Page 1 of Unexpected Love

Prologue

Joe

I take a sip of my beer while I watch my cousin/best friend, Violet, be danced around the floor by her new husband. Shit, I can’t believe she’s married. Hell, I can’t believe she’s married to someone twelve years older, but he makes her happy and seems like a good guy. As long as she’s happy, I’ll keep my trap shut.

I reach up and loosen up my tie. Violet’s lucky. I love her and said yes when she asked me to be her Man of Honor. I figured she would’ve had one of her sisters or Abby or Carrington, but I’m only days older than her, and growing up, she and I were more like brother and sister than cousins.

I feel someone standing next to me and turn to find my mom as she wraps her arms around my waist, so I wrap my arm around her shoulders.

“You look so handsome in your tux. It was a beautiful ceremony, wasn’t it?”

“Thanks, Mom. Yeah it was, and it was the kind I like—short and sweet.” I bend down to kiss her forehead. My mom is a shorty, and I’m tall like my dad—hell, I’m taller than him now.

“That Chloe sure is a beautiful singer.” Yes, she is, and there’s nothing like fighting a hard on standing up in front of a bunch of people, but shit, I’ve been fighting one since the first time I saw Chloe in a long time. It was after Violet’s grandpa passed away and we were at her parents’ house. I’ve never in my life had that kind of reaction to the opposite sex before. I had a body buzz to end all body buzzes, and I knew she felt it too, but I never got the chance to see if anything could happen. She went back to Atlanta before I could make a move.

Yes, Chloe and I share Violet as a cousin, but we’re not related. Chloe’s my aunt Stacy’s cousin on her dad’s family’s side. I’m related on my dad’s side. Over the years, we’ve seen each other at some of Aunt Stacy and Uncle Dustin’s family parties, but we’ve never really spent any time together.

“Yeah, she’s great.” My eyes scan the room, and I find her. She’s with both of her dads standing by the bar. Her hair is so dark it’s almost black; her skin’s like porcelain, but it’s her eyes that truly suck me in. They’re a cerulean blue and surrounded by dark, thick lashes. I would’ve thought they were contacts, but her younger brother, Carter, has the same eyes. Chloe must feel my stare, because she turns and looks right at me.

It gives me a thrill that even from across the room, I see her cheeks turn a light shade of pink before she walks away from her parents. I don’t know why, but she’s been avoiding me all day. I know I can be a little intimidating. Since joining the police force, I’ve put on quite a bit of muscle and have tattoos on both arms. Add in my height and it makes an intimidating package.

My mom kisses my cheek and then goes to my dad. My feet start carrying me toward Chloe when my nephew Dalton comes running toward me. “Hey, little man.” I pick him up and kiss his chubby cheek.

He starts babbling in his secret toddler language that I don’t understand at all. My eyes find her again, and she’s watching us with a small smile on her lips. We head right to her, and this time she doesn’t run. Of course, she acknowledges little man first. “Hey buddy. Aren’t you just the cutest?”

“Thanks,” I tell her with a smirk.

“Haha. You’re such a funny guy.” Dalton squirms in my arms, so I set him down and he runs right to my mom. I shake my head because my parents spoil Abby’s kids rotten, but I love it—I love how happy my sister is. It’s hard to believe that it was so long ago that we almost lost Abby, but now she’s married with three kids and so incredibly happy. Her husband and I work together on the police force, and he’s become a good friend.

I grab her hand. “Dance with me?”

She wants to say no, I can tell, but I don’t give her the chance. I pull her out to the dance floor and begin swaying to the music. Her body feels so good pressed up against mine. In her heels she comes up to my nose, but without them I know she barely comes to my chin. Her tits are high and firm, and in the dress she’s wearing, I’m getting a prime view of her cleavage. She’s thin but soft, with enough curves highlighted in her silky blue dress to make my dick hard.

She smells like flowers and sunshine, and her skin looks so soft and smooth. “You look beautiful.”

“You’re not so bad yourself. The toast you gave was really sweet.”

“I don’t think anything I’ve ever done has been classified as sweet.” I pull her a little closer, not even caring that she can probably tell my cock’s half hard, but it’s her fault.

“Please, I saw you with your nephews earlier. They use you like their own personal jungle gym. You just smiled and let them do it. Last night during the rehearsal dinner, it wasn’t lost on me that your niece sat with you and you guys were coloring for a while.” Her pearly white smile puts an ache in my chest that is completely unfamiliar to me.

“It’s nice to know that you’ve noticed me.”

***

I strip out of my shirt and throw it on the chair in my hotel room. My brother, Parker, wanted to share a room with me, but in the off chance I brought a woman back to my room, I told him to fuck off and to room with our cousin Luke. Unfortunately, I’m here alone with only the images of Chloe to keep me company. I could’ve gone to a bar to pick up a woman for the night if I wanted to—I’ve never had trouble finding a willing woman—but I just don’t feel like it. Strange.

A knock on the door pulls me out of my thoughts. I look through the peephole and find the last person I expected to see on the other side of my door: Chloe. When I open it, she stands there in that fucking dress that turns me on like nothing else.

“Hey.” Fuck, I love her sexy, raspy voice.

“What are you doing here?” I stand back and watch her as she steps inside my room. Her sweet scent follows her in. My eyes drift to the back of her dress, and my dick immediately gets hard. The fabric hugs her heart-shaped ass, and all I want to do is grab it.

She stops in the middle of my room, and I let the door shut with a quiet snick. Silence surrounds us, and I’m wondering what’s happening. When Chloe finally turns around, she stuns me. She slips her dress off, and I watch in utter fascination as it slides down her delicious body. She saunters toward me until we’re almost touching.

My mouth salivates as my eyes rake over her body. It’s even better in just teeny, tiny panties. Her hands slide up my chest until they wind around my neck. “I want you to fuck me.”

“You want me to fuck you?” She doesn’t know how badly I want to.

---