by Ann, Natalie
“Yeah, you did. This is hard for me, Alec, this whole situation, for reasons I would rather not get in to. But I was willing to give it a try and that just made me doubt myself again.”
“Don’t,” he said rushing forward and holding her. He leaned back and tipped her chin up with his thumb. “Don’t doubt yourself, or my intentions. This thing with us is…unfamiliar territory for me and I messed up in a way I never have before. If I could turn the clock back I would and not even say it. I truly meant no harm by it.”
He continued to search her eyes for any sign she believed him and when she cracked a little grin he let out a sigh of relief. “I’ll give you a pass. Just one though. We haven’t talked much and don’t know each other well, but now you know. I like to bust and tease, but there is a line that you shouldn’t cross and you did.”
“Understood,” he said, relieved. He lowered his mouth to hers, testing the waters again, to see if the waves were still splashing, but she held him tight and returned his kiss, and for the moment he felt he’d smoothed it over as best he could. But now he knew. “Do me a favor…”
“What’s that?’
“Don’t ever tell my mother I just insulted you or made you feel cheap. She’d still ground me.”
“We’ll see. I might need it as leverage at some point.”
When she laughed, he did too and knew the crisis was over. However small it might have seemed to him, it obviously meant a great deal to her. “Let’s get out of here.”
Flipping the last light switches on their way out, he walked her to her car, leaned down and gave her a quick kiss through her window and said, “There’s always tomorrow for me to mess up too.” When she grinned, he said, “Are you up to keeping me in line?”
“I can handle you.”
That’s what he was afraid of.
Moot
Sunday morning Brynn got up bright and early to go to the store. They’d finished painting the upstairs in record time yesterday. When they were in the kitchen cleaning up the rollers again, her mind started to drift back to what they did on the island Friday night. His must have too, because suddenly she was sitting on that island again.
“Let’s just start where we finished last night, before I made an ass of myself with my incredibly stupid and childish statement,” he said quickly before his lips descended onto hers.
Only this time, he went a little further. This time his hand went under her shirt, held her more and held her longer. Caressed more and a bit longer. Then quickly, her shirt was up and over her head. She wasn’t sure how it happened. Just as quickly, he was reaching for the clasp in front of her bra and undoing that.
Next thing she knew his mouth was where his hands had been. If she thought his hands were warm before, they were nothing compared to his tongue. It was warm, soft and firm all at the same time, and it was working some serious magic on her.
“Alec,” she breathed out. “We need to stop.”
“Hmm,” he said around kisses on her chest. “We don’t need to do anything.”
“But we should,” she said weakly. If he continued this, she wasn’t going to be able to pull back. Maybe he had more willpower than her. She didn’t think so, but at this moment she couldn’t think at all, and that was scary.
“We said some petting,” he reminded her.
“This is more than petting,” she said, gasping out when his teeth grazed her.
“Not to me, it’s not,” he countered, didn’t stop, and she didn’t want him to, either. Just as fast, his hand was in her shorts. She wasn’t even aware he had unbuttoned and unzipped them, but he was touching her now and she was burning up.
“You’re so hot, so wet, and feel so good to me,” he said, almost amazed. She had no ability to talk. It had been too long since she’d had a man’s hands on her and she couldn’t hold back. He slid one finger inside of her, a few more rubs, and she was completely over the top moaning and gripping his arms tight.
That was not what she thought would happen when she started her day. “Now it’s more than petting,” she said, panting out a few breaths.
He removed his hand, placed a few more kisses on and around her chest, then refastened her bra. Grabbing her shirt, he handed it to her. “Yeah, but you aren’t sorry, are you? Because I’m not. And you said you forgave me this morning when I brought you flowers and a bag of Hershey kisses.” He had the biggest grin on his face, and she couldn’t help but smile back.
“Not in the least. Though I have to say it’s probably one-sided right now.” She wiggled her eyebrows at him. She could be playful with him, and she liked that about him. She liked his boyish qualities and his humor, and after a lot of thought last night she realized that maybe she overreacted to his suggestion.
Not that she would have been willing to do it for him, but he had no idea about her past and what had happened, and she knew beyond a doubt that was the driving force in her fierce reaction to it.
She’d finally reminded herself that Alec had never showed any signs of being degrading toward women. He even went out of his way to make her feel comfortable every time they were around the crew, so she shouldn’t have thought he was trying to make her feel cheap. And that was a good word he used, because cheap was exactly how she felt when he’d said it, only she didn’t realize it at that moment. Of course his horrified expression when she said what was bothering her should have been enough to make her realize he had no ill intent.
So on Saturday morning when she walked into the model home, she was prepared to give him the pass like she said and pretend it didn’t happen. To consider it a one-time lapse in judgment on his part. When he handed her flowers and chocolate and batted his eyes at her asking for forgiveness this morning, she was glad she’d already made the decision to do it based on his good qualities and not because he was softening her up.
“I’m good,” he replied. She looked down at the front of his shorts. Nope, he was anything but good. Actually, he was pretty great, but she kept that comment to herself. It wasn’t like he didn’t catch her eyes on him. “Well, I will be in a few minutes if we change the subject.”
“You sure?” The last thing she wanted was to be called a tease, so fair was fair in her mind.
“Not unless you want to cancel out our thirty days. Less than half to go,” he reminded her.
“No. Let’s stick to it. We really should, don’t you think? Or is it moot right now?”
“It’s not moot. And yes, we can stick to it. We should. Let’s get out of here before I’m tempted again.”
She didn’t need to be told twice, so she jumped down fast and they left to grab a late lunch and then parted ways.
Now, with her SUV full of food and drink, she went to unload everything. Alec had given her a set of keys for the house yesterday and in turn she gave him the key to her storage unit. She still had a few hours before they started to move her things. She didn’t have a lot of furniture to begin with, so it was decided to bring it all over now, and they would deal with the staging at another date.
Opening the back of her vehicle, she pulled out cases of water and sports drinks. She’d noticed the extra refrigerator that Alec had in the garage. He’d told her he stored drinks in there for the men. In the heat, he wanted to make sure there were plenty of fluids available so she figured she would just continue to replenish the supply. After all, she was living here for free, so in her mind it was the least she could do.
She’d also seen an industrial-sized coffee maker at the store that she could bring out to the garage too. She didn’t hesitate to purchase that either. She knew Alec often brought coffee in for the guys in the morning, so she could manage that too. She would just make sure the door in the garage entering into the house was locked now that she was living there.
It was her home, after all. She didn’t want to worry about the men just walking in when she wasn’t there. Or worse, when she was there.
Once she set everything up, she carried some staples and food she bought a
nd began putting them away. She would have to get more at a later date, but this would do for a week or so.
An hour later, with everything put away just the way she liked, she went up to her bedroom and started to hang the few boxes of clothes she’d brought over earlier, then tucked her toiletries away.
Looking at her watch, she knew she had another hour before they showed up with her first load of things, so she had enough time to run to the store for beer. Alec had already told her what everyone drank.
Back again, with the beer chilling in the fridge, she heard men’s voices in her driveway and ran outside to see two Harper Construction trucks loaded down with one towing a trailer behind it. By the looks of it, they managed to get all of her stuff in one trip. Even better.
She rushed outside to help, only to come face-to-face with Ben Harper. Wow. Alec said they all looked similar and he wasn’t kidding.
But she had no clue how big Ben would be. The same height as Alec and Phil, only bigger. Wider. He was much more imposing too: his frame, his face, and his demeanor. He had to have been a force to reckon with in the Navy. Still sporting a military cut, his chest and arms were massive, but he was smiling at her in a light friendly way that reminded her of Alec. Alec did say they had the same laid-back personality, only something about Ben made you step back and pause.
Then her eyes landed on the two blondes. Obviously Ryan and Lucas. They were both a little taller than Alec. One was built just as big as Alec and there was no doubt he was a tad prettier than everyone else. Not in a feminine way, only there was a shine to him the others didn’t have. That had to be Ryan.
No matter how you looked at it, she was surrounded by a group of extremely attractive men. It should be illegal to have that much testosterone together at once.
***
Alec watched Brynn rush outside, then come to a complete standstill. The excitement was evident on her face, and he was glad on more than one level. First, he couldn’t have been more thrilled that she was letting Friday night go, and said she’d wipe it from her mind like it never happened. He’d never brought flowers and chocolate to a woman before and hoped it didn’t smack of desperation, but frankly, he’d been feeling that before he saw her again yesterday morning.
He was terrified that she would have thought it over more after she left on Friday and decided it wasn’t going to work and they would be better off just having a work relationship. He would have respected her decision had she said that, but was thankful she didn’t.
With each day that went by, he felt a bigger and bigger pull toward her, and the thought that he almost blew it was more than he could bear.
On the flip side, after he had her on the island again, he felt there was no way he was going to make it the next two weeks. But somehow he managed to pull it together after he left her yesterday. He even managed a few hours of sleep after two cold showers.
“Brynn, this is Ben. I’m sure you’ve figured that out.” Then he turned and introduced Ryan and Lucas. She rushed forward and shook everyone’s hand while he tried his damnedest not to make eye contact with Ryan. Not with the way Ryan was smirking at him right now out of the corner of his eye, or Ben for that matter. Even Lucas was giving him the third degree this morning. Damn lawyers, always had to question everything.
“Thank you for all your help,” she said, addressing everyone. “I really appreciate it. I hope Alec told you I’ve got lots of beer and will order pizza later too.”
“He did,” Ryan said. “Hope you don’t mind, but Kaitlin, Sophia, and Brooke are coming over a little later too. They’ve been dying to see the development.”
“Not at all,” Brynn said, smiling.
“Brooke’s my wife,” Lucas added.
“I figured as much,” she said, silently laughing at him, Alec saw.
“Well,” Alec jumped in, “just tell us where you want everything. Of course you’ve got every box labeled clearly, so I can probably figure it out on my own.”
“Just follow the labels then. I’ll stay out of your way, I promise.”
Two hours later, the last piece of furniture was unloaded. They brought her bed in first. While they were unloading the rest of her stuff, she was already putting her bed frame together before he could offer to help. He shouldn’t have been bothered by it. He should have been happy she was so independent, yet he wanted to help her.
In the end it worked out. They were able to put her mattress on the frame and her room was set to go. Which gave him pause being in there with her, and she noticed. They both got quiet, just staring at each other almost as if reading the other’s thoughts, until Ben walked in.
Ben always saw more than Alec wanted him to see, and he didn’t sugarcoat it. “I can leave and lock the door behind me if you two want. I’ll give everyone a head’s up to not bother you for about ten minutes. You’ve always been fast, Alec. Will that work?” he added, laughing.
Alec turned his head and glared at Ben. “Shut up, Ben.”
“You didn’t say no,” he added. Then turned to Brynn, smirking. “Neither did you.”
“Ben, don’t push it. We’re coming down now,” Alec replied.
No Pressure
Four days later Brynn rolled out of bed later than normal. She was exhausted and hated feeling that way. She’d been running around like crazy trying to work and rearrange things just right in the house. She finally got her office set up the way she wanted it here.
Now she would be ready to bring potential buyers through the model home first, explain things, and show more details than she could at the main office. Plus she could show them other options and layouts for them to buy. Having two sets of materials and binders—one at each of her offices—worked the best, and this allowed potential buyers to get a feel for the land and the neighborhood they would be purchasing in too.
But it wasn’t just that that had kept her awake last night. She was thinking about the past Sunday and how much fun she’d had after the women showed up.
Brynn never thought of herself as a social person, at least not until she started selling real estate. Then she realized how much fun it was to talk with people.
She’d always been good with listening and speaking right at the perfect time. Maybe that was what made her such a good salesperson. Either way, she enjoyed it.
She used to enjoy all the get-togethers that her old job entailed. Open houses, cocktail parties, work functions, anything to bring in more business. Sunday afternoon reminded her of those times.
Only she wasn’t trying to sell anything to anyone on Sunday. It was fun, it was relaxing, and surprisingly, she felt right at home with that group of people in the house.
Lots of laughter, lots of teasing, and lots of love, because she could see it in the room that day.
“How are you hanging in there, Kaitlin?” Sophia had asked, slipping her arm around Kaitlin’s shoulders and giving her a little squeeze.
Kaitlin’s lovely face formed a pout. “I’m hanging on by a thread. I’m not sure how my mother went on to have two more babies after Alec and Phil were born. It hurts to lie down. It hurts to sit. It hurts to walk. Heck, it even hurts to breathe at times. It’s like everything is squished inside of me.”
Brooke had nodded her head in understanding. “I know. I wasn’t nearly as big as you obviously, with only child, but I know what it feels like. This pregnancy doesn’t seem as bad, which is a good thing. I guess that is why your mom went on for two more,” she added with a warm smile.
Brooke didn’t look to be that pregnant, but she was further along than Brynn had realized. “Do you know what you’re having?” Brynn asked.
“Another boy. I guess the Mathews’ genes run deep.” Brooke turned to Kaitlin. “Harper is going to be so outnumbered.”
“Who’s Harper?” Brynn asked, confused, wondering if she missed another brother. And why weren’t they using a first name?
Kaitlin ran a hand over her stomach. “My daughter’s name is going to be Harper. Our son is g
oing to be Cameron, which was my mother-in-law’s maiden name. A little of both families.”
“That’s so sweet,” Brynn said, and meant it. It was something she or Drew would do, she knew it. They always tried to honor their mother in everything they did, in every memory. That thought, mixed in with all the pregnant women around her, made her realize how much she missed her mom at that moment, and how much her mom would never get to see. She blinked back the tears before they could fall.
“How’s Cori doing?” Sophia asked the two women.
Brooke answered, “Not much better than Kaitlin.” Brooke turned to Brynn. “Cori is my best friend, who happens to be married to Ryan’s best friend. We’re all really close, as I’m sure you can tell. Anyway, she is due in less than three weeks, but they bumped up her C-section a week. They pulled her out of work two weeks ago, and she’s climbing the walls and driving Jack nuts.”
“Lots of babies coming. That’s great.” Brynn grinned and turned to Sophia. She’d met and talked to Sophia a few times and felt like she could joke with her, so she didn’t hesitate to say, “Not a shotgun wedding for you, is it?”
Sophia threw her head back and laughed. “No, but Phil and I have waited a long time. Were ready to make it official.”
Brynn had heard all about Sophia and Phil’s relationship and how soon their wedding was. She also knew Ben was getting married in the spring. It seemed like this group of friends had weddings and babies every time someone turned around.
Brynn’s alarm went off a second time. Damn, she’d fallen back to sleep thinking about Sunday again. Now she was really late. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and ran into the shower.
Once she was done, she realized she hadn’t grabbed any clothes to put on, so she pulled her little cotton boxer shorts back on, and yanked her tank top over her head. Then she grabbed the towel, dried her hair some more and wrapped it around her head.
Walking into her room she noticed the time and decided to run down and start the coffee first for the men.
