Page 3 of Becoming His Pet

A sweet blush bloomed. No matter how many times Blake made the same threat, her reaction was the same.

“Your brother’s here,” she said and gave Blake a playful shove.

“And always willing to lend a hand.” Greg smiled broadly, crossing his arms over his chest. Years ago, he’d have given his right hand to have Aubree draped across his lap. But seeing how she was with Blake, he couldn’t imagine anything between them ever being anything more than platonic.

“You’re as bad as him.” Aubree shot him a punch in the arm as she passed and headed to the office.

“Actually, he’s worse,” Blake offered. Aubree’s face reddened another notch, and she disappeared into the office.

“You should keep that woman locked up. It’s too early for her to be up working,” Greg said to his brother.

“Well, since Bella came along it’s gotten a little harder to keep her in her cage,” Blake sighed. “I’m working on it though. Between her part-time hours at the veterinary clinic and here, she works too hard, too much, and still tries to be the perfect mother. Nothing a long session with my belt can’t fix.”

“Take a night off and handle it.” Greg leaned against the wall and ran his hand over his chin. He needed to shave. After spending four years in the marines, he’d gotten used to having a clean look.

“Don’t worry about her. I have it handled.” Blake nodded. “I’ll check in on Bella and make sure she’s not tearing up my office. I have a list of errands for you.”

“Great.” Greg forced a smile. He should have stayed upstairs and let Cherry find her own way out.

“That woman I saw stomping her way across the lot when I pulled in, she yours?” Blake asked, walking down the hall to the bar.

“No. She won’t be around anymore.” Greg settled onto a stool and waited for his honey-do list.

Blake shook his head. “You’ve been home six months. And you’ve gone through at least a dozen girls.”

“Don’t go all big brother on me,” Greg warned. It had taken enlisting in the marines to get his brother to back off, and he wasn’t looking to get back into old habits.

“Fine. Fine. What’s up with the security thing? I thought you were going to start looking into getting into personal security?”

“Why? You don’t like having me working here?” Greg asked.

“Fuck, Greg. Of course I do, just—I don’t know.” Blake’s brow wrinkled with concern.

“Don’t worry about it. Where’s that list?” Greg held out his hand. Better to jump into the day, then work out what his brother was worrying about.

Greg came home different than he’d left, that he knew. And it worried Blake, he knew that too.

But analyzing the situation wasn’t going to change it. He was home now and had to get his life back to some form of normalcy.

Blake handed over the short list of errands and Greg hopped off the stool.

“I’ll get these done and be back by lunch. You’ll need help feeding that kid of yours. I’ve seen Aubree battle her, and she’s better at it than you. You’ll need reinforcements.”

Blake laughed. “You’re probably right.”

Greg headed out with a strict plan. Run errands. Pick up lunch. Get home to eat and nap before his night shift at the bar.

Planning and lists. It all helped keep things in perspective. Don’t stray, and he’d be able to handle the entire day without incident.

---