Desiring the Reilly Brothers. Maureen Child

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      Renting that small, one-bedroom apartment worked out well for both him and Angelina. The older woman liked having him around—knowing he was handy if she needed help. And he had privacy, no worries about losing his apartment when he was deployed for months at a time, and a sweet old lady who enjoyed cooking, to make him the occasional home-cooked dinner.

      On the whole, a situation worth putting up with Muffin and Peaches.

      And there was another good point to his living arrangements. Since Angelina was his ex-wife’s grandmother, Brian could keep a tenuous connection to Tina Coretti Reilly. It wasn’t much, and probably wasn’t real healthy, but Tina, even though they’d been divorced for five years now, was never too far out of his thoughts.

      The barking got sharper, louder, as he stalked up the driveway toward the stairs at the side of the garage. Brian tossed another scowl at the whitewashed wooden gate and the hell hounds beyond. Then the back door opened and that scowl froze on his face.

      It was as if all the air had been sucked from his lungs. His guts twisted and a hard ball of something hot and needy and just a little pissed landed in the pit of his stomach.

      “Judging by that expression,” Tina said, over the din of the dogs, “you’re not real happy to see me.”

      Afternoon sunlight lit her up as brightly as if she’d been an actress standing at center stage. Her wide brown eyes danced with amusement. Her long, thick black hair hung down around her shoulders. She wore a pale green tank top that bared her tanned arms and chest, and he was only grateful that the gate was there, minimizing his view of her. He wasn’t at all sure he’d be able to take seeing miles of long, tanned leg.

      “Tina.” He swallowed hard and cleared his throat. Damn it, if he was shaken to find her standing practically on top of him, he wouldn’t let her see it. “What’re you doing here?”

      “I’m here to take care of the girls while Nana’s in Italy.”

      The girls being Muffin and Peaches.

      “Angelina didn’t tell me you were coming.”

      “Any reason why she should?”

      His eyes narrowed as he watched her. “Any reason why she shouldn’t?”

      “Ah,” Tina said smiling, as she let the back door swing closed behind her. “Same ol’ Brian. Answer a question with a question. Stall for time.”

      The dogs kept barking and he and Tina were shouting at each other just to be heard. His head was buzzing, brain racing. And he didn’t want to think about the jolt his heart had just gotten. Damn it.

      Angelina should have warned him.

      Should have given him the chance to get the hell outta Dodge.

      And, he admitted silently, since Angelina knew him well enough to know that he would have left, that’s probably exactly why she hadn’t told him about Tina’s visit. The older woman had never made it a secret that she thought the two of them still belonged together. It would be just like Angelina to try for a little long distance matchmaking.

      Too late to do anything about it now, anyway, Brian thought and told himself to get a grip. It wasn’t easy.

      Tina took the steps down from the back porch, opened the gate and the minute she did, the two little fleabags were on him. Stalking and pouncing as though they were the size of wolves instead of especially hairy rats, they attacked the laces of his tennis shoes and grabbed at the hem of his jeans. He glanced down at them, almost grateful for the distraction. “Cut it out.”

      “They really don’t like you, do they?” Tina mused. “I mean, Nana told me they weren’t very fond of you, but I figured she was exaggerating.”

      Brian heard her, but he wasn’t listening. Instead, he was watching her and wishing to hell she’d stayed behind the safety of that gate. It was just as he’d thought. She was wearing denim shorts that hugged her hips and displayed way too much smooth, tanned leg.

      Blood pumped and rushed to the one spot in his body that had always responded to Tina. From their first date, the attraction between them had been electrical. And time hadn’t changed a damn thing.

      Which just made his black mood even blacker.

      It had been two solid weeks since he’d made that stupid bet with his brothers. Two full weeks of no sex and he was already a man on the edge. By the end of three months, he’d be a gibbering idiot. And Tina’s presence wasn’t going to help anything.

      “Damn it, Angelina should have warned me you were coming.”

      She stiffened slightly and lifted her chin in a defiant, I’m ready to rumble pose he remembered all too well. Damn. Their fights had been almost as good as the sex. And the sex had always been incredible.

      “I asked her not to tell you.”

      “Why in the hell would you do that?” he demanded, and kicked his foot, trying to dislodge Peaches from his ankle. It didn’t work. She managed to hang on.

      “Because I knew if she told you that you’d find a way to disappear.”

      That rankled a little, but only because she was right. He would have signed on for extra duty, pleaded for a top-secret mission, asked to be deployed to a base several thousand miles away.

      When, Brian suddenly wondered, had he become a coward about Tina?

      Then he dismissed the question, because it wasn’t relevant at the moment.

      “Why would I do that?”

      “I don’t know, Brian,” she said and cocked one hip as she folded both arms across her chest.

      Well, under her breasts, pushing them higher, giving him a closer look at the smooth, tanned curve of flesh peeking up from the top of her low-cut shirt. He forced himself to lift his gaze to meet hers.

      “But,” she continued, keeping her gaze locked with his, “you always do. Every time I’ve visited Nana in the past couple of years, you’ve ‘coincidentally’ been called away.”

      Nothing coincidental about it. Ever since the divorce, he’d purposely avoided running into Tina. He reached up and shoved one hand across the side of his head. “I just wanted to make it easier on you. Visiting family without having to—”

      “—see the man who divorced me without an explanation?” she finished for him.

      She was still mad. Easy enough to see in the sparks shooting out of her dark brown eyes. He couldn’t really blame her, either. “Look, Tina…”

      “Forget it.” She waved whatever he’d been about to say away and shook her head until her hair whipped back behind her shoulders. “I didn’t mean to start anything. I just wanted to see you. That’s all.”

      Brian studied her and wished to hell he could read her mind. Dealing with Tina had never been easy, but it had always been an adventure. And if he knew her, then there was something else going on besides just wanting to say hi to her ex.

      Still, СКАЧАТЬ