Christopher relaxed visibly, getting his silent message. “I hear you loud and clear, man.”
“Wait a second.” Anna looked back and forth between them. “Was that some sort of secret code?”
“I’ll tell you later,” he said, squeezing her tightly against his side. “I promise.”
Chris’s lips twitched. “Yeah. It’s on a need-to-know basis, Squirt. And you don’t need to know.”
She stiffened. “I’ll tell you what you need to know. Or better yet—I’ll show you.”
“Watch out. I might not fight back, but she will.”
Christopher rolled his eyes. “I’m terrified.”
Anna took a step toward him, her fists tight. “One second you’re threatening to kill him, and the next you’re sharing jokes? Let me show you a—”
Brett yanked her back, laughing at the fury burning in her eyes. Chris didn’t realize how close he was to getting a size six foot in between his legs…but Brett did. “Let him go. He’s still recovering from shock.”
“He’ll need more of a recovery if you’ll let go of me,” she mumbled under her breath. “Let me at him.”
Chris eyed her nervously, then pointed at Brett. “You’ll make her happy.”
It obviously wasn’t a question, but he nodded anyway.
“I know you will. I’m going to make sure of it for every second of every single day for the rest of my ridiculously long li—”
“Oh, shut up.” Nina came in the garden and rested her hand on Chris’s arm, giving him a look that he clearly understood. He stopped talking and looked down at the ground, his shoulders stiff. Nina looked at Anna and Brett, a small smile on her face. “Don’t listen to him. He just has a hard time remembering Anna isn’t a little girl anymore.”
Chris flushed, but didn’t say anything.
It was a motherfucking miracle.
Anna smiled at Nina. “Thank you. You’re the voice of reason, as always.”
“Agreed. Could you two return to the rest of the guards”—Brett pointed at the window, and Anna followed his line of vision where all of her brothers were watching them—“and let us have a moment before we join you?”
Chris hesitated, but finally nodded. “We’ll be wait—”
Nina elbowed him, cutting him off midsentence. “Take your time.”
“Oh. My. God.” Anna closed her eyes and took a long breath. “They’re all ridiculous. Absolutely insane.”
“They love you.” Brett tipped her chin up, and she opened her eyes. She stared up at him, her eyes soft and so gray they knocked the breath right outta his lungs. “It’s something you shouldn’t underestimate. Love is so easy to accept when you know you have it, but even harder to lose.”
She swallowed and clutched his jacket, pulling him closer. “I didn’t mean anything I said in the library. You know that, right?”
He nodded, gently sweeping her hair out of her face with both hands. “I do. And I didn’t really want to say good-bye, either. I don’t want a night, Anna. I want forever.”
“Forever?” she squeaked.
“Yes. But that’s a talk I want to have in private. Come on.”
She didn’t move. “Did you really tell my brothers that they needed to be nice to the next guy I bring home?”
“I did, and it was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. Just the thought of you with someone else makes me want punch something.” He looked down at her, jealousy making his vision a little bit green. “Just so you know, that’s no longer on the table. Until you decide otherwise, I’m the only guy you’ll be bringing home from now on.”
“Deal,” she breathed.
He grabbed her hand and led her inside the house. As they approached, all of her brothers stumbled away from the window and tried to look busy. Nina rolled her eyes at them and tugged Chris toward the waiting car. As they all waved them off, Brett put his arm around Anna…
And no one said a damn thing.
Imagine that.
The second the limo was gone, he turned to her brothers with a grin. “Now that that’s done, we’re going upstairs. I suggest none of you follow us, because you won’t like what you hear.”
Anna covered her mouth and laughed.
“Now, that’s just disgusting,” Wyatt said. “Why would you tell us that?”
“I think we should revisit the body in the woods theory,” Cole said, scowling at Brett before he stormed outside. “It has merit, you know,” he called over his shoulder.
“I’m with him.” Eric followed Cole out the door. “I’ll be back later.”
Brett grinned and tugged Anna behind him, up the stairs, and into her room. Locking the door behind them, he started talking immediately. The words burst forth so fast, but he couldn’t hold them back. Not anymore. Not ever again. Not with his Anna. “I want forever with you. The first time we were together, in my room, I realized it. I didn’t fully accept it until the beach, but even from the start…I knew this wasn’t just a wedding hookup. It couldn’t be halfway. I needed all of it. All of you. I needed…you.”
She let out a little laugh and raised up on tiptoe to kiss him. When he stopped talking and clung to her hips, she pulled back. “Okay, now that I’ve distracted you…slow down. I can barely understand you, and I have a feeling I don’t want to miss this.”
“I’ll try, but I feel like I’ve been waiting all of my life to say these words. Waiting to tell you how I really feel, and now I can. I can finally tell you.” He cradled her face in his hands, his thumb caressing her jawline. “From now on, I can’t accept anything but all of you, and in return I promise to give you all of me. Before this weekend, I didn’t think I knew what love was, but you showed me—and the funny thing is I’ve known all along.”
Anna grabbed his arms, blinking up at him with love shining from her bright eyes. It was something he’d never forget or take for granted. The way she looked at him. “You did?”
“I did. I think I’ve loved you since you fell out of that tree all those years ago.” He dropped a kiss to her forehead, smiling down at her once he drew back, his heart pounding hard enough to crack a fucking rib. “You loved me all our childhood. Every time you defended me, or spent the afternoon with me, or climbed up a tree for me—that was love. What I felt here, for you”—he touched his heart—“was love.” He let go of her and paced. “I finally realized I loved you after our time at the beach. It’s why I pulled back for some space. I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t jumping into things too fast. I wanted it to be perfect.”
“Being with you is perfect,” she said, smiling at him through tears.
He lifted her in his arms, and she clung to his neck, hanging on tightly. “I want you to know, without a doubt, that you are the love of my life. You are my only love, and have always been my only love. I was an idiot to deny it for as long as I have, but I won’t anymore. I won’t take you for granted for another second. I love you.”
She curled her fingers into his shoulders, tears making her gray eyes even more beautiful than ever before—which was saying a hell of a lot. “I love you, too.”
Shock, joy, and hope—so much fucking hope—crashed through him at warp speed. “You do?” he asked hesitantly.
“I do,” she said, nodding. “So much it hurts sometimes.”
Happiness blurred his vision, and he hugged her to his chest as hard as he dared without hurting her. Because he would never hurt her again. “Then I’ll make sure to kiss away the pain.” He kissed her gently, his lips barely brushing hers, and whispered, “Every time it hurts, just come to me for help, and I’ll make it stop.”
“It hurts now,” she said quickly, tilting her face up to his.
“Then I’ll fix it.” He closed his lips over hers without hesitation, lowering her to the bed. He slid his tongue inside her mouth, and she clung to him. When she let out a sexy moan, he groaned and ran his fingers up her leg, sliding under her skirt without any hesitation. He closed his hand on her mound, pressing the heel of his
palm to her center, and deepened the kiss. Her skin was hot under her satin panties, and she arched against him, rolling her hips. His body hardened with need, and he tore free of her mouth with a curse. “Christ, you’re going to kill me. You’re so damn wet.”
“I know.” She shoved his tux jacket off his shoulders and jerked at the buttons of his shirt. “That’s because I need you now.”
He growled and ripped his shirt all the way off, buttons flying in every direction, but he didn’t give a damn. He had a lot of shirts, but only one Anna Hamilton.
He was out of his pants in record speed, and her eyes wandered over his body, taking in every last detail until she focused on his stomach…
She gasped and touched his skin gently—so gently he almost didn’t feel it. “What happened to your chest and stomach?”
“Huh?” He looked down at his body and then back at her. “Oh. That. Your brothers happened. I already told you about that.”
“They did that to you?” Anna’s face flushed red, and she pressed her lips into a thin line. “Oh. My. God. I’ll kill them.”
She lunged out of the bed and ran straight for the door so fast it took him a good three seconds to register she’d even moved. As soon as it did register, he cursed and leaped out of the bed after her. He caught her as her hand closed over the knob, and she cried out in anger. “Don’t leave me now, Twinkletoes. Not after we just found each other. I promise you, I’m fine.”
She squirmed out of his arms, stepping back so she could glower at his abs. He glanced down and flinched. Yellow, blue, and purple shaded his tan body, looking like some sick interpretation of a child’s hand painting—complete with knuckle marks. “You’re not fine. Look at yourself. You might be bleeding internally for all we know. Maybe we should be taking you to the doctor instead of getting naked. Get dressed now.”
She slammed his shirt into his hands, and he gritted his teeth together. No. Hell no. That wasn’t going to fucking happen. The only place he was going was that bed—with her. Dropping his shirt to the floor, he advanced on her. “I don’t have internal bleeding, and the only thing that will hurt me at this point is if you make me leave this room. If you don’t climb back into that bed, I’ll hurt more than this ever did, and I’ll be forced to drag you back to that bed kicking and screaming.”
She backed away from him, swallowing hard, desire burning in her eyes. “But…but you might be hurt.”
“I am hurt.” He nodded, still advancing on her. When the backs of her knees hit the mattress, he smiled with satisfaction. “But all I need is you.”
She licked her lips. He pushed her shoulders, and she sat down on the bed. “Okay, fine, but—”
“No buts.” He crawled over her body, kissing every inch of skin he could find as he laid her back. “Just you and me. Right here. Right now. Nothing else.”
And it was true. All he needed in life was this. Her.
Them.
“I love you,” he whispered against her racing pulse, breathing in her scent.
“I love you, too,” she said back, wrapping her body around his. “Let me show you just how much…”
And then she did.
She really fucking did.
Epilogue
Two years later
Brett paused on the walkway to the Hamilton house, his head tilted to the side as he examined the exterior he knew more than his own. Same picket fences. Same green lawns. But instead of hating this town and counting down the minutes till he got to leave again, like he had with Chris’s wedding, he grinned and rubbed his hands together. Over two years ago, he came back to town for his best friend’s wedding. And today?
He came back for his wedding, and he couldn’t be happier.
Brett stalked up the front door, not even bothering to look at the house next door. His aunt and uncle were probably home—but they weren’t invited to their wedding. He continued to pay their bills, and they continued to beg for extra money…but he didn’t give it to them, no matter how many guilt trips they gave him.
He was a changed man with Anna in his life.
A better man. A whole man.
He lifted his hand to knock, but Anna opened the door before he could touch the wood, just like that day he’d arrived for Chris’s wedding. She smiled at him and threw herself into his arms, her feet dangling in the air as she wrapped her arms around his neck and he swung her in a circle. As he enclosed her in his embrace, his heart picking up speed when she clung to him, he wondered if he would ever get used to the love she showed him so freely and often.
Fuck, he hoped not.
He never wanted to take her, or her love, for granted.
“Mm.” He buried his face in her hair, inhaling her sweet scent. Plumeria. Always plumeria. “I missed you so damn much, Twinkletoes.”
She pulled back, smiling up at him, her gray eyes shining with happiness. Happiness he’d put there. “It’s only been twelve hours.”
“Twelve hours too many.”
She chuckled and plopped back down on the floor in front of him, letting go of him. He resisted the urge to pull her in his grasp again…but barely. “Come on in. You’re here just in time for the games, and I need a partner.”
He groaned and closed his eyes, shutting the door behind him. “Can’t we skip them? We could go up to your room, and I’ll do that thing you love so much where I—”
She cleared her throat and elbowed him hard in the ribs. “You might want to open your eyes before you finish that thought.”
“Why?” He opened his eyes…and met four pairs of eyes watching him. Glowering at him, now. He grinned, completely unconcerned that the brothers were all various degrees away from throttling him for daring to touch their sweet sister. “Oh. Hi, guys.”
“Hi,” Wyatt said, his brows up. “I, for one, was almost interested enough to listen to the end of that sentence. Almost.”
Christopher turned red. “You’re a sick fucker, then.”
Wyatt shrugged. “Or I’m the only one mature enough to realize she’s not the Virgin Mary reincarnated.”
Anna threw her hands up. “Calgon, take me away.”
“I’m not Calgon, but soon enough we’ll be on our honeymoon in Bermuda,” Brett said, already picturing crystal waters, blue skies, white sands, and Anna in a bikini. The best part about that image? “And we’ll be completely, perfectly, utterly alone.”
Anna looked into his eyes, giving him the look that never failed to make him throw her over his shoulder and carry them into their bedroom when they were alone. “Sounds heavenly.”
Wyatt cleared his throat. “If you two are done having eye sex in front of us, can we get the games started? Does everyone have a partner?”
Cole shrugged. “I don’t, but I’ll find someone.”
“He always does,” Wyatt said, his smile directed at Cole. “There’s always a woman waiting for him, even though he sends them all running after one night.”
“As if you’re any better?” Cole snapped.
Wyatt’s smile melted away, and he advanced on Cole. “At least I don’t screw them and then—”
Eric rolled his eyes. “You two are being ridiculous. Back off.”
When Anna wrung her hands and started toward her brothers, Brett stepped between them. “Okay. Enough of this. No fighting on Anna’s weekend. No making her upset. This is her time to shine, and you won’t fuck it up. If you do, then you’ll answer to me…and this time I’ll be the one throwing the punches. Got it?”
“Yes, sir.” Chris grinned and rocked back on his heels, while the rest of them all grumbled and stalked away.
When it was just the three of them, Brett looked at Chris. “Is there someone who you can set Cole up with for the games? Preferably someone who won’t end up in his bed, and then later on attack him when he’s standing at the altar?”
His best friend, and best man, cocked a brow. “I’ll see what I can do.”
“Thanks,” Brett said. “Whoever you pick, warn her off first
, though.”
Chris snorted and left.
Once they were alone in the foyer again, Brett opened his arms, and Anna stepped inside them. “Thank you,” she said, rubbing her nose against his chest and taking a deep breath. “They’re ridiculous sometimes.”
He shrugged. “Yeah, but they’re family. If we can just manage to keep them from killing one another for the weekend, the wedding should go off without a hitch.”
“They weren’t this bad at Chris’s wedding.”
“That’s because they were all ready to kill me. It diverted the attention from one another.” He kissed her head. “I can’t say I miss that sort of attention.”
She chuckled and rose on tiptoe, kissing his chin. “Me, either. Now let’s go have some fun.”
“In your room?” he asked hopefully.
She rolled her eyes. “Nice try. To the three-legged race, of course.”
He groaned, but followed her obediently like the whipped man he was—and he loved every second of it. “Do I have to?”
She stopped walking and spun on him. Tugging him by his tie, she urged him to lean down to her level. Nose to nose. “If we win without falling, I’ll let you do anything you want to me in bed tonight.”
He cocked a brow at her, acting calm even though he was already plotting exactly what he would do to her. “That’s an empty promise. You already let me do that.”
She tapped her finger on her mouth. “Hmm. Remember what we discussed last week, after watching that raunchy movie?”
He racked his brain. “Uh…?” Something that got him hot and bothered for her…not that that was any different from any other day. Something about ties…and…and… His eyes widened. “Fuck, yeah, I remember.”
She nodded, her plump mouth tipping up into a mischievous grin. “If you do this for me, I’ll let you do that to me. All of it.”
Desire slammed him in the gut, and his fingers flexed on hers, and he dragged her toward the backyard. “Let’s go get this race done. And don’t you dare fall.”
“I won’t.” She laughed. “But if I do—?”
The CEO's Seduction (A Hamilton Family Series) Page 17