Power Couple: A Marriage of Convenience Romance (The Nashvegas Series Book 1)

by Laramie Briscoe

  He barks as I stand up, clapping against my thighs. He raises up on his hind legs, handing me his paws. “Who’s my boy?” He barks loudly in answer.

  Dad brings up the rear, carrying a cake pan wrapped in aluminum foil. “Hey.” He waves at us as he sets the cake pan on the counter. “Is this actual food in your kitchen?”

  Mom snorts. “I literally asked Bri if she’d texted the right number and verified who she was when she asked if we wanted to come over for dinner.”

  Bri, standing to my left, mixing up what looks like deviled eggs laughs softly. “They love to give you shit, I’m not sure if you knew that or not.”

  “I do know that, very well. But I’m willing to forgive them because they brought my boy.” I run my hands along his neck, jingling his collar as I do.

  “I didn’t know you had a dog.” She continues working on the eggs as Mom comes around, washes her hands, and dives in to help her. Fuck if I don’t like the way the two ladies in my life look, working side by side in my kitchen.

  “I don’t.” I hold a treat up to Chaos’ mouth. “Hold,” I instruct him. When he sits still, eyeing the treat, I grin. “Get it.”

  “Looks like your dog.”

  “We had a dog when he and his brother were growing up,” Dad takes the story, as he has a seat at the counter. “Havock was my first child, I loved that dog. He died when the boys were thirteen and sixteen. He was an old dog, but God he was a part of our family. In every Christmas picture, every birthday picture. He’d sleep with EJ one night, RJ the next.” Dad shakes his head, remembering how loyal Havock was.

  “He loved both of ‘em.” Mom smiles sadly. “But EJ was his. We brought EJ home from the hospital and he would not leave EJ’s side. At night when I’d lay him in his crib, Havock would sleep on the rug right in front of him. Heaven forbid he didn’t know you and you approached EJ or RJ, when he came along, Havock would be right there, growling. There were numerous times people tried to get too close to my kids and they never made it.” She sighs. “But we had to put him down, he just got too old. Broke all of our hearts, and it was a long time before we felt like we could get a dog again. We got Chaos about six years ago as a puppy. At the time, both EJ and RJ still lived at home. He took right up where Havock left off, even though they’re full-grown.”

  “Yeah, but I don’t get to see him enough and I’m not home enough to have my own dog. So, he’s my surrogate,” I laugh as Chaos jumps into my lap again. “C’mon.” I tap my thigh. “Let’s go grill this meat.”

  “EJ, do not give him a bunch of food,” Mom warns. “He has to ride back home and I’m not cleaning up his puke.”

  “Gotcha.” I grab the plate of food.

  “Something tells me you don’t,” she groans. “Garrett, go out there and keep him in check.”

  “I got you, babe,” Dad answers as he hops up, goes around the counter, and gives her a kiss on the cheek, before following me.

  “I know you do.” Her voice follows us as we go onto my back deck.

  “Fuck it’s hot out here.” I wipe off my forehead as I check on the food I’m grilling.

  “I know, RJ had the right idea,” Dad grunts as he throws a ball for Chaos.

  “Where is he?” I know he’d been invited, but he’d decided not to come.

  “The lake. He’s enjoying his last week off before you all start touring.”

  I sigh heavily.

  “What’s wrong, son? You not looking forward to touring?”

  Checking my chicken and the burgers, I close the lid, going over to where Dad stands, taking a drink of a beer he brought me. “It ain’t that. I just have shit on my mind.”

  “Your brother?” His green eyes, so like mine, stare at me.

  “He’s strugglin’, Dad. He’s been strugglin’ and I don’t know what to do.”

  “I know, I tried to talk to him, but he didn’t want anything to do with me. Tried to get your mom to talk to him, but you know how she is, she doesn’t wanna accuse him of something without having proof.” He throws the ball after Chaos brings it back.

  “I been meaning to talk to him, but ya know? It’s been insane with what’s been going on with me.”

  “Total honesty? He’ll talk to you, because you’re his big brother and he looks up to you like he looks up to no one else. He doesn’t wanna disappoint you, and he would respond to you. He’d be pissed first,” Dad chuckles. “Fuck, he will be pissed, but he’ll get over it for you. He won’t do that for many others. If you’re gonna talk to him, you’ve gotta do it this week.”

  “I know.” I have a seat on the deck furniture. “What if he tells me he needs help? What do I do?”

  “Then you fuckin’ get him help. Fuck the tour, fuck the album, fuck it all.” He levels me with his stare. “I almost lost my best friend, I’m not losin’ my son, too. You need help with him? You call me.”

  “I will.” I get up, walk over to the grill, and start taking the meat off.

  “I don’t say it enough, Everett, but I’m proud of you. Not many people would have handled the situation with Bri the way the two of you have. You even seem to be building something, if I’m not mistaken?”

  A blush works its way up my neck. “I’d rather not talk about it right now.”

  Dad laughs, making kissing noises. “Well at least ya got food in your kitchen.”

  “Oh shut the fuck up, will any of you ever let me live this down?” I close the grill, and yell for Chaos.

  “Never,” he vows. “Never ever.”

  “That’s the last of it,” Bri says as she sits down the potato salad, and then has a seat next to me. “Everybody dig in.”

  An hour later, we’re all laughing as Mom tells a story about me, and even I’m laughing, instead of being embarrassed.

  “So I get to the school and as soon as I walk in, the teacher stops me and tells me that EJ’s been saying the f-word and taking the Lord’s name in vain as he sings his Dad’s lyrics. I’ve never been so mad. I told them next time to call Garrett, and he could deal with it.” She shoots a glare Dad’s way. “We get outside, and we’re in the car, and I ask EJ, ‘Do you know what you did wrong?’”

  I chuckle loudly, throwing my head back because I remember this like it was yesterday.

  “He looks at me, with the most serious expression on his face. And he goes ‘I guess I made the mistake of thinking Mrs. Hudson was a fucking Black Friday fan, but I guess I was wrong about that. She didn’t appreciate hearing the lyrics to Dad’s new song early. She can be damned if she thinks I’m gonna try to impress her ever again’.” Mom wipes tears from her eyes. “He was so mad.”

  “How old were you?” Bri laughs along with her.

  “Nine?” I look at Mom.

  “Something like that,” she agrees. “I didn’t even know what to do at that point. I went home and told Garrett he could handle it.”

  “I was mad,” I defend myself. “She was a hottie, and I wanted to be her favorite student. She didn’t appreciate the lengths I went to, in order to impress her. Whatever.” I throw my napkin on the table.

  “Poor baby,” Bri reaches over, running her hand down my arm.

  “Good thing for you, my broken heart was healed.”

  She snorts. “You lay it on so thick.”

  “Learned from the best.” I point at Dad, who gives me a thumbs up.

  She’s still laughing as her phone vibrates on the table, where it sits beside. “Oh, this is Maddie, I better get it.”

  “Hey,” she greets her friend, a smile on her face. They talk for a few minutes and then I hear. “Shut the fuck up! Are you serious? It was moving the wrong way on the charts last week. How did it catapult to number one?”

  The table erupts in cheers. Madison says something on the other end of the line that makes Bri’s eyes move to me. “Thank you for calling and letting me know! Love you too!”

  She hangs up and squeals, throwing her arms around me. “My song hit number one! They think it’s because of the ma
rriage and people being so involved in our story.”

  “That’s amazing, Bri! You good?”

  “So good! Let’s cut the cake!”

  But as she makes her way to the kitchen to grab the cake my mom made, I selfishly hope that her hitting number one, doesn’t keep her from coming with me, because after only a day, I know I want her around for hell of a lot longer. And that’s not something I’m going to budge on.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Bri

  “This has been a day,” I sigh happily, as I turn to face EJ in bed later on that night. “I never thought I’d hit number one.”

  “Is that your first?” He turns toward me as well, reaching out to grab my hand. His big fingers grasp mine in between his, stroking as he situates himself closer to me.

  “No, I had one other number one, but it was part of a huge movie soundtrack, so it wasn’t necessarily mine. It had to do with how big the movie was. This though, this one is mine.”

  “Damn right it is.”

  My heartbeat increases as he reaches toward me with his free hand, wrapping his fingers around my thigh, pulling it up over his. The move makes us fit together like pieces of a puzzle.

  “Are you good with this?” he whispers, his fingers on my thigh caressing the bare skin there.

  I’m transported back to the night in Vegas where he asked me if I was good as he slid inside me. A piece of our first time together; the only piece I can seem to remember. We’ve been dancing around this sexual attraction between the two of us since that night, and right now I make the decision I’m done. “One hundred percent okay with it,” I whisper as I tilt my head to the side, sliding my face toward his. Right before my lips touch his, I stop my movement.

  “This is your decision, Bri.” His breath is warm against my lips, the mint smell of the toothpaste he used before we laid down is prominent. His green eyes the most intense I’ve ever seen them, shining with emotions I’m not sure I want to delve too deeply into.

  There are lots of things in this life between the two of us I’m not sure of. We still have a mountain of things to learn about each other. One thing I am sure of? I’ve never been more attracted to a man than I am to Everett Thompson. Not just physically, but the way treats his parents, the love he has for a dog that doesn’t even live with him anymore, the way him and his brother interact with each other, the respect he’s shown me since this whole thing started. All that shit is attractive to me. Don’t even get me started on his looks. If the personality wasn’t there, I’d still think he was very nice to look at. His green eyes and his dimples in his cheeks; when they aren’t covered by a beard, dark hair a little too long, infectious smile, and when he gets a little lazy – letting a couple days’ worth of stubble pile up? The dark hair makes those green eyes pop, and Jesus Christ he’s model worthy. Not to mention the muscles he has, the tattoos that give him that bad boy edge, and the black diamonds twinkling from his ears. But what really gets me, I mean seriously gets to me, is the dark ring he wears on his left hand, the one that I put there. I’ve not seen him without it on, and I’d be lying if I didn’t say that, in and of itself, isn’t a huge turn on.

  So here I lie with him, a decision waiting for me to make it. I know with everything I have that it will change everything between us if I say yes, and I also know that if I tell him no, he’ll respect it. He’ll ignore the erection I feel against my thigh, and he’ll still smile for me, talk to me, and let me curl up against him. Because that’s the man I married. That’s the person he is.

  I weigh the options, because that’s what I’ve been taught to do since I signed my record deal. Always weigh the options, always make sure it’s a good move for the brand, but this time I want it to be a good move for me. Throwing everything else out the window, I think of how I feel, right now in this moment. Closing my eyes, I let myself relax, let myself fall into this one pinch of time.

  The slow movement of his fingertips on my thigh is causing goosebumps to appear in the wake of their back and forth motion. My leg, thrown over his allows for his and my middles to be tucked against one another. The feel of his erection is making me ache, making my core want to expand and contract. I want to know exactly the sensation of him pressing into me and then slowly dragging back out. My nipples tighten as I realize I want the pleasure of his lips wrapped around them again, his tongue circling before he nips, giving me a little pain with my pleasure. I want those big hands of his traveling all over my body, gripping my hair tight as he directs me on which way he wants me to go. I want to experience everything that is Everett James Thompson and I have a sneaky suspicion that once I do, I’ll never want to let him go. Truth is, I’m perfectly fine with that.

  “What’s it gonna be, Bri?” his deep voice questions, this time strained.

  Opening my eyes, I give him my best seductive smile. Rolling my body closer, so that his cock rests right against where I want him. He grunts, his fingers flexing on my thigh. “I’m ready Everett, I want it all.”

  The words barely leave my mouth when I feel his lips tackle mine, our tongues tangling in a move as old as time. Turning his hips, he flattens me against the mattress, moving his hands up my body, under the shirt I’m wearing. My fingers flex against the skin of his smooth, strong back, when the palm of his hands makes contact with the underside of my breast, lifting it between his thumb and index finger.

  Tearing his lips from mine, he slides down, taking the tip, along with the cotton of my shirt into his mouth.

  “Everett,” I release his name on a sigh, tugging at the waistband of his boxer briefs, sliding my hands down the back of them, cradling his ass in my hands. When I slightly drag my nails over the skin, I feel his length thrust against my core.

  “Bri,” he moans against my shirt, against the flesh. “Fuck.” He braces his knees so that he lays completely on top of me. “I wanted to do this slow, romantic.”

  “We’re way past that.” I push his underwear off as quickly as I can. Feel him kicking it out of the way with his feet.

  His hands have gone to the hem of my t-shirt, pulling it up and over my head, leaving me bare to his gaze. He attacks the flesh he just had his mouth on, the tip begging for him to come back and soothe it again. Those hands of his trail down my body, fumbling when they reach the edge of my panties. He’s trying to get them off of me, but with his weight on top of me, I can’t lift my hips enough, and as I buck against him, we both feel his dick respond strongly. Grasping one side in his strong grip, he pulls tightly, grunting when the fabric lets go with a loud ripping sound.

  My hands on his ass urge him to drive home as I spread my thighs wider, allowing him the room his big body needs. Slightly, he nips at my flesh, letting go of it long enough to move his mouth up to my ear, tugging on the lobe. Trailing my hand up and around his hip, I grab hold of his length.

  “Goddamn, you’ve got to stop,” he pants in my ear. “Let me grab a condom.” His voice is strained, urgent, aroused, and dark as he reaches over my body, opening the drawer to the bedside table.

  His own nipple is now even with my mouth. Feeling a little naughty, I reach up, grasping it in between my teeth, giving him a little of the pain and pleasure he gave me earlier. He shudders, a splash of precum hitting my stomach as he enjoys my touch for a few seconds.

  “Let me,” he breathes heavily as he lets me go, sits up on his knees and runs that hot gaze all down my body. “Let me suit up.” He gives his cock a few tugs, before he opens the condom wrapper with his teeth, and then slides on the rubber.

  Watching his big hand handle his length is almost irreverent. I could watch it for years, could live with a lifetime of FaceTime calls like we had. It will always, always turn me on, this I know more certain than anything I’ve ever known.

  Our eyes meet as he places his palm flat against my stomach and extends his thumb to rub against my clit. It’s enough to seriously almost take me there, and just as I’m about to ask him to stop, he removes the touch, tucks his arms under my thi
ghs and brings out bodies together.

  “Ohhh,” I sigh when he pushes home, then drags back out. It’s fast, it’s slow, it’s everything I’ve ever wanted, and as he does it a few more times, he pitches forward, throwing his hands against the mattress beside my head to hold himself up in a push up pose.

  Sex with Everett is everything I imagined it would be, frenzied, dirty, passionate, and the best I’ve ever had. His breath pants out of his mouth as he pushes in and pulls out of me. Those big hands of his cup my ass, pulling me up to meet his thrusts, when I circle my legs around his waist.

  “Let one leg down,” he grunts as he puts a twist on the end, my mound rubbing against his short pubic hair. “Yes, Bri, fuck, right there. That,” he sighs loudly. “That’s just about deep enough.”

  All I can do is let him play me like an instrument, let him work my body the way he wants to. I’m on a rollercoaster the likes of which I’ve never been on before, feeling emotions I’ve never even imagined. My nails alternate between scratching up and down his back to moving up into his hair, holding his hair tight against his scalp.

  His head dips, mouthing my throat, sucking hard, using his teeth, and I feel myself contracting against him. “Bri, I’m gonna come,” he warns as his thrusts start to lose rhythm. They become erratic, and he grunts with each thrust in and withdrawal out.

  Grabbing hold of his hand, I pull it down in between our bodies, using his finger along with mine to get me there as we rub against my clit together.

  “Feel good?” he asks in a guttural voice.

  “Yes!” I close my eyes, tilt my head back against the pillow and just let the emotion run through my body.

  The two of us are symphony of grunts, sighs, the bed shaking, and the rustle of the sheets coming off the mattress as we come against one another. He collapses on top of me, and I can do nothing, but run my fingers along the hairline of his neck, kissing his forehead softly, where it rests against my lips.