Page 4 of Leaving Lando

“Bree.” I shake my head, impatient, and escort her to the entrance, my hand at the small of her back. It’s another thing I can’t seem to stop myself from doing: touching her in public like she’s mine. Claiming her in front of other men.

“Bree what?” she demands as we reach the hostess station. There’s a new girl there in her Revved smock top. I used to know all the waitresses, but then, one after another, they all got married to various cousins of mine.

The name stitched on this one’s top is Emery. She’s blonde, probably around Bree’s age, and looks as fresh and wholesome as they come. Girl Scout, choir member, the whole nine yards.

Not my type at all.

We’re just ahead of the dinner rush; the restaurant’s never empty, but at the moment it’s not packed. Emery seats us right away, in a booth by one of the front windows. Another new girl, Sierra, comes to take our drink orders.

I get a beer, and Bree asks for water. She’s not twenty-one yet; only nineteen, in fact, though according to Jade she’s about to turn twenty. While she studies the menu, I study her, my own menu at the ready in case she glances up.

Her hair spills around creamy skin, sprinkled with freckles. Until today, only my imagination knew how she felt; I hadn’t let myself touch her without her clothing as a barrier. When I saw her shivering, I went a little nuts, and before I knew it I was rubbing her back.

Soft, and silky smooth, that’s what her skin feels like. Heaven against my hands. If her back feels that way, the inside of her thighs must be …

Fuck. I shift on my side of the booth as my cock springs to attention again. Sierra’s arrival with our drinks is a welcome distraction.

I order a burger and fries, and Bree gets the personal pan pizza with double pepperoni. The girl loves to eat; it’s one of my favorite things about her. “Lando,” she says when Sierra’s gone away again.

“Hmm?” I bet she’s going to ask about coming along on a drug bust again. Lifting my drink to my mouth to buy me time, I try to think of an answer that will get her to drop the subject.

“When are we going to fuck?”

I choke on beer and go into a coughing jag. When I’m recovered from that, if not the shock, I set the bottle down with a snap and stare at her. “What?”

She gives me a cut the crap look. “Don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about.”

“Bree. I’m not sleeping with you.”

“I know you’re not,” she says patiently. “My question was when you’re going to remedy that.”

Smartass. I ought to turn her over my knee right here in front of everyone, but there’s no way that would end in anything but sex.

Really hot sex.

Fuck.

Now I can’t stop thinking about her bare ass turning pink under my hand. My cock is so hard it could drill all the way to China. Normally, a woman propositioning me so blatantly would be a massive turnoff, but the normal rules don’t apply when it comes to Brianna Callahan.

I would have been better off with her asking to tag along on the job. Since it’s difficult to think with all my blood rushing south, I fall back on, “We can’t, Bree, and I shouldn’t have to explain all the reasons why.”

Sierra arrives with our food. Bree automatically takes a slice of her pizza and puts it on my plate as I drop a handful of my fries in her pan. We’ve gotten into the habit of sharing our food.

Instead of diving in, she leans forward, intent. “If Jade and Rome hadn’t gotten together, we would have done the dirty months ago. I just don’t see why that should stop us. We’re both adults; we know the score.”

I’m almost amused by this. Yes, Bree is technically an adult, and she’s no goody two shoes, but neither is she a femme fatale. She’s nowhere near as worldly as I am, and my added years aren’t the only reason.

She sticks a fry in her mouth, biting it in half slowly. I look away and scan the restaurant, seeking anything that will dislodge the sudden picture of her lips wrapped around my cock.

I find it in the big corner booth, where four of my cousins and their wives — the ones who used to work here — are all eating together. As soon as Rico sees me looking, he jerks his head in invitation.

My family is great. Nosy as hell, but there for you when you need them. It only takes me a moment to weigh a potential inquisition about my relationship with Bree against having a conversational buffer. Even Brianna Callahan, as forthright as she is, wouldn’t discuss our potential sex life in front of people she doesn’t know.

Probably.

“Come on,” I say to her, . “Let’s go sit with my cousins.” Standing, I grab some bills from my wallet and drop them on the table to cover our check, then pick up my plate and beer.

As we approach, Rico gets up to let us in, and everyone scoots closer together. I wait for Brianna to slide into the booth before I follow. She shoots me a look that tells me she knows exactly what I’m up to, but doesn’t say anything. Relieved that my gamble has paid off, I sit down next to her and make the introductions.

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