Page 14 of Baring it All (Men in Charge)

“Alright, let me know a time and what day. I’ll make sure Stormy’s good with it, and we’ll go from there.” Jack’s aware of what Mel and Zach are doing. Kind of hard not to in this town or when the bride-to-be and I didn’t show up. Plus, she fessed up to her dad before they left. There’s still a lot Jack doesn’t know, and it’s not my story to tell. Stormy keeps a lot close to her chest, not that I can blame her.

“Sounds good. You need me to stop by the bar or your house for Finn?” Jack asks this every time I’m out of town. He may be ten years older than me, and we practically grew up like only children, but we still look out for one another. He’s been single for fifteen years. Mel’s mom was caught on her knees with one of Jack’s associates at the engineering firm he owns. Since she left, he’s stayed a bachelor, and the only woman he has his eyes set on is Barbie, who refuses to give him the time of day. Which means I hear it from both sides.

“Barbie’s got a handle on the bar. I figure you’ll stop by anyways. You want me to text you the schedule, so you know when she’s working?” I chuckle and abandon packing my bag. There’s no way I’m going to get it done when I could be outside with Stormy.

“Yep, it’d make it easier than stopping by twice a day.” Jack won’t admit he wants Barbie, and Barbie won’t admit she has her eye set on my brother. A bunch of fucking drama queens.

“Will do. As for Finn, Stormy’s living here now, and you better not even think about fucking stopping by either.” Finn trots back to my woman, proud as a damn peacock, ball in his mouth and wagging his tail. I’ll just bet when I get back home, my dog won’t so much as say hello to me and will more than likely take my place in our bed.

“It’s like that, huh?” Jack says with a chuckle. This dickwad, he knows if roles were reversed, and this were me talking about Barbie, he’d lose his mind.

“It’s exactly like that.” I hit the speaker button, toss my phone on the bed, and take off my shirt. As soon as I’m off this call, I’m going to join my woman and traitor of an animal.

“Then I won’t stop by, give her my number just in case something happens. That’s if she can get past what Mel did and realizes it’s not something I condone either. Fuck, my daughter is turning out to be her mother, Griff.” We’ve yet to meet up and talk about this shit. It’s hitting him hard, which I knew it would. Hell, it’s pissed me off that my niece could do something like this to a friend she’s known since high school.

“I’ll do that. Stormy is pretty levelheaded. She’s aware this is on Mel and Zach, nothing more or nothing less. As for Mel turning into her cunt of a mother, don’t hold yourself accountable. Not once did you think it was okay to stick with a cheater or condone it. You’ve raised Melissa to go down a certain path. She veered off said path, and it has nothing to do with you.” A heart-to-heart conversation isn’t what I had planned for, but when your brother needs a minute, you give it to him.

“Yeah, you’re right. I know you are. I just didn’t expect it to lead to this. Mel has no idea what she’s going to come back to once the truth comes out.” Yeah, the whispers are running wild already. I’m sure it’s Zach and his crew pinning this all on Stormy, especially with the way we left the ceremony—her dress in shambles, my hand on her bare back. Sure, I could have given her my suit jacket, but there was a sick part of me that wanted people to believe she was mine. I wasn’t around much when Mel was in high school, not even through her college years either. Too busy chasing the dollar, so I had no idea of knowing much about Stormy until I came back a few years ago and started planting some roots. I’d see her here and there, wave hello, admire her beauty, but I kept my fucking hands to myself. She was already tied to douchebag Zach, way too young, or so I thought. And now, here we are. There’s no damn way I’d ever let her go now.

“All you can do is love her, man. The rest is up to Mel. I appreciate you looking out for the bar and being a line of communication for Stormy. I’ll touch base when I can.” My swim trunks are already on. I’m ready to hang up and spend the remainder of my time with Stormy.

“The least I can do. Alright, go spend time with your woman, and be safe, brother.” Jack gets the memo, thank fuck.

“Will do.” We hang up. The half-packed duffel bag can wait. I grab my baseball cap. My sunglasses have been hijacked by a raven-haired beauty who’s currently trying to kill me with the white bathing suit she’s wearing. A tie at the back of her neck and between her fantastic fucking tits, following the ties on each side of her hips. I’ve got plans for how I’m going to undress her. I’ll put on each bow with my teeth until Stormy is baring it all to me.

“God fucking damn it,” I mutter under my breath, looking down at my cock. The struggle is real whenever she’s around or whenever I’m thinking about her. Now I’ve got to figure out how to get my cock to go down. The damn thing’s so hard it could cut glass.

17

STORMY

“Are you sure you’ll be okay with Finn?” Griff has been asking me the same question in a variety of ways at least once a day this week.

“I’m positive. The big oaf and I have things to do. It’s my last few days of being a lady of leisure,” I joke. I’m cuddled into Griff’s side on the couch, my head in the crook of his neck, and his fingers sliding up and down my arm in various patterns. Finn is sitting next to me, head on my lap in its usual place. I’ve got my hand on the inside of Griff’s thigh, my other on Finn, scratching his ear while he edges even closer than I thought humanly possible.

“I can cancel. They’ve got enough guys on this trip.” That’s news to me. He’s worried. I’m not sure what about since I don’t plan on doing a lot minus open my books for new clients. Which, let me tell you, is going to be a pain in the ass. The thought alone makes me want to re-think things. It’s the booking an appointment and not showing up, the consultations where a box-dye brunette wants to become platinum blonde in one day, and then there are always the older ladies who come in asking for perms. I’ll do all of them, especially the last, regardless of the smell, but I’ll be grinning and bearing it the entire time. Sadly, it doesn’t look like I’m going to have a choice if I’d like to keep a cushion in my bank account while figuring out what to do next.

“Why would you cancel? This has been on the books forever.” Griff has a wall calendar in the kitchen with the dates he’ll be out of town. It’s at least one weekend a month for the next six months. I’ve looked and brought my book out with my clients and started working on rescheduling them when I could, going so far as to work on Sundays. That way, when Griff is out of town, I can work the whole weekend and save the rest of my Saturday mornings for him.

“Not really thrilled with the idea of leaving you yet.” Insert my inner girl squeal. Trying to control how happy his words make me is not going to be easy. The harder part is holding back throwing my body into his, climbing onto his lap, and watching his family jewels—well, they’re even harder. Finn gets excited and jumps down off the couch, barks once, vying for our attention. Too bad, baby boy. There’s a man who has it all—my eyes, my body, my heart, and my soul. It should say a lot about the fact that Griff has given me more in the couple of short weeks I’ve known him than Zach did in the years we were together. I should feel horrible about the feelings I’ve developed for Griff because they’re so much more than I ever expected or experienced.

“I love that. Really, I do, and while a selfish part of me wants you to stay, the sensible part of me knows you’re scheduled, and they would have called you off if they didn’t need you.” Griff’s hands go to my hips, pulling me closer. I settle until my core is pressed against his further hardening cock. I awarded with a grin, the slightest bit of his perfectly straight and white teeth. I’ll bet he didn’t go through two sets of braces or headgear to get them either. Griff has it all. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure he worked for it. Especially his body. I’ve felt him leave me early in the morning, take Finn out, and it’s not his usual fast morning production. Griff will be gone for an hour or so, then either slide into bed with me fresh from a shower, or on the rare occasion, he’ll make it known that I’m needed in the shower with him. An occurrence that happened yesterday morning. I was snuggled in bed, my arms wrapped around Griff’s pillow, sleeping peacefully. He had other plans, ripping the comforter off my body, and I was no longer warm and cozy. His hands wrapped around my ankles, and he literally pulled me away from my sleep. I moaned and groaned while simultaneously being turned on when he picked me up, my legs wrapping around his waist as he walked us to the bathroom. Shower sex is hot to experience. It’s even hotter when your man is Griffin Hawkins. Though I never call him Griffin, and most others don’t either

“I know I don’t need to. I’m offering it just the same. You think it’s entirely for you. It’s not, baby girl. I’m greedy and selfish when it comes to being around you.” His fingers knead my lower back. My eyes close, tears are trying to form in, and I’ll be damned if I cry. Griff is leaving in less than an hour, and it’s not like he’s going away for months on end. It’s just everything. He’s a giver through and through. Giving me his words is enough to have me blinking away the tears.

“Griff.” He pulls me into his body, hands sliding up my back. My head settles into the crook of his neck, where I breathe in his scent deeply. I don’t say anything else, and neither does he. We revel in the silence, the two of us along with Finn.

“Stormy, you start crying, and I’ll make the call now to stay home.” That pulls me out of my reverie. There’s no way I’ll allow him to not go.

“I’m good, promise. You’ve given me so much, and it hit me like a ton bricks. I’ve yet to bring as much to the table as you have.”

“Stop with that shit right the fuck now,” he interrupts me. My hand covers his mouth to keep him from talking.

“Listen to me, please.” A playful side comes out of him because he does the last thing I expect him to. He nips the palm of my hand with his teeth, then licks me as well. Jesus, this man is a hazard to my panties. “Can I talk now?” I smile when he nods his head. Griff could have taken my hand away at any moment, but he chose not to, and that shows me how much he cares. “I’m not saying it to talk down to myself. Believe me, I’m not. You’ve given me so many gifts, and not monetary either. It’s the way you take care of me. I go to bed each night knowing you’ll be there when I wake up. You’ve stood by my side when no one else would have. Griff, you rescued me when the two people I should have been able to trust were going to let me faint and fall flat on my face. One day, I’m going to pay you back. I’m not sure how, but I will.”

“Babe, you give me more than you know. Sweet hellos, dinner cooked, my boy being taken care of without hesitation, softdaddy’s, you in my clothes. Stormy, this isn’t a give or take or who’s done more than the other.” Finn chooses that moment to make his presence known, jumping on the couch, inserting himself between the two of us. The sadness disappears, and all I can do is laugh.

“Oh, Finn, you can’t handle not having all of the attention.” I pet his head while my other hand cups Griff’s jaw. “And thank you for more than you’ll ever know.” My head descends, needing to have one more taste of Griff, especially right now. His hand slides up my back, fingers tangling in my hair. I may have started the kiss, but make no mistake about it, Griff is already taking control. He holds me where he wants me, his other hand firm on my hip. I rock my body, unable to hold back on what he does to me. His tongue meets mine, tangling with one another, in a role where he dominates mine.

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