Tempting the Billionaire: Falling for my brother's best friend (The Hartford Brothers Book 1)

by JA Low

  “Nope. I save it for special people,” I tell her, grinning while I warm up.

  “No wonder you’re still single. No one likes a morning person,” she grumbles as she starts to jog on the spot warming up too. I’m distracted for a split second as she unzips her hoodie, then wraps it around her waist while showing off that she is wearing her skimpiest sports bra. Great, now I’m going to be running with a hard on, I think as I feel him wake up. She begins stretching and I have to turn away because no male could keep their dick in check with Audrey bending over giving me a glimpse down her top. Urgh. I’m such a pervert. Stop it. She’s your friend and you shall not ogle said friend.

  “Let’s go, old man.” Audrey smacks me in the stomach and sprints off. I chase her down which makes her giggle, and we fall into an easy pace as we run along the London streets and toward Hyde Park. She’s keeping up with me which is good but I’m not pushing myself too hard for her.

  “Now I get why you run. You enjoy all the women’s attention.” She chuckles as we continue following the path around the park.

  “No one is looking at me Aud, I assure you.” Audrey bursts out laughing.

  “Even that toddler in the stroller was checking you out.” I shake my head at her absurd comments. “Watch, we are about to go past this group of moms walking with their strollers. One hundred bucks says they all look at you.”

  “I’m not betting on that.”

  “You know I’m right,” she continues.

  “Fine. One hundred bucks says no one is staring at me they are too busy looking after their kids.” Audrey chuckles.

  “Go on ahead I’ll video it.”

  This is ridiculous but if it makes her happy and keeps her mind off David and all the drama then I’ll do it. She seems to be having fun with it. I head on in front of her and pass the group of moms pushing their strollers and continue running till I reach an empty chair underneath an old tree in the shade. I take a seat waiting for Audrey to catch up. She runs past the group of women with a huge smile on her face waving her phone in the air.

  “I got it. I got it!” she squeals.

  Then it happens in slow motion as she runs off the path on to the grass but there is a little gutter and her foot comes down in the dip and her ankle gives away underneath her.

  “Oh shit,” I hear Audrey scream as she goes down and down hard. I jump up off my chair and sprint over to her.

  “Oh my God, are you okay?” I ask, rushing over to her, where she is clutching her ankle but she’s laughing. “Did you hit your head?” Checking on her.

  “No.” She waves my hand away from her face. “You owe me a hundred bucks,” she states waving her phone in my face.

  “Aud, have you lost your mind. You had a bad fall. You’re sure your ankle is, okay?”

  “Yes, yes. I’m fine.” She wiggles her ankle, but I see her wince when she does. “Okay, it hurts but check this out.” She plays on her phone before shoving it in my face. It’s the video she took of me running and the women turning and checking me out. “See.” She grins.

  “Fine. You win. Now can we get you home. You’re going to need ice on this ankle.”

  “Really, I’m fine,” she tries to reassure me. I jump up and hold out my hand to her. She takes it and I lift her up off the ground and straight into my chest where I hold her there. “Told you exercising sucks.” She grimaces as she places weight on her foot.

  “You think you can walk home? Or do you want me to call your brother and get him to pick us up?”

  “Nooo,” she answers quickly. “I won’t ever live this down if you call Rhys. He already knows about how uncoordinated I am and this?” She points to her ankle. “It’ll prove him right. Can’t we just sit here for a moment and enjoy the sunshine?” She looks over at the chair I was just sitting on.

  “I think we should get you home.”

  “Give me five and I’ll be fine.” She tries to move away from me. Audrey can be stubborn sometimes. I place my arm under hers and help her hobble to the chair. We both take a seat and I hand her the water bottle she brought. We both take a couple of generous gulps before catching our breaths for the moment. “So, this isn’t quite the run you thought you were going to have.” Audrey looks over at me and grins.

  “I forgot how uncoordinated you could be. I thought you’d grown out of it.” I joke, smiling back at her.

  “Hey, I wasn’t that bad.”

  “Um, one time you tripped over air and busted your tooth,” I remind her.

  “It was wobbly already. I did the tooth fairy a solid.” She grins.

  “And that time you were trying out for cheerleading, and you missed your mark and broke your arm.” I could go on and on.

  “That’s because Jaime Snyder dropped me on purpose because her boyfriend told her he thought I was hot. That was not on me.” She huffs.

  “You did set your dorm on fire during college.”

  “Right, I’m clumsy I get it.” She rolls her eyes at me. “I’ve improved since then. This is my first accident in …” I watch her try and calculate when the last time she hurt herself. “A couple of hours because I stubbed my toe on the end of the bed because I was half asleep this morning.” She proved my point. “You don’t need to be so smug about it.” Audrey teases.

  “It’s cute.” I knock her shoulder with my own.

  “Cute? Yeah, that’s what every girl wants to hear from a hot guy that something she does is cute.”

  “What about adorable,” I joke. Audrey makes gagging sounds.

  “Sweet?” She shakes her head which has us both laughing.

  Audrey’s phone starts ringing. “Hang on it’s the girls,” she tells me picking up the phone.

  “Hey.”

  “I’m at Hyde Park. I went for a run with Stirling.”

  “Why is that funny?”

  “No. I haven’t hurt myself yet.” She turns and glares at me as she hears my sniggering.

  “If you want to Uber to me than you’re more than welcome to.”

  “Fine. We’ll see you in ten.” Then she hangs up the phone.

  “The girls are coming to pick us up.” She rolls her eyes but there’s a smile on her lips. We fall into a comfortable silence as we stare out across the gardens.

  “Am I naïve?” she asks, turning to me with a serious look on her face.

  “No. Why would you think that?” Looking over at her.

  “I know I shouldn’t have done it, but I went onto social media and read the comments.” She lets out a heavy sigh. “They said I was naïve to think David wouldn’t have hooked up with Dior because their chemistry on all their campaigns was intense.” She frowns before looking back out over the gardens. “That I’m a princess that doesn’t understand the real world.” I can see the hurt on her face as she tells me about the comments.

  “The people who know you, know the truth. You’re none of those things,” I explain, trying to convince her but I can see my words are not making a difference.

  “They think I’m some Park Avenue Princess, so I deserve what happened to me.” Audrey turns to me, and I can see the tears welling in her eyes but she’s trying to be strong.

  “Come here.” I wrap my arm around her shoulders and pull her close, Audrey buries her face into my chest, and I feel her begin to break against me. “Faceless strangers on the internet shouldn’t matter to you.”

  “You wouldn’t understand.” Audrey sniffles. “The internet is my life.” She looks up at me with her red puffy eyes. “This is me.” I feel for her because maybe I don’t understand what it entails to be an influencer like she is. I always thought it was a shallow, egotistical job, but I know that’s not Audrey. She’s a hard worker, and devotes as much time as she can to help her mother’s charity. But I get why people take one look at her social media feed and see the perfectly curated images she puts out there and thinks it’s her life. I mean it’s a small portion of her life.

  “You’ve never let the haters get to you before, why now
?”

  “I’ve been better at hiding it before.” She turns and looks at me seriously. My heart feels like it’s been flayed open because I had no idea she’s been suffering in silence for so long. Why did she not come to me sooner? What would you have done, Stirling? Hunt every single troll down?

  “I am here for you, Aud. You know that don’t you?” She gives me a weak smile and a nod. “I know I’m not your brother, but I can be the support person you need when times get tough, okay?” She nods again. “I don’t ever want to lose you, Audrey,” I tell her honestly as I reach out and cup her face. “I can’t imagine my life without you in it.” Those bright blue eyes blink slowly and the next thing I know Audrey’s lips are on mine.

  Oh shit.

  Both of us kind of freeze in the moment. Our lips pressed tightly against each other before Audrey pulls away and I can see the embarrassment written all over her face as her cheeks turn bright red.

  “I’m so sorry, Stirling. I … just …” She’s lost for words as she flounders before me.

  Ah, fuck it.

  I grab her face again and kiss her. I know I’m going to regret this, and I can curse myself out later for it. Her lips open for mine. Our tongues touch and sparks ignite all over my body, and she moans as I deepen the kiss. Her fingers sink into my hair and grip it tightly, which has me groaning. Shit, who knew I liked a little pain with my kisses. My hand grips her face as I angle her to where I want her. Those pouty lips devouring me.

  “Audrey.”

  We still and quickly jump apart at hearing her name being called. We both turn and see Rainn and Nell walking up the path waving at the two of us. Did they see what happened? Thank fuck Rhys isn’t with them.

  “Shit,” Audrey curses. “I better go.” And she stands up and puts pressure on her ankle grimaces for a couple of moments but shakes it off.

  “You guys made it.” Audrey puts on her brightest and cheeriest voice. As if thirty seconds ago didn’t happen. Of course, the universe would punish me like that. I stepped over the line, and it was telling me, no reminding me that is a very bad idea.

  Rainn and Nell hug Audrey then fuss over her for a couple of moments. But I can see Rainn giving me some wicked side eye. She totally caught us.

  Standing up rather quickly, I say, “I’ll see you all back at the house. I’m going to finish my run.” I don’t even give them time to respond before I’m out of there.

  12

  Audrey

  “What the hell happened to you?” Rhys gives me a concerned look as I hobble back inside.

  “I attempted exercise,” I say, giving him a shrug. He shakes his head and heads back into the kitchen.

  “Come on let’s get you set up, upstairs in your bed,” Rainn muses. The girls help me hop up the three flights of stairs to my bedroom. I jump into bed and suck in a deep breath as my ankle throbs.

  “I’ll go get some ice,” Nell states and rushes out of the room.

  “You going to explain to me why Stirling was kissing you then?” Rainn asks. I still and look over at her. Oh no. The look on her face tells me she is not going to let this go.

  “Did Nell see?”

  “No, luckily. Otherwise, everyone would know and that would include your brother,” she warns me.

  “He was being sweet and looking after me and next thing I know I’m throwing myself at him,” I explain to her.

  “And?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Bullshit. You’ve wanted to kiss Stirling for years and now you have and it meant nothing?” Rainn questions me.

  “What do you want me to say? That it was fantastic. That I want to do it again. That the man knows how to kiss. That my toes curled, and my body tingled.”

  “Yes.” She squeals. “All of those things.” Rainn grins widely.

  “It was a one off. It can’t happen again. I mean Stirling took off running after it.” I let out a heavy sigh.

  “You probably rocked his world and he needed to get his boner under control.” My eyes widen at her comment which makes Rainn laugh.

  “Would you stop that? There is no happily ever after. It was a moment. A nice one that if I know Stirling will never ever happen again.”

  “You’re right,” Rainn agrees. “Still exciting that it happened.”

  “Do not tell Nell about this.” Rainn zips up her lip and promises to keep my secret. Not that I don’t trust Nell, but she does have a habit of mentioning things when she shouldn’t after a couple glasses. I do not need Rhys overhearing her.

  “I’ve got some ice,” Nell exclaims as she rounds the corner to my bedroom.

  The girls went out shopping today and left me to rest and heal this ankle before we head off to Paris tomorrow. I want to be able to wear heels, so it’s best I take today off and chill.

  “Oh hey.” Stirling pops his head around the corner after he got back from his hour and a half long run. Rhys had already left for the office by the time he had come home as had the girls. “How are you feeling?” His hair is still wet from his shower and he’s dressed in a white business shirt and navy pants. I notice he smells like the ocean as comes in my room.

  “I’m fine. Just resting it. We have a big week of travelling planned starting tomorrow,” I explain to him. He nods his head in understanding.

  “Has everyone left?” He looks around my room making sure the coast is clear.

  “Yep. It’s just us.”

  He walks further into the room and takes a seat on my bed but near to my feet, he’s putting space between us.

  “Can we talk about what happened in the park?” he asks looking a little unsure about it.

  “I’d rather not,” I tell him honestly which surprises him. “It was a moment nothing else.” Wishing the ground would swallow me up.

  “Um, yeah,” he agrees.

  “Rhys won’t find out. So, you’re safe,” I explain to him, which makes him frown.

  “I want to know if you’re, okay? I shouldn’t have overstepped the boundaries,” he tells me.

  “I’m totally fine.” I tell him. My voice rising indicates I’m totally not.

  “You don’t sound fine?” Of course, he’s going to pick up on the tiniest inflection change.

  “Sorry, my ankle is throbbing again. I think the pain killers are starting to wear off.” Lies. All lies. I’m embarrassed and don’t want Stirling to look at me pity in his eyes like he is doing now. I want that fire that I saw when he kissed me.

  “Want me to get you some more?” he asks.

  I wave his question away. “I’m all good. I have some here.” Tapping the bedside table. He nods before an uncomfortable silence falls between us. Neither one of us knowing what to say to the other. Awkward.

  “Right, well. Um. I better head into the office. You sure you don’t need anything before I leave?” He gets up off the bed and looks around the room trying to look at something.

  “I have my phone. I’ll survive.”

  “Right.” He claps his hands together awkwardly. “I’ll get out of your hair then,” he says, as he turns on his heels and heads toward the door.

  “Stirling.” I call out to him which makes him stop and turn around at the doorway. “You and me we’re good, okay.” Giving him a reassuring smile. “I know you like to get into your head sometimes and over analyze things. This is not one of the times you need to do that, okay?” I reassure him. “It was something nice that happened between two friends, that’s all. And I can assure you it doesn’t change the way I feel about you. We’re still friends.” Stirling looks a little relieved.

  “It was good a good kiss, wasn’t it?” He raises a brow in my direction as a smirk falls a cross his face.

  “Yeah, it was good,” I agree., smiling back at him. He gives me and nod and disappears out the door. That didn’t go too badly. Least it’s not going to be awkward between us anymore.

  13

  Stirling

  The girls have spent the past week galivanting around Europe, Paris, I
biza, Monaco, Copenhagen, you name it and the girls pretty much visited. Not that I was following them or anything. Who the hell am I kidding of course I was keeping an eye on her? I wanted to make sure she was okay and having fun. No, you wanted to see if she was hooking up with other guys while she was away. Audrey is single she can do what she wants, I tell myself. But the tiniest seed of jealousy has begun to sprout since our kiss last week and I don’t like the feeling it’s giving me. I have no claim over her nor she I. But… urgh I can’t stop thinking about her. The kiss has ramped up the forbidden thoughts I have been having about her. Even Rhys noticed and mentioned something when I turned the advances down of a hot brunette at the club the other night. I had to make up some excuse of a pulled groin from running for the reason I didn’t take her home. Rhys doesn’t need to know that I can’t stop thinking about his sister especially after seeing her holiday snaps which included a new section of her, in her bikini while lazing in the sun in Ibiza. I’m ashamed to admit I jerked off to those pictures while remembering how she tasted against my lips.

  I’m going to hell.

  Rhys and I are at some charity dinner which is as boring as hell, but it was great networking because these people have the time and money to spend travelling to our hotels. Rhys phone lights and he excuses himself from the conversation we are having with some boring politian’s talking about their country estate and something to do with Pheasants. I watch him read his message, smile then come back to the conversation.

  “I’m so sorry guys, but Stirling and I will have to excuse ourselves as we have an important work matter to attend to.” We say our goodbyes and make our exits out the side door.

  “What’s going on?” I ask, wondering what’s got into Rhys that he’s high tailed it out of that party. I mean it was boring as fuck but still when it comes to business Rhys will see it through no matter what.

  “Got a better invitation.” Rhys grins as we hurriedly walk towards our town car. Rhys never plays hooky. “Audrey texted, they are back and invited us to some club in the city. And I don’t know about you, but that party had one foot in the grave, and I am not there yet.” He chuckles clapping me on the back. Sounds like a good idea to me.