Brayden : A Beckett Brothers Novel Book 1 (The Beckett Brothers)

by Susan Fisher-Davis

  “All right.”

  “There’s a housekeeper’s apartment off the kitchen you can stay in or you can use one of the bedrooms.”

  “The apartment is fine.”

  “Good. I need to get a shower. I’ll take your luggage in and show you where you’ll be staying then I’m heading to bed. I have to get up with the sun.” He walked to her rental with her and after she opened the hatch, he took the suitcases from the vehicle then had her follow him inside. After leading her to the apartment, he left her and headed for the shower.

  After entering the bathroom, he pulled off his T-shirt, and wiped his chest with it. What he needed was a nice longshower. A cold one would feel good about now and not just because of the weather. Sitting on the edge of the tub, he toed off his boots then pulled his socks off. Standing, he unsnapped his jeans lowered the zipper, and pushed them, and his boxer briefs, down and stepped out of them. He was so tired he could barely stand, but he was too dirty to just fall into bed.

  Turning on the shower, he stepped inside and groaned when the hot water hit his tired muscles. Putting his head under the spray, he watched as the dust washed off him and swirled down the drain. Placing his hands on the wall he thought of Melissa, which made him moan as his dick twitched. He’d love to have her in here with him. Fuck! He turned the water to cold and it did the trick. He had to keep his focus. Nothing could happen between them. She was here to work and that was all it would ever be. She was the type that wanted marriage and he wasn’t going to do that again. Ever. Besides, she was Maisy’s best friend and that just seemed wrong to do that to his wife’s memory.

  After shutting the water off, he grabbed a black fluffy towel and dried off. Pulling the towel over his head, he rubbed his hair dry, and then combed it through with his fingers. He then wrapped the towel around his waist, swiped his hand across the steamed up mirror, and lathered up his jaw and neck to shave. After he finished shaving, he walked into the bedroom, dropped the towel and still naked, crawled between the sheets of his new bed. The house had come completely furnished but he’d replaced the mattresses in the bedrooms.

  As he lay there with his hands clasped behind his head, he listened to the silence. No clanging doors, no buzzers, and no other men’s voices. Would he ever forget it? Five years of his life were just gone. Lost forever from the minute he’d been arrested. All because his sister in-law, Tara, had believed herself in love with him.

  Placing his arm over his eyes, he thought of Maisy—the love of his life taken from him far too soon. She’d only be thirty now, still so young. He’d always miss her but he knew life went on, and he was lucky enough to have his back after five years of living in hell.

  Two hours later, he was still awake. Feeling trapped, he threw the sheet off and sat up on the side of the bed. Placing his elbows on his knees, he grabbed his head. You’re not there. You’re free now. He repeated it a few more times, but it didn’t help.

  Walking to the closet, he opened the door, pulled on a pair of jeans and T-shirt then socks and his boots. After finding his sleeping bag, he headed outside for the barn. He’d been hoping he’d be past this need to be outside by now. Thankfully, it was still warm out since he couldn’t be inside right now. After quietly making his way out of the house, he walked across the yard and entered the barn. The night air was cooler than the day had been. Standing in the aisle, he glanced up to see the moonlight beaming through the skylight. Tossing the sleeping bag onto the floor, he removed his boots, crawled into it, and promptly fell asleep.

  Chapter Three

  Just the thought of working close to him made her tremble. The man was so damn good looking and she had to admit she’d wanted him from the moment Maisy had introduced them. There were nights she’d cried herself to sleep knowing she’d never have him in her life. She even tried to get out of being in the wedding but Maisy wouldn’t hear of it. She’d told Melissa she was more of a sister to her than her real sister, Tara, was. What a mess that was. Tara had been in love with Brayden too, or thought as much. Who knew what really went on inside the mind of someone who would kill her own sister in cold blood? Punching the pillow, she rolled to her side, closed her eyes, and thankfully, fell asleep.

  Melissa walked outside to hear birds singing and to see a bright sun shining down, warming the ground and beating down on her shoulders. Shading her eyes, she walked across the yard heading for the barn. The heat was sweltering already and it was only nine in the morning.

  Entering the barn, she let her eyes adjust before walking down the main aisle. Bits of straw on the floor muffled her footsteps. Brayden appeared in a doorway and motioned for her to follow him. She briskly walked toward him as he turned his back to her, and disappeared into a room. A few horses stuck their heads over the stall gates and stared at her. Stopping, she rubbed the velvet noses of a few of them until she saw Brayden come back out and stare at her with his hands on his hips. Her eyes ran down over him, lingering on his crotch. Thank you God! He was so...male. She smiled as she walked to him but he didn’t return her smile.

  “Good morning, Brayden,” she said as she reached him. “Back already?”

  “Morning. Come with me, I want to show you the blueprints for the clinic and you can tell me what you want in an apartment.”

  “Where did you get money to do this, Brayden?” She loved saying his name.

  He turned to look at her with a raised eyebrow. “Seriously?”

  “Yes.”

  “Have you always been this nosy?”

  Melissa could feel the heat flare in her cheeks. “I hate to admit it but yes, I am a little nosy.”

  “I have money. That’s all you need to know.”

  “You’re right…as long as you can pay me.” She shrugged and glanced around.

  “We also need to discuss wages.”

  “Well, it’s a little late for that, since you already hired me.” She watched as one corner of his sexy mouth rose.

  “You should have thought of that, but I’ll be fair,” he said then when he named an amount, she almost fell over.

  “That’s more than enough. You don’t have to pay me that much, Brayden.”

  “It’s settled then. Come on.” Without warning, he strode out of the barn.

  Melissa ran after him to keep up with his long stride. It seemed she did that a lot with him. The thought had her rolling her eyes as she followed him into the center barn then into an office. There, an old mahogany desk sat centered in the room with blueprints spread out over it. Stepping up beside him, she looked down at the prints, and listened to him explaining what was what. The timbre of his voice slid over her like warm honey, making her want to fall into his arms. She gazed up at him and stared at the light stubble just beginning to show on his lower face, strong chiseled jaw, and neck. Closing her eyes, she inhaled his scent. The sound of him clearing his throat had them snapping open and once more, she knew her face was turning beet red.

  “I was listening,” she stammered, her embarrassment annoying her.

  “Then answer the question,” he said and raised an eyebrow at her.

  “Question?” Oh hell!

  Folding his arms across his broad chest, he leaned a slim hip against the desk and stared at her. Swallowing hard, she glanced around then shifted her eyes back to him, and blew out a breath.

  “Okay, so I wasn’t listening. What was the question?”

  “Are you this scatterbrained all the time?”

  Melissa hissed in a breath. “I am not scatterbrained. If you must know, I was smelling your aftershave.” She raised her chin in defiance.

  “I asked you how you wanted your apartment.” He shook his head and muttered something under his breath that she couldn’t understand, making her narrow her eyes.

  “Living room, kitchen, bedroom, and a bathroom with a big tub I can soak in. Oh, and a fireplace. I don’t care what else it has.”

  “Here or in the upstairs apartment?”

  “Can I look upstairs again?” When he
shrugged, she left the room and quickly walked to the barn doors to return to the other barn. She glanced over her shoulder, but he wasn’t following her. She blew out a breath. “Damn man is too gorgeous for my peace of mind. I have to be certifiable to be here…doing this,” she muttered as she marched up the stairs to the apartment.

  ****

  Staring at the door Melissa just walked out of, Brayden ran his hand around the back of his neck. Christ! There was no way this was going to work. She was too damn hot and didn’t care if she let him know she was attracted to him. He knew she was too, by the little smiles, she’d send his way and the way she’d rake her eyes over him and it took everything he had, not to take her up on it.

  Striding around the desk, he took a seat in the old leather wingback chair, and stared out the window. He had to let her know that nothing was going to happen between them. What the hell had he been thinking when he told her she could stay in the housekeeper’s quarters? She was just down the hall from his bedroom. Jesus! You are one crazy son of a bitch, Beckett. Good thing you sleep in the barn.

  Turning when he heard her re-enter the office, he watched as she took a seat across from him. “I like the upstairs apartment, if you can make it look nicer and add a tub.”

  “It can be made any way you want it. The construction crew will be here later today. You can tell them what you want.”

  “Is there a budget?”

  “No. Don’t worry about it.”

  “Fine,” she told him and shrugged.

  Rolling his eyes, he mentally shook his head. When a woman said fine, it rarely was.

  “Look, Melissa, if this is going to work, we need to get a few things straight. I’m not interested in getting involved with you in any way other than you working for me.” He noted how her eyes widened in response to his declaration.

  “Don’t flatter yourself,” she muttered, looking away.

  “Flatter myself? Really? You think I don’t know when a woman’s interested in me?”

  Standing, she folded her arms across her chest and her eyes narrowed as she stared at him. “Apparently, you don’t.”

  Brayden stood and slowly moved around the desk and watched as she turned to face him. He stopped in front of her, making her back up until her butt was against the desk. Leaning down toward her, he braced an arm on each side of her and watched her eyes flutter close then open when he spoke.

  “Not interested, huh? You want me to kiss you, Melissa. I can hear your breathing changing and that little pulse in your neck is beating faster. Tell me again how you’re not interested. Tell me how you don’t want me to kiss you.” He stared into her eyes, and then glanced down to her mouth. When she moaned, he bit back a grin, and then looked back into her eyes. His lips hovered above hers. “Tell me how you don’t want me to kiss you,” he repeated as he looked down again to see her hands gripping the edge of the desk.

  “I can’t,” she whispered.

  Pulling back from her, he gave a terse nod. “Exactly, so it’s not going to happen. I need you to be the vet here, not the woman in my bed.”

  “You’re such a prick.”

  “Yeah, you keep remembering that.” Grasping her arm, he led her to the door. “Go get your bag and check the animals I brought back. Some are really emaciated and they need their teeth checked to see if they can eat hay.”

  She jerked away from him and narrowed her eyes. “How do you know what they need?”

  “Quit questioning every fucking thing I say. I’m the boss. Do your job.” They stared at each other until she finally took a deep breath, spun away from him, and marched out of the barn.

  “Son of a bitch,” he muttered as he watched her striding away.

  He’d almost kissed her and now his dick was so hard that in all likelihood, he could bust a cement block with it. Only, he couldn’t be with her. He needed a woman, but it wasn’t going to be Melissa Conroy.

  ****

  “He is such an ass,” Melissa murmured as she walked to her office. Brayden had shown her the office earlier and she couldn’t wait to decorate it to her liking.

  Pulling her bag out from the locked drawer, she slammed it shut then returned to the barn area, only now she didn’t see him anywhere. Good. She wanted nothing to do with him. A groan slipped from her throat just thinking about how close he’d been to kissing her and how tempted she’d been to raise her lips to his. Just a small taste.

  Brayden Beckett was one sexy man and those blue eyes were so beautiful. They were so stunning in his tanned face. Damn him! He knew she wanted him. She’d just have to be indifferent to him. Just do her job and that was it—no more drooling over the man. Although, she didn’t understand why he wasn’t interested…a lot of men come on to her, so why not him? He wasn’t married anymore. Was it that he had a woman? Was he seeing someone? Was it because she’d been Maisy’s friend?

  Stop thinking about it…about him.

  Sighing, she glanced into the stalls to see which animal she needed to work with first. When she saw the miniature donkey standing at the back of the stall, she almost cried. Every one of his ribs was showing and his hipbones were very prominent. Slowly sliding the gate open, she entered gradually not wishing to spook him.

  “Hello, little boy…I won’t hurt you.” Seeing the fear in his eyes, she reached out a hand to him and gently rubbed his ear.

  “He’s pitiful, huh? I hope we can save him,” Brayden said from behind her.

  Melissa turned tear-filled eyes toward him. “He’s so precious. Where did you get him?”

  “From the woman in Kalispell. She couldn’t care for him as well as some others since her husband passed away. I’m hoping she didn’t wait too long to turn them over.”

  “I hope so too.” She turned back to the little donkey again. “Come on, I promise I won’t hurt you.” Stepping closer, she continued to murmur in soft tones to him. When he didn’t move away from her, she stepped closer and rubbed his ear again. He leaned into her hand and a tear rolled down Melissa’s cheek.

  “It’s hard, isn’t it?” Brayden said quietly. “To be an animal lover and see this kind of treatment of them. I suppose any type of doctor would feel the same, but animals love us unconditionally no matter how they’re treated. His name is…Dinky.”

  “Dinky donkey?” Melissa sputtered out a laugh.

  “Hey, I didn’t name him,” Brayden said.

  Melissa turned and saw him staring at the little burro. She could see the pain in his eyes as he slowly shifted his gaze to meet hers. She nodded and then turned back to the animal and talked softly to him as she pried his mouth open to see if his teeth were good enough to eat hay or if she’d have to use fluids on him.

  “He has good teeth. We can give him hay and some alfalfa. Have you noticed if he’s been drinking his water?”

  “Yes. He’s been doing well with it. Luckily, all of them have.”

  “All right then. Let’s get him some food and I’ll check the others.” Melissa picked up her bag and exited the stall.

  Brayden stepped out of her way and then led her to the other horses. All of them were severely neglected. Melissa was shocked looking at them but she also knew that some people were an irresponsible group when it came to animals. Getting to work quickly, she forgot about Brayden. This was what she wanted for her life, this need to take care of these huge beasts. These gentle giants. The ponies were in the best shape out of all of them. Two of the horses were so emaciated they could barely stand and needed fluids for nutrition. Melissa prayed it worked for them because the thought of euthanizing them was breaking her heart.

  Later in the afternoon, she met with the construction supervisor to tell him what she wanted in her apartment. She led him upstairs to show it to him and heard him grunt when he looked past her into the room.

  “You sure you want to live up here?” he asked her as he removed his hardhat and scratched his balding head.

  “Is it too much to work with?” she asked frowning.

  �
��To be honest with you, it would be easier to just build you a new place on the main level of the center barn like Mr. Beckett suggested.”

  “I was hoping you could put a skylight in above the bathtub,” she said disappointed.

  “Honey, we can do that downstairs. No problem.”

  Smiling at him, Melissa nodded. “All right. Let’s go over there and look at the space.”

  As he headed out the door, she followed him down the stairs and to the back of the clinic in the center barn. The sounds of saws buzzing along with the smell of cut wood filtered throughout the barn. She spotted Brayden talking with another man but he didn’t seem to notice her. Damn him. She’d never wanted a man more. Why does he have to be so friggin’ hot?

  As she followed the supervisor toward the other two men, she kept her eyes off Brayden for fear he’d see her staring at him. Raising her chin, she glanced around and didn’t see the supervisor stop, and ran into the back of him almost knocking him down. He spun around and glared at her. Heat poured into her cheeks. She really needed to start watching better what she was doing.

  “Sorry,” she muttered and shrugged. Glancing over to Brayden, she saw his lips lift in a slight smile. His head shook in what she knew had to be wonder at her. Could she embarrass herself anymore?

  “Glen, what was decided?” Brayden asked the supervisor.

  “She wants it in here,” Glen told him.

  “I’m right here. Don’t talk about me like I’m not.” Melissa placed her hands on her hips in an attempted show of indignation.

  Glen cleared his throat. “Didn’t mean to offend you, ma’am. Mr. Beckett and I have been talking about it, that’s all.”

  That took the wind out of her sails.

  “Oh. Okay.” She moved around him. “Where will it be?”

  When Glen pointed toward the back of the barn, she gave a nod and walked away as quickly as she could without actually running.