Page 20 of Treat

“Is it so terrible I just wanted to have a quiet beer with a friend where I wouldn’t risk being recognized by fans?”

“You love getting recognized by fans,” Jude shot back. “You wanted to come here to see Brynn.”

Tommy blinked in mock surprise. “Brynn’s here?”

“You’re an ass,” Jude muttered and turned away to key in the door code.

It unlocked with a beep and he shoved it open, annoyed with his friend and with himself for opening his big mouth, and saw Brynn.

She was sitting on one of the barstools at the kitchen counter, a laptop open in front of her and the dog asleep at her feet. Her hair was loose around her shoulders, covered only by the skinny straps of the white sundress she wore. It left a remarkable amount of leg bare, too, and for a moment, all he could see was thigh.

Then she said, “Hi,” and jolted him out of his thigh-induced stupor.

“Hi,” he said and shoved his hands in the pockets of his shorts.

“Hi,” Tommy said from the doorway, and dammit, the son of a bitch was laughing.

“Tommy,” Brynn said, her voice warming with her smile. “What are you doing here?”

“Oh, just hanging out. Kara and her mom and sister are talking about childbirth nightmares at the house, so Bessie here was nice enough to offer refuge.”

“That was sweet of him,” she said, sliding off the stool to hug him while Jude looked on with resentment and tried not to stare at her legs.

Tommy laughed, dark eyes dancing over Brynn’s head when Jude glared at him. “He’s a bowl of sugar, Bessie is. And hello, who’s this?”

Tilly had squeezed herself out from under the stool to sniff at Tommy’s shoes. “That’s Tilly.”

Tommy glanced at Brynn. “She yours?”

Brynn shook her head. “I’m dog-sitting. Her family is in Europe while their house is being renovated.”

“Hi, Tilly,” Tommy crooned, holding out a hand. Tilly gave it an experimental sniff, a nudge, then rolled onto her back with a delighted wiggle.

“Oh, what a good girl,” Tommy enthused, crouching to rub her belly. Tilly’s back foot began to pump. “Yes, that’s the spot, isn’t it? Does it feel good? Does it?”

“She’ll let you do that all day,” Brynn warmed.

“That’s okay,” Tommy crooned. “I could do it all day, couldn’t I? Yes, I could.”

“Give me the beer.” Jude reached out to take it and walked around the counter into the kitchen. “You want a glass?”

“Bottle’s fine,” Tommy said, making kissy noises at Tilly.

“You want one?” Jude asked Brynn.

“Oh. Um, no thanks.” She nudged her glasses up her nose, her eyes guarded behind the lenses, and resumed her seat at the counter.

He pulled two bottles from the six-pack and dug the bottle opener out of the drawer. “Has Chloe called you?” he asked Brynn, popping the bottle tops and trying to ignore the fact thathe was close enough to smell her. She smelled like the shampoo she’d left in his shower—he’d had a good sniff earlier, even though he’d felt like a creep doing it—and an image of her wet and covered in nothing but suds leaped to mind.

“No, not yet.”

“Me neither.” He lifted the beer to his mouth, hoping it would douse the sudden fire in his gut, then grimaced at the taste. “Yuck.”

“Hey, that’s good shit,” Tommy called from the floor.

“Too hoppy,” Jude complained, setting the bottle aside.

“You’re too hoppy,” Tommy countered.

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