“Did you take the day off?” I asked.
“No,” she said and looked at her outfit. “But I put these on as soon as I got home. You know me; I’m all about the comfort. Also, I didn’t know I’d be having company.”
“Well, it suits you. You should wear that all the time. You’re so cute,” I said, and she blushed. I held up the bags in my hands. “Also, I come bearing gifts.”
I walked over and placed the bags on the counter.
“Gifts? What gifts?” she said with excitement as she tried to see inside.
“Food gifts.”
“I thought I smelt something amazing. I love food gifts,” she said and squealed.
I chuckled. “I thought you’d like that. I was going to cook for you but decided that probably wouldn’t be the best idea. I mean, I want you to have a good night after all. The last thing I wanted was to give you food poisoning. So, I stopped off at the shop and got Chinese for us. Chopsticks and all. And a bottle of wine. Okay, two bottles of wine.”
“You’re the best. Thank you. I’m glad that you’ve realized the way to my heart is through my stomach. And I love Chinese food.”
We decided to sit in the living room instead of at the table. It felt like the sort of food that you’d want to eat curled up on the sofa. She laughed as I attempted to eat my food with the chopsticks. Every time I tried to pick it up, I’d drop everything and end up with a mouthful of air.
“You’re so good at that,” I said as I watched her working the sticks. She was actually quite fascinating to watch. She did it with so much precision and expertise it looked like she ate with them every day.
“Ah, years of practice. I know you don’t know this area so well yet, but you actually got food from my favorite Chinese place tonight. Terra and I used to get from them all the time when we were too lazy to bring lunch to work. We haven’t gone in ages though, so it’s so good to have it again. I’ve missed this food. Would you like a fork?” I asked.
“I feel like saying no, because I know I’m never going to get better if I don’t try. But if I don’t use a fork I might not get any food tonight. I’m starving. I’ve hardly eaten a thing.”
She chuckled and got me a fork.
“Such a westerner,” she said and laughed. “This is so nice, Grant. It’s good to have you here. Thank you so much for doing this tonight. I needed this.”
“Ah, it’s my pleasure. I can’t think of a better way to spend a Friday night, to be honest. I mean, I know he’s my brother and all, but I’d rather spend the night with you then with Brady. How are you doing by the way?”
She sighed. “I’m okay. I guess. I don’t really know what to feel, to be honest. I didn’t sleep well last night at all. I kept tossing and turning and running through what had happened. I’m not sure if I handled myself correctly last night, but I didn’t know what else to do. I just couldn’t be there anymore. I felt like I couldn’t breathe anymore.”
“Have you heard from him?”
She nodded. “Just one message telling me that he’s sorry and that he’s ready to meet again whenever I want. He told me he’s not going anywhere.”
“Well, that’s nice at least.”
She looked at me and frowned. “Nice?”
I suddenly remembered what Brady said and sighed. “Look, I’m talking from my point of view. I know it’s different for you. Brady was telling me today that it can’t be easy.”
“Brady said that?”
“Yeah, he doesn’t have the best relationship with our father. So I guess he feels like he understands these things more than I do.”
“Why not? Your father sounds like such a nice man. I know he misses you so much.”
“He does. But, there’s a lot that’s gone on in our family. Some of which I know about, and some of which I don’t know about. I’ve always had a good relationship with my dad. We’ve always gotten along well. But I know very well that he has a temper on him and that he doesn’t like it when things don’t go the way he wants them to go. I’m not sure exactly what happened with Brady, but I do know that my father used to hit him.”
“Hit him? Are you serious?”
“Yeah,” I said sadly. It was something I didn’t like to think about too often. Neither of them had truly ever given me the real story, and I still didn’t know what was going on. I’d decided long ago not to take sides until I knew more. “There’s a lot I don’t know. And I know my father wouldn’t do something like that without being provoked. Not that it makes it okay or anything. I know it’s not okay. But I still think that Brady can be very difficult when he wants to be too. All I know is that there are past issues and that Brady and him have been estranged for a while. I keep trying to bring them back together, but I know it’s not up to me.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Emily said.
I sighed. “Me too. I guess we all have messed up families. Anyway, I just want you to know that it doesn’t matter what happens. I’ll be there for you regardless.”
“Thank you so much, Grant. You’re amazing. And you were incredible last night. I couldn’t have done that without you there. That poor waiter though, he looked so terrified by us.”
I laughed. “Yeah, I think he really regretted getting us that night. I don’t think we should go back to that restaurant for a while. Or, if we do, I think we need to make sure he’s our waiter and that he gets tipped handsomely.”
“Good idea. So, did you have a good day on the ranch today? Did you miss firefighting?”
I could tell she wanted to change the subject. I took a bite of my food, which was now a lot easier with the fork, and smiled. “Yeah, it was a good day. I love the ranch work, so it doesn’t bother me. I’ll be involved in a few weeks of training soon, so I won’t be able to do much with Brady then. So I’m making the most of it now.”
We continued chatting about work, and she told me all about her patients and about the new little girl that had joined. She always got so passionate when she spoke about work, and I was glad that she had something to help her finish everything that was going on in her life. Afterward, she went to throw the takeout boxes away and stacked the glasses in the sink. She was just about to wash the dishes when I wrapped my arms around her.
“No cleaning up now,” I said.
“Oh yeah, what are we going to do instead of cleaning up?” she said innocently.
“Hmm, I can think of a few things that sound better than cleaning up.”
“You can? Whatever could those be?” she said.
I turned around and put my hand up her shirt. I cupped her breast and then tugged gently on her nipple.
“Something like this, perhaps?”
Chapter Thirty
Emily
“Is this better than cleaning?” Grant whispered as his hand grabbed my breast.
“Much better,” I whispered.
“And how about this?” he said as tucked his other hand into my pajama shorts, and into my underwear.
I groaned. “Hmm hmm.”
“Better than cleaning?” he asked again.
I’d never met anyone that could excite me as quickly as Grant could. I was already wet before he touched me. Now, with his fingers moving inside me, and his other hand playing with my breast, I felt the excitement increase.
“I see Patriot has come to visit,” I said, and he chuckled.
“Oh, he’s always here.”
“Do I get a nickname too?” I said and then groaned loudly as his hands went deeper.
He bit his lip and looked down at me.
“A nickname? Hmm,” he said. He pulled off my shirt and ran his fingers over my ribs. “How about Audrey?”
“Audrey?” I asked confused. I hadn’t been expecting an actual name.
He laughed. “Audrey Tautou. The actress. I mean, I only get to see your tattoos when your clothes are off. And anyway, you’re like the blonder, hotter version of her. She’s always been one of my favorite. But you’ve superseded her.”
&nbs
p; “Audrey,” I said and smiled. “My alter ego. I like that.”
He reached down, pulled down my shorts and underwear, and lifted me up onto the counter. I gripped the sides as he leaned down, opened my legs, and licked me. My body began to writhe with excitement with every feel of his tongue, and I leaned back and opened my legs more. I knew I was going to come, but for once I didn’t want him to stop. With one hand I reached over and held onto his hair. Then I pulled him even closer to me.
“Don’t stop,” I said. “Please don’t stop.” The last few words were so soft I wasn’t sure if he even heard them. But he didn’t stop. With every lick and every push, I felt my body shiver with excitement. I opened my legs wider. “More. Yes, yes, yes.” My voice was no longer a whisper, and I cried out as I reached the point of orgasm.
After I had come, I looked down and smiled at Grant.
“Well, this is a nice sight,” I said and grinned.
“Better than doing the dishes?” he asked again.
I giggled. “Oh yeah. Much better.”
I jumped off the counter, took his hand, and walked.
“Where are we going?” he asked.
“Your turn,” I said and took him to the bedroom.
“Take off your clothes,” I ordered while I went to grab a condom. I threw it to him when he was naked and made him lie down on the bed. Then I climbed on top of him.
“Emily and Audrey,” he said and grinned. “The perfect combination.” Then he moaned as I started to move over him.
His eyes were closed, and he was smiling, and I loved that I was able to do this to him. Just seeing how happy I was making him made me get excited all over again. I took his hands and placed them on my breasts, then I leaned back and rocked over and over and over until I could see he was on the verge of orgasm.
“I’m so close,” he whispered as his hands tightened around my breasts.
“Me too,” I moaned.
His eyes widened. “Again?”
“Oh yeah,” I said. Then I closed my eyes and came all over again.
Afterward, as we lay next to each other, he started to laugh.
“What’s so funny?”
“Not funny. Surprising. You came twice?”
“Yeah. And trust me, that’s not something I do easily.”
“Seriously?”
I nodded and turned to face him. “Seriously. You just have that effect on me.”
“You have the same effect on me. How about you stay here while I make us some coffee?”
I grinned. “I like that idea.”
I lay back and closed my eyes, feeling better about everything now that Grant was with me. He took quite a while, and I almost fell asleep again, but when he finally came back up, he was carrying two steaming mugs. He placed them on the bedside table and climbed back in.
“That took a while. I thought maybe you’d snuck out,” I said and reached for the coffee.
“Nah, there was something I had to do before making the coffee.”
“There was? What’s that?”
“The dishes.”
I burst out laughing. “What? Are you serious?”
He chuckled. “Now you don’t have to worry about them at all tonight.”
After coffee, I watched as he climbed out of bed to find his clothes.
“I should’ve hidden your clothes while you were out,” I said. “It’s fun watching you walk around like that.”
He turned around, and when he caught my eye, I noticed a strange look on his face.
“So, I was thinking, maybe I should sleep over? That’s, of course, if you want me to? It’s just that you look cold and that thin little duvet doesn’t seem to be doing much for you.”
He wanted to sleep over? I grinned. “Yeah, I need my human blanket back. Come in quickly before I freeze to death,” I said and pulled open the duvet for him.
He jumped in and wrapped his arms around me. “So you want me to stay over?” he whispered into my neck.
“I want you to stay over,” I said back.
I was facing the wall, and I was glad that he couldn’t see how much I was smiling. I’d never met anyone that made me feel the way Grant made me feel. And as he held me, I knew that I was starting to fall for him. I wasn’t sure if he felt the same way about me, but at that moment, I didn’t care. All I wanted was for him to stay there, to hold me and to never let me go. There’d been too much going on in my life these past few days, and this felt like the one constant that had never let me down.
Chapter Thirty-One
Grant
After spending the night at Emily’s on Friday night, I decided to stay and spend most of Saturday with her too. I’d already done so much extra work at the ranch that I now didn’t mind taking the day off. We went out for waffles in the morning, and then walked around the town most of the day. She showed me around town, introducing me to people and showing me places that meant a lot to her. We walked for hours, stopping here and there for something to eat or drink. Then we made our way back to her house, where we took a long shower together and made love on the bed. By the end of the night, I was so exhausted that I decided to sleep over again.
The following day, I got a call from Brady asking if I wouldn’t mind helping as the new guy was off work again. He seemed frustrated, and even though I wanted another day with Emily, I decided to go and help him. As it turned out, the new guy had not been doing his job all that well, and I spent all of Sunday and half of Monday rectifying what he had done. On Monday night I sat Brady down and tried to tell him that this guy was doing more damage than anything else. Brady tried to act like a big strong guy who didn’t give a damn about anyone, but he kept coming up with a million ways to defend the guy. I knew he just didn’t want to be the one that fired him, so I offered to do it for him. The following day, I got up early to speak to the new guy before going to the fire department, but he didn’t come in.
“Shotgun, I have to go,” I said as I walked into the house. I’d waited for over an hour, and he hadn’t arrived. “He’s not here again today. I’m not sure if he’s even coming in.”
“He’s not here? But he promised to come early to make up for the lost time.”
“Yeah, well, he didn’t. I’m happy to come back later to talk to him if you like. That’s if he even comes in.”
Brady shook his head. He might be a nice guy, but when he got pushed too much, he snapped. “I’ll fire him.”
“You sure?”
“Oh yeah. This is getting ridiculous now. And you got up early to talk to him for nothing. I’m sorry about that. I’m going to see if I can find someone else to take his place.”
“I’ll come out and help at the ranch soon. I’ll ask the chief if I have any days off this week.”
“Thanks, Patriot. I appreciate it.”
I spent the rest of the week working at the fire department and helping Brady out at the ranch. He’d plucked up the courage to fire the guy, who didn’t even seem that bothered about losing his job, and set about finding someone else. I wasn’t sure how long he was going to take to find someone, and in the meantime, I knew I’d have to help out as often as I could. I was still living with him until I sorted out somewhere to stay, and I owed him a great deal. But I was exhausted, and I was glad when Thursday night rolled around and Emily invited me over for dinner. I went straight to her house from work, just in case I got too caught up in wanting to help Brady.
“Hey, fireman,” Emily said as she opened the door.
“Hey, you. Mind if I use your shower real quick? I didn’t get a chance to go home,” I said as I leaned in and kissed her.
“Of course. I’m busy preparing getting dinner ready, anyway. I’m glad you’re here early.”
“Yeah, Brady’s been stressed these days, and if I went back home, I figured I might not be able to get away. I’ve had enough of Brady this week. I need some Emily time.”
“Ooh, I like the sound of that. Okay, take a shower, and I’ll have a glass of wine ready
for you when you’re out.”
“Want to join me?” I asked.
She smiled. “Don’t tempt me. If I join you, I might burn the food.”
“We might have to shower again later then,” I said and grinned.
“Oh, now that I can do.”
I hopped into the shower and thought about Emily. I had to stop myself from thinking about her too much, though. Which, I was starting to realize, wasn’t all that easy. It was probably a good thing that I kept myself so busy during the day. I’d go mad if I had nothing to do and could only think about Emily.
Afterward, I joined her downstairs and took a grateful sip of the wine.
“This is nice,” I said. “And it smells amazing in here.”
“You think? I’m trying out a new recipe. It was my gran’s old curry recipe. I made it once before, and it was a disaster. But so far I think it’s turning out pretty well.”
“She would be very proud of you, Em.”
“And she would’ve liked you! Oh, which reminds me,” she said as she stirred the pot. “You won’t believe what I found out yesterday!”
“What’s that?” I said as I took a seat at the kitchen counter.
“I decided to read through my gran’s diary again. I read it such a long time ago, and I thought it would be nice to relive it all again. And in it she talks all about her husband, my grandfather, who died when I was just a kid. I didn’t get a chance to know him at all. Guess what he did for a living?”
“I don’t know? Uh, a chef!”
“No. He was a fireman!” she said and beamed at me.
“What? Are you serious? That’s so cool, Em.”
“I know. I couldn’t believe it. You see, my gran would’ve loved you. Us Wessler girls obviously have a thing for firefighters!”
“That’s amazing. I’d love to read her diary one day,” I said.
“You would?”
“Of course. It must be so interesting. So, do you have a diary?” I asked. I had this sudden image of Emily lying in her bed in her cute little pajamas, and writing in her diary.
Dirty Stepbrother - A Firefighter Romance (The Maxwell Family) Page 126