Chapter Three #2
He wasn’t sure what the guy meant by that since they were
going to see the lady home and ensure her safety and that was all. They had
about fifteen minutes to convince her they would be fun to spend time with. A
lunch. Then dinner maybe. Or drinks first and that could slide into dinner if
she wanted.
The point was he was going to give her all the space she
needed before he mentioned he would like to tie her up, spank her ass, and fuck
her until she couldn’t see straight.
Time. They were taking it this go around.
Bay held the door open for Cleo and her group and finally
Brooke. He smiled at her. His brother could look fairly grim most of the time,
but he had a smile that women flocked to. “Did you know ninety percent of
koalas have chlamydia?”
Yep. They saw that aw, shucks smile of Bay’s and
were interested, and then the fucker opened his mouth.
Brooke stopped and stared at Bay. “No, they don’t.”
Oh, she shouldn’t challenge Bay’s trivia knowledge when it
came to animals. When they were kids, he had a monthly shipment of cards he
kept in a well-organized box. Each contained animal facts. Shane would quiz
him. “I’m pretty sure they do. What I am unsure of is why we are bringing that
unimportant fact up now.”
Sawyer slapped the bar he was laughing so hard.
Brooke frowned Shane’s way. “I am fairly certain it’s
important to the koala bears. The sweet, cuddly bears.”
Bay shook his head. “Yeah, they’re more than cuddly. They’re
kind of nature’s pervs. Like if Stef before Jen had been a bear, he would have
been a koala.”
Brooke went still, and Shane worried for a moment Bay had
offended her. Then her lips curled up and she laughed, the sound ringing
through the almost empty bar.
She looked back at Sawyer, sobering slightly. “You won’t
feel the need to call my brothers if you think I’m doing something dumb, will
you?”
Sawyer shrugged. “I don’t even like your brothers. Make some
mistakes. Have fun. Soon some dumbass will show up on your doorstep and he
won’t leave, and then there’s a dog and a glorious angel who yells at you when
you do stupid shit and you’re getting married.” He sighed, a soft sound. “Yeah,
that’s the good part.”
Brooke put a hand on Bay’s shirt and went up on her toes.
She planted a kiss right on his lips. “You’re weird, Kent. I like weird.” She
stepped back. “Let’s get this show on the road. I’d like to have a couple of
orgasms before dawn, boys.”
Wait. What?
Bay stood there like a statue.
Shane looked to Sawyer. “We aren’t planning anything for
tonight. No taking advantage. We are driving her home and making sure she’s
safe, and hopefully making a date for another time. We’re not interested in a
quick roll with her.”
Sawyer winced. “Yeah, but I think she’s interested in a
quick roll with the two of you.”
“Uh, she kissed me,” Bay pointed out needlessly.
Shane never thought he would panic at the thought of a woman
wanting to go to bed with them, but here he was. “We can save this. We can tell
her we should take it slow.”
Sawyer huffed. “Have you ever told a woman who wants sex you
should take it slow? She’s not going to hear ‘hey, I’d like to date you.’ She’s
going to hear one thing and that’s ‘you don’t find me attractive.’ Something’s
bugging that girl, and she needs affirmation. She can get it from the two of
you or she’ll find it somewhere else, and it won’t be a self-help course, no
matter how much Alexi keeps trying to push that off on everyone. You are in a
pickle, guys. Take the fruit or the fruit will likely ignore you the next time
you see it.”
Shit. This was not his plan.
“Uhm, I think the fruit might steal our truck if we don’t
get out there.” Bay started out the door. “Hey, Brooke. You don’t have to break
in. I have a key.”
Shane followed his brother and heard the door close and lock
behind him.
So there would be no more help from that source.
Brooke waved as Cleo drove off in her clown car. He had no
idea how those boys managed to get their bodies in the back. Those were some
flexible motherfuckers.
Brooke turned to him as he joined them. She sent him a
challenging look, her chin coming up and arrogance in her expression. “So, you
want to take me back to your place and have your way with me?”
Shit. Sawyer was right. She was on the edge tonight, and if
they turned her down, she would go one of two ways. She would either freeze up
and cut herself off from something she needed out of shame, or she would tell
them to fuck off and find it somewhere else.
It was right there in the tight set of her jaw, the way her
eyes seemed to blaze with willpower. Something happened and she needed control.
At least in the way of getting what she wanted, which was to feel good for a
night.
Not the way he’d planned, but the good news was so very
little of his life had gone to plan. He was good at thinking on his feet. She
wanted a man to treat her like a fucking goddess? He could do that. She
probably thought she could enjoy them and toss them out, but that wasn’t how it
had to go.
She liked that Bay was weird.
They’d been playing this all wrong. Every time they
approached Brooke Harper they put on a show of being normal. Not damaged. They
were attractive cowboys who could show a girl a good time. That’s how he’d
played it at first. When that hadn’t worked, he’d decided to try being the nice
guy who never got in bar fights and who’d probably come from parents who loved
him. The all-American classic boyfriend.
What if she liked damaged? What if she was that woman who
wanted something real, even if it wasn’t perfect. Oh, she might think she
wanted the type A, love ’em and leave ’em cowboy, but she was about to get something different.
Bay loomed over her but held his hands back as though he
wasn’t sure if he should touch her or try to stick to the original no sex
because we’re courting the lady plan.
They were still courting the lady, but the evening was
definitely going to include sex.
“Uhm, we can’t take you back to our place because our place
doesn’t exist,” Bay replied.
This was a problem, but one they could solve. Besides, the
woman seemed to like to get hit with some honesty. It wasn’t like she didn’t
know they weren’t exactly undercover billionaires. “What he means is we’re
living out at the G. We’re in the bunkhouse, and what I’m planning on doing to
you would overeducate the nineteen-year-olds we’re sharing that house with.”
Even in the low light from the neon sign above, he could see
how she flushed.
“Movie Motel,” Bay spat out. “We can go there. I have cash.”
She winced at the thought. “Gene is the single worst gossip
there is.”
Damn it. If only he had invested in camping gear. He could
save this. Somehow. “The lodge.”
Way more expensive but also private. He could make it
happen.
She sighed. “Fine. Back to plan A. I’m staying on my
brothers’ property, but in a guesthouse. They can’t see it from the main house.
You’ll just have to get out early.”
He wasn’t planning on leaving at all. He was planning on…
Could one squat a relationship? If he stayed, would she get used to him? He
could be helpful. He was already planning on how to feed her in the morning.
Bacon. Eggs. Pancakes. The key was to use real butter and real milk.
Sometimes the way to a woman’s heart was through her stomach
and proving he could be a competent member of the household.
Also, “early” was relative.
He moved in, unwilling to give her another second to think
about it. He thrust his fingers into all that brown and gold hair that he
wanted to tangle himself in. She was so fucking gorgeous. “Anything you want,
baby. Look at me. How do you want me to play this? You want straight sex?”
She bit her bottom lip. “I want it however you like, Kent.”
He tightened his hold, giving her hair a twist. “Shane. My
name is Shane and his is Bay. We’re two separate people, and you will refer to
us as such.”
Her eyes flared but then her tongue ran along that lip she’d
nipped. “Shane. You’ve spent time in Stef’s playroom, haven’t you? You like to
top a woman.”
He needed to. Not like in everyday life, but in this way. He
needed to feel in control. Needed. Wanted. Welcome. “I can handle you, Brooke.
Don’t ever think I can’t. Whatever you need, I can take it.”
She seemed to stop for a moment, almost like she was going
to get emotional on him, and he’d meant what he’d said. He could handle her
emotions. He wanted them. He was already half in love with her, but she didn’t
need to know that right now. Then her expression smoothed out, and he knew she
planned to brazen her way through it. She went on her toes again, her mouth
close to his. “All I need from you is a couple of mind-blowing orgasms, Shane
Kent. Do you think you can handle that?”
She needed so much more, and he planned on figuring out what
had happened to put her in this place where she needed validation. But he was
going with it for the night. “I can.”
He lowered his lips to hers and kissed her for the first
time, using his hold on her to control the kiss. After a moment’s play at her
lips, he swiped his tongue across them, demanding entry. Her mouth opened and
he pressed inside, sliding his tongue along hers, his whole body coming alive.
He felt Bay move in behind her. He swept her hair aside,
avoiding Shane’s hand with the expertise of long practice, and kissed her neck
while his hands came up to cup her breasts.
“Not in the parking lot,” Sawyer shouted as he started
toward his Jeep.
Asshole.
Shane broke the kiss and was thrilled to see Brooke had lost
her devil-may-care expression and seemed a bit drugged.
Good. Her very nearness drugged him. He pulled his keys out.
“Get in. It’s time we got you home.”
She didn’t have to know he kind of wanted her to be his
home.
When he pulled out of the parking lot, he vowed it would be
a night she never forgot.
* * * *
Brooke sat in between the two hottest guys she’d ever