“But nothing. I’m staying until Sunday, so you’re stuck with a friend for the next day and a half. I’m here, Piper, and I want to be here.”
Piper could see nothing but honesty on his face and if she was honest, she really was glad he was here. At least she’d have someone clapping for her as she accepted her diplomas tomorrow, even if he was paid to be here. And Brody encouraged friendship and inspired lustful thoughts. If someone had to be foisted on her for the weekend, she couldn’t think of anyone she would rather have than him. Of course, having him around for the weekend without Charles here to distract her from fantasizing about getting naked with him was going to be difficult, especially since she wasn’t dumb enough to believe he would welcome an invitation to her bed. But she was so tired of being alone. She had missed Brody and Charles’s visits these past three months and the comfort she always drew from seeing the only person she considered family again.
“I’ll go get a room and pick you up early tomorrow. We’ll get brunch somewhere before your commencement.”
“I’m going to order a pizza. Do you want to join me?” she blurted out impulsively. She didn’t want to spend another Friday night alone, especially now that she knew she wasn’t going to be seeing Charles again.
Brody was relieved at the invitation for more reasons than not wanting to spend the evening alone thinking about sad green eyes and a soft, enticing body that was completely off limits. Charles’s recent decision to go legit not only threw a very heavy wrench in their investigation, but had him veering on the side of caution when it came to severing ties with Pasquino. Piper’s guardian was sma
rt enough to know you didn’t simply walk away from doing business for a man as ruthless as Pasquino, which was why he was keeping a low profile lately and staying stateside. Thus far, there had been no indication that Pasquino knew about Piper. Sandoval had taken great pains to keep her existence a well buried secret, but when Karl got himself knifed in a bar fight, he apparently took the opportunity of losing one of only two men in his employ he thought knew of the illegal dealings his casino fronted for to begin turning over a new leaf. Brody and Ian had both secured security positions in the casino and earned his trust the six months prior to Karl’s death, Brody being the lucky one to have gotten the newly vacant position. Unfortunately, he had maneuvered into the exact spot he needed to gather the information they were seeking on Pasquino just in time for Sandoval’s change of heart. After having come this far, however, it was agreed upon by him, Ian and their superiors that they wait it out for the time being.
Spending this evening eating pizza was a perk he wasn’t willing to deny himself after all the disappointments this assignment had wrought. He didn’t know if he wanted to befriend her to ease his conscience or because he wanted to see what those expressive eyes looked like as he fucked her, but if he could make her weekend special by spending as much time with her as possible before he returned to Sandoval and hopefully garnered enough evidence from an arranged meet with Pasquino next weekend to put an end to his assignment, then it would be worth the torture of being in such close quarters with a woman who was off limits to him sexually, and not just because of his job. Though he harbored a fondness for his assignment’s ward, she was too young and too naïve for his tastes.
“That sounds much better than ordering room service and spending the evening in a hotel room. Thanks.”
Damn it, he swore silently as he followed her inside and his eyes were automatically drawn to her ass. He was here as a friend, not as her fuck buddy he repeatedly told himself, even if he couldn’t help but noticing that her baggy jeans couldn’t hide the soft roundness of her buttocks or keep him from imagining her draped over his lap, her cheeks bouncing with each slap he administered, her skin warming under his hand. He knew his good deed of traveling here this weekend wasn’t going to be enough to ease his conscience once she learned Charles’s fate and the hand he had in delivering him to it just as he knew he wasn’t going to be spending any time between those soft, round thighs. With the exception of attending the private parties Charles gave for some of his high rolling gambling clients, parties catered by an escort service owned by Sandoval, he never fucked while on the job and his relationships in between assignments were based on nothing more than mutual sexual attraction and were always short lived, sexual indulgences Piper wasn’t cut out for. Hopefully, he wouldn’t see her again after this weekend, wouldn’t have to face her looking at him with the same disappointment and disillusionment she had shown when he had arrived without Charles.
“What the hell was I thinking?” Piper muttered three hours later as she loaded the few dishes into the dishwasher while Brody went out to the car to bring in his bag. For the life of her she couldn’t figure out what had possessed her to offer him a place to crash on her large sectional couch instead of watching him leave for the night to seek out a hotel room. Just because she hadn’t enjoyed herself with a man or anyone else as much as she had with Brody the past few hours, wasn’t any reason to take leave of her senses and torment herself by having the image of that tall, muscle hardened body sprawled half naked only a few feet from her bedroom in her head as she tried to sleep. “Damn it, just thinking about him is going to be enough to keep me awake,” she grumbled. “Did I have to go and make it worse?”
“Problem, darlin’?” Brody leaned his shoulder against the wall as he crossed his arms and grinned at the way she yelped and jumped. Her muttering drew him to the kitchen when he had returned with his bag. She obviously had been so intent on grumbling about having trouble sleeping she hadn’t heard him return.
Piper felt her toes curl and her pussy weep in response to hearing him call her darlin’ in that slow, deep drawl of his, her usual response to that endearment that she knew good and well meant nothing to him. “Damn it, Brody, you startled me!” Slamming the dishwasher shut, she turned to face him, irritated more with herself than with him. “And no, there’s no problem. I’ll get you a pillow and blanket. I already set out clean towels in the bathroom.”
“I don’t need you to wait on me, Piper. And I hope you know you can trust me.”
Unfortunately, she thought sourly. Sighing, she replied, “Charles trusts you, so I see no reason why I shouldn’t. “
On impulse, he walked over to her and gave her a brotherly kiss on her forehead, hoping his gesture would get her to relax. “Go to bed. I’ll lock up,” he offered gruffly, the fact that she really shouldn’t trust him not sitting well with him.
Chapter Two
“You look quite pleased with yourself, darlin’,” Brody commented as he refilled her wine glass. “And you should be. Keeping a four-point-zero GPA in two majors is something to be proud of.”
“Thank you, Brody.” Piper sipped her wine as she leaned back in her chair and basked in his undivided attention. “Actually, I am very pleased with myself. Thank you for bringing me here.” They had just finished dinner at Bistrot du Boeuf Rouge in downtown Geneva, an expensive, posh French restaurant that was popular among the residents as well as with tourists. Piper had never been here, had chosen to save every sent of her five thousand dollar monthly allowance from Charles to invest in her future. She was waiting on a call from him today as to which direction her future was going to take now. This time, she was under no delusions that he was ready to bring her back to the states and welcome her into his life with open arms.
“You’re welcome. I was proud of you today, Piper, and I know Charles regrets not being able to attend your graduation.” That, at least, was true. Charles’s determination to sever ties with Pasquino so he could live a more normal life could put Piper’s life in the crosshairs if her existence was unearthed. His anger and disappointment when Brody had discovered they were being tailed everywhere they went three months ago, made Charles stop his visits to Geneva, stating it would be worth a temporary separation from Piper if the end result was eventually giving her more freedom as well as keeping her safe.
Taking another swallow of her wine, Piper stated emphatically, “I don’t want to talk about him.”
“Fair enough. What would you like to do now?”
Oh, shit, Piper thought as she tried to keep her thoughts from showing on her face. That was a loaded question if she ever heard one. What she wanted was to spend the rest of the night having hot, hard sex with the man sitting across from her looking indulgently at her out of grey eyes. She had come out of her bedroom this morning just in time to see Brody emerge from the bathroom wearing nothing but a pair of black, silk boxers. His body was even bigger, harder than she had imagined, the dark, curly hair on his chest which tapered down to disappear into his shorts made her nipples tingle as she imagined what those springy curls would feel like as his hard chest covered hers, his thick thighs spreading hers right before he thrust into her in one deep stroke. Ted’s thinner, hairless chest had certainly never inspired such a fast, pussy creaming response.
“First, I’d like another glass of wine,” she answered him as she held her glass up for a fourth refill.
Raising one black, brow, Brody filled her glass again, indulging her. “I was going to ask you if there was someplace I could take you dancing, but I’m afraid you’re going to be doing good just to get out to the car. I take it you haven’t spent a good portion of your college weekends getting wild and crazy with your friends?”
“Yeah, right,” she snorted inelegantly. Piper had spent the past four years working hard to get through school and just as hard at trying to please Charles enough that he would want her to come back home with him when she graduated. But she was tired of being a good girl, tired of trying to get mo
re from the man who had been the only parental influence in her life since the age of eight than one weekend a month, tired of not having any control over her life. Tired of simply existing instead of living. Tonight she wanted to be bad, tonight she wanted what she knew she couldn’t have, tonight she wanted to pretend, just for a little while, that Brody wanted her as much as she wanted him. The wine had gone to her head, made her forget she was the overweight, pathetic ward of his employer, giving her the courage she never would have had if she had been clear headed.
“Take me home, Brody. Let’s curl up on my couch again, drink more wine and watch sappy movies.” And hopefully end up in her bed together, she thought as she finished off her wine in one swallow.
Brody grinned at her thinking she made a cute drunk. “I don’t like sappy movies,” he teased her as he came around and helped her from her chair. Even with three inch heels on, she was a head shorter than him and he couldn’t help but drape his arm around her and tuck her next to his side. He wasn’t an idiot. At thirty-two, he knew when a woman wanted him and Piper had starry eyed lust written all over her. Combine her youthful infatuation with probably her first over indulgence with alcohol, and he had a potential problem in his arms. As much as he fantasized about riding her soft body for hours, he wasn’t about to risk this operation or add to what was soon going to be truth revealing grief for her. But he didn’t want to ruin her big day any more than Charles’s absence had, so he would have to find a way to keep her happy without hurting her feelings.
“Tough. I sat through two Die Hard’s last night. Tonight, it’s your turn to watch my choice.”
“We’ll see.”