One Night of Trouble(20)

He shoved aside the reminder, not in the mood to fall into the guilt pit tonight. God knew he’d lived there every frickin’ day of his life. He worked way too hard to be the son they needed him to be, and the thought brought a twinge of irony as he realized Brett was doing the same thing. Trying to meet the high expectations set upon her, but like him, she didn’t quite fit in that saintly mold, either.

She wouldn’t be there tonight if she had.

He reached the top of the stairs, his cock throbbing in anticipation as he zeroed in on his closed door. Christ, he’d never wanted a woman so badly before. The second he walked into that office, he had a better shot of winning the lottery than of restraining himself.

But why? Why didn’t he feel the need to rein in that part of himself when he was with Brett? He had no answer for that, but he knew it was part of the reason he hadn’t run screaming in the other direction when she’d dropped the boyfriend bomb earlier.

Hell, he’d pretend to be her husband as long as he got her naked again.

AJ was halfway down the hall when a familiar strawberry-blond head popped out of the neighboring office.

“Hey!” Darcy Grant broke out in a huge smile at the sight of him, quickly running up to throw her arms around him in a warm hug.

AJ pasted on a pleasant smile as he hugged her back. Though he’d never admit it to her or Reed, being around Darcy still brought a twinge of discomfort. Sure, he’d remained friends with most of his ex-girlfriends, but it was different with Darcy. She was dating his best friend now, which meant she was part of his life whether he liked it or not. The fact that he didn’t have a choice in the matter grated slightly.

“How’s it going?” she asked. “I haven’t seen you around lately.”

“Yeah, I’ve been at my folks’ place a lot.”

Her blue eyes went serious. “How’s your mom doing?”

“Better. She’s been taking it easy ever since the heart attack. My dad is doing his damndest to make sure she doesn’t experience a second of stress. He’s taken over the cooking, cleaning, pretty much whatever he can to make life easier for her.”

Darcy nodded. “That’s good. I keep meaning to drop by and visit her, but…” There was an awkward note in her voice. “I’m still not sure if it’s, I don’t know, appropriate, I guess.”

“Why? Because we broke up?” he said lightly. “That doesn’t matter, Darce. Mom would love to see you.”

“Do they know I’m living with Reed now?”

AJ shook his head. “I don’t talk about Reed much when I’m there. You know how they are.”

She smiled wryly. “I’m not sure I blame them for disapproving of him. From what I’ve been told, he was a total troublemaker back in the day.” She gestured to Reed’s office door. “I just brought him some dinner. There’s plenty of Chinese food to go around if you’re hungry.”

“Naah, I already ate, but thanks.” His gaze strayed to the end of the hall again, but he tried not to reveal his impatience to Darcy.

They might be friends, but he definitely didn’t want his ex-girlfriend knowing what he was up to tonight.

Hey, Darce, there’s a hot chick in my office waiting for me to screw her senseless!

Yeah, he wasn’t going there. He could already picture the look of disapproval that would grace Darcy’s face, though he wasn’t sure why it even mattered to him. Darcy was with Reed now. She had no say in his life and absolutely no right to judge him.

Still, his reluctance to reveal the fling only illustrated how much had been missing from his relationship with Darcy. Darcy was sweet and funny and wonderful, yet he’d always kept a part of himself hidden from her.

“Anyway, I’m sorry I can’t stay and chat, but I have an important phone call to make.”

“Is everything okay?” she said with concern.

“Yup. Just need to call one of our liquor suppliers.”

The wary flicker in her eyes told him she didn’t believe him, but he didn’t particularly care at the moment. He’d already kept Brett waiting long enough.

As his impatience spilled over, he planted a brief kiss on Darcy’s forehead before calling out a hasty good-bye on his way down the hall. He registered her bewildered response, but didn’t turn around. A moment later, he was inside his office and locking the door behind him.

“Hi.”

Brett instantly shot up from the visitor’s chair and smoothed out her hair with one hand. She’d left it down tonight, and the silky black strands lingered right above her shoulders, providing him with a tantalizing view of her modest cleavage. She was wearing a silky black dress that stopped midthigh and the leather boots she’d had on yesterday, and with her tattooed arms exposed, she gave off a bad-girl vibe that he was totally digging.