Chapter 6

6

Elena loved all of her brothers. There was something about each one of them that she admired. They were good men, and they had always had her back. But, they all seemed to know how to get on her nerves. At the moment, Brando, the oldest of the other set of twins, was acting in a way that ensured him pain. Lots of it. She was pretty sure he would end up with broken bones if he did not shut the hell up. From the moment he showed up about a week ago, he had been a complete pain in the butt.

“What do you mean, you don’t want to go out tonight?” he asked, irritation easy to hear in his voice. If she didn’t know better, she would think he was the younger of the two of them. Of course, Brando had always been hyperactive.

Patience, she reminded herself. It was a freaking, fraking virtue. Or so they said. She usually had no problem keeping her cool, but Brando had been driving her crazy for days.

“I have an early morning tomorrow for work. Anyway, I took you out the last three nights.”

He made a sound of disgust but said nothing. He had been acting as if she were his personal social director since he’d arrived. When Brand got restless, he was avoiding something that was bothering him.

Of course, he was the last of several visits from her brothers. The only ones she hadn’t seen were Nando, who just PCS’d to Germany, and Anthony, as he lived in Hawaii. And, truthfully, she wouldn’t put it past Anthony to show up unannounced. It was his way. Worse, Carlos could show up again and talk about taking her horseback riding. How the hell did they end up with a freaking Santini cowboy in the mix?

Since Dante’s wedding, there had been phone calls, sudden appearances, and the worst one yet, a call from her Aunt Joey. The woman could have interrogated the most egregious enemy and gotten what she wanted without raising a hand. True, since JT had left, she had lost weight. Part of that had been worry about him, but she was always dealing with new stress at work. Colonel Vent wasn’t really thrilled to be dealing with female pilots. He hadn’t harassed her, and he wasn’t that bad of a commander. It was just hard to work for a man who didn’t like you.

Unfortunately, Brando wasn’t done arguing with her. “I’m older than you. You should be partying.”

She rolled her eyes and was happy he couldn’t see her reaction. Since he’d shown up, he’d been dragging her around. She was too tired to even think about going out to a rowdy bar. Her three in the morning wakeup added to her decision.

“I’ve never been that much of a partier.” That was partly true. She hadn’t really partied since the night she and JT had spent together. Even at Madison’s bachelorette party, she had been subdued. It was hard to have too big of a party. It was her, Madison, and, just found out she was pregnant , Hannah Johnson. “I also have to fly tomorrow. I never do that hung over. Go by yourself or call Dante.”

“I can’t go by myself. I can’t drink and drive. Dante is too caught up in being married to want to go out. He said last night was the last time he would go.”

Brando said it as if he couldn’t understand why anyone would want to stay in and spend time with his wife. It probably was a foreign concept to him. The man would never settle down.

She stirred the sweet and sour sauce and looked at the meatballs in the oven. The rice was sitting warm in the cooker, and the broccoli was steamed. A couple more minutes and they could eat. She glanced at him and knew he wasn’t done arguing. Damn .

“I think—”

Her doorbell stopped him in midsentence. Elena thanked the good lord for the interruption.

“Expecting someone?” he asked.

She shook her head. Whoever it was, she would be happy to kiss them. When Brando got a hold of an idea, he would not let it go. Their father said that Brando could argue with a door.

Brando sipped at his beer and walked to the door. He opened it and laughed. She leaned around the corner and almost dropped the spoon. JT was standing there. His expression was so damned comical, and she would have laughed. She couldn’t though. It had been months since she had talked to him. She had known he wasn’t hurt, or Anthony would have heard.

“The Honorary Santini!” Brando said, giving JT one of his legendary bear hugs, lifting him up off the ground. He set him down, and Brando slung an arm over his shoulder and looked at Elena. “Look who’s back from the other side.”

She couldn’t seem to form words. All she could do was look at him. He’d lost weight. It was the first thing she noticed. His jeans hung low on his hips, his T-shirt looked almost a size too big. He’d had a haircut and shave. Dark circles marred the skin beneath his eyes.

He was staring at her as if he wanted her to say something, but she couldn’t think of anything. Her brain seemed to have shut down the moment she saw him.

“Hey, JT.” How freaking lame.

He nodded. “Hey, Elena.”

His voice deepened over the syllables of her name. It sent heat racing along her flesh, and she had to fight a shiver. She glanced at her brother, who didn’t seem to notice.

“I was trying to convince Elena to go out tonight,” Brando said. Of course, he hadn’t noticed. He was busy sizing up JT. He needed a DD and anyone would do.

“And I said, I have to be at work early in the morning.” She looked at JT. “Also, he’s leaving out that he’s flying out to a boys’ week in New Orleans tomorrow. He doesn’t really need to go out. He just thinks he needs to go.”

There was a beat of silence. JT kept staring at her.

“But, JT’s here, and you should want to show him a good time,” Brando said. “It’s probably been months since he’s had some fun.”

Another beat of silence. JT’s lips twitched. Elena felt her face flush with heat. Lord, she couldn’t remember the last time she blushed. She cleared her throat, and JT’s smile widened into a grin.

God, she had missed him. She wanted to hit him, but she had missed him like crazy.

“You two can go out,” Elena said. Why did she say that? She didn’t want JT to go out. She wanted him here, naked, and in her bed.

“We can talk about it,” Brando said. “Why don’t you eat with us? There’s enough for all of us, right, Elena?”

She nodded.

JT smiled. “Been awhile since I’ve had a home-cooked meal.”

She returned his smile. “Good. Grab another plate, Brand.”

Brando took off to do her bidding, probably hoping to get JT to go out with him.

“Hope you like sweet and sour meatballs.”

JT hummed, low and easy, and just loud enough for her to hear. “I’ll take anything you’re offering.”

The way he said it told her that he was talking about more than dinner. A moment of silence vibrated between them. She curled her fingers into the palms of her hands, trying her best to resist touching him. Her body warmed as her hormones did a little dance of anticipation.

Neither of them said anything. She couldn’t really come up with anything to say, and her apartment was too small. Brando would hear.

Still he stood there, apparently happy to stare at her forever. It took all her control not to fidget.

“You look tired,” she said.

“I am. It’s been a long couple days of debriefing.”

She nodded.

“I would have called.”

She shrugged. As a Santini, she understood duty and work. “You couldn’t. You were being debriefed.”

“Yeah.”

Silence again.

“Want a beer?”

He shook his head. “I’ll take some water.”

“Come on.”

He followed her into the kitchen, and she entered just in time to find Brando sticking his finger into the sauce.

“You idiot.” She smacked him on the back of the head. “Get out of there. You’re going to get burned.”

She pushed him out of the way.

“Get JT a bottle of water.”

JT smiled. “Nice to know that nothing ever changes with the Santinis.”

Brando handed him a bottle. “Yeah. How’s that?”

“All of you act like idiots, and Elena is trying to make you act better.” He unscrewed the top of the bottle. “I think it’s about the same every time you all get together.”

“That’s true. So, when did you get back?” Brando asked.

Elena needed something to do, so she applied herself to making dinner. The sooner they ate, the sooner Brando would probably head out for the night. Then, hopefully, she would have JT to herself.

* * * *

JT took a sip of water and tried to be patient. As soon as he had been cleared, he’d headed over to Elena’s apartment. He knew he should have called first, but he had been so eager to see her. Controlling his need for her was hard enough, but with Brando there, he was ready to scream. He wanted to touch her. Just a little touch. But he knew if he started, he would probably not be able to stop.

Instead, he leaned against the kitchen counter and watched her work.

Every movement was precise. That was the way it was with Elena. She always had a plan. Right now, she was placing the meatballs in the sauce. God, he had missed her so fucking much.

The assignment had been bad, but he knew he had something to go back to. Every night he had gone to sleep thinking of her, of the way she laughed, the way she looked as she slept, and the way she moaned his name.

Dammit . He had to keep his mind on the topic. When Brando rambled on about things, you never knew where the conversation would end up. Thankfully, Brando’s phone rang. He answered and walked down the hall to take the call.

God, he’d missed her, he thought again. Granted, they’d only had two nights together, but it had been the one thing that had kept him going. So many things had gone wrong on the assignment, and he had spent too long undercover. Each week that had passed, he had fallen deeper into the muck.

Elena lifted up on her toes to reach a bowl on the top shelf, and he stepped closer to get it for her. This close he could feel her body heat and smell her shampoo. Also, he smelled her. That unique scent that he would swear he could sense the moment he woke in the morning.

She froze, then shuddered.

“I missed you,” JT whispered. “I just didn’t know what to do when Brando answered the door.”

She nodded. “Don’t worry about it.”

“I can tell him.”

“Tell him what?” she asked, still whispering.

“About us.”

She turned and looked up at him. She wasn’t wearing any makeup, and this is the way he thought of her. There was nothing plain about the woman…but there was a down to earth quality to her beauty. He knew that fifty years from now she would be just as beautiful. Dark blue eyes were framed with brown lashes, and set off by her bangs. Her full lips and high cheekbones just accentuated her appearance.

“No. Not yet. Seriously, we don’t even know what the hell is going to happen, and we don’t need my brothers sticking their noses in.”

He nodded, barely hearing the words she was saying. All he could think of was that he wanted— needed —a taste. This close, he couldn’t resist. He leaned down to give her a quick kiss. But the moment he did, he was lost. All that was horrible in the world faded away. The memories of what he had been through dissolved. He slipped his hands down her back and over her full rear end, urging her closer. God, this felt right…good. He had thought of little else the last few months, needing something to keep him going. He wanted nothing more than to take her to bed right then. Fuck dinner. Fuck her brother and anyone else. He needed her with him, like this.

He heard Brando walking down the hall, his voice rising up. “My sister’s making dinner, then I can meet you out.”

They sprang apart right before Brando turned the corner. He was laughing as he hung up the phone. JT turned away from Brando and grabbed his water. He drained the rest of it in one long swallow. Damn, he had no control whatsoever when it came to Elena.

“What’s up?” Elena asked. Her voice was surprisingly calm.

“Got a friend in town. He wants to meet tonight.”

“He’s here?” Elena asked.

“You know Chet? Remember, you met him at the wedding?”

“Wedding?” JT asked.

Elena smiled. “Madison and Dante.”

“Holy shit. They got married?”

She nodded, and it was easy to see her happiness for her friend and twin. “Just a couple of weeks ago. They just returned from their honeymoon. I forget how much you miss while you’re gone like that.”

He shook his head. “Damn, Little Dante Santini is married.”

“This Chet guy is going to go out with you?” Elena asked her brother.

“Don’t you remember him? You danced with him.”

Elena shook her head and all of a sudden, JT wanted to tear off Chet’s arms and beat him over the head with them.

“He’s picking you up?” she asked.

Brando nodded.

“Your plan is to get dinner from me, then go party with your friend?” Elena asked.

JT couldn’t figure out if she was mad or not about it. Brando just laughed.

“You’re sick of me anyway. And this way, Chet and I can drive in his rental to the airport.” He looked at JT. “You can come with, if you want to.”

He shook his head. “I need to get some sleep before I party. I haven’t had much in the last week.”

Brando clapped him on the shoulder. “You and Anthony are getting to be old men.”

“Dinner’s ready,” Elena said.

He was ready for this, ready to get Brando out of the apartment, so he and Elena could be alone.

Then, maybe, they could figure out where the hell they went from here.