Not Second Best. Christa Maurice
to get lost, and now, she was crawling all over him again.
“On the contrary, I’m going to clean you up.” She rubbed the soap on a cloth and started sweeping the cloth across his chest. “How’s that?”
“Nice.”
“Take notes, because it’s going to be your turn in a minute.” The cloth dipped lower.
“I look forward to it.” He did love a woman who knew what she wanted and wasn’t afraid to spell it out.
“I’m sure you do,” she purred. “You always were a show off.”
“What do you know about me?”
“Everything I need to.” She stroked with the cloth along his length, which was very interested in the stimulation.
“Everything you need to?”
“You’re a sleazy little party boy riding on the success of his first little hit and sleeping with every willing female you can find.”
“You have no respect for me at all, do you?”
“I have lots of respect for you.” She shifted him into the water to rinse him off and handed him the washcloth. “Right now I need a little party boy to fuck me thoroughly, and you are just the one to do it.” Her breathing was heavy and slow.
“Thanks.” He ran the cloth between her full breasts. She looked great naked. How old was she anyway? Jason was about forty. She must be a couple years older than her brother. Had he been overlooking an entire group of hot women because none of the chicks he’d picked was over thirty?
“Think nothing of it.”
He soaped around her ass. Bigger than most of his girls’, but tight and toned. Tessa had some substance to her. He slid between her legs from behind, drawing her against him and getting a sweet moan out of her. Her mouth curved into a lush smile.
“I knew you’d be frisky enough.” Then she pulled away and rinsed off. “I’ve never heard of this place. How did you find it?”
“One of the guys my mom went with brought her here.”
“Oh?” Tessa lifted her hair and rolled her neck under the hot water. “She was a backup singer, wasn’t she?”
“Yeah.”
“OD’d about ten years ago?”
“How did you know?”
Opening her eyes, she turned off the water. “My job is to know things.”
“About me?” Brett followed her out of the shower. He’d thought he went after her at the reception, but maybe it was the other way around. She was smart. Maybe she’d lured him outside.
“When you and Suzi took off together, Jason had me hunting you. Best place to start looking was your past. Your dad is a nice guy.” She walked from the bathroom, still dripping.
“My dad?”
“I called him trying to find you. So how did you end up being the guy to rescue Suzi?” She shoved open the patio door and stepped outside.
“Right place, right time.”
Tessa cocked an eyebrow at him. “And she just ran off with you.”
“When we were on tour, I got to know her, and I happened to be right there when she needed to leave.” Brett hoped the heat on his face was sun and not embarrassment.
“You wanted to get next to her.”
“Fuck yes, I did.” Blushing. Definitely. “With a nickname like Randy Mirandy and a hot bod like hers, who wouldn’t?”
“Indeed.” Tessa stepped into the infinity pool and settled where she could stare out over the desert.
Brett clambered into the water next to her. This place was his refuge. After he’d come here with Suzi, it had also been his place to regret. He’d spent hours soaking in this pool, wondering what kind of moron he’d been to let Suzi get away and if there had been anything he could have done to stop it. “What about you? You knew Brian since he was a kid. He was married before. Why’s it a crisis now?”
Tessa lifted one leg, put it down, and lifted the other, pointing her toe at the sky before lowering it into the water. “Brian had a huge crush on me when he was a kid. Well, up until he was about twenty-two, but I wasn’t interested.”
“So now you want what some other chick has?”
“No,” Tessa snapped, glaring at him. “It’s just an ego blow that he’s not going to be following me around anymore.”
“Right. Because he was before.”
“Fuck you.”
“In a little bit. I’m comfortable now.”
Tessa slouched in the corner. “I just can’t believe all those guys got married like that. Bear and Maureen. Jason and Cassie. Marc and Alex. Now Brian and Suzi. Another one bites the dust. I’ve known all those guys since we were kids.”
“Ty’s not hitched up yet.”
“He’s probably meeting his one true love as we speak. I’ll be running background checks on her tomorrow. My mother is dating a guy from Cassie’s hometown. Connie’s even dating.”
“Who’s Connie?”
“My sister.”
“Everybody’s married but you.”
“I don’t want to be married,” she growled.
Brett held up his hands. “Hey, don’t look at me. I’m not looking for a wife here, either.” He eased into the water. “I love this place.”
“It’s nice. Very relaxing. What made you bring Suzi here?”
“I knew a shitload of people would be hunting for her, and she needed some time away. Nobody would look for her here.”
“This where she had her miscarriage?”
“Yeah.”
“That must have been rough.”
“I took care of her.” Brett shrugged. He’d stood outside the bathroom door, fretting about what to do. She hadn’t wanted him to call a doctor, but she’d been in so much pain. And then she’d cried all night. Holding her and not being able to do a damn thing to help her had sucked, but it had been better than standing outside a door.
“She’s one of those women who doesn’t have babies easily. Brian’s already got the two, so he doesn’t care,” Tessa said.
“Do we have to talk about Brian all the time?”
“I thought that’s why we were here. Because we both came in second.”
“Then maybe we should call Logan. He came in second, too.”
Tessa shrugged. “Go ahead if you want to, but I’m over my orgy phase. You two have fun. You can sit around and talk about how perfect Suzi is.”
“Suzi’s really nice.” Brett scowled. Suzi was nice. Really friendly and approachable. Every time she’d joined them on the road when his band was touring with her ex’s band, she’d found time to sit and talk, even though Logan had wanted her chained to his wrist whenever he was offstage. Tessa could be as bitchy as she wanted, but she’d better not start talking shit about Suzi.
“I know. She’s a great girl. Always has been. Did you know she tried to patch up Brian and Bonnie’s marriage? I could have told her it was a waste of time.”
Brett couldn’t decide which was worse. Talking about Brian or talking about Suzi. “I’m hungry. I’m going to order some dinner. You want anything?”
Tessa frowned at the desert. “Rum and Coke.