by Cee Bowerman
I turned my head when I heard the hinge on the gate creak. I saw that Royal and Mace were both walking across the yard to me, Ronan and Angus not far behind.
“You’re thinking about Bellamy, aren’t you?” Ronan asked me.
“Yeah. I was.”
“She’d have gotten a kick out of your new girl.” Mace laughed. “She’s a hoot.”
“Mom would have loved her too, you know.” Angus sat down in the chair beside mine and sighed. “She always wanted us to settle down and find ‘the one.’”
“I know it’s a little early to say she’s ‘the one’, but I really think she is.”
“Yeah. I can see it.” Royal sat down on the end of the lounge chair I was lying back in. He reached up and squeezed my shoulder. “Have you told her about the babies yet?”
“No. How do you drop that into a conversation? It’s a little heavy for a first date, don’t you think?”
“Might be.” Ronan laughed. “That it might be. Maybe the third. I’d say wait until the third date.”
“Definitely the third. Get her good and hooked on you first. Maybe grow a beard really quick so she thinks you’re sexy, then drop it on her.” Mace leaned over from the chair he was sitting in and softly punched my arm. “Beards are panty droppers, you know?”
“Is that why I had a date tonight and all you hairy fuckers were sitting alone at your houses watching porn?”
“We weren’t watching porn. We were at my place watching a Terminator marathon.” Mace replied. “Well, fuck, that sounded pretty damn sad too didn’t it?”
I laughed at the tone of his voice, and within just a few minutes an argument broke out about which was the best Terminator, and then about who was tougher, Rambo or the Terminator, and of course the best argument of all, who had to run to the store for more beer.
Mace lost, but Ronan took pity on him and rode along.
4.
“Did I ever tell you that my Mom found Chess in the Walmart parking lot?”
Finn to Lena
LENA
“Conner Brothers Construction, how can I help you?”
“Hey, pretty lady. How is the office today?” I thought for a second, trying to figure out which brother this was, but finally he helped me out, “It’s Chess.”
“Oh! Hi, Chess! Things are going good here. I need to get together with you sometime today and get your schedule down electronically so I can keep track of you and plan things as needed. Can you come in this afternoon?”
“I’m free right before lunch, but that’s it for today. How about I bring something to the office, and we can eat while we work? Sandwiches okay?”
“Yes. I’ll text you what I want. I think Finn will be here then, so you might ask him if he wants anything.”
“Will do. See you around eleven thirty.”
I put the phone down and went back to my computer screen, searching for wireless headsets and a more up to date phone system, hopefully one with caller ID built in. In the two weeks since I’d started working here, I had noticed quite a few things that could use an update. I’d also made myself familiar with the old system of doing things that Finn’s Mom had used and figured out a few ways to make it more streamlined.
And, I’d been out on six more dates with Finn in the last twelve days. Last night we had made out on my porch for at least ten minutes before he drug himself back to his truck.
The phone rang again, but this time when I answered I recognized Ronan’s deep voice.
“Hey, sweets. Can you email me the blueprints to the Locke job? I’m here with the plumber and we’re having an issue.”
“On it. Did you get my message about meeting with me? Eight on Monday?”
“Sounds good. See you then.”
I finally found the equipment I thought would work and then bookmarked the page to show Finn this afternoon. I moved to the next item on my list and started to draft a want ad requesting another person to work in the front office with Lily. Once I had my rough draft finished, I tweaked the wording a few times and then put it aside to go over with Finn later.
My phone made a sound, and I picked it up to read the new text message that had come in.
Finn:What do you call a blonde mummy in a closet?
Me:I don’t know. What?
Finn:1984 World Hide and Seek Champion
Me: You’re horrible.
Finn: ;)
Me:Did your brother get your lunch order?”
Finn: He did. See you in a few.
I smiled as I set my phone aside. This was the third time this morning that Finn had sent me a funny text message, just to talk to me.
I liked his funny texts throughout the day.
Our dates over the past few weeks had been wonderful. I rarely saw him at the office, so it wasn’t as weird as I thought it would be. When he was here, I had a list of questions for him and a pile of things I needed his input on, so we were all business.
But at night, when we went out together, it was a different story. I had opened up to him about my Stepmother, and how hard it had been after my Mom died. He told me stories about his parents and his childhood, but never mentioned how they had died or the two sisters I had heard them talk about.
I could tell by how his voice caught when he talked about his parents that he was still in pain, and I didn’t want to push him to talk about it. I hoped that in time he would confide in me, and I knew just how hard it was to talk about parents who were gone.
Just yesterday I had received a box of pictures from my Stepmother. There wasn’t a note or anything, just a box sitting on my porch when I got home from work. I didn’t know how she knew where I was living but guessed it was easy to figure out since Shirley’s husband was there to help me move that night. I hadn’t spoken to Nellie since the night I left, and honestly, I didn’t see a reason to talk to her ever again.
Nellie had made my life hell from the day she married my father, her bitterness and anger for my Mother very apparent when she spoke to me. She managed to keep it together in front of my Dad though, through all their years. I didn’t tell him the things she said, because he seemed happy to have Nellie around. He doted on her just like he had my Mom throughout their marriage.
I knew in my heart that he had never loved Nellie the way he loved my Mom. I guessed that Nellie knew that too, and that’s where her bitterness came from. I tried to like her. I really did, but she made that impossible and after a while I just quit trying. Once my Father got sick and I moved back into the house I was raised in, Nellie avoided me like the plague. She also avoided my Dad, leaving his care to me. It was uncomfortable for the two of us at first, but as he got sicker it became easier when I had to help him with personal things. By the time he died, his mind was almost gone, and he often called out for my Mom. Nellie quit going into his room to check on him the first time she heard him call out for my Mother, and as far as I knew she never spoke to him again before he died.
Her bitterness had lost those last few months with the husband who had loved her for fifteen years, and now it had pushed me away too, leaving her completely alone with only a sister a few states away left in her family.
When my Dad died, I was the last person left in my family, and I had been so lonely. I found a good friend in Shirley, and then her husband, but now I felt like I was part of the Conner’s too. Each one of the brothers had been wonderful to me in the brief time I had known them. I considered myself lucky to be their employee, and completely blessed to now be considered their friend.
And Finn. I wanted to be much more than his friend. Even though I had only known him for a short while, I was already attached and thinking of a future with him. It seemed to me that he felt the same, but I could tell that there was a part of him he was holding back. A part of himself he wasn’t willing to share with me yet.
The two of us had made out like horny teenagers on the couch just last night, and I know that if we hadn’t stopped, we would have ended up in my bed. I didn’t see a problem
with that. In fact, I wanted it to happen. I needed it to.
I had run through enough batteries in the last few weeks, that I thought I should just go ahead and buy stock in the company. Or, just get Finn naked and let him take care of my needs instead of me taking care of myself alone in bed.
I squirmed in my chair at the thought of Finn making love to me. And then I felt my face flush when I thought of more than that. More than love making. Rough, loud, sweaty sex is what I really wanted. What I needed to cure the ache I felt between my legs every time I looked at Finn Conner.
I knew that it probably wouldn’t cure it. I knew it would just make me want more until I was laying in a post-orgasmic puddle at his feet, begging him for more.
Just then the office door opened, and the object of my thoughts came strolling into the office. He looked straight at me and tilted his head in question before he smiled wickedly. It was like he could read my mind. I blushed furiously and looked away before I lost my mind and begged him to fuck me right here on my desk.
“And how are you today, beautiful?” Finn asked me as he stopped in front of my desk. “You look flushed.”
I looked up from the papers in front of me, but my gaze caught on the crotch of his jeans. I could see his erection straining behind his zipper and it made me smile to think that he was just as horny as me. I knew that tonight our date wasn’t going to end on the porch.
Well, maybe it would end on the porch, but we’d be naked and panting before everything was said and done and the neighbors would have had one hell of a show if I had my way.
“I’m good. I’ve got a list of things to go over with you, a few things to run by you about office equipment and Lily is starting this afternoon. She’ll be with us part-time until she finishes school. I told her that we could work around her class schedule. If you’re still here I’d like for you to meet her.”
“I should be here for the rest of the afternoon. My two o’clock cancelled. They decided to put off their remodel until next year because of budget constraints.”
I handed him a pile of mail, and he brushed his fingers over mine before he took it from me.
“So, we’re having lunch here today? What do you want to do tonight?” Finn started sorting through the mail I had handed him, occasionally tossing an envelope into the trash can beside my desk. “How about dinner at my house?”
I smiled and nodded. “That sounds good. You’re going to cook?”
“Let’s cook dinner together. But if you bring a bag and stay the night, I’ll cook you breakfast in the morning.”
“French toast.” I tried to keep my voice even, but my pussy was screaming, ‘You! I want you for breakfast!’.
“I can make that happen. We’ll leave here together early, run some errands, head to the grocery store and go by your place to grab an overnight bag.”
“I can do that.”
“Since it’s almost lunchtime, can I request a kiss or two before my brother gets here with the food?”
“I’d like that.”
Finn walked around my desk and leaned his ass down against the edge. He reached out for my hand and pulled me up to stand between his legs. I wrapped my arms around his neck and smiled softly at him as he stared into my eyes.
“I like you, Lena. More than I should this early, but it doesn’t seem to matter to me.”
“I like you too, Finn.”
“Good.”
Finn’s arms were around my waist, and he gently pulled me closer to him as he ran his hands up my back. He pressed me to him until our mouths were almost touching. I could feel his erection on my stomach, and my hard nipples were pressed into his chest. We hadn’t even kissed yet and I was already wet and aching to feel him inside me.
“You’re so beautiful, Lena.”
“Thank you.”
Finn stared into my eyes for quite a long time before he finally leaned down and kissed me softly.
“I’ve been thinking of all the things I want to do to you tonight. Are you on birth control?”
“I am. I’m good for at least another two years. I have an implant in my arm.”
“I haven’t been with anyone in a long time, Lena. I know you said you got tested after Julian.”
“I did, and I haven’t been with anyone since.”
“I’ve never even considered this with anyone else, but when I fuck you tonight, I want to go bare. Is that okay with you?”
I nodded my head and shifted back and forth on my feet, trying to soothe the ache between my legs. Finn smiled when he realized what I was doing.
“Do you want me?”
“Yeah.” I whispered, my eyes closing as he began to kiss along my jawline to my ear. “I do.”
“How much?”
“At night, after you drop me off at the house or after you call me and say goodnight, I use my toys and think about you. I close my eyes and imagine it’s you inside me.”
Finn groaned and bit my neck.
“Last night when my orgasm hit me, I realized I was saying your name. I want you that bad.”
“Fuck me.” Finn shivered. “That is so fucking hot.”
I smiled as his mouth moved back up to mine. When his lips covered mine, he devoured me with a hot kiss, his hand moving up to the back of my head and fisting in my hair. We made out like that, grinding our bodies against each other and one of the other of us moaning occasionally until I heard someone clear their throat from a few feet away.
I leaned back, knowing it had to be a family member if they came in through the back door, and I saw Chess standing in the doorway. He had a carrier with fountain drinks in one hand and a bag of food in the other.
“It looks like you’re trying to eat her face off, Finn. Jesus. Get ahold of yourself. I brought you a fucking sandwich.” Chess walked past us into the small break room. I listened as he started sorting out the food, and I kissed Finn on the end of his nose.
“Hold that thought for about six or so hours?” I asked him.
Finn groaned and rested his forehead on my collar bone.
“Come on you horndogs. I’ve got an appointment at 1:30.” Chess yelled from the break from. “Jesus, acting like horny teenagers.”
“Did I ever tell you that my Mom found Chess in the Walmart parking lot? That’s how we got him; you know. She just picked him up and added him to the herd she already had in the car.”
“Fucking please, brother. She stopped having kids after me because she finally found perfection. Now, get your ass in here.”
✽✽✽
Finn walked out of his office and came to stand next to my desk. He reached down into the tray and picked up the checks I had printed for him to sign and flipped through them while I finished up a phone call with a vendor.
Seeing that everything was in order, he signed each check with one of the pens he plucked out of the Star Wars cup on my desk. When he was finished signing, he started to tear the stubs from the checks, and fold them for the envelopes.
I listened to our concrete supplier drone on about her poodles as I watched Finn fold all the checks and then start to stuff them into the envelopes that I handed over to him. As he finished stuffing each one, he pulled the tab off and stuck the flap down for mailing and then handed the envelope to me. I then put a stamp on each envelope and put it down in a stack beside my keyboard.
“Hey, Verna, look online at that page I was telling you about. I’ve got to go; my other lines are going crazy.” Verna finally said goodbye and I reached up and pulled the phone from between my shoulder and my ear.
“She can talk.”
“She always has. She’s worked there for as long as I can remember. When we would go into her office with my Dad, she always had suckers for us. Nice old lady.”
“She told me to tell you hello, and then said that she and I needed to sit down and make a list of available women we know so that we can find you a good girl.”
“A good girl, huh? Are you a good girl, Lena?”
“When I�
��m not being a bad girl.” Holy shit! I can’t believe those words just came out of my mouth, I thought to myself. But when I saw Finn’s eyes darken, I was glad I’d said them.
“Then she doesn’t need to worry. I’ve already found one.” Finn reached out and touched his hand to my cheek before he leaned down to give me a kiss. “You ready to lock up?”
“Yeah. Lily just took my truck to run some plans to a job site, but she’ll bring it back and get her car when she’s done. I told her we would be leaving early today.”
“She’s a nice kid. How old is she again?”
“She’s twenty-two. Her Mom is my friend Shirley.”
“Did you see the look on Chess’ face when you introduced them?”
I stood up and gathered up my stuff, putting the finished envelopes into the side pocket of my purse. “It was hard to miss. His tongue fell out and his eyes bugged. He looked like a cartoon character.”
“That boy. He’s a little shit, but I love him.”
“I do too. He’s so easy to get along with. A couple of your other brothers I just can’t get a read on, but Chess is easy. He’s such a nice kid.”
“He’s twenty-three. What are you? Eighty or something?”
“You know what I mean. He just seems so young. I’ll be twenty-nine this year, but it just seems like there’s so much difference in our ages. I don’t know. I just see him as a kid brother.”
Finn held the door open for me and then turned to lock it once I was out.
“Which ones can’t you get a read on?”
“Mostly Angus. He’s just so gruff. Ronan and Royal always look at me like they expect me to explode or something. The others are fine. I mean, don’t get me wrong, they are all perfectly nice and respectful. It’s just that Angus seems like he hates talking to me, and Royal and Ronan both just stare at me when they think I’m not looking.”
“We’ve all had a rough time lately. Ronan and Royal got messed up by a girl.” When my eyes got wide, Finn just shook his head. “Angus has always been the quiet one of the bunch. He really only opens up to Mace.”
“Which one are you closest to in the family?” I asked Finn as he helped me up into his truck.
