The ’...Into You’ 2-Book Collection: Crash Into You, Melt Into You. Roni Loren
gathered her things and followed everyone out. She’d hoped to pin down Reid earlier in the day to discuss the previous night’s disaster of a make-out session, but they’d all been so busy it’d been impossible to say more than a few passing words. So she was happy to see him veer toward her desk instead of his own as they trailed out of the meeting.
As she slipped into her seat, Reid sank into the chair at the front of her desk, his customary grin noticeably absent. “Hey.”
“Hey, yourself,” she said, dropping her legal pad and pen on her desk. “I was beginning to wonder if you were avoiding me.”
He frowned. “Course not, just been busy. But I do have to confess, I’m here to deliver a bit of good and bad news.”
“Uh-oh, why don’t you start with the good?”
He dug in his pocket, then tossed a key onto her desk. She picked it up and examined it. “What’s this?”
“It’s for a rental car. I have a friend whose dad owns a repair shop. He owes me a favor, so they’re going to try to fix your car for free. If it can be fixed, that is. In the meantime, he was able to hook me up with a loaner for you, so you don’t have to take the bus.”
“Oh, wow, you didn’t have to do that,” she said, stunned by his gesture.
“No problem, and hopefully, it will make you less mad at me for the bad news.”
She sighed. “Lay it on me.”
He sagged in the seat and blew out a haggard breath. “Something’s come up, and I’m going to have to move our date to tomorrow night.”
“Is everything all right?”
He nodded, but his frown lines didn’t match his assurance. “Yeah, it’s fine. I’d forgotten I’d promised to go to this thing tonight. I don’t want to back out.”
Brynn kept her expression smooth, though her chest tightened. She’d seen more people bail when they found out about her mother than stick around, and Reid’s change of plans sounded suspiciously like the warning shot before the classic cut-and-run. Maybe fixing her car was her consolation prize. “What kind of thing?”
He shrugged. “Nothing you’d be interested in. Otherwise, I’d bring you along.”
Sure he would. Right. She pasted on a smile. “No problem. Have fun.”
Roslyn stepped behind Reid and laid a hand on his shoulder. “Reid, dear, stop pestering Brynn. She has a lot of notes to type up before the end of the day.”
He glanced over his shoulder at her. “Yes, ma’am. I’ll be done in a second. She’s just clarifying something from the meeting for me.”
The dark-haired woman pursed her lips, but walked off without another word. Reid leaned forward and kept his voice low. “I promise we’ll do something tomorrow night.”
Brynn propped her legal pad next to her computer screen. “All right, sounds good. And really, thanks again for my car. I really appreciate it.”
He paused as if he were going to say something else, but then apparently decided against it because he rose and headed back to his desk. Yep, no doubt, he was going to bail. His whole essence screamed guilt. She clicked her fingers along her keyboard with a little more force than necessary. Well, better now than later. At least her heart hadn’t latched onto him yet.
She glanced over to his desk and tried to ignore the way her gut churned at the thought of him returning to the status of coworker only. Okay, so maybe she was a little attached. Nothing she couldn’t handle. She’d learned long ago that everyone lets you down eventually—it was just a matter of when.
Reid sat in Jace’s living room, nursing his second beer and staring through the TV, not really seeing the baseball game. He shifted forward in the overstuffed chair, bracing his arms on his thighs. He couldn’t get comfortable. Not in the room. Not in the chair. Not in his own fucking skin.
Maybe this was a bad idea.
Something nicked him in the head. “What the—?
He raised his hand in defense as Jace launched another peanut at him. “Calm the hell down, dude. You’re stressing me out.”
Reid set his beer down and wiped his damp palms on his jeans. “I think I’m just going to go.”
“The hell you are,” he said, lowering the volume on the television and angling himself on the couch so he could face him. “Look, she’s going to be here in a few minutes. You asked for my help, so don’t punk out on me. And what guy is going to bail when a beautiful woman is on her way over to fulfill your sexual fantasies?”
He groaned and sank back against the cushions. What had he been thinking? Jace had agreed to hook him up with a girl he knew—a girl who supposedly liked things a little rough in bed and preferred two guys to one—so that Reid could work through his shit.
Last night the whole idea had seemed like the perfect solution to his problem—a pretty girl who didn’t mind some kink, Jace there to keep Reid from crossing any lines, and no strings. But now that he was here, neither his heart nor his dick were onboard.
He needed to go.
The doorbell rang.
Fuck.
Jace grinned. “Right on time.”
Jace hustled to the door, leaving Reid with his warring thoughts and pounding heart. Part of him wanted to sneak out the side door and not look back. But the other part was still holding on to the hope that maybe this would fix it. Fix him.
However, when Jace pulled open the door, and Reid heard
the voice on the other side, his blood seemed to halt in his veins.
Mother. Fucker.
He hopped up from the chair and crossed the room in three strides, stepping up behind Jace. Brynn’s eyes locked with his over Jace’s shoulder, her teeth tugging at her full bottom lip.
“What are you doing here?” Reid bit out, then grimaced when he realized how rude his question sounded.
“Oh, hey,” she said, shifting her gaze between the two of them, looking as unsure of herself as he’d ever seen her. “I was just telling Jace that Roslyn found your wallet on the floor in the office. She, uh, knew where you were and asked if I would drop it by on my way home. She didn’t want you driving home without your license.”
He automatically grabbed for his back pocket—of course, nothing was in there. “Damn, how did I lose that?”
She shrugged, and then stuck out her hand, giving him the wallet.
“Thanks.” His fingers brushed hers as he took it from her, and his dick—which hadn’t twitched all night despite the upcoming threesome—instantly stirred to life.
God, what was it about this girl? Seeing her there, feeling the heat her presence alone fired within him, slapped him with hard reality. He was so screwed. He could fuck his way through sorority row and then hit every whorehouse on the way home afterward, but it wouldn’t matter. Nothing was going to slake the dark desire Brynn inspired.
The realization burned an aching hole in his chest. Maybe he’d never be able to trust himself around her.
She pushed her hair behind her ears. “So, yeah, I guess I’ll get going. Y’all enjoy your boys’ night.”
“You can stay and have a beer if you want,” Jace offered. “The Rangers game is on.”
He whipped his head in Jace’s direction. Had the idiot lost his goddamned mind?
Brynn snuck a tentative peek at Reid. His horror must’ve been obvious on his face because