion and make her
burn from the inside out. He was dangerous for her, but at that exact moment,
she couldn't make herself give a shit.

Kiss me dammit!

She was ready to scream. To grab onto him and maul him to
death, force him to take her. Before she could put action to her thoughts, he
took a quick step back, taking his heat with him.

"Fergie isn't one of them." His voice was deeper,
raspier than normal and it made her core clench as liquid heat pulsed downward.
She didn't want to want this, but oh, how she wanted it.

He raked a hand through his hair once more and glared at
her. "I need to leave."

Yes, he did need to leave. She tried to move away from the
door, she really did, but her feet were cemented in place and her pulse felt
like it was just one long hum with how fast it was going.

"Okay."

"Okay," he said, his eyes on her mouth once more. "I'm
sorry, Aiden."

Strong hands wrapped around her upper arms and gently moved
her to the side before releasing her quickly. Gus yanked open the door and
disappeared through it. She didn't turn to watch him, but she heard his door
open and slam shut before she was able to make her muscles work and shut her
own door.

Her arousal was now at a simmer and cooling fast. She
replayed every conversation she had with him, as Dreamy
and
as Gus and
wanted to kick her own ass. They both deserved this for not figuring it out
weeks ago, for thinking that the superficial details were insignificant.

No, she would have figured it out if
he
hadn't been
such a jerk. If
he
hadn't been the bane of her existence. If
he
hadn't been so frustratingly fascinating. Yeah, she would have figured it out,
but she didn't and it was
his
fault. Not hers.

He
deserved this.

Then why the hell did she feel so empty at the thought of
never speaking to him again like they had been? Spending hours on the phone
laughing and finding more and more that they had in common. Why did she wish
the date would have gone so completely different?

"Well," she sighed. "Not the best date I've
ever had." She grinned at herself and lifted her foot so she could finally
remove the cursed heels that she'd probably never use again. "Not the
worst either."

***

"No, I'm not going to be home all day, Lil. I'm going
out today to see if I can't find somewhere that I can use as a studio. My
apartment isn't working anymore."

Lily sighed and Aiden figured her sister would end up
bringing her dinner anyway. She had felt awful about not being on time to pick
up Aidy, but she felt even worse that she hadn't been more understanding about
what happened with Gus the night before. Aiden had tried to say she was sorry
for being so harsh, but Lily wouldn't have it and still insisted that
she
was the one out of line.

Her sister was the best and she couldn't thank God enough
for putting them together.

"Well, I'll still make some extra. Mom and Dad are
going to call and talk to Aidy tonight so if we can get together, you can talk
to them, too."

She sighed and rolled her eyes as she gathered her keys and
purse and headed for the door. "Fine. Just text me before you come over so
I can make sure I'm home. I really need to get cracking on finding a studio so
don't expect to hear from me first."

"That's fine, just be careful and don't forget that Dad
said he would help if you need it."

"I don't, but I'll let him know that myself. I've got
enough put away to afford a few months of rent and if I can get these new
pieces sold, I'll be golden."

"Great! Then I guess I'll see you tonight. Oh, and um,
say hi to Gus for me if you see him. He was such a sweetie yesterday."

"No, you tell him yourself. I need to steer clear for a
while."

"Whatever, Aid. Love you."

"You too, Lil. Bye."

She quickly locked her door while keeping an ear out for any
movement next door. She could never be too cautious. She started to tip toe past
his door when she heard a loud bang coming from the other side and stopped
abruptly.

What the hell is he doing in there?

Another bang made her step closer, then a loud crash made
her jump and she stepped right up to the door and started pounding.

"Gus? Are you okay?"

She pounded on the door a few more times before it swung
open and a glowering, sweaty, and extremely fit Gus stepped into view.

Her eyes moved over his shoulders, down his heaving chest to
a very distinct six pack that could seriously fund all panty corporations
because she could swear hers had just melted on the spot.

"Red?"

Her eyes shot back up to his face. His expression had
changed drastically and was anything but angry.
Back to Red, huh?

"What the hell is going on in there? I heard
crashing."

His brows furrowed and those blue grey eyes studied her face
carefully, almost warily.

"I'm working out."

Well, duh. No wonder the sex god was sweaty and delicious…
um,
dangerous
looking. Her tongue felt like it had swelled in her mouth
at the image of him lifting weights and wiping his hard sweaty chest with a
towel after getting it all wet from pouring a bottle of water- "What the
fuck?"

"Excuse me?"

Oh, shit. I said that out loud. Quick, Aid, save yourself
and get the hell out of here before you start to lick him.

"What kind of workout involves the sounds you would
only hear at a demolition?"

"My kind, I guess."

That smirk paired with a bead of sweat dripping down his
forehead… it was too much. Much too much.

"Okay, then. Bye." She whipped around, her purse
swinging around maniacally in her haste and banging against the door jamb. She
cringed and that pause was enough to stall her getaway.

"Hey, hold up a second," His hand clamped around
her arm gently.

She didn't want to turn around, used all her willpower not
to, but her body was apparently not in working order and the hum she was
feeling at his touch was too interesting to ignore. When her eyes locked with
his, she felt the arousal that had tapered off from the night before come
racing back tenfold. Add that onto what she was suffering at the sight of him
and she was surprised she could still stand up on her own, or even make
coherent sounds when all she wanted to do was groan.

"Yes?" she squeaked.

"Are you going to be around tonight?"

"Umm," she couldn't decide if her confusion was
because her brain was still shorting out or if it was because she couldn't
possibly come up with a reason as to why he would ask that. "Yes?"

"Is that a question?"

"No."

"No, you won't be here?"

"No. I mean, yes, I'll be here, but I don't know why
you'd want to know."

He squeezed her arm gently before releasing it, now having
her full attention he must have realized he didn't need to restrain her.

Too bad
, she thought and felt her lips turn into a
pout.

"I was wondering, well hoping actually, that you would
have dinner with me."

Her eyebrows shot straight up and her stomach wobbled. This
wasn't what she expected, especially after her blatant rejection of him last
night. Except she didn't actually officially reject him last night. Instead, he
had distracted her with his sexy talk about names to call him and her body had
told her mind to shut the hell up and listen to him. Therefore, her whole
reaction to finding out he was her date was a moot point because she was right
back to trying to figure the whole thing out all over again.

Damn her body for bullying her mind into forgetting the very
important problem about this whole debacle. The problem that she just couldn't
put her finger on now because he had the fantasy towel in his hand and was
wiping his face and neck.

Why couldn't I have been born a towel?

"Red?"

Okay, that got her wheels greased and working again.

"I, uh, my sister is coming for dinner tonight. We have
plans. Yeah, that's right."

He smiled and his eyes twinkled. Not the reaction she had
been expecting but she could roll with that. "I see. Do you mind if you
have an extra person?"

"I'm sorry?"

He raked a hand through his damp hair, damp with the sweat
from his workout, she reminded herself as she watched his bicep bulge and that
sexy set of muscles down his side clench and roll under his skin. "You
see, I only have the weekend off as long as I'm not called in and I haven't
been able to go to the store yet, since I had other plans." He paused and
winked at her.

Right. The other plans that had unknowingly included her.

"I was planning on going today, but something came up
and I won't have the time. So… do you mind if I join you girls for
dinner?"

Something in the back of her mind was screaming at her that
what he had given her was the weakest excuse she had ever heard and the
reminder of his ever present job crashed to the forefront.

"Seriously?"

He nodded, "Seriously."

She bit her lip and thought about it for a few seconds, then
he growled and her mind switched to panic mode.

"What? What is it?" she asked frantically, looking
around her to make sure there was nothing amiss.

"Nothing. It's just… you were biting your lip and…
never mind. Yes or no, Aiden."

Her name on his lips made the decision for her. She could be
civil. He was her neighbor after all and she wasn't planning on moving any time
soon. Avoiding each other was apparently out of the question since it had only
been several hours and fate had pushed her in front of him once again. She knew
him. At least that's what
he
had told her. She wasn't sure if he was
truly the man she thought Dreamy was or if he was the bad boy, prank playing,
gun toting, jerk she had thought was her neighbor.