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His expression must’ve revealed his confusion, because she stepped closer to touch his chest. “Let’s go to bed.”
“Let’s,” he agreed, not bothering to hide his enthusiasm. She laughed.
Her other distinguished boyfriend-types probably would’ve said something like, “Let me find my smoking jacket.” He wasn’t distinguished, and he wasn’t her boyfriend—yet—though he was about to start his campaign for that title. Why pretend he only wanted a few furtive clutches with her when he already longed for so much more?
At the threshold of her bedroom, she gave him what he considered her doctor face. “Just to sleep, okay? Kim will probably be up all night, and I don’t want to press our luck.”
He pushed his hands in the back pockets of his jeans and tried to control his temper. “Why are we doing this again?”
Playfully she walked her fingers up his abs. “Have you forgotten already?”
“Not that.” He snatched her hand and pressed his lips to the center of her palm. “I mean the whole lying thing. Do you really think my sister’s that much of an ogre that she’d begrudge us a little happiness? Or do you think it’s hotter to run around in secret?”
Hurt flashed in her big brown eyes, and he wished he could snatch the words back. “Look, Sara—”
“I’m not sure what sort of impression I’ve given you. Obviously not a very good one if you think I’d create artificial drama to make things ‘hot’. I told you, I like it here.” She opened her mouth as if she intended to say more, then shook her head and walked into her bedroom. And started to strip.
Yeah, that would definitely help his concentration.
To assist his synapses in functioning, he focused on the small cluster of watercolor paintings on the wall opposite her bed. The artwork featured different birds at the sanctuary, and their colorful plumage offered a bright spot in the room. Almost as bright as Telly’s equally gorgeous feathers, currently fluttering as he charged around his cage.
Something had set him off, probably their edgy voices. Sara had told him her bird hated arguments. So did he, unless he saw a good reason to fight. As far as he was concerned, they didn’t have one.
Brad waited until Sara rounded the bed to walk toward her closet before he wandered over to Telly’s cage. He’d stayed in the living room for the last few days while Sara was sick, but now that she was feeling better, she’d insisted on bringing him back. Brad slipped his finger between the bars, and as usual, Telly barely spared him a glance. He ignored everyone but Sara.
Since his mistress had just slipped back into her nightgown from earlier—that happened to be silky, blue and strapless—Brad definitely understood Telly’s fascination.
After spending a long moment gulping down the sight of Sara’s attire, Brad resolutely faced Telly again. “I know you like it here,” he said in his most conciliatory voice. “We like having you too. Us being together has nothing to do with that.”
“That’s because it’s new. You forget I’m the queen of soured relationships.”
He looked back at her as she slipped into bed and crossed her arms over her chest. Her ample chest, attractively revealed by her low-cut nightie. “I’ve had a few too. Including a marriage, in case you’ve forgotten.” He couldn’t help his irritation any more than he could help staring at her breasts. Her disgusted exhale drew his gaze to her face, thou
gh that noise could’ve been from his focus on her cleavage as much as the reminder about his ex-wife. Not his fault she was so damn hot. “I’m just saying, I’m not new to the game, babe. I know things go bad. I also know if you start out assuming they’ll go south, you’ll usually get your wish.”
“I don’t want this to be complicated.”
He tapped the cage again and got the same reaction from the bird—nada. With a sigh, he came around to the opposite side of Sara’s bed and sat on the tangled comforter. Memories of how they’d gotten it so messy made him glance back at her, only this time she was smiling. Maybe she was thinking about the same thing. “Life’s complicated in general. You can take the easy route and be bored out of your fucking mind. I’ve done that for stretches.”
“Somehow I doubt it.”
“Don’t. Sometimes we all need to hide out for a while.” He rubbed her foot through the covers. “I know moving here was a big change for you. I also know that you value your friendship with my sister, and it means a lot that you’d rather not do anything that might make her unhappy.”
“She’s not the only one I value.” She patted the pillow beside her. “Maybe I haven’t made that clear enough.”
“If that’s a thinly veiled way of suggesting you could show your affection through sexual favors, I heartily agree.”
She laughed and curled up on her side, extending her arm to him. “No more sexual favors tonight. I’m still recovering, remember?”
“I’m still recovering too,” he said, stroking the bed meaningfully.
He rose to shut the door. Just in case, he flipped the lock, though if Kim made it upstairs and discovered them together in Sara’s bedroom, it’d be pretty obvious they weren’t sequestered to work on the Times crossword. Still, Sara gave him a grateful look when he turned back to undress. He hauled his T-shirt over his head and shed his boots and jeans, leaving them in a pile on the floor. Her snort at his untidiness made him shift to give her a full frontal glimpse of his renewed erection, knowing that would quell her amusement.
Judging from the size of her pupils, he was right. “Low blow,” she murmured.
He grinned and crawled over the bed, caging her beneath him like a cotton burrito. She loved to bundle up right away, and now she couldn’t escape from her sheeted prison. “No, a low blow would be if I slid up this bed and fed my cock into your mouth again. And it’d be low because it would probably take me about five seconds to come.”
One of her brows winged up, and he swore his balls shouted for mercy. “You’d feed me your cock and I have no say in the matter, hmm?”
