Lori went downstairs to finish fixing the sandwiches while Jack cleaned up a little before coming down for lunch.The bread was already out,slathered with mayo and mustard,so she didn’t bother putting away the slices she’d set aside for Brandt.If she knew him at all,she knew he’d be back soon enough,and he’d want something to eat whenever he returned.Sometimes all he needed was to get away from Jack for a while,blow off a little steam,nothing more.He’d take a walk around the block and be back,ready to finish the craft room or,more likely,start arguing about something else before long.
Sure enough,as she was assembling the last of the sandwiches,she heard the knob turn on the kitchen door.She glanced over her shoulder as Brandt entered,his hair now tamped down into a calmer style,his cheeks flushed from some sort of exercise.A hard run,maybe,or a bike ride.“Hey,you,”she said gently,the way she would address a skittish animal she didn’t want to spook.“Feeling better?”
Brandt ducked his head as if embarrassed she saw his earlier outburst.“Yeah.He just makes me so madsometimes.Why doesn’t he listen to me?”
“Because he’s Jack.”Lori retrieved an empty glass from the cabinet and handed it to Brandt,who filled it with ice and water from the pitcher of filtered water in the fridge.“Here’s a news flash,honey.He doesn’t much listen to anyone.You’ve known him how long and still haven’t figured that out?”
Brandt drank down the water in one long gulp,then set the glass on the counter with a solid thud.“He just always has to be right.”
Lori grinned.“Again,he’s Jack.You said it yourself—this was his idea.Why not let him do it and stay down here?”
Leaning back against the sink,Brandt shrugged.“I don’t know.He asked for my help.”
“You don’t have to do everything he asks,”Lori said.
But she knew thatfell on deaf ears;for all their arguing,Brandt worshipped Jack,always had,and whatever Jack wanted done,Brandt hurried to do.No matter how bad their fights got,Brandt still rushed to do Jack’s bidding.So maybe Jack was right when he said Brandt would always come back in the end.The bond between the two men was forged too deeply.Nothing could possibly sever it.
Brandt watched her portion out potato chips onto each plate.“What am I going to tell him,no?It isn’t like I have anything better to do.”
With a flirtatious twitch of her hips in his direction,Lori gave him a smoldering look over one shoulder.“Really?You can’t think of anythingyou’d rather do?Nothing at all?”
Brandt’s gaze dropped,following her curves—over her round ass,down her long legs,to her bare feet on the kitchen floor.The shorts she wore were a pair of cutoff jeans that hugged her butt and left little to the imagination,not that Brandt hadn’t already seen everything she had to offer.But he still made an appreciative growl in the back of his throat and reached out to snag one of the belt loops on her shorts to reel her in closer to him.“Well now,when you put it that way…”
His strong arms wrapped around her waist and she giggled as he buried his face against her neck,his breath ticklish and hot.His skin was sticky and damp with sweat.“I didn’t mean right this second,”she protested,playfully pushing against his shoulders.“I’m trying to get lunch ready—”
“I got what I want right here.”Brandt’s tongue licked out along her clavicle,tracing the collarbone down to the hollow of her throat.
Lori squirmed against him and giggled.“Brandt,please!I’m making lunch!”