Pulse: A Stepbrother Romance (4 page)

“What?” The sleepy and indulgent voice turned sharp and panicked in a hurry. I hated to do that to her.

“It looks like it snapped at some point. I’m so sorry I didn’t notice earlier.” I was an idiot. It had felt so good, being wrapped up in the moment with this incredible woman, the music pumping, hands flying, and all that sexy moaning.

Too good. I should have noticed.

I threw the tattered remains of the latex into the garbage can in disgust.

“How could this happen?” she asked. “Did you put it on right?”

Her eyes were wide. Frightened. I bit back the automatic sarcastic response that had been about to come out of my mouth. “I know how to put on a condom. These things happen sometimes if you have sex a little more vigorously than most people.”

“What do we do?” This must have never happened to her.

“You aren’t on birth control?”

She shook her head. “The hormones give me problems, so I took a break from it.”

“Well, there’s not a lot we can do at this point. You can get a morning-after pill tomorrow if you want to—that should help. It’s not like I’m an expert on these things.”

She lay back against the pillows, and I noticed a tremor run through her leg. The aftereffects of the massive orgasm I’d given her still ran through her.

“Damn, that was good though. Do you mind if I crash here?”

I grunted an agreement. “We’ll have to do it again soon. In the morning, maybe.”

The look she gave me was odd. “We’ll see about that.”

So much exertion and excitement wiped me out and could feel the sleepiness creep over me. The last thing I summoned the energy to do was hit the remote and shut off the music.

~

Remnants of a magnificent dream chased through my memory as my consciousness pulled together from the depths of sleep.

The night before came back in a rush and I grinned as I stretched.

I could do with a repeat performance of that.

Something about hooking up with Leah differed from any other woman I’d ever been with. It had been so natural, so primal. We had fit together so well, as though we were meant to be together.

I rolled over and sent an arm around her.

It closed on nothing.

What?

I sat up, but there was no sight of Leah to be found anywhere except for a few long, brown hairs that stuck to the bedsheets on her side.

“Leah?” I called as I padded out to the living room.

The bathroom was empty, her clothes and purse absent. I scratched my head as I stood there in the nude.

She must have had to leave for something.
I’d call her later. There was no chance I would let a woman like that slip through my fingers. She was a breath of fresh air—a distraction from the monotony of the rest of my life. Someone who could show me the path to change.

A loud beeping filled the apartment and I growled. After that experience, I did not want to go into work and face the same warehouse filled with the same morons I’d been dealing with on a day to day basis for the past nine years.

Wants didn’t pay bills, so I went through the typical morning routine and headed down to the docks.

A large sign hung over the entrance to the massive building.

JJ Wilson and Sons, Ltd.

“You’re late,” said the eponymous JJ as I walked in the door. A permanent frown wreathed his face underneath gray hair. A pair of dirty coveralls over a white shirt might as well have been a uniform—it was the only thing I had ever seen him wear.

“No, I’m not,” I said as I continued walking through. “I’m five minutes early.”

The elder man harrumphed and went back to reading his paper.

The path looked clear to my forklift and I sighed in relief. I did not want to face anyone this early in the morning.

“Chris.”

I jumped a little and immediately regretted it. Derek leaned against the wall that partitioned the offices, lunch and change rooms from the rest of the big open building. He’d hidden until I rounded the corner.

“Where the fuck did you go last night?” he said. “We needed you to ferret out those fuckers who shot Recker, and you disappeared on us. You’re the only one who knows what they look like.”

I set my jaw and leaned against the wall myself. “I didn’t want to go on a glorified witch hunt, Derek. You knew that, but you got everyone all riled up anyway, just to serve your pride.”

“My pride has nothing to do with it,” the other man said. “What about Recker’s pride? What about our friend, Chris? How do you think he feels knowing you bailed on avenging him last night?”

“He feels nothing at all, Derek. Not anymore. No good can come out of chasing down a couple of thugs.”

The forklift sat just out of reach. Why did Derek have to be standing here?

“No good? And what happens the next time they shoot one of the crew? Their blood will be on your hands, Chris.”

“For fuck’s sake, Derek! You think we would have accomplished anything last night? Do you think they would have gone right back to the same bar they shot someone at the night before to just hang around and gloat? The bouncers know what they look like and the cops have pulled their faces off the security tapes by now. They won’t go anywhere near O’Malley’s ever again.”

Derek punched the wall. “Tim’s right about you, you know. You think you’re so much smarter than everyone else. Well guess what, Chris? You aren’t better than any of us. We all work the same job and we all have the same friends. You aren’t ever going to leave. You’re stuck here, just like us. You should act like it.”

He walked away.

I forced my hands to relax. It was a bad sign that they balled into fists more often than not when I spoke with my friends.

Is he right? Will I never amount to more than this?

The warehouse was a dim, dusty graveyard, filled with row upon row of random boxes. It was a mystery what was even in most of them. A cog in a faceless, useless machine—that’s what I was.

No. I’ll do better. I have to do things differently. Meet different people.

Green eyes stared into mine across my memories. Different eyes.

Before I could second guess myself, I’d called up the contact for Leah. She was in my phone as Leah Swim.

It picked up on the second ring.

“Hello, Liberty Pizza, how can I help you?”

Liberty Pizza?

“Hello?”

“Oh, sorry. I… I must’ve hit the wrong number.”

I hung up and stared at the phone. My only point of contact for the woman that had given me a breath of fresh air was a dead end.

“I still can’t believe that you left me there.”

Tyra waved off the statement like it was nothing. “Oh, whatever, you’re here. Which means you survived, right? Besides, you were talking to that hunky guy with the tatts and I didn’t want to interrupt. Just because Jess can’t hold her booze and threw up everywhere didn’t mean that your night had to be ruined.”

“Still, though. It would have been nice to know, at least.”

She shook her head. “I know you, and I know that if I’d told you we were leaving, you would have left with us. You wouldn’t stay at a bar by yourself.”

I played with the tag on my tea bag, lifting it and stirring the liquid around as I waited for it to steep.

“You might be right.”

“Of course I’m right. So, how was it?”

I looked up to catch Tyra's grin. “What do you mean?”

“Well, you slept with him, right?”

I froze, trying to think of the right way to put it. Her grin spread wider when I didn’t automatically deny it. She laughed.

“Oh, shut up. Yes, we hooked up. It was… great. Amazing. Maybe it’s because I was drunk, but it might have been the best sex I’ve ever had.”

“Awesome! Are you going to see him again?”

I winced. “I gave him a fake number.”

“What? After the best sex you’ve ever had?” Tyra put her caramel macchiato down and took my hands. “Leah, you never just throw away something like that. Great sex is hard to find, honey.”

I laughed, “I gave it to him before the sex and didn’t feel like telling him it was fake after. Besides, Tyra, sex isn’t the only thing. Probably not even the most important.”

She grumbled something that sounded suspiciously like “speak for yourself.”

I hesitated, but knew that I had to bring up the other thing bothering me. “Anyway, there was another reason I didn’t want to keep seeing him. After we finished, he told me the condom broke.”

If I expected a big reaction, she didn’t give me one. “Eh, it happens. If you don’t have a pregnancy scare here and there, you aren’t living life to its fullest.”

“Tyra!” I don’t know why I let her continue to shock me. I should be used to it by this point. “This is a big deal!”

“Did you get a pill?”

I nodded. “After I snuck out of his place this morning, I went to the pharmacy and picked one up.”

“Then it’ll take care of itself. You’ve done what you can, no sense in wasting too much worry on it.”

I shook my head in admiration. “You are just a simple creature, aren’t you? It must be nice to live up in that head of yours where everything is so black and white and the only things that matter are good sex and pretty shoes.”

She shrugged. There was no shame there—she had her priorities and knew it.

My phone rang. It wasn’t a number I recognized.

“Get that,” Tyra said. “I need to call my salon, anyway.”

Despite years of answering phone calls, there was something about picking up an unknown number that still made me a little nervous. I could stand on a stage in front of hundreds of people no problem, but not being able to see the other person’s face was difficult for me.

“Hello?”

“Hi, is this Miss Allen?”

“Yes.”

“How are you this morning?”

“I’m fine, thanks. How are you?” The endless pleasantries of a phone call were unnecessary, but the familiar routine let me talk through the nerves.

“I’m with the Troubadour Company and I wanted to let you know that we’ve selected you to audition for the role of Annie in the upcoming production of
Courtly Intrigue
.”

“Oh my God, are you serious?” I had applied to the play on a lark, not expecting to get an audition. It was a serious play, a professional production. Off-Broadway. A far cry from the student endeavors that filled my résumé.

The smile in the woman’s voice was clear. “Very serious, Miss Allen. The audition is on Tuesday evening at seven. Does that work for you?”

I couldn’t think straight. It was hard to remember what my schedule looked like. “I think so? I can’t remember if I have anything then. You know what, it doesn’t matter. Nothing I have is more important than this. If I have something, then I can move it.”

“Perfect. We’re sending you an e-mail with all the details. This is just the customary call to let you know you got it. We look forward to seeing you, Miss Allen.”

“Thank you so much! I promise I’ll bring everything I have!”

I looked across the table at Tyra after hanging up, eyes wide.

“What was all that about?”

“I applied for this role in a play that’s happening in a few months. I never dreamed I would even get an audition—it’s so competitive. This could be huge for me, my big break. I might catch the attention of someone important if it does well. Off-Broadway shows can get picked up and go to Broadway, it happens all the time.”

My mind raced. There were so many possibilities. I had applied to many roles over the years, but this was my first chance to audition and prove I had what it took. I knew I had it in me; now I had to prove it.

“Congrats, Leah! I’m so happy for you. When is it?”

“Tuesday.” Suddenly, Tuesday felt far too soon. I needed time to prepare, practice, and rehearse. Only a weekend to get ready for the most important audition of my life?

“It’s a good thing it’s not this weekend. Don’t you have your dad’s wedding?” Tyra asked.

My heart sank like a stone. I’d forgotten. I was driving out to the countryside that afternoon for the weekend. The rehearsal dinner was tonight.

“No. Dammit! I need all that time to practice. Why did this have to happen at the same time?”

Could I skip out on the weekend? Just go for the wedding itself?

I shook myself. It was my dad’s wedding. He was finally remarrying, something Steph and I had been waiting for all our lives. I couldn’t abandon him this weekend. I would just have to cram it all in together.