His Brat (Off Limits Book 1)

by Kali Argent

  He took my chin and held my face up as he kissed me tenderly. “I’ll take good care of it, sweetheart, but I don’t need a reminder. You own me, Layla. Whatever you want, it’s yours.”

  I’d promised myself I wasn’t going to cry, but I couldn’t stop the tears that spilled over and trekked down my cheeks. “I just want you,” I whispered. “I love you, Gabriel Turner. I’m yours. Always.”

  He kissed me again, his lips lingering against mine in silent promise.

  Tuesday morning, my only thought had been to enjoy Mardi Gras and blow off a little steam before finals. I hadn’t meant to end up shaking my ass on a bar, but I also couldn’t regret it, not when it had led me to this moment. I’d wanted fun, maybe a little excitement, but nothing life-changing.

  The past few days had definitely changed my life.

  This was our fairy tale.

  It was our Once Upon a Time.

  It wasn’t an ending, though, happy or otherwise, but the perfect, shiny beginning to the rest of our lives.

  Epilogue

  GABE

  Six months later…

  As I studied the crowd of people gathered in the posh art gallery in Houston for Layla’s first official show, I felt my heart swell with pride.

  Tonight marked the culmination of months of hard work. I’d never understood the dedication her art took until she had moved in with me, and I had witnessed it with my own eyes. There had been times when she got lost in the work, when she would forget to eat and sleep, but I was there to make sure she was always taken care of. It was a privilege that came with loving her to the point of madness.

  Now, the proof of her creative genius was spread throughout the room for everyone to admire.

  So much had changed for us since that first week we had spent together in New Orleans. I had loved her for years, but never let myself act on my feelings until that day I’d kissed her in the elevator. For a long time, I had convinced myself that it had been simply lust, nothing more. She was my best friend’s little sister, which meant she had been completely off limits.

  However, that didn’t stop me from wanting her.

  But all of that had changed when she’d given me the sculpture of the knight.

  I’d tried to explain it to her once, though it had been difficult to put into words. As long as I’d known her, I’d always felt protective, but at some point, it had become more. I’d found myself wanting to be a better man…for her. I’d wanted her to depend on me, to look at me with admiration and respect because her opinion mattered.

  When she’d told me she thought of me as her white knight, I’d fucking lost it. All that time, my heart had been hers. I’d just been too stupid to realize it until that moment.

  Love definitely kicked me in the nuts when I’d least expected it.

  That prized statue held a place of honor in my office, where I could look at it every day and be reminded to be better…not just for her but for myself.

  Once I realized I loved her and she loved me, I was all in. However, things hadn’t always easy between us. During the beginning phase of our relationship, it had confused the fuck out of me whenever she’d questioned my commitment to her. For instance, why would it bother me to visit every weekend while she’d still been in school? Hadn’t she understood that I hadn’t been able to sleep well without her next to me?

  And how the hell could I intimidate all of those frat boys that had kept panting after her if I hadn’t shown up often enough to make them fear me?

  I wasn’t the kind of guy that could recite poetry or think of grand gestures of love and devotion on a whim. Since she was so fun and creative, there had been times that I’d worried she’d get bored with someone like me. Though, whenever I’d started to feel that way, I did my best to keep her in a sex coma until I worked out my issues.

  It usually worked like a charm.

  There were times Layla considered me part caveman, and hell, she was probably right. I was bossy, arrogant, and possessive as hell because she was mine. When it came to her, shit was pretty simple. I wanted to be with her, so I did whatever was necessary to make that happen. If I wasn’t inside her, I was thinking about the next time I would be. If she wanted something, all she had to do was tell me.

  And if she kept loving me, I’d do anything to make her happy.

  “Can you believe this shit? This place is packed.”

  At the sound of Aiden’s voice, I glanced over and was surprised to see him and Noah standing next to me. Fuck, how long had they been standing there?

  “It’s a lot of people.”

  “I just spoke to the curator. The event just started, and almost half of the pieces are already sold,” Noah said, the pride he felt for his sister was clear in his voice. “I thought it was crazy, considering the prices they set for each sculpture, but people are paying it.”

  “Some of that is Grace’s doing,” I reminded them. “When she bought the phoenix sculpture, she made sure everyone in the art world knew exactly who Layla was.”

  Noah chuckled. “Believe it or not, she bought the zombie sculpture the second she saw it.”

  “The what?” Aiden asked.

  “The one where half of the face is melted off the skull. Layla did that one based off a nightmare she had after watching an episode of The Walking Dead with me,” I explained.

  Aiden sighed. “She still blames me for that, doesn’t she?”

  Noah glared at him. “What do you expect? You made scaring the crap out of her your mission every Halloween. I still remember hearing her screaming.”

  “Speaking of being scared…” Aiden plucked two glasses of champagne off the tray of a passing waiter. “You look like you could use a refill.”

  He shoved one of the glasses at me. Since I already had one, I ended up double fisting. I glared at my friend, then downed what little remained in the first glass before setting it down on a nearby table.

  “Aiden’s right. You do look a little worried,” Noah teased.

  “Not worried. Terrified,” Aiden corrected with a grin. “Maybe his nerves are getting the best of him.”

  “Don’t make me throat punch you just to shut you up.”

  Aiden laughed. “Relax. This is going to be the best night of her life.”

  Glancing around, Noah asked, “Where is Layla? I haven’t seen her in a while.”

  “She’s hard to miss in that pink dress,” Aiden said. “It’s so bright she’s practically glowing.”

  I knew she was wearing magenta because that’s what she told me it was. Scanning the crowd, I realized she’d been gone for more than ten minutes. Damn it, I should have never let the curator drag her away from me. “I think I know where she is.”

  Leaving the brothers, I made my way across the room. I saw Rain talking with three men who seemed to be hanging on her every word. When she looked up and saw me, she left her adoring fans and hurried over.

  Over the past few months, I had begun to think of Rain as the eccentric little sister I never had. After I’d spent a few weekends at Layla’s apartment, I’d been shocked when I had gone to make coffee one morning and found Rain painting in the living room. Naked. I guess it could have been payback since she and her parents had seen my naked ass, but it hadn’t bothered her one bit. She was even worse than Layla when she was working, completely tuning out the world around her.

  It wasn’t the most comfortable situation, but I’d gotten used to it…sort of.

  “Hey, Gabe! Have you seen Layla? Christina offered me a show! Can you believe it? I’m so excited, and I wanted to tell Layla first, but I can’t find her.”

  “I’m going to get her right now. Congratulations on the show, hon. That’s great news!”

  After giving Rain a quick hug, I strode over to the women’s restroom. Christ, what was with us and bathrooms? I hesitated briefly, then pushed the door open.

  “Layla?”

  “Gabe! You can’t be in here!”

  As soon as I heard her voice, I walked in
. Layla was sitting on a chair in front of a long mirror looking so fucking beautiful she took my breath away. I knew her every expression, and it was obvious to see that something had upset her. Squatting down in front of her, I reached out and cupped her face, rubbing my thumb over her cheek.

  “What are you doing in here, sweetheart?”

  “Oh, just having a little panic attack. Christina said she wants me to give some sort of speech. A sort of thanks for coming deal, and she wants me to talk about my sculptures. Why do I have to talk about them? People just have to look! Why didn’t she tell me sooner? I could have prepared something. You know how much I suck at this stuff!”

  If the curator had told her sooner, it just would have given her another reason to freak out. Since she’d been offered the show, she’d been worrying herself sick over it. Every night, she would go through a list of reasons why she shouldn’t attend, getting more worked up about the whole thing until I fucked her nerves into submission.

  Usually, it was the perfect solution, but not right now.

  “If you don’t want to do a speech, you don’t have to.”

  “But she—”

  “No speech, baby. This is your night. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do.”

  She leaned forward and rested her head on my shoulder, making me feel like I’d conquered a marauding army instead of saying some words.

  “Where were you when I was totally freaking out a few minutes ago?”

  “You should’ve come and found me.” I kissed her temple before standing up and offering her my hand. “I think I’ve figured out a way to distract you.”

  “Gabe! I am not having sex with you in this bathroom!”

  I chuckled. That wasn’t a bad idea, but sadly, this wasn’t the time or the place. “No, sweetheart. We’re going back out there.”

  She tried to pull me to a stop. “I am so not having sex with you out there either!”

  Laughing, I dragged her toward the door just as two women walked inside the bathroom. I grinned at their shocked expressions. “Ladies.”

  Once we were out in the hallway, Layla clutched at my arm. “Oh, god,” she whispered. “You know they think we just did it.”

  “And the problem is?”

  She groaned. “Now they’re going to tell everyone the artist is a raging nympho who just got laid in the bathroom.”

  “It wouldn’t be the first time.” I grunted as she elbowed me. “Behave, brat.”

  “But I don’t want to go back out there. Out there is the problem,” she moaned.

  I stopped and turned to face her before we entered the main area of the gallery. “Do you trust me, Layla?”

  “Of course, I do.”

  God, I loved how quickly she responded to that. “Then trust me now. You’re going to like this.”

  She sighed. “If you say so.”

  This wasn’t exactly how I planned for this to go, but now that I had made my decision, I just wanted to get to it. I pulled her into the gallery, ignoring all of the people who tried to speak to us. When we were in the center of the room, I stopped and turned to face her.

  “I had this all planned out, but fuck it. Plans change.” Gripping one of her hands in mine, I slowly lowered to one knee and reached into my suit pocket for the small jewelry box I had hidden there.

  “Oh, my god. What are you doing?” she whispered, her eyes going wide.

  “Layla, I—”

  “Yes!” she screamed, then she wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me. I dragged her to her knees and pulled her tight against me, taking the kiss deeper. I heard the cheers and laughter surrounding us, but I didn’t care. I had the woman I loved in my arms, and that was all that mattered.

  When I finally broke the kiss, I pressed my forehead against hers. “Don’t you want to hear—?”

  “No,” she said quickly. “I mean yes. I said yes, and you can’t take it back now.”

  God, I adored her. “I wasn’t going to take it back. I just thought you might want me to actually ask you to marry me.”

  “Why don’t we just consider it asked and answered. I love you, Gabe.”

  I laughed, and had to say it. “I love you, too, brat.” My smile morphed into a smirk as I held the box up to her. “Now, do you want to see the ring?”

  The End

  Thank You!

  Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed His Brat, please consider leaving a review. They really do matter.

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  About the Authors

  Laurie Roma mainly writes contemporary, romantic suspense, and sci-fi romance. She can usually be found tapping away on her keyboard, creating worlds for her characters while she listens to music. Of course, her playlist depends on her mood…but then again, so does her writing. She loves to hear from her readers and can be reached at laurieromabooks@gmail.com.

  For All Titles by Laurie Roma, Please Visit:

  www.laurieroma.com

  Born with a silver tongue and a pen in her hand, Kali spends her days crafting scandalous romances filled with flawed heroes and kick-ass heroines. When she's not writing, she can be found curled up in her favorite chair with a good book and a steamy cup of coffee.

  Self-proclaimed introvert and supporter of the selectively social, Kali currently resides in North Texas with her insane family, including two lazy dogs and one tragically misunderstood cat.

  Seriously, though, the cat is evil.

  For More Titles by Kali Argent, Visit:

  www.kaliargent.com/library