Page 4 of Bradi

Yanking back from him, Marisa lost her balance and staggered. The sound of her exam room doors sliding open sounded. She ignored them. Bradi grabbed for her and pulled her into his warm body. The need to kiss him again, to welcome his tongue in her mouth was great. As he leaned down, she thought for sure he’d kiss her again.

He smiled. “Careful now, Doc, wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself.”

“That’s why I keep you around, Bradi. You know how to take care of what’s important to me,” Peter said, appearing in the doorway suddenly.

She stilled. Had Peter seen them kissing? She knew Peter well enough to know that he wasn’t one to mix words or beat around the bush. He’d have said something.

Marisa’s eyes met Bradi’s and she saw a shadow pass over them. What they’d done was wrong. It was clear that both parties understood that. Bradi nodded and eased his grip on her. “Yeah, if nothing else, I make a good watchdog, Pete.”

She wasn’t sure if that was hurt she saw on Bradi’s face, or if he was just toying with her, so she glanced at Peter, hoping he’d shed some light on it. He offered none. No surprise there. Peter rarely had much to offer in the way of insight into Bradi. He was such a sharp contrast to Bradi that she wondered how they’d even become friends.

“Hey, Commander, I thought I told you that I’d meet you in a little bit.” Marisa winked at Peter, signifying she was only joking.

Walking toward her, Peter took hold of her arms a bit harder than needed and gave her a good jerk. “And I’ve told you before that I do not like to be kept waiting—ever.”

Marisa gave Peter a questioning stare as she tried to wiggle free of his grasp. “Peter, you’re hurting me,” she whispered, hoping Bradi wouldn’t overhear.

He eased up a bit but gave her a hard stare in the process. Peter’s normally warm personality seemed ice cold almost daily as of late. She’d noticed more and more and wasn’t sure what had prompted it. Sure, Peter was under a great deal of stress with his new position, but he’d held that for two months now. The hard-as-nails persona had come on in the last three weeks.

Glancing down at her, Peter smiled. It was forced and void of emotion. “Excuse us, Bradi, but I need to kiss my woman.”

“Your woman?” Marisa shot back, not caring much for the reference and still upset about the rough handling. She tugged her arm free of his grasp. “I am no man’s property.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you.” Peter gave her a sheepish grin and leaned down to whisper in her ear. “I love you.”

“On that note, I am leaving,” Bradi said, sounding oddly even tempered considering how heated he’d been only moments earlier. “I have to check in on the command deck. We are heading into non-Commission territory and it looks like we’ll have that damn meteoroid shower to contend with after all. Our scouts tell us that it’s not bad, but I would advise going around it if at all possible. I think it might be safest.”

Peter gave Bradi a lecherous smile and when he spoke, Marisa could almost hear the sarcasm dripping from his every word. “That is precisely why you aren’t required to think—buddy. We aren’t adding any additional time to our trip. We’ll continue on course as planned. I’ll catch up with you in a bit. Drinks and a round of cards sound good to you too?”

“Yeah, sure.” Bradi headed for the sliding doors, not once bothering to look back. It was as though he’d already forgotten what had passed between them.

How could she have allowed him to kiss her? What was she thinking? He was Peter’s friend and a jerk.

Yeah, a jerk who could really kiss.

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