Priceless (Finding Love Book 5)

by Paris Hansen

  “Jeezus, you’re fucking hotter than any porn I’ve ever watched. Look,” he said as he pointed to his dick. “That little lick of your lips has already got me hard again. I can’t get enough of you, baby.”

  Andi smiled up at him, her lust-filled eyes shining, her cheeks rosy. She was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen, and she was all his. He was already raring to go again, and it was obvious she was too. As he tucked himself back into his shorts, he started to push himself up off the couch but stopped when she reached out and placed a hand on his chest.

  “If you enjoyed that, you’ll love what I have planned for you later,” she paused, her tongue darting out to lick her lips again. “But you’ll only get it if you let me finish my game.”

  Without waiting for his response, she turned around and picked up the discarded controller. She unpaused the game and took a seat on the floor, her focus no longer on him or what they’d done. Shaking his head, he fell back against the couch cushion and tried to think about something that would help deflate his raging hard-on. Knowing how good she was at the game, Braeden knew they were going to be there awhile.

  “You’re lucky I love you,” he muttered as he started running through hockey stats in his head.

  With a quick look over her shoulder, she smiled at him, then turned back around to the TV. “I know.”

  Smiling, Braeden settled into the couch ready to watch his woman kick some video game ass. Later he would spend the rest of the evening enjoying the way she made it up to him.

  Chapter 12

  Andi

  Finally, everything was starting to work itself out. After weeks of waiting for Richard Archer to clear Braeden’s name, they’d finally gotten word that Braeden was free to go back to work. Matthew would be fired as soon as they could find him and Alexander Quinn was going to be relieved of his duties as well. Andi had a difficult time fathoming how things had gotten so out of hand. The scandal working its way through the Archer, Quinn, and Associates offices was one that seemed like it should be in a movie instead of real life.

  With the good news, the quadruple date that Andi and Braeden had planned with their friends had turned into a celebration. Even though she’d been excited to see their friends, all Andi wanted to do was stay home and celebrate in a naked sort of way. Of course, they couldn’t cancel at the last minute, much to her dismay. She’d just have to show Braeden how happy she was for him when they got home.

  In fact, she’d gotten him a gift of sorts, and it seemed like it was going to be the perfect evening to finally give it to him. They’d officially been back together for over a month, which had been the threshold she’d given Braeden before he could start talking about the more serious aspects of their relationship, like living together and marriage. Andi knew everyone would think it was too soon, but she didn’t care. Braeden had been right when he said they’d already wasted too much time apart. The fact that they already spent nearly every night together made her feel silly fighting the inevitable.

  So she’d vowed not to fight it any longer. Once they got home from their night out with friends, Andi was going to tell Braeden that she was ready to take him up on his offer to move in with him. There were logistics that needed to be worked out, like the lease she was going to break, but none of that mattered. She’d take the hit because being with Braeden felt right. Making a life with him was the only thing she’d ever truly wanted, and it was finally within her reach.

  “Babe, are you almost ready?” Braeden called down the hall.

  He’d been ready for nearly twenty minutes, which made her jealous. Not that she was high maintenance or even medium maintenance, but Braeden didn’t have to do much to get ready. A quick shower, dry off, then throw on some clothes. He spent a little time on his hair, running his hands through it with a bit of product, then voilà, he was ready before she was even out of the shower.

  She quickly put the finishing touches on the minimal amount of makeup she was willing to wear and fluffed up her hair a little. Taking one last look in the mirror, she straightened out the dark blue wrap dress she was wearing. They had reservations at a fancy restaurant, so she had to dress the part. It also helped her cause of getting laid later if she was wearing something that made her lady bits a little easier to access. If she was lucky, they’d park in one of their old spots so they could have a quickie in the car like they did in the past.

  Smiling to herself, she grabbed her purse and jacket from Braeden’s bed, then turned off the lights. Braeden was standing in the living room waiting for her, his gaze traveling the length of her body as she approached him. He gave her a nice slow perusal once, twice, then a third time before finally breaking out of his trance so he could approach her. Pulling her into his arms, he dropped his mouth to hers, the kiss fierce and possessive.

  “You look so fucking good,” he murmured against her lips before capturing them in another passionate kiss.

  If he didn’t stop, she’d drag him back to his room so she could have her way with him. Unfortunately, they didn’t have time for anything more than a couple of kisses. They’d never hear the end of it if they were late for dinner.

  Pushing on his chest, she broke the kiss. “We’re going to have to pick this up later. We’ve gotta get out of here if we want to make it to dinner on time.”

  “Can’t we just cancel?”

  “I’ve been wondering that all evening, but sadly we can’t. It’s Meghan’s birthday and on top of that everyone’s excited to celebrate you being cleared to go back to work. We can have sex later. Maybe even go parking for a bit in one of our old spots if you’re feeling up to it.”

  “Oh I’m feeling up to it...go ahead and check. I bet you’ll be able to tell just how ‘up to it’ I am.”

  “I’m not going to feel your dick right now, Braeden. You know if I put my hand on that thing, we won’t be leaving the house. Now let’s go before I change my mind.”

  Chuckling, Braeden shook his head before grabbing her jacket from her hand. He helped her put it on, then buttoned it up for her. When she was nice and cozy, he leaned in and placed a chaste kiss on her forehead.

  “I love you, Andi. So fucking much. Thank you for being here with me.”

  “There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”

  And it was the truth. It was amazing how quickly her world had changed. Not too long ago it orbited around her brother and her niece, but now it solely revolved around making a life with Braeden, something she should have done years ago. She was going to make up for the lost time the best way she knew how by focusing on the man she loved.

  ✽✽✽

  Braeden

  “That can’t be the real story. Come on man, tell us the truth, not the storyline to some movie you watched on cable.”

  Looking over at his friend Braeden tried not to laugh. The look on everyone’s faces ranged from amusement to disbelief. It was obvious most of them thought he was telling them some over the top story he made up instead of the truth, but even he couldn’t have made up something as ridiculous as what was happening behind the closed doors of AQA.

  “I am 100% serious, Oliver. Drugs, prostitutes, and gambling, oh my. Lawyers and clients alike all down for the count now that their secret is out.”

  Oliver rolled his eyes at Braden’s choice of words. Braeden had to admit the rhyming was a bit much, but he couldn’t resist.

  “And all of it right under my father’s nose?” Gabriel asked while shaking his head. “This whole time I thought he was focusing on work and maybe he was, but he sure in the hell wasn’t paying attention to the business.”

  “According to the investigators, it’s been going on for years, possibly even before Price and I ever even graced their doorstep. I’m betting Quinn is ruing the day that guy ever showed up. If it weren’t for Price, he might’ve been able to keep his extracurricular activities a secret until he retired.”

  “So let me get this straight, one of your bosses was running a high-end prostitution ring out o
f the office for the high-end clients?” Savannah asked.

  She was still trying to wrap her head around everything he’d told them. Honestly, he couldn’t blame her. When his boss had pulled him into a meeting late Friday afternoon, Braeden had thought the worst was coming and that he was going to have to pack up his desk. Instead, he was shown the proof Archer needed to clear him as well as the evidence showing what the other guys had been up to. It felt like a scene straight out of a movie just like Oliver said.

  “Don’t forget the illegal gambling and the cocaine they supplied during their events. Apparently, Price doesn’t know how to say no. He got himself wrapped up so deeply in the whole thing that Quinn had total control over him. When Andi overheard their conversation Quinn had mentioned something about things drying up real quick. It turns out it was the drugs and whores that Price would end up missing out on.”

  “Jeezus, Andi. You dated that guy?” Declan asked his sister a little too harshly for Braeden’s liking.

  “For like a hot second, but then she realized how much of a douchebag he was and how awesome I am,” Braeden answered for her.

  She squeezed his knee under the table, so he turned to give her one of his dazzling smiles. Leaning into him, she placed a gentle kiss against his lips, but he wasn’t interested in just a peck, so he swept his tongue along the seam of her mouth. She allowed him to deepen the kiss, but the sound of someone clearing their throat broke them out of their lust-induced haze.

  “Do you have to do that in front of me?” Declan asked in the irritated tone he tended to use whenever he spoke to Braeden.

  Turning to look at the other man, he wiped at the corner of his mouth even though he knew there was no lipstick there. It was just another way to rile Declan up; something Braeden more than enjoyed doing.

  “I’ve been waiting most of my life to be able to kiss her wherever and whenever I wanted to. So yeah...I gotta do that in front of you,” Braeden said with a shrug before turning back to smile at his girlfriend.

  The other three women at the table started to clap causing warmth to travel up his neck and onto his cheeks.

  “Oh damn...that was...well good for you, Andi. Who knew Braeden had that kind of stuff in him,” Brooklyn said earning a glare from her fiancé. She just smiled at him knowingly, unfazed by the look on his face. Leaning over to give him a quick kiss, she whispered something in his ear, then turned back to the rest of the table.

  The glare immediately turned into something more like lust causing Braeden to look away quickly. He was more than happy that his friend had found love, but he didn’t need to notice when he was getting hot for his woman. Hell, none of them needed to see that crap, although he realized it was going to be ridiculously hard to escape given how sickeningly in love they all were.

  “So enough about me, let’s get back to celebrating Meghan. The day of her birth is a hell of a lot more important than the scandal at AQA. When do we get to sing happy birthday and give you your birthday spankings?”

  “Braeden, you are not touching my wife’s ass,” Oliver protested.

  “Dude, you know she’s like a sister to me. It wouldn’t be at all enjoyable for her.”

  “Braeden,” Meghan warned while fighting back laughter.

  “You guys really are no fun. I still have no idea why I hang out with you,” Braeden whined jokingly before taking a sip of his wine.

  They all knew how much he loved them. They were his family. Long before his dad passed away, the guys were his brothers and Andi was the woman he was going to marry someday. Now he had all of them plus the sister he never knew he wanted in Meghan and two amazing sisters-in-law in Brooklyn and Savannah. He had nieces and nephews to cuddle, and parents thanks to Oliver’s mom and dad.

  He was surrounded by love every which way he looked, which wasn’t something he could always say. For a long time, he’d wondered why his mother left, and what he could have done differently to get her to stay, but he always came up empty. Eventually, he stopped caring. He had his dad and his friends at school. He had Andi, his absolute best friend in the whole world. Who needed a mom?

  When Andi had asked him a week ago if he ever thought about using the law firms resources to try and find her he didn’t know what to say; it had honestly never occurred to him to do so. In the three decades since she’d run off, he’d barely thought about her after the first five years. In fact, the only time he could remember thinking about her at all was when his dad died, and he realized that without his friends he would truly be alone.

  Looking around the table at the people who meant the world to him, he saw two women that exemplified what a mother was supposed to be like. He saw two other women who would make amazing mother’s someday if they chose to go that route, and in Andi’s case, he certainly hoped she did. He didn’t need to know why his mom left or where she’d been for the last thirty-one years. All he needed was the people who chose to stick around. The people who chose to love him. Those were the ones that mattered.

  “So when do we get to celebrate your promotion?” Gabriel asked, his question stopping Braeden from getting too sentimental.

  He nearly thanked his friend for the interruption cause he could tell he was getting too close to the edge. It was only a matter of time before he was waxing poetic about how much he loved his friends and telling each of them how much they meant to him and why. He needed to remember to lay off the wine and stick with beer or the hard stuff.

  “Nothing’s set in stone yet, although, with Price out of the running, I’m pretty much a shoo-in. I don’t know how things are going to work out though. The office is utter chaos dealing with the fallout of what Quinn was up to, and no one knows yet how handling him is going to go down.”

  “That sounds like a total mess. Do you think my dad will replace Quinn as a named partner or just change it to Archer and Associates?”

  Braeden shrugged as he pushed his food around on his plate. “Who knows. I don’t think the other three partners are interested in getting their names on the door. They’ve all been talking about retiring a hell of a lot more than they’ve been talking about taking over the business. There’s a good chance your dad would rather it be just his name on the plaque since he’s the lone managing partner now.”

  “Ooooh maybe you could be the next named partner,” Meghan said, her enthusiasm making everyone at the table chuckle. “Archer, Clarke, and Associates. I really like the sound of that.”

  Laughing, Braeden shook his head. “As much as I don’t hate the sound of that, I’m much too young to be a named partner. Hell, compared to those guys I’m still a baby. I think I’d have to pay my dues and then some as a senior partner before the boss would even consider putting my name on the letterhead.”

  “Do you remember back in the day when we used to talk about opening our own firm?” Gabriel asked. “Archer and Clarke, Attorneys at Law.”

  “Yeah, we would’ve had such a kick-ass law firm.”

  “I still can’t picture you as a lawyer. You aren’t stuffy enough,” Brooklyn’s gaze traveled over her brother-in-law, then over to Braeden. “Not that you’re stuffy or anything, Braeden...actually, you’re about as far from stuffy as you can get. Oh hell...I don’t know what I’m trying to say.”

  “Oh Brook...you can tell your tolerance has gone down since you got pregnant. It’s a damn good thing you’re going to pump and dump tonight,” her sister said chuckling.

  The rest of the table joined in, then laughed even harder when Brooklyn threw a piece of a roll at her sister, and it bounced off of Savannah and hit Gabriel. Braeden loved seeing his friends so happy. He loved spending time with the people he loved. Since Gabriel met Savannah, the dynamic among them had changed. They’d gotten closer as they’d each found their happiness. Bringing Savannah, Brooklyn, and Meghan into the group had only made them a tighter unit. The women, especially Brooklyn, had helped to lighten up Declan and in doing so, opened Andi up as well.

  For as long as he lived, Braeden would
be grateful for the appearance of the St. James women in his friend’s lives. While he’d like to think he’d have gotten his chance with Andi without them, he had to admit they did a lot to help his cause. Now he just needed to figure out the right time to put the plan he’d told Meghan about weeks ago, into action.

  Two hours later his stomach hurt from laughing and his face hurt from smiling. More often than not, that seemed to be the way evenings with his friends ended, and he couldn’t be happier about it, even if he was headed home far earlier than he was used to. It was the price he paid for hanging out with people who had babies at home. Dragging his ass home at two a.m. was a thing of the past, and it often surprised Braeden how okay he was with the change.

  Long before the girls had come along, the fun guy persona that Braeden had been portraying had gotten tiresome. He would have given anything to do the exact thing he was about to do now, go home and cuddle with his woman. None of the guys would’ve ever believed he enjoyed spooning, but it was the truth. It didn’t matter to him if he was the big spoon or the little spoon as long as he was wrapped up with Andi.

  But before the cuddling could commence, he needed to strip her naked and have his way with her. Or she could have her way with him. Either way worked just fine.

  “Ugh, I shouldn’t have let you talk me into sharing dessert with you,” Andi moaned from the passenger seat as he maneuvered his car off of the freeway.

  “Hey, no one said you had to eat half of it.”

  “I know. I wasn’t planning to, but that triple coconut cream pie was too damn good.”

  Braeden laughed. “Oh, it was better than just good. I’m pretty sure every single person that tried it moaned just as loud as you did the second they put that first bite in their mouth. I didn’t expect it to be so big.”