The Best Thing by Jaci Burton

begging for a tree. It would look beautiful there.”
    “And again, no one would see it.”
    An idea formed in her head. “Your house is so big. We should have the company Christmas party here.”
    He gave her a blank look, then shook his head. “No.”
    “Why not? There’s plenty of room here. I haven’t booked the venue yet. That was on my schedule for next week.” She shifted, looking around the room. “The kitchen is enormous, you have that game room off the garage with the pool table and arcade games. People would love it. I’ve often thought we should make our parties a little less stuffy and a lot more fun.”
    “Not a good idea. At all. I don’t want all those people here.”
    “Why not?”
    “Because...”
    She waited for his good reason why not. It didn’t come.
    “See? It’s a great opportunity for you and your brothers to start inviting your clients into your homes. It makes your relationships with them more personal. Wyatt has a perfect home for it, too. There’s plenty of room there, too. And with Ethan and Riley building that big new house, he can take a turn, too, though I think you and Wyatt should go first, since they’re going to be busy the next couple years with the new baby.”
    He leaned back on the sofa. “Just planning our lives away, aren’t you?”
    She lifted her chin. “No. I’m planning the company Christmas party. You and your brothers make the final decision on that. If you absolutely hate the idea, just shoot it down.”
    “I didn’t say I hated the idea. I need to think about it. We’ll discuss it at the meeting on Monday. And I don’t want to talk about work.” He swept his knuckles across her cheek. “I want to talk about that Olympic dash you did out of the restaurant.”
    She looked down, studying her jeans. She was hoping he wouldn’t bring that up, but how could he not? “Yeah. About that. Sorry.”
    “It’s okay. I didn’t pick the right place to have that conversation. It was my fault.”
    She tipped her gaze to his. It was nice of him to take the blame, when she knew it fell squarely on her. “No. It wasn’t. You were trying to figure out what the hell was wrong with me. It was all me. Trust me, I know this.”
    He let out a soft laugh. His touch was gentle as he swept a stray hair behind her ear. “Tori, there’s nothing wrong with you.”
    If only he knew. It was best he didn’t. She liked things the way they were, but as they sat here, she knew—one way or the other—things were going to change, starting tonight.
    But which way? She could either talk to him, tell him everything, or she could choose another way. She could stop fighting what she’d wanted all along.
    She shifted, leaned into him and laid her hand on what was a spectacularly solid thigh. His face registered surprise for a fraction of a second, but then he pulled her closer, his hand coming around to cup her neck.
    “You sure?”
    “Yes. I’m tired of fighting it.”
    He traced her bottom lip with the pad of his thumb, making her shudder, her senses alive with need for him.
    “It shouldn’t be a fight, Tori.”
    She took a deep breath. “Just shut up and kiss me.”
    Fortunately, Brody was a man of action. He kissed her, and everything inside her went instantly hot. And damp. It was just like the Christmas party last year, just like that night in her apartment. Brain cells began to burst, she lost all sense of time and place, and she focused only on the way his lips took command of hers, the way his tongue wound around hers. He wrapped an arm around her and dragged her onto his lap, the feel of all that solid muscle underneath her shocking her.
    And when he began to move his hand over her ribcage, her heart stuttered, then raced. He paused, no doubt waiting for her to push him away and make a run for the front door. But she covered his hand with hers and brought it over her breast. He molded his hand there, teased her by brushing his thumb over her, making her nipple