Under My Skin (Skin Deep #2)

Under My Skin (Skin Deep #2) Page 5

“So,” Brandon said cheerfully. “What’s for dinner, dear?”

Chapter 3

“Whoa…who pissed in your oatmeal this morning, sweetie?”

I turned from where I’d just slammed the register drawer shut to see my mom coming in the door of my store, holding a large, oddly shaped piece of wood. I moved quickly out from behind the counter to take it from her.

“What is that, Mom?” I asked her, choosing to avoid her question.

“It’s a quilt hanger rack thingy,” she replied with a smug smile.

“Is that the technical term for it?” I asked, being a smart ass on purpose.

I leaned over to kiss her cheek and laid the rack across the counter to check it out. It was a decent piece, no cracks or splinters, so I went back behind the counter to get a tag for it before moving it to the back counter out of the way. I’d find somewhere to hang it after a bit.

Turning, I spied my mom thumbing through a rack of old romance novels I had set up by the counter. “See something you like, Momma?” I asked.

She sighed and shook her head, turning around to look at me. “Nah…who needs romance books when I have your father at home?” She grinned at me as I pretended to gag, holding up my hand in the universal sign for ‘Stop! Don’t say another word!’

“TMI, Mom, TMI. So what are you up to today?”

Mom shrugged. “Just out and about, thought I’d stop by on the way to your grandparent’s house. And I wanted to drop that off, see if you could sell it. Bernice next door brought it over to me to see if I would bring it in. Well, I’ve got to get over there. You know how they are…” she rolled her eyes and blew out a breath.

I laughed at her. “Yes, I know how they are, and we all completely love them anyway. Nanny being ‘Tank’ again?”

Mom nodded. ‘Tank’ is what we call my grandmother; she’s cantankerous sometimes, hence the name. Poor Poppy has learned just to turn his hearing aids down and nod when she says something to him. He seems to stay out of trouble that way.

“Did you go to Sunday breakfast with Emma’s family yesterday?” Mom asked.

“No, Jan and Ben took off to visit Jan’s sister in Texas on the spur of the moment,” I replied.

Mom cocked her head and made a pouty face. “Awww…my poor baby didn’t get to eat breakfast yesterday? You should have come see us! I would have cooked for you.”

I rolled my eyes at her. “Mom, in case you failed to realize it, I am a grown woman with my own house. I am perfectly capable of cooking breakfast for myself. Besides, I spent the night out at Emma and Luke’s.”

Mom’s cell phone chimed. Without even looking at it, she groaned. “There’s your Nanny now. I swear she times me and if I’m ten seconds outside of the time she thinks it takes to get there, she’s calling me and cussing me up one side and down the other.” She shook her head at me and gave me the same line she always does. “I’m saying sorry now just in case I get that like down the road. Always remember that I love you!”

I smiled at her, nodding in agreement, and gave her a big hug. She waved as she barreled towards the door, rushing to get to my grandparent’s house before they called out the search party.

I leaned against the counter when she left, a little relieved that she was distracted so quickly. I really didn’t want to answer her as to why I was out of sorts this morning. Brandon and Jackson had stayed with me last night, but it might as well have been Emma and her sister, Leah, in bed with me for all the good it did me.

Meh…okay, maybe not Emma and Leah. That might have ended up a little awkward! Brandon and Jackson cuddled me and kissed me and got me all hot and bothered again before they wrapped themselves around me and ordered me to go to sleep.

No, I didn’t stutter. I said ordered. They’re lucky they woke up this morning with all of their appendages attached. I don’t know what the hell their problem is. They wanted to give this thing a try and I agreed, but now they’re playing hot and cold? What the fuck?

I straightened as the bell above the door to the store chimed, signaling a customer’s entrance and got back to work. My day passed pretty quickly, even though I was still fuming in the back of my mind. I kept replaying this morning over and over in my mind…

They leaned over me, one on each side, both snugged right up against my hips. And from the feel of things, they were both wide awake now! I took a deep breath and it shuddered out of me as their gazes both traveled south, roaming over the length of me pressed between them.

“So,” Brandon began. “This is how it’s supposed to be. You here, nice and soft and warm between us.” He leaned in and softly pressed his lips against mine, silently entreating me to open for him.

My lips parted on a sigh when I felt a hand stroke up my thigh to rest lightly on my bare stomach where my shirt had ridden up. Brandon took advantage of the moment and slipped his tongue between my lips to dance with mine. The hand on my stomach slid higher, stopping at the underside of my breast, and I squirmed.

I broke the kiss Brandon and I were sharing and turned my head to the other side, taking in the heat blazing in Jackson’s dark eyes. He leaned in and, not bothering to be gentle about it, nipped at my bottom lip before thrusting his tongue inside, kissing me deeply.

I felt Brandon shift a bit before his hand was sliding up my thigh, caressing the other side of my body at the same time that Jackson’s hand began moving again. They slid their hands up and down my stomach and sides, lightly over my thighs and back up, neither venturing anywhere near the areas now aching to be touched.

They were torturing me…doing nothing more than caressing my body and kissing me, and I felt like I was going insane.

After a while, they’d kissed me goodbye before leaving, Brandon to head to the shop and Jackson to his house to oversee something the contractors were doing today. Neither of them mentioned getting together tonight, or staying again…frankly, I was completely confused at this whole relationship thing. It was not going anything like I imagined it would.

When they said they wanted to try it, that they wanted me and basically wouldn’t give up until they got me, I figured I was about to get the smack down put on me. I was ready for the mind-blowing, toe curling, hair pulling, ass slapping, screaming out until I passed out moments that I thought for sure were headed my way. So what gives? I wanted to stomp my feet and scream in frustration, but managed to contain myself. Barely.

I got home about six-thirty and, since I still hadn’t heard from Brandon and Jacks, I decided to soak in my tub. The whirlpool jets and detachable shower head were calling my name, if you know what I mean…wink wink!

Twenty minutes later, I was very engrossed in my ‘relaxing’, not bothering to suppress the moans and gasps emanating from my lips.

“Mmmm…yessss…” I hissed through my teeth, not caring that my voice echoed through the room.

“Yeah, baby…keep going…oh, God,” a deep, male voice said breathlessly. “Do you want some help with that?”

I shrieked, bolting upright in the tub and holding the shower head protectively in front of me, water spraying out all over the floor and Brandon, who just so happened to be standing in my bathroom. Where I was naked in the tub. And masturbating!!!