“What is it that you do, son?” And let the inquisition begin.
“I own my own business, sir. I’m in finance and do very well for myself. Brae will never want for anything.”
After a few more questions and answers, my father stroked his chin with the side of his hand. More beads of sweat formed on Jude’s forehead.
“Do you love him, honey? Does he make you happy?” my mom asked with a warm smile.
“Yes, very much.” I glanced up at Jude, and added while staring at him, “I’ve never been happier.
His hold on my hand tightened. With his eyes pinned to mine, he said, “I feel the same way. Your daughter is the best thing that has happened in my life, and I’ve been blessed with great things.” If I could have thrown my arms around his neck and made out with him right then, I would have.
My parents gave each other a knowing look before looking back at us. How could my father find fault with Jude’s admission? We could see the fight literally leave his expression as it softened with a small smile. “Welcome to the family, Jude.”
A long breath escaped Jude. “Thank you, Mr. Daniels.” The two most important men in my life shook hands.
My mother clapped in excitement. “Brae, sweetheart, you can have the wedding this fall. You know how beautiful the farm looks when the leaves turn. We have the room, and it would make your father and I so happy.”
I looked toward Jude, wondering if he would sign up for this. My fiancé would probably want our wedding to be at St. Patrick’s Cathedral and our reception at The Plaza. But once again, my guy surprised me by smiling and saying, “Thank you for the offer.”
We all celebrated, toasting with champagne that replaced our lemonade. I was so relieved that my parents accepted our engagement. While my mother and I gushed over the beauty of my ring, Jude and my father talked about the Yankees versus the Mets. Thankfully they were both Yankees fans.
True to my dad’s personality, he broke the jubilation, and said, “Brae. I know you’re engaged, but you will be sleeping in separate rooms.”
Jude raked his hand through his hair, and said, “I wouldn’t want it any other way, sir.”
My dad chuckled. “Sure you wouldn’t.” And I thought the same.
Jude
After three days, I was about to finally fuck Brae. Her parents never left us alone for more than ten minutes at a time. Even at night, they were sure to put me in the farthest room in the house, and I didn’t think it was an accident that the door squeaked louder than that damn rooster.
With luck, they stopped arguing about us joining them at Sunday Mass. Her father glowered at me before they left the house, obviously on to the fact that I’d be like a kid in a candy shop. I wasn’t proud to prove him right, but lust trumps logic, and by the time their Buick pulled onto the main road, Brae was naked in the middle of their living room floor while I ate her pussy and pinched her nipples.
“Oh Christ. Oh my God. Jude. Don’t stop!” she called as I latched onto her clit and sucked like my life depended on it. In a way, it did. If that man came home because he forgot something, no doubt he’d shoot me dead.
She came with a scream that caused the chickens outside to all start cackling at once. “Shhh, Brae. Be quiet.”
“I can’t, Jude. You know that.” I kissed my way up her body until my cock settled against her pussy. “This is so wrong,” she said, contradicting herself by grabbing me and guiding me inside her. “We’re fucking on my mother’s rug while she’s at church!”
“Don’t think about it,” I said through thrusts. “You called to God a few times. We’re good.” I grabbed her ass with both hands, and like a man on mission propelled us both into a quick yet satisfying release. I wasn’t about to take any fucking chances by prolonging this. Besides, my cock was thrilled with the quickie.
By the time they returned, we were primly and properly making lunch together in the kitchen. Her father stood staring at me as I mixed the chicken salad while Brae attempted to make toast. “Brae didn’t make that, did she?” Her father pointed to the bowl I was stirring. All the stress I had bottled up inside came gushing out in the loudest laugh I couldn’t control.
“It’s not funny,” she said as she pulled out the sixth piece of blackened bread.
“Good luck to you,” Walter said as he grabbed an apple off the counter. “Her cooking skills are lacking, son.”
“Yes, sir. I’ve experienced her version of barbeque chicken.”
Brae glared at me, but the moment she saw my dazzling smile, she cracked. “I say that with love, Sparky.”
“Sparky?”
“Oh… um… it’s just a nickname.” His eyes met mine and I slowly saw the ire leave as a calm replaced it.
“You know what, I just came from church. I really don’t want to know. Let me know when lunch is ready.”
“It’s ready now, Daddy.”
A few minutes later, we all sat around their kitchen table to eat. Conversation revolved around neighbors and friends they ran into at church as her mother listed all the people who asked about Brae.
It didn’t take long to finish our meal. “That was delicious, Jude. Thank you,” Ellen said with a smile.
“It was my pleasure.” Brae’s spine stiffened. Several times during the meal, she nudged her leg against mine, trying to get me to say what I needed to say. The one other thing since arriving I needed to mention was the loan.
We were leaving the next day, so it was basically now or another visit, and the thought of coming back so soon caused panic to swell for obvious reasons.
“I’ll be in the coop,” Walter announced before pushing back his chair to stand.
Brae raised her brows as she looked up at me, but it was the pinch she gave me on my side that had me blurting out, “Sir!” so loudly, her mother jumped in her seat. He stopped and turned expectantly. “Um… can you sit for a few more minutes?”
With no expression on his face, he sat back in his chair and folded his arms while staring at me like I was one of his cows that had escaped their pen.
“Um… well, as you know, I said I loved Brae very much.” I paused, realizing it was in vain when I didn’t get a response whatsoever. I swallowed to bring some moisture into my mouth, but was met with more cotton. Why was this so fucking hard? Brae patted my leg in encouragement… or maybe it was her way of saying move it along. “Um… well, I know how much this farm means to her. So, as a wedding gift, I paid off the loan.”
Her mother gasped, as he said, “You did what?”
“I, um… your farm is no longer under the bank’s control.”
Ellen reached for Brae’s hand. “Is this true, sweetheart? I thought you said it was an investor.”
Brae glanced up at me with a smile before nodding at her mother’s question. “Yes, Mom. Jude is the investor.”
“Brae didn’t know I was the man behind the payment.” I paused a moment to look down into her eyes. She’d come a long way in accepting what I did, but still, she struggled with it. When she squeezed my thigh, I finally felt her consent. I took her hand in mine and squeezed back. “She was upset with me when she found out. I think she now understands why I did it. Again, I love her. I can afford it, and I won’t sit idly by and allow the woman I love to stress over something I have the ability to make go away.”
As I predicted, her father said, “I can’t accept your money. That’s not the kind of people we are, Mr. Soren. Taking charity is not something I’ve ever done in my life, and I’m not about to start now.”
“I understand, sir. But I did it for Brae.” I lifted her hand and kissed it softly. My eyes pinned to hers, I added, “I meant it when I said I would do anything to make her happy.”
“I intend to pay you back.”
“I won’t have it, sir. Again, I did it for Brae.”
“Walter,” Ellen said with a raised brow. The two communicated through the look in their eyes, and I sat worrying over what it all meant. By some sheer miracle, or maybe it wa
s the fact that Jesus was still present in his soul from that morning’s mass, he nodded over and over before offering his hand. I accepted it in shock, wondering if he had too much wine at communion.
“That changes things. I can respect a man who would do anything for his love.” His eyes met Ellen’s and the first genuine smile I’d seen in days spread over his thin lips. “I worked two jobs when we were engaged to help her father keep this farm.”
My mouth dropped at his admission, and so did Brae’s. “Daddy, I never knew that. I thought you and Mom took it over once Grandpa got sick.”
Ellen came around the table to wrap her arm around her husband’s waist. He kissed the top of her head. “No one knew, sweetheart. Your grandfather was a proud man.”
With that one admission, I understood. History was repeating itself through his daughter.
Every morning, that goddamn rooster scared the shit out of me. Upon hearing him, I’d reach for Brae in a panic, only to remember she was nowhere near me. Nope, she was on the opposite end of the house separated by two very noisy creaky doors.
Today, I flipped that cock the finger. Today, I didn’t mind the ungodly hour we’d all be sitting down to have breakfast together. Today, Brae and I were leaving to go back to our world in Manhattan—a world where waking up naked together was our norm, and the only cock involved was mine. A perfect world where my perfect fiancée loved morning sex more than I did.
Life was going to be good again.
I stretched my achy muscles and walked over to stare at the darkness outside my window. My body felt like someone took a baseball bat to me while I slept. I was in great shape, but fuck, farm life was hard work. My visit to the farm gave me a newfound respect for how my eggs, milk, and bacon made it to my table.
By the time Brae and her parents appeared in the kitchen, I was dressed, bags were sitting by the door, and breakfast was ready. I wasn’t a dummy.
Ellen patted my arm with a warm smile. “You’re spoiling us, Jude.”
I should have felt guilty since the real reason I made breakfast had little to do with pleasing them and all to do with hitting the road as soon as possible. But fuck that—I had to milk a cow yesterday.
Brae laughed at my theory when I said her father absolutely rigged that cow. It didn’t matter how hard I pulled on her tits—nothing. When I came in an hour later, sweating my ass off with no more than an inch of milk in that stainless bucket, the smirk Walter tried to hide confirmed my suspicions.
Yeah, I loved my girl dearly, but a farmer I was not.
Walter sauntered in through the back door holding that same bucket filled to the rim. “Old Bess must not like you,” he said, raising a brow.
Brae laughed as she sat beside me. “I guess not all females cave to your charms.”
I placed my lips on her ear. “There’s only one female’s tits I’m interested in.” While staring into her eyes, I slid my hand under the table and between her legs. Her eyes widened before cutting toward her father sitting one chair away and her mother serving the eggs and bacon I’d made.
“So, Jude. Have you given any thought to the wedding being here?” Ellen asked, passing me a loaded plate.
“Yes, ma’am. I’d love to have our wedding here in October. But I insist on covering all costs, and hiring professionals to handle every aspect. All I’d like you to worry about is getting your daughter ready to walk down the aisle.” Brae quirked up a brow, which I ignored.
“Well, isn’t that generous of you? Although, I don’t mind doing the cooking.”
“I wouldn’t have it. It would be my absolute pleasure.”
“Honey, are you sure you don’t want to talk about it?” Brae tilted her head to the side, and the expression on her face screamed, “Have you lost your mind?”
“No, darling. October is only five months away, and planning a wedding takes time. It wouldn’t be fair to leave your mother hanging. Now, she can concentrate on herself.”
Ellen grinned with a nod. “He is so sweet, Brae.”
I gave my future mother-in-law my most dazzling smile. “Thank you, Ellen. I try.”
Digging into my breakfast, I ignored the incredulous stare from my fiancée and the scowl from my future father-in-law. Nothing could ruin my mood. Before I knew it, we were at the door saying our goodbyes. And if her parents hadn’t been watching, I would have sprinted my way back to the car.
Tall buildings, sirens, and yellow cabs—just what the doctor ordered. Being back in our apartment felt like heaven on earth. Scratch that. Brae sliding into bed next to me completely naked did.
“Come here, soon-to-be Mrs. Soren.” I tugged on Brae’s arm to pull her into my chest.
“Sooner than I thought I’d be Mrs. Soren, you mean?” She pulled my arm so it circled her chest. “What in the hell made you agree to the farm? The way you grumbled about the roosters made me think you didn’t like it there.”
“Sparky, those roosters were loud as fuck. Not to mention, those cocks got more action than I did.” I burrowed my head in her hair.
Brae let out a laugh and her tits vibrated under my arm. “Really? More action, that’s what you’re going with?”
I shrugged, but she couldn’t see me, so I turned her in my arms to face her. “Confession?” She nodded. “The Plaza is booked for the next two years and I’m not waiting that long for you to be legally mine.”
Her face softened and her eyes sparkled in the moonlight. “You called The Plaza?”
“I did.” I ran my knuckles down her face from her temple to her chin. “I love you, Brae, and I’d marry you tomorrow, but I know it’s important to have our friends and family witnessing the most important day of our lives, so I’ll wait five months, deal with a rooster as an alarm clock, hay in my shoes, and a cow that hates me, just to make you Mrs. Soren.”
A tear escaped her eye, which I caught with my thumb. “Then the farm it is.”
“That’s my girl.”
“I love you, Jude.”
“I love you more, Sparky.”
After a few sweet kisses and a few heated ones, Brae rolled and snuggled her ass against my stomach. It wasn’t long before I heard my favorite sounds.
Purr… rumble… snort… whistle.
Purr… rumble… snort… whistle.
Purr… rumble… snort… whistle.
I smiled at the memory of her watching the evidence I had captured on my GoPro. Even as she stared at her image purring, rumbling, snorting, and whistling, she still claimed I doctored the tape before tossing it to the side.
Sweet apples were now my favorite fruit, getting bathroom time was a luxury, and listening to Brae arguing with my housekeeper had become a normal occurrence, but I wouldn’t trade any of it for anything in the world.
With my lips on her ear, I whispered, “Thanks for picking me, Sparky.”
Chapter 32
Jude
“Fuck me.”
“I would, but you said we were late to wherever it is you’re taking me.” Her reflection met my eyes as she smirked adorably while smoothing a hand over the black silk fabric of her dress. “It’s okay?”
Okay? Was she kidding me?
The black sleeveless sheath dress I begged her to wear fit her like a fucking glove. It was the very same one she had on the night we met—the night she picked me to be her Mr. Right. The way it ended a few inches above her knees, showing off her gorgeous legs in those come-fuck-me heels was a perfect form of torture. From where I stood, I admired how the shiny fabric molded over her ass and the plunging backline showed just enough of her smooth skin. On her finger, the diamond that paled in comparison to her beauty. On her wrist, the white gold bracelet I bought for her in St. John. From head to toe, she was perfection.
Walking up behind her, I wrapped my arms around her body, resting my forearms under her breasts. I looked down to admire the way the fabric enhanced one of her best assets.
When our eyes met in the mirror, her smile was electric. “Well?”
“What exactly will we be late to?” One perfect brow raised in challenge, and when I shrugged, she turned in my arms. “Why won’t you tell me?”
“Because it’s a surprise.” I loved surprising her, shocking her with weekend getaways or romantic nights at home sans clothing.
“That’s not a good reason. Is it a show? Dinner? Oh, are we flying to Paris again? Or Rome this time?” Her voice hitched at her last question.
“What? No!” I placed a very sloppy kiss on her cheek. “I’ve created a monster. Let’s go.”
The pout on her face the entire time in the elevator and through the lobby didn’t faze me in the least. The more I ignored her, the more she grumbled. Once outside our building, I pulled a black silk scarf out of my pocket.
“What’s that for?”
“Humor me.” Twisting her body, I tied the scarf around her eyes, laughing as her gripes got meaner and meaner.
“Jude Soren, I will not walk around with this blindfold on, or you can forget sex for a week.”
“You don’t scare me, Sparky. You’re all talk, and you’d cave way before I would.” That was a blatant lie. I smacked her ass and led her into the back of the cab.
It was only minutes later when we pulled up to our destination. After paying the fare, I led her out of the backseat to stand beside me on the sidewalk. The warm evening air felt cooler near the river. Without her sight, I watched her tilt her head, trying to decipher sounds and smells to help hint as to where I’d taken her.
“Careful, step up.” Her sexy leg lifted until she felt solid footing beneath her. One by one, I instructed her on what to do with my arm firmly around her waist. The clanging of a bell and the squawking of a seagull caused her to twist her head toward my face.
The Mr. Wrong Series Page 28
