Romancing the Holiday (20 page)

He frowned. “I do not.”

“Uh yeah, you do. So, no thanks, not interested in being just another notch on the great big bedpost of the infamous Brody Kent. I like my job, I love your family, and I don’t want to lose either, no matter how allegedly awesome your reputation in the sack is, though I’m sure that rumor is highly exaggerated. I’m going to lunch.”

She shut the door behind her. Brody stared at the closed door, dumbfounded.

So that’s what everyone thought of him? That he was a womanizing douchebag who didn’t give a shit about women or their feelings?

And what the hell did she mean by “allegedly awesome”? There were rumors about his performance?

He dragged his fingers through his hair. Christ. He had no idea.

Wyatt opened the door and came in, saw Brody and grinned. “Oh, good. You’re here. Ethan’s pulling in, too. I’m starving. Want to have lunch?”

Brody lifted his head. “What do you know about my sex life?”

Wyatt’s gaze went blank. “Uh. Nothing. Thankfully. And don’t start sharing now.”

As Ethan walked in, Wyatt tossed his briefcase on his desk. “Hey, Ethan, what do you know about Brody’s sex life?”

Ethan stopped dead, looked at Wyatt, then Brody. “What? Have you been drinking?”

“No. But I think Brody has.”

“I haven’t,” Brody said. “But I just had the oddest conversation with Tori.”

Ethan rummaged through his desk, but stopped to shift his gaze to Brody. “You talked to Tori?”

“Tried to.”

Wyatt took a seat in his chair. “And you somehow got on the topic of your sex life?”

“Yeah. Though I don’t know how.”

“You probably brought it up,” Ethan said with a smirk.

“I didn’t. I was talking to her about the Christmas party, and our lack of communication. I think I may have that part figured out. Or at least some of it. I don’t know, I’m still working on that. But did you know that I apparently have a reputation as some kind of manwhore who has sex with women and then dumps them?”

“Oh, yeah, I’ve heard that about you,” Ethan said.

“You are kind of a dick to women,” Wyatt said.

Brody just stared at his brothers. “Seriously. You both think this.”

“When was your last serious relationship, Brody?” Ethan asked.

“You mean like a long-term girlfriend?”

Ethan shot Wyatt a look. “Clearly the term is foreign to him.”

Wyatt shook his head.

“Okay, so I’ve never had one.”

“And you’re what? Thirty now?”

“So? I’ve been busy.”

Wyatt snorted. “Yeah. Busy screwing a bunch of different women. No wonder they all think you’re an asshole. When was the last time you brought a woman home to meet Mom and Dad?”

Brody thought about it. “Uh...high school, maybe?”

Wyatt looked at Ethan. “Case closed. He’s a douche.”

Ethan nodded. “Agreed. Let’s go have lunch. I’m hungry.”

“Hey,” Brody said. “I’m not that bad.”

Ethan and Wyatt headed for the door. “Keep telling yourself that, bro. You coming with us?”

“No. I’ll eat something from the fridge here.”

Wyatt wrinkled his nose. “The fridge of moldy mystery? Good luck with that, man. We’ll be back in an hour.”

After they left, Brody leaned back in his chair and pondered what Tori had told him.

So he had a lousy reputation with women. He could accept that. He’d been no Boy Scout, but he couldn’t recall any of the women he’d dated complaining about it, no late-night teary phone calls from women claiming they were brokenhearted over losing him. He never made promises to any of them, never wanted a relationship, not while he’d been busy with his brothers building the company.

He’d had fun. He wouldn’t apologize for that. But maybe he’d led these women on somehow, led them to believe there’d be something more when he’d never had any intention of doing anything more than just let off some steam and have a great time.

Then again, maybe none of the women were all that upset about being left by him. Maybe it was him that was lacking.

Ah, hell. This was why he never did the whole romance and relationship thing. He had no idea how to do it or how to do it well. Short-term flings were more fun and more his style.

But the way Tori looked at him, and the things she said...

She’d looked horrified at the thought of losing everything that mattered to her just because they’d kissed. Getting involved with him was that big a risk? It had more to do with the possibility of losing her job—he knew it did. But in order to find out what was really bothering her, she’d actually have to talk to him.

“Screw it. Why do I even care?” He dragged his fingers through his hair and went to scrounge through the fridge. Tori was just going to have to be someone else’s problem. He had enough issues to deal with.

Except as he walked by her desk, that exotic perfume of hers lingered in the air, and he realized that she was one big damn problem that had been stuck in his head for a long time.

She wasn’t going away, and she really was his problem to deal with.

Chapter Two

“I’m not kidding, Calliope. He cornered me in the office and wanted to talk about the Christmas party last year.”

Tori’s best friend sipped on her margarita and feigned a look of horror. “Must have been awful for you. The bastard.”

Tori narrowed her gaze at Calliope. “You are not being sincere. I can tell.”

Calliope pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose, then leaned her head on her hand, the effects of two margaritas on an empty stomach obviously already taking their toll. “First, I’m glad it’s Friday night because I’m getting a little buzzed. Second, I think I’m getting a little buzzed. Did I say that?”

Tori fought back a grin. “Yes.”

“Okay. Third, eventually you and Brody are going to have to have ‘The Talk.’”

“I don’t want to talk to him. I have nothing to say to him.”

“Ignoring him isn’t going to make the problem—or your feelings for him—go away, you know.” She pulled the stirrer out of her glass and pointed it at Tori.

“I don’t have any feelings for him.”

“You lie. You’ve had feelings for him since you were fifteen years old and he was the hot quarterback senior at the high school.”

Tori narrowed her gaze at Calliope. “See, this is what happens when I confide all my deep dark secrets to my best friend. You throw them back in my face.”

Calliope shrugged. “No, I’m throwing your honest feelings back at you, my friend, just like you did for me when I was falling in love with Wyatt.”

“It’s not at all the same thing.”

“Isn’t it? You’ve been madly in love with Brody for years. Isn’t it time you acknowledged it and did something about it, like I did with Wyatt?”

Tori shook her head. “Your situation with Wyatt is nothing like my situation with Brody. Wyatt was hurt over his divorce from your sister and you helped him heal from that and in the process he fell in love with you. I’m not going anywhere near Brody because he’s a manwhore with a notorious reputation for dumping every woman he gets naked with.”

Calliope snorted and took another drink. “He does have a bad reputation. A bad reputation for being great in the sack. Wouldn’t you like to own that? Maybe you can redeem him and turn him into a one-woman man.”

Now it was Tori’s turn to let out a decidedly unladylike snort. “Fat chance of that happening.”

“Is that right? Has he been with anyone since that night of the Christmas party?”

“How should I know? I don’t schedule his liaisons with women.”

“Oh, please. This is a small town. Everyone knows who everyone is sleeping with. Gossip runs rampant. And with hot stuff like Brody, the rumor mill is on alert every time he’s seen around town with a new woman on his arm. Have you heard anything—anything at all about him hitting on a woman since the night of the Christmas party last year?”

Tori chewed on her bottom lip and thought about it. “Well, actually...no.”

Calliope pointed the stir stick at her again. “Aha! And that’s because he wants you.”

“He does not. He never even asked me out.”

“Because you’ve been such a mean bitch no one wants to get within twenty feet of you. Can you blame him?”

Okay, maybe Calliope had a point about that. She couldn’t help her natural self-preservation instincts. But she still thought Calliope was crazy. Brody was a sought-after commodity. All the women flocked to him. Surely there’d been someone in all these months...

Then again, maybe there hadn’t. There was a network of gossip—especially when it came to who Brody was sleeping with—that would rival network entertainment sites. Some of the women in this town had such finely honed stalking skills they could easily get jobs as paparazzi. If Brody had been sleeping around, or sleeping with anyone since last December, it would have made the rounds of the gossip mill and Tori would have heard about it.

“You know what, Calliope, you might be right about that.”

Calliope lifted one half-drunken brow in question. “I am? Right about what?”

“Brody. Not having been with anyone since December.”

“’Course I’m right, Tori. Told ya. You should jump him.”

Tori laughed. “And I’m cutting you off margaritas. Let’s have some dinner.”

Calliope frowned. “Buzz killer. I had a hard week. Children are evil, you know.”

“You love those kids at the day care center. And you adore your job.”

“I do.” Calliope grinned. “And I love Wyatt. And you. And my sister. And Wyatt’s whole family. And...”

Tori rolled her eyes and signaled for the waitress. Definitely time to put some food into her inebriated best friend.

After some food and several glasses of water, Calliope had sobered up—at least a little, though she did order a post-dinner margarita. And why not—it was Friday night, after all, Calliope had had a miserable week, and her friend deserved to let loose a little.

Tori had thought a lot about what Calliope had said about Brody. Her job would be a lot easier if she and Brody could at least go back to the way things used to be. What had happened between them had been a fluke—a onetime kiss and nothing more. He’d obviously put no expectations on her, she hadn’t lost her job, so nothing had really changed. There was no reason to act as if the world was coming to an end just because they’d kissed, and he never needed to know how she felt about him.

Men were easily clueless, since most of the time they didn’t want to know the truth that was right in front of them anyway.

She decided she’d go back to being her normal self on Monday.

By the end of dinner it was obvious Calliope was not going to be able to drive herself home. When she got back from the restroom, Tori said, “Since you picked me up, I’ll drive you home. Then I’ll bring your car back to your place tomorrow.”

Calliope shook her head. “I already called for a ride home. I’m very smart and I know better than to drive myself home when I’ve been drinking.”

“I’d have driven you home, Calliope.”

“It’s okay. There’s my ride now.”

Tori looked up and her stomach dropped.

Brody. She’d called Brody to drive her home.

Chapter Three

Brody hadn’t expected to run into Tori tonight, but when Calliope had called saying she’d had some cocktails and needed a ride, he had no problem giving it to her, especially since Wyatt was on an out-of-town job this weekend.

What he hadn’t expected was for Tori to be with her, though that shouldn’t surprise him since Calliope and Tori were best friends.

He pulled up a chair at their table. “Celebrating tonight, Calliope?”

She nodded, her curls bouncing. “Yup. I’m celebrating an end to a hellish week. Parents are mean.”

He laughed and tugged on one of her curls. “They can be sometimes. This is a good place to unwind though. Great margaritas.”

Calliope grinned. “I had four.”

“Awesome.” He looked over at Tori, who surprisingly wasn’t ignoring him, just studying him. “How about you?”

“I figured I’d have to drive the lush home, so it was iced tea for me tonight.”

“Hey. Not a lush. I was sober enough to give you love advice, wasn’t I?”

Tori glared at Calliope. Brody gave her a quizzical look. “Love advice?”

“Drunk talk. You ready to go? Calliope picked me up, so I can drive her car home and I’ll bring it back to her house tomorrow.”

“It’s okay. Just follow me to her place and we’ll drop her car. Then I’ll drive you home. Save you a trip back over there tomorrow.”

“It’s not a problem.”

“I need my car early, Tori,” Calliope said. “I have a meeting.”

She hesitated then nodded at Brody. “Okay, fine. I’ll meet you at Wyatt and Calliope’s house.”

Brody scooped Calliope out of her chair and led her to the parking lot.

“Calliope, do you want to ride with me in your car?” Tori asked.

“Oh. No, I’ll ride with Brody. See you at the house.” Calliope gave Tori a wave.

Tori gave them a worried look, then said, “Uh, okay. See you there.” She headed over to Calliope’s car and Brody put Calliope in his truck. She started to sing and he rolled his eyes. Wyatt owed him for this one. It was a good thing he adored his sister-in-law, because he’d left a warm house and a football game on TV for this.

“You need to talk to Tori,” Calliope said as they made the turn down the highway toward Wyatt’s house.

“Huh?”

“Just...well, I can’t say more than that, other than you need to talk to her.”

“Is this about the Christmas party again?”

“Sort of, but it’s about a lot of things, Brody. Open your eyes.”

“My eyes are wide open, Calliope.”

While they sat at a stoplight, she looked over at him, her glasses askew on her face. She slid them up her nose and gave him a stern look. “Men’s eyes are very rarely wide open. You only see what you want to see, not what’s really there.”

“What the hell are you talking about? See, this is the problem with women. You talk in metaphors instead of straight talk, then we’re supposed to figure out what the fuck that all means.”

She laughed. “I know. But Tori’s my friend and I can’t say any more than that. But trust me, you want to talk to her.”

“I’ve already talked to her. She won’t give me the goddamn time of day.”

Calliope looked out the window. “Try again. She might know the time now.”

“There you go again. Fucking metaphors.”

They pulled into the driveway and he helped Calliope slide out of his truck. Brody walked her to the door and helped her find her keys in her purse. She giggled—a lot.

“You really did have a good time tonight, didn’t you?”

She tilted her head back. “Have I mentioned I had a shitty day today?”

“Yup.”

“Then yes. I had a good time tonight.”

“Sounds like you needed it.”

Her head bobbed up and down. “You have no idea.”

He opened the door and turned on the lights, then made sure she got safely inside. By then Tori had pulled Calliope’s car into the garage, so she met them in the kitchen.

“Thanks for picking me up,” Calliope said, giving Brody a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “You’re the best brother-in-law ever.”

“Anytime. You know that.”

Calliope threw her arms around Tori and hugged her, then whispered in her ear. Tori shifted her gaze to Brody, her eyes widening.

“Okay. I’m done for. I’m going to bed. Love you both and lock the door on your way out.”

Brody shook his head as he watched Calliope’s weaving form disappear down the hall. “Night, Calliope.”

Tori gave him a look. “Give me just a second. I’m going to run upstairs and make sure she’s okay. If you don’t mind?”

“I don’t mind. Go ahead.”

He made himself at home by heading into the living room and turning on the television. The game wasn’t over yet, so when Tori came downstairs he asked her to wait as the last few minutes ticked down. When the game was over, he clicked off the remote and turned to her. She was perched on the edge of the leather sofa.

“She okay?”

“She’s out. Not much of a drinker anyway, so when she decides to put one on, it generally throws her for a loop. I just wanted to make sure she wasn’t going to end up sick. She got into her pajamas and she’s already snoring.”

He laughed. “Good. Everyone needs to cut loose every now and then.”

“True. She had some snooty parents at the day care center to deal with this week who decided to inform her how they thought she should run things. Real know-it-all types and just relentless perfectionists who think their kids don’t ever poop or have boogers.”

Brody snorted. “Yeah, I know the type. In every business there are customers like that. You just have to grin and bear it, when all you want to do is smash a fist in their smug faces.”

“Exactly. And you know Calliope—she’s as sweet as they come, but even she folds under the pressure every now and then. And with Wyatt being out of town, I could tell by her tone of voice at the end of the day today she was ready to explode, so I suggested we go out tonight.”

They closed the front door and Brody made sure everything was locked up before making their way to his truck. “I’m glad you could be there for her so she could let off some steam and vent it out.”

“That’s what friends are for. We’re there for each other.”

They got into the truck and he backed down the driveway to make his way back to town. “I guess she’s always there for you, too.”

Tori stared out the window. “Always.”

“Yeah. Like she gave you love advice tonight?”

Her gaze shot to his. “No she didn’t.”

“She said she did.”

“She was drunk.”

He was silent for a while as he drove toward town. So was Tori, who stared out the window.

“I didn’t know you were seeing someone,” he finally said.

“I’m not seeing anyone.”

“So she gave you advice on how to ask someone out?”

She sighed. “Let it go, Brody.”

He heard the subtle pleading in her voice and decided he should probably let it go. But something twisted in his gut at the thought of Tori dating some random guy. Or any guy, for that matter. She hardly ever went out, and when she did, it didn’t last. She was pretty selective with guys she dated. He wondered why.

“You haven’t had a boyfriend in...hell, Tori, I don’t remember you ever dating anyone seriously.”

She shot him a look. “Why? Do you have a friend you’re thinking of setting me up with?”

He frowned at her. “Hell, no.”

Her lips curved in a hint of a smile.

“Is that funny?”

“No. Not at all.”

“I have great friends.”

“I know you do.”

He thought about all the guys he called friends, the times they’d all gotten together, and which ones had given Tori a second look. Probably all of them, considering she was gorgeous. “Is there one of my friends you want to go out with?”

“Nope.”

That relieved him a little. But only for a second, because he knew damn well that what Calliope had said about the love advice hadn’t been made up, and usually people who’d had too much to drink spilled a little too much of the truth.

When he pulled into Tori’s apartment complex, he got out of the truck and opened her door.

“Thanks for the ride.”

“It’s late. I’ll walk you up.”

“That’s not necessary.”

“I’ll walk you to your door, Tori.”

She blew out a breath. “Fine.”

As they walked up the back stairs, he frowned. “Lots of foliage around here. And you’re on the second floor.”

She fished into her purse for her keys. “And?”

He waited while she unlocked her door, surveying the remoteness of the area. “How long have you lived here?”

“About a year.”

“I don’t like it.”

“Gee, Brody, thanks.”

“I mean it doesn’t look safe. You should move.”

She rolled her eyes and stepped inside. “Thanks for the ride home. I appreciate it. Good night.”

He put his hand on the door. “Seriously, Tori. This isn’t the best neighborhood in town. And this apartment is at the end of a remote corridor. Not the best location.”

“It’s the best I can do, you know?”

He looked down at her. Always so tough, with that “I can take care of myself” attitude. He knew she had no one to take care of her.

Hell, she probably didn’t need anyone to take care of her, but right now maybe he needed it.

He braced his hands on either side of the doorway. “Ask me to come in.”

Her eyes widened. “What?”

“Let me come in, Tori.”

“Why?”

“I want to see your place.”

“Why?”

“Quit asking why and ask me to come in, Tori.”

She shook her head. “That is so not a good idea, Brody.”

“I know. In fact, it’s a really bad idea. Ask me to come in, anyway.”