Brody (Default Distraction Book 1) Read online

  My eyes found him pulling up a stool behind me and I knew he wasn’t leaving until we’d had a conversation that I wasn’t yet prepared to fucking have. He sat down and mirroring my defensive body language, he also crossed his arms over his chest. I stared at him, letting his questioning gaze wash over me.

  I knew that face, he meant business.

  I held up my open palm to him. ‘Just slow the fuck up, I know where this is coming from.’ I put my hands into the front pockets of my jeans and shrugged my shoulders at him. ‘I never lied to Amy, she heard Cade calling out Daniels and she just took it from there.’

  He moved his head from side to side and pulled his mouth into a slight sneer as he mulled over my reason.

  ‘Yeah, I’m reasonable, I can see that. We all call you Daniels, instead of arsehole, from time to time when we talk to you, but what about now?’

  ‘Oh, ha fucking ha, you’re a fucking comedian. Whadaya mean, what the fuck about now?’ My voice rose in volume in defence.

  ‘You’re packing up a picnic, and it’s for Amy, don’t fucking tell me anything different.’

  ‘It could be for anybody,’ I snarled at him, pissed that I’d been caught out.

  ‘Winter guessed that the “Daniel” Amy was talking about, was you. She and Lauren had a conversation with Amy after you slept with her the first time. Then last night, she disappeared from the drawing room next to where we played. The room that you were seen escaping into after our set. We looked around for about an hour before Winter put two and two together and we all realised she must have gone back to your room with you.’

  ‘Yeah, I was escaping. Hell, if it means that much to you all to know my business, you might as well know that we didn’t do much fucking sleeping… either night.’ I knew I was being a bastard, so I upped the fucking stakes, and made myself an arrogant bastard.

  ‘Fuck, Brody! Don’t play fucking games here. What the actual fuck do you want with her?’

  I uncrossed my arms quickly, rubbed at my hair on my head and started pointing my finger at him and his fucking accusations. ‘Believe me when I tell you I’m not playing around here. This has the possibility to be so different from anything else I’ve ever had.’ I watched as his eyebrows raised in question and surprise. I crossed my arms again to stop my accusing finger pointing at him. ‘She hasn’t a clue who I am, and it’s seriously the best fucking thing ever. I know I will have to tell her. Eventually.’

  ‘Soon,’ he pointedly interrupted me.

  ‘Yeah, okay, fucking soon. I do know that. But just for a few days I want to be the guy she’s just met, the one who makes her heart flutter and her breathing quicken, just because I’m me and not some rock God. I want her to want to be with me for what she finds in here.’ I smashed my closed fist into my chest. ‘I’m sick to the fucking back teeth with the false fucking shit that’s been in our lives and that comes into our lives on a regular basis, because we’re in a band. Tell me you understand that?’

  ‘You know I do.’ His body language relaxed as he empathised with me.

  ‘Then just give me a few days.’ My voice was quiet and almost pleading in its tone.

  ‘Look, I grew up around here, with people like Amy. They’re not used to having people like us around.’ I raised my eyebrows at his “people like us,” not quite sure exactly what it was he was getting at, but my brain quickly came up with a thousand reasons why their quiet civilised lives really didn’t need us in them. My stomach churned over. I’d only just found her and I wasn’t prepared for the fucking fact she may not want me to stay. Raff carried on. ‘I didn’t have a lot to do with her when we were younger, as you know I didn’t hang around here very long. But, she means the world to Winter and she’s Lauren’s cousin. So, you could say she’s like part of the family, just don’t hurt her. I do know that she has dealt with more shit in her life than a fucking pig farm.’ He looked up and caught the look on my face. ‘Yeah, I know you have too, but I’m serious. Do the fucking right thing by her, have your couple of days and then tell her who the fuck you are and let her make her own decision about it.’

  I nodded resolutely at him. He walked up to me, and we man hugged for a few seconds as we slapped each other on the back.

  ‘So, how’s it going?’ I countered as he pulled away, eager to put him under the spotlight and to remove it from me.

  ‘How’s what going?’

  I smirked at his brazen attempt to pretend he wasn’t once again trying to get the woman he had never stopped loving.

  ‘Lauren,’ I added, to jog his selective memory.

  ‘Oh… Lauren. Mmmm… Well she’s just got engaged and it’s not to me.’ Pain overtook his features as he spoke the words.

  ‘Fuck,’ was all I could offer in answer.

  ‘Yeah, see ya later. Have fun, but do right by her and be good to her, take it from me you may never get the opportunity again.’ I could hear the regret in his voice.

  I watched as he walked towards the kitchen door. I had no advice to offer, I wished I had. As the aluminium door swung shut behind him, I turned back to my previous occupation and carried on making up our lunch.

  ‘You can open your eyes now.’ His fingers slowly peeled away from holding my hands firmly in place. His arms came down and he wrapped them around my body, holding me close to him, his front to my back. I felt his chin gently resting on the top of my head as he allowed me to take in the view.

  I was filled with anticipation, so I slowly opened my eyes and eventually stood looking in absolute awe at the beautiful building in front of me. I knew by the architecture and the shape of the arched windows that were represented everywhere, that it was part of the same estate that included The Manor and the tearooms. Although I lived nearby I had never seen this place before, it was picturesque. The mainly iced-over lake that sat behind it, offering a background that surrounded it like a frame.

  We had been walking through the layers of snow for about twenty minutes. All the time my snow boots had been crunching through the bitter cold, Daniel had been guiding me. As soon as he had picked me up in his car, he had taken me into his arms and pulled me tightly to him as if he was trying to convey all the feelings that were coursing around his body. Then he had kissed my forehead and wrapped his scarf around my eyes like an excited schoolboy trying to keep a secret. His cologne had engulfed me like a warm blanket as soon as I had inhaled. Although I was now getting colder with every second that passed, his obvious excitement and the fact that his hands had been connected to me in some way for the whole of the journey, had kept me going.

  ‘Will this do for our first date?’ he whispered into my ear, the warmth of his breath caressed my sensitive skin with a promise of what our first date as a couple would entail. Electrical charges ran through me, warming me up and making me shiver all at the same time.

  I nodded. ‘You certainly pull out all the stops when you date a woman, don’t you?’ The air left my body and sent warm clouds into the air around us.

  He laughed gently into the crevice of my neck. ‘I’ve no fucking idea. I’ve not dated since school and even then, I hung out at the diner with everyone else. This with you, is different.’

  Before I really had time to think over his words, he was once again pushing me forward to enter the two-storey, red brick building. His hands left me and he walked to the side of me to open the door. The beautifully glossed, navy blue wood and glass panelled door swung open to reveal a room that seemed to be trapped in history. Heavy drapes were at every window, all the wooden furniture was made from mahogany and its warm burgundy colour embraced the room. To one end a huge stone fireplace dominated most of the entire wall, the fire was lit and heat billowed out into the room. I stepped across the worn flagstones and entered the room. Immediately feeling the heat, I started to remove my coat and gloves as Daniel closed the door behind us. I placed them down over the back of the huge settee in front of me.

  ‘Is this okay?’ A nervous voice asked from behind me. I heard him
sniff. ‘It smells a bit… what do you Brits say?’

  I sniffed into the air and laughed. ‘Yes, it’s a bit musty. But it will definitely do. I can’t believe you found this and have gone to all this trouble for me.’

  ‘Would it be too corny to say that you’re worth it?’

  ‘No, it wouldn’t.’

  I spun completely around and finding his arms already open and by his side, I walked straight into his embrace. He kissed the top of my head as both of his hands found my bum cheeks and he squeezed.

  ‘What’s with all this head and forehead kissing, my lips are still in the same place as this morning, you know?’ I closed my eyes momentarily as the thought that was flying around my head was traitorously expelled by my mouth. I tentatively looked up to see him throw his head back as he roared with laughter.

  ‘Do you know how hard it is?’ he finally replied.

  I looked at him quizzically as his head once again came forward and he looked down at me, shaking his head at my doubt.

  ‘Enlighten me,’ I answered and his grip around me tightened.

  ‘As soon as the car door slammed shut on us this afternoon, I wanted to lift you onto my lap and impale you so fucking fast onto my dick, you’d have felt me for the rest of the day. It makes no fucking odds to me that people could have seen you through the windows.’ He let out a long sigh as if he was imagining the absolute feeling of satisfaction we both got from him being inside me. ‘We’re now shut and locked in a remote building all by ourselves. The open fire was a necessity, but it makes me want to strip you of every single piece of the warm fucking clothing I asked you to wear.’ He stopped and widening his nostrils he quickly inhaled. ‘After I’d got ya naked, I could watch as your blood rushed to your breasts, making them heavy and sensitive. That would be closely followed by your nipples turning the raspberry colour I fucking love, as I pinched and rolled them between my fingers. That gorgeous sight would drive me to my fucking knees, where I’d be able to smell that bare pussy of yours. Lifting your legs over my shoulders, I would push my long tongue through your wet folds and then it would find its way home, where I would pump it in and out of you so fucking fast, you would begin to shake in response. I’d then restrain you against the wall using this hard, muscular body that you want to touch every time I’m close to you. And you would stay restrained by me as I slid my dick inside you, not waiting for you to adjust to me. I swear to you that I would pound in and out of you until the ice on that lake outside shattered and the wildlife around here knew just how much you loved God… How are ya liking my reason so far?’

  My eyes had widened as his story went on, and my knees had got to the point of being so sensitive, that if his arms hadn’t been wrapped around me so tightly I was sure I would have collapsed, as I pictured every scene he spoke of.

  I took an audible intake of breath and exhaled it before I was calm enough to speak. ‘Okay… You certainly have a way with words.’

  ‘Mmmm hmmm… Trouble is, beautiful, we don’t have a good track record. Every time we sleep together, you follow it with a panic attack and leave, even though ya say you won’t.’ I started to try to pull out of his embrace as he reminded me of my stupidity. But his grip tightened around me as he finished what he wanted to say. ‘See you want to run, even now. I just want some time to get to know you. I want time for you to get to know the… the real me.’ I leant my head against his chest, finding his heart beating fast under my ear and I started to once again relax in his arms, at his words. ‘And running from me again, from here? I seriously, I mean fucking seriously don’t rate your chances out there, Calamity Amy. From what I’ve witnessed in the last few days, you would end up lost in the snow or face down in the lake.’ I looked back at him quickly to see a grin sweep over his mouth and then it travelled and lit up the whole of his features. I smiled back. The man holding me to him, the man prepared to try to have a relationship with me, was breathtaking. His trademark beanie was still on his head, the odd dark curl of hair peaked from underneath it. His strong square jaw was covered in even thicker stubble. I just stared into his eyes as they darkened in colour and lost myself in the depths I found there.

  Finally, I decided to make the move he was holding himself back from. I stood up on tiptoe as he looked down at me and clasping his face in both of my hands I pressed my lips to his. After a few seconds of our flesh connecting I removed them and placed my heels back to the floor. He was right, any connection between us meant I wanted so very much more.

  ‘Thanks, for your self-control… I think.’ I smiled at him.

  ‘Come on then, get your ass in gear, the lunch is over on the rug in front of the fire.’ I smacked her backside as she moved slowly in front of me. It seemed every fucking time I knew we were meeting up, made me even more excited than the previous times. I was really looking forward to spending this afternoon with her.

  Casually, I grasped my bottom lip between my thumb and forefinger, still feeling the kiss she had just placed there. It had taken every fucking bit of restraint I had not to do exactly what I’d just described to her. I wanted to slam her against the nearest wall. My dick was yelling at the confines of my jeans and pleading for me to give into what we both wanted.

  But apparently, we were both adults. I was in my mid-thirties and I presumed she was close to me in age, so we needed to communicate with something else other than our naked bodies. The only trouble was I wasn’t sure how that went, it wasn’t something I’d ever done or wanted to do before. All my best communication was done through songs and sex.

  ‘Oooo, a hamper?’ Her excited voice reached to me, breaking through my lust-filled thoughts.

  ‘Ahhh, that’s what they’re called, I couldn’t remember.’ I walked around the furniture losing my wool coat, hat and gloves as I did so. ‘You look gorgeous, Amy.’ I took her in for the first time, skin-tight jeans that moulded over that fantastic ass of hers and a thick, cream sweater that had a large slash in the neckline, so it fell off one side of her, exposing her shoulder. My eyes were glued to that exposed shoulder as I realised it showed no sign of a bra strap. I was so fucking done for, as now I needed to know whether she was wearing one or not.

  This woman and her underwear, or lack of, would be the fucking death of me.

  Her chestnut coloured hair coiled over the top of her exposed shoulder and all I could think about was lifting it away so I could sink my teeth into her perfect, unmarked flesh. I adjusted my crotch and exhaled, making my feet move closer to where she was now lowering herself to sit crossed legged on the floor.

  I sat down opposite her, effectively keeping her at arm’s length. It took a hell of a lot of fucking effort.

  Fuck, this was going to be a long afternoon.

  ‘Go on then, release the straps.’ She looked up at my choice of words and I smiled at her so she could catch my euphemism.

  She smiled and shook her head at me, but the start of a blush was unmistakable.

  The hamper lid lifted and for a few seconds I couldn’t see her. I leant back into the couch behind me and bent one leg up at the knee to rest my forearm on it. I could hear the rustling of plastic and I finally heard a small laugh. The lid was closed a little and she was back in my view wearing a huge smile.

  ‘Oh my God! Just how old are you?’ I could hear the laughter in her voice at what she had found inside the wicker basket.

  She then held up all my treats and waved them around in front of me. My stomach rumbled as I made out the Twinkies, Ding Dongs and Ho Ho’s. She then disappeared, taking my treats with her.

  ‘I’m thirty-four and all of the things in the basket are my favourite things from my childhood. I wanted to share them with you.’

  The rustling sound coming from inside the basket stopped and she peeked over the top.

  ‘Oh, I’m thirty-three, thirty-four next year. Tell me more about why these are your favourite things?’ She smiled reassuringly at me.

  I shrugged and stopped myself from crossing my arms over
my chest. I didn’t want my body language to make her think that I was pulling away. ‘My dad was in the Air Force; my family came over here when I was three. Our favourite foods were flown in to us on a regular basis, because we couldn’t buy them here. After each delivery, we’d have a picnic, even if the weather was bad…and you know England, it was often bad.’ I surprisingly felt a smile attach itself to my face at the memory, and clearing the tightening feeling that sharing my memory was causing in my chest by clearing my throat, I carried on. ‘When it rained, my mom would set us up on the living room floor.’ I could see my family’s happy smiles and even hear their excited voices. It was placating, but it was also too fucking much. I took a deep breath and stopped abruptly, fleetingly removing my eyes from hers.

  It was as if she recognised I was uncomfortable and she pitched in just to help me out. ‘So, where exactly do you come from? I mean I’ve read about some of these things but I’ve never seen them until now.’

  ‘In case you hadn’t realised… I’m American.’ I looked at her again, she sighed at me and poked out her tongue. ‘Put that away, before I come over and bite it.’ Her tongue disappeared in a flash and I grinned at her. ‘I was born in New Jersey, and lived in Nevada for a while when I was a teenager. Now, what are we eating first?’

  ‘Well, I was born in London, but moved here when I was ten, when my mum decided that looking after her only child wasn’t obligatory. Anyway, I’m very English and we always eat the sandwiches first.’ I saw the look of pain flick over her face as she spoke of her past. Then she disappeared behind the wicker lid again.

  Not realising it when I had packed up the food, I had given us a very useful barrier for when our “get to know each other” conversation, just got too raw and too fucking exposing.

  ‘Go on then, unwrap them. They’re peanut butter and jelly, my favourite.’

  ‘Oh, okay,’ she answered, although I heard by the tone of her voice that she wasn’t convinced by the filling. I heard the greaseproof paper crinkle under her fingers. ‘Are there any plates packed in here?’