Brant barked out a laugh. “Roughly translated, we’ve been summoned by Grandfather.”
“Oh?” Brock asked as he walked into the room. “And what does his highness need?”
“More grandsons to torture. Apparently he’s got last-minute auction crap he wants us to take care of,” Brant grumbled. “Shit-for-brains Bentley volunteered us.”
Bentley rolled his eyes. “The worst he can do is auction one of us off like he’s going to do with Brock.”
Jane’s smile was sad as she glanced down at the floor. “Well, it was really fun. I’m…I’ll miss you guys.”
“Don’t worry, this isn’t good-bye.” Brant kissed her hand. “Just good-bye for now. Oh, and you can’t collect Brock’s life insurance unless you’re married, so my suggestion is to get hitched before you smother him with a pillow. At least fifty million. That’s all I’m saying.”
“Great,” Brock said through clenched teeth. “Thanks, guys.”
“Any time,” Bentley said brightly. “Bye, man. I trust you’ll be on your best behavior?”
“When is he not?” Brant piped up immediately. “Boring Brock would never do anything to disappoint the family, would you?”
Anger surged, bubbling to the surface as Brock clenched his fists and gritted his teeth.
“That’s what I thought.” Brant nodded with a smirk. “See ya!”
The screen door slammed.
His brothers were gone.
But as the car started pulling away in the driveway, his anger grew: the anger that he had no control over his life, that in a couple of weeks he would get the same summons, that he had been living this way since he was twelve.
“They’re gone.” Jane came up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist.
Brock let out a pitiful groan and closed his eyes. “We’re alone.”
“It would seem so. I guess I should get back to cleaning then,” she said in a teasing voice as she pulled her arms away.
He caught her hands and twisted around to face her. “No.”
Damn, that word felt good.
“Did you just fire me?”
“No, I’m”—he gripped her chin with his thumb and forefinger—“I’m re-assigning your duties.”
She winced.
“That came out wrong.”
“Just a little.”
“Jane, I…” He slid his fingers down her neck. “Tell me you want this, too.”
“Yes.”
Never had “yes” sounded or felt so good. He exhaled the breath he’d been holding and took a step back. “Good, then you have two minutes to remove every stitch of clothing on your body and meet me in my room.”
Jane gaped and then narrowed her eyes. “What? No please?”
“Now.” His voice lowered. “Please.”
His voice wasn’t soothing; it wasn’t inquiring. He was taking control.
And it felt incredible.
“Jane.” His eyebrows rose. “You have ninety seconds.”
She hobbled out of the room with a laugh and up the stairs just as a smirk spread across his face.
His phone went off in his pocket.
He glanced down at the text from Bentley.
Don’t be a yes man…unless you’re looking in the mirror, then say yes. Or with Jane. Say yes with Jane. We’ll keep Grandfather occupied.
Well, maybe his brothers were good for something.
He stared at his phone then put it back in his pocket, and then very slowly took the stairs one at a time, pulling his shirt over his head and dropping it before walking into the bedroom.
Even though he’d told her what he wanted, he was surprised to see Jane waiting for him, completely naked as requested, a stern expression on her face. It was cute as hell, and he found himself falling a little bit harder in that moment as she arched an eyebrow. Then he noticed she was trembling slightly.
He prayed this wouldn’t end badly.
For either of them.
Because his heart was already invested—and if hers wasn’t, he was going to try his damnedest to convince it to beat for him.
Chapter Thirty-One
Jane shivered as Brock’s gaze darkened. His slow perusal of her body left her feeling so nervous she almost ran into the bathroom and slammed the door.
She was shy!
She didn’t normally take chances or strip naked because a man had asked her to.
What the heck was she doing? Standing naked in front of Brock, a man she’d only known a few days.
This wasn’t like her.
But he made her feel brave.
He made her feel like he was someone she’d been searching for her whole life.
“You’re beautiful.” He took a step forward, his abs flexing with each inhale. He was shirtless, all golden skin and muscles
“Wait.” She quickly covered herself up, then slowly removed her hands and sighed. “I uh, we need some sort of…rules or something.”
“No.” He said it so quickly that she nearly stumbled backward. Then he ran his large hands across her shoulders and lower, cupping her breasts gently before moving his fingers down to her hips and pulling her body against his. “Do you want this?”