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By the time we exit back outside, the air literally feels cool while the sun seems not so oppressive. My clothes are sweaty and slicked to me like a second skin, and Orion hasn’t fared much better. I try very hard to maintain eye contact as Victoria walks out after us, but her shirt is plastered to her body, and when she crosses her arms, her pert breasts get plumped up with the action. I tear my eyes away before I have to do another south pole readjustment in my jeans. Her hair is frizzing at the roots just a little, and a few beads of moisture cling to her hairline. I imagine her pale, perfect skin will be tanned to a golden brown in no time out here, and that thought sends a thrilling zing racing through my body. That zing zags straight into my balls, which feel ornery with the heat and achy for some absurd reason.
Ever since the first word Victoria spoke on the phone, I felt compelled. Almost like her voice was a siren song, luring me here to crash up on the metaphorical rocks of this broken-down old place.
“You’re here all alone?” I emphasize the word alone, and Orion turns to give me a not-so-subtle look of total disgust.
Victoria nods. “Yeah, I am.”
“Your family doesn’t come to check on you?”
“Oh, they probably will.”
“What about your friends?”
“They hate driving out of the city. I’ll see them when I go back in for groceries or…or whatever.” Her big brown eyes take on a slight sheen, and she blinks her thick lashes frantically to clear away the sting.
Right. So she’s not happy about being out here. She’s young, she misses her friends, and she just graduated from college. If that doesn’t make me feel like a total asshole because I’m at least eight years older than her—if not more—I don’t know what does. But asshole sensations coursing through me or not, I can’t just leave her out here. I don’t know why, but the alpha parts I have in me are coming out big time, and I feel responsible for her now that I know she’s all alone out here in this place with zero help. I want to find her asshole parents and rip them a new one for doing this to her, and I want to find her friends and tell them that they’re…I don’t know…that they’re bad friends for not checking up when she’s lonely. I need…
Fuck, I’m the one lying to her. I need to get a fucking grip. That’s what I need.
She shrugs, her cheeks pinking again, embarrassed about her emotions. I want to step forward, take her delicate little shoulders into my hands, and kiss away the pink, to taste and savor it like a sweet strawberry on my tongue.
“What about…you really don’t have anyone else?” I press.
Orion clears his throat. Loudly.
Victoria shrugs. “Nope. It’s just me.”
Those words send another zing straight to my dick. Feeling like one’s dick has just been electrocuted isn’t a comfortable sensation, just in case you were wondering. Not that anyone would wonder something like that because it’s just common sense.
Her slender throat works as she swallows, just about as loudly as Orion earlier. “Can you lay it on me? Don’t hold back. I’m not afraid to know the damage. I know it’s going to be bad. I think the roof and the water are the main things I need to focus on. I have some savings. I wanted it to be for emergencies, but…uh…I think this is pretty much an emergency.”
“We actually might be a little too busy to take on this scope of work,” Orion says, using his I’m sorry to disappoint you, I’m trying really hard to be gentle tone.
Victoria’s face falls, her hopes crushed under the weight of those fifteen words. I step forward, the conquering bloody hero here, and cross my arms like a proud contractor probably would. I have to cross them because if I don’t keep my hands busy, I might beat my chest like a caveman and declare out loud my intentions to thoroughly woo this woman.
That’s right. I might live in a beast of a body, I might have survived a lot of shit with my brother before we met Granny, and I might have taken down a few bad guys in my day, but beneath all that tough guy, I-eat-criminals-for-breakfast exterior, I have a soft heart. I’ve watched my three brothers fall in love, and I want what they have. I know it’s basically impossible given the life I live, so I’ve kept that locked away in me and forced down, but right now, all that emotion is surging to the surface. I know I’m being way too hasty here. I’m not being smart, I’m not using my brain, and I’m not using other organs, either. I mean, I’m using my heart, I guess.
