Winning the Right Brother by Abigail Strom Page B

night.
    She’d fantasized plenty, but she’d never had an honest to goodness dream about him. Or any man. Not like that, anyway. Come to think of it, this was the first sexy dream she’d ever had in her life.
    It had been so real. Alex above her, Alex inside her, Alex surrounding her. It had been so real that the sexual languor started to wear off and embarrassment took its place.
    Which was ridiculous, of course. She had no control over her dreams. And she was attracted to Alex, even though she had no plans of ever telling him that, so it wasn’t all that surprising that he’d pop up in her subconscious now and again.
    Holly glanced at the clock. She’d gone to bed early so she’d be able to wake up early, and it had worked. It was six-thirty in the morning; she’d beaten the alarm by half an hour. She could get up, shower, dress, have breakfast with Will and still be at work by eight.
    The only problem was, she didn’t want to move. She wanted to lie here with her eyes closed and imagine Alex touching her.
    Suddenly disgusted with herself, Holly threw off the covers and slid her legs out to the floor. The weather had turned cooler last night and the floorboards were cold against her bare feet, sending a good bracing shiver through her as she headed for the bathroom. She added a good bracing shower, followed by a careful application of minimal, professional makeup. She picked out the most sober of all the outfits she’d bought yesterday, a dark gray wool pantsuit with a subdued pinstripe of lighter gray. Under it she wore a utilitarian bra and a gray cashmere turtleneck. Add to that her trusty chignon and a pair of low heels and she was ready to face the world.
    Her head high and her steps brisk, she headed downstairs to see if Will was up before her. Alex would probably still be asleep, since his day started late and ended late.
    Only he wasn’t asleep. He was right there in the kitchen when she came around the corner, and she actually crashed into him before she could stop herself.
    He jumped away from her like he’d been shot.
    “Holly!” he said, backing up to the other end of the kitchen. She must really have startled him.
    And then, just as she’d feared, the sight of him brought back her dream in living color and she felt herself blushing. “Um, is Will up yet?” she asked to cover.
    “Yes, he’s—”
    “Here I am, Mom. Wow, you’re up early! I told Coach you wouldn’t be awake until twenty minutes before you had to leave for work.”
    “Right. Well, I wanted to get an early start. You, too, I see. And you, Alex.”
    “I’m on my way out the door now,” he said quickly. “And I’ll be back pretty late tonight. Go ahead and have dinner without me. I’ve got a lot of administrative chores to take care of, and then there’s the Steeltown game to prepare for. I’ll see you at practice, Will.” He started to head for the back door.
    “Hey, Coach!” Will called out.
    “What?” Alex answered over his shoulder, sounding impatient.
    “Aren’t you forgetting something?” he asked significantly, indicating his mother.
    Alex looked back at her, nonplussed. “Oh. Right.” He paused a moment, frowning, and then backtracked for the living room.
    “What’s going on?” Holly asked Will.
    “You’ll see,” he said.
    Alex came back carrying a gaily if inexpertly wrapped package.
    “Here,” he said without much ceremony, plunking it down on the kitchen table in front of Holly. “Something for you that Will and I picked up yesterday.”
    Holly had forgotten the present that the two of them had hidden from her. She ripped open the bright paper and gasped when she saw all the CDs that spilled out.
    “These are all… How did you…” She got it suddenly and smiled at her son. “You told him what to get.” She turned the smile on Alex. “And you spent way, way too much money on these. I should be mad, but…this really helps,” she said. “I mean, I know we’re not going to recreate