Brothers

by L. A. Casey

  My cock jumped in my shorts at the sight of her.

  I watched as Keela’s eyes raked over my body. I glanced down at myself, aware that I was wearing just shorts that hung low on my hips. I flicked my eyes back up to Keela, and I saw her swallow. In my head, I was doing the fucking cha-cha because I saw that she was attracted to me—or at least to my body—and I knew I already had one foot in the door with her.

  “Keela?” I said, the shock in my tone not going amiss.

  “The Keela who put you on your ass last night?” Ryder murmured to me. “That Keela?”

  “Yeah, that Keela.” Aideen answered merrily. “Don’t worry, she is calm and won’t hurt Alec again. I promise.”

  Keela bristled and shot her friend a glare, but Aideen paid her no attention. She then turned her attention back to me, took a deep breath, and said, “Can I speak to ye’?”

  My eyes dropped to her attire. She had on a cute blue dress that hung just above her knees. It hugged her breasts wonderfully, and even though they weren’t big, the swell of them against the fabric of her outfit made my mouth water. My damn knees nearly buckled when my eyes locked on her legs. She had great fucking legs, and I found myself wanting to run my tongue over them.

  “Eyes on me face, buddy—me face.”

  Whoops.

  I looked up at her face and grinned lazily. “And what a pretty face it is.”

  “That was pathetic.”

  Ryder blinked at her, and then to me, he said, “Kane was right. She isn’t affected by you. That’s a first.”

  “All in good time, bro.” I chuckled.

  “I can hear ye’ both talkin’. Ye’ know that, right?”

  I bobbed my head, not really caring that she could hear me.

  “Are you goin’ to leave two lovely ladies standin’ outside on your porch, or are ye’ goin’ to invite us in?”

  Ryder quickly nodded. “Right, sorry, come on in. Branna shouldn’t be too long, so you can hang with me and my brothers while Alec and Keela ... talk.”

  Aideen was happy with that response and headed into the house with Ryder hot on her heels. Keela looked like she wanted to follow her friend but thought better of it and remained in front of me. She looked nervous then, and that amused me.

  “You’re the last person I expected to see today, kitten,” I admitted. “How did you know where I lived?”

  “Branna told Aideen, and Aideen told me.”

  Now that Aideen wasn’t beside her, she wouldn’t look at me when she spoke. In fact, she wouldn’t even look in my general direction. I didn’t like that, so I reached out, tucked my finger under her chin, and gently turned my head until she was looking up at me.

  “Why won’t you look at me?”

  “Because.”

  I smiled and dropped my hand. “Because?”

  She swallowed. Twice.

  “Just because.”

  “Okay, I’ll go along with this,” I mused and folded my arms across my chest. “To what do I owe this unannounced pleasure, Miss ...?”

  Keela cleared her throat, and said, “Daley.”

  Keela Daley.

  “Miss Daley.” I bowed my head, teasing her.

  When I straightened, she wasted no time, and blurted, “I need to ask ye’ somethin’.”

  “Okay”—I blinked—”but look at me when you do it.”

  She shifted from foot to foot.

  “Look,” she began, “it’s hard enough to swallow me pride and ask a stranger this question, a stranger who I had an argument with less than twelve hours ago.”

  She was wound up tighter than a clock, and I decided to tease her to help her relax a little.

  I regarded her. “You physically assaulted me less than twelve hours ago as well.”

  Annoyed, she clipped, “Are ye’ tryin’ to start an argument, sir?”

  I scratched my chin. “You aren’t shy when you’re frustrated. I’m helping you relax.”

  She leaned back. “I’m not shy at all.”

  “Then ask the question you came here to ask me.”

  She glanced at her surroundings, and said, “Can we not do this inside?”

  She didn’t have to ask me twice. I was more than happy to get her inside my house. I wasn’t about to make things easy for her though, so I turned to the side and gestured her in with my hand. She was hesitant for a moment, then turned to her side so she could slide past me. While she carefully shimmied by me, I watched as her eyes locked on my pecs. Her mouth was even height with them, and I could just about feel her breath roll over my skin. She looked up at me, her eyes doe like.

  “Hi.” I smiled.

  For a moment, she stared at my mouth, or more so my cheeks, and I knew she just realised that I had dimples. She was so into me. Her behaviour was textbook, though I was sure she had no clue how obvious she was being.

  She licked her lower lip, and said, “Hey.”

  She amused the hell out of me. One minute, she was a boss bitch, and the next, she was a timid kitten who couldn’t look me in the eye. She had no problem raking her eyes over my body, though. Once I closed the front door, she visually assessed me, and I didn’t interrupt her.

  “We can talk here or in my bedroom,” I said after a few moments of lingering silence. “Which do you prefer?”

  “Right here,” she answered in a rushed breath. “Right ‘ere is fine, thank you.”

  She was nervous now. Or more nervous that before.

  “I need help with somethin’,” she said nonchalantly, “and Aideen told me that you are more than qualified to help me with it.”

  That made me pause, but I tried not to show any reaction to what she said.

  “Clarify ‘it’.”

  A tinge of redness flared on her cheeks, and Keela tried to cover them with her hands in an attempt to identify it, but it was futile.

  “God.” She exhaled. “This is so bloody embarrassin’.”

  I was patiently for her to get the courage to say whatever it was that she came here to say.

  “She told me that you’re an escort.”

  Well, fuck.

  “I’m retired,” I said after a few moments. “Sorry.”

  Keela lowered her hands from her face and gnawed on her lower lip.

  “Oh,” she said. “So ye’ can’t help me then?”

  I wanted to help her. I wanted to do a lot of things to her, but anything that involved me being an escort was off the table.

  “No, I can’t. I don’t deal in that business anymore. You will have to find another guy.”

  I watched her face fall, and I’d be damned if I didn’t feel sorry for her at that moment.

  “But I don’t want your, um, regular services. Ye’ don’t have to do anythin’ sexual or anythin’ like that, I promise. I just need ... you.”

  I felt my entire body tense.

  “Sexual?” I repeated. “I was an escort, Keela, not a prostitute.”

  She blinked. “Are they not the same thing?”

  Anger rolled through me, but it quickly evaporated when I saw confusion in Keela’s eyes, not judgment.

  “I’m s-sorry,” she stammered. “I didn’t mean to offend ye’. I just don’t know the difference. I thought escorts—”

  “You thought escorts were paid money to fuck people, right?”

  I didn’t mean to sound so annoyed, but I couldn’t help it.

  “Um, well, yes, I did.”

  I shook my head. “Escorts provide companionship to a person. Sex is optional but not the baseline. Prostitutes are paid for sex and only sex; that is the baseline.”

  Her cheeks flared with colour once more.

  “I apologise for bein’ naive.”

  I shrugged, uncaring. “It’s okay, but I still can’t help you. I’m not in that business anymore.”

  She was sad with my response. I saw it in her eyes.

  “I understand,” she said, lifting her chin. “Sorry again for offendin’ ye’. I didn’t mean to pass judgment. I k
now I probably came off as a bitch last night, but I am a nice person, and I wouldn’t purposely try to hurt your feelin’s. I’m not like that. I’m very sorry.”

  And just like that, she broke my damn heart.

  “Damn, kitten, don’t get upset.” She chomped down on her lower lip, and the sight was arousing. “Stop biting your lip; otherwise, I’m going to bite it.”

  She released her lip on a gasped breath. I scrubbed my face with my hands, feeling irritated with myself because I was considering helping this woman even though I swore to God, and myself, my escorting days were done with. Something about this woman made me want to help her, and not because she was hot. There was a vulnerability in her eyes, and it made me feel protective of her.

  “I’ll go and get Aideen so we can leave—”

  “Out of curiosity,” I cut her off. “What did you want an escort for?”

  She cringed. “I’d rather not say; it’s embarrassin’.”

  My heart stopped when a thought entered my mind. “You didn’t want me to take your virginity, did you?”

  Her eyes widened dramatically, and I knew that I had it completely wrong.

  “What? No, that is not what I came ‘ere for!” she stated, her entire face turning crimson. “First, your brother thinks I am pregnant by you, and now ye’ think I am virgin? I’m not pregnant, and I’m not a virgin!”

  Ryder thought she looked fucking pregnant?

  She didn’t wait for a response from me. Instead, she hollered, “Aideen! Move it, we’re leavin’!”

  She turned away from me and made for the front door. I wasn’t sure when I moved, but I was at her back in an instant. I slipped my arms around her waist and brought her to a halt. “Now, wait just a second, kitten. I jumped to conclusions, but so did you. Give me a break here. I’m not being a dick. I’m just trying to understand why you would need an escort.”

  I felt her relax against me, but she tensed again when muffled voices and noises came from the gym to our right. Without a word, Keela stepped out of my hold, walked to the double doors, and opened them. It happened like the snap of my fingers. One second, Keela was standing upright, and the next, she was under three of my fat ass brothers.

  “Can’t breathe,” I heard her wheeze.

  I just about had a stroke thinking she might be seriously hurt.

  “Get off her!” I snapped, shoving at my brothers. “Now!”

  Choruses of the word, “Sorry,” were shouted as they rolled off her. I lifted her to her feet and scanned my eyes over her looking for an injury, relaxing when I saw she was okay.

  “That hurt,” she groaned as she rubbed her hand over her chest. “Jesus.”

  “Do you think something might be broken?” I asked as I placed my hands on her shoulders. “Does everything feel okay?”

  “I’m fine.” She nodded. “I just couldn’t breathe for a second, and it burned.”

  Without looking away from her, I said, “You almost smothered a woman.”

  “Sorry,” they said in unison.

  I looked at them and scowled. The three bitches must have snuck into the gym while I was speaking to Keela at the front door so they could hear what we were talking about.

  “Which brother are you?” Keela asked Dominic.

  “Nico,” he replied at the same time me and my brothers said, “Dominic.”

  “What am I callin’ ye’?” Keela asked him. “Nico or Dominic?”

  His lips twitched. “You can call me whatever you want, gorgeous.”

  I rolled my eyes as Keela giggled at my soon-to-be dead little brother.

  “I’ll call you Nico,” she replied with a nod.

  Dominic was happy with that. He preferred when people called him Nico; he hated his given name because of our father, but myself and my brothers constantly assured him that the man had no influence on him, and his name was his own. That was why we only ever called him it and not a nickname.

  “And you are?” Dominic asked, not looking away from her.

  “Keela.”

  He was pissing me off with how he was looking at her, and I couldn’t explain why.

  “Kee-lah,” he purred. “Beautiful name for a beautiful girl.”

  I gritted my teeth as I tugged Keela’s body behind mine and locked eyes on my baby brother.

  “Boy,” I said, my tone threatening, “cut that shit out, or I’m knocking you on your ass.”

  I didn’t look at my other brothers, only Dominic, but when his jaw dropped with shock, I imagined theirs did too. I looked down at Keela when she looked around me and to my brother and said, “Are you okay?”.

  “We’re fine,” Ryder assured her.

  She moved back to my side and curtly nodded to Ryder, which he frowned at.

  “I really am sorry for what I said to you earlier, Keela,” he stressed. “It was a dick move just to assume something like that. Forgive me?”

  I assumed that apologise that was about him assuming she was pregnant—which I still had no idea why he’d think that, let alone say it—but Keela smiled at him and gave him hearty nod, forgiving him.

  “Were ye’ all listenin’ to the conversation I had with Alec?”

  One by one, the nosy bitches hung their heads in shame and nodded. I found the sight hilarious, but I didn’t laugh ... I would later on, though.

  “Great,” she muttered. “Now I’m even more embarrassed.”

  “What do you need an escort for?” Kane quizzed. “Don’t you have a boyfriend?”

  At the reminder of the infamous Storm she spoke about last night, I grinned.

  “Yeah,” I said, folding my arms over my chest. “What was his name again? Thunder?”

  “Storm,” she answered. “His name is Storm.”

  “Ah yes, Storm.” I chuckled. “Why can’t Storm escort you?”

  She scowled up at me

  “Because I don’t have a boyfriend,” she admitted. “I only said that Storm was me boyfriend last night to stop ye’ from chattin’ me up because I didn’t want to have sex with ye’. I still don’t want to have sex with ye’. I just need your help, but ye’ said ye’ couldn’t help me so I’ll be goin’ now. Aideen!”

  Aideen walked out of the kitchen. “What’s up?”

  “We’re leavin’. Alec won’t help me.”

  Aideen frowned, and her shoulders slumped. “Crap, who the hell can we get to be your date to that weddin’ now?”

  “Whose wedding?” Dominic asked Aideen.

  Keela gave Aideen what I guessed was supposed to be a stern look, but Aideen ignored her, and the look, and answered Dominic’s question.

  “Keela’s cousin.” She clicked her tongue in distaste. “Micah is gettin’ married to ‘er dickhead of a fella next week. Jason, Micah’s fiancé, fucked Keela over a few months ago. Since she has to attend the weddin’, we wanted someone to go with ‘er who would show Jason she can do miles better than ‘im. I thought Alec was the man for the job, but apparently, I was wrong.”

  Keela was embarrassed—one glance at her told me so—and it was getting harder and harder to keep from helping her.

  “Wait,” Dominic said to Keela. “You’re related to Micah Daley?”

  “Yeah, Micah is me cousin. D‘ye know ‘er?”

  “Unfortunately, I do. She was in my homeroom in high school.”

  My brother leaned forward and really looked at Keela’s face. “She was a brunette in school, but I’ve seen her around town, and she has red hair now. You look similar to her.”

  “Her hair is dyed red. Mine is naturally this colour. I’m not like ‘er at all; she is a bitch of epic proportions.”

  Dominic grinned. “You don’t need to convince me that she’s a bitch, I believe you.”

  Keela’s lip twitched.

  “What did Jason do to fuck you over?” Ryder questioned her.

  She rubbed her neck awkwardly.

  “He pretended to like me, took me out on dates and so on in an effort to make me think we were a real couple,
but really, he was only usin’ me to get back at Micah for cheatin’ on ‘im. It’s all really fucked up. They worked shite out and are gettin’ married, and because we’re family, I have to go their weddin’.”

  “Why not tell them to shove their wedding up their asses?”

  This came from Kane.

  “Because me ma would be on me case about it. Goin’ to the weddin’ and keepin’ out of the way is much better than dealin’ with me mother if I don’t go. She is the devil.”

  “Amen,” Aideen said and made the sign of the cross.

  I could feel Keela’s disappointment at how the situation had turned out, but she kept a smile on her beautiful face to keep it hidden.

  “It was nice seein’ ye’s again, Kane and Alec, and lovely meetin’ you two lads.” She nodded at Dominic and Ryder. “Have a nice day.”

  I moved before she finished speaking. She turned to head for the door, but I was standing in her way. In that split second, I decided to help her. I wasn’t sure why I even considered it, but I saw it in Keela’s eyes that she needed my help, and I wanted to give it to her.

  “Turn around and walk into the kitchen.”

  “What?” Keela blinked. “Why?”

  “Because,” I grunted. “I need to iron out some details with you if I’m going to be your escort to your cousin’s wedding.”

  Keela stared up at me with a deer in the headlight look on her face. A few seconds passed by until she found her voice, and said, “But ye’ said that ye’ aren’t in that business anymore, that you’re retired and—”

  “Do you want my help or not, Keela?”

  She sucked her lower lip into her mouth and nodded.

  “Then turn around and walk into the kitchen,” I requested. “I want to talk to you in private. Just the two of us.”

  She didn’t say word as she turned and walked by everyone on her way into the kitchen. I followed her, keeping my eyes on her body as she walked. I saw her jump when I closed the kitchen door. She turned to face me, and it was obvious she was unsure about what was happening. I wanted to calm her clearly spiked nerves.