Dirty Stepbrother - A Firefighter Romance (The Maxwell Family)

by Alycia Taylor

  “No need. I’ve plotted the route out so it shouldn’t take us too long. It might even be quicker than you think. You get a feeling of a place. But let’s see all five and then discuss if there’s anything you want to see again, or if you want me to start from scratch.”

  As it turned out, I got a feeling on the very first house that I saw. It was a freestanding house not too far from Terra’s house. It was small, but it had everything that I needed. It was by no means wonderful or show-stopping, but it had a sense of home that my old house offered me. Inside was a small reading nook that I could easily imagine myself sitting in for hours at a time, and space for a huge bookshelf next to it. It was by far my favorite part of the house. Also, the kitchen had one bright-yellow wall which immediately made me feel happy.

  “This is the one,” I said to Tamara and Terra as we finished looking around.

  “I knew you were going to say that!” Terra said. “I told you she’d like this one,” she said to Tamara.

  Tamara laughed. “I cannot tell you how many times it happens like this. But, there are still four more places to see. It’s important that you see them. And if you still feel the same way about this one after seeing all four, then you know that it’s the right one for you. But you might change your mind.”

  “I doubt it,” I said and looked around again. My eye caught the yellow wall, and I smiled.

  “You never know. The houses are all within the budget that you sent me, but one happens to be a lot bigger than the rest. You might end up liking that one more.”

  It took us two hours to see the next four houses, and while they were all lovely, they didn’t come close to the first one.

  “Not even the big house?” Tamara asked.

  I laughed. That house had been almost double the size of the one I liked. And I could see that it would be the house that most people would’ve chosen. It was a lot newer than all the other houses, and everything inside seemed a lot shinier. But, it lacked the feeling of home that I was looking for.

  “I want the first one. I want the reading nook, and I want that yellow wall.”

  “You can paint another wall yellow in the big house if you like?”

  “Nope. I want the first house.”

  “Then it’s yours! Wow, that was easy. Sometimes I have clients for months before they find something they like.”

  “I’m surprised we got it done so quickly too. But I’m very happy. So what happens now?”

  “Well, let’s go back to my office to sign some paperwork. The house will be ready in a week or so. How does that work for you?”

  I looked at Terra. Two weeks was fine for me, but it was completely up to Terra. She nodded. “Of course, man. You don’t even have to ask. I’m glad I get you for another week.”

  “Thanks, Terra.”

  We went back to Tamara’s office, and I signed a few forms.

  “We’ll need a few more things from you, mostly paperworkk stuff. But I think it’s safe to say that the house is yours. The lease is for a year and after that we can discuss whether or not you want to buy or keep on renting. I’m so pleased to have been your agent in all of this.”

  “Tamara, you’re the best agent I know. I’ll be sure to spread the word around about you.”

  She beamed. “Thanks, man. And hey, I’m sorry to hear about the house. It’s awful. But, I also heard there’s a new man in town and that he took you out on a date. What’s he like?”

  I laughed. “Wow, news travels fast around here. He’s Brady’s brother, Grant. Very cute. Very cute.”

  I walked out of the office beaming and hugged Terra.

  “I found a house. One that I know my gran and my mother would’ve loved. It’s the one. I knew it the instant I saw it.”

  “Yeah, so did I, actually. I told Tamara that you’d take it. I just knew it. I’m glad we saw the other ones, though. That was a fun day.”

  “And you, Terra, are a great friend. I woke up feeling sad this morning, and now I’m so excited. You’re going to be the first guest in my new house. You can bring those wine glasses over. Although, I’ll probably have no furniture for a while, so that’s going to be fun.”

  “We can have wine in the reading nook,” she said, and I grinned.

  “I like the way you think. Now, I’m buying you lunch.”

  “Oooh, can we go to Wyo?”

  “Great idea!”

  I took her to Wyo and chuckled as she oohed and aahed over the place. We ordered a glass of wine and some pasta and then laughed at how nice it was to be drinking wine instead of working.

  “I could get used to this,” I said.

  “So, have you heard from Grant?” she asked.

  I shook my head. He’d said he’d call me the day after the kiss, but he didn’t. But I didn’t mind. I wasn’t the sort of girl that was going to be upset if his call was a bit late. He had his own life to lead after all.

  “Nah, not yet. I’m sure he will, though.”

  “After that kiss, I’m sure he will too. So, you’ve got two weeks left with me. That’s two weeks of not being able to do more than kiss. Do you think you can handle it?”

  I laughed. “Of course I can. I’m not a sex maniac, you know.”

  She raised her eyebrows. “I’ve been told otherwise.”

  “What? Who told you that? You’re making it up.”

  “Am I?”

  “Terra, you’re crazy. Nobody told you that.”

  She chuckled. “Remember Aaron?”

  “Of course I remember Aaron.” Aaron was Terra’s ex-boyfriend who moved to another city for a job. She still referred to him as ‘the one that got away.'

  “Well, Aaron was good friends with Byron.”

  “Ah,” I said, and my face reddened.

  Byron and I had an on and off relationship for a few years in my early twenties. We were terrible as boyfriend and girlfriend, but we constantly found ourselves in bed together. We were both very attracted to each other despite our personalities clashing.

  “You see! I told you!” she said in triumph.

  “What exactly did Aaron tell you?”

  “According to Byron, you were a sweet little thing in your normal life, but that you were anything but innocent in bed. I mean, it’s really only the men that you sleep with that get to see your tattoos, right?”

  “That has nothing to do with anything. You’ve seen them.”

  “Well yes, but I’m your best friend. And I’m going to marry you if you don’t find the man of your dreams by thirty. So I’m an exception. So, back to Grant. How are you going to hold out for a week?”

  I looked at her in shock. “I haven’t had sex in a very long time. I think I can hold out for another two weeks. I mean, what do you think of me? That’s even if I have sex with him in the first place. I mean, we’ve only had one date.”

  “I saw that kiss. You want him. And it’s the very fact that you haven’t had sex in such a long time that is going to make waiting even harder.” She was mirroring my own thoughts which I had desperately trying not to conjure.

  “Well, even if that’s true, I’ll just have to wait. I’m not sleeping with him at your house or at Brady’s house for the very first time. I can wait.”

  “Or,” Terra said with a mischievous grin. “I can go and stay with my mom the next time that you need the house to yourself. I don’t mind doing that for you.”

  I chuckled. “You’re impossible, Terra. We’re not going to have sex. I don’t even know if I want to.”

  Terra grinned at me, and I quickly looked away. It was pretty obvious that I’d been thinking about it as much as Terra thought. But that didn’t mean I couldn’t wait two weeks. I barely knew the guy. I could wait.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Grant

  “So, how do you feel about working in an office again?” Brady asked me as we worked in the shed together.

  We usually worked in different areas of the ranch and only really saw each other for food breaks, but today
we were working together, and it was nice. I rolled a barrel over to the other side of the room and then stopped to look at him.

  “I don’t think I could do it again.”

  “What about the gym? Don’t you miss it?”

  I laughed. “I honestly thought that gym was the best thing in the world. Little did I know that I was using it as some sort of escape every day. I don’t need a gym with all of this work. Imagine going for a workout on top of all of this. No thank you.”

  “Yeah, that would be madness. Some people think that life on the ranch is easy, but it’s not at all. Although, we’re pretty much our own bosses out here, which is nice.”

  “Tell me about it. I like that we get to do our own thing. As long as we get the work done, there’s nobody really telling us what to do. It’s definitely something I could get used to. But, as nice as this is, it’s good to get out too. Come on, Shotgun, don’t you ever want to meet a girl? Start a family, all of that?”

  Brady groaned. “Are we really having this conversation right now?” he said and shook his head. “I don’t know. I guess so. But I like being alone, and I’m only twenty-six. I have plenty of time for all of that. And I want to meet someone that is okay with my lifestyle. I don’t want to change for anyone. This is who I am.”

  “Actually, I know what you mean. But I’m sure there are plenty of women out there who are looking for someone just like you.”

  “Have you looked around? We’re part of a small farming community in Buffalo; it’s not like there are new people moving in all the time.”

  “Hey, I’m new, and I already went out on a date. With someone that was your neighbor for like forever. You could’ve asked her out too, you know.”

  “Nah. She’s beautiful and all, but she’s not my type.”

  I raised my eyebrows. “What exactly is your type?”

  “Now that, Patriot, is the question of the year. I have no idea. I guess I’ll know when I see her.”

  “I guess so. Do you sometimes think that we have a messed up view of family life because of our own family?”

  Brady didn’t meet my eye; he just continued working. But I could see the question had shaken him a bit. “Why do you say that?”

  “I don’t know. I’ve been thinking about it lately. It’s not like we had a very different life or anything and I know there were families worse off than ours. But we were five brothers growing up with our father. We had no women influencers for most of our lives. I just wonder sometimes what that did to us.”

  “I think we turned out okay,” he said.

  I shrugged. “I guess so. Speaking of family, when are you going to talk to Pop?”

  “Ah, we’re not going to talk about that again, are we? Let me guess; he wants you to go back?”

  “He wants me to at least visit again. He loves us, you know.”

  “He loves you, Patriot. And he loves his motorcycle club.”

  “He loves all of us. But yeah,” I said and laughed, “he sure does love that club. When is the last time you even went there?”

  “To the clubhouse? I don’t know. Years ago.”

  “Do you know Gunner ran the club while Pop was away in the hospital?”

  “He did? I can’t picture him standing up and talking in front of all those people.”

  “Yeah, he was nervous about it. He didn’t want to. He kicked up quite a fuss about it, actually, and got all angry like only Gunner can. But he did it. He got up there. I was there the day that he had his first meeting, and he was incredible.”

  Brady looked up. “He was?” Even though it was slight, I could detect a sense of pride in his eyes.

  “Yeah, he was great. He reminded me so much of Pop. He has something in him that he doesn’t realize. He’s got a natural flair for leadership. He just has to stop being so goddamn stubborn about everything.”

  “Is that secretly an insult to me? Are you trying to call me stubborn in a roundabout sort of way? Because you know how I feel about that club?”

  “Why do you hate it so much? It’s a part of our lives.”

  “Why do I hate it?” he said and sighed with so much dramatic flair that I knew he was trying to make it seem worse than it was. “Oh, come on. You know why I hate it. The club is bullshit, man. It’s just a bunch of men who get together to talk about bikes and to pretend like they really give a damn about each other. It’s all pretentious nonsense, and I am glad to be out of there. And everyone is always pretending to get along when nobody really cares about anyone but themselves. That’s how it always was, that’s how it still is, and that’s how it will always be.”

  I sighed. I didn’t believe one word of it. Brady used to love going to the clubhouse. We used to go there all the time together as a family. Back when things were good between us. I hated that he was so against it now, and that he was so against our father. Why did I seem to be the only one that was fine with everyone? I seemed to be the only one that hadn’t inherited the stubborn gene.

  I thought about saying something else, but I knew we’d just be going around in circles. That’s how it was with us. Brady would never back down and tell me the real reason that he hated the club or why he wouldn’t speak to my father. Nobody wanted to talk. And I wasn’t going to change their minds. They’d have to come to the realization on their own. So I gradually changed the subject until we were talking and laughing again like usual. Brady didn’t get upset about many things in life, but bringing up family or the motorcycle club were guaranteed to rile him up.

  Later that day I decided to leave work early and surprise Emily at work. I still hadn’t had the chance to call her and I wanted her to know that I was still thinking of her. I figured a visit would be better than a call, and it would be nice to see where she worked. Also, I wanted to step away from the ranch for a little while, and give Brady some breathing space. I knew he hadn’t quite forgotten everything that I had said earlier that day.

  “Uh, hi, Terra, nice to see you,” I said as Terra opened the door.

  She cocked her head to the side and gave me a look that I could only assume meant ‘what are you doing here?’ I couldn’t figure out if the look was good or bad. For someone that was so small she sure was feisty.

  “Grant? Hi, nice to see you. Is Emily expecting you?”

  I shook my head. “No, she’s not. I hope it’s okay that I came over unannounced like this. I just thought it would be nice to come by and say hello. Is she busy?”

  “Nah, it’s cool. She’s not busy. Her last client left a little while ago. We’re both just about done for the day. Come on in, I’ll take you to her room. She’ll be happy to see you.” I breathed a sigh of relief to hear Terra say that.

  I followed Terra down the passageway and into a room, and tried not to chuckle at the surprised look on Emily’s face.

  “Emily, there’s someone here to see you. Call me when you’re ready to go. And Grant, nice to see you again,” Terra said and walked out the room. At least, for once, she wasn’t hanging around to stop us from kissing.

  I grinned at Emily. “So, this is where you work? It’s nice,” I said and looked around.

  The room was clean and neat, but one wall had been dedicated solely to kids’ drawings, which was an incredibly sweet touch, and one that I was sure Emily had come up with herself.

  She smiled. “What are you doing here?”

  “I thought I’d come and say hello. I was in the area.”

  “You were?”

  “No,” I said honestly. “But I felt like saying hi. I remembered you telling me where you worked. It’s nice to see you again.”

  “It’s nice to see you too,” she said and smiled shyly.

  “I’m sorry for not calling you. The day after our date, I got called in by the fire team.”

  “Oh no, another fire?”

  I sighed. “Yeah. Can you believe it? It happens more than you think it would. It was a pretty bad one, but thankfully no one was hurt. And I got to run in and save a cat.”

/>   She chuckled. “That sounds like a scene from a movie.”

  “I thought the same thing when I was doing it. His name was Peanut, and he didn’t seem at all grateful that I had just come in to save him.”

  She laughed. “That sounds like something a cat would do. I’m sure he was secretly happy and trust trying to act cool. Well, I’m glad nobody was hurt. And don’t worry about not calling. I could’ve called you too. I actually wanted to, but it’s been a busy week. I found a house, by the way.”

  “You did? That’s wonderful. That was quick.”

  “Yeah, I found the most amazing agent. She showed me five places in one day, and I went with the first one that I saw. I haven’t moved in yet, but I should be in the next week or two. And it’s wonderful. I’m very excited.”

  “That’s great news. Look, I won’t keep you because I know you’re about to leave for the day. But I was wondering if you wanted to grab some dinner with me tonight?”

  “I’d love to go out with you again. But tonight is not good. How about Friday?”

  “Friday sounds perfect. I’ll pick you up.”

  “Great.”

  I walked over to her and kissed her quickly and softly on the mouth. Then I smiled. “Looking forward to it.”

  I went to say goodbye to Terra and then walked out feeling happy about how my life was going at the moment. Only a few months ago I was starting to feel depressed, and now I was doing work that I enjoyed and about to see a girl I really liked for the second time. I couldn’t complain. Peter had been right about me getting out of that job and changing my life. I’d always be grateful to him for that.

  As I left her office, a man was standing nearby glaring at me. I wasn’t sure what it was about him, but he made me feel uncomfortable. I glared back at him and then walked away. Then I felt bad as I realized that the man might just be having a horrible day, just as I used to have back as a real estate agent. So I turned around to give him a smile. But he was staring at the building with a scowl, and not looking at me at all. I shrugged and walked away. It was clear that everyone was fighting their own battles. Hopefully he had his own Peter to make him change his life.