Time of Possession (Seattle Lumberjacks #5) (26 page)

That was all the encouragement he needed.
His entire body shuddered like an earthquake building momentum
until he came. Estie held him in her mouth and swallowed then
licked up what remained.

Sweaty and breathing hard, Brett lay still
on the bed, his legs hanging over the edge, his body trembling from
spent passion, and his arms flung over his head.

“What are you so tired for? I did all the
work,” Estie teased from between his strong thighs.

“Give me a minute or two or three to
recover, and I’ll return the favor.” His voice sounded tired and
spent, as if he’d given his last ounce of strength to that
orgasm.

And he didn’t return the favor. The poor,
exhausted man fell into a deep sleep, and Estie cuddled next to
him, willing to wait her turn.

* * * * *

Brett woke up slowly to a weird noise in his
ear, only to realize that Jim was snoring on the pillow next to
him. On his other side, Estie breathed a sweet, gentle snore. God,
he adored that woman. Even her snoring was sexy.

Brett stared at the ceiling, not wanting to
move and disrupt this happy little scene, even though his shoulder
ached and his leg cramped. Spock perched on the headboard and
batted at a stray lock of Estie’s hair. Brett found himself smiling
like a man who’d died and woke up in heaven on earth. If only there
was a way to hold this moment forever.

If only.

If only he could convince Estie that their
love was strong enough to weather every storm. Except right now it
was his love, not hers. Not once had she said she loved him. He
believed she did, but he’d been delusional before.

She opened one eye then the other and kissed
his chin. His lovesick heart soared and sang every love song ever
sung. Yeah, he had it bad. Next, he’d be reciting love poems.

He propped his face up on one elbow. “Why
did you leave the stadium? Why didn’t you wait for me?”

“It was your moment, and I didn’t want to
interfere.” She blinked sleepily, still trying to wake up.

Brett frowned. She’d never be an
interference to him. “But I wanted to share that moment with
you.”

Estie looked away, as if uncomfortable with
his comment. “You did it, Brett. That’s what’s important, and we
celebrated later in the evening.”

A grin spread across his face. “Did we ever.
Your idea of celebrating beat any celebrating on the field.”

Estie nuzzled his cheek, rubbing her smooth
skin across his stubble. “Do we need to celebrate again?”

“Honey, let the confetti rain down on
us.”

And so it did.

Chapter 15

Estie had been staring at the damn
spreadsheet for hours, working out finances for her future plans.
Sure, she had a nest egg, but it’d take every penny she had and
then some to follow her dream. She chewed on the tip of her pen and
made a few more notes on a notepad.

She’d need to sell or rent this place, and
Derek would most likely purchase the house since it bordered his
property,

Sylvia had offered her a part-time job at
the clinic until she left for college and the pre-vet program,
which would help give her some needed experience and keep her busy,
especially after Brett moved out and went to his new team.

Oh, God, Brett.
She couldn’t imagine
life without Brett. Despite the short time they’d been together, it
truly felt like a lifetime to her, a really good lifetime.

She felt someone’s eyes on her, and a smile
tugged at her lips. She looked up from her computer, expecting
Brett to be standing there, having come back for something he’d
forgotten, par for the course with him. Only it wasn’t Brett, and
the smile slid off her face and landed in a heap in her
stomach.

Tyler stood a few feet from her, hands on
hips, legs braced, glaring down at her with his usual belligerent
scowl.

“Do you ever knock?” She said, annoyed at
this invasion of privacy. Just because he was her brother didn’t
give him the right to barge in.

“Not when the door is unlocked, I
don’t.”

Estie shrugged, making a mental note to lock
the door to keep out nosy, uninvited brothers. The dogs loved Tyler
so they wouldn’t bark to alert her. In fact, Marilyn flipped on her
back and stared up at him with devotion in her brown eyes. It was
disgusting. Tyler gingerly leaned down and scratched her belly.

“Your knee bothering you?”

“I might have overdone it a little last
night.”

“I don’t even want to know the details of
that.” Estie made a gagging sound.

“Not interested in my sex life?” He
straightened, his eyes stormy despite his teasing words.

“No more than you are in mine.”

Tyler shuddered and slid into a seat at the
table in the dining room, which doubled as her office, even though
she had a perfectly good desk in a spare bedroom. She preferred the
dining room with its big windows that opened onto Derek and
Rachel’s horse pastures.

“Got any coffee? Good coffee, not that crap
you call coffee.”

“Yes, I’ve got Tully’s.” Estie gathered all
her financial records into a pile and put a notebook on top of them
to prevent her brother’s prying eyes from seeing her state of
affairs.

“That’ll do. Since when do you have decent
coffee?”

Since Brett spent his every spare minute
with her and enjoyed a good cup of coffee, but Tyler didn’t need to
know that. Judging by the expression on his face, he already
figured it out. Tyler’s eyes narrowed, and he stared right past all
her mental walls, right down to the truth. He’d always had that
uncanny ability, and she hated it. Marilyn leaned against Ty and
put her head on his lap, staring up at him like a lovesick starlet.
Estie rolled her eyes.

“Marilyn, have a little pride.” Estie
chastised her dog, as she poured them both a cup of coffee and took
her seat again, pushing the other cup across the table.

Tyler scratched Marilyn behind the ears, a
spot guaranteed to make her drool and grovel. “You’re not
distracting me that easily.”

As if she ever could. “Then get to the
point.”

He held the cup up to his lips and sipped
while studying her over the rim, much like he studied opposing
defenses over the heads of his offensive line.

“You’re fucking with Brett, and I know
it.”

Estie blanched, swallowing hard. She ducked
her head, not wanting her brother to read every secret broadcast on
her face more clearly than on the big screen in Tyler’s condo.
Estie squirmed and picked up Spock, cuddling him close, trying to
draw comfort from the squirming cat, who so did not want to be
cuddled when it wasn’t his idea.

Tyler reached out his arms and Spock leapt
into them, deserting her, just like Marilyn had. Tyler shot her one
of his annoying as hell cocky grins.

“I’m not sure what you mean?” Estie gave the
traitorous cat the evil eye. In response Spock smirked at her with
one of those uniquely cat smirks that essentially said
fuck
you.

“What I mean is this is bullshit, and you
know it.”

“What’s bullshit?” Estie bit back her
temper, knowing Tyler probed for weakness in any situation, even
those involving family.

“You and Brett.”

Estie opened her mouth to deny his
accusations then thought better of it. Time to come clean, at least
partially. “Brett and I have a lot in common. We work on animal
issues together and hang out. We’re good friends and since when is
this any of your business?”

“When it affects the team.” Tyler helped
himself to another cup of coffee and sat back down. “You know, sis,
seriously, Brett’s a tough guy, but he’s damn vulnerable when it
comes to relationships. He doesn’t need you jacking him around when
he should be concentrating on the playoffs.”

“I’m not jacking him around.”

Tyler snorted and almost choked on his
coffee. “Never bullshit a bullshitter. I see right through you.
You’re just toying with the guy. You may not see it that way, but I
do. In less than a month, you’ll be dumping his ass and heading off
to vet school.” Tyler didn’t approve of her going to vet school.
He’d said as much during more than one conversation. He trusted her
to handle his finances and didn’t like change or the unknown any
more than she did.

“Do you really think I’m that shallow?”

Tyler raised one eyebrow and crossed his
arms over his chest, leaning back in his chair until it was
balancing on its back two legs. She hated it when he did that.
“You’re sleeping with him.”

“So what if I am?”

Tyler sat the chair back down with a bang,
and Estie jumped. “Brett could do something really special here,
and he doesn’t need you messing with his head right now. Think of
someone other than yourself for once.”

“He’s a big boy. He doesn’t need you to
defend his honor.”

Tyler scowled one of his badass Tyler
scowls, but it’d never affected Estie much. “Maybe you don’t see
it, but Brett’s emotionally vulnerable right now. He’s tough as
nails on the football field, but not so much in relationships. He’s
fallen for you like a guy diving into an empty swimming pool from
the high board. Not pretty.”

“And I’m the empty swimming pool?”

“Damn right. There might appear to be water
in that pool but there isn’t. At least not enough for him to swim
in instead of splattering his guts all over the bottom.” Tyler had
never embraced tact.

“Thanks for that visual. Maybe I filled the
pool while you weren’t looking.” Estie snapped the lid shut on her
laptop and glared at Tyler. Her damn cat had crawled up his shirt
and was rubbing its face across Tyler’s stubble.

“Sister, there isn’t enough water on earth
to fill that pool.”

Estie sat back like she’d been slapped
across the face. She’d just been insulted but she wasn’t even
certain what the insult was. “Shallow” was definitely part of the
definition. “So what’re you saying?”

“Interpret it any way you want. Just don’t
screw with Brett’s mind right now. I promised Murphy he’d get a
ring this year. I may not be able to fulfill that promise by being
on the field, but I sure as hell will do everything in my power off
the field. Don’t you fucking get it?”

“Get what?” She got a lot, but obviously not
the point her brother was trying to make.

“Brett’s going to move on, leave this area.
He’ll be made an offer with Miami he doesn’t dare refuse, big
money, great team around him, all the keys to success. He’d be a
dumbass to turn that down.”

“Even if he’s with me, why would he need to
turn it down?”

“The closest vet school is close to five
hours away. How are you and Brett holding it together with those
miles between you?”

“There are other teams. Doesn’t San
Francisco need a franchise quarterback?”

“Sure, a crappy team with no cap space, a
lousy offensive line, and receivers who couldn’t catch a beach ball
from five feet away. You’d put him in a situation like that for
your own selfish gain, just because it jives with your neat little
scheduled world?”

“No, I—”

“Think about it, Estie. He’ll do anything to
keep you with him. I know Brett. Will you do anything to be with
him?” Tyler rose to his feet. He put his cup in the dishwasher and
walked to the door, Marilyn dogging his heels every step of the
way, while Dozer did what he did best, dozed on his dog bed. Tyler
paused at Bongo’s cage. “Fuck you, Bongo.”

“Fuck you. Fuck you. Fuck you.” Bongo sang
happily.

“Tyler, stop that. You’ve turned Bongo into
a feathered version of you.”

“Lucky bird. Can you throw a fifty-yard
touchdown strike, buddy?” Tyler asked the parrot.

“Fuck you, Tyler. Fuck you. Fuck you.” Bongo
replied, as he used his foot to ring the little bell in his
cage.

Her brother laughed, not the least bit
contrite, and then turned his attention back to Estie. “Think about
what I said. Put Brett first and quit fucking with his mind.”

“I’m not.”

“Yeah, whatever. Stop living in dreamland
and wake up to reality like the rest of us.” Ty scratched Marilyn
on the head, and the dog almost swooned. “And keep this door
locked.”

With those last words, her brother was
gone.

“Screw you!” Estie shouted to the closed
door. Oh, yeah, like those words would affect her brother.

Shaking with remorse, Estie heaved a deep
sigh and walked to the window to stare at the horses grazing in the
field below in the misty rain. Fog settled over the fields and
nearby hillsides, giving the entire scene a surreal view.

Marilyn dropped down next to the door with a
thud and a deep sigh, while Bongo continued his repertoire of swear
words, and Dozer snored in the corner.

Her life was supposed to be getting on
track, not on the verge of derailing.

* * * * *

A few hours later, Estie walked into the
clinic in need of a friend and instantly knew something was wrong.
Not one dog barked from the back room in greeting. Not one family
sat in the waiting room with excited children ready to adopt their
next furry family member. And Frannie the receptionist wasn’t
scowling from the front desk like always.

Estie pushed open the door to the clinic and
kennel area. Empty. Almost sterile. She shivered and hugged
herself, feeling as if she’d walked into an alternate reality, some
kind of
Twilight Zone
moment or something from
The
X-Files
.

Sylvia walked out of the bathroom and
paused, her face a perfect emotionless mask, which meant she was
anything but emotionless. Whenever she reined in her emotions that
tightly she teetered on the edge of an emotional meltdown. “I
thought I heard someone out here.” Sylvia avoided her friend’s
accusing gaze and stared out the window at the stark winter
landscape and misty rain.