Head out of the bedroom.
“Well, I decided to gain some experience. I worked jobs. Waitressing. I even tended a bar. I did a lot of odd jobs. I even worked in a DIY store, which is why I know how to handle your shop. If you ever have a sick day, I’m your girl. I know my way around most jobs.” She stopped to eat some pasta.
He watched her, loving how she looked as she ate with relish, and he couldn’t help but think about Rome.
“Anyway, I saved a little money, and after a conversation with Aunt Betty, I thought about finding my mom. She and my dad had left me alone in a trailer. No food, nothing. Just a dirty living environment. Aunt Betty came to see her sister, and she found me. That’s a lot of trauma in a nutshell.”
He took her hand again. “Don’t worry. I love that we’re together, like this.”
She took a deep breath, and he saw tears in her eyes, which she blinked away. “Anyway, I wanted to know what happened to them. Aunt Betty said she hadn’t heard from her sister in years. So I took the money I’d saved up went to a private investigator. I gave him all the details I knew. Date of birth, name, last known location. You know, the trailer park, and as much as I could think of. I don’t even know why I cared. Anyway, weeks passed, and I kept on working. I figured he was a fraud after money. A scam.”
“It wasn’t?”
“About two months after I paid him, he turned up at one of the bars where I worked. One of the smallest files I’d ever seen in his hands. Inside was a single slip of paper with an address. I recognized it. It was the block of apartments across from mine. I knew pimps, prostitutes, and addicts lived there.” She laughed. “I’d avoided it and according to this PI, my mom and dad were there, or at least my mom was. He didn’t find my dad.” She let out a breath.
“What happened?”
She was baring her soul to him, and James would take it.
“I went to see her about a week after getting the details. I don’t know why I waited so long but I needed to compose myself. I went to her apartment. The stench was horrible. I don’t ever recall smelling anything like it. I don’t want to go into the gory details. Just know it wasn’t pretty. Not even a little bit.” She blew out a breath. “So I walked up to her apartment and knocked.”
He saw tears in her eyes and he held her hand even tighter, hoping to give her whatever comfort he could offer her.
“She didn’t recognize me, she was shocked. When I told her who I was, she burst out laughing. Told me I’d wasted my time and there was a reason she hadn’t come looking for me or wanted anything to do with me. I was a burden. They’d hoped I’d died and they had even tried to starve me so I would stop being a problem. I don’t think I’ve ever encountered so much evil in my life. My dad had died a couple of years before. An overdose.”
“Don’t even think about her, Eliza. She is not worth it.”
“I know. My mother also died not long after I had seen her. I remember going back to my apartment. I felt a little lost, broken. Aunt Betty called me. We sat and talked and while we were on the phone for hours, I opened up one of the photo albums she’d made me take with me. I saw all the pictures of us together. She took care of me. She loved me when my own parents didn’t, and then I realized, I had a mom and dad. I had everything in Aunt Betty. It was then that I decided I was going to go home. So I worked hard and when I felt I was ready to come home, I left my apartment and came back. Please, don’t ever tell Aunt Betty that I went to find my mom. I don’t want to hurt her. I love her so much and she put her life on hold for me.”
“Eliza, it’s not my secret to tell. It’s yours.”
They finished their meal and their wine. He didn’t take another glass but Eliza did.
“Dessert?” he asked.
“I think this has to be the worst date you’ve ever been on.”
“Nah, it’s not the worst date. This is probably the best date. There isn’t a single moment I would change about this.”
They shared some cheesecake and a chocolate torte. By the end of the evening, he had her laughing about some of his and his brothers’ antics.
“I bet you love them, really,” she said.
“I do, most of the time. You know, Rome is having a hard time with women and dating.”
“He is?”
“Yeah, he doesn’t know how to get them to eat when he’s on a date with them.”
She laughed. “What does eating have to do with it?”
“He’s got a healthy appetite. He likes to eat and the women he dates love salad.”
“I don’t know if I should be embarrassed by what I ate,” she said.
He paid for the bill and they left the restaurant, walking back to his car. He opened the passenger door, cupped her waist, and leaned in close. “Do you want me to take you home?”
“Are you asking me back to your place for a nightcap?”
“I’m asking you what you want.” He stroked her cheek. “I want you to know, Eliza, that this is the first date of many.”
She smiled. “Are you trying to tell me you want to date me?”
“Yeah, I want you to be mine.”
“Well, a guy has to ask first. He can’t just assume.”
“Eliza Reid, will you be mine?”
She tilted her head to the side and smiled. “I’d like that. Let’s go to your place.”
He helped her into the car, leaning in to buckle her seat belt, grazing across her breasts as he did.
His cock was already rock-hard, standing at attention, and he wanted to be inside her more than anything.
James didn’t know how he got behind the wheel without running. After pulling out of the parking lot, he drove home, painfully aware of her.
Once he was parked, he got out of the car, and together, they walked inside his home. He closed the door and pressed her up against it, sinking his fingers inside her hair, kissing her hard, and plunging into her mouth.
She ran her hands down his back, cupping his ass, and moaned as he broke from the kiss, trailing his lips to her neck, sucking on her pulse.
He reached for the clasp to her dress and pulled it down, wanting her naked. Needing her body pressed against his. Together, they tore at each other’s clothes until they only had on their underwear. Picking her up in his arms, he cupped her ass and walked upstairs, heading toward his bedroom.
“You need to stop carrying me.”
“I’ve got no problem with you in my arms.” He gave her ass another squeeze. They made it past the stairs and he heard a male throat clear.
Eliza let out a gasp and buried her head against his chest.
“Rome, is that you?” James asked.
“Yep, I decided to crash here.”
“And it’s me,” Caleb said.
“Caleb and Rome.” He felt Eliza laughing against his chest. “Well, you know where everything is so, go about your business.”
He walked into his room, kicked his door closed, and dropped her to the bed, falling on top of her, but making sure she didn’t take all of his weight. She was laughing as he stared down at her.
“As you can see, there’s a problem with having brothers. They invade your space all the time.”