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I knew in my head that this was one of Alley’s best friends, but my brain was not firing on all cylinders as I gazed into her deep, chocolate brown eyes. And lord have mercy, that body of hers. She sure had filled out. Curvy in all the right places, hair a rich brown that looked like it had been spun from silk, and soft curls cascaded down her back that I wanted to run my fingers through.Wait what, these are not the types of thoughts I should be having about my sister’s best friend.But she wasn’t the same girl I remembered from years before and I couldn’t stop the direction of my thoughts even if I tried.
Being stationed overseas during my military days, I hadn’t got home much. When I had, my time was limited. Later when Alley got older, she took trips to come see me instead. So I hadn’t seen Jurnee in years, so in my mind, she was still that young teenage girl she had been when I left.
Holy shit, Jurnee is straight up, all woman now!
With the three of them headed in my direction, all I seemed to manage to do is stand in place, and stare as they approached.My tongue hanging out of my mouth, looking stupid as hell. What is wrong with me?With all the ladies in the bar tonight, not once did I take interest in anyone of the female persuasion. Jurnee was a knockout and was throwing me for a loop between her mix of girl next door, and the sexiest woman alive looks. On top of that, she had always been sweet, so caring, and watched after Alley when I left. And she kept it up all the years I was gone too.
Now though...
After they reached our group, my sister immediately began the introductions. “Braxton, you remember Summer and Jurnee, right?”
“Yeah, hey ladies, how have you both been?” I said, my voice all gravely as I tried to pull my head out of its Jurnee induced fog. My mouth was dry as the Sahara Desert, taking her all in. With her fitted jeans, peach-colored top, cool brown leather jacket, and brown boots, she looked mouthwatering.I could use a sip of this girl right now.I was parched. She may not have been as dressed up as some of the women in the bar, but she looked so much better. If I ever wondered what my type of girl was, I had just figured it out.
Jurnee was it.
Both the girls’ answered and yet my eyes seemed to be glued to Jurnee the whole time. I couldn’t help but notice her cheeks were tinted a soft pink. Huh, that’s weird, it’s like she was embarrassed or something. But why, I had no idea. I mean, she had always been a little shy, but now there is something else going on behind those remarkable eyes of hers.
“Congratulations on the new business, that’s really cool,” Summer said.
“Thank you, I’m really excited and also happy to be home with my little sis.” I grabbed Alley as I said this, pulling her out of the girls hands and toward me. Wrapping my arm around her neck gently, I bent her a little and gave her a noogie for old times’ sake.
Alley squealed and jabbed me in the gut with her elbow. “Ow, you brut, let me go.”
Everyone seemed to laugh along with us and I realized my friends were just standing there, watching the show. I also noticed that Jurnee hadn’t said anything else since when she first walked up and said hi. It was time to introduce the guys and maybe have a chance to talk with her one on one, even though I shouldn’t want that so bad. Having the sinful thoughts racing through my mind at warp speed right then was probably not what should have been happening either, but I don’t think there was any way to put a halt to them. They seemed to have a mind of their own.
“Hey ladies, I want to introduce you to a couple of my friends.” As I introduced everyone, I noticed a few things. Jurnee was extremely quiet, but also very polite. She was intriguing me more and more. I also couldn’t help but notice she kept watching me. Another thing is, when I introduced Summer to my friend Gyth from my old unit, their eyes held a little longer. It was awesome to see that Summer didn’t even seem to blink about him being in a wheelchair. Then, last but not least, and this was not something I was expecting at all, was my sister’s reaction to Summer’s brother, Landon, being here with us. She had known him for ages, and yet something sat behind her eyes I couldn’t read as she watched him. Usually, my little sis is an open book to me, but the story that seemed to be unfolding right in front of me was one I didn’t know and it seemed like the beginning had been written long ago.
I was a little puzzled at what I noticed, but there was only one thing that was going to get my attention. That was getting a certain brown-eyed girl to talk to me, and maybe if I was lucky, even dance with me before the night was over. As the song “Brown Eyed Girl” swirled around in my head, my eyes met hers.Here goes nothing.“Hey Jurnee, how have you been?”
“I’ll be back, I have to pee.”
Did she just say she had to pee?“Umm… what just happened?” I asked my sister as a confused expression drifted over my features
“Duh, big brother, can you be any denser? It’s kinda like a thick fog on a dark night that you can’t see through at all, has taken over your brain at the moment.”
“What?” I asked completely clueless to the weirdness going on.
“Jurnee is shy, and she’s had a crush on you since she was twelve years old. I’m sure she would not like me telling you this, but you need to understand because I don’t want to ever see her hurt and I saw the heat in your eyes when you were looking at her.”
“Wait, she what?” I was completely baffled by my sister’s words. “Since she was twelve?” As flabbergasted as I was at the news, I have to say after the way I felt when Jurnee walked in, this bit of information made me happy. What I was going to do with it, was the big question of the day though wasn’t it?
“Boys can be so clueless,” she said. Then she and Summer exchanged a look, along with a little giggle, obviously enjoying the fact that they had insider information that I didn’t. Just when she was about to say something else...
All hell broke loose.
Chapter Two
Jurnee
Standingat the sink in the ladies’ room, wanting to bang my head against the mirror, I glared at myself. What in the ever-lovin’ heck had I been thinking?I’ll be back, I have to pee—did I really just blurt that out in front of Braxton?Who did I think I was... the Terminator? Ha, then I had to go and add ‘I have to pee’ and that Terminator badassness went right out the window. I knew I peed a lot, especially when I was extremely nervous, but couldn't I have just said anything else in front of the sexiest man I had ever feasted my eyes on? He might have always been my fantasy, but he was very real, and I was about to spend the evening with him. I would never be able to show myself after today if I spent the whole night hiding in the bathroom, or get to talk to him when it’s what I wanted so badly to do.
It’d been twelve years since I first met Braxton and if I thought he was a dream back then, that didn’t compare to the mouthwatering man he had turned into. That body of his had desire sweeping through me and my pulse skyrocketing. With his broad shoulders, tanned skin, dark hair, and sexy scruff on his face, along with his kissable lips and those piercing green bedroom eyes that seemed to see right through me, I didn’t stand a chance of hiding my emotions.
It’s no wonder I was hiding in the bathroom, the man’s perfection scared the bejesus out of me. Taking off my jacket because it was hot as heck—or maybe that is just Braxton’s effect on me—I laid my coat on the counter and took another long look in the mirror as my thoughts returned to what that man did to me.
He appealed to me on every level inside and out. Not only because of his looks but because I knew what a great guy he was. The fact that he was also sex on a stick was just icing on the cake. As I said before, he was so out of my league. Yet, with every fiber of my being, I wanted to get to know the man he’d become.
A guy like Braxton probably had some beautiful model girlfriend and would think I was crazy if I even really tried. I mean, of course, he would’ve been nice, that’s just who Braxton was. But did I honestly think in a million years he would ever look at me like something other than his sister’s, shy, geeky, little friend?
