Boy next door. The description lingered in her head, triggering the urge to snort aloud. Ha. Boy next door, her ass. AJ Walsh was the devil.
She still couldn’t believe he’d lured her to the club last night, brought her to the orgasmic edge, and then asked her to leave. All so he could indulge in his little—what had he called it? Right. An exercise in anticipation.
Well, double ha. He’d been on a power trip, plain and simple. He’d wanted to see how far and how hard he could push her, and if there was one thing Brett Conlon didn’t appreciate, it was being pushed around.
“Sorry, I’m late,” AJ told the group. “My GPS took me on a crazy route. It doesn’t seem to understand what one-way street means.”
“Well, I’m glad you found the place all right,” Rob said, sticking out his arm so the two men could exchange a fist bump.
“I thought you had to work,” Brett spoke up tightly, her cloudy expression leaving no doubt as to how she felt about this unwanted intrusion.
“Nope, turns out Reed and Gage can handle the inventory on their own,” he answered, his lie coming out as effortlessly as hers. “I tried to call you for directions, but I think your phone’s dead. So I grabbed Rob’s cell number off the Conlon Ink website, and luckily he got back to me quick-fast.”
“Yes, how lucky,” she muttered.
Brett set down the burger she’d been holding. Her appetite had vanished. She felt like diving out of her chair and kicking AJ in the shin, but the new Brett wasn’t allowed to lose her temper. Especially when her father was gazing at AJ with blatant approval.
Her dad raised his massive body out of his chair and extended a hand. “Jimmy Conlon. And you must be the man who’s dating my daughter.”
“Yes, sir. I’m AJ.”
“Can it with this sir business. Call me Jimmy.”
The two men exchanged a hearty handshake, and unlike Brett’s previous boyfriends, AJ didn’t seem the least bit intimidated by her father’s size.
At six four, with his bushy red beard, muscular chest, and multitude of tattoos, her dad painted an imposing picture. God knew Troy had been scared shitless the first time he’d seen him.
“Nice to meet you, Jimmy,” AJ said easily. “I hear I made you some money back in the day.”
Jimmy’s mouth stretched in a wide grin. “Ten grand, son. You helped pay off the mortgage.”
AJ grinned back. “Glad I could be of assistance.” He turned to the other two men at the large, round table. “Jordan, right?” he said to the younger one. “I remember you from high school.”
Jordan didn’t get up, but leaned forward to shake AJ’s hand. “I remember you too. You were lightning fast on that football field.”
Brett’s oldest brother, Mike, rounded out the introductions, and Brett couldn’t help but marvel at the sight of AJ surrounded by the men in her family. Every Conlon male was inked up, had facial hair, and stood well over six feet tall. AJ was around Jordan’s size at six one, but next to her dad and brothers, he looked like a rich pretty boy who’d gotten lost on his way to the country club and accidentally wandered into their backyard.
Come to think of it, he probably was rich. Brett had no idea where he’d grown up, but he didn’t look like someone who hailed from Southie.
Yet strangely enough, he seemed to fit right in. Brett had to swallow her amazement as AJ chatted with her dad and brothers as if he’d known them for years. He readily accepted a bottle of Bud Light from Rob, along with the burger and shrimp plate her dad handed him.
Brett let the casual interaction go on for several minutes before she’d had enough. She hadn’t invited him, damn it!
Okay, well, technically she had, but then she’d uninvited him. The guy had a lot of nerve showing up after he’d left her high and dry last night.
Or maybe high and wet was the more apt description.
“I want to give AJ a tour of the house,” she announced.
The men stopped talking. Her dad shot her a quizzical look before speaking in a wry voice. “The man’s just sitting down to eat, princess. He can take the tour later.”
“No, it’s okay,” AJ intervened, setting his plate on the table. “I wouldn’t mind seeing the house my angel grew up in.”
His angel?
Oh, hell no.
Brett grabbed AJ’s hand and dragged him to the sliding door that led into the kitchen. “I can’t wait for you to see it,” she said through clenched teeth.
After she’d closed the door behind them, she bulldozed past the kitchen and marched toward the hall, not bothering to see if he was following.