Page 12 of Reacher's Ride or Die

“Then remove your arm from around my body,” she spat. He did as she asked, and Brandi instantly regretted her demand. She stood and pulled down her T-shirt, trying to hide the fact that she was only wearing panties underneath. With the way that Reacher’s eyes flared as they followed her hands, he knew exactly what she had on under her T-shirt. After he had finished looking her over, she realized that he wasn’t wearing a shirt, and wondered just what he had on under her covers.

“Are you naked under there?” she asked.

His grin turned evil as he waggled his eyebrows at her. Reacher flipped the quilt off his big body and Brandi squealed and covered her eyes. “Aww, it’s not that bad, honey,” he teased. She peeked through her fingers to find that he was wearing boxer briefs that did nothing to hide his morning wood. She couldn’t seem to take her eyes off his erection, and he covered himself back up. “Jesus, honey,” he said. “You just told me that you wanted to let me go, but the way that you’re eyeing my cock, that was a lie too, wasn’t it?” She wasn’t about to admit to him that it was a lie. She’d just keep that to herself.

“I thought that you said that us sleeping in the same bed last night wasn’t a good idea. You said that you might not want me in the morning,” she reminded.

“No, I did not say that, Brandi. I said that you might not want me come morning and that we should wait until we’re both sober to decide how we feel about each other. I can tell you that I’m stone-cold sober right now, and I still feel the same way as I did last night.” He patted her side of the bed, and she couldn’t helpbut laugh at his antics. Although, she shouldn’t find any of this funny.

“Have you changed your mind, Brandi?” he asked. She wanted to lie again and tell him that she had, but that wouldn’t get her what she wanted—and right now, her body was screaming at her to tell him the truth.

“I haven’t,” she said, defiantly holding up her chin as if daring him to call her a liar again.

“Then why are you still over there?” he asked. He rolled to his side and propped himself up on his elbow as though waiting her out. She had no answer to give him, really. It felt super awkward to be talking about all this now that she was sober. A part of Brandi wanted to run and hide, and she had the perfect out.

“I just need time to think,” she insisted. “I have a horrible headache,” she lied, “and I think a nice hot shower will help. After that, I can run you back to your bike before I head over to Gloria’s to check in on her. She might need me to take her grocery shopping.”

He smiled up at her and she knew that he was ready to call her out again. “I took her grocery shopping three days ago,” he said.

“Well, she might need to run some errands,” she insisted. He nodded and got out of her bed, pulling on his jeans from the night before.

“Okay, honey,” he said, “I’ll give you some time to think.” He walked out of her bedroom and down the hall. “You mind if I make some coffee?” he asked.

“Not at all,” she agreed. The sooner she could get into the shower, the more time she’d be able to buy herself before she agreed to everything that Reacher said he wanted from her.

Brandi had spent way too much time in the shower. Her fingers were wrinkled, and she felt the hot water turning lukewarm. If she didn’t finish up, she knew that she’d possibly blow her chance with Reacher. Did she want that? Did she want a chance with the sexy biker? She knew that she did but seemed to be questioning everything this morning.

She didn’t really lie about needing some time, and her head did hurt, although the shower seemed to help with that. She was sure that she was a bit hungover, but that wasn’t anything a few Advil wouldn’t cure. The question remained—why was she being such a chicken this morning when all she wanted last night was for Reacher to push her up against the wall and make her his?

She shut off the water and pulled a towel from the hook to wrap around her body. When she opened the shower curtain, she stepped right out into a brick wall of hot biker and nearly fell on her ass. “Wow, honey,” he said, wrapping his arms around her to steady her. “You okay?” he asked.

“Yeah, I wasn’t really expecting to find you in here,” she said. “Why are you in my bathroom, Reacher?” she asked.

“I wanted to let you know that I made you something to eat, and some coffee. I hope that you don’t mind that I raided your refrigerator.” She didn’t mind at all. Having someone to cook for her was quite a luxury.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

“No problem,” he said, “I also answered your cell phone when Gloria called, and she said that you should take the day off.”

“What the fuck did you just say?” she spat. Her long hair was dripping down her back and she shivered. It was cold and she needed to dry off and put on some clothes.

“I answered your cell phone,” he started. She held up her hand, effectively stopping him from continuing.

“Yeah, I got that much,” she said. “Why would you answer my phone? You know what—don’t answer that either. Now, Gloria will think that we spent the night together.”

He smiled down at her, “Well, we did,” he reminded.

“Jesus, this is awful,” she spat. “Get out of my bathroom so I can get dressed, Reacher,” she insisted. Instead, the big biker took a step towards her, and she backed up against the wall. “Reacher,” she said as though warning him not to push her any further.

He dipped his head, his lips so close to hers that she could feel his warm breath on hers. “Tell me that you don’t want this, Brandi, and I’ll stop. You can run me home and we don’t have to talk about any of this ever again.” The thought of him not touching or kissing her like he did last night, made her sad. She wanted what he was asking from her, but was she ready to give it to him?

“I—I’m not sure what to say, Reacher,” she admitted. “You make me crazy.”

“Crazy in a good way, right?” he asked. She smiled up at him and nodded, knowing that there would be no lying to get out of this now. She was in—for better or worse, and that scared the hell out of her.

Reacher started to touch and kiss her all over, and when he had her completely worked up and panting for more, he turned her around and pushed her up against the wall. “I love the way that your breath hitches when I do this.” He ran his hands down the front of her body from behind.

“I need more,” she panted. He pulled her towel from her body, and she let it fall to the floor.

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