The Slade Brothers: A Complete Small Town Contemporary Romance Collection

by Alexis Winter

  Rose and I talk like we didn’t talk just yesterday until she’s pulling into my drive. Nate is leaning against the barn like he’s been waiting for me.

  “That him?” Rose asks, pointing one finger in his direction.

  “That’s him,” I mumble, feeling defeated.

  “Want me to stay until you get inside?”

  I offer her a smile. “No, I’ll be fine. Thanks for the ride.” I open the door and climb out. As I walk toward the porch, she turns around and leaves me in silence and darkness. I have to walk past the barn and Nate to get to the house. I cross my arms and pick up the speed.

  “Brennan, wait,” he says, chasing after me.

  “No, Nate. I’m done. Stay away from me.” I pull open the screen door, but he catches ahold of my wrist. He doesn’t tug it or try spinning me around. He just holds it until I look over at him.

  “I see it now.”

  “See what?” I ask, wanting to play along so he’ll leave me alone.

  “The problem. I shouldn’t drink. I can see the difference. When I’m sober, we’re great—you like me. But when I’m drunk, I never know when to stop with anything—drinking, asking for more from you. Give me one last chance. I swear, I’m done drinking. I won’t touch alcohol again. I swear.”

  I yank my wrist away and walk into the house, closing the door between us. For safe measure, I lock it so he can’t walk in even though I know he won’t.

  In the morning, I’m not looking forward to seeing Colton again, but I have to. For Milly. I pray that maybe he’d had a little too much to drink and he doesn’t even remember it. I leave the house early and make the drive into town. I let myself into his place and the kitchen light is already on. Slowly, I walk in to find him pouring his thermos of coffee to take with him.

  “Hey,” I say, leaning against the counter.

  He turns to face me, leaning against the opposite counter. “Listen…” he starts.

  I hold up my hand, showing him my palm. “Colton,” I begin, but he cuts me off.

  “No.” He steps closer, putting only a few inches between us as he looks down at me. His closeness makes me freeze like a deer in the headlights. “I’m sorry for running out of here like I did last night.” His hot breath blows against my face, making me wet my lips. “I shouldn’t have run out like that. I was just…”

  “Scared?” I finish for him.

  “Yeah, I was scared,” he confesses. “And not to mention, it probably would’ve been a horrible mistake. I mean, you’re young—you have your whole life ahead of you. And I’m…me—old, bitter, broken, angry. And then there’s Milly—she’s the one that would end up getting hurt in all of this.” He shakes his head. “You’re the best thing to happen to her. Since you’ve been here, she’s been happy and playful, and she’s learning so much from you already.”

  Looking into his dark eyes, having him so close to me, I want to argue that it wouldn’t be a mistake, but deep down, I know that he’s right. Things between us, no matter how great they could be, would never work out. And poor Milly is trapped in the middle. Because of that, I can’t argue. I won’t.

  “So what do we do? Just pretend last night didn’t happen, like we didn’t kiss?”

  He nods once with his lips pressed together. “That’s exactly what we do.”

  “You think you can do that?” I ask, fearing that I won’t ever be able to forget that magical kiss we shared.

  “I can if you can.”

  Milly. Think of Milly. “Okay,” I agree.

  “Okay,” he says with a nod of his head. He gives me one last longing look, his eyes staring at mine and working their way down my face slowly, lingering a little longer on my lips. “Okay,” he says again, turning away. He grabs his coffee and his lunchbox. “See you after work.”

  When I hear the front door click shut, a deep breath leaves my lips. I’m relieved that we didn’t have the awkward conversation I thought we’d have, but I also feel let down for some weird reason. I know he’s right. We’d never work out. There’s no possible way we could ever work out, but still…kissing him, having my body pressed to his, it felt right—more right than I’ve ever felt with anyone else. That has to mean something.

  Yeah, it means that you’re a twenty-four year old virgin that’s horny.

  I roll my eyes at myself for even thinking that. With a heavy sigh, I push myself off the counter and pour a cup of coffee. With my anxious cleaning spree last night, there’s nothing left to do until Milly wakes up.

  When Milly wakes up an hour later, we do our regular routine of Mickey Mouse, breakfast, and flash cards. She’s so smart. Already she knows her ABCs and can recognize the letters from just a week of practicing. Instead of singing the song again while I clean up, we count. Milly was already counting to ten, so we count to twenty…over and over. Finally, we move into the living room for some play time. With the house clean and the laundry done, I sit at the piano in the corner. My fingers move over the keys slowly as I think of a song to play. For some reason, “Amazing Grace”—one of the first songs I learned—comes to mind.

  My fingers start to move over the keys and music fills the air. Milly stops and stares. I smile at her as I play out the song. Starting again, and this time with her as my audience, I sing the words out loud. She smiles wide and her blue eyes light up. She puts down the doll and comes to sit on the bench with me. I look at her while I sing, not needing to see the keys to play a song I know by heart. I sing the lyrics to her smiling face.

  She never tears her eyes away.

  Eleven

  Colton

  BEAUTIFUL music hits my ears the moment I walk into the house. I freeze when the singing starts. At first, I think it’s just something on TV, but her voice fills my ears. It’s hauntingly beautiful. Absolutely breathtaking. I lean against the door frame and watch from behind. Milly sits on the piano bench next to Brennan as she plays “Amazing Grace.” Milly is in awe. She never stops smiling, and she never tears her eyes away from Brennan.

  Goosebumps prickle my skin, and a chill races up my spine from her voice. It’s soft and sweet. She’s singing slow, much slower than it’s usually done, but it sounds better than I’ve ever heard it. I listen as she wraps up the song. When she does, Milly claps and cheers. Finally, I join in, causing Brennan to jump and turn to look at me. Her cheeks are pink with embarrassment. I want to run my finger over her pink skin so bad, but I remind myself of what’s at stake. Milly. She’s never been this happy before. I won’t take that from her.

  “That was amazing,” I say, reaching out and picking up Milly. “Wasn’t that good, Mills?”

  She smiles and claps for a moment, then wiggles until I set her down. She runs off to the corner of the living room where her toys are.

  “Thank you,” Brennan says, stepping past me into the kitchen.

  I follow her. “I didn’t know you could play like that…or sing like that. That’s amazing.”

  “Stop it. You’re embarrassing me. It was nothing—something I’ve been doing since I was a kid. What are you doing home so early?”

  “Oh, I forgot the shop towels. I brought them home yesterday to wash and take back.” I head out to the laundry room and grab the bag of clean towels. Walking back into the kitchen, I find Brennan leaning over the kitchen table, wiping it down. Her round ass is bent over right in front of me, teasing me, daring me to reach out and touch it. It stops me dead in my tracks. I can’t help but to stop and stare.

  She stands upright and turns around, catching me. Her eyes fall from mine and her hands twist the rag she’s holding. All I can think about was our kiss, how good it felt. I can’t hold myself back. She’s too fucking perfect. I drop the bag of towels and pull her against me, my mouth finding hers. She doesn’t hold back. Her hands wrap around my neck, pulling me closer. I pick her up against me and her legs wrap around my hips. I press her back to the refrigerator as my hands move up to cup her cheeks. I savor this kiss. She’s forbidden fruit and I can’t help myself
. She’s too sweet to resist. My body comes to life in ways I haven’t felt in years. Parts of me that I thought were dead are now burning and tingling with need. She moans into my mouth and my dick hardens and aches, a pain only she can take away. That only reminds me of her words last night. I’m a virgin.

  I break the kiss and her legs loosen until she’s standing on her own again. We’re both breathless, chests heaving.

  “Fuck, I’m sorry,” I whisper as I shake my head and rub my hand over my eyes.

  She grins. “Don’t be. I was there too. It’s not only your fault.” Without another word, she turns and walks back into the living room.

  I put my palm against the fridge and lean against it for a moment. I need to calm myself down. I take a deep breath and will my pulse to slow and my cock to relax. I can’t go in there and hug my daughter goodbye while I’m wound up. I will my body to cooperate. Finally, with everything under my control again, I stand up and move into the living room.

  “I’ll be back after work, Mills.”

  She runs up and hugs my leg. “Bye, Da-da.” A second later, she’s back at her toys, appearing to be cooking for her doll in the high chair.

  I look at Brennan as she sits on the couch, her legs pulled beneath her. Her lips are swollen, glistening from our kiss, still parted with her heavy breathing. Her face is flushed and her eyes are gleaming. Fuck. She’s just as turned on as I am. Forcing myself to walk out and leaving her in as much need as I feel is fucking painful, but I make myself before I can do anything else I said I wouldn’t.

  It’s going on eight when I get home. With all this pent-up energy, I needed a distraction. I got the parts I needed for the Mustang restoration and I dove in headfirst. I didn’t notice the time until I removed my AirPods and realized that I was alone. I park my truck in the drive and cut the engine. I wanted to get home early, kind of use Milly as a buffer. But now it’s late and she’s asleep. There’s nothing to distract me from Brennan. With a deep breath, I push myself to walk in the house. The living room is clean and empty, the TV turned off. The kitchen light is on and I hear the clatter of dishes. I walk in and set down my lunchbox and thermos. Brennan is at the sink, washing dishes.

  She looks at me with a grin. “I’m half-tempted to take my first paycheck and buy you a dishwasher,” she teases, causing me to laugh.

  “I know, I’m a little outdated,” I confess, opening the fridge and pulling out a beer. I flop down in the kitchen chair and watch as she moves around the kitchen with purpose. She wipes her hands and then hangs the towel to dry on the stove handle.

  “Well, I guess that’s it. Dinner is in the oven. I’ll see you in the morning.” She grabs her purse and jacket that’s on the counter and darts for the door. I want to stop her, but I let her go. It’s clear she’s avoiding me as much as I’m avoiding her.

  After I eat, I lock up the house and take a beer to the shower with me. After washing, I sit in the floor of the shower to enjoy the hot water and the cold beer. Thoughts of Brennan come rushing back to me. How I touched her, how good she felt. Guilt gnaws at my gut. Ashley pops into my head. I lean my head back and close my eyes, picturing her sitting here with me.

  “I’m sorry, baby. I don’t know how this has happened,” I admit. “I promised that I’d never move on, and I meant that. But I think I did so without even meaning to.” I shake my head. “There’s just something about her I can’t ignore. I want her more than I’ve wanted anything for a long time. It feels like when we got together. Everything was so fresh and new. It felt too good when we’d touch or kiss. There was a pull between us when we were together. I didn’t think I’d ever feel this way again.”

  I lift the beer to my lips and take a long pull from the bottle. “Fuck, I don’t know what to do. I want her, but she’s so young and I don’t want to fuck things up for Milly.” I look to the ceiling. “Tell me what to do, Ash.”

  The next few weeks pass in about the same fashion. Brennan doesn’t come over until I’m heading for the door to leave for work, and I don’t bother coming home during lunch now that I know she has everything handled. I manage to make it home on time every day so I get to spend time with Milly. She’s also a great distraction. She doesn’t even give me the opportunity to check Brennan out. She’s constantly between us, bidding for my attention. It’s been weeks since our kiss, and thinking about it every day is torturing me. My body pleads with me to do it again, to take her in a way she’s never been taken.

  I walk in at five on the dot, and the girls are in the kitchen, preparing to have dinner.

  “Hey, look who’s home,” Brennan says as she places a plate on Milly’s high chair.

  “Hi, Milly,” I say, bending down and giving her a kiss on the head that she completely ignores me because she has a handful of food ready to cram in her mouth.

  I laugh. “I swear, you have your daddy’s appetite.”

  Brennan laughs as she hands me a plate. “You two eat. I’m going to get out of here.”

  “Why don’t you stay and have dinner with us?” I offer.

  She stops and looks at me. “You sure?”

  I nod. “Yes, there’s enough, right?”

  She smiles. “Yeah, okay.” She sets her things down and moves to the stove to make her plate. She sits between Milly and myself and we all start to eat.

  “What did you two do today?” I ask.

  “We went outside and made mud pies, didn’t we, Milly?”

  She nods. “No taste good.”

  I laugh, almost choking on my beer.

  Brennan joins in. “She didn’t realize they were pretend. I looked up and she’s spitting out mud and grass,” she laughs out. “Then we had to come in and get a bath because someone had mud in their hair and all over their face. Then we had some cookies and played ‘Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star’ on the piano. Milly almost has it down!”

  I stop eating. “Seriously? You’re teaching her piano?”

  She smiles and nods. “Mm-hmm. She’s catching on pretty fast too. Those little brains just soak up information like a sponge. It’s amazing what you can teach them at such a young age. I was her age when I started playing.”

  “That’s amazing. You’ll have to show me, Milly.”

  Milly smiles but keeps eating.

  “How was work?”

  I shrug. “Work. It’s hard, tiring, and doesn’t pay nearly enough,” I joke.

  In the past month, I’ve been so busy with work and trying to avoid Brennan, I haven’t thought to ask. “So, is that douchebag still living in your loft?”

  “Douchebag?” Milly repeats.

  I laugh but tell her, “No, bad word,” in my sternest voice.

  Brennan hides her grin but nods. “He is…unfortunately.”

  “Want me to strong-arm him outta there for ya?” I flash her a grin, more than happy to get that asshole away from her.

  She waves away the idea. “I think he’s been on his best behavior. He had the idea that we’d work out if he quits drinking, so he’s been making it a point to show me how long he’s been sober.”

  I shake my head, annoyed with this guy. “Just another game to get him what he wants,” I remind her.

  “I know.”

  We finish up with dinner and move into the living room. I sit on the couch and watch as Milly and Brennan sit at the piano.

  “Okay, Milly. Remember how we did it earlier?”

  Milly nods and uses one finger to tap key after key. The song is slow and rough starting, but she’s playing it. My baby is playing the piano!

  “Yay!” I cheer when she finishes and comes running over to me for hugs and kisses.

  Brennan stands off in the distance behind her, looking proud.

  “Okay, Milly. Let’s go get in bed.”

  Milly gives me one last hug and kiss and takes her hand. They walk down the hallway, leaving me alone. After a few minutes, I stand and go to the kitchen to help clean up. Twenty minutes later, the kitchen is clean. Brennan walks in.
/>   “You didn’t have to do that. I was just coming in here to finish up.”

  “I know, but after all your handwork this last month, I figured you could use a break. Oh, and here’s your check.” I pull out my wallet and hand it over.

  She takes it and looks down at it. “This is a hundred too much.” Her brows pull together.

  “I wanted to give you a raise, that is, if you’re staying. Your thirty-day trial is up.”

  She laughs. “Of course I’ll stay. I’m too attached to that little girl in there to walk away now.”

  “Hopefully not too much longer and you’ll be able to afford your own place.”

  Her face lights up. “I’ve already been looking. I’m so close, I can taste it. I have what I need for first month’s rent and deposit, but I’ll need some extra set aside to get me started. This will definitely help. Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome,” I say, leaning against the counter and crossing my arms over my chest.

  She tucks the check away in the front pocket of her purse. “If there’s nothing else, I guess I’ll be going.” She glances at me from over her shoulder like she’s looking for a reason to stay. I reach to find one. Seeing her with Milly, watching as they played the piano, at the way they laughed and talked durning dinner, I realize that pull between us has only gotten stronger.

  “Brennan,” I say, standing upright.

  “Yes?” she asks, turning around to face me.

  “I can’t forget,” I admit.

  She sucks in a breath of air that causes her breasts to rise. “Me neither,” she replies, throwing herself into my arms. Our lips meet for the first time in a month and fuck, she tastes better than I remember. With her arms around my neck and her legs wrapped around my hips, I carry her to my bedroom. It hits me that another woman hasn’t been on my bed in years, but I push it to the back of my mind as I lay her down and cover her body with my own. She feels so tiny beneath me, so innocent. That only reminds me of her words. I’m a virgin.