Page 9 of Nothing to This (Nothing to… #8)

Brenna was sitting on JD’s desk, facing him in his executive chair. He, on the other hand, was surrounded by paperwork, looking like his sister had just kicked him.

“What are you doing in here?” she asked her friend. “You were supposed to stay at my desk, out side this office, the CEO’s office.”

That was JD’s role. The CEO. Not Brenna’s brother or her ex. The CEO. In that building, they had to give him that reverence… or pretend to anyway. Picking her friend apart about it would be more than a little hypocritical given she hadn’t got deference to him down yet either.

“Talking about eating your pussy.”

If one of them had to do it, she’d put on her big girl panties and—wait, what did she just say? Shock froze her to the spot. Absorb, process, react. Uh… something.

She closed the office door to rush forward. “Brenna,” she hissed.

“Was he good at it?” Brenna asked, all bold confidence.

“What?”

“Your night together, he ate your pussy… right?”

“What are you doing?” JD asked through gritted teeth.

Oh, her friend was loving every morsel of this and didn’t even have the decency to hide her pleasure.

“Let her answer the question, Jame,” Brenna said. “Did he eat your pussy, Ry?”

“I… I really don’t remember.”

Brenna sucked an inhale through her teeth. “Oh, brother, that’s not good. Either you were so bad, she’s blocked it out, or you weren’t much of a lover.”

“He was a good lover,” she said. Why was she so quick to jump to his defense? “Why are we talking about this? It was almost six years ago.”

“You don’t think it’s weird that neither of you have ever talked to me or Mom about that night?”

“We know that night ended in the creation of two little people,” JD said. “Isn’t that all you need to know?”

Truth was, she did her best not to think about that night. She never let herself get bogged down by the details of what happened or how they’d ended up in that elevator together. At the bar, the sexual energy between them had been undeniable and only one way to vent it existed.

There were no words, no agreements…

As the bar got busier, the noise of others interrupted the intimacy of their little bubble, forcing them to lean in, sharing their flirtatious conversation, bringing them closer.

At some point, JD mentioned his suite had a bar.

She’d told him to lead the way… Sometimes she wondered what the hell made her agree to something so brazen.

In that hotel elevator, the need between them combusted. The bar in his suite was nothing more than an excuse. He’d cupped her face, drawn her to her tiptoes as he crouched to get lower and then… Their frenzied kiss left her dizzy. She remembered that. Too often she remembered that.

He’d rushed her against the elevator wall, his hands skimming her waist beneath her jacket. She’d arched into him and asked for more. The word “more” had actually come out of her mouth. Mortifying. Though that didn’t stop her from sinking deeper into the memory.

JD hadn’t hesitated. He’d given her what she wanted in his plush, gorgeous suite. Not that she’d paid much attention to the furnishings. Flashes of being in his bed, under him, went through her mind, the feel of his body, his hands, his mouth.

“He did go down on me,” she murmured.

“Oh, look at that smile.” Brenna’s tone slapped her back to the moment, but it was harder to shake the invigoration from her hormones still basking in those memories. “You must have been good at it.”

“He did this thing with his tongue on my—”

JD cleared his throat. She stopped talking in sync with their eyes locking.

His brows rose. “Babe,” he said.

The warning in that word gave her the chance to be stunned. Had she really just been talking about…?

“Sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry,” Brenna said. “Tell us more. What did he do with his tongue?”

“I know I pay your rent every month, Nana, but you have a job, don’t you?” JD asked. “You’ve got something else to do somewhere else. Ry and I have to talk business.”

Sliding off the desk, Brenna slunk around it. “Business, sure,” she said and made a show of kissing her cheek for several prolonged seconds. “Call me, gorgeous.”

Used to Brenna’s sense of humor, she just smiled and shook her head.

JD wasn’t amused, even after his sister left. “Finish with the paperwork on your desk, then I want you to put together a branding package.”

That cleared her thoughts fast. “What?”

“Give me two or three options; you have latitude on everything. I don’t like wasting time on the creative stuff, it takes me too long. You’re perfect for this.”

“You want me to re-brand the company?”

“And rename it,” he said.

“I don’t even know what to… you want me to rebrand?”

“You’re a creative consultant. Did you think I summoned you up here just to answer calls?

Final schedule’s your prerogative, you’ll have to referee that.

Most of the calls are directed to others; plenty of people in the bullpen can answer a phone.

I need you for what you’re good at. You have an important role here. ”

“You are constantly surprising me, JD. Do you want to tell me the plan? The corporate direction?”

“We’re moving more into consulting while maintaining our current portfolio. I should be able to do most of it from here. There will be some travel involved—”

“I can’t travel with you,” she said. “Just so we’re clear… We can’t travel together.” His brow twitched. Did she really have to explain why? “The twins.”

Traveling for work was not something she’d considered before. That was one reason her job was so perfect, or it had been.

“They can travel with us.”

“They’ve never been on a plane.”

That startled him. “My children are almost five and they have never been on vacation?”

“They have, but I need written permission from you to take them out of the country. You and I never saw each other, so road trips were always easier… Sky likes being in the car and Kye just falls asleep.”

“I’d have given you written permission,” he said.

Apologies and contrition weren’t required. He looked so sorry that she laughed.

“JD, you and I have never been close. There’s always been an understanding between us, we never put words to it.

Brenna enjoys playing people, don’t let her get into your head.

Don’t let her mischief make you think you should feel something you don’t or that you should’ve acted in a way that you didn’t. ”

Confident she’d made her point, work was the next thing to—

“How do you know I don’t?”

“You don’t what?”

“You don’t remember being with me? That’s fine. You’re right, it was almost six years ago. I’m fuzzy on the details myself.” His eyes dropped to his fingertips as they straightened one of the papers on the desk. “But there’s one thing I never forget.”

Taking a few steps toward the desk, she wasn’t sure what his reticence meant. “What are you talking about?”

“The next morning, after we made love, I asked for your number, told you I’d be in town, that I wanted to visit…

” His gaze met hers. “You laughed, said with me on the west coast and you on the east, there was no future; that you were my rebound. You told me it was better to have a great memory than to hang on until it falls apart.”

She couldn’t remember it that clearly but had enough of a memory to know he wasn’t far wrong. Those words sure sounded like hers.

“And what’s wrong with that?”

“You took away my right to contribute to any decision about us. At the time, I’ll admit, it pissed me off, but I let it go… then I got your email about the twins.”

After her twelve-week scan, she’d begun her mission to find him. Getting a reliable number turned out to be impossible. An email was the best she could do.

“I told you and you sent lawyers. You didn’t show up. Not until I was in the hospital with them.”

“You didn’t want to be with me. You made that clear. I was never given a chance to make a choice. You shut down any chance we had at a future that morning in the suite.”

Had he taken her words so seriously? Hadn’t he agreed? Now she wasn’t so sure.

“I don’t understand, are you…? Are you saying that you wanted to be with me?”

Breathing in, he picked up his pen. “I don’t know, Ry.

I was annoyed that morning at the hotel.

You gave in before we had a shot. Maybe you knocked my pride, who knows?

All I knew was I didn’t want to build a family with you because of the kids.

I figured if you’d wanted us to be with each other, we’d have found a way to come back together before you learned you were pregnant. ”

“You didn’t want us to be together just because of the kids,” she said, lowering herself into the chair at her side because her legs weren’t up to holding her.

“I didn’t,” he said. “You were clear in what you wanted, and I honored that… And don’t think it was all you, I was focused on building the business.

We probably wouldn’t have lasted in a long distance, whatever…

I wouldn’t have supported you with the kids like I should have…

I haven’t supported you with the kids like I should. ”

“You send a fortune every month.”

“Money is irrelevant, Ry… I supported my mom’s move close to you because it made my life easier.

Through her, I had a link with the kids and someone to take responsibility for them when it should’ve been my responsibility and no one else’s.

” Coming over suddenly stern, he held up the pen.

“Don’t get me wrong, I love my children more than anything.

More than anything in the world. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for them. ”

His vehemence made her smile, though she probably would have anyway. “I know.”

“These changes, yeah, maybe they’re sudden to everyone else, but I’ve been ready for them for a while. I want to be important to my family, as more than a source of income. Until now, sending money has been my way of telling myself I’m doing my duty. Parenthood is more than that.”

“It is.”

“You eat lunch with them every day?” She nodded. “Damn, I’ve got a lot of catching up to do.”

“We can’t tell them you own the building,” she said. “Not yet.”

“We’re going to figure all this out. You’re in charge. I don’t plan to come in and take over your lives, but I won’t neglect any of you anymore.”

It warmed her to hear that. Her children missed out not having their father around every day. Not that she dwelled on it. They had love in their lives and were content. JD’s move signified a new chapter for them.

“I’m going to call your mom and tell her to come over tonight,” she said. “This is your weekend with the kids. If you’re staying with us, there’s no reason you can’t have the apartment.”

“What about you?”

“The three of you have to get to know each other,” she said.

He’d spent regular time with his children over the years but had never had to concern himself with being solely responsible for them.

“Feed them three times a day, wash them if you can, and get them to bed at a reasonable time. Other than that, bathroom rules rule, watch them at all times, don’t let them drown or burn…

and climbing on furniture isn’t advised either. ”

“Why are you making this so easy for me?”

Standing up, she smoothed her skirt. “Oh, it’s not easy,” she said. “Being a parent is the simplest, most difficult job you’ll ever do… As long as I don’t doubt your love for them, I’ll never doubt your ability.”

“Thank you, Ry.”

Nodding once, she started for the door. Before she got there, she paused. There was something she shouldn’t let slide. She may never get the chance to bring it up again.

“Your kiss,” she whispered.

“What?”

Without turning all the way, she twisted to let her chin drift toward her shoulder.

“The one thing I’ll never forget is the way you kiss…

No man’s ever kissed me like that before or since…

You… possessed me, valued me, it… I don’t often think about that night, but when I do, or when I dream about it…

It’s your lips on me… that’s the sensation that never goes away, never fades. ”

Fearing his expression, she didn’t look at him, just took a slow breath and carried on out of the office to return to her work.

All those years ago, for that one night, they’d meant something to each other. They’d created life that meant more to them than anything else. In the years since, they hadn’t been the best of friends, but they had a bond. They’d shared something no one else in their lives understood.

Jamison Dawes was the father of her children and a good man.

They didn’t have a future together as anything more than co-parents; at least they hadn’t until he’d come back promising he’d changed his priorities.

Maybe they could be friends, maybe it would never work out, but she’d give him a chance. Everyone deserved a chance.

Now she just had to convince Baxter that this was a good idea.