Speed Dating (Speed Dating #1) Read online

  I smiled to myself. “Okay.”

  Three days later I picked Daniel up from the airport. He pulled me into his arms and pressed his lips to mine, sending tiny sparks down my spine.

  “Hello to you, too,” I said, pulling back once he released my lips.

  “Every time I leave, I miss you more and more,” he said, planting soft kisses on the side of my cheek.

  His words were sweet, giving me exactly what I needed.

  “I miss you, too,” I said, earning a radiant smile from him.

  Leaving the airport, we went straight to dinner at one of my favorite restaurants. Desert was just being served when he started the talk.

  “I really like you, Jules. Like, really really like you,” he said, setting his glass of wine down on the table.

  I smiled over at him. “I like you, too.”

  “Good. I’m glad to hear that because I was thinking maybe we could make this an exclusive thing.”

  “Exclusive?”

  I knew what it meant, but I also knew a man’s idea of something and my idea of something could be totally different. I wanted to make sure we were on the same page.

  “Yeah, like, exclusive to each other. I date only you and you date only me,” he laughed.

  “You mean like a relationship?” I asked.

  “That’s exactly what I mean.”

  “Are you asking me to be your girlfriend, Daniel?” I couldn’t help myself. A smile lifted my lips and joy filled me. I could sleep around until the cows came home, but the truth was I was a monogamous woman. I wanted one man and one man only.

  “I am. I want to be with you, Jules. And if you’re okay with me working out of town regularly until I sell my business and live full time here in Florida, I’d like to give this a try.”

  Strangely, Sam’s face filled my mind briefly before I got angry and pushed him away. Sam was taken, as in he could never be mine. I was done chasing after things I could never have or that weren’t good for me. I wanted to finally be happy. Not thinking about so many what if situations.

  Daniel was there and he was good for me. It was time I thought about me and what I wanted, and I wanted what he was offering me.

  Reaching across the table, I took his large hand in mine. He ran his fingers over my knuckles before he weaved his fingers into mine.

  “Let’s do it,” I said, smiling up at him beneath my lashes.

  “Is that a yes?” he asked.

  “That’s a yes,” I answered.

  And then there, in front of everyone in the restaurant, he leaned over the table and kissed me deeply pulling a moan from deep within and making me thinking of maybe taking him home and finally giving in.

  Daniel and I were a couple. Everyone around us could tell by the way we looked at each other. It was new and different and exciting, everything a new relationship should be.

  The day after we made it official, he went back to Vegas with a promise that he would return as soon as possible. I was a walking horn dog on most days, or as Sadie called it, a pile of pulsating pussy lips. I had to face it, she had it right. At least Daniel and I spent our nights touching ourselves over the phone. That was enough to get us through until we moved onto the next step.

  That step didn’t take long to reach. Two weeks later he flew back to Florida and I picked him up from the airport knowing that I was going to have sex with him that night. I’d been a good girl. I’d made him wait. It was obvious he respected me. I was done not giving up the goods. I needed penis and he had one.

  “So I was thinking… maybe instead of going to Sam’s or getting a room, you could come and stay with me while you’re here.”

  His face lit up and I could tell by his expression that he knew he was going to get laid finally.

  “I think I’d like that.”

  And so instead of taking him to a hotel, I took him home. I was as nervous as a virgin on her wedding night, which made no sense considering my recent track record. I chocked it up to the fact that it was our first time and we were in an actual relationship now.

  We stayed in, and Daniel helped me cook. Every now and again he’d touch me or wrap his arms around my waist from behind. It was all so normal. I liked it.

  We sat at my small dining room table later and ate the dinner we’d cooked together. We took turns asking personal questions. It was a fun way to get to know each other.

  “Have you ever been married?” I asked.

  “Nope. I haven’t been snatched up yet,” he answered, winking around his steak covered fork.

  “So how is it your brother caught himself a wife and you’ve never been snatched up?” I used the words he’d said before.

  His face turned dark and for a second I thought maybe I’d said something wrong.

  “I’m sorry. Is that a bad subject?” I asked.

  “If I were Sam it would be a bad subject.”

  “Oh really? Does he have a bad marriage?”

  I’d never thought to ask Sam about his marriage. It was something you just didn’t do. I couldn’t imagine anyone being anything but happily married to such a nice guy, but maybe I was wrong. Maybe he was a closet wife beater or something.

  “It’s not that he has a bad marriage. It’s just that he doesn’t have a marriage anymore.”

  My heart skipped a couple beats, and for a moment I thought it completely stopped within the walls of my chest. I was shocked and a tiny bit confused when I suddenly thought of the way Sam had acted toward me before. “Is he divorced?” I asked.

  “No. He’s widowed. She died three years ago.”

  Suddenly everything about Sam became so clear to me. All the questions I’d had about him were answered. Part of me wanted to leave Daniel where he sat and go to Sam. I wanted to hold him—run my fingers through his thick hair and tell him everything would be alright, but I wasn’t sure it was safe for me to be that close to him.

  Having thoughts about Sam was especially forbidden since I was now in an actual relationship with his brother. No matter what Daniel was telling me, I couldn’t go back and change things with Sam. Not to mention, if he was ready for anything, things would have been different. I couldn’t dwell on Sam anymore, especially now that I knew there was no woman keeping him. He was single and evidently he wanted to stay that way.

  Two days later I dropped Daniel off at the airport. I waited until he disappeared inside before I went back to my car and left. The last few days and everything I’d found out about Sam weighed heavy on my shoulders. I had to be honest with myself. Knowing that Sam was technically available made being happy with Daniel a little bit harder. It hurt, and I knew deep down I was a horrible person for even putting so much thought into it.

  I spent that week making tiny lists inside my head comparing the two. Daniel was more outgoing. Sam was more reserved. Daniel was a clean shaven nice dresser. Sam was a scruffy sexy bartender. Both had good qualities, and I knew it was wrong to compare the two, but I couldn’t stop. I couldn’t get Sam out of my head.

  By the time Daniel was coming into town again, I’d decided the only way to get over Sam was to get under his brother. We’d been seeing each other for a while, and it was time I got sexed up. We would’ve had sex the last time he was town if he hadn’t dropped the big single Sam bomb on me. I was positive the reason I couldn’t stop thinking about Sam was because I needed to get laid.

  Closing my door behind us, I pressed my back against it and watched as Daniel dropped his bags on the floor by the kitchen counter.

  He turned when he felt my eyes on him and smirked.

  “Are you checking me out?” he asked.

  Instead of answering, I nodded.

  “Well, why don’t you come a little closer to evaluate me?” he flirted.

  Moving across the room, I took him by the hand and pulled him into the living room. He didn’t fight me when I pushed him onto the couch. I’d decided that it was time. I wanted him. I wanted to feel him on me, in me, everywhere. It had been so long since I’
d had sex and I felt like I was about to explode. Plus, I was having serious Sam issues.

  Pulling back, I looked down at him and grinned. “What do you want, Daniel?”

  His face lit up as if I’d just offered him the world.

  “You could dance for me?” he suggested.

  “You want me to strip for you?” I flirted. “Are you sure you can handle that?”

  “Oh, I can handle it, baby. I’d love nothing more than to see you naked moving your sexy body for me.”

  I was getting hot just flirting with him.

  Moving across the room, I looked at him from beneath my lashes and ran my palms down over my body. “Maybe a little something like this?” I asked, moving my hips slowly side to side.

  He leaned back on the couch, swallowing hard. “Exactly like that,” he rasped.

  Stopping next to the standup lamp in my living room, I grasped onto it and moved my body around the pole as if I was a stripper on a stripper pole. The tent in his shorts grew, turning me on ever more.

  Reaching for the bottom of my shirt, I pulled it up and over my head, tossing it onto his lap.

  “You’re so sexy,” he said, bringing my shirt up to his nose to give it quick sniff.

  I was never so happy that I’d used my expensive perfume instead of my cheap body spray.

  The way he was acting was really getting me in the mood and I wanted nothing more than to have him so turned on by me he could hardly contain himself.

  Going around the lamp once more, I bent, giving him a nice view of my ass and the back of my legs. My shorts were going to be next to go, and then I’d be in nothing but my bra and panties.

  Swinging myself around the lamp once more slowly, I leaned against the wall beside the lamp and provocatively pulled my shorts down over my hips. They fell to the floor around my ankles and I kicked them across the room.

  There I was, standing in only my bra and panties watching as his eyes took in my naked flesh. Reaching up, I cupped my breasts and bit into my bottom lip the way I’d seen strippers do.

  “God, I can’t wait to feel you, Julia,” he said.

  The way he said my name reminded me of Sam and I had to shake the thoughts of him out of my mind. No one really called me Julia except for Sam. It made my name feel special when he said.

  Grabbing onto the lamp pole again, I prepared to lean back seductively. I’d seen girls do that before and it always looked so nice when they did it. Planting my feet into the carpet, I bent back putting all my weight on my knees, and then the craziest thing happened. I’d misjudged the lamp and how much it could take. The aluminum pole snapped in half, sending me tumbling back into the table.

  My head slammed into the corner of the side table and I heard Daniel call out my name before everything went black.

  I woke up in a hospital bed at the local hospital. My head ached like a bitch and when I reached back my fingers moved over the huge knot on the back of my skull.

  “Ouch,” I said, fingering the knot.

  “If it hurts, don’t touch it,” Sam said from my side. “You have a concussion. Pushing on the bad spot can’t make it any better.

  Turning to look at him, I was caught off guard by how much he looked like his brother.

  “Sam?”

  “The one and only,” he grinned.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “Well, when you had your little spill, Daniel ran over to my apartment for my help,” he answered.

  “I’m confused. He left me in my apartment alone to go get you?”

  “It’s only three doors down. It’s not like he left you for an hour dying on the living room floor half naked.”

  His words didn’t register. All I heard was half naked. “I wasn’t half naked,” I argued.

  “Okay. If you say so.”

  “It’s just one more thing to add my embarrassing list of embarrassments,” I said, shaking my head.

  “I’m not going to lie, your list is pretty long, but none of those moment should include me. Never feel embarrassed around me, Julia.”

  I didn’t argue. Instead I met his stare. I felt it in my toes and it warmed me so much that I could almost forget about the sharp pains in my head.

  “Where’s Daniel?” I asked quickly, changing the subject.

  “He went to the bathroom,” his expression got hard. “I’m sure he’ll be back soon to comfort you.”

  I didn’t like his tone.

  “What’s your problem?” I asked offensively.

  “Nothing. Just tired,” he shook his head. “So you and my brother are officially a thing now?” he asked.

  “Yeah. I guess we are.”

  “Is that why you haven’t been around Dudley’s?”

  “I figured after what happened it was probably better to stay away.”

  He stood from his chair and made his way around the small room. He picked up a pamphlet about the hospital, read the front, and then tossed it back onto the counter. I didn’t say anything else. Instead, I sat there staring up at him confused by his awkward behavior.

  “Is my being with Daniel a problem?” I swallowed hard.

  He was fidgeting, or maybe he was stalling. I watched the muscles in his bicep shift as he fingered a small tattoo on his arm that I’d never noticed before.

  And then I saw it. Or should I say the absence of it.

  “You took your ring off.” I said before he could answer my first question. I glanced up at him, waiting.

  He moved and his hands came together as he began to rub at his now bare finger. “Yeah.”

  “When?”

  “Last night.”

  “Why?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know. I thought maybe it was time.”

  I swallowed hard and shifted in the uncomfortable hospital bed. “You didn’t answer my question.” I reminded him. “Is Daniel and I going to be a problem? I mean, can you think of any reason why I shouldn’t date him?”

  I wasn’t sure what I was asking him. I think in the back of my mind I was silently begging him to tell me he wanted me. Many nights I’d laid awake thinking of Sam when Daniel should have been the one on my mind.

  I touched myself imagining it was Sam making love to me all night long. All the while knowing that he was just a few doors down from me. I wanted him. I wanted to be with him, but I was selfish enough to keep his brother until I knew for sure he wanted the same.

  I waited, as Sam looked down at me as if he was about to say words that would change my life forever, but he didn’t speak. Instead he moved closer to me and leaned over my bed, his body heat mingling with mine. It was wrong, but I sent up a tiny prayer that he’d kiss me.

  Reaching up, he fingered the strand of hair next to my cheek before placing it gently behind my ear. His fingers brushed the shell of my ear making my breathing accelerate and my body instantly respond. And then he shook me, but not in a good way.

  “No, Julia. I can’t think of a reason,” he said, making my heart drop.

  Time stopped. The sounds of the hospital around me disappeared as Sam unknowingly broke my heart worse than Bryan ever did. I swallowed down my hurt and blinked away the tears that were slowly developing in my eyes.

  “But if he hurts you, I’ll kill him,” his voice broke, leaving me totally confused. “Everyone deserves to be happy. Especially you. You deserve the world, Julia. I hope Daniel gives it to you. I hope he makes you happy.”

  And then he turned, walking away and leaving me alone in an empty room contemplating everything I ever thought I wanted. Part of me wanted to get up and chase him—tell him all about the feelings for him I’d been trying to kill, but the logical side of me stayed planted on the bed.

  If only I’d known his story. If only I hadn’t selfishly told him everything about my life without even asking him about his, things would have played out different. I wouldn’t be falling for Daniel. I’d be with the man I was already in love with.

  I closed my eyes and laid back on the bed, the b
ack of my head pounding. I’d made the wrong decision, and I wasn’t sure if I could make it right. All I knew was, I was sure I’d chosen the wrong brother.

  Acknowledgements

  Tabatha Vargo

  To all the douchebags, momma’s boys, minute men, gamer boys, crazy freaks, and bad dates in general, thank you for all the inspiration. Hopefully there’s a woman out there that learned a valuable lesson from you, and hopefully that woman is at home getting done right, right now.

  A big THANK YOU to my amazing readers and everyone else who supports me. I send you all hugs and love. Thank you so much for everything.

  To Melissa and Dawn, it was a pleasure to write with you ladies. Sending my love to you both. <3

  Dawn Robertson

  I want to thank all my girlfriends for their nightmare dating stories. The guys from my dating past many moons ago. My sick and twisted sense of humor, and all those who continue to read my books!

  Melissa Andrea

  I couldn’t start this without saying how much I love and appreciate all of you amazing readers!! You may think authors are the stars, but we only shine because of you!! Thank you for giving me your time, praise, and love. I cherish all of those things as much as I cherish you!!