Stumbled into Love

by L. P. Maxa

  “Hey, you cooking dinner?” Brice came in the room, a bottle of water in his hand and sunglasses on the top of his head. The dress jeans and sport jacket he was wearing proved the picture in my mind had been pretty accurate.

  He came around the counter, sliding his arm around my waist and then kissing the side of my neck gently. What the hell was that? I pulled back slightly to ask him if he was drunk and/or high, but he tightened his hold on my hip.

  He put his lips against the shell of my ear, giving me those unwanted shivers. “I work with these guys, please play along.”

  Gross. But a deal was a deal, right? I gave a quick nod, letting him know I would act like a nice girlfriend and not threaten to chop off his dick with the knife in my hand like I’d planned to do.

  “You guys come in here and meet my girl.”

  His hand was still on my hip, and he gave it a squeeze when three men sauntered into the kitchen. They were dressed like Brice, and they were attractive. But they didn’t really compare to his runway model good looks. They were like a poor man’s version of the guy currently pressed against me.

  “Hollie, this is Sam, Barrett, and Vinny.” He kissed my neck again. “This is my girlfriend Hollie.”

  They smiled, but in a gross way like they were sizing me up. I waved with the large knife in my hand because I was a brat like that. “Nice to meet you guys.”

  Guy number one, the one with blond hair more highlighted than my own, chuckled in a way that made me want to wrinkle my nose in annoyed disgust. “So you’re the girl that finally roped our man Brice? How’d you do it? I’m sure every woman he’s ever been with is curious.”

  Who brings up a man’s insidious and wanton sexual past in front of his girlfriend? “I’m sure they are.” I sent him a tight smile, since that’s all I could muster. “But I can’t go sharing all my secrets, now can I?”

  “Brice wouldn’t shut up about you all day. Hollie this and Hollie that.” Guy number two had teeth whiter than any natural shade I’d ever seen. He was leaning against the wall, his gaze trailing up and down my body in a way that made me want to hurl my knife right between his eyes.

  “It’s Holland,” I enunciated, making it clear that he wasn’t allowed to call me Hollie. I didn’t like that nickname, but I’d given up on correcting Brice about a year ago. After six years of trying, it was no use, and he was the only one I allowed to do it.

  The third guy was quiet, standing behind the other two, his focus on his cell. Fine by me, I didn’t really want to talk to any of them. Would it be rude if I asked them to leave?

  “Is everyone staying for dinner, babe?” I smiled up at Brice in a way that his friends would probably see as sweet. But Brice knew me, and he knew the murderous look in my eyes. He’d seen it nearly every day for the last seven years.

  He kissed the tip of my nose and then smacked my ass. “Nope.” He gestured to the front of the house. “You guys get out so I can get her naked.”

  Ew.

  I rolled my eyes at their retreating backs, trying my best to tune out whatever lewd comments they were making. You know how sometimes you meet guys, and you instantly don’t like them? Like you can tell that they’re grimy jerks who think the sun rises and sets out of their asses? That’s how I felt about those three. I was introduced as Brice’s girlfriend and they’d thrown him under the bus and tried to eye-fuck me.

  Rude AF.

  Brice came back in the kitchen and pulled a bottle of red wine out of the fancy floor-to-ceiling storage area to the left of the refrigerator. “You want some?” He held the bottle out.

  “Sure.” I kept chopping while he moved around the kitchen to open the wine and pour us each a glass. “Your friends are super.”

  He laughed at my sarcastically upbeat tone. “I wouldn’t call them friends, per se.” He set my glass down in front of me and grabbed a knife from the wooden block by the stove. “I work with them, and as soon as I get my promotion, I’ll be their boss.”

  “They were undressing me with their eyes.” I watched in fascination as Brice started to expertly chop carrots like he was a star on The Food Network. Odd. He’d gotten lost on his way to the pantry last night.

  “You’re hot.” He shrugged like it was no big deal.

  I set my knife down, moved to the massive gas range stovetop and put some olive oil in a pan to sear the beef. “Yeah, but I’m your pretend girlfriend, and you’re supposed to be more protective than that.”

  I turned around to find Brice staring at me like I had grown a second head. “Why?”

  I tossed the meat into the skillet, making everything sizzle. “That’s what you do.” I gestured between us. “If everyone from your work is supposed to believe that we’re really dating, you can’t let them act like that.”

  “What was I supposed to say? Stop looking at my girl like you want to taste her?”

  I nodded. “Yes.”

  Brice shook his head, throwing some onions in with the beef. “No, I liked it.”

  “What?” Brice and his coworkers were what was wrong with the world.

  He stepped closer, putting his hands on my hips. Why I let him, I couldn’t tell you. “I liked that they wanted what was mine. I liked knowing that they would never have it. I liked knowing that I was the only who would ever know the sounds you make right before you come.”

  I swallowed past the lump that had formed in my throat. His words shouldn’t be turning me on like they were. I should shove him away and go back to making dinner. I should call him an asshole, and I should tell him to fuck off.

  “They’ll never know how good it feels to have your nails rake down their backs, or how your perfect lips fit against theirs. You’re all mine, and they can never ever have you. And I fucking love it.”

  I took a deep breath, fully prepare to call him a pig. But instead, I jumped into his arms and fused my mouth to his. I moaned against his lips when his hands gripped my ass.

  He spun and sat me on the counter, splitting my yoga pants down the middle and unbuttoning his jeans without breaking our kiss.

  It was different from last night, more frenzied, less in control. He stepped back, attaching his mouth to my neck while he pulled a condom out of his wallet and rolled it down his hard length. We were both panting, both moving like a freight train trying to get to each other.

  He palmed my ass, holding me in place while he surged inside my body. I let my head fall back, moaning out his name over and over shamelessly.

  He nipped at the flesh on my shoulder, pounding into me relentlessly. “Fuck, Hollie, you feel so fucking good.” His words were whispered into my ear, and this time I didn’t even try to fight the shivers that spread down my spine. He’d earned them.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Brice

  She’d jumped me, again. I felt like I’d won the fucking lottery. I’d spent all day telling myself to stop wishing for miracles, that she was going to regret what happened the other night and never let me touch her again.

  When I was spouting off about the assholes I worked with, I thought she was going to slap me or call me some version of a pretentious prick. And believe me, she had many variations on that theme.

  Instead, she’d attacked me. And now, I was buried inside her perfect pussy, hammering into her as she wrapped her legs around my back. I tore her sweatshirt from her body, letting my mouth trail across her pebbled nipples. She whimpered, tightening her fingers in my hair as she held me against her breasts. I picked her up, laying her out on the cold tile floor. I grabbed her hips, lifting the lower half of her body up so I could fuck her harder.

  “Oh my god, don’t stop.”

  I knew Hollie was feisty, but I could have never dreamed that she would like it this way. Hard and rough, fast like we were racing toward the finish line. She didn’t care how I fucked her, as long as I never let up. I’d woken her up two times in the early morning hours after our bender at the bar, sliding inside her body while her eyes were still closed. But she’d respond
ed to me instantly, whimpering my name and fisting my dick.

  I kept going, pounding into her as her cries got louder. “That’s it, baby, let go.” Her nails clawed at my chest as she bit at that lower lip of hers. “Scream for me, Hollie.”

  I felt the tingles at the base of my spine start to work their way up to my hips. I was so close, but there was no fucking way I was going to finish before she did.

  One, that wasn’t how I operated, and two, she’d never let me hear the end of it.

  I reached down, grabbing her arms and pulling her into my lap. I whispered against her lips, my hand going around her throat. “Ride me. Make me come.”

  Her forehead dropped to mine, her panting breaths fanning over my face as she moved on top of me like she could read my every thought. “Like that, Hollie. Fuck, baby, don’t stop.”

  Her head fell back, her hair tickling my hands on her hips. Her pussy clenched around me, pulling my release from my body.

  Chapter Twenty

  Holland

  Well, shit. I did it again, didn’t I? Brice and I were lying on the cold kitchen floor, naked and panting. One minute he was spewing all kinds of male dominance bull crap, and then the next he was setting me on the kitchen island and ripping my favorite pair of yoga pants down the middle.

  And once again, it’d been me who jumped him.

  What was wrong with me? Why did his words turn me on? Whether they were sweet or dirty, right or wrong… They made me want him. They made me lose my damn mind.

  “That was fun.”

  I turned to the right, meeting his smiling face. “I didn’t mean to do that.”

  His grin grew. “I know.”

  “Why do I keep doing that? Why do I keep having sex with you?” This was an odd conversation to have on the kitchen floor while our dinner simmered on the stove. But we’d always been honest with each other, so why stop now?

  “Because it’s good.” He sat up and tossed me the button-down he’d been wearing earlier while he pulled on his boxer briefs. “We fuck well together.” He winked and I couldn’t help but laugh.

  “I’ve never done this before.” I gestured around the kitchen, alluding to what had happened not two minutes ago. “I’ve never had casual sex.” I was serially monogamous. I liked to be in an actual relationship before I let things advance to anything physical.

  He handed me my glass of wine and placed a sweet kiss to the top of my head like he had last night in his bed. “I’ve never done this before either.”

  I scoffed. “You really expect me to believe that?” I called him a whore pretty much every time I saw him for a reason.

  “I’m serious.” He sat down at the bar, shirtless and looking so darn good. “I hook up, but that’s it. I’ve never done friends with benefits or, like, repeats.”

  “Call me a repeat again and I’ll literally cut off your dick.” I held up the knife, voicing my thoughts from earlier. “But friends with benefits, I’ll take.” It made me feel slightly better about myself knowing that he at least thought of me as a friend. Until two days ago, we were more like frenemies, but whatever. Shit happens and things change.

  “Sleep in my bed tonight.”

  My eyes flew to his and I almost choked on my wine. “What? Why?”

  He shrugged. “I like it.”

  I bit my lips together to keep in my laughter. “Brice Huntington likes to cuddle while he sleeps?”

  “He does.” He frowned, like admitting that out loud had pained him.

  “I don’t know if that’s a good idea.” I sipped my wine, my brain working on overdrive trying to wrap around the idea of us sharing a bed.

  “Why? We’re friends, we have sex, we sleep.” He set his glass down on the marble countertop. “It’s not like we’re falling in love or anything. I don’t do relationships and you hated me three days ago. Neither one of us is in any danger of catching feelings, and we have fun together. Plus, you’re supposed to be my fake live-in girlfriend, we have to keep up appearances.”

  “You’re really grasping at straws there, buddy.” I shook my head, wagging a finger in his direction. “It’s only you and me in this house. No one is going to know where we sleep.”

  “I’ve fucked more girls on that guest room bed than you could ever possibly imagine.” He grinned smugly.

  I sighed, trying like hell not to throw up in my mouth. “I still hate you.”

  We both knew I was lying. I didn’t hate him anymore. There was no way I could at this point.

  “I like the right side of the bed.” He picked up his glass and knocked it lightly against mine. “Nice doing business with you.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Brice

  Not only had Hollie slept with her pretty little head on my chest again, she’d showered in my bathroom that morning after I told her about all the girls I’d banged in hers. She really hated to be anywhere I’d had sex. I decided telling her about the couch, the kitchen table, and the entryway was unnecessary.

  I couldn’t explain why I liked having her with me, but she’d become almost like a security blanket of sorts. I liked her in my space. Maybe this was friendship. Maybe this was what it meant to care about someone and want to spend time with them.

  I decided not to think too hard about any of it, because really, what did it matter? She was happy to have a place to stay, and I was happy to have her around. Maybe after she moved out I’d get another roommate. Or a dog.

  It was Monday night and I’d been working at the office for the last twelve hours straight. I hadn’t stopped for food or water, which was normal for me. When I got started on a project, I tended to work until it was finished or I nearly passed out from lack of sustenance. See? I fucking told you guys I deserved that promotion.

  “Hey, man, you still here?” Barrett poked his head into my office, his tie loose around his neck and his suit jacket slung over his shoulder. “I figured you’d be leaving early now that you have that hot piece of ass to go home to.”

  Was this what Hollie was talking about? Was this one of the moments I should tell him to stop talking about my girlfriend like that? I still didn’t see why I should. She was a hot piece of ass. He was right. And better than that, he was jealous.

  “Hollie knows I work long hours.” I tapped my pen against the top of my desk. “And that ass will be waiting for me when I finally make it home.” I’d rather rub it in that she was mine and not his. It was more fun that way.

  “Tell her I said hi.” He licked his lips and then walked away.

  Keep dreaming, asswipe. Hollie wouldn’t go near any of the guys I worked with. She instantly hated them, for the same reasons she used to hate me. We were pretentious douche canoes.

  ***

  I walked in my front door, and for once my house wasn’t empty and lonely. The whole place smelled like fresh bread, and all the lamps were on. There was a fire in the gas fireplace and music coming from the kitchen.

  I liked coming home to this. Maybe instead of a dog, I’d get a live-in housekeeper and demand late-night dinners.

  I passed the living room and kept going to the kitchen, smiling when I saw Hollie shaking her ass at the stove. She was one of those chicks who would end up barefoot and pregnant and super fucking happy about it.

  “Honey, I’m home.” I took off my tie, chuckling when Hollie jumped in surprise.

  “You scared me. I thought maybe you were spending the night, uh, out.”

  “Out? Is that your polite way of saying you assumed I was out grabbing some strange?”

  She rolled her eyes. “Strange? You’re so gross.” She held up a spoon covered in some sort of red sauce. “Here, try this.” She blew on it and my dick did a little joyful jig in my pants.

  “It’s good.” I took the spoon from her and licked it clean. “We having spaghetti?”

  She nodded and went back to cooking, turning her back to me. Her hair was up on her head again and her ass looked fucking fantastic in her ripped and worn jeans. Barrett had
been spot-on accurate on what I was getting to come home to these days.

  “Hey.” I put my hands on her hips and spun her around to face me. “I wouldn’t do that to you.”

  “Do what?” She bit at her lower lip, her forehead creased like she was truly confused.

  “I wouldn’t go out and fuck someone else when we’re…” I wasn’t sure what the hell we were doing if I was being completely honest. All I knew was that I had no desire to fuck anyone else at the moment. “Sleeping together.” There, that was safe. That covered the random bouts of sex and the slumber parties.

  “It’s not like we’re dating.”

  We weren’t, obviously. But we’d had sex and she was staying with me, and she’d become my friend. I knew she didn’t have feelings for me, but I still felt like hooking up with anyone else would be the wrong move for some reason.

  And really, all my other usual avenues were closed at the moment. Hollie and Dec had cut off my Cueva connection. My boss had made it clear as fucking daylight that I wasn’t allowed to bang any more of my co-workers. Plus I’d told him and my office buds I was in a committed relationship. Which also meant I couldn’t go out on the town to find a girl. What if someone from the firm saw me? My whole live-in girlfriend cover would be super fucking blown. And there went my promotion, and probably my job.

  “I’m still not going to go out and find some random chick to ride my dick.” I grinned, using my hold on her hips to shake her a little. “I mean, why would I when you’re so damn good at it?”

  She shoved me away with another roll of her pretty blue eyes. “I’m done riding your dick, Brice, so maybe you should rethink your vow to stop whoring around.”

  “Aw, baby, we both know you aren’t done.” I wrapped my arms around her waist and kissed the side of her neck. “You can’t resist me.” I put my lips against the shell of her ear. “You like my hands on you. You like when I tell you how much I want you. You want me inside you, as much as I want to be there. We’re good together, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.” I put one hand back on her hip, pulling her ass against my dick. I’d been hard from the moment her lips blew on that spoon. “Do you feel what you do to me?”