Racing Home (Bryant Brothers Book 1)

thought they were going to toast his brother’s engagement, and while that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, he figured he ought to actually meet the girl before the banns were posted.
***
When Camila parked her Mustang next to the curb in front of the address her sister had given her, she noted that the door was open and two cars were parked inside the garage, plus two vehicles in the driveway. One was Maddy’s old Ford Focus and the other was a tricked out, newer model, black on black Silverado pickup truck.
The house was a colonial, situated in a western suburb of Detroit. This place was actually closer to the bar where Camila worked than her own apartment was. The siding was white, the shutters dark green. Established bushes and trees dotted the front yard, and a mass of red, white, and purple petunias spilled out of a half barrel on its side next to the walkway leading to the front door.
This was what her life had been reduced to? Begging her younger sister to ask complete strangers to take her in so she could hide from some unnerving bar patron who had decided he and Camila should be together forever, regardless of her opinion on the matter?
She’d called Maddy and casually (well, that was the goal, anyhow) mentioned that she was looking for a place to stay for a few days—but not with their parents—and her sister had invited her to hang out with Maddy and her new boyfriend at his parents’ house.
C’mon, Camila, you can do this. It’s only four days. You have to report back to work on Friday, and there’s a good chance your stalker will be gone by then.
There was, wasn’t there? Being stalked was messing with her sleep schedule, as in she wasn’t getting much of it at all because her brain wouldn’t stop imagining all those scenes from too many Criminal Minds episodes that could actually happen to her.
Her purse vibrated, and she dug out her phone to read the incoming text.
Maddy: Where are you?
Why was she stalling? This was a far better option than spending the week alone in her apartment. Plus, Maddy had mentioned a pool. It was practically a vacation.
Scratch that, there was no practically about it.
Sucking in a deep breath and expelling it slowly, Camila shot a reply to her sister that simply said, “Coming,” and then she climbed out of the car, grabbed her bag, and headed toward the house.

Chapter Two
Camila rang the doorbell, and a dog began barking like its life depended on announcing to the world that someone was standing on the front porch.
After a few moments, she heard a masculine voice yell at the dog to shut up, and then the door was wrenched open and a lean yet solidly muscled man stood there, his body framed like a halo from light shining from somewhere inside the house.
Holy criminy, was this Elliot? Camila hoped her sister stuck with him for the long haul, because this guy was hot. Yeah, yeah, that wasn’t what relationships should be based on, but damn, Maddy had certainly scored with this one, even if it was only for a few months. One glance at his hard, lean physique and Camila decided he was probably amazing in the sack.
Totally logical, that was her.
“Er, hi. I’m Camila.”
The guy grasped the top of the doorframe and leaned forward, his gaze sweeping her body in that same way confident guys had been doing for probably thousands of years. “Hey, Camila,” he drawled. “For future reference, nobody uses the front door here. Makes Freddy nuts.”
“Freddy?”
He gestured at the dog, who was now sniffing at Camila’s ankles, its stubby tail wagging about a hundred miles a minute. It was brown-and-white spotted and looked like a spaniel. One of those British sounding ones. King Charles…?
“Cavalier King Charles Spaniel,” the guy said as if he could hear her thoughts. “Also known as Sir Freddy Krueger or Freddy for short.”
“You named your dog after a fictitious serial killer?”
He shrugged.
“So, erm, you must be Elliot?”
“Nope.”
She waited. He gave her that classic guy once-over again. Not surprisingly, he flexed his pecs.
Oh Lord.
“So you’re one of his brothers.”
“Yep.”
She sighed. “I don’t suppose you have a name?”
He grinned. She half expected him to say, “It’s XYZ, and I’m hoping you’ll be screaming it later.” Maddy could have warned her that the brother was one of those guys. Whichever brother this was.
“Tommy.” He thrust out his arm. “Nice to meet you. Who are you?”
She shook his hand. It was huge and warm and annoying in that it gave her tingles because she was definitely not interested in Mr. Full of Himself. “Er, I just told you my name is Camila.”
“Yeah, I got that part. Why are you here, Camila? And how do you know my brother?”
She canted her head. “Why are you so defensive?”
He thrust his thumb over his right shoulder. “Because there’s already a girl here with Elliot, and while it’s kind of badass that he has more than one clamoring after him, I like the one that’s already here, so I’m thinking you should probably leave.”
Camila’s jaw dropped to somewhere in the vicinity of her chest. Was this guy accusing her of being—what? A stalker?
“Um, I’m Maddy’s sister. She said I could stay here for a few days.”
His brows shot into his hairline while his gaze danced over her body again. She deliberately crossed her arms over her boobs and glared at him.
Which earned her a slow grin in return.
You’re kidding, right? Camila bit her tongue. Now that she was here, she didn’t really want to go back to her apartment, in case the actual stalker was hanging out there. Plus, she was admittedly looking forward to seeing her