His to Keep (Beauty and the Brit)

by Terri Austin

  “What is problem?” she asked, then saw Brynn. “What did you do? I warn you, Englishman, if you hurt her—”

  “Stuff it, would you? She’s drunk. Let us in.” As soon as Tasha moved out of the way, Iain carried Brynn into the house and down the hall.

  In Brynn’s bedroom, Tasha flipped on the overhead light and hovered in the doorway. “I will check on her tonight. You can go home.”

  “Come and remove the duvet, would you?”

  With a melodramatic sigh, Tasha pulled back the covers. Iain laid Brynn on the bed and stared down at her. He was reluctant to leave her. What if she awoke in the middle of the night and needed something? Besides, he’d gotten used to sleeping next to her. Kneeling, he removed her sandals, then covered her with the blanket.

  “She will be fine,” Tasha said.

  He knew that. Of course she would. Everyone went on a bender now and again. Most people anyway. However, Brynn had done it to escape the dinner with her family. She kept running from her problems, in one way or another. Her sisters ran roughshod over her, gave her hell, and Brynn allowed it. The way she allowed you to blaze into her life. Into her bed.

  God, how Iain hated this now-familiar guilt. And he was choking on a big dose of it tonight.

  One of Tasha’s little dogs started yapping for attention, until she picked it up and cuddled it in her arms. “Fine, Englishman. Stay. I grow weary of arguing with you.” She turned and walked away with the second dog trailing after her.

  Iain turned on the table lamp, shut the door, and flicked off the main light. He’d already fucked up his meeting with Trevor Blake. May as well stay and make sure Brynn was taken care of. Honestly, there was nowhere else he’d rather be.

  * * *

  The next day, Brynn awoke with a vicious hangover. Her mouth was dry, her eyes felt swollen, and Iain didn’t say a word about it as he set a mug of coffee on her bedside table. She watched him dress, knotting his tie as he stared into the mirror on her chipped white dresser.

  “About last night—”

  He turned and slung on his vest. “Let it rest, pet. Take your time getting to the office.” Grabbing his jacket, he shoved his arms into the sleeves and walked over to the bed, dropping a kiss on top of her head. “I’ll see you later, yeah?”

  He was disappointed in her. He didn’t need to say it—she could read it in his face, in the tight line of his shoulders. What do you expect, jellyfish? Of course he’s disappointed. You let him down. He turned and disappeared, shutting the door softly behind him.

  As Brynn watched him go, she felt like shit—both physically and emotionally. She’d left Iain stranded last night, at the mercy of her sisters and their husbands and all those prying, personal questions. She was nothing but a coward. Brynn should have taken Allie and Monica to task, told them her relationship with Iain was no one’s damned business. But instead, she’d hung him out to dry and downed glass after glass of wine.

  Iain was a good man. He wasn’t always the nicest person, but he had his own kind of integrity. He deserved her support. She’d fucked up, and somehow, she was going to have to make it up to him.

  When she heard the front door shut, Brynn picked up her coffee and sipped it slowly. Yeah, that was the stuff. Made her feel almost human again. Didn’t soothe her conscious, though.

  She had settled back against the headboard, praying her temples would stop pounding, when Tash walked into the bedroom without knocking. She wore short shorts and a rhinestone-encrusted T-shirt. When she settled Moose and Squirrel on the bed, Brynn didn’t offer a protest. She was in too much pain to care. She set her mug aside as Tash flopped onto the mattress.

  “Your Englishman carry you to bed last night. He is not total asshole.”

  “I got drunk. I never get drunk.”

  “Well, you get drunk last night. Why?”

  Good question. Brynn could put the blame on her sisters. They were a pain in the ass sometimes, no matter how much she loved them. But it wasn’t their fault. It wasn’t Iain’s fault either. He’d thought she was ashamed of him. Not even. What woman wouldn’t be proud to have a brilliant, beautiful Iain on her arm? No, Brynn was ashamed of herself.

  She hadn’t wanted to face the personal questions and her family’s larger-than-life personalities. Allie was always overprotective and a little suffocating. She meant well, but Brynn felt burdened by the weight of all that energy. Monica’s in-your-face persona was aggressive—and exhausting. Trevor remained coldly silent, always judging. And Cal…well, Cal was the most easygoing one in the group, but even he hadn’t been very welcoming toward Iain. So instead of handling things like a competent person, Brynn had checked out.

  Breathing out a sigh, she reclaimed her mug and took a sip. “I get overwhelmed sometimes. Allie and Monica are so…loud. They pick at me and then start badgering each other.”

  “What is this badger?” Tash asked, rubbing Moose’s belly.

  “Quarreling.”

  Tash nodded. “Yes, it is same with my sister. She is bitch. Yet I miss her. Some days, I hate her. And yet, I would kill anyone who dared to harm her. That is the way of family.”

  “You’re right. But I always feel like it’s two against one.”

  “When they…badger you, tell them to eat shit. Simple as that, yes?”

  It probably was that simple. But Brynn had always struggled to be heard in her family. She’d always been the quiet one. When her mom got sick, Brynn withdrew even further. It was the way she coped with Allie’s bossiness and Monica’s bitchiness. Yet she wasn’t that little girl anymore. She was a grown woman who wasn’t taking care of business. That seriously needed to change.

  She finished her coffee while the two dogs softly snored and Tasha complained about Zeke.

  Brynn let her friend run out of steam. If she was going to start tackling things head-on, she may as well start with Tasha. She loved this woman, had nothing but sympathy for her. Brynn liked that she could provide comfort and solace when Tash needed it. But she also knew Tash would stay for two weeks if Brynn let her. She’d done it before.

  The problem was, Natasha and her pups weren’t great roommates. Tash used up all the hot water, never cleaned up after herself, and allowed the dogs to poop on Brynn’s back porch. Plus, Brynn would feel obligated to spend time with Tash, when she’d rather spend her nights with Iain. She needed to send Tash home, but damn, why did it have to be so hard?

  “Tash.” The other woman glanced up. Brynn took a deep breath. “You know I’m your friend. That I care about you. I’m glad that when you’re in crisis, you know you can always come here. But I really believe if you go home and talk to Zeke, you can work things out. Communication, that’s the key.” Did Brynn feel like a fraud for giving Tash advice she herself didn’t take? Um, yep. But it was past time to start setting some boundaries in her life.

  Tasha sniffed and looked away. “I have talked until my face is blue. He is cruel man. I never go back to him.”

  “He’s not cruel. He’s just set in his ways. And you’re not always the most flexible person in the world.”

  “I flexible. See.” She bent one leg behind her head in some bizarre yoga pose. Since she wasn’t wearing underwear, Brynn put up a hand to block out the sight of Tasha’s well-waxed hoo-ha.

  “Okay, please stop doing that.”

  Tasha resumed her normal position, lounging at the foot of the bed.

  “It’s time to fix things with your man. I think you guys should see a therapist, someone who will help you come to a compromise.”

  Tash pursed her lips. “So you are kicking me to curb.”

  Brynn felt the slightest twinge of guilt. This thing with Iain was new, and Brynn wanted to nurture it. To do that, she needed her nights free. Plus, Brynn wanted her home back. “I’m not kicking you out. I’m sending you home.”

  “Fine. I go.” Tash grabbed the dogs and stomped off to the guest room. A few minutes later, she wheeled her Louis Vuitton luggage past Brynn’s bedroom door. She
poked her head inside. “You take luggage, I get dogs.”

  “Deal.” Brynn was still wearing her dress from the night before. She stood and made a vain attempt to smooth her hand over the wrinkled skirt. As she passed the mirror, she saw her mascara had migrated south, rimming her eyes and leaving streaks along her cheek. Iain had seen her looking like this. Wonderful.

  She grabbed Tasha’s bags, walked her across the street, and gave her a big hug. “It’ll be okay. I’ll help you find a therapist if you want.”

  Tash sniffed in her ear. “I want.”

  Brynn added that to her mental list of things to do, then ran back home and quickly got ready for work. Her headache had settled into a mild pounding, which was manageable.

  Speeding off to Blue Moon Corp., she hoped to see Iain, maybe apologize and take him to lunch. However, when she ducked into his suite, Amelia informed her that Iain was gone. In fact, he’d be out for most of the day. Disappointment settled in her chest as she walked into the conference room to continue interviewing employees.

  After a solitary lunch, she headed back to her own office, tried her best to avoid Cass, and started chipping away at her pile of work.

  When Iain finally called her at five, relief flooded her. He was still talking to her after last night. She’d thought maybe she’d screwed it up for good.

  “Dinner at mine, yeah? Make sure you bring clothes for tomorrow. I want you to stay the night. I’ll pick you up at your house in an hour.” In his typical bossy fashion, he didn’t ask, he just expected her to fall in line. It gave Brynn a secret little thrill. When anyone else bossed her around, she felt like a doormat. When Iain did it, she got turned on.

  The rest of the week passed quickly. Brynn worked like a fiend every day and went home to Iain every night. They spent most of their time at his place. Though twice they stayed at Brynn’s. She liked that best, being at home, surrounded by her own things. She’d cook a simple dinner, and Iain would help her with the dishes. That surprised her—seeing him roll up his sleeves and pitch in.

  She made space in her closet for a few of his suits, and he shifted some clothes around in his dressing room so that she had a whole rack to herself. After knowing each other only two weeks, they were practically living together. Normally, Brynn would have been plagued by a million doubts. Things were moving so fast, it left her spinning, but with Iain, she didn’t even question it. She was happier than she’d ever been. There was only one little thing niggling the back of her brain: Allie’s dinner party.

  When Brynn tried to apologize again, Iain cut her off. “Everyone’s gotten drunk a time or two. No harm in it. Drop it, Brynnie.”

  So she did. But the shame stayed with her, haunted her. Brynn silently vowed to do better.

  Throughout the week, Brynn had tried several times to bring up TDTC business with Cass. Unfortunately, her boss didn’t want to discuss her floundering company and stubbornly refused to get outside help. Instead, she overshared about her new boyfriend who had two cats of his own, and neither of them got along with Nef. The sex, however, was spectacular. Same old, same old.

  Brynn started working until five every night. She couldn’t care more about the company than Cass did. Even if Brynn worked 24-7, she wouldn’t be able to save the businesses, not if Cass continued to bury her head in the sand. Brynn grappled with fessing up to her coworkers, especially Paige. They deserved to know the truth about TDTC’s dire circumstances. She wrestled with her own decision, too. Leave a sinking ship or ride it out to the end? Despite asking herself the same questions over and over again, she never came up with any answers.

  On Friday, she finished her evaluation of Blue Moon. Brynn would no longer spend her days in Iain’s office, and she was going to miss it. She’d gotten to know the staff pretty well along with Amelia’s boy, Tyler, who’d started hanging out in the conference room a couple of times a week. He loved telling her about his latest video game obsessions. And Tyler spoke about Iain as though he were a superhero. “Iain lets me sit in on his meetings, and even though I don’t understand half of what’s going on, it’s so cool the way all the other dudes listen to him. He’s awesome.” Brynn agreed. Iain was awesome.

  Brynn was also pleasantly surprised, and not a little jealous, when Amelia mentioned she was getting her own assistant. “It was Iain’s idea. He wants to free up my afternoons so that I can spend more time with Tyler.”

  It only confirmed what Brynn already knew—Iain could definitely be one of the good guys. He may have tried to hide it, but his heart was in the right place—if only he’d let that side show more often.

  While her work life might be in transition, Brynn’s personal life was bliss. Iain was opening up to her, telling her personal things about himself—his struggle to build a business, his turbulent childhood. Brynn felt closer to Iain than anyone else, including her family.

  And the sex left her legs wobbly. Iain was completely uninhibited, and he had Brynn embracing a sexual side of herself she had never known existed. While she enjoyed being dominated and having Iain command her, he could also be tender. In those sweet moments, she wondered if forever might be in the cards.

  Brynn wasn’t sure when she’d fallen in love with him, but it dawned on her Saturday morning as they were both getting ready for work. Brynn watched as he fastidiously knotted his tie, then grabbed Davy’s dice off the bedside table and shoved them in his pocket. She realized in that moment that she loved him and had for a while. Possibly since she walked into his office for the first time and saw him standing behind his desk. The feeling was unexpected and scary. Brynn kept it to herself and carried on as if she didn’t have this burning secret deep inside of her. There were reasons enough to be wary.

  Although he opened up to her, he didn’t tell Brynn everything. Something was bothering Iain, keeping him from sleeping each night. She usually awoke in the wee hours, reaching for him, only to find Iain’s side of the bed was cold. One night, she went looking for him. Tossing on her kimono, Brynn walked down the hall and peeked into his office, but it was empty. Instead, she found him in the sitting room. He stood completely naked at the window, staring down at the Boulevard. He was eating ice cream from a carton.

  She wrapped her arms around him from behind. “Couldn’t sleep again?”

  “No.” He offered her a spoonful of chocolate-cherry swirl.

  “Where have you been hiding this? The only two things in your freezer are ice and vodka.”

  “Called the concierge and had him bring it to me.”

  It caught her off guard, seeing Iain Chapman stress eating in the middle of the night. Something heavy must have been weighing on his mind. “Want to tell me what’s wrong?”

  He remained silent and his body froze like a statue. Then he turned in her arms. “No. Stand with your back to the window.”

  She hesitated for a moment. He was using sex to keep her from asking questions. She realized it for the deflection that it was. It was very distracting. For both of them.

  Brynn walked two feet to the floor-to-ceiling window and turned around, waiting. If nothing else, Iain’s sexual imagination always surprised her.

  “Undo your robe. Take it off.”

  Brynn peeked over her shoulder. It wasn’t dark outside, not with all the neon flashing up and down the Boulevard. No one could see through the tinted windows, though. Probably. Biting her lip, Brynn held back a shudder.

  “Brynnie. Don’t make me repeat myself.”

  That voice. She whipped her head around and, with nervous hands, unbelted her robe, letting it slide off her body. She stood before him naked and breathless. She could be shameless like this without feeling self-conscious. A first for her. Iain thought she was beautiful, telling her so often. And when he looked at her like she was tastier than that ice cream in his hand, she felt like it.

  “Hands above your head. Keep them there.”

  The window was cold against her back, but she did as he requested. Raising her arms, she thrust her breasts out
and was rewarded when Iain’s gaze darted to them. He licked his lips and stepped closer. Just a few inches away. His body heat rose off him in delicious waves, bringing with it the smell of chocolate and his own intoxicating scent.

  Brynn had become addicted to this—his demands, his touch, his spontaneity. And Iain was caught up in this rising tide of desire as much as she was. His cock was rock hard and his breath sounded unsteady. He never remained unaffected by these games they played.

  Dipping his finger into the carton, he scooped out a dollop of ice cream and held it up to her mouth. “Lick.”

  Brynn decided to tease him a bit. She knew he’d punish her if she did, but she liked that, too. Pushing his buttons was a thrilling ride. She never knew exactly what retribution he’d mete out. So instead of taking his finger in her mouth, as she knew he wanted, she barely lapped at the frozen treat. “Done.”

  “Oh, who’s being naughty?” he asked, his voice raspy. Leaning down, his kiss was ruthless. Relentless. He thrust his tongue roughly into her mouth, pulling back only to bite her lower lip just hard enough to sting. Yeah, that was most definitely addictive. “Now do behave. Lick it properly. Like you would my cock.”

  Brynn’s heart kicked up. Every time with Iain was new and electric. He aroused her so easily, with merely a glance or a touch. Low-gasm Brynn was history.

  Tilting her head forward, Brynn kept her eyes trained on Iain’s as she took his finger into her mouth and sucked it gently.

  Iain groaned so deeply, Brynn’s nipples ached at the sound. “That’s it, love. Deeper.”

  She obeyed, wanting him to experience the same pleasure he was giving her. She took him farther into her mouth, making sure she licked the length of his finger and every last bit of chocolate-cherry flavor. Best ice cream she’d ever tasted.

  When she lifted her head, Brynn’s tongue swept over her lower lip. Slowly. Seductively.