Surprised by Love: A Contemporary Romance (The Armstrongs Book 4) (6 page)

Douglas arrived at the airport to pick up Patrick, just as his brother stepped outside the terminal.

“Wow! You don’t look bad, Bro.”

“Thanks for the flowers, Doug. I told you, I needed civilization.” Patrick gave his older brother a knock in the shoulder.

“I’m surprised they even let you into the country,” Douglas told him, continuing their normal banter with each other. He’d missed his brother. Because Patrick travelled so much, they didn’t get a chance to see each other often.

“Hey! I am not looking that bad.”

“Well, actually you are.”

Douglas admitted without envy and jealousy that even though Patrick was the same height as him, cresting 6’2”, he was more muscular.

While Douglas spent his days working in his office behind a desk all day, Patrick was always on the move. He worked outdoors and had to carry around his heavy photographic equipment, which showed in his broad chest, muscular arms, and the natural sun tan. His brother was definitely a hunky man.

In the company car on the way back to the apartment building, Patrick filled him in on his assignment in Nepal. “I almost finished this photo story about a minority tribe that lives in a remote mountain area in Nepal.”

“How long have you been in that same place?”

“Three months. No running water. No electricity. No phone or internet service. Basically take everything you consider a necessity in the Western world and get rid of it.”

“Sounds harsh,” Douglas commented.

“There were times when I thought I might give up. Not shaving was probably the easiest task.”

Douglas glanced over at him. His brother sported a big beard and his hair was much too long. “Ha ha. Don’t remember you ever liking to shave. So no running water is rough, but how did you charge your cameras?”

“I used a solar charger for my cameras and flashes. I didn’t take a laptop with me on this trip, so I wrote everything out the old-fashioned way. Pencils, pens, and paper.”

Douglas smiled at him. Patrick was one of those journalists who needed pen and paper in front of him to get the thoughts flowing.

Douglas asked, “So are you up to going out to a nightclub tonight?”

“I’d love to. It will be my first nightclub in three months.”

“Can you get yourself a shave and a haircut before tonight? You look like a Yeti. And I’m pretty sure Yetis don’t get access to the place we’re going tonight.”

“All right. Will do.”

“There’s a shopping mall next door to the building.” They shared a laugh and Douglas added, “We will be going out with Toni and a friend of hers, but you have to get yourself into presentable shape first.”

Patrick lifted one brow and asked, “Toni? Anything I should be aware of?”

Douglas hesitated. What should he say? There’s nothing between him and Toni.
Liar. There is a lot of sexual attraction between us.

Finally, he answered, “No, she’s the loan manager from the bank regarding the new skyscraper we’re building.”

Patrick nodded. He was not a man of many words. Never had been. Probably never would be.
Maybe that’s the reason he prefers his cameras and being alone. It allows him to be miles away from the next human being.

Personally, Douglas had never understood how his brother could cope with solitude. He himself loved to be with people. He had lots of employees, business partners and had a busy life day in day out.

They arrived at the apartment building and he showed Patrick to his apartment. His secretary, Abby, had secured a serviced apartment right next door to Douglas’s. After showing him around the small one-bedroom apartment, Douglas showed him where the shopping mall entrance was and then left him to get ready. “I’m heading back to the office, but I’ll be back to get you around seven-thirty tonight.”

“Sounds good. I’ll be ready,” Patrick told him as Douglas let himself out of the apartment.

A shower, shave, and haircut would do wonders for him both in the looks and in the mental department. The last three months had been grueling and he was looking forward to a night filled with fun and excitement.

Toni dabbed at her makeup, with trembling hands.
I’m going out with Douglas. At least Tricia is tagging along. And his brother. It’s not a date. I’m safe.

The doorbell rang and Toni hurried to open it after glancing through the peephole to see Tricia standing on the other side of the door.

She pulled the door open and Tricia sauntered in, “Hi, I thought we could chat before leaving.”

“Come in. I’m just getting ready.”

Tricia looked gorgeous like always. She had tied up her jet black hair into a ponytail with some fancy curls hanging out in a deliberately messy appearance. Her flawless face had been made up carefully and she was wearing a silver sequined dress that fit her small frame perfectly.

The sleeveless dress contrasted nicely with her olive skin. Her black hair made the dress sparkle even more, and when she moved her head, the dangling earrings caught the light and sparkled around her.

She was wearing four-inch heels in a satin silver color and the entire outfit made her look as if she’d just stepped from the pages of a fashion magazine.

“That is some dress,” Toni commented, finishing her makeup and turning around to meet Tricia’s stare.

Tricia was pouting at her and pointing towards her attire, “It’s Friday night! You can’t wear
this
.” She made ‘
this’
sound like a bad word.

“What is wrong with
this
?” Toni emphasized the word in the same way Tricia did.

“Everything!”

Toni sighed, knowing that Tricia was going to insist she changed. She had hoped to get away with wearing a simple dress suit with a white blouse. Her consultant’s uniform she could hide behind.

And if Tricia had been true to form, it might have worked. In all the years she’d known Tricia, the woman always arrived at the last second and that would have meant Toni didn’t have time to change.
Guess your luck ran out tonight.
Not only had Tricia shown up on time, she was half an hour early.

Seeing the glint in her friend’s eyes, she wondered if Tricia hadn’t come early for the exact reason to check on her outfit. It seemed they knew each other too well.

Tricia stomped into Toni’s bedroom and pulled open the closet doors. Critically, she searched through the entire contents, muttering to herself all the while. When she was almost done, Tricia made a satisfied sound and pulled out a red and gold dress, encased in a plastic bag.

Toni gasped when she saw the dress. She’d bought that one for Chinese New Year celebrations and had not yet worn it. It was much too short. Showed off too much cleavage. It hugged her figure too tightly for tonight’s activities.
And what message will you be sending to Douglas if he sees you in a dress like that?

“No. Not that one.”

“Why not? It’s gorgeous!”

That’s why!
She knows how killer she’ll look in that dress. She doesn’t want to imagine the look in Douglas’s eyes when he sees her. And she wants to imagine her body’s reaction to that look even less. With all the energy flying around between them and outside of the safe confinements of the office, she might not be able to resist his charms.

Shaking her head, she told Tricia, “It’s too flashy.”

“Bullshit!” Tricia told her, tossed the dress onto the bed and then crossed her arms. “Put it on. There’s nothing else suitable in here anyway. We need to do some serious shopping soon. I have no idea how you can have a life with that kind of wardrobe, girl.”

Toni argued once more, but Tricia wasn’t budging. “Get into that dress now or I’ll have to dress you myself.”

“Ok.” They were running out of time and Toni put on the dress. It was gorgeous. Strapless, with the bodice coming to points at the top of each breast. The deep vee design of the sequins, done in varying shades of reds and golds, gave her body a long slim line. It fell to just above her knees and fit her like a glove. Tricia, in the meantime, was searching through her shoes for something to match.

Toni knew there was only one pair of shoes that would do the dress justice. Moving Tricia out of the way, she reached inside one of her closed suitcases and pulled out a plastic wrapped parcel.

“What’s that?” Tricia asked, eyeing the bag critically.

“Shoes. I bought these the last time I was in Milan, with this dress in mind. I’ve never worn them.” Toni unwrapped the shoes and heard Tricia’s low whistle when she saw the red
Italian leather dress pumps with a gold
metal filigree adorning the back of each heel and down the four-inch stiletto.

The heels were the tallest ones she owned, making her stand almost six-feet tall, but she had no choice.

“Turn around so I can see the entire picture,” Tricia demanded.

Toni hid her smile and then spun around.

“That’s it, honey. That man will be salivating all over you.”

That comment had her break out in sweat, “But I don’t want him to drool over me. We are only going out with him because his brother needs a break.”

“Sure, Beautiful. Whatever you say.” Tricia completely disregarded her panic and strode for the door of the apartment. “Let’s go. We’re running late.”

***

Douglas picked up his brother and they took the elevator down the hall to meet Toni and Tricia. Douglas gave his brother an appraising look and then a nod, “Hey, Patrick. Now at least you look like a person.”

Patrick had shaved his beard off and had gone to the shopping mall and gotten a haircut. He’d even splurged and bought black dress pants. He brushed a hand through his short locks and gave Douglas a rueful smile. “So I pass muster now?”

“Yeah.” They were both wearing black dress pants that showcased their firm buttocks, and white short-sleeved button-down shirts.

A few minutes later, Toni and Tricia stepped out of the elevator. Patrick whistled and said, “That blonde is a total bomb. I wonder how she looks naked.”

Douglas turned when his brother whistled, and when he saw whom Patrick was talking about, he saw red.
No one is going to talk like that about her. No one. Not even my brother.
Before he could check his reaction, he grabbed Patrick by his throat, glaring daggers at him. “Watch your tongue. And keep your hands off her!”

Patrick held up his hands and adopted an apologetic expression. He could easily have fought his brother and removed himself from his grip, but he didn’t. Instead, he pressed out, “Sorry, man.”

Douglas relaxed his grip and then took a step backwards as Patrick continued, “No reason to strangle me. Next time, don’t tell me you’re not interested in a girl, when you are.”

“I’m not interested in her.” But the way he was staring at his brother showed exactly the opposite. He was into her. A lot. More than he wanted to admit to.

His brother didn’t argue with him, he simply moved a step back and pretended to dust off his hands. Douglas looked up, thankful that the girls hadn’t noticed their quarrel and waved them over.

Patrick moved directly towards Tricia, barely even touching Toni’s hand during a perfunctory handshake while saying hello. The warning had been loud and clear and he loved his brother enough to back off. One of the Armstrong family ground rules had always been not to interfere with one another’s girls. Whoever saw her first, got the first shot. With six brothers around, the rule had served them well and saved the family peace more than once and Patrick saw no reason to upset the status quo now.

Douglas felt a pain in his chest when he saw Toni. She looked absolutely stunning. And that dress! He had no idea how he was going to keep his hands off her the whole evening. It would be a long evening.

Turning to address Tricia, he complimented her on her dress. “You must be Tricia. Nice to meet you. You look wonderful in that dress. It makes your hair shine.” She was a pretty woman that he would normally appreciate, but she didn’t compare to Toni.

When he approached Toni, she looked like she was shining from the inside out. Her smile was bright and warm, and his heart did a little flip when she greeted him with her soft voice.

“Hi Douglas.”

“Hello, yourself. You look absolutely stunning.” Douglas’ heart flipped as her smile broadened and then a thought struck him.
Is she actually happy to see me?
He didn’t even dare to believe it.

He felt his manhood stirring, just from looking at her. When he clasped her hand in a greeting, tingles had flown through his body and his mind wandered off, right back upstairs and into his bedroom, where he’d rip her clothes off and do deliciously dirty things to her.

His hands longed to touch her bare shoulders; to feel her shiver in reaction as he traced his fingertips down to her bust line. She was wearing a gorgeous décolleté, neither inappropriate nor distasteful, but simply enough to accentuate her firm breasts. Breasts his hands were dying to touch.

“Okay. Let’s go.” Tricia’s voice cut through his thoughts bringing him back to reality after a moment of stunned silence on his part.
I can’t believe I let my mind wander so far.

The company driver was already waiting for them and a few minutes later dropped them off at the Starlight Tower. Tricia had secured reservations at one of the hottest nightclubs in the city, Sunrise Bar, at the tip of the skyscraper. Douglas wasn’t quite sure how she’d pulled it off, but it didn’t matter. Tonight was about having fun and that was all.