Chapter Twelve
Brooks
It”s the day before the bookstore opens. I still have a few things to do to get ready, but I”m surprised how calm I feel and how much I”m looking forward to being officially open. If I think on it hard enough, I know I feel so calm right now because Wren has been so helpful with getting this place ready. If I can bring a fraction of the joy my grandpa did to people when I open this place, then I will be happy.
I”m stocking the reading area with pillows, toys, children”s books, and some paper and crayons when the front door chimes. Wanting to check this area off my list as customer-ready, I keep plugging away, assuming the only people who would walk through the door are my friends. I”m so lost in making sure the rug and pillows are just right that I”m startled when Wren”s arms wrap around my neck. It has been at least fifteen minutes since the door chimed, and I honestly forgot anyone was in here with me.
I”m on my knees, so she barely has to bend in this position. Her warmth seeps into my back as she nuzzles my neck. Her scent wraps around me, making my dick instantly hard. Wren nibbles her way up to my ear, and I can”t keep my groan in. Needing her mouth on mine, I wrap my arm around her neck and swiftly pull her to my front so that she”s straddling my knees. Her eyes are half-mast, and with one glance, I know exactly where my little minx”s mind is at.
I”m not sure who moves first, but in my next breath, our lips slam together as we both fight for dominance over the kiss. Her tongue slides between my lips as she swirls it around mine, making me even stiffer in my jeans. I wrap my arms around her waist, pulling her chest to mine and centering her right over my aching cock. I thrust up into her jean-covered pussy, making her gasp as her head tips back and rests on her shoulder.
Needing more, I lay Wren down on the rug and pillows I just finished placing. Her raven hair spreads out around her porcelain skin, fanning her flushed face. I don”t know how, but her beauty takes my breath away every time I see her as if it”s the first time.
I run my palms up her waist until I”m cupping her heaving breasts. Lowering myself on top of her, I notch myself on top of her center. I hitch her leg up over my hip as I grind down into her. Her whimper is my undoing, every fucking time. I lower my mouth to hers as I nip and suck her lips.
We are both so caught up in each other that neither hears the front door. I have my hand up Wren”s shirt, playing with her pierced nipple as I dry hump her and devour her mouth. The only thing that breaks through my sex fog is a sharp breath and a voice that distinctly sounds like my mother”s.
”Oh my…”
Ripping my lips from Wren”s, I turn to see not only my mother but my dad and all of my brothers standing on the edge of the reading area, all witnessing me dry hump the fuck out of my girl. My mom has her hand over her mouth and is wide-eyed as my brothers snicker behind her. My dad has a cocky, knowing smirk on his face.
Wren gasps under me, quickly flipping me on my ass as she jumps to her feet and rights her shirt. She nervously tucks her hair behind her ear while shooting death glares at me.
Before either of us can say anything or I can get my ass off the floor, Carson barrels past my parents and wraps Wren in a bear hug, lifting her off her feet as he sways her side to side.
Seeing Carson”s hands on my little minx and the shit-eating grin on his face, I jump to my feet and tug her out of his arms before moving her in front of me to hide my erection.
”Ah, come on, bro.”
”Fuck off, Carson.”
”Brooks!” My mom sounds exasperated, which is honestly normal when all of her boys are in the same room.
”Sorry, Ma. What are you guys doing here?” I run my hand through my hair as the other one tightens around a squirming Wren, who is trying to slink away.
”Brooks, you didn”t think we”d miss the opening of your store, did you?” my dad questions with a raised brow as he takes a step towards me, tugging my mom along by her hand.
”You are all busy, and it”s not that big of a deal. Nobody mentioned coming, so I figured you”d all see it at some point when you had some free time.”
”We didn”t say anything because we wanted to surprise you.” My mom smiles at me.
”Well, you definitely surprised me.” I move Wren to my side, keeping my arm tight around her waist as I give both of my parents a quick hug.
”I”d say. Can I please say hi to Wren now that you and Mom got all the niceties out of the way?” Carson whines, making me roll my eyes at him for the second time in only a few minutes.
Before I can introduce Wren, my girl steels her spine and takes a step towards my parents, thrusting her hand forward.
”Hello, I”m Wren. It”s nice to meet you.”
I”m nervous as my mom looks at Wren warily but relieved when my dad takes her hand, shaking it, as he gives her a friendly smile. ”I”m Curt. It”s nice to meet you.”
It only takes a minute for my mom to compose herself before her smile returns, and she takes Wren”s outstretched hand.
”Hi, I”m Audrey. It”s nice to meet you, Wren,” my mom says warmly but shoots me a questioning glare. Consciously, or not, I realize I haven”t mentioned Wren any of the times I”ve talked to my mom lately.
Carson saves me from a grilling by being the loudmouth he always is. ”Yeah, yeah. And this little guy is Maclan, but we all just call him Mac.” Carson grabs Maclan”s arm as he tries to drag him closer to Wren. The ”little guy” comment is obviously a jab at Mac since he”s, in fact, larger and older than Carson and Cam.
Mac doesn”t budge as Carson tugs him harder, making us all laugh as Mac rolls his eyes.
Taking a step forward, Mac reaches his arm out to shake Wren”s hand, a smile on his face. ”Nice to meet you, Wren.”
”You too, Mac.” I expect her to drop his hand, but she takes a step closer to him and eyes his tattoos that cover his whole arm. She runs her finger over one section as a sweet smile pulls at the corners of her lips, making her dimples pop. ”Where”d you get your work done?”
”Hmm, I”ve gone to a few places, but my sleeve was done by a guy named Lark at The Parlor in the city.”
”No shit,” I murmur under my breath as Wren gives me a smile that makes her dimples pop.
Picking up on our silent conversation, Mac asks, ”Do you know him? Carson told me you are a tattoo artist and you own the shop next door.”
”Did he, now?” I grit out as I glare at Carson, who is the biggest fucking gossip I know.
”You could say that,” Wren teases before elaborating, ”Lark is my older brother and the reason I started tattooing.”
”Huh, what a small fucking world,” Mac muses as he smiles at Wren.
”Maclan! I swear I taught my boys better than to use language like that, Wren. I”m sorry they are such heathens.” My mom shoots a glare at all of us.
I know enough to look contrite, but Carson earns a pinch to the back of the arm for smirking back at our mom.
”Ouch, Ma. Why do you always go for the back of the arm? It hurts like a mother fu—” Carson decides against saying ”fucker” again when he sees Mom”s hand moving back towards his arm.
”It”s fine, Mrs. Ashford. I”ve grown up in the tattoo world. It”s definitely not for the faint of heart. I should probably just apologize now because my vocabulary has been compared to that of a sailor before.” Wren smiles sweetly as if she is innocent when that is far from the truth. ”It was nice meeting you all, but I should probably head back to my shop. I have a client coming soon. I guess I”ll see you all tomorrow at the opening.”
My family all say goodbye to Wren, promising to see her tomorrow.
I follow her towards the door when she puts a hand up to my chest to stop me. ”I can walk myself out, McSexy. Go spend time with your family.” Before I can protest, Wren pops up on her toes and gives me a chaste kiss before sauntering off.
I can”t help but glue my eyes to her ass as her hips swing back and forth. Wren is watching me over her shoulder as she bites her lip, then gives her fingers a wave before disappearing behind some shelves on her way out.
Reluctantly, I head back to the reading area, where my family is talking. I need to finish setting everything up in here and a couple of other places in the store, but I feel confident that everything will be ready for tomorrow. When I make it to them, I”m not surprised to see my mom arranging pillows and ordering my dad and brothers around.
”Mom, you don”t have to do that.”
”I know I don”t, honey, but I needed to do something to calm my nerves after walking in on what I just saw.” Mom”s eyes are narrowed, and her hands are on her hips.
It”s hard to not still squirm like a little kid, even though I”m a fucking adult now. Exasperated, I run my hands through my hair before they slide down my face.
”Well, Mom, I am an adult, for one. I didn”t think anyone would come into the shop. Especially you.”
”Well, it”s a good thing it was just me and your family, or you”d be giving off the wrong impressions.”
”Oh, yeah? And what would those impressions be, Ma?”
”That you are not a serious business owner, for one. Or that you don”t want a relationship if you”re having casual sexual relationship—”
I raise a hand and cut her off before she says something that”s going to piss me off. ”First off, everyone in town knows the opening of the store is tomorrow, so there”s no reason for anyone to walk in and see Wren and me in a compromising position—that, I admit, we took a little too far considering where we were at. Secondly, it”s not anyone”s business whether or not I want a relationship. Even if they were curious, it doesn”t matter since I”m already in one with Wren.”
”I find that hard to believe since you”ve never mentioned her to me. Besides, can you imagine taking her to a function for work?”
My back stiffens as I pick up what my mother is implying. Sure, Wren is nowhere close to the ”normal” women I have dated, but she”s fucking stunning and amazing. She”s also smart as hell and would more than hold her own with my pompous colleagues.
”Mom, I love you, but you need to think about how the words you just said sound. Yes, I know Wren is way different than any woman I”ve been with, but trust me when I tell you that”s a good thing. Sure, her appearance would make her stand out at one of my work functions, but to sit here and judge her for the way she looks is below you. Hell, look at your sons. All of them are covered in ink, but I”ve never heard you giving them shit about it.” I gesture to my brothers, who have been whipping their heads back and forth between Mom and me as if watching a tennis match.
Sensing the tension rising, my dad steps up and places a gentle hand on Mom”s back. ”Your mother didn”t mean anything by it, son. I”m sure Wren is a lovely woman. I think we were all just a little surprised when we walked in on you two together. Especially since you haven”t mentioned her to your mother or me. Although, from Carson”s reaction, it seems as if he has at least heard about her.”
”Yeah, but only because we pissed her off when we woke her up by working on this place. But Ma, you need to give her a chance. I”ve never seen anyone ruffle Brooks”s feathers the way Wren does. She”s good for his ego.”
”Ha. That”s rich coming from you.” I lunge for Carson and get him in a headlock so I can give him a noogie.
It only takes him a second to slip from my grasp, making us both laugh as we try to get one over on each other. When we finally take a step back, I”m glad to see Mom”s gaze has softened.
”I”m sorry, Brooks. You”re right. That was not fair of me. The entire situation just took me off guard. I would love to get to know Wren a little better if that”s okay with you.”
”Yeah, Ma. I”d like that. But we may have to take things slow. My girl has some tough walls she loves to retreat behind when she”s in an uncomfortable situation. Please promise you”ll have patience with her.”
”Sure, honey. I can do that.” I”m so relieved and sink into my mom”s hug when she wraps her arms around me. ”So, what can we do to help you get ready for tomorrow?”
”I don”t have much left, but I”d love your help. Where are you guys staying?”
”We were hoping to stay with you, but we can find a hotel if you want.”
”Nah, that should be fine. I”ll stay with Wren, and you guys can have my apartment. There”s a bed in the spare room, and Grandpa”s old apartment is fully renovated now too but there isn”t any furniture down there.”
”No problem. Cam and I will run out and get two beds for it,” Carson says.
”You sure? You don”t have to do that.”
”Yeah, it”s not a problem. I like the vibes of this town and wouldn”t mind spending some time here in our off season. It would be nice to have a place to crash.” Carson shrugs, and I don”t even hide how surprised yet happy that makes me. I miss my brothers, even though they can be pains.
”I”ll come too unless you need some help?” Mac looks at me.
”I don”t have much to do, so go ahead. There”s a mom-and-pop furniture store a few buildings up. Can you check there first before you head to a big box store? I”d like to support the locals as much as possible.”
”Sure, let”s go.” Carson leads the way out of the store.
I pull out my phone to check my to-do list but stop when I hear Carson holler from the front of the building, ”Hey, tell Wren I think she kicked ass on the window display when you see her.”
Confused, I head out and see my boring window vinyl has been replaced with what I can only call a masterpiece. The name of the store stands out, but surrounding the words are mini scenes from all different book genres. It”s stunning, and I can tell Wren took the time to draw this for me.
I admire the full effect. Turning so my back is facing the window, I take a selfie beside my new design with the dopiest smile on my face. I send it to my girl, knowing she won”t respond since she”s with a client, so I tuck my phone away and head back inside.
I spend the next few hours doing the finishing touches on the store with my parents. I text Wren a few times and am relieved when she says I can stay with her. Her schedule is jam-packed tonight since they are closed tomorrow so that she can be here to support my opening, which means she can”t do dinner with us.
I take my family to The Tavern, where they”re impressed by the food and brews but even more so by the locals who respect my brothers” space and let them eat in peace. They do take about fifteen minutes for pictures and to sign things when they see a little girl excitedly pointing one of them out to her dad, but after that, nobody approaches. They don”t get that much respect in the city, which makes me even more hopeful that they”ll want to spend more of their free time here in Sparrow Falls with me.
I”m exhausted by the time we”re finally done with dinner, and we make our way back to the bookstore. I let my family into the apartments before heading over to the shop to grab Wren”s keys from her. She”s with a client, but she takes a break long enough to kiss and let me know where her keys are.
I try to stay awake long enough to spend some time with Wren, but after a long day prepping for the opening and a surprise visit from my family, I succumb to sleep. I barely stir when Wren makes her way to bed, but I ease into a deep sleep as I pull her body close to mine.
I”m so fucking nervous about my opening that it”s not even funny. I”m acting like it isn”t bothering me, but Wren picks up on it immediately when we”re in the shower. She takes me completely off guard when she drops to her knees and sucks me down her throat. I love how well my girl can take me, and it”s not long before I”m relaxed and ready to open the store.
My family joins Wren and me in the store. They all help get the food and drinks set up and the last-minute details taken care of. I”m surprised when Meadow, River, and Daphne arrive early, but grateful when they take over showing my lug-head brothers how to run the point-of-sale system since I”m about ready to strangle them. It”s not the least bit surprising that River is the one to teach them what the hell to do. The girls assure me they”ll help handle customers so that I”m free to mingle and schmooze, and I couldn”t be more relieved.
Before I”m ready, the front door is unlocked and people come pouring in. I”m happy to see how excited my friends and their wives are. Chayse and Landon immediately make a beeline for the huge romance display I have set up, making me smile. I have to admit I ended up doubling my initial plan for the romance section once I learned about the love all of my friends and my little minx have for the genre. Their husbands stop to chat and congratulate me on how the store turned out. I know it wouldn”t be nearly as amazing without Cash and Reid”s help, and I make sure to tell them that.
For the next few hours, there”s a steady stream of people in and out of the store. I”m excited to see many customers have made their way to the bulletin board and either signed up for book clubs or made suggestions for ones they”d like to see.
My brothers, with the help of Wren, Meadow, River, and Daphne, are having no issues with our POS system and have said having the ability to move about the store and complete sales has been very helpful. Of course, people can head to the counter if they want to pay with cash instead.
I”m just coming back out front with a box of books to restock a popular young adult section when I see Wren talking to a man I assume is Lark. He”s covered in tattoos, which is a giveaway, but he shares the same eyes and mouth as Wren. I set the books down by the display and wave Mac over, gesturing to the box, and he takes over restocking the shelves for me so I can go meet Wren”s brother.
I”m nervous as fuck as I make my way across the room to introduce myself to Wren”s only living relative. Catching my eye, Wren”s face splits into a huge smile, making those dimples I love pop. Stepping closer, I wrap my arm around her shoulder as she wraps hers around my waist. I give her a quick kiss on her forehead before turning my attention to her brother.
”Hi, I”m Brooks. You must be Lark. Thanks so much for making the drive out here for the opening of the store.”
Lark smiles and nods in acknowledgement.
”No problem, man. Wren hasn”t quit talking about your store and all of the books she”s going to read for weeks now. I needed to meet the man who has my little sister acting like a giddy teen.”
Wren steps out from under my arms, walking closer to her brother to flick him on the nose. He laughs as he rubs his nose with one hand while tucking Wren under his arm. She instantly lifts her hand as if she is going to protect her hair, which makes me laugh when I see Lark”s hand rise to ruffle it.
”Don”t you even think about it, Lark. Remember, I know how to have you on your back in seconds.”
”How could I forget? When I wanted you to learn self-defense as a teen, it was never so you could use it on me when you were pissed.”
I”m about to ask for more stories when someone wraps their arms around my waist. Confused, I turn and am instantly assaulted with too much perfume and lips slamming on mine without my permission. I”m caught so off guard that I”m frozen in place.
It isn”t until I hear a muttered, ”What the fuck?” that I finally snap out of it and shove my ex off of me and out of my personal space.
”What the hell was that, Jessa?” I vigorously wipe my mouth to remove her sticky lip gloss, frantically looking around for Wren but only find a very fucking pissed Lark. ”I can explain once I find Wren if you give me a chance.”
”Oh, yeah? Why the fuck would I do that?”
”Because she”—I point towards Jessa with a glare—”means nothing to me. We broke up over a year ago, and I haven”t talked to her since. Wren is all I think about and the only woman I see. Please, where did Wren go?”
Lark glares back at me as I let how honest I am show on my face. I don”t fucking want Jessa and never did long-term, but I fucking need Wren like she”s the air I breathe.
Sensing I”m being sincere, Lark nods towards the back door and I don”t hesitate to follow, leaving a stammering Jessa behind. I text Cameron and ask him to get Jessa the fuck out of here. She always said he made her anxious being so big but never really saying much around her, so I know if he tells her to leave, she will.
With that taken care of, I follow Lark out of the back of my shop in hopes of bringing my little minx home to me.