Page 3 of Leaving Lando

The Baby Sweepstakes

Brianna Callahan is goingto be the death of me. Red hair, big gray eyes, curves a man could sink his teeth into, and plenty of sass. I wanted to fuck her about half a second after I met her, and time has only made things worse.

As I walk her to my truck, I try and fail to keep my dick from getting hard, just from the scent and feel of her against my side. I open the passenger door, watching her gorgeous round ass while she climbs up. Once she’s inside, I go around to the door on my side, but I have to take a moment and adjust myself before I join her.

When I’ve got the truck going, I crank the heater up. I don’t need it, but Bree does. Just as I start to put the truck in gear, my phone rings.

The readout says it’s Jade, my brother’s fiancee. My first thought is that something’s happened to Rome. “Hello?”

“Hey, Lando, it’s Jade. Have you got a minute?”

She sounds normal, not scared or stressed, and I relax. “Sure. What’s up?”

“I don’t know if Bree’s mentioned it, but next week is her and Quinn’s birthday.”

I keep my eyes from cutting over to my passenger. “Is that right.”

There’s the slightest of pauses before Jade says, “Is she with you right now?”

“You bet.”

“Ahh. Okay, I’ll text you later with details, but just so you know, Rome and I are planning a party for them here at our place. Just wanted to give you a heads up.”

“Got it. See you then.”

We disconnect and I tuck the phone away, just in case Brianna takes a glance at my readout to see who called. Not that she’s the sneaky, dishonest type or anything like that. In fact, she’s one of the most up-front women I’ve ever met.

But her lively brain comes complete with an natural inquisitiveness about pretty much everything, so why tempt her?

About my phone, that is. In other areas, I’d like nothing more than to find out just how far her curiosity extends. Romero and Jade are great together, and I’m happy that my brother has found the woman who’s his everything. But when it comes to my sex life, their engagement is damned inconvenient.

One way or another, Bree’s going to be in my life for decades. No way can I do anything to mess things up between us. If I hurt Bree, it won’t just affect her; it’ll ripple out to her twin sister Quinn, and to Jade, and then Rome, and then back to me.

Not that being around her is difficult. She’s smart, funny, loyal, and hardworking. Apart from my serious need to fuck her brains out, hanging out with Brianna Callahan is one of my favorite pastimes. But like it or not — and I fucking well do not — I have to keep Bree in the friend zone.

My cock, though, refuses to get the message. Most nights I dream about her, the kind of dreams that wake me up with a raging hard-on. Worse, my subconscious has some fucking awesome ideas about how, exactly, I should get down and dirty with Bree.

Despite all my best intentions, I’m keeping track of those ideas … just in case.

She hasn’t said a word since the phone call. Usually, the two of us are yakking away a mile a minute. She’s dying to know who I was talking to, but when I don’t volunteer the information, she holds it in and switches tack. “Any interesting cases?”

“Not right now. Just the usual stuff, busting low-level dealers, trying to sniff out the big ones.”

“No offense, but don’t you think the war on drugs is, well, kind of pointless? I mean, it’s been going on decades without fixing anything.”

“I’m a cop, not a politician. It’s not my job to make laws, just enforce them.”

“I know that. But you’re not on duty right now.”

I turn into the Revved parking lot. I’m in the mood for one of my cousin Vic’s burgers, and the menu’s varied enough that Bree won’t have a problem finding something that suits her. Guiding the truck into a parking slot, I shut it off and turn to her.

“We could stand to have more emphasis on treatment, yeah. On figuring out what causes addictions, not just punishing people who have an illness. But I don’t think legalizing everything is the answer. And the pushers and dealers who prey on addicts? I have no problem throwing their asses in jail.”

I open my door and she does the same on her side, sliding down to the ground by the time I make it around to her. When I get there, she smiles up at me and puts her hands on my chest. “Can I come on one of your drug busts?”

Is she crazy? “Absofuckinglutely not.”

Her smile vanishes. “Why not?”

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