In Love with My Brother's Best Friend: Complete Box Set (30 page)

“
Just
do it, Jackson,” he said. “My sister is a complete
disaster of a mess on my mom's couch. All I can figure out is that it
has something to do with you. My mom has done everything she could to
keep her there. Tina wanted to leave two hours ago. My mom made a
huge meal and guilted her into staying to eat. She said as soon as
dinner was over she was leaving. She even mentioned sleeping in the
airport until she could get a flight home.”

“
This
is her fucking home,” I snapped.

“
I
knew she liked you. When she called me and I told her to stay the
fuck away from you.”

“
What?”
I growled out. “Lately?”

“
Yes,”
he said. “We had it out on the phone over you.”

“
I
get that she's your sister. I do, but you can't control her life,
Tim. I'm not the asshole you're making me out to be. I've felt
horrible for going against what you asked since the moment it
happened. You know what?”

“
What?”
he asked.

“
I
didn't just do it to do it. I had feelings for her then. For ten
fucking years I've thought about her. You can think what you want. I
honestly don't even give a shit anymore. No other man will ever care
for her the way I do. I mean that. I will protect her with her my
life. If she'll have me, I'll do every single thing I can to show her
how special she is. I will do anything for her. I'm telling you, she
belongs with me. I need my woman. I will never ever let anything or
anyone come between us again.”

“
You
really feel that way about her?” he asked. “You've seen
her once in ten years. How do you know you won't want to move on to
someone else a few months or even years from now?”

“
I've
wanted her since I was fifteen, Tim. Nothing is going to change that.
How can you even ask me that question? How do you know you won't want
to move on from Renee? You've known her for a lot less time than I've
known your sister. I can't talk about this right now. Just get me to
your mom and dad's house.”

“
You
look like shit,” Tim said.

“
I
feel worse than I look,” was all I could say.

I
had my door opened before he even stopped the car. His mom opened the
front door and held her finger over her mouth for us to be quiet. She
met me out on the porch and pulled me into her arms.

“
You
like awful, Jackson,” she said.

“
I
know, mom,” I said. “Where is she?”

“
She's
asleep on the couch,” she answered. “I was cooking her
favorite lasagna. I made it take as long as I could. It was already
out of the oven, but she didn't know it. We had a long talk. She's
hurt and thinks you wanted her to look like a fool. She was at your
office. Someone told her you were with someone this weekend. I've
never seen her this way, but I guess I haven't been there for much
with her.”

“
I
need to see her,” I said.

She
nodded and opened the door for me to walk through. I took a huge
breath and readied myself for whatever it was I was walking into.

The
moment I saw her, I felt my heart breaking. Her face still stained
from her tears, and she looked exhausted. I sat down on the couch and
put my head in my hands. Her mom walked over and put her hand on my
shoulder.

“
What
am I going to do?” I asked. “This is not how I saw this
weekend going. I flew there to tell her how I felt. What if she
doesn't believe me now?”

“
It's
going to be fine,” she whispered. “Just be honest with
her. Tim went home. We're going to bed. There's lasagna in the
refrigerator if you two get hungry. She has a car, but you can use
mine if you need it. She knows where the keys are. Not much has
changed here in the last ten years. We love you two. It'll all work
out.”

“
Thank
you so much,” I said.

Her
dad was already in bed, and her mom walked up the stairs. I sat
watching Tiny sleep. A tear slid down my cheek, and I hurried to wipe
it away. Then I leaned back against the couch and carefully pulled
her against me. She mumbled something I couldn't hear, wrapped her
arm over my stomach, and put her head on my chest. I grabbed the
blanket and tucked it in around her body. I wrapped my arms around
her tight. I had no idea how it was going to go once she woke up, and
I wasn't losing however long I was going to have her in my arms.

The
day had really taken its toll on me. The only thing I needed was her
close to me. My head fell back against the couch. I felt my eyes
pulling closed as I whispered.

“
I
love you, Tiny.”

Tina

I
was so warm and comfortable. My body felt so safe. There was
something over me and something else around me. I knew I needed to
open my eyes, but I didn't want the feeling surrounding me to
disappear.

It
was all a dream, I thought. I was going to open my eyes from my
nightmare and everything was going to be fine. I'd check my phone for
my morning text from Jackson. It was all I dream.

I
slowly opened my eyes and let them roam around the room. It wasn't my
room. Then my eyes looked in the other direction, and my body tensed.
Who was I leaning on, I wondered? Had Chris come to find me? I was
fooling myself, and I knew it. Chris never made me feel the kind of
warmth I was feeling. I slowly and silently moved to look up at the
man whose stomach my hand was wrapped around.

When
I saw his face, I gasped and moved to cover my mouth. His body moved
slightly and his arms tightened the hold I didn't realize they had on
me. It was Jackson. I knew it was. I pulled back enough to see his
beautiful face. His eyes were closed, but I could see the stress that
was surrounding him. Did he always look like that, I wondered?
Everything had gone so fast the weekend of the wedding. Maybe I just
hadn't noticed. He needed to slow down. He was too young to have that
kind of stress in his life. The edges of his eyes were pinched tight.
His hair was so damn sexy. I could see where his fingers had gone
through it over and over. His cheeks were covered with stubble from
the day before. I wanted to touch him. I wanted to run my finger
along his chin. The top two buttons of his shirt were open and his
head was back. It took all I had not to slide my tongue up his throat
and grab his plump bottom lip between my teeth. I noticed his shirt
was all wrinkled. When I looked down, I noticed he still had his
shoes on.

Things
from the day before began to move through my mind. His office, his
crazy, perfect assistant Andrea, and the fact that he was with
someone. How did he end up on my couch? How had I fallen asleep? My
mom was making me dinner before I left. Oh shit! I moved to pull out
of his hold and away from him.

“
Tiny,”
he mumbled, as he tightened his grip.

The
more I thought about everything, the more upset I became. I pulled
hard against his hold and jumped up from the couch. His eyes opened
wide, and he looked up at me for a second before getting to his feet.
His hand instantly went to that damn hair. It was even longer than it
was just a couple of weeks before when my own hands were buried in
it. Stop it, I thought. My head shook from side to side. I turned
around and headed for the door to grab my shoes.

“
Stop
it,” he said.

“
No,”
I said. “I can't believe this. Where the fuck is my lasagna?
Did she set me up? That's bullshit. Why are you even here? What is
wrong with all of you?”

I
reached down for my shoes when his large hand grabbed my arm and
swung me around.

“
Get
your hand off of me,” I growled.

“
Listen,”
he said.

“
No,
you listen,” I snapped, as I stuck my finger into his chest.
“I've had more than enough of your shit for one lifetime. You
need to stay away from me. I don't want you to text me, or call me,
or show up anywhere I am. My brother was right. I should have stayed
as far away from you as I could. Just because you're some big shot
with money now doesn't mean I have to stop and kiss your ass like
everyone else does. I was at your office, Jackie. You fed me some
line of crap about wanting me there and wanting to see me. Then I got
online to pay my bills. Do you know what I found?”

My
finger was pressing hard into his chest. He had a shocked look on his
face. Not everyone thought he was the be all and end all just because
he had money.

“
You
paid my hotel bill from the weekend of the wedding. You paid every
dime I spent in that place. I don't want your damn money. It means
nothing to me. You know what meant something to me? You did. I was
stupid enough to get sucked into the Jackson spell. You seem to pull
everyone into your web. I felt bad that you'd paid my bill. You were
doing things for everyone but yourself. You were working every waking
moment. I made a decision. It was the stupidest one I'd ever made. I
was going to put it all out there. I was going to come to Florida to
surprise you. I was going to pour my heart out to you. I was going to
tell you that I'd had a crush on you since I was thirteen and you
scared the shit out of me at my party. I was going to tell you that I
missed you so damn bad while you were at college. I was going to tell
you that the night we had sex on the beach was the best night of my
life. I was going to tell you how damn miserable I've been the last
ten years without you in my life. I was going to tell you that the
last two weeks have been like a dream for me and that I wanted to see
if we could make it work.”

I
stopped and looked up at him. He opened his mouth and my finger went
to his lips.

“
Not
a word,” I said. “Then I showed up at your job. The place
you go each day where you have a boss whose ass you have to kiss. For
two weeks I said things like that, and you never once corrected me.
The building you worked in was beautiful. When I walked in, the very
pretty girl behind the desk asked me what I needed. I told her I was
there to see a friend. She asked me who, and I said your name. I told
her I'd wait outside, and she was adamant that I not leave. She was
worried about her job. Of course that made no sense to me. I thought
it was strange she knew who Tim was. Next thing I knew, a very
beautiful and perfect woman walked up to me. Her name was Andrea. I'm
sure you know who I'm talking about, Jackie. She takes me to the top
floor, where I see an enormous office with your name on the door.
Then this perfect looking woman tells me you own the entire building.
She goes on to tell me that your gorgeous and she can't believe I had
to be around you without jumping you growing up. She tells me how she
wants to be with you. If that wasn't embarrassing enough, she tells
me that you're gone for the weekend with your woman.”

His
lips moved beneath my fingers, and I pushed my finger against them
harder.

“
I'm
glad you have a woman. I hope the two of you are happy. You shouldn't
be telling someone else you want them to be there and that you want
to see them if you're already with someone. I feel bad for the woman
you're with and hope she doesn't end up crushed and heartbroken like
I have. You've destroyed me twice now, Jackie. There won't be a
third. I'm going to get my shoes on, and then I'm going to leave.
You've had your fun. I hope it was everything you wanted it to be. I
am begging you to leave me alone. I will not ever be back here again.
You can have all of this. Thank you for reminding me why I've held my
heart so close and never let anyone in these past ten years.”

I
moved to pull my fingers away from his mouth and chest, but he
grabbed both of my wrists with his hands and held me there.

“
Let
me go, Jackson,” I said sternly.

“
I've
stood here and listened to everything you've had to say. Now you're
going to listen to me.”

I
shook my head no and he nodded.

“
Yes,
you are,” he said. “I do work every waking moment. You
are right about that part. Do you know why?”