Page 11 of Reacher's Ride or Die

“No, how did you know?” he asked.

“Because, as the waiter told us, this neighborhood is awful. No Uber driver will come out here after dark, it’s just not safe,” she said.

“Then, why did you let me believe that I’d be able to catch an Uber home from your place?” he asked.

She shrugged, “Maybe I didn’t want you to leave,” she said. “It really isn’t safe for you to walk back to the restaurant, wait to sober up, and then, ride your bike home. So, how about you just stay here? My sofa is pretty comfy,” she lied. She had purchased her sofa online, and she knew firsthand that sleeping on it wasn’t a good idea. It was cute though and curling up to watch a movie on it wasn’t bad.

“Why wouldn’t you want me to leave?” he asked. He put his water on the table next to her front door and took a step closer to her. He was so close that she was sure he’d be able to hear her heart beating. She had no good answer to his question. Maybe she could blame her overly active hormones, or the alcohol, but the real reason was simple.

She shrugged, “Because I had a really nice time tonight on our date,” she whispered. She chanced a look up at him, and damn it if her traitorous body didn’t lean into him. Reacher seemed to take that as his cue and leaned down to gently brush his lips over hers. When he deepened the kiss, she knew that she was a goner. The man set her soul on fire with every flick of his skilled tongue, and she wondered where else he could put that tongue. Hell, she was willing to burst into flames to find out.

“Brandi,” he whispered, breaking their kiss. “I think that we should slow down.”

It took a second for her brain to catch up with what he was saying. “What do you mean?” she asked. “Did I do something wrong?”

“Not at all,” he breathed, “I just don’t want to fuck this up and if we end up in bed together, drunk, I’m afraid you’ll regret it in the morning.” She wanted to insist that she wouldn’t regret them jumping into bed together—drunk or not, but he was right.

“For someone who claims to be drunk, you sure do a lot of thinking,” she teased.

He chuckled, “Yeah, well, that’s just who I am. I overthink everything—except when it comes to you apparently, and I think that we need to pump the brakes until we’re both sober enough to agree to what we want from each other.”

She reached out and ran her hands down his T-shirt-clad chest and he moaned. “I know what I want from you, Reacher,” she breathed. He gently grabbed her hands into his own, stopping her progress down to his jeans.

“Just humor me here, honey,” he said. “Let’s see how you feel about me tomorrow,” he insisted.

She pulled her hands free from his with a little more heat than she planned. “I can tell you that I’m going to feel the same way about you tomorrow, James Reacher.” She turned to go, looking back over her shoulder to make sure that he was watching. “The question is—will you still feel the same way about me?” She didn’t bother to turn around or let him answer her question. Brandi headed down the hallway to her bedroom, grabbed an extra blanket and pillow for him, and tossed it down the hallway to Reacher.

“Goodnight,” she shouted, slamming her bedroom door. If she wasn’t mistaken, she could hear him laughing from down the hallway, and Brandi couldn’t help her smile. He was going to be a tough nut to crack, but she planned on giving it her all.

Brandi tossed and turned for what felt like hours. It was almost as though she could feel the alcohol humming through her body. Or maybe it was her hormones going crazy over the man who had kissed her senseless just hours before—the man who was currently sleeping on her sofa.

She felt like an idiot for asking him to stay, and for telling him that she didn’t want him to leave. He was the one who had initiated that kiss, so why did he reject her in the end? The whole speech that Reacher gave her about her not wanting him in the morning was bullshit. She might have been drunk, but she still knew exactly what she wanted from James Reacher.

Sleep finally found her in the early morning hours and when she woke up to the sunshine hitting her in the face, she cursed.Shutting her blinds was the very last thing on her mind the night before and now, she was paying the price.

“Fuck,” she swore as she tried to get out of bed to close the curtains. It felt as though something was holding her down, and she looked back to find Reacher’s arm wrapped around her body. She didn’t remember him coming into her room, but then again, there was a lot about the night before that was fuzzy.

“What the hell are you doing in my bed?” she asked. Brandi tried to lift his arm off her body, and he tightened his hold.

“Trying to sleep,” he grumbled. “You should do the same.” He pulled her back against his body and she wasn’t sure if she wanted to protest or snuggle into him.

“I can’t sleep with the sun shining on my face,” she insisted. “Plus, I need to get to Gloria’s.”

He chuckled and she wondered what she had said that was so funny. “It’s Saturday, honey,” he said. “You have weekends off, remember?” he asked. She did remember but right now, she was looking for any excuse that would allow her to extricate herself from his hot body and be able to run to the bathroom to figure out what was going on.

“I still should call her to check to make sure that she’s all right. She’s still my patient on the weekends too, Reacher,” she spat.

“Do you usually wake up angry, or are you like this because I’m in your bed?” he asked.

“I am not angry,” she insisted. He chuckled again, and that was starting to grate on her last nerve. “Why do you keep laughing at me?” she asked.

“Because you keep lying to me, Brandi,” he said.

“I am not,” she lied, causing him to laugh again. Her growl of frustration only had him laughing harder and when she poked her elbow into his rib cage, he grumbled something about her being crazy too.

“Well, if I’m so angry and crazy, then let me go,” she said.

“You are free to go any time you’d like,” he assured. “But you did cuddle into my body, and honey, you slept there all night.” Damn it, she knew that he was right. There was something about him that drew her to him, and his sexy, tattooed body was going to be her downfall.

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