More Than Once (6 page)

Another woman joined her and I did a double-take because she looked almost identical to Becca, but with longer hair and a red dress. I’d had no idea Becca’s sister was an identical twin.

Becca descended the stairs and gave me a quick peck on the cheek. “Thanks for coming. You look great.”

I’d worn my shirt and tie from earlier, but ditched the suit jacket and changed into dark jeans. She hadn’t said what the dress code was for tonight, but it seemed I’d chosen well. “And you look incredibly beautiful.”

“Thanks.” She smiled and gestured to the girl in the red dress. “This is my sister, Trish.”

“It is so nice to meet you,
Brett
.” Trish seemed to stifle a giggle at that last word, and I wondered if Becca had told her the truth.

“It’s my pleasure. You’re just as stunning as your sister is.”

“Oh, I like him,” she said, grinning at Becca.

Becca rolled her eyes, but any response was cut off by the front door opening again. An Asian guy with short black hair walked in and set down an armful of firewood. He yanked off his beanie, stomping the snow off his boots. Trish gave him a sharp look and left the room without a word.

“Can’t believe how much it’s snowing out there,” he muttered, as he brushed ice off his coat.

“Daddy, you’re home!” Hannah called out, racing over to him.

“Sure am, sweetheart.” He scooped her up, swinging her around.

“Ew, you’re covered in snow.”

“Sorry about that.” He set her down and looked over at me. “Hey, I’m Matt, Trish’s husband.”

“I’m An—Brett.” I shook his hand, inwardly cringing at my near mistake. I’d have to be more careful. “Becca’s…boyfriend.” She’d called Brett that in the parking lot, if I remembered correctly.

“Cool. You driving home tonight?” he asked, and I nodded. “Be careful. Storm’s getting worse out there and I bet the roads will be slippery. I haven’t seen it this bad in years.”

“Oh, dear. Well, it’s nice and warm in here,” Evelyn said, clapping her hands together. “We have a fire going and everything. And now that Matt’s back we can eat in a few minutes. Until then, why don’t ya’ll wait in the living room?”

Hannah dashed forward, leading the way for the rest of us. Becca and I waited until the rest had gone through, and she slid her arm through mine, whispering, “Thanks for this.”

“You’re welcome.” I set my hand on top of hers, enjoying the feel of her at my side, and led her into the living room. The house looked like something from a magazine, all perfectly decorated and tidy, with professional pictures of the family hanging from the walls. On one side of the living room was the Christmas tree I’d glimpsed from the window earlier, and a warm fire was going beside it.

When we passed through the archway, Trish yelled, “Stop!”

We froze. Everyone’s eyes were on us, and Hannah was giggling. That couldn’t be good.

“You’re under the mistletoe,” Trish said, pointing to the little red and green plant hanging above our heads. “You know the rules. You have to kiss.”

“You did that on purpose,” Becca said, narrowing her eyes.

Trish grinned, wearing the same naughty look I’d seen on her sister before. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Well, it
is
tradition,” I said, giving Becca a smile. She was the one who wanted us to pretend, after all.

“Kiss him!” Becca’s mother called from where she was watching in the hallway. The others joined in, too, making it a chant. “Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!”

“Fine,” Becca said. “One kiss.”

I slid my hands around Becca’s waist, keeping the pressure light. She moved closer to me, fitting into my arms, and gave me a quick kiss. Even that slight touch of her lips drove me crazy, and I was tempted to steal another, longer kiss from her.

“That’s it?” Evelyn asked.

“Yeah, not sure that even counts as a kiss,” Trish said.

Becca groaned, but I could tell by the way she leaned into me that she was enjoying being in my arms. I took her chin and directed her gaze back at me. “Guess they want a show.”

I cupped her cheek, and this time I kissed her nice and slow, teasing her lips apart. Her eyes fluttered shut and her hands clutched my arms as I slipped my tongue inside, just a tiny bit, just enough to make her want more. Because now that I’d tasted Becca again, I knew there
would
be more.

I could kiss her all night long, but not in front of her family. So when they hooted and whooped and whistled, I forced myself to pull away, smiling down at Becca.

Her breathing was faster, her eyes dazed, her lips still parted like an invitation. I brushed my mouth against the side of her head, whispering, “You can have more later if you’d like.” From the way her fingers tightened on my arms, I had a feeling the answer was yes.

I turned to our audience and gave them my most charming smile. “How was that?”

“Much better,” Trish said, grinning.

She’d been covering Hannah’s eyes, who now peered out, wrinkling her nose. “That was gross.”

“Such a beautiful couple,” Becca’s mother said. “You’ll make such pretty babies.”

“Mom!” Becca’s face turned red, but I just laughed. It was fun seeing her so frazzled. She was normally so fierce and cool, and I enjoyed the glimpse at this other side of her. Even if the idea of having babies anytime soon made my balls want to shrivel up.

We were directed into the dining room and found our seats at the table, which had all been labelled with our names (or, in my case, Brett’s name). The flowers I’d brought sat in the middle and complimented the rest of the decorations, from the gold napkins to the red and green candles.

As the food was passed around—and wow, Becca had been right, there was a ton of it—the family laughed and talked about their day. I found myself smiling; this was a hell of a lot better than spending Christmas Eve alone in my apartment. I missed my own family, of course, but I appreciated that I could spend the evening with this one. Becca was doing me as much a favor as I was doing for her.

“Tell me, Brett, what do you do exactly?” David asked, once we’d all started eating.

Must be time for the obligatory father interview. I knew it well. Becca hadn’t given me any insight into what Brett did or how I should respond to these sorts of questions, so I decided to be honest. “I work in advertising and PR for Statewide Airlines.”

“They have a hub here, don’t they?”

I nodded, and he asked me a few other questions about my job. As we talked, I noticed Becca watching me closely. Was she waiting for me to slip up and reveal something that didn’t mesh with her description of the oh-so-perfect Brett? Who I kind of wanted to both punch in the face for leaving her hanging on Christmas Eve and also thank profusely for giving me the opportunity to be here?

“But why aren’t you with your family tonight?” Evelyn asked.

“They’re back in Michigan, and I couldn’t make the trip out there this year. That’s why I’m so honored that you invited me tonight. Thank you again for that, by the way. This food is delicious.”

Evelyn beamed at me across the table. “Oh, we’re just thrilled to have you. Becca never tells us anything about the boys she dates. It’s so nice to meet one that isn’t covered in tattoos.”

“And one who has a real job,” her father added.

“They weren’t
all
like that,” Becca muttered.

“Yeah, they were,” Trish said. I noticed her husband, Matt, hadn’t said anything since we’d sat down to eat. There was definitely some tension between the two of them, but everyone seemed like they were trying to ignore it.

Evelyn dabbed at her mouth with her napkin. “All we’re saying is Becca’s lucky to have finally found a nice boy to settle down with.”

“Mom, please.”

“What? It would be nice to have more grandchildren soon. By the time I was your age, I was already married and pregnant with you two.”

Wow, they were laying the marriage thing on thick. Becca and Brett hadn’t even been together that long—less than five months, at least. No wonder Becca felt so much pressure to bring home the perfect guy to show off. Although I couldn’t imagine Becca settling down anytime soon. Which was fine, ‘cause after my failed marriage proposal with Tara, I was definitely not interested in that either.

But for tonight I had to keep up the act, so I set my hand on top of Becca’s and smiled at her mother. “It’s me who is the lucky one.”

“How did you two meet?” Trish asked, a little too innocently. “I’m sure Becca’s told me, but I must have forgotten.”

“Yes, I love how-we-met stories!” Evelyn said, with a dreamy look in her eyes.

I glanced at Becca, unsure how to answer. Should I tell the truth, or did she have something planned for this?

“We met at a friend’s party,” Becca said. “It’s not very exciting.”

The truth, then. Although maybe we’d leave out the one-night stand part. Or how we didn’t speak again until this afternoon.

“That’s it?” Trish asked when Becca didn’t elaborate.

“No, there’s more to it than that,” I said. “When I met Becca, I was in a bad place. I’d just proposed to the girl I loved, who said no and then ran off with another man.” Okay, that was a bit of an exaggeration, but they wanted a story, I could tell. And from the looks on their faces, they were eating this one up. “That girl broke my heart and I didn’t think I would ever recover. But then I found Becca and everything changed. She made me forget. She helped me heal. And she got me to believe in love again.”

All of the women around the table were completely enraptured, including Becca. I might have overdone it, but I knew they would believe us completely in love after that speech. I leaned over and kissed Becca on the cheek, sealing the deal. “As I said, I’m the lucky one.”

“That’s so romantic,” Trish said, her voice soft.

It was all true, too. Well, except the part about making me believe in love again.

No one, not even Becca, could do that.

N
either one of us got much sleep that night. We had sex like wild animals for hours, trying out different positions, doing things I’d never been brave enough to do before. And still, we both wanted more.

We also talked for hours. Becca opened up to me about how she’d spiraled out of control as she’d gotten sucked into the rock star lifestyle. She recounted stories of nights spent drinking, dancing topless in bars, and screwing everything that moved. It had all culminated in her dropping out of college, losing her job, and getting kicked out of her apartment. She’d hit rock bottom after sleeping with Jared and leaving the band, and seeing them become famous had been the final push she’d needed to realize she was only sabotaging herself. That’s when she’d decided to move home and get her life straightened out.

Her confession left her vulnerable and sad, so I stroked and kissed her until we were both so frantic for each other we could barely get the condom on fast enough. I pulled her on top of me, and this time she held
my
wrists down and nipped at my shoulder and my neck. She rode me until we were both crying out in unison, and I discovered I loved when she was rough and controlling with me, too.

She relaxed into my arms when we were finished, and then she asked me about Tara. I wasn’t sure I could talk about her, not so soon, but Becca listened patiently while I got the words out. Slowly at first, but then the story rushed out of me. For some reason it was easier to talk to Becca, a near stranger, than anyone else I had ever met. Like I knew she wouldn’t judge me—or that she might even understand.

“We met in English class our junior year. We seemed like the perfect match—we were both into books and comics, loved the same movies and TV shows, and laughed at all the same things. Being with Tara felt natural and as easy as being with one of my closest friends.” I snorted. “Maybe that was the problem.”

“Go on,” Becca said, stroking my hair.

“We were together for a year, but after graduation we got jobs in different cities—me in Dallas and her in New York. We broke up because it seemed we had no other option, but I didn’t want to give up on us so easily, so I found a new job in New York to be with her. I flew out to San Diego Comic-Con to give her the good news that we didn’t have to be apart. I stupidly thought I could win her back by proposing, even going so far as to get my grandmother’s ring. But I was wrong—she’d already moved on to Hector.”

“How do they know each other?”

“They were online friends for years before I met her, and they worked on a graphic novel together—her writing it, him doing the art. That’s why they both came to Comic-Con, to sign copies of the book. I’d always suspected there was more to their nightly video chats and phone calls, but she’d always assured me I was wrong. Obviously not, since she and Hector are together now. I guess it’s possible nothing happened between them until this week when they met in person…but I still feel like a fool.”

“You’re not a fool.” She kissed my forehead. “And if it helps, Hector was single the entire time I was in the band as far as I know.”

“I was too nice,” I said with a sigh. “Girls always tell me we should just be friends. Then they run off with a guy on the football team. Or in a band.”

Becca ran a lazy finger up and down my chest. “You definitely weren’t too nice tonight.”

“Exactly. And you loved it.” I stroked her ribs, tracing her tattooed quote. “Girls only want the sinner, not the saint.”

“Maybe you should stop thinking of yourself that way.”

“How?”

She draped a leg over me, fitting herself against my side, and I pulled her in even closer. “Andy is short for Andrew?”

“Yep. But everyone’s called me Andy for as long as I can remember.”

She nodded, like that explained everything. “Tonight at the bar you were Andy, the nice guy who had his heart broken. But once we were alone, you became Andrew, the bad boy who wasn’t afraid to take control and go after what he wanted.” She brushed her lips against my ear, and I grew hard all over again, which was amazing considering how many times we’d had sex already. “You can be Andrew all the time, you know.”

I slid my hand down her back and around the curve of her ass. “You’re the only one I’ve ever been ‘Andrew’ with. And once we leave this hotel, I’ll go back to being Andy again.”