Chapter 6 Brooks #2
I pull my phone out of my pocket, flipping through my social media, checking on some stocks, and shooting my mom a text to let her know that Teresa says hi.
What are you doing there? she writes back. Fuck. Didn’t think this through.
Brought a friend in to get some things.
A “friend.” Uh-huh, mom writes back, but I know it’s in jest. She has always warned me about playing with women’s feelings and hammered into my head from a young age that women should be revered. Respected. Cherished.
And despite what the tabloids might print, I’ve stuck to that.
I may have had my fair share of female companions, but I was straight with every single one of them.
And even after our fun was over, I’d check in.
Although I’ve had some wild nights in my life, I’ve never once treated a woman with anything less than respect.
Because I think of my father. And the way he treated my mother.
She’s the only person in the world who has never made me feel like the butt of the joke.
For having had the richest man in the world’s baby, she sure got the shit end of the stick.
When he left his first wife, my brothers’ mom, for her, the world portrayed her as the homewrecking whore that stole away the world’s richest man with her beauty.
When I came along, they said she was a gold digger.
But none of them saw the way she lived when he decided that he was ready to move on. That he took her to court to get full custody of me, forcing her to empty out her retirement and take a second job to pay her legal fees.
In the end, even money couldn’t buy him his way.
They split custody of me, but he made my mom’s life a living hell out of spite.
And because my trust fund was on lockdown until I was twenty-one, I couldn’t do a thing about it.
I’d spend one week in a New York City penthouse or at my family’s estate.
Then, I’d spend the next week in my grandmother’s one-bedroom Queens apartment, sharing the pullout couch with my mom while she tried to get back on her feet after he bled her dry.
And the funny thing is, I preferred being with her.
And the second I turned twenty-one, the second I got access to my money—well, his money—I gave it all to her. Every single dime of it. I knew I would be getting a job at Everett Enterprises. I knew my salary would be astronomical. I’d be just fine.
But so would she.
She quit both her job at the post office and her waitressing job.
She bought a nice house upstate.
She put her feet up.
She took a breath.
It was the happiest moment of my life. Being able to repay her for everything. For all the pain he caused her.
Is this a friend-friend or something else? she texts again. I smile.
I’m not sure yet, I answer honestly.
Well, be good to her.
Always, I send back.
I hear giggling in the back, and my head pops up. Through a crack between the dressing room curtains, I see Teresa slipping a blazer over Wren’s bare shoulders, and it sends a chill down my spine.
Fuck me. She spins around to look at the mirror, but our eyes catch for the briefest moment. I clear my throat and sit up straighter, totally caught. Another moment passes, and they are walking out from the dressing area to me.
“Well,” Teresa says, “I think she’s ready!”
But I barely hear her. All I see is the long-legged brunette in front of me, dressed to the nines in a navy blazer, a matching skirt that hugs her hips the way I want to, and a tight white silk tank underneath it.
She has on stiletto heels that accentuate the muscles in her calves, and while she looks amazing in the outfit, all I want to do is tear it all off of her.
She looks sheepishly up at me, tucking a stray piece of her hair behind her ear as I stand up.
“Well,” I finally breathe, “if that doesn’t get you hired, I don’t know what will.”
She smiles faintly as Teresa claps her hands together.
“Oh! I forgot. I have a handbag that will go great with this. I’ll be right back,” she says, turning around and heading toward the back of the store. I take a step toward her, and I see her suck in a breath as her eyes find mine again.
“You look amazing,” I tell her, and I see her cheeks flush.
“Brooks, I…this place feels a little expensive. And I don’t want—”
“Wren, I wouldn’t have brought you here if I expected you to pay for any of this.
And before you say anything else, can you please try to remember that you are doing this to help us?
That we can never repay you for what you’re about to do?
” She swallows and nods slowly, and I take a tiny step closer.
I want to be in her orbit. “Wren, when you are with me, I need you to not worry about money. And it’s not because I’m trying to throw it in your face.
But my family is the richest in the country.
I might be a piece of shit, but I’m not the type of piece of shit that expects anyone in my company to pull out their wallet when I can buy a damn country. Okay?” I ask.
She draws in another breath then bites her bottom lip.
“Okay,” she says. “I guess that’s fair.”
Just then, Teresa shows back up with a navy handbag, and I see Wren smile as she takes it.
“This is beautiful,” she says. She looks up at Teresa with big genuine eyes, and Teresa kisses her cheek.
“Thanks, T,” I say, reaching for her. As she wraps her arms around my neck, I feel her bring her lips to my ear.
“Keep this one,” she says, then she pulls away with a wink.
As we hurry back into the car and head back toward her apartment, I look up at her.
“I need to tell you something,” I say. She looks at me, one eyebrow raised. “I won’t be there tomorrow.”
Now her other eyebrow raises.
“Oh,” she says, her eyes dropping. Then she forces a smile and waves her hand. “No problem. I’ll be fine.”
“I know you will,” I say. “But I made sure that Julian and Keaton will be there to meet you afterward. You also have their numbers in case anything gets weird while you’re in there. They’ve both cleared their afternoons, so they will be fully on standby. I’ll be waiting to hear too.”
She looks back at me, nodding.
“Where…where do you have to go?” she asks, and I can tell that she’s unsure about showing too much concern.
“My dad is sending me to cover for him at our Boston office tomorrow. Some meeting that he’s missing so he can be at the interview.
” She nods, her eyes flashing out her window.
I reach across the space and give her hand a squeeze.
“You are going to be great. And if you need me, I’ll be one call away. ”
She smiles and nods again, and I feel her fingers lift gently beneath mine, giving my palm the smallest stroke. She’s quiet for the rest of the ride, and I tell Eddie to park on the side of her building so I can walk her up.
“You don’t have to do that,” she says. “I know you can’t be spotted.” I smile.
“I don’t think anyone is going to spot me sneaking into a random apartment building,” I tell her. She nods and slides out of the car, still solemn. I follow her up the stairs, trying not to ogle at her perfect ass the whole way. When she unlocks her door, she turns to me.
“Brooks, I…” she starts to say, but she bites her lip.
Fuck. She’s scared. I fucking hate this.
I step toward her and run my hand down her arm, taking hers in mine.
“Hey,” I whisper. Her eyes flick up to me, and I can’t help myself. I take her face in my hands, stroke her jaw with my thumb, and then take her mouth with mine. She jumps slightly, and I reach behind her and nudge her door open, pushing us inside and closing it.
The tiniest moan escapes her lips, and my dick twitches.
She’s staring up at me, and now there’s a little fire in her eyes. The same fire that was there the day she put me in my place in front of my brothers.
I love when she does that.
I press my forehead to hers, willing myself not to go any further.
Don’t fuck with her, Brooks.
I go to take a step back, but I feel her hand wrap around the back of my neck, her fingers playing in my hair. She pulls me into her again, this time pressing up on her toes to kiss me harder, fuller.
I let my hands fall to her hips, rubbing and squeezing her gently before I slide my lips to her cheek, jaw, and neck.
“Don’t be scared, baby,” I whisper in her ear. “I’m not gonna let anything happen to you.”
She closes her eyes and tilts her head back against the wall behind her, and all I want is to make every racing thought she’s having cease to exist. I want to be the only thing her brain conjures up. I want to be all-consuming to her, and in this moment, I don’t give a fuck how selfish that sounds.
I shift down to my knees, and her eyes snap open again.
“Ah-ah,” I tell her. “Close them for a minute.”
Her chest is heaving with heavy breaths as she looks down to me, but she finally obeys. I reach up and unzip her jeans, tugging them down gently. I feel her hold her breath, but I keep moving slowly, watching carefully for any sign that she wants me to stop.
But it never comes.
She has on silky pale-pink panties, and my tongue juts out to wet my lips at the sight of them. I want her so fucking bad. I loop my thumb around the straps and tug them down gently, exposing the most perfect fucking pussy.
She bites her lip as her fingers clutch onto my shirt, but her eyes are still closed.
I move closer, letting my breath settle on her flesh, sending goosebumps rippling down her legs. I grab tight to her hips, tilting her out toward me, and then I let my tongue graze her.
“Oh,” she moans as I move in even closer, burying myself in her.
I lick and suck her lips, pulling them into my mouth, feeling as she grows wetter and wetter with every stroke of my tongue.
Her breathing is more erratic now, and she’s thrusting her hips toward my face.
I slide my hands around to her ass, holding her in place, and my mouth works on her, drawing out every ounce of anxiety in her body.
She moves to look down at me, but I stop her again.
“Not yet,” I tell her. “Close your eyes. Just feel me. Nothing but me.”
She bites her lip and leans back against the wall, closing her eyes again.
She moans louder this time, and I am hard as a fucking brick.
I speed up, then slow down, moving my mouth over her until I find the right spot and the right rhythm that has her grip on me tightening and her pussy begging for me to keep going.
When I find it, I stop for a moment. I stand up, swinging my arm under her legs and carrying her over to her couch.
I lay her down gently, tugging her pants all the way off of her then pushing her legs up and out to the sides.
Her pussy is pink and glistening, like it’s begging for me. And I fucking melt.
I drop down to my knees again at the end of the couch, taking one leg in each hand. Then I look at her.
“Now,” I say. “Eyes on me. I want you to watch me make you come.”
“Oh, fuck,” she whispers just as my mouth takes her again.
I find that same spot, that same rhythm, and she starts panting.
I let one of her legs fall over my shoulder, and I slide two fingers inside of her, letting them aid me in my quest to make her explode.
Her whole body is pulsing now, her pussy clenching around my fingers as she smacks the couch beside her, her other hand clutching my hair.
Finally, I hear her panting turn into one long moan, and I feel her tighten around me once more as my fingers pump in and out one last time.
Her legs tighten, then they both drop, and she lets her arm fall over her eyes.
I move back slowly, wiping my mouth and smiling down at her.
I walk across the room to where I chucked her pants and carry them over to her.
She’s still lying with her arm over her eyes, trying to slow her breathing down.
I lean over her, and she slowly moves it, her big brown eyes batting at me.
I hand her the pants then lean down for a long kiss. I want her to taste herself on me.
Then I pull back.
“Just keep your eyes on me, baby,” I tell her. “I got you.”
Then, I stand up, turn around, and walk out of her apartment.