Page 1 of Off Limits
Chapter One
Brady
Patrons filtered out of the Dog Tired Brewery, still giddy from the New Year’s celebration. So many hugs and kisses. So much affection. Brady Hinckelson didn’t have anyone to hug or kiss this new year. That was okay. Women complicated things. He needed things simple. He liked things easy.
“Happy New Year,” Rex Bancroft said. Rex was the Vice-President of Distribution for Dog Tired Brewery. Brady, Rex, and Taylor Vance, the third partner to Dog Tired, had taken their college hobby of brewing beer and turned it into a multi-million-dollar business. More importantly, Rex and Taylor were Brady’s best friends since college. They gave him a place to call home and a group of people to call family—unlike his blue collar midwestern childhood with his drunken father and his absentee mother.
“Hey, Rex. Happy New Year.” They exchanged a bro hug with the expected pat on the back.
“Taylor’s washing the dirty pints behind the bar. I’ll collect the empties on the tables.” Rex moved toward the front of the brewery with a tray in hand.
“Happy New Year, Brady.” Jane Bancroft’s soft voice tickled Brady’s ear. Her sweet jasmine scent surrounded him and made him lightheaded.
He turned to face her. She stood only a few inches shorter than him and he stood six feet two. Her green eyes twinkled, and a small smile curved her lips, tempting him—like always. Her dirty blonde hair fell in waves down her back, the sides clipped in tortoise shell barrettes, exposing her slender neck and her shimmering dangle earrings. Her sparkly gold sheath dress flowed over her tall, lean body. The spaghetti straps revealed her sculpted shoulders. The dress fell to mid-thigh exposing her molded calves and thighs. Years of yoga had been good to her.
Brady swallowed a groan. He’d known Jane forever or close to it. As Rex Bancroft’s little sister, she was off-limits even though she’d been turning him inside out for years now.
“Happy New Year, Jane.” He leaned in and pressed a chaste kiss to her cheek. “No wild after-party for you?”
She chuckled. “I may be a few years younger than you, but I rise early for yoga classes. My hard partying days are behind—mostly.” She winked.
He smiled.
She owned a yoga studio at twenty-seven. That alone was impressive. But the way sheownedit—focused, driven, all-in—was something else entirely. Most of the women he’d dated at her age were still figuring things out, no judgment there. But there was something undeniably refreshing about her knowing exactly what she wanted—and chasing it with everything she had.
“Can I help clean up?”
“Not necessary. It shouldn’t take long with T, Rex, Sam, and I here.”
“I want to help.” She bent over to pick up some napkins that had fallen to the floor. The fabric of her dress clung to her shapely ass, and his dick snapped to full attention.
Fuck me!He cleared his throat. “Okay. Go help your brother collect the empty glasses.” He pointed to where Rex loaded pint glasses onto a tray.
She pouted. It was a sexy look for her and only caused his pants to tighten, but she obeyed. He watched her sashay over to Rex. The two of them laughed and gabbed while cleaning up. He wandered into the office to finalize a few things for the night.
“Shouldn’t you head home, Brady? It’s late and a holiday.” Jane’s sweet voice interrupted his review of the numbers from the last week of the holidays.
He glanced up. How much time had slipped by? He’d buried himself so deep in the financials he hadn’t even noticed the clean up winding down—hadn’t lifted a finger to help. It wasn’t unusual. When he focused, hereallyfocused. Zoned in until the rest of the world disappeared. It was a habit born of survival—back in a house where drowning in homework had been the only way to keep his father’s temper at bay.
He became a numbers guy, graduated college with a business degree. So, being the Chief Financial Officer of their brewery had been a given. Focusing on the numbers gave his mind a rest from all the mental chaos that tried to take up space. “Is Rex giving you a ride a home?”
He couldn’t stop his gaze from dragging over her—no matter how many times he reminded himself that Rex would skin him alive. She was, hands down, the prettiest woman he’d ever seen—and he’d seen his fair share. She leaned casually against the office doorframe, like she didn’t have a clue what she was doing to him.
“No. I drove. And everyone is gone.”
That startled him. So it was just the two of them? His heart raced. Though he had been alone with Jane many times over the years, there’d always been this underlying sexual tension between them. Sideways glances. Flirtatious smiles. Innuendos. They found each other attractive. No question. Tonight, they’d both had a few drinks and he felt deprived—like he needed to connect with another person.
The holidays had blown through like a whirlwind and even though his friends had included him in all holiday events, he couldn’t help but notice his lack of a biological family to celebrate with. It stung no matter how hard he tried to let it go. His mother left him with his abusive and alcoholic father. And that created feelings that he would never be good enough to love. In the past, this neediness led to meaningless sex, which filled the void temporarily and prevented a slip into depression. Obviously, he couldn’t have sex with Jane.
“No one even swung by to say goodnight.” He shook his head.
“I think you were too deep in the numbers to hear both T and Rex yell it out.”
“You could have headed out with everyone, you know.” He tipped his chin in her direction. “Now you’ll have to wait for me so I can walk you to your car.”
She chewed her bottom lip and watched him through her eyelashes.
That look tied him in knots. He gripped the edge of his desk, his fingers cramping from his tight hold. He wanted to cross the room and back her against the wall before taking that bottom lip between his teeth and nipping it.
