Page 43 of Britain

“I stopped by their shop last week when I saw your SUV there. We just hit it off.” Heather wraps her arms around Marcus’s waist. He smiles down at my sister, and I can see how into her he is. Heather is glowing.

They walk off hand and hand and I look down at Britain. “What do you think of that?” I signal toward my sister and her brother.

“You didn’t see it, but it was like a movie. They were drawn to each other like…I hate to use the cliché, but like moths to a flame. It honestly made my heart swell to watch it. Dad was with me when they met, and he said that he’s always looked at my mom the way Marcus was looking at Heather. My brother doesn’t have the best track record, but he seems really into her.”

Stefan and Jeremiah come walking over. “Hey guys, this is Britain,” I introduce them. “Britain, these are my best friends, Stefan and Jeremiah.”

She looks up at me and smiles, and then turns back to the two guys who mean the world to me. “So you guys can give me all the dirt.” Britain holds up her hand and starts counting on her fingers. “I need embarrassing pictures, stories, and anything else to convince me that he’s not perfect.”

I grab her sides, tickling her until she squeals. Hugging her to my chest, I kiss the top of her head. I don’t miss that Stefan and Jeremiah are both staring at us, but they’re smiling. Of course, I wouldn’t care if they weren’t smiling.

The rest of the night Britain stays by my side—of course that’s because I keep my arm around her waist. She smiles and shakes hands with everyone I introduce her to. I get her appetizers to tide her over until the party is over, then I’m cooking her dinner back at my place. I’m hoping she’ll scene with me tonight.

I’m dying to use my flogger on her. Hell, I just want to hold her. I’ve missed holding her. When people start leaving, I have Britain stay with Marcus and Heather. The turnout was perfect, my staff had a good time, no one got too crazy, and I got some good publicity.

When the last guest leaves, Callie comes to supervise the cleanup, so we can leave anytime. The six of us head outside to leave, and I walk with Britain over to her brother’s car to get her overnight bag.

I pull my sister into a hug. “Thanks again for coming tonight.”

Heather smiles brightly, and I don’t miss how happy she looks. “We had fun.”

Marcus comes over, and I hold out my hand to him. “Thanks again, and keep an eye on that one. She’s got attitude for days.”

“I do not!” She kicks me in the shin. “That’s what you get,” Heather says as I lean down to rub my leg.

Britain hugs her brother and my sister before taking my hand as I walk us toward my SUV. I load her into the passenger seat, and then climb in. “Did you have a good time? Sometimes when I start talking about my apps I can go on and on.”

She grabs my hand between both of hers. “I had a great time. Your friends are really nice.”

That makes me happy. “They’re my best friends, but they’re my brothers too. I trust them with my life, and they’d trust me with theirs.”

“I’m glad you have that,” Britain says as we pull into the parking garage. I grab her bag and hop out of the driver’s side.

Hand in hand we head inside, and I send her upstairs to put her bag up there and to change clothes. While she does that, I preheat the oven and get everything out before heading upstairs myself.

“Damn, you’re already changed.” I tackle her to the bed in her little red booty shorts and black fitted tee that leave little to the imagination.

I settle between her legs, grab both hands, and pin them above her head before kissing her like I wanted to kiss her earlier. She wraps her legs around my waist, bringing her core against my hard dick. My lips travel down her neck, nipping at the tender flesh. In the distance, the oven beeps, and I pull away enough to look down at her.

“Get out of here before I don’t let you out of this bed. I’ll meet you downstairs.” I watch her crawl off the bed and disappear downstairs.

Quickly I change into jeans and a t-shirt before heading downstairs. I throw the lasagna that my sister brought over in the oven. I grab a beer out of the fridge and then take Britain by the hand and with me into the living room.

Once I get her snuggled into my side, I sit back. “How are Beth and Keith doing?” It’s been almost a week since they lost their baby.

She wraps her arm around my waist. “They’re doing better. Beth’s been quiet, but Keith got her to agree to talk to someone who specializes in grief counseling.”

I kiss her forehead. “I’m sure that’ll help. Speaking of counseling, how did your visit Monday go?” After the stuff with her brother and sister-in-law, she made an earlier appointment.

“It was good. We talked about Beth, and about us spending a lot of time together. We talked about my real mom a little.” She shrugs. “She’s easy to talk to.” She threads her fingers through mine.

Why do I suddenly feel guilty? I hate what happened to her, and I hate knowing that anything we could do could trigger a bad reaction. A sour feeling hits my gut, and I don’t like it. I don’t want to be the cause of any pain for her. I’m falling in love with her—it hit me the other night while we were talking on the phone about everything and nothing.

The timer goes off, and I have to let her go before heading into the kitchen to check the food. It’s definitely hot enough so I pull it out and throw the garlic bread in the broiler. When it’s done, I pull it out. “Come and get it, babe.”

Britain comes into the kitchen and gives me a look. “What’s wrong? We talked about my therapy session and you got a weird look on your face.” She walks right up to me. “If you’re going to break up with me, just do it.”

I grab her by the shoulders. “I’m not breaking up with you. I just…I just feel bad because it’s my fault you had the reaction you did, and it’s my fault I drudged up bad memories.”

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