CHAPTER 5
BROOKE
My apartment seemed extra small with Liam in it. It wasn’t because of his size, although he was a big guy. It was his presence. I felt like he sucked every bit of oxygen from the small apartment, and it left me gasping for air.
I told him to make himself comfortable in the living room while I got the drinks. When I entered the kitchen, I automatically hit the button to listen to my messages. There was only one.
“I know you’re coming home soon, but I guess I just wanted to hear your voice. I’ll be glad when you’re back in California. I’ll catch you later. I love you, Brooke.”
I smiled as I listened to Noah’s message. I really did miss my family. I even wanted to see every one of my pain-in-the-ass brothers right now.
I had the drinks in my hand when I turned to go back to the living room, but I didn’t get far. Liam was standing at the entrance to the kitchen, and he didn’t look very happy.
“He doesn’t love you, and you don’t love him,” he said coarsely.
I pushed by him and he followed me into the living room. I handed him a beer before I said, “I do love him. A lot.”
He’d obviously overheard Noah’s message and assumed it was my nonexistent boyfriend.
“How in the hell can he have a woman like you and not need to see her every fucking day?”
Liam had seated himself on the end of the couch, so I sat on the other side. “He doesn’t have me.”
His head turned sharply to look at me. “Are you breaking up with him?”
I grinned at Liam. “Unfortunately, I don’t think that’s possible.”
There had been many times when my brothers had driven me crazy, but since we were blood, I either had to put up with them or not have them in my life. Since they had some good qualities, I’d decided to ignore their nonsense.
“Why? If you don’t love him and he doesn’t love you, it would be better to dump him.”
“I can’t dump my own brother,” I informed him, and then took a large swallow of Merlot from my glass.
“That was your brother?”
I nodded. “Noah. The eldest.”
He looked relieved as he answered. “Sorry. I guess I’m not used to you having brothers.”
“I’m not sure if I’m used to it, either,” I joked. “And they’ve been my siblings for twenty-six years. Noah is protective since he raised all of us, but we can never seem to convince him that we’re all grown up now.”
He threw back half of the bottle of beer he was holding before he answered, “He’s always going to want to protect you. Tessa is married, and I still want to tell her what to do. I don’t think that instinct ever goes away.”
“I love him. He dedicated his whole life to his family when he was barely a grown-up himself.”
“He did what he had to do to keep you all together. I respect that.”
“But you thought he was my boyfriend?”
He nodded. “I did. You can still break up with your boyfriend, Brooke.”
“I can’t.” How could I dump a guy who didn’t exist?
“He basically left you alone for the last year. He’s been here to visit for a day or two a few times, but if he really loved you, he would have been here with you.”
My heart melted just a little bit more. Liam was obviously trying to help me, and I couldn’t ignore the fact that he appeared to care if I was happy. “If you were in the same situation, would you have dropped your whole life for a woman?”
“If she was the right woman, yes.”
Strangely, I believed him. Liam was loyal and steadfast with people he cared about. “There aren’t many guys who would,” I explained.
“Bullshit! I don’t know many guys who wouldn’t.” He took another healthy hit from his beer.
I knew plenty of men who wouldn’t drop their lives and follow a female, even if they were in a relationship. But Liam apparently hung out with guys who had their priorities together.
I changed the subject before I had to tell an actual lie. “What did you want to talk about?”
“I wanted to see if I could talk you into staying, but after hearing your brother’s message, I know it’s not going to happen. And I’m definitely not getting anywhere with convincing you to get rid of the useless boyfriend.” He paused for a moment before he added, “But it doesn’t feel right to just let you go.”
I took another long sip of my wine. “Why do you want me to stay so badly? You said we could never be friends. And you’ve never said another word about the fact that we were attracted to each other. I have a hard time believing that this is all about the restaurant.”
“It’s not,” he confirmed. “It has nothing to do with Sullivan’s.”
My heart skipped a beat. “Then what is it, Liam?”
“I don’t want you to go.”
“Why?” I really wanted his answer to that question now.
“The attraction never went away, Brooke. But I refuse to intrude on another guy’s territory. Every time I see you, my dick is hard, but I can’t go there.”
I watched as Liam got up and took my glass. He headed for the kitchen, and I followed him. I leaned on the small island as he popped off the top on another beer, then filled my wineglass almost to the brim.
He set it in front of me as he chugged on the new bottle and tossed the empty one.
I lifted the wineglass and drank, wondering what to say. I’d never gotten over my lust for him, either. In fact, it had just gotten worse the longer I stayed. If I was honest with myself, that was the reason I had to go. I couldn’t take many more nights of getting myself off and fantasizing about him. It was becoming almost painful, and I knew damn well it was pathetic.
“I’m not sure the chemistry will ever go away.” I had to be honest with him. I owed him that much.
I was slugging down my wine now, trying to calm my nerves.
Liam polished off his beer and tossed it in the trash before he moved closer to me. “No doubt it won’t,” he agreed. “So what are we going to do about it?”
My wineglass was empty, so I set it aside and looked up at him. He was close, so close that I could feel his warm breath on my face. “We do nothing,” I said in a rush. “What else can we do? I’m hoping it will go away once I’m back in California. You’ll forget about it once I’m gone for a while.”
“Try again, Brooke,” he challenged. “My cock has been hard for almost a year now. All I have to do is think about you.”
I was pretty sure my mouth dropped open, but I didn’t care. I wondered if he got himself off like I did, lying in bed every single night having an unsatisfying orgasm, because all he wanted was to be with me. I knew that’s what I did. “I really do get off to very dirty thoughts about you.”
I’d told him that I masturbated to thoughts of him back when we’d admitted our attraction to each other. It was the only time I’d opened up to him, and it had backfired on me. I’d never confessed anything to him again.
“I know. I do it, too,” he said huskily. “I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty damn sick of it. I don’t know what commitment you made to this guy in California, but I know you don’t love him. Not if you’re attracted to me. I’ve known you long enough to know that’s just not the way you roll.”
I was a little light-headed from the wine I’d guzzled, and I was ready to spill my guts. Maybe we’d never have sex, but that didn’t have to stop me from telling him what I thought.
I nodded. “It’s starting to hurt. That’s one of the reasons I want to go.”
Liam’s gaze was locked with mine, his green-eyed gaze intense. “I can make it stop hurting, Brooke. Don’t you think we should give ourselves a break?”
He wanted to fuck me. I could see it in his eyes. I wrapped my arms around his neck. My inhibitions be damned. I’d wanted to experience what it would be like to have sex with a man who really wanted me.
Now was my chance.
In two weeks, I’d never see this man again, and he was the only one who made me burn this hot.
I closed my eyes, letting my hands stroke down his back. He’d shucked his jacket, and all I had to do was find his bare skin.
I untucked his T-shirt and moaned out loud when my palms made a heated connection with his bare back. “This is so much better than the fantasy,” I said in a breathless voice.
To my displeasure, he stepped back, but only to lift his shirt over his head and drop it on the floor. “Touch me, Brooke. Fuck! I’ve wanted you for too damn long.”
My eyes popped open so I could look at him. Liam had the nicest body I’d ever seen, and being able to actually study his naked upper body, I felt almost giddy.
His blond hair was tousled from ripping off his T-shirt, but he was the most gorgeous sight I’d ever seen. His body was toned as hell. I reached forward and ran my hands down his chest and to his ripped abdomen. Tracing the sexy trail of hair that disappeared inside the waistband of his jeans, I shuddered. His skin was soft, but I could feel every hard muscle beneath it.
Even though we’d just finished the winter months, Liam’s skin was lightly tanned, a color that he apparently came by naturally. “You’re so damn perfect,” I said in a rush.
“I’m anything but perfect,” he grunted through clenched teeth, a sign that he was trying to hold himself back.
“These were never in my fantasies,” I said, touching the tattoos on his chest. One side had a broken heart with angel wings. The other side had a larger image, a fierce dragon that looked like it was ready to jump off his skin and attack.
He took my hand and lifted it to the heart. “This was for my parents after they died.” He moved so that my palm was touching the dragon. “I got this one when Tessa got sick. I wanted something that signified strength, because I knew we were both going to need it.”
I was mesmerized by the tats, probably because I didn’t see Liam as the type of guy who would have them. But he’d gotten both of them out of love for his family, and I found that extraordinary.
“Did they hurt?”
“Not as badly as the actual reasons why I got them. I guess I needed some kind of closure for my mom and dad. And when Tessa got sick, I had to find some way to get through it.”
“They’re beautiful,” I said, tracing the form of the dragon.
I let my hands stroke his naked back, feeling like I was in some kind of surreal trance. Right now, my entire world was the man who was holding me, and if I was dreaming, I sure as hell didn’t want to wake up. I knew the sensations weren’t being caused by drinking more wine than I usually did. It was all . . . Liam.
I looked up at him as he grasped the hem of my sweater, and I lifted my arms like it was the most natural thing in the world to do.
He needed to be naked.
I needed to be naked.
I was desperate to feel our skin meld together.
I didn’t balk when he removed my bra.
I wanted this.
I wanted him.
I felt the heat rush between my thighs as I surveyed the hungry look on his face as his eyes devoured my bare breasts. “Fuck, Brooke!” He cupped both of them. “I can’t believe this is real.”
I knew exactly what he meant, but I teased him anyway. “They’re a hundred percent real. I’m not into plastic surgery.”
I’d always figured that you dealt with whatever DNA you got at birth. But I couldn’t help but be a little bit nervous about whether or not Liam would be turned on by my body once I was actually naked.
He wrapped his arms around me and pulled my body flush with his, like he knew exactly what I wanted.
“Yes,” I hissed as his hot skin caressed mine.
“Dammit! I’m not going to last,” Liam rasped.
“Then I guess we enjoy whatever time we get,” I replied.
Liam lifted my chin. “I’m not going away until you’re satisfied,” he vowed.
I closed my eyes as his head dropped down and he took my mouth with a ferocity I’d never experienced before.
I let myself fall into the embrace, my heart skittering as he claimed every inch of my mouth. He was demanding, and I had no problem giving him everything he wanted, my tongue tangling with his in a duel of desire.
My pussy throbbed with the need to feel him inside of me.
“Liam,” I whimpered when he had finally let me breathe again.
I put my hand between our bodies and groped the front of his jeans.
He was rock hard, and it was all for me.
He reached down for my hand and pulled it away. “Don’t. I don’t want to come like a damn teenage boy with my first woman. I want this to last.”
I wanted it to last, too, but my body was way ahead of my brain. I wanted to rush to orgasm because I was aching for him. “What can I do?”
“You can get naked,” he growled. He stepped back and reached for the button of my jeans.
I ripped at my jeans, eager to do whatever he wanted.