Years.

Maybe decades.

And the pressure released when he gave it to me by saying, “Works for me.”

I smiled straight out this time and his arm around my shoulders gave me a squeeze as his other arm wrapped around my waist and pulled me further on top of him.

“Coupla things though,” he muttered.

“Sock ‘em to me,” I muttered back and his lips twitched.

Then he said, “Reggie’s boy Toby does the delivering but it’s rare. We’ll order, I’ll go get it.”

That was a bummer because I didn’t want him to leave that bed or my sight but I still whispered, “Right.”

“Second, I pay.”

“But –” I started and his arms gave me a squeeze, his face growing serious.

“Women don’t buy with me,” he said quietly. “I get it, women’s lib and all, got no problem with that. But you’re with me, I pay. No discussion, definitely no stupid-ass fight. That’s just the way it is with me.”

Women’s lib and all. That was funny.

That’ s just the way it is with me. That wasn’t funny. I liked that. A whole lot. The best part was that it intimated it was about more than just one-time pizza.

Still, there was a debt to be paid.

“So how do I pay you back for three mind-boggling orgasms?” I asked.

His face changed but he didn’t answer. This was because the way his face changed was the answer.

An answer I liked. It was sexy as all hell.

And it also intimated this was more than one-time sex after a funeral.

“Okay then, we’re good,” I muttered through another grin, his arms gave me another squeeze, his lips did another twitch then he muttered back, “Reach out and get my jacket, honey.”

I slid off him, scooted to the edge of the bed, reached out and grabbed his suit jacket. I lifted it up, pulled the covers up my back and rolled under them toward him, bringing his jacket with me. I gave it to him, he fished his cell out of the inside pocket then he threw it over me and back on the floor.

I rolled into him as he pressed buttons on the phone.

“What do you like on it?” he asked, eyes to the phone.

“Pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms, onions, peppers, olives, ham or any combination of the above.”

His eyes went from his phone to me, “Pineapple?”

My lip curled as my nose scrunched and I didn’t try to stop it. Then again, I never tried to stop it. I was me. I thought what I thought. I liked what I liked. And I didn’t hide much of anything. Life was exhausting enough with all the ups and downs and bullshit people kept trying to feed you. Expending that kind of effort for essentially no purpose seemed a ridiculous waste of energy.

“I’ll take that as a no,” Mike murmured and I stopped scrunching my nose and smiled at him again.

“That’s a resounding no,” I clarified.

He smiled back then asked, “Meat lovers?”

“Sounds good to me.”

He pressed a button on his phone then put it to his ear.

“I approve,” I stated, shifting my body deeper into his, his arm immediately moved around me and I liked that too. “Reggie’s on speed dial,” I finished.

“Got two kids, only way it could be,” he muttered then, “Toby? Yeah, Mike Haines. I’m ordering a large meat lovers for pickup.”

He continued to order and my thoughts turned to the fact he had two kids.

I knew that. Darrin told me. Darrin also told me Mike was divorced. Darrin had called the minute he heard. Darrin, until four days ago when he died, had delusions that he could wring a miracle. That miracle being that Mike Haines would put his ring on my finger thus bringing me back to The ‘Burg so I would be in the bosom of my family. Better yet, that I would be in the bed of a decent man who wouldn’t work my last nerve and Darrin could quit worrying about me. Therefore, Darrin had been generous with his information that it was known throughout town that Mike’s ex was a total bitch. Also that she treated him like shit. And further that Mike was roundly liked so it took effort to stop the town council from organizing a parade when the divorce was final.

What I got out of this was that it sucked a good guy like Mike got caught up with a woman who treated him like shit. I also wondered how good women like me, and I hoped I was a decent person or at least I tried to be, found myself losers and good guys like Mike found bitches and people like us never found each other.

The way of the world.

Until, of course, on the day of your brother’s funeral, you found yourself naked in bed with a good guy who was fucking great at sex, had awesome hometown pizza on speed dial and knew without asking to order a large.

Still, it wasn’t lost on me that if Darrin was alive, regardless of the fact he was religious, conservative and I was his baby sister, he’d be doing cartwheels knowing I was naked in bed with Mike Haines.

And part of this not being lost on me was the part that sucked because Darrin was no longer alive.

I knew my thoughts had drifted but I didn’t know how deeply or that my eyes had until I heard Mike call, “Dusty?” and felt his arm give me a squeeze.

My eyes left the pillow beside his head and went to his to see not only were his on me but he was no longer on the phone.

Mike caught one look at my eyes and whispered, “Honey,” as he tossed his phone on the bed, his other arm came around me and I knew he read me.

“Sorry,” I whispered back.

“Don’t be.” He, too, was still whispering.

“You ever lose anyone close?” I asked, he shook his head and I felt my lips curve but I didn’t feel the feeling I usually felt when they did that. “I’m glad for that for you,” I said softly.

“My job, I deal with a lot of loss, Dusty, and you’ll get through,” Mike assured me.

“I know, I just don’t wanna have to.”

“Bet not,” he muttered then sat up, taking me with him, shifting me and the covers fell down around our waists as he settled sitting up with me straddling him. He had one arm wrapped around my hips, the other one angled up my back with his hand flat and warm between my shoulder blades. I tipped my head down to look at him and saw he was already looking up at me. “Like I said, my job, see a lot of loss. Never get used to it. So I guess, being removed and feeling that, you experiencing it, the bad news is, you’ll never get used to not having Darrin anymore. So there are no magic words. There’s no way to ease the pain. This is just life and like anything, you keep on living it and just learn to deal.”

“Don’t beat around the bush, darlin’,” I repeated his words from earlier as a lame joke and, even though we both knew it fell flat, he still was a good guy so he smiled at me. I liked his smile so I curled a hand around the side of his neck and my arm around his shoulders. Once I’d latched on, I dipped my face close and promised, “I’ll learn to deal.”

He tipped up his chin, pressing his hand between my shoulder blades and touched his lips to mine. Then he settled back and said softly, “And I’ll go get pizza.”

“I bet pizza will help me deal,” I guessed and got another smile. This one hit his eyes and I liked it a whole lot more.

“Yeah, bet it will. Now shift off me, Angel, I gotta get dressed.”

I shifted off him but I didn’t want to. I didn’t want to because his body was hard, warm, big and I liked being wrapped around it with his arms wrapped around me.

And I didn’t want to because he called me “Angel”. He was the only one who ever called me “Angel”. He started to call me that within weeks of him dating Debbie. I didn’t know why he did it because I wasn’t an angel, I was a rascal or at least that was what my Dad thought of me and thus that was my Dad’s nickname for me. But, for whatever reasons he called me that, I’d loved it then and I loved it now.

But more, I loved it that he remembered to call me “Angel”. Time had gone by, not a little of it, a lot. And as that time went by, I thought of him and not only when Darrin was informing on him to me. Mike Haines had popped into my mind often as I lived my life. And each time, he felt good there. In fact, it wasn’t unheard of for me to talk about him. All my closest friends knew all about him, including updates on his life after Darrin reported in. I didn’t know if the same happened with him about me. But I liked it that he didn’t forget something important to me.

I pulled the covers up to my chest, watched as he tugged on his clothes and listened as he said, “Gonna hit my house, change, go get the pizza and be back. Probably take twenty minutes, half an hour.”

“Later, do you have to get back to your kids?” I asked and his eyes came to me as he buttoned up his shirt.

“They’re with their mother this weekend.”

Lucky, lucky me.

“So is that a no?” I asked quietly and hopefully.

“Is that an invitation to spend the night?” he asked back, not quietly.

“Yes,” I answered, also not quietly.

He finished with his buttons, his hands went to his hips but his eyes didn’t leave me.

Then it was Mike talking quietly when he stated, “While I’m gone, honey, I need you to think. I came in here bein’ a dick, out of line and I wound you up. You’ve lost Darrin and I know you’re in pain. But what you said earlier, I’ll tell you now, I agree. About two seconds into that kiss, it became somethin’ different for me. Pleased as fuck to hear you felt the same.” He grinned a gentle grin before he went on, “Now, I’m glad you liked what we had in that bed, because, bottom line, I liked it too and when I say that, Angel, I liked it too. And I can walk away after pizza happy I gave you that in the middle of a shitty time for you. But, before I get back, you gotta think about if what you said is true. If this is about working through your pain with me, I gave what I’m gonna give to that. If this is about something else, then I’ll be spending the night.”

“You really don’t beat around the bush, do you?” I whispered, liking that too.

A whole lot.

“Got two kids, a bitch of an ex-wife who made my life a misery and went through somethin’ which meant I lost my shot at a good thing that would make me happy. Since I had a taste of a good thing, I know what I’m lookin’ for. And since I lost that, I’m not a man prone to dickin’ around. Not anymore.”

There it was. He didn’t beat around the bush.

Yep, I liked that.

A whole lot.

“I’ll search my feelings while you’re gone, Mike,” I told him softly.

That was when he walked to the bed, reached out, grasped my hips and pulled me toward him. When he had me where he wanted me, he put a hand in the bed on either side of my hips and leaned in so his face was an inch away from mine.

Then, softly back, he said, “I’d appreciate that, Dusty.”

All that was hot. Every word he’d said. Every move he’d made.

And that had nothing to do with me working through pain.

Not one thing.

It was just hot.

“Now,” he ordered, “kiss me.”

That was hot too so I leaned up and pressed my mouth to his.

His arm sliced around my back and pulled me up harder so my body was pressed to his and he took my lip touch straight to a hard, deep, wet kiss.

 I liked that a whole lot more.

“Be back, no later than thirty,” he whispered against my lips when he stopped kissing me.

I gave a slight nod in the space he allowed and tried to regulate my breathing.

I watched his eyes smile.

Then he set me in bed, let me go, sat on the side of the bed and dealt with his socks and shoes.

“Keycard, nightstand,” I told him when he stood. He looked down at me. Not done giving me Mike Lovin’, he wrapped a hand around the back of my head, leaned in and touched his mouth to mine.

Then he let me go again, stretched out an arm and nabbed his phone. Then he reached down, grabbed his suit jacket and I watched him move to the nightstand, tag the keycard then I watched him lift a hand, flick out two fingers and shoot me a grin before he left the room.

The door had just closed behind him when I dropped to my back and stared at the ceiling.

Moments passed before, my eyes on the ceiling, I asked my brother, “Happy?”

Darrin didn’t reply but I knew my brother. No way in hell he’d want to leave the wife he loved, the boys who meant the world to him, a father who he respected and taught him how to be a man, the mother who doted on him and taught him how to love or the sisters who worked his nerves but he loved all the same.