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She didn’t want to be his blanket.

  And most of all, she didn’t want him to be less than the friend she’d believed he was.

  Ted slowed, releasing his hold around her waist so his hands rested at her hips.

  “Gwennie, you okay?”

  Stepping out of reach, she nodded, glancing away because she wasn’t ready to accept it as truth yet, let alone talk to him about it. “I’m fine.”

  His brows pulled together. “You sure? Nothing about Brody?”

  When she stared at him, he shrugged. “The guy seems like he’s been hanging around a lot lately. And you’re such a sweetheart, I’m not sure you’d tell him to kiss off, even if you wanted to.”

  Even if she wanted to? No, telling Brody to kiss off was the last thing on her mind. “No, I like Brody. A lot, actually.”

  Shoving his hands in his pockets, Ted nodded, giving her a tight smile. “Cool. Good. Just, you know, checking. Because we’re friends.”

  After that, Ted rejoined a couple of the guys he’d come with over at the pool table, while Gwen returned to Claudia and the girls. Brody had a fresh drink delivered to her within a minute and a half of her leaving the dance floor, but the man was busy with his business to run, and it was almost an hour before she saw him again.

  “Claudia, it’s going to be beautiful. New Year’s is the most romantic night of the year, and everything about the wedding is going to be magical.” Gwen was busy assuring her friend when Brody emerged from the kitchen and started heading their way.

  “I know, but they’re talking about snow over the next two weeks,” Claudia said, pulling up the weather app on her phone to check the trends, even though the wedding itself was well outside that window.

  Gwen sent Bret a pleading glance, and he reached over and gently extracted the phone from his bride-to-be’s clutches. “Come on, sweets. Don’t make yourself crazy with that.”

  Claudia’s attention was then fully on her fiancé. They could barely look at each other without practically ending up in each other’s laps, and while most of the time that left Gwen with a warm, achy feeling deep in her chest, sometimes it made her desperate for an escape.

  Fortunately, it looked like she had one in the form of a six-foot, lumberjack-strong hottie who’d promised her a kiss. Brody was standing a short way off, those muscle-packed arms crossed over his chest, his eyes fixed on her mouth.

  She wet her lips, not because she was trying to look like a porn star but because she swore they’d started to tingle from the intensity of his stare.

  He nodded toward the back, and her heart started to skip.

  Was this it? Was he going to kiss her right now?

  Pushing out of her seat, she crossed to him. Wrapping his fingers around hers, he led her down the back hall. “Where’re we going?” she asked when they got to his office, and he grabbed her coat from the back of the door where he’d invited her to store it when she came in.

  “You’ll see.”

  * * *

  Fat flakes were drifting from the sky, falling in lazy spirals down around them, covering the city in a soft blanket of white. The first snow had started while they’d been inside, and it had already transformed the city.

  Brody was pulling her down the alleyway to where it spilled out onto the sidewalk.

  “Hurry!”

  She was laughing as she ran behind him, her coat still open. Whatever he was up to, it didn’t matter. Because his excitement and enthusiasm were contagious.

  At the end of the alleyway, they turned out onto the sidewalk in front of Belfast, and Brody pulled her to a stop.

  “Right here,” he said, drawing her in a little closer. Those big hands of his went to the open sides of her coat, pulling them closed so he could button her up.

  Brody was smiling, his ruddy complexion deepened by the cold, but this wasn’t the usual let’s-be-buddies grin he had for everyone.

  “Are you ready for this?” he asked, searching her eyes as he stepped closer. Giving her a chance to back out if she needed one.

  She shivered.

  “It’s not like I’ve never been kissed before.” She’d been kissed plenty of times. Skillfully kissed. Thoroughly kissed. Passionately kissed. And yet there was something about the man in front of her, something about his confidence, his warning, the way he seemed to do everything bigger and bolder and—dare she even admit it—better than everyone else that had nervous butterflies setting off within her belly.

  The corner of his mouth kicked up in that half smile he did so well. “You’ve never been kissed by me.”

  “And it’s really that special? Like I need to brace myself or something?” she asked with a laugh, but a part of her was wondering if maybe she should.

  Brody leaned closer, his breath washing over her ear. “Definitely brace yourself.”

  She wanted to laugh, but then those thick fingers were gently tucking the hair back from her face, smoothing the strands behind her ear. His thumb grazed her cheek, and her heart stuttered in her chest.

  “You going to be okay with this?” he asked, giving her a last out.

  She nodded, suddenly more nervous than she could account for. He was closing the distance between them, watching her until his nose brushed against hers and his breath warmed the scant space between them. And then that space was gone. His lips met hers in a slow press that was soft and firm at the same time. She didn’t know what she was expecting, except it wasn’t this rush of tingly sensation spilling through her at first contact.

  This wasn’t a real kiss. But that little gasp of breath between them warned that something inside her was treating it as if it was. Or at the very least, like she hadn’t taken Brody’s warning seriously enough. Because that bit of contact, brief as it was, made her quake.

  She blinked, finding the dark green of Brody’s eyes inches from her own, a furrow digging between them.

  Was it over?

  He cupped her face, his big palms warm against her cheeks, gentle as he tipped her head back.

  No, not over…

  And this time when his mouth met hers, she was ready for that well of heat pouring from his big body into hers, the dizzying rush from a contact that shouldn’t have been so different from what she’d experienced before but somehow was. What she wasn’t ready for was the way this second kiss completely blew away the first one. How the brush and tease of Brody’s full lips against her own was like a sensual vibration rolling through her entire body, shaking her to her foundation.

  “Gwennie, that you?”

  Her eyes blinked open, and she found Brody a bare half inch away from her, his eyes locked with hers, that half smile pulling a little harder at the places inside her. “Told you.”

  “What?” she whispered, dazed from that kiss.

  Voice low, Brody answered, “He’s starting to think he might have something to lose.”

  His head jerked the barest amount to the side, and following the direction, Gwen turned and saw Ted walking up the sidewalk toward them. His overcoat was buttoned up, his scarf secure around his neck. He gave her a short nod.

  “Was wondering where you ran off to,” he said, adjusting his sleeves over his gloves. “I’m heading home, so if you’re ready, I can walk you back.”

  She looked to Brody, whose eyes were filled with warmth, amusement, and something more. Something that made her belly do a little flip because wow, that was nice. He was nice. And big. And strong. And with those snowflakes dusting his russet hair and the broad shoulders of his peacoat, he looked—

  “Unless you were staying?” Ted asked, bringing her attention back to him. Back to the way he was looking at her, then Brody, a not-so-small furrow between his brows.

  Looking back at Brody, she whispered, “Am I leaving?”

  He reached out and smoothed another bit of flyaway hair back from her face before brushi
ng her chin with his thumb. It was a possessive, calculated move. Like running her out to the sidewalk through the back and making sure Ted saw them kiss when he rounded the corner.

  “I’m still telling myself to take it slow,” he narrated, putting the fictional inner dialogue of his actions into the quiet space between them. “And I’m worried if I get you back to your door, I won’t be able to leave you there. So even though I don’t want you to go, and especially not with him, I’m going to say I think you should.”

  Gwen laughed, pressing her forehead into the center of his chest. “Oh, to have this kind of insight in a real relationship.”

  She wanted to laugh at herself for getting caught up in the moment for even a second, but then she’d always been a sucker for the snow. For the romance. And Brody had just delivered something straight out of one of those gooey movies she couldn’t get enough of.

  “Gwen?” Ted asked again, now only a few feet away.

  “Thanks, Ted. I’ll walk with you,” she said, stuffing her hands into her pockets. Grin spreading wide, she waved good night to Brody and fell into step with Ted, who cut her a sideways look.

  “You into that guy?”

  Chapter 6

  They talked for hours the next week—late into the nights and on and off throughout the days. Gwen had been to Belfast on Tuesday, but Brody had been out with vendors that night, and with schedules tight, they hadn’t seen each other since their kiss. Maybe it was better that way, because that kiss was sticking with her. Popping into her head at inopportune times and leaving her staring into space with her fingertips pressed to her lips. Not something she needed Brody to see when the guy was just helping her out.

  And not that she’d suddenly fallen for him or anything… She hadn’t.

  Not really.

  So the break hadn’t been the worst thing. At least not for the first few days, but now Gwen was ready to see her friend again. She was ready for those big, strong arms to pull her to his side and to see the smile on his face when he laughed, because hearing it through the phone simply wasn’t as good.

  She missed her friend.

  Unfortunately, before she got to see her friend and get her hugs and smiles and all the other good stuff, she had to get through this pre-wedding madness.

  The club was fine. Spin Out was kind of a meat market, with its high-octane music blasting through speakers, smoke machines, strobe lights, and chrome. And while it was a fun place to hit once in a very rare while, Gwen preferred Belfast’s warmer, more welcoming vibe. The honeyed tones, glittering strung white lights, and pressed copperplate ceilings. The pub seating, Back Room, darts, and pool that always offered her and her friends a variety of entertainment as they hung out. But Bret and Claudia had met at Spin Out, so it was sentimental for them, hence the bachelor and bachelorette parties closing out the night together there.

  But until the guys showed up, it was the usual shenanigans.

  Glancing over her shoulder, she cringed at the sight of Claudia wearing a candy-covered T-shirt and offering some overeager stranger the opportunity to bite one off her ass for a dollar. The guy was making a big show of getting on his knees and wrapping his hands around her hips to steady himself or some such nonsense while he took his time pulling the candy free. Claudia loved it, along with most of the girls there, but out of every part of the wedding, including sorting the seating chart for divorced families, the bachelorette party was Gwen’s least favorite.

  Pulling out her phone, she texted Brody.

  Gwen: How’s the gentlemen’s club? Are you going to need a Lysol spray-down after you leave?

  She’d figured she wouldn’t hear back from him right away, considering he was probably in a place as loud and distracting as this one. Who was she kidding? The distractions Brody was facing were probably of the double-D variety and, she was guessing, with little to no coverage.

  More than that, she imagined those distractions would be in his face. Not that it was any of her business or that she had the smallest right, but the idea of women from the club wanting to touch him—as women everywhere else seemed to—was putting her on edge.

  The phone vibrated in her hand, and she grinned.

  Brody: Counting down the minutes until we get out of here. No Lysol required. I know better than to sit down in one of these places, and the girls know better than to waste their time with me.

  Gwen: Not into the dancers?

  Brody: Call me old-fashioned, but if a woman is going to “dance” for me, I sure as hell don’t want fifty other guys getting hard watching her do it. Private type.

  Gwen: Says the guy who practically dragged me down the alley to make sure we got caught kissing.

  Brody: There’s a difference. You’re not mine.

  Right. Of course not. It was stupid that she’d phrased it that way. She should have made sure he knew she knew that, because now… What if he thought she didn’t know?

  Brody: If you were, things would have been different… And no way would I have let some other man walk you home after.

  A smile that didn’t quite make sense curved her lips. She wasn’t his, and that’s not how he’d felt, but still, there was something about the idea of Brody being the private, possessive type that appealed to her on a level she couldn’t quite account for. She was about to respond when Tina caught her with an exaggerated hip bump.

  The petite brunette had been throwing shots back like water since about an hour before they’d gone out, but somehow, she barely looked affected. Dancing in place, she asked, “What are you doing all the way over here, all by your lonesome?”

  Gwen fanned her face with her hand. “Just taking a breather.”

  “Really? Because we were kind of thinking it looked like you were on your phone.” She giggled, cupping her hand around her mouth, and then whisper-yelled, “And we want to know who you were texting with.”

  Another look back to where a handful of girls from the party were congregated, and Gwen saw all of them watching her with grins as wide as Tina’s. Busted. Holding up the phone, she wiggled it in the air and mouthed over the heavy beat of the music, “Brody.”

  A round of cheers erupted from the girls, and then they were bouncing over toward her, the questions coming rapid-fire.

  “Oh my God, that is so freaking cute.”

  “You guys are adorable.”

  “You’re so lucky, because he is, like, inferno hot.”

  “How did you guys hook up?”

  “Oh my God, yes! Tell, tell, tell!”

  Gwen took a step back, laughing as her hands came up in front of her. “Whoa, take it easy. This is Claudia’s night. She’s the one we want to hear from, right?”

  But then Claudia was right there with them, half the candy missing from her shirt as she shook her head like Gwen was out of her mind. “Not a chance. Come on, spill it, Gwen. Details!”

  This was the conversation Brody had been talking about when he’d asked her for her list. Was there anything the guy couldn’t foresee?

  “Here’s the thing, girls. I’m not sure what’s going on with Brody. I mean, there’s something, but it’s still really new.”

  “Yeah, yeah, we get it. Not at the planning-the-wedding stage. Disclaimer accepted,” Tina offered, going to her toes as she tried to flag a passing waitress.

  Claudia was rolling her hand in the signal for more information. “Come on already. The boys are going to be here pretty soon, and I’ve got more dollars to earn before they do. So spill. What got you thinking Brody?”

  Giving in, Gwen grinned. “First, he’s just an incredible guy,” she answered honestly, her grin stretching to stupid proportions, because it was absolutely true and she loved saying it out loud. “He’s got a heart even bigger than all those huge muscles, and seriously, the way he makes me laugh…” She closed her eyes, getting lost in all the outrageous things he’d done a
nd said solely to get a rise out of her. “Honestly, he kind of snuck up on me. We were friends, and then all of the sudden, I found myself thinking about him when we weren’t together.” When she was at work and the kids said something adorable, while she was waiting at her L stop. Before she fell asleep at night. Every time she thought about the snow.

  “And then I started wondering what he was up to. Looking forward to the next time I’d run into him. Hoping it would be soon.”

  Claudia was shaking her head. “I love that you feel like Brody snuck up on you.”

  Gwen bit her lip. “I know…pretty funny, considering the man’s not exactly hard to miss.” It was more than his build or his looks. There was just something about him that drew the attention of nearly everyone in a room.

  Tina leaned in, clutching her hands together. “Okay, so it started all stealthy. But when did you notice things had changed? That maybe you weren’t exactly looking at him like a friend?”

  The answer was on Gwen’s tongue before she’d thought about it. “He laughed. That’s what it was. We were talking on the phone over Thanksgiving, and I was lying back in my bed. My eyes were closed. And suddenly, he was laughing about something we were talking about, and that sound…” She pulled in a deep breath and shook her head, remembering the impact of that laugh the first time she really heard it. The first time she’d been listening enough to recognize how amazing it was. “It was this low, rumbling, rich sound in my ear, and I felt it all the way through me.” She peered up from one girl to the next. “You know what I mean?”

  Claudia was nodding enthusiastically, a starry look in her eyes. “I do.”

  If she’d been lying about any of what she’d just said, she might have been able to deny it a little longer. But she hadn’t been. So fine. She’d developed a small but legitimate crush on the man who was helping her out. Big deal. Brody didn’t have to know, and even if he found out, she was guessing he was used to anyone who spent more than five minutes with him developing at least a little crush.

  Besides, it wasn’t like she thought anything would come of it.