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

by Alexa Davis

  This all started not long before Thanksgiving in the gym one day as I was working in the office. I’ll admit that I went so far as to step out into the doorway when I heard what Dad and Kevin were talking about. I was blatantly eavesdropping, but the conversation involved every man that I loved, so I felt like I had a right.

  “I’d have to be crazy to go up against Nick for his title.” Those were the words I heard Kevin speak that drew my attention.

  “You’d be crazy not to,” Dad told him.

  “He’s better than me, a lot better. And, he’s my brother-in-law.”

  “If he wasn’t, would you do it?”

  “Maybe, if you thought I was good enough…”

  I watched my dad put his hand on Kevin’s shoulder and say, “It doesn’t matter what I think, or anyone else, for that matter. Look inside of yourself, Kevin. Are you good enough? Could you beat Nick?”

  “I honestly don’t know. I feel like I can beat anyone when I’m in that cage. I just never thought about fighting Nick before.”

  “Nick’s not going to hand you that title. Someday, it will be the only fight you have left to move forward in your career and then you’ll have to choose between fighting him and stagnation.”

  “Do I have to choose right now?”

  Dad smiled. “No, son. But the fight is up for grabs right now, and if you don’t take it, someone else will.”

  I could see the agony of indecision on Kevin’s face. I went back into the office of the gym and called Nick. It was right before Thanksgiving, and he was at his Dad’s house. He and his father had struggled over the past two years to have some semblance of a relationship. It wasn’t perfect, but they were both trying. He answered the call on the first ring, and I told him about Dad and Kevin’s conversation. He listened quietly and then said,

  “I’ll be there soon.”

  I had no idea what he was thinking. I couldn’t imagine getting into that cage and pummeling my best friend. I thought about Michaela, engaged to Ethan now, and smiled. Soon my best friend would also be my sister by marriage. It is incredible how life works out.

  Nick had arrived at the gym in half an hour. He and Dad talked for a while first. It was amazing to me how far the two of them had come. They not only had an incredible, mutual respect for each other, but they actually seemed to like each other now. Their competitiveness did come out over me sometimes, and I’m sure it will rear its head over our son someday, but we will always be a family, and that’s always going to be the bottom line.

  After Dad and Nick spoke, I saw Nick take Kevin into the back. Dad came over to where I was standing near the office and put his arm around me. “Are they going to fight each other?” I asked him.

  He kissed the top of my head and said, “Yes, but you know it won’t change the way they feel about each other. This is just like those autographs Nick signs for his adoring fans. It’s just work.”

  I nodded. I really hoped so.

  By Thanksgiving, Dad had already spoken to Chavez and talked Kevin into training with him. He told me that it broke his heart to give him up, but he couldn’t train both men headed for a title fight. Nick had volunteered to be the one Dad gave up, but Kevin wouldn’t hear of it. Kevin insisted since Nick had him first, he should be the one to go.

  As it turned out, Chavez was a nice guy – unless you were the one in the cage with him at the time. We even invited him and his wife to Thanksgiving dinner…at the mansion. It was almost surreal watching the collection of fighters and trainers gathering around Nick’s father’s fancy table. Gregory was amazingly cordial to them all. It was just one more reason my faith in family was restored. The other one came in the form of a gush of water between my legs just as Nick’s father cut the turkey.

  “Um…baby, I think I need to go to the hospital.” Our baby wasn’t due until Christmas Day. Nick’s face was pale as he got to his feet and said,

  “Why? What’s wrong?”

  I felt my own face color as the attention of some thirty people at the table was suddenly on me. “Nothing’s wrong,” I told Nick and then looked around the table and smiled. My new sister-in-law, Elaine was newly pregnant, and I saw actual terror in her eyes. “Really, I’m fine. It’s just that…my water broke.”

  “Oh, thank God!” Michaela was sitting to the left of me. “I thought you peed in the floor.” That lightened the mood at the table somewhat, but Dad, Gregory, and Nick were all three trying to usher me out the door.

  Gregory told Ethan to make sure everyone got their fill of dinner and he’d keep them posted. I was loaded into the backseat of one of Gregory’s luxury cars, and with Nick squeezing my hand almost to the point of breaking it and the two potential grandfathers staring at me like I might break any second, I was driven to the hospital.

  It took eight hours for the new love of my life to come into the world. During that time, I’d sweated and cried and even cussed Nick out, but the second they put my son into my arms and he looked up at me with his handsome, dark-blue eyes, nothing was wrong in the universe.

  I had never thought I had to capacity to love anything so much. I loved my family, and I loved Nick so much that I’d die for him. But the kind of love I felt for my son far surpassed all of that with one look. The missing pieces of my life were finally all in place and there was nowhere to go but up from there.

  I also found out just how much everyone in my life loved us that day. The nurse came in while Nick and I were crooning over our son and showed us pictures that she’d taken in the lobby. Dad and Gregory had posed with little, hand-written signs, begging us to let them see their grandson.

  Nick and I laughed at those and then the rest of the pictures brought tears to our eyes. No one had stayed to finish their meal. Instead, it had been boxed up and wrapped up and they’d brought it with them to the hospital. They had the spread set out on a table in the waiting room and while strangers waited to be seen by doctors, they shared a Thanksgiving meal with some of the most generous people in Las Vegas – our people.

  Gregory and I got to go home from the hospital the next day. I was resting, and Nick was tending to the baby when his father stopped by. I heard the men’s voices and got up to see who was there. As I got to the end of the hall next to where Nick had put a huge Christmas tree the night before, I saw my husband. He was looking at something on the other side of the room and his eyes were filled with tears. I’ve never seen Nick cry, not even when our baby was born. I stepped further into the room and saw why.

  His father was sitting in the recliner with his feet up. He had stripped off his suit jacket and unbuttoned his shirt and he had our son lying on his chest. His eyes were closed and they both looked like they were sleeping. I went over and sat down next to Nick. He wiped his eyes quickly and smiled at me.

  “What is he doing?” I whispered.

  “He says this is what he did with Ethan and me when we were babies…to bond with us.” His voice sounded strangled like he was doing everything he could to keep from crying. He lifted his arm and I snuggled in next to him and we both watched the older man and the baby sleep – and bond. Maybe the cracks left in Nick and his father’s relationship would finally be cemented by their common love of our son.

  ********

  Christmas came and went and while Nick continued to spoil both me and our son, he got ready for the fight against my brother. I was working with Ethan now, so I was not in the gym every day to watch as Nick and my dad trained. That was a good thing, that way I didn’t have to think every day about watching him and Kevin beat on each other. The fight was scheduled for June, and I was worried that meant it would be a really, long, hot summer.

  The time flew by and the night before the fight when I got home from work, I found my husband and son sitting in the backyard on a blanket. Nick was pointing out the constellations to his little champ. Gregory was lying on his back looking up, but instead of looking at the stars, he was looking adoringly at his father. I didn’t worry about those two at all. I had n
o doubt that they would have the kind of relationship that Nick had always hoped he could have with his dad.

  I sat down next to them and both my husband and my son smiled at me with sparkling, blue eyes and dimples creased. I was the luckiest woman in the world.

  “What are you guys doing?”

  “I was just teaching the little man about the stars. You know, he and I were talking, and he thinks I should go to college.”

  “He does?”

  “Yeah. He says that he’d like for his dad to set a good example for him. We talked about what I should do.”

  I smiled. I was sure it was true since Nick talks to the baby all the time like he can understand every word. Greggie babbles back at him, and they both seem to think they’re having a conversation. “So, what did our wise son say about what you should do?”

  “He thinks I should look into sports medicine. He says he thinks I’d be a good trainer since I am a champion,” he winked at me. “But he thinks I’m ready for even more of a challenge. I wasn’t sure I’d be smart enough to pull it off, but he seems to have faith in me.”

  I picked my baby up and kissed his fat cheek. He grinned at me and my heart swelled. “Well, since he is the most perceptive person I know, I think you’d be wise to take his advice.”

  Nick put his arm around us. “You think I can do it?”

  I pointed up to the sky to the biggest star over head and said, “If you ever wonder what I think of you, find that star and remind yourself that as far as I’m concerned, if you wanted to reach that star, you could. I think you can do anything, and I will always be right here, rooting you on.”

  He kissed the side of my face and then kissed the baby and said, “What if I beat Kevin tomorrow night? Will you two still love me then?”

  Gregory and Kevin were so cute together. You might think being so small would make him wary of all of these huge men in his life. Instead, he was drawn to them and they were like his private collection of giant teddy bears. His Uncle Kevin loved him so much and spoiled him like crazy.

  “Nothing you ever did could make either of us stop loving you.”

  “Nothing?”

  “Do you love your dad, Nick?”

  He sighed. “Yeah, I do.”

  “And, you never stopped, right? No matter what he did.”

  “No, it was where all of that anger came from.”

  “I know. Gregory will always love you, and so will I. Life won’t always be exactly what we want it to be, but it will always be easier with each other.”

  “I would just hand the title to Kevin if I could, but he wouldn’t want it that way.”

  “I know, and so does he. Kevin will still love you if you beat him.”

  “Good…because I’m not sure he’s ready this time, but he will be the next.”

  I smiled. “Or you might be surprised. I wasn’t sure either of us were ready for this relationship when it first started, but look at us now.”

  Tomorrow night could be another day in our life that might possibly change everything, but the difference between now and two years ago was that change is now something I not only no longer fear, but often look forward to.

  I could live with the idea of my husband setting sprains and taping ankles instead of being the one getting patched up for a change…

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  STINGRAY BILLIONAIRE: THE COMPLETE SERIES

  By Alexa Davis

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  Chapter One

  Rory’s Treasures

  Ellie

  “The Louis XV-style double-mirrored armoire is your best bet if you’re looking to impress your guests, and you’ll have more than enough room to store your knick-knacks in the display area,” I tell Mrs. Taber as she’s glancing through the furniture section of the shop.

  Welcome to Rory’s Treasures.

  It would be a thrift store if they created thrift stores for the sole purpose of supporting the owner’s unwillingness to pick up a marketable skill. This shop is Troy’s dream.

  Troy Kramer is my boss and the owner/founder of Rory’s Treasures. To this day, I don’t know who Rory is. Every time I ask, Troy’s only answer is, “He’s the guy I named the shop after,” and then he’ll lock himself in the office the rest of the day.

  That’s why I’m here on the floor when I should be up near the register. Of course, when there’s only one customer, that customer tends to grow in importance fast.

  “This was owned by Louis XV?” Mrs. Taber asks.

  Every time I talk about this armoire, I get the same question. Troy’s been telling me just to say yes so we can get the thing out of here.

  “No,” I answer. “It’s in a style named for him, but don’t let that discourage you. From what I hear, these pieces are highly prized.” Of course, Troy’s the one I heard that from, so who knows?

  “Yeah,” she says, opening one of the doors to the armoire. She says, “I think I saw one in Wal-Mart a while ago.”

  “No, you didn’t,” I say.

  She glances up at me.

  Here is my problem: Honesty’s great, but correcting people is said to be impolite. I’ve read How to Win Friends and Influence People. I fall asleep to it at night. Still, old Dale Carnegie hasn’t quite convinced me about everything.

  “I could have sworn,” Mrs. Taber says.

  “You may have seen a reproduction or something done in the style, but it’s not authentic,” I tell her. “This armoire comes with a certificate of authenticity.”

  I try not to think too hard about the fact that the certificates of authenticity all showed up on the same day. I try even harder not to think about the fact that it was the day after I asked Troy why we didn’t have any for our genuine antiques. The signatures on each certificate do look surprisingly similar.

  “Okay,” she says. “I’m just looking for an armoire, though. Do I need something ‘authentic?’?”

  I know what I’m supposed to say; Troy’s been over it a thousand times like the problem is I just didn’t hear him.

  “You don’t need something authentic, no,” I answer. “Modern, less expensive armoires will look just as beautiful and work just as well. That said, this is a real conversation piece.”

  When there’s no plausible deniability, there’s no plausible reason to deny the truth.

  “In that case, I think I’ll just keep looking,” she says.

  “Ellie!” Troy’s voice comes from the office.

  I don’t know how it is that he always knows, but he does.

  Leaving Mrs. Taber, I make my way to the office doorway, saying, “Yeah?”

  “You did it again, didn’t you?” he asks.

  I shrug and widen my eyes to puppy-dog-levels, saying, “Did what?”

  He lets out a long sigh, and for the first time, I’m noticing that there’s a line of flattened hair on the top of his head, going from ear to ear. “Do you know how long I’ve been trying to sell that stupid thing?”

  “You have microphones around the store so you can listen to what I’m telling customers, don’t you?” I ask.

  Tactfulness has never been my strong suit.

  “How many times am I going to have to go over this?” he asks. “Yes, the customer needs the armoire. You can’t find anything like it anywhere. I’m surprised we got one here.”

  “Now, just so I’m clear,” I say, “Louis XV originally commissioned the armoire, but there was a problem with Amazon’s shipping service, and so it got sent to his friend, The Duke of Troy, to sell in his shop in the middle of nowhere, right?”

  “People don’t come in for anti
ques because they’re cheap; they come here because they can’t find this stuff anywhere else,” Troy says.

  I look behind me at the barren store. Mrs. Taber must have gone after I left her.

  “Troy, people don’t come in here,” I tell him.

  He’s leaning forward as if he’s expecting me to say more on the topic, but my point finally starts sinking in. “So your contention is that because we don’t get a lot of customers, it’s okay if we lose the few we do get?”

  He’s running his fingers through his hair with little, flicking motions, trying to add body to the depressed line of hair where his headphones were. It occurs to me he might not have been spying. Could be he was just looking at porn.

  “That’s not what I’m saying,” I tell him. “I just don’t think we should try to push expensive stuff on people we know can’t afford it.”

  “How do you know she couldn’t afford it?” Troy asks.

  “First off,” I tell him, “the armoire is almost two grand. Second,” I continue, “I know Mrs. Taber. She was my third-grade teacher. Troy, I know you want to think we live in some large town where everybody doesn’t already know everything about everybody else, but—”

  The bell above the shop’s door rings.

  “Why don’t you get out there and see if we can sell something today,” he says. “That’s how businesses stay open: they sell things.”

  I roll my eyes, saying, “Oh, now you tell me.”

  “If you’re not going to bother with what I’ve asked you to do on the sales floor, maybe it’d be best if you just sit up front or do some dusting or something,” he says. “Or are you going to have trouble ringing this guy up if he wants to buy something?”

  With a sigh, I slink from the office doorway. I wonder who I’m going to strong-arm next.

  The shop’s not all questionable antiques. Pretty much anything you’d imagine would be in a thrift store, pawn shop, or antique emporium is in this shop.