“Alicia, tell me more about yourself,” Brad whispered against the back of her neck as his fingers brushed against her belly.
“Isn’t that line a little late since we’re already in bed together?” Alicia laughed as she snuggled closer to the warmth of Brad’s body behind her.
“Humor me.”
“Let’s see. I’m the youngest of three children. You’ve met my sister Chloe. She’s single and has never been married.”
Alicia yelped when Brad pinched her side. “What was that for?” she snapped, glaring at him over her shoulder.
“I don’t want to hear about your sister. I said that I wanted to know about you…not anyone else.”
Alicia groaned. She hated talking about herself, but she would do it for Brad. The memory of how he took his time to be patient with her made her normal defenses fall away making her want to be more open and let him in to learn more about her.
She was silent for a second or two while she got her thoughts together.
“Brad, my childhood was totally different from yours. You had a close relationship with your parents, but I didn’t.”
Brad touched her shoulder making her face him. “Are you saying that your parents didn’t love you?”
“I was the surprise baby my mom wasn’t expecting. My brother was eleven and my sister was ten when I came along. So my parents had to rearrange their schedules to raise me for a little while. I wouldn’t say that my parents didn’t love me, but I did suffer from lack of attention and I don’t think they were really aware of it.”
“Did your parents ever do anything with you?” he asked, running his hand down her arm. “I’ve so many memories of doing family picnics with my parents or going camping with my dad.”
“Oh, my parents had the nanny do stuff with me. I was around the nanny so much that I started calling her ‘mama two’. She was with us from when I was about two years old until I was about eight,” Alicia said.
“Why did she leave you?”
Alicia shrugged her shoulder. “I was told that she wanted to move back to be near her family in Virginia, but I believe my mother got jealous of our closeness.”
Brad pulled her closer to him until her breasts pressed against his solid chest. “Have things gotten any better with your parents over the years?”
“I usually send them a card on the holidays or sometimes they call me, but it’s only to tell me that I need a career change,” she sighed. “Don’t misunderstand me, I love my parents because they are just who they are and aren’t going to change.”
“Your parents don’t know what a wonderful and talented woman that you are. They are the unlucky ones and I hope they realize it before it’s too late to fix things.”
Alicia ran her finger across Brad’s chest while she thought about what he told her. Was that the reason Chloe had shown up out of the blue? Did her parents really want to try to make a closer connection between them now after all of these years?
“Chloe came here for the same thing you’re telling me about. She told me that our parents want to talk to me about our less than stellar relationship. They want me to come for a visit. I haven’t been home for about seven years.”
Tucking his finger underneath her chin, Brad made her look at him. “Are you going to see them? I can go with you if you want. I promise I won’t let them hurt you.”
“Brad, my parents were unfeeling but they wouldn’t hurt me,” Alicia corrected defending her parents. “Chloe told me that she would go with me before she left for her flight.”
“Does that mean you’re going back home?”
Alicia wasn’t quite sure what she was going to do yet, but she didn’t want to spend the rest of the night talking about her parents or her not so exciting childhood. She would rather be doing other things.
“How about we find something else to do instead of talking about my past?” Alicia asked. She pushed Brad on his back and lay on top of him.
“What do you have in mind?” Brad asked as his hands roamed down her back to cup her ass.
“I was hoping that the two of us could spend the rest of the night in bed getting all sweaty unless you would rather watch television or play a board game?”
Placing his hands on either side of her hips, Brad lifted her up until she was directly over his erection and he slowly entered her.
“I think I’ve given you my answer,” he whispered right before he pulled her head down for a kiss.
“Wake up, sleepy head.” The words were whispered against her ear.
Alicia slowly opened one eye and found Brad sitting on the side of the bed fully dressed looking too gorgeous in a dark gray suit with a black shirt underneath open at the collar.
“Why didn’t you wake me up,” she complained, brushing a piece of hair out of her eye. “I could have joined you in the shower.”
Brad gave her a smile that sent her pulse racing. “Sweetheart, as tempting as that sounds I thought you needed your rest. You looked too cute to wake up. Don’t you have a late broadcast that you have to anchor tonight?”
Lying on her back, Alicia stretched her arms above her head causing the sheet to slip a little, but not enough to expose her breasts. However, Brad pulled it all the way down until it was around her waist.
“You have the most beautiful breasts that I’ve ever seen,” he said cupping her right breast in his hand and brushing his thumb over the nipple.
Moaning, Alicia arched her back pressing her breasts deeper into Brad’s warm palm. “How about you stay here and show me how much you love them?” she suggested softly.
“Damn Alicia, I would love to do that. God, you don’t know how much I want to call and cancel with Zack, but I can’t. He’s helping me with this new business venture I’m working on.” Brad removed his hand and pulled the sheet back up.
“What are you working on?” Alicia asked, sitting up in the bed. “Tell me about it. I might be able to help you out with something.”
Sliding his hand behind her neck, Brad slowly ran his tongue along her lip before slipping it into her mouth. This kiss was different from his usual hot and panties creaming ones. This time the kiss was achingly sweet and romantic. She was only blessed with it for a few minutes, but the tender memory of it would last her a lifetime.
“What was that for?” Alicia asked, surprised again by this unpredictable man.
The tenderness in Brad’s expression amazed her as he moved away from her and stood up. “I was touched that you wanted to help me. That’s all, sweetheart. I never thought you would offer to do something for me.”
“Brad, I love you. I want to help you any way I can.”
Alicia heard his quick intake of breath and was shocked when his eyes suddenly filled with a fierce sparkling. “Baby, I love when you tell me that. I love it so much that I’m fighting the urge to get undressed and rejoin you in that bed.”
“But you won’t,” she pouted.
“No, I won’t,” he agreed. “Now why don’t I wait for you while you shower and get dressed?”
Alicia got out of bed and wrapped the sheet around her body. Without her high heels on she only came to the middle of his chest. She straightened his tie and then ran her hands down the front of his shirt.
“No, you go ahead and leave. I can get dressed and then I’ll call a cab to take me home.”
Brad bent his head slightly forward kissing her by the side of her mouth. “No cab for my girlfriend. I’ll leave the keys to the Lexus out on the kitchen table. You can drive that home. Just leave the keys in the car in your driveway and I’ll have someone from work pick it up and bring it back here.”
“If you give me your Lexus, what are you going to drive,” Alicia asked, staring into Brad’s blue eyes.
“I’ll drive my Mustang. I haven’t driven it in months and I need to take it out.”
“I don’t think…” Her words were cut off by Brad placing a finger over her mouth.
“Don’t say a word, only nod. You’re going to accept my offer right?” His eyes were humorous and tender as he looked at her.
Alicia thought about arguing because she wasn’t used to men doing things for her, but instead she nodded her head like Brad instructed.
“Good girl.” Brad removed his finger from her mouth. “I better go. Zack doesn’t have much time to see me today. I’ll be by your house later, so be home,” he said, turning away from her before leaving the bedroom.