One Chance (Hogan Brothers 1)

Before she knew what was happening, her body exploded into an array of fireworks. She was tense yet limp. Hot but shivering. Her cries of rapture were captured by his lips as he slowly brought her back from what she presumed was an orgasm.

“God damn that was beautiful,” he murmured as their gazes clashed together. His eyes full of heat and need.

Without thought, she realized they were swaying back and forth as if in tune to a song only they could hear. By the time he’d stopped moving their bodies side to side, he had her in his bed. The implication was clear.

Or so she thought.

“You’ll sleep in here,” he paused until she fixed her eyes on him, “with me.” He must have seen the stricken look in her stare. “We aren’t going to do anything but sleep, Soph. That was phenomenal.” His gaze roamed her body. “We’ll go slow from now on. I just can’t have you in my house and not in my bed. It’s not possible.”

It was oddly sweet.

“Okay,” she managed to say through a tight throat.

His smile was worth all of her nerves, lighting up his entire face. Producing the sexy dimple in his one cheek she had lusted over before.

Relaxing in the bed, she had expected him to go around to the other side. She was wrong. He scooted in right behind her, wrapping his entire frame around hers. She was cocooned in his muscles, encased in his legs, melting into his embrace.

She felt…

Home.

It’s not what we have in life, but who we have in our life that matters.

“So, things with Soph, they’re real, huh?” Loch asked Nox as they lowered the engine of the Chevelle onto the chassis.

Sophia had spent the past two nights at his place. The first day she’d been nervous about coming into work with him, not wanting to be a burden. When he’d set her to work answering phones and making appointments with Mac, she’d been a nervous wreck. When he told her that morning he was putting her name in the books as an employee, she’d pitched a fit. She hadn’t been impressed when he laughed at her either. After he had explained to her that she needed something on her resume, she’d quieted down.

He liked the idea of her being only a few feet away from where he was working so he could see her whenever he wanted.

Before Nox could answer his brother, he overheard the comment, “Sure wish I could bring a piece of tail to work with me. Bang her whenever I like,” followed by bouts of laughter as Joey and one of the new painters, Asher, he’d hired walked past him.

Asher wasn’t shocked to see him, it’s as though he’d expected Joey to hang himself. When Joey saw the storm brewing on Nox’s face, he paled. “What’s that, Joe?” he asked, not moving from his position bent over the hood of the car. His

white-knuckled grip on the wrench in his hand might have been threatening.

“Uh, nothing, boss,” he stuttered.

“Sounded to me like you’re either jealous or degrading my woman. Whatcha think, Loch?” He continued tightening a bolt; otherwise, he’d be smacking the fool upside his head.

“You don’t wanna know what I think. Chances are the thought would have you doing something reckless and landing your ass in jail.” Loch’s laughter wasn’t appreciated.

“You’re probably right.” He flicked a look to his brother before standing to his full height. “I think it’s a bit of both, and Joey, this’ll be your last warning. She’s off limits. For anything, to everyone. She’s mine, and she damn sure ain’t going nowhere. Got it?” Joey nodded and went to walk off when he warned the man, “One more slip up, Joe, and you’ll be fired. She’s now a full-time employee here. Sexual harassment is a real thing.”

The man paled again before scurrying off to do what he’d been assigned that morning already.

“Sorry, boss,” Asher said before walking away. He was a quiet one, lets people hang themselves when necessary. Did what he was told and didn’t bitch, so Nox believed him when he said it.

“I’ll take that as a yes then.” Loch laughed as he wiped his hands clean of grease.

“Take it as a hell yes.”

They got back to putting the engine in as the shop quieted down. Some days, he couldn’t believe the amount of drama coming from grown ass men, but then he remembered most of the guys were young.

“What do you mean she’s not coming home?” Braxton listened as Rebecca kept up her screeching while he and Anthony tried to explain that Sophia likely wasn’t coming back.

He couldn’t get a solid read on the woman and that, more than anything else, bugged him. She ran hot and cold. She conveyed the right amount of distress as she listened to them, but the emotion was missing from her eyes.

Over the past few days, he’d had a friend digging into her background, financials, and movements. What he’d come up with so far, he didn’t like. He had no doubt she was bat shit crazy, he just wasn’t prepared for how crazy she could really be. When he’d gotten the rap sheet from when she’d been arrested and charged with stalking at sixteen, he hadn’t been shocked. What did surprise him was that the charges were dropped. Not because the accuser had died or mysteriously vanished either, simply dropped.