The Hot Brother (Romance Love Story) (Hargrave Brothers - Book #5)

by Alexa Davis

Maybe Jake was right. Maybe I was a miserable, mean woman who couldn't do anything right. I shoved the key into the ignition, cranked the engine, and peeled out of the drive. I had already decided that I needed a stiff drink and some time alone, so I headed straight for Dooley's over on 7th and Olive. If I couldn't fix my problems with words, then I would drown them with alcohol.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Dax

  I looked down and saw Beck and his date grinding on the dance floor. He had a drink in one hand and the brunette's ass in the other. I shook my head and looked back at the computer on my desk as I heard the sound of a new message hitting my inbox.

  I glanced at it, quickly hit delete, and then turned back to the club. Running this club had been a headache at first, but once I found Kesha Jackson to be the manager, the pressure had eased up and I'd been able to focus on the business that supported the club and all the other businesses I ran in the city.

  Kesha had been a corner girl in the dealing business, but there was something about her that elevated her above the crowds that ran my corners. Maybe it was because while she ran her corner, she also finished high school. Maybe it was because I never had to worry about violence breaking out on her corner. Maybe it was simply because she was smarter and more resourceful than ninety percent of the people who worked for me. And, maybe it was because she reminded me of Riza.

  Kesha hustled harder than any other corner kid, but the thing that made her really stand out was her ability to calm even the most strung out crack head. We called her the Dope Whisperer because no one ever fought her; in fact, they usually ended up doing whatever she told them to do. And, she always told the truth. I promoted her to Apex's manager knowing that she understood how to deal people, and she'd be able to sell the product without drawing attention.

  The only problem I had was that Kesha had a crush on me. It was a delicate balance being honest about the fact that I didn't have any romantic inclinations toward her and not completely crushing her. She was a lithe woman who often wore her hair in a multi-colored Mohawk. She had the unique ability to both stand out from the crowd and completely disappear into it. I'd never seen a true chameleon in action before, and I appreciated the fact that this helped her fit in everywhere and nowhere.

  I watched her hustle across the dance floor and intervene as Beck began to lift his date's skirt just a little high. I knew that this might lead to trouble, so I watched closely as Kesha smiled and tried to explain the rules to Beck, who knew them all too well. He flashed a lazy smile at her and then turned back to his date for a moment before he wound up and took a swing at the manager.

  "Oh fuck," I muttered as I shot out of my chair and took the stairs down to the dance floor two at a time.

  "You fucking cunt!" Beck yelled as Kesha held his hands behind his back and twisted one arm up toward his shoulder. "You stupid bitch! You can't tell me what to do! My brother owns this club and you answer to him!"

  "That might be true, but I'm the manager of this club and it's my job to keep things on the up and up," she yelled over the loud electronic music that pulsed throughout the club. The dance floor crowd had pulled back and formed a circle around the scene, but true to form had also kept dancing as they waited to see what would happen.

  "What the fuck are you doing, Beck?" I yelled over the music. "Have you lost your damn mind?"

  "The fuck?" he shouted. "Get your fucking pit bull off of me, Dax!"

  I looked at Kesha and nodded slightly and she let go of Beck's arms. He swung around, fists balled and ready to strike, but I grabbed his arm and pushed him toward the stairs to my office. "C'mon, you need to chill, man," I said before turning and looking his date. "You, too, come with me."

  She followed dutifully as I practically dragged Beck up the stairs to my office. I shoved him inside before following and ushering the woman in behind my brother.

  "I don't know what the fuck you think you're doing, but you are not going to do that shit in my club, little brother," I began.

  "That stupid dyke running the bar is trouble," Beck muttered under his breath. Before he could say anything more, I grabbed him by the arm and slammed him face down on my desk.

  "Her name is Kesha and she is a loyal and trusted employee," I growled in his ear. "You'll treat her as such or I will nail your ass to the wall, got it?"

  "Fuck you, Dax," he yelled as I pressed his face against my desk. "You think you're such hot shit, but you're just a small time dealer who can't play in the big leagues."

  "What the hell is wrong with you, Beck?" I asked then stopped and looked at him carefully. "Where did you get the stuff?"

  "What stuff?" he said.

  "Don't play stupid with me, Beck," I warned. "Where did you get the dope?"

  Beck was an addict and as hard as I tried to keep the stuff away from him and keep him clean, he was like all addicts and found a way to feed the beast. I thought he'd been clean since the last trip to rehab, but was realizing now that he'd found a source and had blown his sobriety. I turned and looked at the girl.

  "You have any idea where he got the stuff?" I asked.

  "Huh, man? What stuff?" she said with a glassy-eyed stare that let me know she was high, too.

  "Goddamn it, Beck!" I swore. "You were sober for three months! Why did you blow it?"

  "Fuck sober, it's highly overrated," he grumbled. "Let me up, man, you're fucking hurting me!"

  I let go of his arm and smacked the top of his head with my hand. I was furious at him and worried that he was going to wind up dead in an alley somewhere. I couldn't save him if he wouldn't let me.

  "You do realize that it's kind of hypocritical to be dealing the kind of junk you are and then busting me for using, don't you?" Beck asked as he rubbed the spot on his head where I'd smacked him. "My head hurts. Dammit, Dax!"

  "Gram would be heartbroken," I said as I looked at him.

  "Yeah, yeah, yeah, you've used that one before," he replied waving me off. "Don't you have a better emotional blackmail tool in your belt?"

  "Dammit, Beck," I said as I threw up my hands and walked around the desk where I sunk into my chair. "I'm trying to help you. You can't behave that way in my club or I'm going to ban you from it. "

  "Well, then you're gonna have to try harder, I guess," he grinned as he pulled the girl up off the couch in the corner and slipped a hand down the front of her dress. "'Cause I'm not buying what you're selling here unless it's gonna give me the high of my life. And, if you ban me, I'll just find another place to dance. I mean it's not like this place is special or anything. It's LA, after all. Dime a dozen."

  I watched as Beck pulled open the door and guided the girl out into the hallway. He repeated his dime a dozen remark again and was rewarded with the girl's empty laugh.

  Once they were gone, I rested my elbows on the desk, held my head in my hands, and tried to bring my heart rate back down to normal.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Brooke

  I yanked open the door of Dooley's and marched up to the bar where I barked, "Gimme a whiskey and a beer back, now!"

  Billy looked up from where he was pouring a beer and smiled as he yelled, "Hey, sunshine, what's got you so riled up?"

  "Three guesses," I said as I hoisted myself up on a stool and slammed my fist on the bar. "But get me my drink first!"

  "Whiskey shot and beer back, coming up," Billy said as he quickly poured both and set them down in front of me.

  "Start a tab, I'm drinking heavily tonight," I said as I quickly downed the whiskey shot and then took a sip of the IPA that Billy had poured me. "Mmmm, that's good."

  "Okay, now that you've had your shot, you gotta tell me what's going on," Billy said.

  "I want another shot," I said.

  "Uh, you sure you want to down another one that fast?" he asked. I'd been hanging out at Dooley's for years and Billy knew me very well. He also knew I was a cheap drunk.

  "Yes, I'm positive," I nodded as I sipped my beer. "Another."

  "Okay, it's your
liver," he sighed as he grabbed the bottle and poured another shot. I held it up then knocked it back before slamming the shot glass upside down on the bar.

  "Another," I said.

  "I'm going to have to put my foot down and say that you have to wait thirty minutes before I give you another shot, sunshine," he smiled. "I know how you are, and I'm not going to have you pass out on my watch."

  "Dammit, Billy," I protested. "I'm a paying customer and I can determine what's best for me all by myself."

  "No, no you can't, sweetie," he said as he leaned across the bar and patted my head. "You're an impulsive hot head and sometimes you need someone with sense looking out for you. That's my job when you're at my bar. Thirty minutes."

  "You're so unfair," I grumbled.

  "I know, but why don't you pass the time by telling me what triggered this desire to binge drink yourself into oblivion?" he suggested.

  "Men – you all suck," I said as I looked down into my beer glass.

  "What awful offense did a member of my gender commit now?" he laughed.

  "Stop laughing, it's not funny," I grumbled. "I just had an argument with Jake at the fire house in front of a whole table of my brother's coworkers. It was humiliating."

  "Jake? The boyfriend you caught cheating with your friend on the night you thought he was going to propose?" Billy asked. "That Jake?"

  "Don't be a smart ass," I warned. "Of course, that Jake. Only, he claims that he never cheated on me and I can't say anything about it because then I'll get in trouble for what I was doing that night."

  "And what were you doing?" he asked.

  "I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you," I said. Billy burst into laughter and walked down to the other end of the bar to get drink orders from two new customers. I sat sullen and brooding, staring at my drink as I thought about how pissed I was at Jake and how grateful I was that I wasn't now married to him. It was hard to be feeling hurt and relieved, but the alcohol in my system was easing the path to calm.

  "Anyone sitting here?" came a deep voice from behind me.

  "Huh? Oh, no, go ahead," I replied without turning to see whom the voice belonged to. I was pissed at Tommy for siding with Jake, but I knew that a large part of the reason was that Tommy had to work with the guy. I took another swig of my beer and decided right then and there that I would let it go. I blurted, "Okay, letting it go. Bygones."

  "What? I'm sorry, did I miss something?" the man asked.

  "No, just my decision to-" I turned and found myself staring at the face of a man who took my breath away. "Oh!"

  "I'm sorry, did I do something wrong?" he asked. His brow was wrinkled with obvious concern, but I couldn't speak as I looked into the warmest brown eyes I'd ever seen. From the careless espresso-colored curls on top of his head to the five o'clock shadow that ran down the sides of his chiseled jaw, the man was gorgeous. He was wearing a leather jacket over a black t-shirt that clung to his well-muscled chest and was tucked into a pair of black jeans that revealed as much as they covered. I looked down and saw that he wore Harley boots and nearly swooned. Leather and boots – my kryptonite. And, he smelled like musk and danger. I was intrigued.

  "No, I...just...I mean..." I stammered, trying to gather my thoughts and say something coherent. I could feel the two shots kicking in hard as I opened my mouth and asked, "Do you know you're incredibly handsome?"

  "Um, well, no it's not something I ever stopped and thought about," he laughed. "But thanks, that's really nice of you."

  "You're really gorgeous," I continued. "I'll bet your parents are incredibly beautiful, too."

  "Well, they were a good-looking couple," he nodded as he fidgeted in his chair and looked down the bar trying to catch Billy's attention. It wasn't busy tonight, so Billy chatted with everyone and took his time. When he saw the man, he headed back towards us.

  "What can I get you?" Billy asked as he flipped a towel over his shoulder.

  "Whiskey with a beer back," the man said.

  "Me too!" I said a little too loudly.

  "You are on probation for another fifteen minutes, young lady," Billy scolded. "Be right back, sir."

  "That's not fair!" I yelled as he grabbed the whiskey and pulled another IPA from the tap.

  "Life's not fair, sunshine!" he called. "You of all people should know that."

  "Why should you know that?" the man asked.

  "Because I'm a legal...lawyer," I tripped over my words searching for the right ones. I knew it wasn't just the alcohol at work here. This guy had set my pulse racing and I was fighting to maintain control. "I'm a lawyer. I know it's hard to believe at the moment, but I am."

  "Brooke is the best lawyer in Los Angeles," Billy said as he set the man's drinks down in front of him. "She's smart and fearless when it comes to getting the job done. If I were ever in trouble, she'd be my first call, that's for sure!"

  "Aww, Billy, you're so sweet!" I laughed. "But you know that I don't do liquor violations, only the serious stuff, so you'd have to start running drugs or kill someone for me to be motivated to come bail you out!"

  "I should be so lucky," Billy laughed as he swung the towel off of his shoulder and snapped it at me, stopping just short of my hands. "But still, you're a great lawyer."

  "Yeah, well, we'll see about that," I said as I sipped my beer. "How are we doing on time, Billy?"

  "Ten more minutes!" he called as he moved back down the bar and away from the stranger and me.

  "So, you're a lawyer," he said before picking up his shot glass and tossing back the drink.

  "Yep, that's me," I nodded. "A brilliant legal mind..." I giggled as I took another big swig of my beer.

  "Huh, that's interesting," he said as he picked up his glass and drank deeply. I couldn't keep my eyes off him. His mouth curved around the edge of the glass in a sensual caress and my alcohol addled brain suddenly had a flash of what that mouth could do on my skin. I shifted uncomfortably on my stool and as I did, I knocked my glass over, spilling the amber IPA all over the bar.

  "Hey, hey, hey, sunshine!" Billy yelled as he raced down the bar and began mopping up the mess with his ever-present towel. "You don't have to go full-on rebellion! I'll bring you another drink."

  "I wasn't trying to make you bring me a drink!" I protested, then gave in and just laughed.

  "Nice job," the man said in a stage whisper loud enough for Billy to hear.

  "Oh, I get it! You two are conspiring against me," he said as he set another whiskey and a fresh IPA down in front of me. He added a second whiskey in front of the man and then walked away.

  "Here's to conspiring against the bartender!" the man toasted as we clinked glasses and downed the shots.

  "Ahhh, such a good burn!" I sighed as I flipped the glass over and slammed it on the bar. I turned to the man and asked, "So, what's a nice guy like you doing in a bar like this?"

  "I had a fight with my brother and I needed to get away from him," the man admitted. I studied him as he sipped his beer and noticed that his jaw was flexing even when he was trying to project resting mode.

  "Must have been quite a fight," I said.

  "He's a fuck up," the man said as he drank deeply. "But he's my brother, you know?"

  Tongue-tied by this handsome stranger and unable to find the nerve to employ my legal training to grill him, I simply nodded as we drank in silence.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Dax

  "I'm Dax," I said as I offered my hand to the stunning woman occupying the barstool next to me. She was more than half way to drunk, but that didn't at all detract from her looks. She was the epitome of a California girl – tall, blonde, and shapely, with a megawatt smile. I didn't want to like her just on principle, since these were the girls who had tortured me when I was a teen. They always maintained a distance that kept them just out of reach.

  This woman was different from those girls, though. She seemed less severe, less judgmental. Her long blonde hair had been wound into a loose bun at the back of
her neck, but was now trailing loose pieces that she kept blowing out away from her face in a comical way. She was wearing the uniform of every Los Angeles lawyer, but somehow, on her it looked both sexy and professional, and I had a difficult time keeping my eyes up above the gap in her blouse that revealed the tops of her rounded breasts as she leaned forward to grab her beer glass.

  "I'm Brooke," she said, shaking my hand as she looked at me with her intensely blue eyes. There was something about her that was open and yet mysterious. I wanted to turn on the charm and seduce her, but there was an air about her that told me if I did that, I'd blow it and that if I blew it, I wouldn't get a second chance. So, I held back and waited.

  "Nice to meet you, Brooke," I replied and then let go of her hand. "What brings you here on this fine evening?"

  "Stupid men," she said as she picked up her glass and drank from it. She didn't sip like so many women do. She actually drank her beer. I watched her for a moment, unable to take my eyes off of her lips and the way they wrapped around the edge of the glass. Then, I closed my eyes and tried to think of car engines, greasy fries, and road kill – anything to keep the blood from flowing too far south and making me uncomfortable.

  "What did the stupid man do?" I asked.

  "What do you think he did, Dax?" she asked as she turned her gaze on me. Her eyes were so intensely blue that I felt like I'd been cornered, but I couldn't look away. She held my gaze with an expectant look.

  "I'm sure it wasn't good, I'll tell you that," I said, finally tearing my eyes away from hers and looking back at my glass.

  "Damn right, it wasn't," she said as she wobbled a bit on her stool. I reached out and steadied her. Her silk blouse was soft under my fingers. It was transparent where the beer had splashed on her when she dumped her glass and I had the urge to slide my hand up her arm until I could cup her breast. She turned and looked at me and blurted out, "You hitting on me, Dax?"

  "Well, let me put it this way, Brooke," I said as I leaned in and spoke softly into her ear. "You are one smoking hot woman, so I would say that yes, I am hitting on you."