Chapter 15
15
“ D inner was fantastic.” Selena passed Rian a warm, wet plate as she finished washing it. Someone else cooked, she was more than happy to clean what few dishes Rian left in the sink. “My grandmother would have enjoyed that.”
“You should take her some of the leftovers.” Rian smirked and hitched his thumb over his shoulder. “Don't let Cathal make off with the lot of it. He's a lazy arse in the kitchen.”
“I might have to. I appreciated the night off cooking.” She kept talking, trying to take her mind off the decision to stay with Brogan. And his questions about Jacob. He'd handled it better than she would've guessed. But the way his muscles tensed when she mentioned him didn't fool her.
She smiled brightly at Rian. Her distraction. “Did you always know you wanted to be a chef?”
“Yes. I think part of it was my ma pitying me. Brogan was always working. After Da died, he basically ran the farm and got another job to help pay the bills. So, Ma pulled me into the kitchen with her. When she died, I took over that aspect until we needed to move to the States.”
Needed to move . She didn't miss that phrase, and she didn't think Rian had meant for her to. Selena glanced over her shoulder. “All three of you moved here at the same time?”
“We thought it for the best. Once we left, we ended up going our separate ways for a while. Cathal went to school at Georgetown. Brogan had already graduated from the University before we left, so he started random jobs here and there. Then he sent me to culinary school.” Rian set the last dish in the drying rack. “We promised our ma we'd stick together. And we have for the most part. The restaurant was actually Cathal's idea after he went to an Irish pub in college and declared it to be shit.”
Selena laughed along with Rian. It felt like a family. Her own had been so hit-and-miss her entire life. Her dad was gone. Her mom ran from boyfriend to boyfriend. The solidarity of them made her miss something she never knew existed outside television. But the O'Keeley's had accepted her readily.
“It's almost eleven,” Cathal announced as he set his empty whiskey glass in the sink. “Good thing the restaurant won't open until one o'clock tomorrow. We all get a bit of a sleep-in. I'm gonna head home before the weather turns fierce.” He put his arm around Selena's shoulders. “Come with me, darling, and I'll have Rian take you home.” He kissed her temple. “I think I will officially adopt you. It's nice to have a woman in the mix.”
She leaned into him. “It's nice to be part of a mix. I don't want you to go out of your way, though. I can call Katie.” That was a horrible lie. She planned to stay with Brogan. If she didn't chicken out .
“Don't call her to come to get you. I can take you home.” Rian picked up his keys from the counter. “If your apartment is where I think it is, you're on my way home.”
“That's very nice of you.” What else could she say?
“I'll take her home,” Brogan said from behind her as he sat his warm hand gently on her shoulder. With a tug, her back pressed against his chest. She leaned back, his masculine energy running through her body. She wanted to close her eyes. His voice melted over her. “No worries, men.”
Cathal shoved his hands in his pockets, looking a little disgruntled. “That makes absolutely no sense. The rain is moving in. You said so yourself. Why get out in it when we have to go that way?”
Selena waved her hand, hoping Cathal would drop it as she tried to ignore the way Brogan's hand skimmed along her waist to set at her hip. “Katie has my car. If she comes and gets me then I can drop her back off and won't have to worry about swapping cars tomorrow.”
Cathal scoffed. “Yes. And if she's as irresponsible as she was the other night, she already needs a ride home herself.”
“Katie doesn't go out every night. She's just trying to work through a break-up at the moment. She can come and get me.”
Brogan's heat disappeared, and he moved to the door of his apartment and opened it. “I said I'd drive her home.” His face had ‘just go away’ written across it, but his brothers still didn't get the point.
Rian stared at Brogan with an incredulous look. “Certainly, you trust us to get her home.”
“We're your own flesh and blood, Brog,” Cathal added.
Damn it. Brogan would have to deal with the consequence of it. Selena crossed her arms. “I'm staying. Here.” She looked back at Cathal. “With Brogan. And both of you are making it awkward as hell right now so drop it and leave.”
They both grinned. “No. I just won twenty dollars, though,” Rian said. “I bet who would cave first. Cathal always goes with Brogan.”
Brogan muttered something that both the men found amusing.
Selena's mouth dropped open. “You knew? And you bet?” She aimed an annoyed look Rian's direction. “And I don't know how I feel about you thinking I'd cave first.”
He smiled wider and pulled her into a big hug. “I just know our brother.” He turned and left, Cathal trailing right behind him.
Brogan shut the door harder than necessary, locking it. “Sorry. I tried to raise them better.”
“It doesn't bother me in the least. I was trying to be discreet for you. Not me.” She walked back to the kitchen and poured another glass of wine. Good God, the way he watched her about made her come unglued. She hated feeling like she wanted to flag Cathal and Rian down and take them up on their offer.
She held up the bottle of wine. “Do you want any?”
“No.” His eyes held hers.
She set the bottle on the counter and picked up her glass. He shouldn't make her nervous. “You're lucky to have brothers that love you that much.”
“I suppose.” He walked to the sofa and sat down like this was an everyday occurrence for him. He was in command of everything in his life. He expected her to follow him, just like at her apartment.
She was the only one that was on the verge of going crazy!
Things needed to change. She couldn't spend the night wondering what he was thinking. Waiting on him to make a move. Hoping she didn't move too fast. He probably had the entire night planned out. Selena couldn't say for certain how far she planned to go with him. Sleeping with Brogan was at the top of her list, but not at the risk that he'd squash on her heart come Monday morning when he treated her like a generic employee again.
She didn't want special treatment besides a smile and kiss ‘hello’ in the morning. After taking a sip of her wine, she left the glass in the kitchen. She wanted to be in control, too. Of herself. Of the situation.
“I take it there's supposed to be a big storm coming?” She walked to the sofa. A perfectly lovely sofa cushion sat empty beside Brogan.
She sat in his lap.
He blinked and then recovered, his hand holding her thigh, so she didn't fall on the floor. “Yes. There is. I assume this means you decided to stay? All night?”
She kissed him hard on the mouth. “What gave you that idea?”
“Just so we're clear—”
Selena pressed a finger over his lips. “Be quiet. I'm a big girl. You won't pressure me into anything I don't want to do. I don't want to talk about it again.”
“You're bossy.”
“You are, too.”
He trailed his fingertips up and down her leg. She was about to be a puddle of goop if he did that much longer. Brogan's hands anywhere turned her to mush.
She leaned closer, nipping once at his bottom lip before sinking slow and deep into the kiss she'd wanted all night.
A loud knock at the door broke them apart. His head fell back before he shifted her to the side and stood up .
“I left my cell phone,” Cathal called. “I swear if you're already naked, I'll be so damn proud—”
Brogan yanked open the door. “Do you mind? I have neighbors.”
Cathal brushed past him. “Sorry, love,” he said to Selena who still sat on the sofa. “I forgot my phone.” He picked it up off the counter and waved to Brogan. “Carry on.”
Brogan slammed the door harder that time, muttered, again, and then stalked back to the living room.
Selena rose. He'd expect to start back where they left off.
She met him in the middle of the floor. Brogan needed a little chaos in his life. And right then, riding high on the happiness of feeling part of a happy family for once in her life, she was the one to give it to him.
“We could—” He didn't finish his sentence as her lips found his. If the kiss on the couch had been rated by intensity, she'd have given it a three. This was a six. She rose up on her toes, trying to get closer. She'd promised she'd stay the night. Yet his hands stayed PG. Hers had already slipped under his shirt. The brief experience of his skin when he'd stayed at her apartment had left a lasting impression.
Now, she wanted to memorize every inch of his amazing chest. Hard chiseled muscles. The one she felt every day smoothing down his tie.
Another knock at the door made her moan in frustration this time.
“That jammy bastard had better be glad I don't—” He opened the door, and Cathal stood there with a dopey grin on his face.
“Sorry. Left the lamb.” He moved into the apartment, sent Selena a wink, and then turned to leave. “Carry on.”
“I'm not answering this door again,” Brogan growled .
“I didn't expect you to answer the first two times.”
Brogan closed the door and locked every lock imaginable.
Some more of Cathal's magic she assumed, pushing Brogan's buttons.
He started to pull her back to him. But she had a different plan. Keep him off-kilter. Not in control. She was in charge.
She stepped back, just out of his reach. “Where's your bedroom?”
His brows drew down sharply. Nothing but sweet, polite concern in his expression. Because that was what she wanted to see.
“Selena....”
She rolled her eyes and pulled her t-shirt over her head, tossing it to the far chair. The bra was plain, same as before, but judging by his sharp intake of breath and the way his eyes locked with hers, it didn't matter.
“I'll find it myself.”
After a few more phrases she didn't understand, he took long, confident steps and yanked her to his body. His mouth crashed into hers, smothering her squeal of excitement. His mouth ravaged hers, the same way he'd done before. Primal. When he lost his edge of control, they both won.
Her feet left the floor, and she wrapped her legs around his waist.
This was happening. He'd finally given her the level ten kiss she wanted.
Another knock sounded at the door.
His lips trailed down her throat.
“Bedroom, Brogan.”
Never breaking contact, he moved across the living room and away from the front door .
Selena's hands and lips almost made Brogan forget he was nearly forty and should handle the situation with a little more finesse. He'd dreamed about carrying her to his bedroom, laying her down on his bed. And here she was, in nothing more than her plain bra and a pair of blue jeans. Both of which were sexier than lace lingerie when they were on her beautiful body.
“Please tell me you have a condom,” she muttered against his neck. She'd already stripped him of his shirt before they fell onto the bed together. He'd managed to get off both shoes and one sock without breaking the spell and having to lean down. There just was no nice way to take off a pair of socks.
Brogan reached to his nightstand and flipped one out. He'd checked for one himself partway through dinner.
Selena shifted and unbuttoned her jeans.
Brogan set his hand over hers, keeping her from going farther. “Wait, I—”
“Stop second-guessing me, Brogan. Please. I want to do this.” She nodded her head as if to make the point clear.
The reassurance was helpful to hear, but that wasn't his hesitancy. He rested his forehead to hers, a combination of still being completely aroused and trying not to laugh. It was an odd feeling.
“I was going to tell you to wait.” He leaned back and pushed her hands away. Slowly, he unzipped her blue jeans. “Because I have done nothing but watch you swish your tail around the bar in these tight jeans, and I'm going to enjoy finally getting the chance to take them off you.”
“I don't swish,” she said with a fake pout. Her down-turned lips shifted into a sexy grin as Brogan pulled the pants down her thighs. He still had flashbacks of her pulling down her pants far enough to tuck in her shirt in his office that one time.
And now his hands were on those hips.
His lips found hers again, and he suddenly wished he had accepted the second glass of wine. Maybe then he wouldn't feel the emotions battering into him like the waves in the Atlantic Ocean as he stripped off the rest of their clothing.
He kissed along the curve of her neck and down to the swell of her breast. His hands shook, and he was thankful for the darkness. That was the last thing he needed to explain right then. To himself or to Selena.
The wildflower scent that drove him crazy lingered along her skin. Every inch he discovered, touched, tore away the last barrier he’d built around his heart. The final distrust of her melted away.
Because Selena was different.
Her back arched against his chest, her fingers interlaced with his and pinned above her head.
He squeezed his eyes shut against a surge of protectiveness. The woman gave him more than he could ever return. But he’d protect her. It didn’t matter what happened, what they became, he’d make sure this woman was protected.
A blur of emotions swirled through Brogan’s system, and he swore their hearts were beating at the same rapid pace as he entered her.
Her back arched again, their bodies pressing together.
He held still a brief second, the sudden awareness of how much his life had changed since he left Ireland completely overwhelming him. He never assumed he'd find someone like Selena .
He never knew someone so perfect for him existed.
“Brogan,” she mumbled, her hands skimming along his back.
He wished he could tell her, swear that he’d be there for her, but that was for another time. For now, he’d try to show her.