by J. M. Stone
I held Liam up in front of my face, nuzzling his little nose with mine and kissing his cheeks before cradling him in my arms and moving to a lounger in the shade. I settled him in my lap, propping my feet on the lounger so he was reclining against my legs, his head against them, facing me, with his butt on my stomach and feet on my chest.
I pretended to gnaw on his tiny toes, making him gurgle, smile, and chuckle, which made me grin and laugh. We sat and played like that for a little bit when Brandon joined us, pulling the other lounger close and sitting on it, facing me.
He didn’t speak, just watched me.
I didn’t look at him as I asked, “What’s up?”
“Nothing,” was his immediate response. “Just watching you with one of the cutest little babies, ever.”
I glanced at him and smiled. “He is pretty cute, isn’t he?”
“Yeah…but I kinda like looking at his aunt, better. She’s pretty fuckin’ beautiful.”
I sucked in a breath, feeling the effects of his words race along every nerve ending in my body, but I didn’t say anything.
“Can’t wait to get you home tonight, sunshine. Make some fireworks of our own, what do you say?” His voice was low, intimate, and sent even more shivers over me.
The baby cooed and babbled in my lap and I grinned at him. “Your Uncle Brandon is a perv, too, Liam. Just like your nanny!” I sing-songed, making him giggle.
Brandon snorted and then sniffed, turning his nose up. “Phew. I think someone just left a load in his diaper.”
I chuckled and lifted the baby’s leg to peek up the leg of his shorts and diaper to see if he really needed changed, or was just gassy. It wasn’t just gas.
Brandon stood, plucked the baby from my arms, and handed him off to Jackson, who just happened to be walking towards the house. “Here. Your kid needs changed and my woman is about to be busy.”
“I am?” I asked in confusion.
“Yup.” Brandon nodded to confirm his words before he grabbed my hands, pulled me off of the lounger, and dragged me off the deck and around the house.
We didn’t even get all the way around front when he stopped, put a hand against my stomach, and pushed me back against the house. He followed, his body pressing me firmly against the unyielding wall, sliding his hand off to the side and down my hip, gripping it and pulling me tight against him.
“Brandon, what are you doing?” I whispered, our breath mingling as he dipped his head toward me.
“I wanted to kiss you and I wanted to do it properly without everyone watching. Got a problem with that?”
“Nope…” I barely got the word out. His lips were coming closer and closer, brushing mine as he said, “Didn’t think so.”
And then he kissed me. Deep. Hot. Wet.
He kissed me until we were both gasping for air, and without realizing it, my arms had wound around his neck and his hands had lifted me into the air, cupping my ass as my legs had wrapped around his waist.
“Wow…” I breathed, smiling at him a bit dazedly.
He snickered. “You can say that again, sunshine…you can say that again.”
Just then, Calland came around the corner shouting, “Dude, quit humping your woman against her brother’s house and let’s go blow shit up!”
Almost immediately we heard, “Who’s humping who against my house?” and pounding footsteps as Allie ran headlong around the corner. She stopped when she saw us, eyes narrowing. “You two…”
I waved. What else could I do? I was literally still backed against the house, wrapped around Brandon, and from the way things were pressed against me…nice, long, hard things, I didn’t think he’d be putting me down just yet.
She quit glaring at us and laughed, a wicked gleam flickering in her eyes. “Come on, Chloe. Come help me clean things up so we can get ready for the sparklers and things.”
“Uhhh…” I hedged, looking at Brandon.
He winked and dropped my legs, kissing my lips one last time briefly before turning away and adjusting himself as he walked around the side of the house in the direction Calland had gone.
I walked up to Allie and she slung her arm around my neck, squeezing me to her. “Having fun?” she asked.
‘Of course!” I replied, wrapping my arm around her waist to squeeze her back.
“Good. Now let’s get this shit done so we can party!”
Chapter 25
Friday morning dawned brilliantly bright.
Like…the fire of a thousand suns bright. Of course, it could be the four shots of tequila and two firecrackers I drank last night. The firecrackers were another contribution of Calland. I don’t know where he got the idea, the recipe, whatever…they were good. But…they were baaaad.
Firecrackers are a mixed drink made with dark rum, sloe gin, orange juice, and 151. I don’t remember the drive home. See? Bad.
I do, however, remember chasing Calland and Brandon around with sparklers (don’t ask why, I don’t remember), I remember Allie (sober, of course…not sure if that makes it better or worse) lighting a smoke bomb and pretending to disappear into the smoke, complete with magic words and everything. I remember the fireworks display that the guys put on and I do have to admit, it was pretty epic. It was equally epic that the cops didn’t show up, because I think they had more fireworks than the actual township did for their legal display.
And most of all, I remember laughing my ass off at Nanny, who’d gotten into Daisy’s brownies and eaten almost half of one before Daisy caught her. Did I mention they were POT brownies? Nanny got pretty loopy and started flashing everyone, giggling like a school girl in the process. Though I must say, the funniest part was when Allie had yelled, “Nanny! No one wants to see your little fried eggs! Put ‘em away!”
I rolled over, my hand reaching for Brandon, but encountering empty sheets. I sat up, my hand going to my head immediately. Oy. Damn that hurt.
The bedroom door pushed open and Brandon came in holding a tray. “Hey, sunshine!” he called, brightly.
I squinted and groaned. “Headache, babe. Please…” I whined.
He chuckled and came to the side of the bed. “Scoot up so I can put the tray down.”
I complied, breathing in the scent of fresh coffee and buttered toast. I looked at the tray and discovered a cup of coffee, toast, scrambled eggs with cheese, a glass of ice water, and two Tylenol.
“Mmmmm…” I sighed, sipping the rich, hot coffee and then inhaling it like the nectar of the Gods it was. “Thank you.”
Brandon came around the bed and laid beside me, propping himself up on his elbow. “How are you feeling this morning?” he asked. I could hear the mirth in his words.
I rolled my eyes at him and picked up a triangle of toast, loaded a spoonful of eggs on it, and bit in. I chewed thoughtfully for a minute and then answered. “I don’t remember getting home. Everything before that, I’m good. I think.”
“You don’t remember the drive home?” he scoffed. “Sure about that, sunshine?”
I swallowed the Tylenol and downed most of the water before I continued eating while I racked my brain, trying to remember. I finally gave up and shrugged. “Nope. Don’t think so.”
Brandon reached over and stole a piece of my toast, biting into it as he said, “Hmmm.”
“What do you mean, hmm?” I asked. “What happened?”
He made another noncommittal noise in his throat and continued eating my toast. When he was done he said, “Oh, I don’t know. I figured you would remember the festivities in the truck on the way home.”
“Festivities? What the hell are you--” I paused, thinking hard. “Oh, shit! I totally gave you road head!” I crowed, my jaw dropping in shock.
“Now she remembers,” Brandon said exasperatedly. “By the way, I’m pretty sure that the truck driver we passed gave me a thumbs up.” He winked at me.
“Oh, God…” I groaned, closing my eyes in mortification.
The bed shook with Brandon’s silent laughter, which t
urned into loud laughter when I gave him a wry look. I finished eating without saying another word. It’s not that I was embarrassed that I did that…seriously, I do that for him all the time. But the fact that I did it shit faced and someone saw me do it? Oy.
Brandon laid beside me, fingers lazily tracing random patterns on my hip while I finished my coffee. That done, he jumped up, took the tray from me, kissed my forehead and ordered me to get dressed while he cleaned up.
Feeling marginally better, I took a quick shower, threw on some clothes, and padded barefoot into the living room to see what Brandon was doing. He met me in the hallway, wrapping his arms around me and kissing me deeply.
“Now that’s a proper good morning,” he murmured against my lips.
I smiled and kissed him again, finally breaking the kiss to snuggle into his arms. I felt his chest rumble when he spoke.
“Luke and I aren’t going to be that busy today. Why don’t you just stay home?”
I tipped my head back and looked at him. “Why? You trying to get rid of me?” I asked playfully.
“Maybe,” he said thoughtfully. “My other girlfriend is coming in today, so I figured I’d keep you two apart.”
I growled at him and smacked his chest, smiling as he chuckled and hugged me tight to him again. “Maybe I will stay home today,” I replied. “Might think of a surprise for you or something. You know, something I’ll actually remember?”
His hands tightened reflexively. “Yeah?”
I shrugged one shoulder and pulled away from him, putting a little extra sway in my hips as I walked into the kitchen, leaving him standing in the hall. “We’ll see.”
I grinned to myself and danced on the inside when I heard him swear under his breath as he stomped down the hall to the bedroom to get ready. I started to pop another k-cup into my machine when the doorbell rang.
I glanced at the clock, noticing that it was only quarter after eight as I went to open it. Brandon was coming down the hallway, looking at his watch as he did. “Who the hell is coming over this early?”
“I don’t know.” I opened the door and gasped, hitting my knees as the room spun and started to go dark.
“Mother fucker!”
I heard Brandon curse, but his voice was distant, seeming to get farther and farther away as he called my name and then…nothing. The darkness swallowed me down.
A hand shaking me woke me up. I didn’t know how much time had passed, but as soon as consciousness hit me, a scream worked its way up my throat, piercing the air around me before my eyes even opened.
I struggled against the hands touching me, fighting against memories, against the panic, against the pain. Brandon’s voice finally cut through the terror coursing through me and my gaze landed on him, my hands latching onto his shoulders as he shook me gently, his hands gripping my upper arms, trying to calm me down.
“NO! No, no, no, no, no…” I was mumbling, my whole body shivering on the floor.
“Baby, listen. Calm down. It’s okay, I promise. Shhh…shhh…” Brandon soothed, bending his face down close to mine, pressing his lips to my forehead.
“I saw-”
He cut me off. “Chloe, listen to me. I know what you saw. But it’s okay. It’s not what you think. I need you to sit up; there’s someone here to see you.”
I took a deep breath and let him help me up, my head swiveling to take in the stranger sitting on my couch. Except, he was no stranger. Not really. He couldn’t be…because he looked just like Greg.
But Greg was dead. Right?
He lifted a hand and gave a small wave. “Hey, Chloe. I know this must come as quite a shock, but I’m Gage. Greg’s twin brother, as I’m sure you’ve deduced by now.”
Brandon reached his hand down to me and I took it, allowing him to pull me to my feet. He helped me over to the chair, my legs barely steady enough to support me, as I stared at Gage.
“I…I thought…” I hedged, uncertainly.
He nodded slightly. “I know. I’m sorry for that; I really am. I didn’t know how else to do this so I just hopped on the plane, rented a car, and, well, here I am. Showing up at your door very early on a Friday morning to scare the living daylights out of you.” He sighed and shook his head ruefully.
I clasped my hands together in my lap and took a deep breath. “So why are you here? No offense to you, but I didn’t know he even had a twin. He mentioned a brother when I first met him, but said your parents were dead and that he didn’t talk to you.”
“My parents are very much alive and extremely horrified by what transpired with Gregory. As for he and I, we hadn’t spoken in quite a while because I didn’t much care for things he was getting involved in.” He blew out a breath, looked like he was steadying himself. “I know there’s no way to atone for what you went through. But please, accept my deepest and sincerest apologies, and that of my parents.”
He stood and pulled something out of his pocket. He moved closer to me, stopping when I backed away instinctively, but reached out his hand for me to take what he had. I opened the long rectangle of paper, musing that it almost looked like a check, before I gasped and dropped the paper to the floor in front of me.
“What is that?” I asked, my voice shaking. “You think you can buy me? You think I want your blood money, is that what you came all this way for?” My voice was rising, anger evident in every syllable I uttered.
Brandon moved to my side, his hand cupping my shoulder in a supportive, but calming, gesture.
Gage was shaking his head vigorously, beseeching me with his eyes to just give him a chance, to listen to what he had to say. “No, I don’t wish to offend you, nor do I wish to insult you in any way. Neither do my parents. That money is the total of Greg’s estate. He left it to me with very explicit instructions that you were not to receive a penny.”
“Then I don’t understand-”
“I have no use for the money, Chloe. Neither do my parents. But what I do intend with this gesture is to blatantly disregard my brother’s wishes as he so blatantly disregarded your life and that of your child.”
I flinched at this.
“I apologize once again, but we were made aware of the total situation just recently. I hope he spins in his grave for all eternity because of what I’m doing, and that he burns in hell for what he did to you. We want you to have this to do with as you please. We are hoping that you will use it for yourself, to make sure that you are provided for, for the rest of your life. If not, donate it, tear it up, burn it. I do not care.” He moved to the door.
“It seems odd, me showing up here out of the blue and dropping a load of money in your lap, doesn’t it?” he asked.
I nodded, completely confused by everything about this whole situation.
“I assure you, it’s odd for me, too. But there was no way in hell I was abiding by my brother’s wishes and there was nothing more that pleased me than to deliver his money to you personally with my deepest apologies, and those of my parents.” He laid a card on the table by the door. “If you ever need anything, please don’t hesitate to ask.” He inclined his head to me. “I know you won’t. It also seems like you’re very well cared for and loved by this gentleman. That’s good to know.”
He nodded once, sharply, and then left, striding out the door without another word or a backward glance.
I looked up at Brandon, so totally perplexed it wasn’t funny. “Did…uh, did that just happen?” I asked.
“Yeah. It sure did. At least I think so.” He stooped to pick up the check from the carpet. “Holy shit! Did you see this?”
I shook my head. “No, I really didn’t look at it. I just saw that it was a check and dropped it. I don’t want his money. It feels dirty to me, like they’re paying me blood money.”
“Chloe, look at this,” Brandon said, holding the check in front of my face.
I glanced at it, did a double take, and then felt my eyes bug out of my head. “Are you fucking serious?” I said breathlessly. “That’s…t
hat a five and one, two, three, four, five, six…six fucking zeros! That’s…that’s…I need to sit down.”
Brandon chuckled. “Sunshine, you are sitting down.”
I sat there dazed for a moment. “I don’t want it,” I whispered.
“Okay,” Brandon whispered back. He met my eyes, his gaze steady. His fingers shifted on the thin sheet of paper, poising to tear it up.
“Wait,” I stopped him. “Just put it up for now. I can’t just waste what could help so many other people who might need it. And that’s something that he would have hated.”
Brandon kissed my head and moved down the hallway. I don’t know where he put the check, but it was gone from his hand when he returned. “Come on, baby. I’ve got to get to the shop and you’re coming with me. Okay?”
“No…no, I’m fine. I actually have something I wanted to do today, anyway.”
“Really? And when did that come about?” he teased me.
I let my smile shine. “When you decided to let me stay home today and I told you I might have a surprise for you,” I replied with a sassy wink.
“Hmmm,” was all he said before he finished getting ready, kissed me goodbye, and left for work.
As soon as he was gone, I picked up the phone and called my mom, just needing to hear her voice.
“Hey, sweetie!” she said happily when she answered. “I was just thinking about you. How was your fourth party?”
“Hi, Mom. It was good. Missed you, though. Wish you would have just flown in and spent a couple of weeks with us.”
“Chloe Jane, what’s wrong?” she asked, her voice sharp with worry.
“Geez, Mom, can’t a daughter just call her mother without there being a reason?” I said it jokingly, but I know she didn’t buy it. She confirmed it a second later.
“Not really, Chloe, because I can hear it in your voice. Something’s wrong. Now spill.”
So I did. I laid everything from the last forty-five minutes out for her, ending with, “I have no idea what to do.”
She was silent for a while before she said, “Well, honey, you have to do whatever you think is best. It’s a lot of money. We’ve always been pretty fortunate and I never raised you kids to be materialistic, but that would make you comfortable for the rest of your life, if you did it right. On the other hand, I completely feel you about the whole not wanting anything from him thing. I’d feel the same way. So, it’s up to you, sweetheart.”