Jamie Hill Triple Threat (44 page)

He shifted, as if to rise, and she held him. "Don't go."

"I'm crushing you. Hang on." He eased his body off hers, grasping the edge of the condom. "Let me take care of this. I'll be right back."

"Oh, all right." She settled into the mattress, so warm and comfortable she never wanted to move.

Brady disappeared into the bathroom for a minute then returned and flopped, in all his naked glory, onto his back next to her.

"Is your arm okay?" Gina grabbed the covers and raised them as she snuggled up to his body, one leg thrown over his.

"Yeah. Only hurts when I think about it." He slipped his good arm around her and kissed her forehead. "Thank you, Gina. That was amazing. Definitely worth the wait."

"Don't thank me." She patted his chest and said teasingly, "Later on, when I'm demonstrating some of my other skills, a 'thank you' might be in order."

He yawned. "Can't wait. I just need to close my eyes for a minute."

"Go ahead." She nuzzled the soft fuzz on his chest. "I was thinking how right you were about waiting. I mean, I know it would have been amazing whenever we did it, but it's so perfect now, with the way we feel about each other."

His chest rose and fell softly with his breathing, but he didn't reply.

"Don't you think?" She gazed up at him.

A low snore rumbled and he sighed, a contented expression on his handsome face.

Gina smiled and burrowed in next to him, closing her eyes.

* * * *

Soft fur tickled her face, rousing Gina. She blinked and watched Pussy Galore rub against her before ambling around the mattress and batting Brady with her tail.

He brushed the soft fuzz away before opening his eyes and focusing. "Never been woken by a cat butt before."

"Sorry." Gina cuddled up to him. "There are better ways to wake up."

He wiggled the arm that was under her.

"Here." She leaned up so he could move. "It's probably numb. I don't think we moved all night."

His face reddened. "I'm really sorry about that. Yesterday was a long day. I don't usually fall asleep in the middle of sex."

"Wasn't exactly in the middle. We were both pretty happy, if I recall correctly."

"Yeah, but…" He kissed the tip of her nose. "I was going to see how much happier I could make you."

She smiled. "We're awake now."

"And I need to hit the other room. Hold that thought." He climbed out of bed and stretched, his morning erection waving.

"Mm, holding." She gazed at him appreciatively.

He stretched his bandaged arm a few times. "Ouch. I think it hurts more today."

"Want me to kiss it and make it better?"

Brady winked and strolled to the bathroom. "I might."

"I'll be right here." She watched him close the door, and then glanced at the clock by her bed. Eleven a.m. on a Saturday, and she didn't have to work. Hopefully he didn't, either. They'd have all weekend to spend together.

Brady stuck his head out of the bathroom and held up one finger. "I'm borrowing some toothpaste." He squirted a dab on his fingertip and used it in place of a toothbrush.

She waved a hand. "Whatever you need."

He ducked back into the bathroom.

He's so considerate
. Which meant she had to get up and extend him the same courtesy. When he returned, she hopped up. "My turn. Be right back."

"Do you think you might…?" He hesitated.

"What?"

Brady looked at the bed, where the cat had settled into their spot. "Might be able to put the cat out?"

"Sure." Gina scooped up the ball of fur and set her down in the hall, shutting the door to keep her out. She turned back to Brady. "One pussy all you can handle?"

He raised his eyebrows and took a step toward her. "You really want me to answer that?"

She felt her face flush. "Aw, shit. No, I don't. Never mind." She hurried into the bathroom and smiled at him before closing the door. She used the toilet and cleaned up quickly, brushing her teeth and attempting to tame her wild morning hair.

Stepping back into the bedroom, she smiled again when she saw Brady on his side, spread across her bed like a nude model. "That's what I like to see," she murmured.

"You look like a little piece of heaven, yourself," he countered.

"Oh, yeah, my hair looks lovely, doesn't it? Sorry, but fixing it takes more time than I want to invest right now. Got something else on my mind."

He patted the bed in front of him. "Why fix it? It's just going to get messed up again."

She sat where he'd indicated. "You think?"
Sounds good to me.

"I
know
." He reached for her and smiled.

* * * *

"I'm starving," Brady said later, as they climbed out of bed sometime after noon.

"I am, too. I'm afraid the cupboard is pretty bare. Since you're going to be staying over, we might need to stock up on supplies."

He nipped her neck. "Not worried that I just wanted into your pants, and now that the deed is done, I might take off?"

She ran a hand over his good arm and pinched the skin by his bicep. "Not worried at all."

"Hey!" he yowled, rubbing his arm.

"Wimp," she teased.

"I was shot yesterday, and this is how you treat me?"

"Shot
at
," she corrected, as he had done to her. "You didn't deserve that. The pinch you deserved."

"Women." He shook his head.

Gina smiled. "
Woman
. Singular. From here on out."

He cupped the back of her head and pulled her close for a kiss. "My woman."

"Oh, yeah." She sighed with pleasure, and kissed him back.

Gina discovered showering took a lot more work, but was much more fun, with two people involved. To her relief, there was none of the first-morning-after awkwardness. Since they'd taken the time to become friends before lovers, they responded to each other with ease.
Maybe too much ease,
she thought, amused, after a round of shower sex. It was two p.m. when she handed over the keys to her little red convertible and let Brady drive her out to lunch.

He adjusted his sunglasses and looked in the rearview mirror. "This is a cool car."

"A little cramped for you," she observed. He hadn't said anything, but his legs were bent awkwardly under the steering wheel. She reached her hand between them and fumbled with something.

He grinned at her. "Way too cramped to do that. But I'm game to give it a try, as soon as we've gotten some food."

Smiling, she swatted his knee and found the lever she'd been looking for. The seat sprang back, giving him more leg room.

"Oh, that's better." He adjusted his position and reached for the seatbelt.

"So you'll believe me next time, when I tell you I can
always
make things better." She leaned back and fastened her shoulder belt.

"Absolutely." He grinned again, and backed out of her driveway.

The sun was bright and the wind light. Gina stretched and patted down her hair, which had started to whip around.

"Put the top up?" Brady glanced sideways at her.

"No! I love this weather. In fact, why don't we just go to the drive in a couple blocks up? We won't even have to get out of the car. I'm feeling lazy today."

He checked out his rearview mirror. "You seemed to have plenty of energy earlier."

"Before you zapped it all out of me. Give me a little time, here. Some food and an hour's rest, I'll be good to go for the rest of the day."

He pulled into a drive-in restaurant and parked in one of the stalls by a menu with a speaker. "What time do you work today?"

"Didn't I tell you? I have the day off. The weekend off. I was hoping you could say the same."

Brady looked at her, a slow smile spreading across his face. "The whole weekend, huh? Me too. Damn. Let's eat and get our strength built back up."

She leaned across him to look at the pictures on the menu, her breasts brushing his arm. "I want some fries. And some of those cheddar pepper things. And that big, fat, gooey cheeseburger, with no onions and extra cheese."

He ran a hand over her back. "Fine. I'll have the same. Then I'll have a coronary, and gain fifty pounds. You eat like that all the time?"

Gina smiled and nudged his chest with her arm. "Nah. Only when I'm gonna need to keep my strength up. We have no food in the house, remember? God knows when we'll come up for air long enough to eat again."

He moved a strand of long hair away from her face and kissed her temple. "How about this—we order in tonight, and tomorrow, we grocery shop together. Gotta have some food,
if
I'm going to be staying over."

She nodded. "You definitely are."

Brady chuckled and kissed her neck.

She was starting to regret her suggestion of the open top and the drive-in restaurant. If they were in his Explorer in some quiet parking lot just then, things might have gotten a lot more interesting. Gina sighed and moved back. "Let's eat and go home. Not sure I can keep my hands off you much longer."

"Ordering, right now." He pressed the button on the menu speaker and ordered their food and a couple soft drinks. When he was finished, something across the parking lot caught his eye.

"What is it?" She looked in the general vicinity but didn't notice anything amiss.

"Probably nothing." He shook his head, and looked at her. "So, any plans for the weekend other than the obvious?"

"Nope." She ran a finger over his arm. "I'm all yours."

He captured her hand and squeezed. "I need to do a couple of things at home. Won't take me long."

"Sure. Might as well grab a few clothes so you can spend the night." She noticed him staring across the parking lot again. "Brady, what are you looking at?"

An uncertain look crossed his face. "Like I said, it's probably nothing. You see that guy over there in the blue Chevy? Bald head, mustache? I might be wrong, but I'm pretty sure I noticed him the first night we went out. He was at Portelli's, and I remember thinking at the time that he was watching us."

"Really?" She swallowed nervously but tried to remain composed. "That was a month ago. We've been lots of places since then. You hadn't noticed him again until today?"

"No, but I haven't exactly been looking, either. I was, shall we say, preoccupied." He smiled, his gaze running down her body.

"Yeah, with my tits." She thrust her chest forward.

"Um, they were definitely part of the attraction." He blushed and shook his head.

Gina reached out and scooped him into her arms. "Come here
caro
. You're so easy." She kissed his earlobe. "I think you're imagining things. You've only seen the guy twice in a month, both times eating at restaurants. Not exactly a stalker. More like a coincidence."

"You're probably right." He let her kiss the side of his face until a carhop appeared. Brady sat up, winked at her, and turned his attention to the boy holding the tray of food.

She looked across the parking lot quickly and discovered the blue Chevy was gone.
Fucking sciocco!
An idiot, yes, but someone that she knew. Xavier Tesco had worked for her father for years. Despite what she'd said, it seemed highly unlikely that he'd show up where they were twice without reason.
Unless he's following us
. The prospect had her mad enough to spit.

"Here you go." Brady handed over the fries. "Careful, these are hot."

"Thanks." She turned her attention back to the man she loved. Xavier would have to wait.

They ate and made small talk, and he got out and disposed of their trash when they were finished. Back on the road, Gina sipped her drink as Brady drove. "I thought I might go to your place with you, but I just remembered something I need to do. Why don't you drop me back at my apartment while you run home?"

"You sure?" He peered at her sideways as he drove.

"Oh, yeah. I need to let that greasy cheeseburger settle, anyway."

He pulled into her complex lot and parked the car. "Okay. I shouldn't be long, maybe an hour."

"That's fine." They got out of the car and walked behind it to face each other. "Here." Gina dug a key from the bottom of her purse. "An extra key to my place."

He looked at it hesitantly. "I don't know."

She rolled her eyes. "It's just a key, not a marriage proposal. Relax,
caro
."

He made a face at her and snatched the key from her hand. "You're asking for trouble. You know that, don't you?"

Gina headed to her apartment, smiling at him over her shoulder. "What are you going to do, spank me?"