Walk the Line (Man of the Month 12)

"Do we?"

"I thought we'd make a late dinner. And I thought I might park you naked on the countertop, spread your legs, and have an appetizer."

"Oh." She swallowed, squeezing her thighs together in response to the heat his words had generated between her legs.

"And of course there's the living room. I thought we'd settle in front of the TV and I'd watch you naked and straddling me, riding me hard as I finger your clit. Unless you'd rather just pop in a movie?"

"Brent..." She squirmed, his words doing naughty, magical things to her body.

"Do you want me to tell you my plan for the backyard? The shower?"

She shook her head. The part of her brain that made words had gone on strike. Her body, however, had not, and she felt raw and tingly, as if he only had to touch her, and she'd explode right then. Her breasts were heavy, her nipples hard. Her sex felt swollen and needy. She wanted his touch--craved it. But when she shifted toward him on the bed, he just moved the opposite direction.

"Sorry, babe. We have to save that for later. You have to get to school."

"You're being incredibly unfair."

He grinned. "I know. I want you thinking about everything I said all day. And tonight after the contest, we'll come back here." He leaned forward to lightly kiss her. "Wear a dress," he ordered. "Because the first thing I'm going to do when we walk through that door is slide my hand between your legs and see how much you want me."

Elena was giddy when she reached The Fix on Wednesday night. She was running late--she'd gotten stuck on the most amazing phone call--but she was in a fabulous mood.

But the moment she walked stepped over the threshold, giddy morphed into confusion. Griffin stood shirtless on the stage holding a microphone as Beverly stood beside him, looking a little shell shocked. And why not? Griffin never, ever revealed his scars. But he had tonight.

"Buy the calendar if you want to see more," Griffin said, and the unnatural silence that had filled the room was broken by the sound of nervous laughter followed by genuine applause.

"What on earth?" she asked finding Brent, who had a wide smile plastered on his face.

But Brent just shook his head. "He must really love her. Because that was one hell of a grand gesture."

As Jenna bounded onto the stage to announce that Griffin had won the title of Mr. November, Elena cursed softly, hating that she'd missed the actual contest. Then she remembered the reason, and grinned at Brent. "I just had a great meeting. That's why I'm late."

"That's wonderful." She saw him reach for her, then pull his hand back. Her heart twisted, because as much as she was enjoying their time together, it wasn't enough. More and more, she was thinking that she didn't want a secret, temporary thing. She wanted to figure out a way that they could truly be together.

But she also feared that if she told Brent as much, everything would come to an end, including their secret relationship. And she just couldn't risk that.

"Let's go find my dad," she said, using the words as a diversion. "I want to hear about the Food Fair preparations, and make sure he's invited all the historical center big wigs and the local planning commission folks."

"I saw him earlier with Easton," Brent said. "He didn't look happy."

"Bar business?"

"Not sure. I caught his eye, but he didn't call me to the back. But your mom's with him."

"Huh." She frowned, thinking. Easton was a lawyer, but what would her parents need a lawyer for? And if it was about the bar, surely he would have pulled Brent into the conversation.

"Agreed," Brent said when she voiced her thoughts. "Which is why I'm going to go knock on his door. You with me?"

"Should we wait for Reece and Jenna?"

He shook his head. "If it's none of our business, that would look overwhelming and pushy. And if it is about the bar, we can catch them up later."

"Okay," she said, holding tight to the way he'd said we.

They maneuvered their way through the bar, then both stopped short when they reached Tyree's office. The door was cracked, and his harsh words slammed into them. "This is bullshit. Total garbage."

"It is," Eva said, her voice soothing. "But let's listen to Easton."

Easton turned, his eyes meeting Elena's through the crack. He gestured for her to come in, though she had to admit that she was no longer certain that she really wanted to walk through those doors.