The Bad Boys' Reluctant Woman (8 page)

His hands pulled her jeans down her
legs. She followed the jeans, watching as her body was exposed for him to see.

“You look amazing,” he said. His
hands ran up her thighs. She blushed wondering if she still had some cellulite
around the back.

Zoe was about to tell him to stop
when he grabbed her panties and pulled them down. She stood naked before him.
Her hands lay by her sides as she didn’t have a clue how to deal with them.

“Look at me, Zoe,” Connor said. She
hadn’t even realised she’d closed her eyes until he said her name.

She opened her eyes and stared down
at him. “To me, you’re beautiful.” He stood up and cupped her cheeks with both
of his hands. “You’re beautiful.”

He kissed her lips before helping
her into the bath. She sat down into the tub. The warmth finally seeped into
her bones and warmed her through.

Connor knelt beside the tub. Neither
spoke for a few minutes. She basked in his attention. His hand moved along the
water playing with her finger tips. The connection she felt with him was unlike
anything she’d ever experienced.

Zoe knew she felt something for all
three men. Jake was the most outgoing of the three, while Brent appeared to be
the most dangerous. Looking at Connor, Zoe knew he really was the most
dangerous out of all the boys. He was quiet and attentive. She saw the darkness
inside him and knew part of him had been lost along the way. Zoe saw and
recognised it as a part of her had been lost along the way, too.

“How come you never ask me
questions?” she asked.

“I never expect you to answer them.
Why ask questions I know you’ll never answer?”

“You’re evading my question.”

He chuckled. Connor grabbed her hand
lifting it up to lay a kiss on the inside of her palm. She was naked in the
tub, and with Connor she no longer felt self-conscious.

“Some answers are not worth the
pain.”

****

Connor knew she wanted something
more from him. He’d purposefully not asked any questions as he knew only with
time would she talk about her past. He watched her in the bath tub. His cock
was thick and aching with need. She looked so damn beautiful and tempting. He
wondered if he could take a picture of her and send it to Jake and Brent to
show them what they were missing out on.

“You know the other two
care
about you,” he said. They should have been here with
him. Zoe was meant to be their woman. He felt it down to his soul. Whenever she
was near, the darkness inside him began to disappear. The shame he felt slowly
eased out of him as if it wasn’t there.

“I was in the foster care system,”
she said. He stared at her, shocked by her words.

“I know.”

He watched her lick her lips and
tuck some hair behind her ear. Connor took note of her hand shaking. She’d
drawn her legs up tight against her chest. “My parents died during a hit and
run. They’d dropped me off at a friend’s house while they went out a date.”

“And you don’t think they should
have gone on that date?” he asked.

“They fought a lot. I thought that
was how it was supposed to be. They both had issues, but they were trying to
work it out. More time together had been the supposed cure for them. Some guy
ran them over while they were crossing the street.
Killed
them instantly.
I think it was instant. The cops never went into
detail.”

“How old were you?”

“Ten. There was no one else who
wanted me. I was placed in the system and then moved from house to house. I was
in several of homes, but they never stuck.”

Connor didn’t force her to talk. He
knelt by the bath tub waiting for her to talk. “I can’t talk anymore,” she
said.

He stroked her hair, pressing a kiss
to her temple. “How many people have you told that?”

“None,” she said.

“Then we’re good.”

She smiled. It was the first real
smile he’d ever seen from her. He stayed and waited for her to wash her hair
and lather her body. When the sponge began soaping her whole body, he almost
blew his load inside his pants. He shook his head in an attempt to gain control
of his rioting emotions.

After she rinsed the soap from her
body, he grabbed a towel and helped her out of the bath. He dried every inch,
wishing he were licking her with his tongue. She’d taste so damn good. His
arousal getting the better of him, he leaned down and swiped each nipple giving
them a generous lick.

When she bent down to grab her
shirt, Connor stopped her. “No, wear this one.” He pulled the shirt he was
wearing off, and handed it to her.

“Thank you.”

He waited for her to put the shirt
on then held his breath. She looked damn good. Her nipples were hard as they
pressed against the fabric of the shirt.

“I made up the spare room for you.”
He opened the bathroom door as Brent walked past. The other guy stopped and
stared at her.

The shirt he’d given her only
covered her ass and the top part of her thighs. She looked damn good, and
looking at the expression on Brent’s face, he was as affected by her as Connor
was.

“I’m taking her to the spare room,”
Connor said.

“Great, I sleep there,” Brent said,
pointing at the partially opened door. “Come and get me if you need anything.”

“I will, thank you, Brent.”

Brent nodded his head. Connor sensed
the tension between the two. Zoe stared down at her feet.

“I’ll get you settled in.” He took
her hand and pointed out Jake’s room and then his own.

She made her way into the guest
room.

“Thank you for letting me
stay
. I don’t think I could have gone back to my apartment,”
she said.

“You’d have gone back. The only
difference is the fact that you’d have been gone out of Law Castle tomorrow.”

“How do you know that?”

“I just do.”

Connor kissed her head and then made
his way out of the guest room and down to the kitchen. Jake sat at the counter
looking at the picnic picture.

“How is she?” he asked.

“Fine, I think.”

There was silence between them.
Connor felt Jake get up and move closer. He turned ‘round to stare at his
friend. “What? I know you’ve got something to say. Why don’t you just say it?”

“You and Zoe have a connection.
A really close one.”

“So?”

“I want to know how you feel about
Brent and me.”

Connor sighed. He closed the fridge
and turned his full attention toward Jake. “Spit it out, Jake.”

“We got involved as we always believed
we’d share a woman.
The three of us together through thick
and thin.”

“Nothing has changed.”

“Yes, it has. We both know you keep
secrets, Connor. We’ve known for a long time. Your mood swings are pretty much
evidence of that.”

“If you’re trying
to get me to open up, Jake.
Forget it. What happened is in the past, where it will remain.”

“Do you intend to keep Zoe for
yourself?” Jake asked.

Out of all the things Jake could ask
him, that was the biggest shocker of all for him.

“You think I want Zoe for myself
without you guys?”

Jake didn’t say a word.

“Jake, that is the one thing in my
life that I’m the clearest about. I want Zoe. Yes, there’ll be times when I
want her all to myself, but I want us all to want her. Are you getting my
meaning here?” Connor asked, deciding to put his cards on the table.

“What are you meaning?”

“I’m not looking at Zoe for a good
time, Jake. I’m looking at her as the woman I want to be with. I think you and
Brent need to get on the same page because I’m there and have been for a
while.”

Connor drank some milk before
putting the carton back into the fridge.

“There is no other woman for me.
I’ll see you in the morning,” Connor said.

Chapter Eight

For the first time in his life,
Brent couldn’t get to sleep. Most of the time he was the first out of the whole
house to fall asleep. He’d heard Jake and Connor go to
their
own
rooms a few hours ago. The whole house was silent, and glancing at
the window, it was still night time. He stared at his ceiling, wondering what
could be plaguing him.

Counting sheep didn’t help, and
masturbating held little appeal. In the room next to his lay a sleeping Zoe.
She had to be asleep. No sound had come from her room in hours. Writing his
story didn’t appeal to him either. He replayed the night back through his mind
wondering if he was missing anything from earlier.

The only thing he would have changed
was Zoe. When he held her in his arms behind the bar, for a few seconds she had
been completely his, and he’d have taken her.

Another thirty minutes passed of his
mental cursing, and he couldn’t handle it anymore. He threw his sheets off,
grabbed a pair of shorts, and moved out of his room. Walking towards Zoe’s
door, he put his shorts on then waited with his fist poised to knock.

He didn’t want to startle her or
wake her. She had looked exhausted earlier. He’d be a selfish prick to wake her
up.

“A snack should do the trick.” He
walked down the steps towards the kitchen. When Connor was going through his
insomnia phase he’d be up watching porn or a documentary. Brent stretched out
his muscles then walked toward the bread box. He grabbed the bread then moved
toward the fridge.

He grabbed several ingredients to
make himself a sandwich. Brent closed the door and saw Zoe standing in the
doorway. She jumped as the fridge closed. He noticed she was rubbing her eyes.

“I’m sorry for disturbing you. I
wanted to get a glass of water,” she said.

“Do you want me to get it for you?”
he asked.

“I can get it.” She passed him
without touching. Brent watched her as she stared at the array of cupboards.
They’d designed the kitchen for their height. Zoe could barely reach the
handles on the top cupboards.

Chuckling, he moved behind her,
opened a cupboard and handed her a glass.

“You didn’t think of a woman when
you built this kitchen?” she asked.

“Size and a woman never entered our
heads. Connor is the kitchen guy. He knows how to handle this place better than
I do.”

“He owns a pink whisk?”

Brent nodded his head. “Girly
colour, don’t you think?”

“It is not a colour I would
associate with Connor, no.”

He smiled pulling out a glass
chopping board. “I’m making myself a sandwich. Do you want one?”

She nodded her head. Brent waited
for her to take a seat. She stood looking uncomfortable with his presence. He
grabbed a stool and then picked her up, placing her in the stool. She gave a
tiny squeak, but he muffled the sound with a kiss. “You make the cutest
sounds.”

“I’m not used to being man-handled.”

Brent left her in her seat as he
went back to making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. He felt her presence
right down to his core. A quick glance at his shorts and they were tenting over
his erection. He always did have a bigger sex drive than the other two.

Keep it in your pants, Brent. Fucking her is not an option right now.

He’d felt the tension between them,
and he didn’t like it.

Brent handed her a sandwich and took
the seat next to her. He tried to cover his erection and not in any way touch
her. Touching her would be bad. She ate her sandwich in silence. His knee
bounced to try to distract himself from the way the shirt she wore outlined her
full breasts. Her nipples were hard as they poked against the front.

Think about something awful.

He ran a hand over his face.

The horrible cars you’re working on.
Leaking gas and
the scent of the sewage.

Nothing helped.

He thought about his current story,
and all that did was make him harder than rock.

“Are you all right?” she asked.

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You’re shaking your leg.”

“I’m fine.”

She didn’t say anything else. Brent
took a deep breath and looked at her. She looked so sad it was like a punch to
the gut.

“If you don’t find me attractive,
why are you all trying to get into my pants?” she asked, catching his
attention.

“What?”

Her gazed turned to him. There were
tears in her eyes. Her cheeks were red, and he saw some other emotion that he
didn’t understand.

“I know you’re not attracted to me.
I think you should tell Connor how you feel. I can be gone by the end of the
week.” She stood and put her plate in the sink. He watched her walk past him.