15 Minutes (Time for Love 4)

“Breakfast.”

Chapter 11 – Brock

Even as I said it, I knew it was the worst line ever, but I wanted to bring back the effortless happiness that Victoria had displayed before I brought up her parents. She’d been looking so forlorn that I wanted to do something to snap her out of it. I wasn’t lying though, I wanted to still be there to make her breakfast in the morning.

Rather than getting pissed, like I expected she would, Victoria surprised me by letting out an unexpected giggle.

“Did you really just say that?” she asked, all traces of despair gone from her striking face.

I chuckled softly, turning my grin up a notch, then leaned in and brought my hand up to touch her cheek, before changing direction and running my thumb over her lower lip.

“I did,” I admitted gruffly. “I’d like to stay, Victoria, make no mistake about it. But if it’s too soon for you, just say the word. Like I said, I won’t do anything to make you uncomfortable, and I won’t push you to do something that you aren’t ready for.”

She didn’t say anything for a few minutes, just closed her eyes, leaving me to wait and wonder what she’d decide. Finally, she opened her eyes, keeping them a little wider than usual. Not wide enough to look crazy, but enough so that I knew she was nervous about what she was going to say next.

“I’d like you to stay,” she responded, so quietly I understood her more from reading her lips than by hearing her words.

“I’ll clear these,” I said, dropping my hand and standing to gather the dishes. I chuckled to myself at the bewilderment that crossed her face when I turned to go to the kitchen. I don’t know if she’d expected me to jump her at the table as soon as I got the green light or what, but I wasn’t planning on rushing anything.

I was washing the dishes when Victoria came in and started putting the leftovers in Tupperware. It was quite a homey scene, and I found I enjoyed sharing space with her. She looked good, smelled good, and I was thoroughly enjoying plotting all of the things I was going to do to her later.

When the kitchen was clean, Victoria turned and stood in the middle of the room, looking at me expectantly. I bit back a lau

gh and asked, “Another drink?”

Her eyebrows furrowed together, but she nodded and turned to grab me another beer. I walked up behind her, reaching past her into the refrigerator, bringing my front flush against her back, causing her to jump when we touched. I murmured, “I got it,” in her ear.

I turned, smiling to myself, and walked into the living room. I looked around the room, and when my eyes settled on her state-of-the-art sound system, I walked over and picked up the iPod that was docked there. I started scrolling through, stopping when I heard her footsteps behind me.

I turned my head to watch her enter the room, a fresh glass of wine in her hand, and asked, my voice conveying my shock, “You listen to the Grateful Dead?”

“Sure,” she said with a shrug. “I went to college.”

Her response caused me to chuckle. I hit play, then turned to sit on the couch, gently patting the cushion next to me, indicating that she should sit there.

“I didn’t, so I didn’t realize it was a pre-requisite, but I’ve listened to my share of the Dead.”

Victoria sat down, leaving a few inches of space between us, so I curved my arm around her hip and drew her in closer. Once her body was resting against mine, I settled back into the couch and had a pull of beer.

She leaned back, somewhat awkwardly, but didn’t try to scoot away, then turned her chin up to look me in the face and asked, “You didn’t? How did you end up running your own business?”

I cuddled her in a little closer, running my finger down her arm until I felt some of the tension leave her body.

“Well, you know I went right to work when my parents passed. I started doing odd jobs. I worked on cars, did security at events, even tried working at a restaurant … that shit wasn’t for me,” I said with a chuckle. “But what really stuck for me was the painting. It began with me doing interior paint jobs for some of my parents’ friends. I think they felt bad for us and were just finding ways to give me work, since I was trying to make it on my own, without handouts. I started small, eventually growing into exterior work, and then entire projects. It turned out I was good at it. Not just the painting, but running a crew, getting new clients, marketing myself, so I decided to give it a go and opened my own business. I originally worked out of the house, then, once we outgrew the living room, I found the lease for the building that we’re in now. I never expected to have O’Malley’s, I just wanted to keep my brothers together and make sure they didn’t want for anything.”

“That’s amazing,” Victoria replied softly, and the look in her eye was enough to bring me to my knees. “You’re amazing…” I don’t know what else she planned to say, because I grabbed the glass from her hand, setting it on the coaster on her table as I simultaneously bent my head to kiss her lips.

Once her wine was safely out of the spill zone, I leaned into the kiss, causing her to fall backward on the couch. Not one to miss out on a perfect opportunity, I covered her body with mine. Careful to put my weight on my left arm, I braced myself above her, allowing key body parts to rest seductively against her. Her mouth opened on a gasp when I cradled myself between her legs, which were currently wrapped around my waist. Her soft, plump lips made the kiss soft and sweet, even as her tongue tangled with mine, and her sexy whimpers caused my blood to flame. I used my right hand to quickly undo the buttons of her pretty shirt, while my mouth moved from those succulent lips to trail down her long, creamy neck.

I pushed the delicate material aside, keeping my lips on her neck as my eyes wandered over her chest, eager to see what the loss of clothing revealed. My hand cupped her breast through the blue lace bra, my thumb brushing the nipple that was barely revealed through the scraps of lace. Victoria arched her back at the contact, pushing up her hips and causing me to groan at the feel of her hot little body responding so fiercely to my touch.

“You hot for me, baby?” I growled in her ear as my tongue swept behind it, unable to keep quiet when her little moans were driving me to the brink of madness.

When she didn’t say anything, I persisted, eager to hear her voice when it was husky with need. “Tori, baby,” I prodded as my fingers worked the button of her pants. Once they were opened, I moved slightly to give myself better access, then I pushed my hand down, bypassing her pants, to the matching blue panties that were peeking through. When my hand got close to her pussy, she thrust up, urging me closer, but I kept still. “You hot for me?” I asked again. She bit her lip and gave a half nod as she threw her head back.

“Tell me, Tori,” I urged. “Tell me you want it, and I’ll give it to you.”

“I want it,” she said finally on a low, throaty breath, giving me what I wanted … So I gave her what she wanted.