I t had been months since Brandi had stayed at her own place, and that worked for him.
They had stopped by to pick up some clothes and necessities, and even Mr. Cuddles Worth, but she was practically living with him already—so his question shouldn’t come as a surprise.
Still, he worried that she’d turn him down, and he wasn’t sure if his heart would be able to take the rejection.
He had fallen in love with her, whether she knew it or not, and tonight, he planned on telling her that when he asked her to move in permanently with him.
He had picked up dinner from her favorite Italian place—the one where they had their first date and told her to meet him at his place.
He had run everything by Gloria, to make sure that she’d be good for the night, and she promised to call Yonkers if she had any problems. That worked for him because he didn’t plan on letting Brandi out of his bed for the rest of the night if dinner went well.
Brandi got home about ten minutes late and by the time she showered and changed out of her scrubs, he felt about ready to explode. “You seem anxious tonight,” she assessed. That was because he was, but he wouldn’t tell her that.
“I’m just a little on edge,” he admitted.
“Is it your job?” Brandi asked. “Is something going on at the warehouses?” He hated that she worried about him working with chemicals so much. It was what he was trained to do, but explaining that to her never seemed to ease her worry.
“No, it’s not my job,” he admitted.
“Then why are you so wound up?” she asked.
“Because I want to tell you something and I’m afraid that you won’t take it well,” he said.
“Okay, well, how about you just say what you need, and I’ll tell you how I’m taking it?” Brandi asked.
“I don’t think that you should live in your apartment.
It’s not safe. Hell, you already know how unsafe your neighborhood is.
” Shit—that wasn’t what he planned on saying to her.
He wanted to tell her that he loved her and then he’d point out the pros and cons of moving in with him.
He was fucking everything up and from the smirk on her face, she was going to give as good as he gave.
“Well, it’s what I can afford until my divorce settlement comes in. But I promise to find a safer neighborhood to live in once I get my money in a few months.”
“That’s not what I mean,” he insisted.
“Okay, then how about you tell me what you mean,” she challenged.
“I love you,” he breathed.
“Oh,” she whispered.
“I know that we haven’t been together for long—just a few months, but I’ve fallen in love with you, and I want you to move in here with me—permanently.”
“Oh,” she breathed again. It seemed to be all she could say to him, and Reacher took that as a bad sign.
“Can you say something besides that?” he asked. “You said that I should just say what I wanted to, and you’d tell me how you felt about it, remember?”
“Right,” she said, taking a deep breath and letting it back out. “I love you too,” she admitted. “And, if I’m being honest, I already feel as though I live here, so I’d love to make it permanent. But I have one stipulation.”
He didn’t care what she wanted from him, he’d give it. “I want you to get rid of your ugly sofa and let me bring mine to put in its place.” She had a decent sofa at her place, and honestly, he had picked up most of his at a second-hand shop when he bought his house.
“You can replace all my crap if it means that you’ll take me up on my offer and move in here. Hell, you have better stuff than I do, so feel free to toss all mine in the dumpster.”
She giggled and slid from her seat to his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck. “Then you have a deal,” she said, brushing her lips against his.
“Thank fuck,” he growled, “I thought that I was going to have to tie you to my bed to keep you from leaving.”
Her breath hitched and he could tell that she seemed to love the idea. “You want me to tie you to the bed, honey?” he asked.
She shyly nodded and he didn’t need anything else from her.
“Dinner can wait,” he said, standing with her body against his chest. He carried her upstairs as she giggled all the way.
Reacher knew that once he got her to the bedroom, she wouldn’t be laughing anymore.
He planned on showing Brandi how much he loved and wanted her, and then, he planned on showing her all over again—after dinner, maybe.
Reacher had been at his new job, down at the docks, for almost six months now, and he had to admit that he loved his work.
He had a team of guys under him and all the red tape and bureaucracy paperwork made him almost giddy.
It had been so long since he loved what he was doing for a living, and now, he understood the old saying—Do something that you love, and it will never feel like work.
His boss was a little on the squirrelly side, but he just chalked it up to him being a touch weird. That was fine with him, and for the most part, Tom left him alone to do his job without micromanaging him.
Reacher was in charge of managing three warehouses and clearing them of the chemicals that some asshole had dumped in them.
There were hundreds of barrels of chemicals sitting around, and that wasn’t safe.
He had to follow environmental requirements to remove each barrel, and that kind of work took time, not that he minded.
It kept him busy, and busy for him was good.
He loved the fact that he got to go over to Gloria’s to have lunch with his two favorite girls.
Some days, he’d bring them both lunch and some days, Brandi made lunch.
Reacher loved the routine that they were developing and the friendship that was blossoming between Gloria and Brandi.
She had told him how alone she felt after Jarrod left her homeless and penniless.
He knew that her new relationship with both him and Gloria was important to Brandi, and he felt the same way about her.
Reacher walked into the house, not bothering to knock, and found Brandi and Gloria sitting and talking with Yonkers and Hurricane, and he knew that something was up—something that he wasn’t going to like very much.
Sure, Hurricane had been over to Gloria’s a few times to check in on her, but he always came alone.
Seeing both the guys there had the hairs on his neck standing at attention, and that didn’t happen often.
“What are you guys doing here?” he asked.
“Well, I came by to see my mom, and Hurricane tagged along,” he said. Yeah, Reacher wasn’t buying their excuse, and from the look on Brandi’s face, neither was she.
He had taken her by the club a few times in the past and when Hurricane gave the bar its official name and had a big party to celebrate, she was there.
Hurricane’s House was quickly becoming one of his girl’s favorite places to eat on Friday nights, and he had to admit, he loved that she seemed to like the guys too.
It made his life easier that he could mix his two worlds now—both his club and his woman.
“I called Mom to let her know that I was stopping by and she told me to bring burgers from Hurricane’s House. I was feeling generous, so I brought you one too,” Yonkers said.
“Thanks,” Reacher drawled. “Now, how about you two tell me the real reason why you’re here? I’m not buying the whole—we came to see Gloria and bring you lunch story.”
“Now, you’re just hurting my feelings,” Yonkers teased.
“Should we give you guys some privacy?” Brandi asked.
She understood how club business worked.
When the guys had church, she knew that he’d be going into the club alone.
But he always made it up to her on nights that his buddies were throwing a party or having their Ol’ladies come into Hurricane’s House with them.
She seemed to like hanging out with the guy’s women, and he loved having time with his brothers.
“That would be great, but you two enjoy your lunches and we’ll go outside to talk,” Hurricane said.
Reacher’s stomach sank. If the guys wanted to talk to him alone, it must be important or bad.
He was hoping for something important because he didn’t have time for anything to go wrong in his life right now.
He walked over to Gloria and kissed her cheek. “Sorry,” Reacher said, “I’ll have to take a raincheck on lunch today. How are you feeling?” he asked.
“I’m doing pretty good today, James,” she said. “I’m almost finished my treatment, and then comes the hard part—waiting for my test results to come back.”
“I know, and Brandi and I will be by your side the whole time. I’m sure that you’re going to get good news, Gloria. I can feel it in my gut, and my gut is never wrong.”
“Well, I hope you and your gut are right this time. I could sure use some good news,” she said. Brandi reached for her hand, and she squeezed it in her own smiling between the both of them.
He could feel Yonker’s and Hurricane’s eyes on him, and he knew that his time for a visit was almost over.
He dipped his head to kiss Brandi’s soft lips, not caring that they had an audience.
He broke their kiss when Hurricane cleared his throat.
“Missed you,” he whispered to her. Gloria swooned, actually swooned and both Brandi and he looked over at her.
“Young love,” she breathed. “I just can’t help myself, sorry.”
“No, it’s all good,” Brandi said, “Reacher is swoon-worthy.” Yonkers and Hurricane both groaned out loud and he smiled at Brandi.
“I think that’s my cue to leave with those two,” he said, nodding over to his friend and his club’s Prez.
“They aren’t very patient men,” he insisted.
They both grumbled about the pot calling the kettle black, and Reacher followed them out to the front porch.
“I’ll see you at home, honey,” he called back over his shoulder.
“Let’s talk in my truck,” Hurricane ordered. Reacher was starting to feel impatient himself.