by K. A. Linde
When I entered the dining room, I found everyone but the Wright brothers I’d been dreading seeing. David had Jason on his lap, and Sutton was watching them play with a sorrow in her eyes that was impossible to miss. A strange man I’d never met before sat at the end of the table. Emery and Julia were each eating a slice of chocolate cake and chatting.
“Patrick!” Emery said when she saw me standing there like a fool.
“Hey, Em, Julia.”
“Hey, Patrick,” Julia said with a wave. “The guys are in the kitchen. They’re hounding Morgan about her new boyfriend.”
My stomach dropped out of my body. Oh, fuck!
“Morgan, uh, has a new boyfriend?” I managed to squeak out.
“Yeah, I guess everyone knows now because of Heidi’s big mouth,” Emery said with an eye roll.
“We should probably intervene,” Julia offered.
They both looked at the kitchen and then frowned.
“We’ll give them another minute,” Emery said.
I swallowed my pride and walked toward the kitchen. I didn’t want to have this conversation today. I didn’t want to fuck everything up. But I wasn’t going to leave Morgan in there, alone, to deal with all three of her brothers. This wasn’t one-sided. And I wasn’t going to let her fend for herself.
When I entered the kitchen, I found Jensen, Austin, and Landon in a semicircle around Morgan, who was slicing a piece of apple pie and ignoring them. Heidi, however, was not.
“Just back off, boys,” Heidi said, brandishing a serving knife. “Give her some room. No wonder she didn’t come to any of you with this information. Why would she when you all act like Neanderthals?”
“Heidi, it’s fine,” Morgan said.
“We’re not acting like Neanderthals,” Landon said, throwing an arm around his fiancée. “We just want to meet the guy. Is that too much to ask?”
Heidi glared at him. “I’m just saying…she would have told you when she was ready.”
“We just want details,” Austin said. He walked over to Morgan and poked her in the shoulder.
Morgan rolled her eyes, but I could tell that she hated this. Hated them acting like she was a kid again. Some family dynamics never went away, no matter what age. Steph and I were a testament to that. Morgan being the CEO didn’t change anything.
I took a deep breath and then pushed my way through. “You don’t have to gang up on her about it. She should be able to date whoever she wants.”
All three of the Wright brothers’ eyes turned their full attention to me.
“Oh God,” Morgan groaned, setting her serving knife down.
“Did Patrick know about the new boyfriend, too?” Jensen asked.
My head whipped to Morgan.
She arched an eyebrow, as if to say, You’re an idiot.
“Oh, yes,” Austin said, nudging me. “Spill the details. How do you know Joe?”
“Joe,” I said tonelessly.
Who the fuck was Joe? Was Morgan seeing someone else? This was not the conversation I’d anticipated having. I’d thought I’d have to defend what was happening with me and Morgan. Instead, I was caught in the middle of something totally unexpected.
“Yes. Joe,” Morgan said, “my new boyfriend.”
Our eyes met in the short distance. Her face was blank. It showed none of the frustration she obviously felt at my interference. I’d thought I was being chivalrous, but instead, I’d just gotten in the way. Gotten in the way of her talking about Joe. God, I hoped he was just a cover-up and not a real dude. Fuck.
“I don’t know Joe,” I said, facing the guys again. I was careful to school my features, not to reveal anything else. “But Morgan is old enough date whoever she pleases.”
“Thanks, Patrick,” Morgan said, her tone sarcastic and argumentative. “I don’t need your validation on dating any more than my brothers. Why don’t we move on from this nightmare?”
Jensen laughed. “We’ve ignored our uncle long enough. We should probably be more hospitable.”
“Smart,” Austin said. “We can bug Morgan once he’s gone.”
“I’ve got a good idea, Austin,” Morgan said. “Jump off a cliff.”
“Don’t make me come over there,” Austin said.
“I can take you.”
Austin laughed. “Yeah, right.”
Heidi groaned. “You two are such children. Let’s go. Come on. Go eat your dessert.”
Everyone disappeared into the dining room, leaving me alone with Morgan and a plethora of desserts.
“So…Joe?” I asked, turning to look at Morgan.
“I should have told you,” she whispered. “It was stupid. I’ll tell you the whole story later.”
She started back toward the dining room, but I grabbed her hand before she could move back into the line of sight by the rest of the guests.
“No other guy, right?”
“What?” she asked, wide-eyed.
“There’s not really another guy?”
“No. Of course not. I made it up.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. I hadn’t realized how knotted up I was when I found out that they hadn’t been talking about me. The idea that she was seeing someone else had hit me like a ton of bricks. Even worse than when I’d seen her with Travis or heard David ask her to dinner. No matter that neither of them had amounted to anything.
“Good. That’s good.”
She grinned up at me, and her eyes glittered. “Were you jealous?”
“Insanely.”
“I don’t know why…but I like that.”
“Can we talk later? Alone?”
She nodded. “Sure. After all of this.”
I let her walk past me and let my heart rate even out before following her. Jealousy. Fuck, I’d been jealous. Morgan Wright was bringing out a whole new side of me.
“Patrick, come over here,” Jensen said when I entered the room.
He was standing next to the man I hadn’t recognized, which I figured must be their uncle. I’d only heard horror stories about the man. So, I didn’t know what to expect.
“Patrick, this is our uncle, Owen. He lives in Vancouver.”
I held my hand out, and we shook.
“Nice to meet you, sir.”
“Nice to meet you, too. Do you work for Wright Construction, Patrick?”
“I actually just quit.”
Jensen sighed. “I still can’t believe you left.”
“Me?” I asked with a laugh. “What about you?”
“It was time.”
“Yeah. Same here. I still love the company, but I want to do something on my own.”
“I think that’s admirable,” Owen said. “What will you be doing?”
“I’ll be working at Texas Tech in negotiations. I’ll be handling all of the big clients that partner with Tech.”
“That sounds like a great position. Congratulations!”
“Thank you.” I couldn’t keep the smile from my face.
I was proud of my new job. I’d always enjoyed my work at Wright, but it had always been hard, living under the shadow of the Wrights. And, now, with this thing with Morgan growing legs, I couldn’t imagine how I’d feel if I were still working there.
“Dude,” Austin said, coming up to my side and shoving me, “are you ever going to tell us about that girl you’re seeing?”
“I’m not seeing anyone,” I insisted again.
“It’s Mindi, isn’t it?”
“If I were seeing someone, don’t you think I’d have told you?”
“Probably,” Austin said with a shrug. “But you haven’t.”
“Because there’s nothing to tell.”
“Whatever, dude. Hey, what are you doing this weekend? We should throw you a going-away party.”
“Can’t. I’m going to San Francisco to see Steph.”
“Wedding shit?”
“Yeah. Since I had this whole week off, I thought I’d visit.”
“Damn, okay,” Austin said. �
��Throw that idea out the window.”
I laughed and then was glad when Landon came over and changed the subject. We moved into the living room for the evening football game.
It was strange, being in a room with Morgan now. I’d never noticed her presence so acutely before. Even though we were acting how we always had, it was different. I didn’t want to come right out and say that Morgan and I were talking, but I didn’t like going back to friends. Not after I’d had her body underneath me and her lips on mine.
I leaned back in the recliner and pulled out my phone. I jotted out a text to Morgan, who was seated across the room.
Hey, beautiful.
I waited for her to notice her phone display lighting up, but she was invested in the game, yelling equally at the screen and Austin. She glanced down at her phone for a second and then grinned from ear to ear.
Is this smart?
Probably not.
Morgan’s eyes met mine across the short distance, and all the heat between us was in that one perfect glance.
What did you want to talk to me about earlier?
Follow me out of here, and I’ll tell you now.
I pocketed my phone before waiting for her answer and exited the room, heading to the bathroom. I’d done a lot of dumb things in my life, but leading Morgan out of that living room had to be up there. My intentions were anything but pure, and her entire family was in the house.
Did I care? Nope. Not one bit.
I entered the guest bathroom on the first floor and left the door unlatched. A few minutes passed, and I about gave up when a knock sounded on the door.
“Patrick?” Morgan whispered. She pushed the door open. “This is a really bad idea,” she said softly.
“I like really bad ideas.”
I pressed the door closed behind her and backed her up against it. She tilted her head up to stare at me. She looked half-frightened of the situation we were in and half-desperate to keep going. The first half might be the sane part, but I had every intention of listening to the other part.
Our lips crashed together.
Our hands roaming each other.
Our bodies a tangled, frantic mess.
Her breath was my breath. Her heartbeat was my heartbeat. Her movement was my movement. We were perfectly in sync. Treading a line we’d come close to crossing over and over again. Not just a physical line either. An emotional line that seemed to stretch thinner each time we got closer. I could feel us both teetering over the edge, ready to move forward. Both of us knowing the consequences we’d have to deal with when we did.
Morgan threw her arms around my neck, jumped, and hooked her legs around my waist. I caught her ass in my hands and set her down on the countertop, knocking over a handful of toiletry items in the process. She laughed breathily against my lips at our own audacity. But neither of us pulled back. Neither of us stopped.
I couldn’t stop kissing her. I couldn’t seem to get enough of her lips. Or the way she writhed against me. Or her hands digging into my back. I definitely couldn’t get enough of her legs tugging me closer.
I slipped a free hand to her thigh and then under her short black skirt. She moaned when I trailed across her inner thigh all the way up to her thong. I hooked a finger under the material and pushed it to the side. She stilled beneath me for a second. Then, I moved a finger against her clit, and she shuddered all over.
“Oh God,” she moaned.
“Shh,” I said against her skin.
She bit down on her lip to try to keep from saying more. I wanted to hear her scream, but right now, right where we were, she was going to have to hold it in while I made her come.
My thumb moved to her clit, circling in a tantalizing movement, and then I slid a finger into her pussy. She was wet and ready for me. Her whole body tightened at the movement. When she was beginning to relax around me, I added another finger. She whimpered in pleasure, and, God, my dick hardened at the sound. I moved my fingers in and out of her, desperately wishing that it were my cock instead. But I loved drawing this pleasure out of her.
“Fuck, I want you,” I ground out.
She tilted her head back and gasped. That was answer enough.
Suddenly, her entire body clenched. I watched her face as she came just from my fingers. I couldn’t wait to see what she looked like when it happened with my dick.
“Oh my God,” she whispered. She repeated it another half-dozen times before opening her eyes and looking back at me with hazy sex eyes.
I withdrew my hand and gave her a cocky grin. “You’re gorgeous when you come.”
Her cheeks heated. “Maybe we could do that again sometime soon.”
I laughed. “How about this weekend?”
“All right.”
“I’m flying to San Francisco to see Steph. You should come with me. You could say it’s for wedding stuff.”
Morgan hopped down and straightened her skirt. “I want to, but I don’t know if I can get away from work.”
“It’s only for a couple days. Live a little with me, Mor.”
She smiled shyly. “All right. But I should probably get back out there before anyone notices we’ve both been gone for so long.”
I grasped her chin and kissed her hard one more time before she slipped out of the bathroom. I washed my hands and tried to straighten my hair a little before following after her.
“Hey, Patrick,” someone said behind me as I exited.
I whirled around with wide eyes as Emery materialized in front of me.
Shit. How much had she heard? Had she seen Morgan disappear from the bathroom before me? Would she tell Jensen?
“Yeah?” I asked nervously.
She stepped up to me and smudged a spot on my neck. “Lipstick,” she said with a wink before going into the bathroom.
I blew out a heavy breath. God, that had been close.
I pulled my phone back out and texted Morgan.
Em knows.
Sixteen
Morgan
The entire company had Black Friday off of work. Even me.
I just wished that leaving with Patrick that afternoon to go to San Francisco to see Steph didn’t make me feel so guilty. I knew work-life balance was essential, but I couldn’t help it. I only took time off was for family activities. I didn’t really take me time.
As a woman, I always felt like I had to work twice as hard and twice as long to get the respect I deserved. Stepping out of the office made me nervous, and I thought Patrick could tell. He kept cracking jokes to try to make me more comfortable.
I didn’t really breathe until we landed in San Francisco. And then I let it all go. I’d committed. I was here. I just needed to enjoy myself.
“Better?” Patrick asked as he shouldered both of our bags.
“Much.”
“Good.”
“Sorry that I was in anxiety-attack mode.”
“I’d kind of expected it actually. I know how you react when I take you away from work early. This is like that but on steroids. But you need a break. You work too much.”
“So you keep telling me,” I said with a smile.
He dropped a kiss on my lips and then exited the plane. We picked up our luggage and then grabbed a taxi. Steph insisted that we could stay with her and Thomas in their apartment for the night before we headed up to Napa on Saturday morning.
“I can’t believe we’re going to Napa,” I confided. “I’ve always wanted to go. Though I feel guilty about leaving Steph.”
He slipped an arm around my shoulders and pulled me into him. “I can only handle so much wedding talk. We can hang out with my sister, but it’s still our vacation, right?”
“True. You’re right.”
The cab dropped us off at Steph’s apartment. When we got there, Steph was stuck on her computer, shopping online sales for Christmas presents. Thomas was binge-watching the latest season of Supernatural.
It was nice, being with Steph and Thomas. Besides the fact that they were d
eliriously happy and recently engaged, it was a relief to have someone know. Just finally fucking know. I wasn’t sure how much longer I could hold out at home like this. No matter how hot our incident was in the bathroom on Thanksgiving, I didn’t want to hide forever.
And Emery wasn’t enough. She hadn’t seemed to care and promised not to say anything to anyone when I brought it up at the end of the night. I hated that I’d had to do that to begin with. But I dreaded dealing with my brothers more. Their reaction to my imaginary Joe had been bad enough. They’d bugged me all night about it. I couldn’t even begin to guess how they’d take it when they found out Joe was actually Patrick. But, at the same time, I wanted everyone to know that we were finally together.
I cornered Steph later that night in the kitchen while the guys were busy playing video games. “Can we talk?”
“Of course! What’s up? How does it feel to have all your dreams come true?”
“Well…you know what they say about things that are too good to be true.”
“Yeah. They usually are. But that doesn’t have to be the case here.”
“Can I ask you a kind of personal question?”
Steph laughed and leaned back against the kitchen counter. “I think we’re beyond this. You can ask me anything. You know you’re one of my closest friends!”
I heard the sincerity in her voice, and for the first time in a long time, I let the tension release.
“I do,” I finally said. “I’m not so great at this sort of thing.”
“Eh, that’s fine. I like you as quirky, bossy, and ridiculous as you are. I find it endearing.”
“Hey, I’m not bossy!”
Steph rolled her eyes. “Bossy girls are strong. Bossy girls take over the world. Bossy is a compliment. Don’t let anyone tell you different.”
“You have such a way with words, Steph,” I said with a smile.
“Thanks! It’s like I write lyrics or something.”
I laughed. “Or something.”
“Now, spit out your question, and stop stalling.”
“Patrick told me that you’d slept with Austin.”
Steph became suddenly interested in a fake piece of lint on her sweater. “That’s not a question.”