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His words died off as his lips connected with hers. Shock melted into a warmth far more consuming than the leather coat offered. Her arms fell from being wrapped around her own side to move hesitantly around his waist.
The deep groan in the back of his throat vibrated against her and he pushed her slightly until her back was once again pressed to the solid trunk of the massive tree. His mouth moved over hers with a mixture of reverence and passion she had never expected Dean Carlisle to be capable of.
Dean. This was Dean. Her best friend since childhood. The keeper of too many of her secrets and now the white knight she never knew she needed.
And she waskissinghim.
He pulled back, breaking the magic that blanketed them in the moment.
Nearly.
His labored breathing matched hers. “I’m sorry. I-I didn’t…Jilly, this wasn’t part of the plan.”
An unusual wave of disregard swept over her. “Plans can change, can’t they?” She snaked a hand up to the back of his neck, pulling his mouth toward hers once more. When a breath separated their lips she whispered, “Just for right now,” before losing herself in the kiss she didn’t know she wanted.
Chapter Fourteen
Dean
Twelve Years Earlier
“Hey, Mom, Jilly’s coming over later.”
Tracy Carlisle rolled her eyes at her son. “Hey, Mom, do you mind if Jillian comes over later?”
Dean frowned at his mother. “Same difference.” He shrugged and tossed the football he was carrying in the air. “You love it when she comes over more than I do.”
His mother stepped out from behind the kitchen island and grabbed the ball mid-air. “I do, but that doesn’t mean you don’t need to ask.” She lifted her brows meaningfully at him and lowered her chin. “Understand?”
He grinned and stole the ball back from his mother with a wink. “Yes, ma’am.” He turned to walk out the sliding glass door at the back of the house, but stopped and faced her again. “So…can she?”
She pressed her lips together in a thin line and nodded. “Of course she can.”
With a quick glance around to make sure Connor wasn’t hanging around to catch him in the rare moment of affection, he dropped a quick kiss on his mother’s cheek and dashed out the back door. In completely predictable Connor fashion, Dean found his older brother outside with an array of pencils that looked to him to be identical, but that Connor insisted were all very different, and a large sketchpad.
Connor glanced up long enough to see Dean descend the tall wooden steps that led from the expansive deck to the backyard before returning his focus to the paper laid out before him.
Dean stood in front of his brother, blocking his view of whatever the hell it was that he was drawing and volleyed the football back and forth between his hands. “Wanna play?”
With a small lift to one brow, Connor looked up and gave a curt shake of his head. “Not right now.”
He’d known it was a long shot. Connor was, by far, the least interested in any sport, unless you counted running as a sport, but with Tanner at college and Wyatt out who the hell knew where doing who the hell knew what, Connor was it by default. The close bond they shared may have meant they were each other’s confidant and closest friends, but it didn’t feed Dean’s moderately competitive nature.
“Come on.” He knew he was whining and he knew it was obnoxious, but he honestly didn’t care. “Just fifteen minutes. Or ten. The trees or the grass or whatever it is you’re drawing to get all the ooh’s and ahh’s from Mom and Aunt Sharon and the rest of your fan club will still be there.”
If it wouldn’t ruin the dynamic of good natured bickering, Dean would admit out loud his silent admiration for the inherent talent his brother possessed.
At Connor’s responding silence, Dean kicked at his foot a little. “Seriously, Jillybean is going to be coming over soon and she’ll want to watch that stupid reality show and I’ll be stuck inside for hours. Please, just a few minutes.”
Connor set his art supplies on the Adirondack chair next to the one where he sat and sighed. “I’ll compromise with you. I haven’t gone for a run yet. Go with me and I’ll knock my normal five miles down to just a mile and a half to compensate for your lazy ass.”
Dean glanced up at the still closed glass patio door. “Awfully ballsy to use that kind of language where Mom could hear, but it’s a deal as long as I get a raincheck for football soon.”
“You’re a fine one to talk, you’ve contaminated poor Jillian with your potty mouth.” Connor stood and stretched to his full six foot height, a fact that slightly annoyed Dean, who was still a good five inches shorter. “Let me run and change my shoes and I’ll meet you out front.”
The two ran at a moderate pace that still allowed them to talk and trade barbs, but were fast enough they managed to get back to the Carlisle home just as Jillian walked up to the front door.
She lifted a perfectly manicured brow as the brothers approached. “Don’t you two look…athletic.”
