On Dublin Street

~10~


I didn’t go to Braden’s picnic.


Well, I did, but I didn’t.


Flabbergasted by his transformation back into shmexy ‘Cab Braden’ who couldn’t take his eyes off of me, I didn’t know what to make of it in all my confusion. And yes, in all my scaredy-pantishness! So I took the coward’s way out and roped Rhian into helping me–while also lying to her about why–out of the situation without making it seem like I wanted to get out of the situation…


Saturday rolled by and it was a surprisingly hot day, and The Meadows – a large park on the other side of the city by the university – was crowded with sunbathers and people playing sports. Braden had managed to grab a spot in the shade. Adam, Jenny, Ed and Braden were already there as Ellie and I approached, the sounds of laughter, kids shouting, and dogs barking creating a happy soundtrack to the scene. It was a perfect day, and the atmosphere in The Meadows was electric with contentedness. For a minute I wished I was staying.


“Uh…” I gazed down at the two hampers Braden had brought. They were so elaborate I wouldn’t have been surprised if he’d stolen them out of a Fortnum & Mason’s display. “You call this a picnic?”


Braden had stood up when we approached, hugging Ellie into his side and gesturing proudly to the hampers sitting on a beautiful chenille blanket. Now he looked confused. “Yes.” he frowned at me. “What would you call it?”


“A five star restaurant on grass.”


The corner of his lip curled up in wry amusement. “I had the staff at the restaurant make them up.”


“And what restaurant would that be again? The five star one?”


“I think she’s making fun of you and all your money, Braden.” Ellie grinned at him. “It is a bit much.”


He made a noise of disgruntlement. “It’s a bloody picnic. Sit. Eat. Shut up.”


She giggled and flopped down beside Adam who wrapped an arm around her shoulder and squeezed her into his side. “Nice to see you, Els.”


“Yeah, you too.” She smiled at him but pulled away a little, causing me to raise an eyebrow. What was up with that?


“Well?”


I looked up at Braden to find him holding a hand out to me, unmasked heat in his eyes.


And Rhian saved me with perfect timing.


My cell rang and I made an apologetic face as I pulled it out of my pocket. “Rhian, hey.” I turned and took a few steps away, not chancing that they might hear her on the other end of the line.


“I have an emergency,” she replied in a monotone. “Abort the picnic.”


“Oh, no, you’re kidding.” I played along, sounding all mothering and soothing. “Are you okay?”


“Bloody hell, Joss, I thought you could lie?” Rhian grumbled. “You’re speaking like an alien who’s heard of the human concept of ‘being concerned’ but doesn’t know how to execute it.”


I grit my teeth, ignoring her. “Sure, I can talk. Just a sec.” I took a moment, trying to exude ‘human concern’ as I turned back to Braden and the gang. I had a feeling I was scowling more than frowning, but whatever. “I’m sorry, guys, but I have to take a rain check.”


Ellie sat up, worried. “Is everything okay? Do you need me to come?”


“No, I’m okay. Rhian just really needs someone to talk to. It can’t wait. Sorry.” I chanced a glance at Braden and found he wasn’t just watching me. He was studying me. Suspiciously. My eyes dropped quickly. “See you later.” I walked away to their calls of goodbye and stuck the phone back up to my ear. “I was being concerned,” I grouched at Rhian.


“Anyone who knows you, knows that’s not how you sound when you’re concerned.”


“Well, luckily, they don’t know me.” Or not… Braden was sure looking at me funny.


“So you really don’t like this Ed guy?”


I winced, remembering my lie. In an effort not to get into the whole Braden thing with Rhian, I’d lied and said that Ellie’s friend Jenna’s fiancé Ed was a bigot and I didn’t want to be around him, but I also didn’t want to hurt Ellie’s feelings by saying no to the picnic. I felt bad about maligning Ed, but I didn’t think it mattered too much since I wasn’t expecting him and Rhian to ever meet.


“Nope, I don’t.”


“You know I’m not buying it, right?”


I almost stumbled. “Buying what?”


“You talk about Ellie all the time, Joss. I think I can safely say I understand enough about the woman to know she wouldn’t be friends with a f*ckin’ bigot. Like I said, you can’t lie for shit.”


Huh! That was so not true! “I can lie. I am a damn good liar!”


“Oh that’s right, yell that out while you’re still walking away from them.”


Shit. I glanced around to make sure I’d put enough distance between us. I had. My heart slowed. “You’re a pain in the ass,” I grumbled, forgetting she’d just done me a favor.


She made a pfftt noise. “You’re the one who lied to me. Seriously, what’s going on?”


I sighed. “Can this be one of those things we don’t talk about?”


“No.”


“Please, Rhian.”


“Have you spoken to your therapist about it?”


I frowned, wondering why she’d ask that. “No…”


“Fine.” She sighed heavily. “I won’t ask about it, as long as you promise to talk to your therapist about it. And you may lie, but I know you would never break a promise.”


“Rhian-”


“Promise.”


I shook my head. “It’s not therapy-worthy.”


“If it was worth lying to me about, then it’s therapy-worthy. Sort your shit out, Joss, and promise.”


“Fine,” I agreed, but only because I knew it was Rhian’s grumpy way of being a good friend.


***


Dr. Pritchard had flowers on her desk. I smiled. She had taken note.


“You lied so you wouldn’t have to spend time with Braden?”


I squirmed, wishing Rhian hadn’t held me to my promise. “Yup.”


“Before, when I asked you if you were attracted to Braden you said ‘I was’. Past tense. Were you telling the truth?”


No. “Maybe not.”


“So you are attracted to him?”


Oh what the hell… “I’ve never been attracted to anyone as much as I’m attracted to him.”


The good doctor gave me a wry smile. “Okay. But you’re avoiding him even though he’s made it perfectly clear that he’s interested in you. Are you afraid of him, Joss?”


Honestly? “Yes.”


“You have no intention of having any kind of relationship with him?”


“Were you not here when I told you about my past with guys?”


“That’s not the same thing. For a start, you know Braden.”


“I don’t want anything to do with him, alright.”


“You’ve just told me you’re extremely attracted to this man. When you talk about him, it’s clear to me you like him, so, no. I wouldn’t say you’re alright—you don’t want to want to have anything to do with him.”


“Same thing.”


“No it’s not. Why are you afraid of him, Joss?”


“I don’t know,” I retorted, pissed off with the topic and with Rhian for making me discuss it. “I just know that I don’t want to start anything with him.”


“Why not?”


Jesus C, sometimes it was like talking to a brick wall with this woman. “It would mess things up. With Ellie, with me, with him. No.”


She tilted her head to the side, her expression blank. She was good at this. “Joss, maybe it’s time to stop thinking fifty steps in front of you and just let things play out naturally.”


“The last time I did that I woke up in bed with two strange guys and no panties.”


“I told you that’s not the same thing. You’re not the same person, and Braden is not some stranger. I’m not telling you or asking you to do anything you don’t want to do, concerning Braden or otherwise. But I am suggesting you stop predicting the future and take each day as it comes. Not forever, not even for a few months. Try it for a few days, a few weeks even. I know it might be scary, but just… try.”


***


As I had been for the last few weeks I was working Saturday’s now at Club 39. Ellie had gotten home earlier around dinner time, stuffed full from the picnic, and quite willing to just sit with me while I shoveled down some food before I needed to get ready for my shift.


“So, is everything okay with Rhian?” she asked, a little furrow forming between her eyebrows.


Guilt lodged in my throat. I hadn’t felt too awful lying to Braden since his three-sixty back into predatory hottie with wicked eyes and a f*ck-me smile was the sole reason I’d had to resort to lying in the first place. But lying to Ellie was a totally different ballgame and it made more than a little uneasy.


I mumbled around a mouthful of pasta, nodding and avoiding her eyes, hoping she’d get that I didn’t want to talk about it.


At her answering silence I glanced up and found her watching me curiously. I swallowed. “What?”


Ellie shrugged. “Just… when Braden was walking me home he said he thought maybe… that maybe you were lying about the call from Rhian so you could avoid the picnic.”


Jesus C, he had such an ego on him!


Never mind that he was right.


I guffawed. “What? Because of him?”


She shrugged again. “Was he right?”


More avoiding her eyes. “Nope.”


“Well, just so you know, I get the impression he’s planning something.”


I raised an eyebrow. “Like what?”


She sighed leaning back in her chair. “With Braden you never know. I’ve just learned to recognize the signs. I know my brother better than he thinks I know him. You’re under his skin, Joss. I’m actually impressed he’s been so patient. Although, that probably means he’s planning on doing whatever it takes to get you.”


I was surprised, and couldn’t pretend I wasn’t. I sat back, momentarily abandoning my food. “Under his skin? Whatever it takes?”


“As much as my brother’s sex life makes me squeamish, I sometimes can’t avoid hearing about it, and what I hear is that Braden always gets what he wants.”


I snorted. “Please, Ellie, you think I’m what he wants? I’m not exactly his type. Jocelyn Butler doesn’t come in Supermodel.”


Ellie looked adorably confused. “You’re kidding right?”


“Um… about what?”


“You.” She pointed at me indignantly. “You’re seriously hot, Joss. Okay, you don’t look like the pretty coat hangers Braden usually goes for, but you have those amazing eyes, that throaty sex-phone voice, a cup-size I’d die for, and this broody, standoffishness that’s completely at odds with the seriously cool and funny person you are. Believe me, I’ve heard the guys talking. You’re different, and guys being guys, they can’t help seeing that as a challenge. You’re hot.”


I was stunned that’s what I was.


Was that really how these people saw me? Embarrassed, I picked up my fork, mumbling, ‘whatever’.


I could feel my roommate’s smile without even looking up. “You need a mirror.”


I shrugged.


Then Ellie grew quiet and I found myself raising my gaze to make sure she was alright. She wasn’t smiling now. “No matter how much he denies it, Braden’s interested in you, Joss. He asks me about you a lot, which he’s never done before with anyone else and, believe me I’ve lost at least three friends he serial-dated out of my life. I don’t tell him much-


You told him about my family.


-because you don’t say much, so of course he’s even more intrigued. And like I said, Braden usually gets what he wants.”


“Please,” I huffed, “Give me a little more credit. I don’t just fall into a hot guy’s bed because he’s used to getting what he wants. Guess what? I’m used to getting what I want too. And what I want is not to fall into his bed.”


But it was like Ellie hadn’t even heard me. “If you don’t manage to resist, just be careful with him, okay. He’s been treated badly before, and I don’t want to see that happen again.”


Wide-eyed, I heard my fork clatter to my plate after my fingers dropped it of their own accord. They were in shock, as was the rest of me. “Wait. Are you worried about me hurting him?”


She smiled apologetically. “You’re a good person, which makes the fact that you don’t trust anyone, really hard for the people who care about you. And Braden, when he cares about someone, has to know everything so he can cover all the bases and protect them. He has to be a guy people can trust. It’s just who he is. If he started something with you, he’d only be hurt when you refuse to let him in.”


I only sort of took that in. Mostly, I just kept hearing ‘you’re a good person, which makes the fact that you don’t trust anyone, really hard for the people who care about you.’


“Am I hurting you, Ellie?” I didn’t want to admit how scared I was for her answer.


She exhaled heavily, seeming to weigh her words. “At first I was. But knowing that you don’t mean to hurt me helps. Do I wish you’d trust me more? Yes. Am I going to push it? No.” She stood up. “Just know that if you ever do decide to trust me, I’m here. And you can tell me anything.”


I felt my throat close up and I could only nod. In an effort to expel the moment, Ellie grinned down at me. “I’m going out tonight with Braden and Adam. I was kind of cool with Adam today. It pissed him off.”


Hmm, what are you up to, young lady? “Are you playing games with him?”


She scowled. “Yesterday I discovered he’d warned off Nicholas when he wanted to ask me out. So yes. I am.”


“Whoa, hold up.” I pushed my entire plate back now, totally confused. I’d met Nicholas. He was one of Ellie’s friends who hung out at the apartment sometimes. He was also a tutor in her department. “Adam did what?”


“I made some crack yesterday about not having had a date in months and Nicholas said maybe I would have had a date if Adam would stop threatening prospective guys. I was completely confused so Nicholas explained. Nick was planning on asking me out months ago, and he went to Adam for advice on where to take me out.” Her jaw locked as she thought about it. “Instead of answering, he warned Nicholas off with bodily harm. Told him to stay away from me. No explanation. Just ‘stay away’.”


I laughed in disbelief. “And of course Adam’s built and Nicholas looks like the promotion guy for Twiglets so Nick backed down.”


“Exactly.”


“What the hell is Adam playing at?”


“That’s what I want to know. He’s messed with me, so I’m going to enjoy messing with him.”


I had to admit, I liked this side of Ellie. People thought they could walk all over her, but they were wrong. I grinned up at her. “So the cold shoulder, huh?”


She grinned cheekily back at me, looking very much like a devilish angel. “Full force tonight. I may even flirt with some random to see if that ruffles his feathers. Then I can ask him what the hell he’s playing at. He was the one who didn’t want to be anything more than friends.”


“Well, usually I don’t condone game-playing, but in this case he deserves it. I can’t believe he’s been warning off guys behind your back. I look forward to the next report, Miss Carmichael.”


Ellie laughed and hurried off to get ready for the evening, leaving me to finish dinner so I could jump in the shower before work.


***


Craig was on shift with me tonight along with Alistair, another bartender I’d worked with a few times before. The guys were in a fun mood and the bar was busy—with the two of them trying their hardest to make me laugh, minutes were passing quickly and I was having a great time. Our good mood fed into the atmosphere of the club, and people had begun crowding around the bar to sip their drinks and enjoy each other’s banter as well as mine and the guys’.


“I catch this cocktail,” Craig shouted down the bar to me, “And you finally give in and shag me tonight, Joss.”


The customers tittered and laughed while I grinned back at him, pouring two Jack Daniels and Coke for the girls in front of me. “No way, Tom Cruise.”


Craig had great reflexes. I would definitely lose that one.


“You’re breaking my heart, darlin.”


I waved him off, handing my customers their drinks and taking the money off of them.


“What about me, Joss?” Alistair shot me a come-hither smile, but I knew he was only kidding. Alistair was happily engaged to an Irish girl who studied at Napier University. Still he may be loyal, but he was as big a flirt as Craig.


“Hmm, I’ll think about it,” I teased back, loud enough for Craig to hear.


Craig groaned in pretend agony and pouted at the attractive girl he was serving. “She’s killing me.”


The girl giggled, her eyes bright on him. I rolled my eyes as Craig grabbed her hand and placed it on his chest. “Feel that. That’s my heart breaking.”


“Oh man!” I rolled my eyes, cringing. “Could you be any cheesier?”


“Of course I could.”


Alistair snorted. “Believe it or not, that’s one of his better lines.”


Craig whipped him across the head with a dish rag.


Sniggering, I passed Craig to get some rum, and stood up on tiptoe to press a kiss to his cheek. That gained him a few cheers and one boo from Alistair.


Acting like idiots, the next hour flew by, and the tips jar filled up fast. The place got even busier, so my focus was completely on work and on my colleagues. The fact that I felt his eyes on me then, said a lot…


…Feeling my skin prickle, I jerked my head up and gazed out over the crowd towards the entrance and my eyes skimmed over Adam and Ellie as they followed Braden into the bar; Braden, who was walking beside a tall brunette who had her hand clamped on his arm.


Our eyes caught and he didn’t even acknowledge me. Instead he dipped his head and whispered something in the brunette’s ear that made her giggle.


His kiss wiped out any memory of Craig’s.


Braden’s hand tightened around my neck and he groaned, the vibration of it surging through me, skimming down my body like hands teasing my nipples, whispering across my belly and sliding home between my legs. His kiss grew harder, more demanding—long, drugging kisses that stole my breath. We were panting and pulling at each other’s mouths like we couldn’t get deep enough, my nails scoring into his sweater as I tried to urge him closer.


When I became aware of his erection digging into my stomach I was lost. My belly squeezed and I whimpered against his mouth, my panties drenched with arousal. The need grew hungrier as Braden’s hand slid up my waist, brushing my breast and coming to a stop at the wide strap of the tank top. He broke the kiss, pulling back only an inch to gaze into my eyes. His own were dark, his lashes lowered over them, his lips bruised. I felt two of his fingers slide under my strap and lower it, tugging the left side of my top down so my bra was visible. His gaze never left mine as he repeated the process with my bra strap.


Cool air hit my naked breast and my nipple puckered up invitingly. Braden’s eyes dropped to it and I felt his hand glide up to cup me. He caressed it, his thumb brushing over the nipple and I gasped as it tightened and shot a bolt of lust between my legs. He looked back at me. “You like that, babe?” he murmured, his eyes returning to my mouth. “Do you like my hands on you?”


Well… yeah!


“Or…” his head dipped and his lips brushed softly against mine. “Will any man’s do?”


It took a moment for those words to penetrate and when they did I squashed the hurt and drew back in anger, my arms falling from around him to yank my bra and top back up.


“F*ck you,” I snapped and tried to push by him only to have him press deeper into my legs, his hands grabbing hold of my wrists to stop the fists that were about to fly at him.


“What the hell was that out there?” he fumed at me, but was still definitely turned on, his hard-on digging into me, making my own body go to war with my head.


“None of your business, that’s what it was.”


“Are you f*cking him?”


“None of your business!”


He made a low, irate sound under his breath and tugged on my arms. “Considering I want to f*ck you, it is my business. And considering you definitely want to be f*cked by me, I think it’s in your best interest to answer me.”


“You are an arrogant, egotistical asshat, you know that!” I raged, determined this alpha male douchebag was not going to control me. “I wouldn’t have sex with you if you were the last man on earth!”


It wasn’t the most original comeback. I know that. And it was definitely the wrong thing to say.


With my hands still pinned Braden kissed me again, nipping angrily at my mouth, rubbing his hard cock against me in torment. My body keened and my lips fell open letting him in. I tried to put up a pretense of a struggle but my hormones were far more interested in getting laid than having control over the situation.


“Are you sleeping with him, Jocelyn?” he murmured sexily, his lips trailing lush kisses along my jaw.


“No,” I breathed.


“Do you want to sleep with him?”


“No.”


Vaguely I was aware of the grasp around my wrists disappearing and my hands – with a mind of their own – reached for purchase against Braden’s taut stomach.


“Do you want me to f*ck you?” he growled in my ear.


I shuddered hungrily. Yes!


Instead of telling the truth, I shook my head, trying to maintain some kind of control.


And then his hand was cupping me between the legs, two fingers rubbing hard against the seam of my jeans. Excitement flooded me in a torrent of shivers. “Oh God…” I moaned, trying to press closer.


His lips brushed mine and I reached for something deeper, something wetter, but Braden pulled back. “Do you want me to f*ck you?”


Anger exploded over me and I snapped my eyes open to glare at him. “What the hell do you think?”


I tugged his head down, our lips crashing together as I pulled out of him what I wanted. His arms encircled my waist, pressing our bodies together as our mouths fed hungrily on each other. Impatience raged between us, and Braden’s strong hands slid their way down my back and under my butt, lifting me easily. My body understood what he wanted and my legs automatically wrapped around his waist as he turned around and took two steps to press me against the wall, his erection rubbing against the v of my jeans as his hips thrust into me. Satisfaction and need slammed through me and I gasped against his mouth, silently begging for more.


“Oh f*ck, sorry!” Alistair’s startled voice penetrated the fog and I jerked back from Braden, my chest rising and falling rapidly as I tried to catch my breath.


I gazed at Alistair in horror as reality returned.


What. The. Hell.


Oh f*ckity, f*ckity, f*ck f*ck f*ck! I sucked at self-control! “Shit,” I breathed out.


Alistair’s confused gaze flew between me and Braden before coming back to me. “Break’s over.”


I swallowed past the panicked and sexually aroused lump in my throat. “I’ll be right out.”


As soon as he was gone, I felt the room close in on me. I was still wrapped around Braden. I unwrapped my legs, and Braden lowered me to the ground. As soon as my feet were stable, I pressed a hand to his chest, pushing him back. “I need to get back to work.”


Gentle fingers grasped my chin and forced my gaze up to his. His expression was granite, determined, controlled… and completely at odds with his swollen mouth and mussed up hair. “We need to talk.”


About my complete lack of control and willpower? “I don’t have time right now.”


“Then I’ll come over tomorrow night.”


“Braden-”


His grip on my chin tightened, quieting me. “I’ll come over tomorrow night.”


This was not happening. How could I let this happen? “Braden, I don’t want anything to happen between us.”


He raised an eyebrow, clearly unconvinced. “Tell that to your damp knickers, babe.”


I narrowed my eyes on him. “You are such a dick.”


He grinned widely and leaned down to brush a soft kiss across my lips. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”


I grabbed a hold of his sweater, stopping him from leaving. “Braden, I mean it!”


Chuckling, he patiently uncurled my fingers from his sweater and stepped back. “I have a proposition. I’ll come over tomorrow to discuss it.”


Argh! Was he deaf? “Braden-”


“Good night, Jocelyn.”


“Braden-”


“Oh.” He turned back to me at the door and his expression hardened. “I’ll be waiting until the end of the shift to put you and Ellie in a taxi. I see you flirting with that wanker again and I’ll knock his teeth out.”


And then poof! He was gone.


I took stock a moment, unable to believe what I’d just allowed to happen. But my lips were throbbing from those desperate kisses, my cheeks burning from the scrape of his two-day beard, my heart racing and my panties (or knickers) definitely wet.


Worse… I was still so freaking turned on I had half a mind to shut the door and finish what he’d started myself.


Tomorrow this had to end. If Braden could so completely take me over like that, there was no way I could go any further with this.


Maybe I should move out.


My chest ached at the thought of leaving Ellie and the apartment on Dublin Street. No! I could do this. I could put the arrogant jackhole in his place.


I nodded, standing up on my feet only to wobble a little.


I rolled my eyes. Why the hell did he have to be the human version of a sexually charged nuclear weapon? Grumbling, I put myself back together as much as I could, and headed out to the bar, ignoring Alistair’s quizzical looks, Braden’s burning gaze and Craig’s attempts at flirting.


I liked Craig’s teeth where they were, thank you very much.