15 Minutes (Time for Love, Book 4) E-Book

Bethany Lopez

• Herausgeber: Bethany Lopez
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2015

Beschreibung

Raised to be the "perfect" wife, Victoria has spent her days maintaining her impeccable outward appearance and her nights mingling with the rich and entitled. When her engagement to Scott ended, Victoria thought she'd be rid of him and his circle of friends forever, but a chance encounter with Brock will change not only the way she sees him, but the way she sees herself.

Brock is a man who's happy and content with his life. A surrogate parent to his now-adult brothers, he spends his days running the company he built himself and his nights playing in his brothers' local band. When he runs into Victoria in the bar after a show, sparks unexpectedly fly, and he's interested in seeing where it goes.

But can the man who's happy with his life, convince the woman who always wants more, to give him a shot with only 15 Minutes on the clock?

Leseprobe

15 Minutes

Time for Love, Book 4

Bethany Lopez

Contents

1. Brock

2. Victoria

3. Brock

4. Victoria

5. Brock

6. Victoria

7. Brock

8. Victoria

9. Brock

10. Victoria

11. Brock

12. Victoria

13. Brock

14. Victoria

15. Brock

16. Victoria

17. Brock

18. Victoria

19. Brock

20. Victoria

21. Brock

22. Victoria

23. Brock

24. Victoria

25. Brock

Untitled

Chapter One ~ Craig

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Also by Bethany Lopez

Copyright 2014 Bethany Lopez

ISBN - 978-1502552211

Cover Design by Makeready Designs

Editing by Red Road Editing / Kristina Circelli

Formatting by Bethany Lopez

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please don’t participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

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Brock

“I’ll be right back,” I yelled to my brothers as I went out into the bar to grab a beer.

My brothers, Brady, Brendan, and I, were playing at the bar tonight, and were scheduled to go on in another fifteen minutes, but I really needed a beer. It had been a long week at work. Our band, Whiskey Heat, was just for fun … My real job was running my painting business, and it took a lot out of me.

I’d started out painting houses for my parents’ friends, which they’d booked out of pity after my parents died, and I’d grown it into a successful business. I was proud of the fact that I’d built something that would not only support me, but my brothers as well. It wasn’t easy, and although I loved playing these gigs with my brothers, I was pretty fucking tired by the end of the week.

“Fat Tire,” I said to the bartender. Beer was free on the nights we were playing; shit, it was even free on the nights we weren’t. Fast Eddie, the owner, was also a customer. I’d painted his bar, inside and out, within the last year, so I always drank for free.

I was enjoying the cool relief of the beer sliding down my throat, enjoying the calm before the storm, when a soft hand on my bicep made me turn.

“Hey,” Gaby said as I turned, all smiles and sunshine. That’s what she’d always reminded me of … sunshine. We’d dated for a while a few months ago, but it had ended when I walked in on her kissing Scott, her current boyfriend. I’d been pissed initially, but now that some time had passed, I realized I hadn’t been in love with her. Plus, they were obviously happy, to the point of moving in together, so I figured we were all better off.

I wasn’t holding any grudges.

“Hey, sweet girl.” I gave her a smile. “You guys here for the show?”

“Yup.” Gaby turned and pointed over to where her group was seated. My buddies, TJ and Cal, along with Cal’s wife Shelly and TJ’s fiancé Sasha, were all in a tall table by the dance floor.

“Scottnot here?” I asked when I didn’t see him.

“He’s working late, but he’ll be here before your set’s over.”

“Sounds good, I’ll see you after.”

She bounded off back to her friends and I finished my beer. As I placed the empty bottle on the counter, I cocked it toward the bartender, indicating I’d like another. I’d take it up on stage with me to sip on throughout our set. I always worked up a sweat when we performed.

I was waiting for my beer when the hint of something spicy and expensive wafted toward me. I turned my head to see the back of a woman. She wasn’t dressed for a night at the bar. At least, not a bar like this one. Even from behind she looked like she belonged in a country club. Her skirt was long enough to be demure, but the way it hugged her ass clued me in to the fact that the ass was magnificent, no matter what the package. Her blouse was tucked in the skirt, and she wore stockings with her high heels. Definitely not jiving with the jeans and T-shirts most of the other patrons were wearing.

I let myself fantasize that the stockings led to garters underneath that fancy skirt, as her perfume did crazy things to my senses. I felt my dick harden as my fantasies got away from me, then the bartender interrupted by saying, “Here’s your beer, Brock,” and I saw her stiffen before she turned to look at me.

Her hair was dark brown and fell past her shoulders, straight and silky. Her face was striking. It could have been beautiful, if she’d ever fucking smile … Instead, it always looked pinched and unhappy.

“Hello, Brock,” Victoria said dryly. Her eyebrow rose as if she thought I was standing next to her on purpose.

Snooty Bitch.

“Tori,” I tipped my beer to her in greeting, suppressing my grin as I waited for her reaction. I knew I’d get one. “Here for the show?”

“It’s Victoria, and no, I’m not here for the show,” she answered. Even when she spoke she looked constipated.

“Why are you here then?” I asked, not because I cared, just to irritate her.

She huffed out a breath, the loss of control almost cute, then spat out, “Not that it’s any of your business, but I’m supposed to be meeting my sister. She hasn’t shown up yet.”

“I didn’t know you had a sister,” I replied before taking a pull of my beer. Victoria watched my mouth as I drank, then my throat as I swallowed, and my dick jumped back to life of its own free will. Shit, maybe it’d been too long.

I grinned when she looked up and saw that I’d caught her looking, and she scowled, “Why would you know that I have a sister? You don’t know the first thing about me.”

I stepped a bit closer, inserting myself in her space, and when she realized she couldn’t back away, she squared her shoulders and glared at me.

“I could get to know you,” I murmured suggestively, close enough for her to feel my breath on her cheek. She flinched slightly, but maintained her stiff posture.

“Why would you want to do that?” Victoria asked, her voice almost vulnerable. Then laughter off by the dance floor grabbed her attention, and I knew she was looking over at Gaby’s table.

She pulled back and looked up into my face, and I was surprised to see that her eyes were so blue that they were almost purple.

“Don’t think just because we’re rejects of your buddies over there, we have anything in common.”

I turned my head to look deliberately at my friends, then back at her and said deeply, “I’m no one’s reject, Tori, I can promise you that.” Then I tilted my head to look at her, curious. “Are you still hung up on Scott?”

I didn’t know why, but I held my breath as I waited for her response.

She didn’t disappoint when she curled her lip and said, “Absolutely not. If he’d rather be with a mutt than a thoroughbred, that’s his problem.”

I chuckled at her haughty words and replied darkly, “You really do have a stick up your ass, don’t you. I don’t know why I like it, Tori.” I inched closer as I spoke, stopping when my chest brushed hers, and she had to crane her neck to look at me. “But I do. I’d like to help you remove it.”

Her expression turned incredulous and she asked, “Are you hitting on me?”

“I must be doing something wrong if you have to ask,” I replied cockily.

“Why?” That vulnerability flashed again, causing a fire to flick in my belly, then she extinguished it when her face pinched back up again and she asked, “Do you want to make them jealous?”

Maybe she was more hung up on Scott and Gaby than I’d thought. She had been engaged to Scott after all. They’d had a long-term relationship, so it would only make sense that it would take her longer to get over it than me.

Still, there was something about her bitchy attitude and that tight little ass that made me want a taste, no matter the circumstances.

“It could be about revenge, if that’s what you want.” I lowered my head farther and gently took the soft lobe of her ear into my mouth.

The taste was fleeting, but it was potent. Especially coupled with her astonished gasp.

I pulled away, giving her room to breath and think, drinking beer as I watched her thoughts dance across her face. I’d definitely succeeded in confusing her.

The sound of my name being called had me looking up, and I nodded when Fast Eddie indicated it was time for us to go on.

“I have to get on stage now,” I said softly. Victoria looked up at me, then at the stage, confusion on her face.

“On stage?”

I nodded but didn’t explain.

“Hang around, watch the show … I’ll find you after.” I could tell she was ready to bolt, so I gave her one last shove, lowering my voice to say, “Just give me fifteen minutes, Victoria. Fifteen minutes and I’ll convince you to give this a shot.” I gestured between the two of us as I spoke. When she opened her mouth, I put a finger up to silence her. “No illusions, Tori. I know you’ve probably never been with a man like me, but don’t worry, I’m not offended. I don’t expect you to fall in love and take me home to meet Daddy.” Her eyebrow cocked again and I laughed; damn, but she sure was a spoiled brat.

I leaned down once more, my voice low and rough in her ear, and said, “No strings, no expectations, just pure pleasure.” I stood and finished with, “I’ll see you after the show.” Then turned to find my brothers. I was in the mood to rock the house.

Victoria

There was no way in hell I was sticking around to see what Brock had up his sleeve. I’d never said more than two words to him before tonight, and I had no idea what made him speak to me that way. To touch me that way. It was disconcerting.

I looked around for my sister, inadvertently flinching a bit when my eyes swooped over the table where Gaby and her friends were sitting. Drinking and laughing. Having a good time like always. Even when I’d been an invited guest to their soirees, I’d always felt like an outsider.

When I’d been dating, and then engaged to, Scott, none of his friends had bothered to hide the fact that they didn’t like me. The truth was, I’d never made an effort to get to know any of them, figuring Scott would eventually outgrow them. I’d acted like their opinions of me didn’t matter, but the fact that they took every possible opportunity to tell Scott that he shouldn’t marry me, had hurt.

After the first time he’d broken off our engagement, I knew it would only be a matter of time before he’d listen to their chatter, and break it off again. Scott was weak where his friends were concerned, and they had a much deeper grasp on him than I’d ever imagined.

“Victoria,” my sister voice said from behind me, pulling me out of my musings. I turned with a smile, the smile falling when I saw what she was wearing.

“Abigail … That outfit is indecent,” I replied, my voice low but stern. Abigail was wearing a shorter than short jean skirt, with a ripped T-shirt that said Whiskey Heat across the chest. Her hair was short and spikey, and her face was heavily done up with makeup.

“Calm down,” she replied with a roll of her eyes. “I’m kind of seeing the lead singer … so, I’m advertising.”

“Kind of seeing? The lead singer of what?” I asked, my distaste obvious. Abigail and I couldn’t have been more different if we’d been raised on different continents, rather than different households. When our parents got divorced, she’d stayed with our mother, while I’d gone to live with our father and his new wife.

“Duh … Whiskey Heat,” she said dryly, pointing her finger toward the stage just as an older gentleman who looked like he hadn’t showered in weeks walked up to the microphone.

“Ladies and gentleman, I give you … Whiskey Heat!” he said with as much enthusiasm as he could muster, and I couldn’t stop my gasp when Brock sauntered across the stage. For such a large man, he moved gracefully, and although his scraggy beard and shaggy-on-top hair were not my style, I could admit that he had a certain appeal about him.

Next the drummer came on stage, seemingly unfazed by the screaming adoration of the fans on the floor in front of the stage. Finally, the lead singer, the one Abigail said she was seeing, came out. Full of pomp and circumstance, he was very good-looking, and obviously knew it. The entire crowd of women, including my sister beside me, sighed loudly when he flashed a large grin.

“Abigail.” I turned to her, trying to pull her attention from the stage. “What did you bring me here for?”

Although we hadn’t grown up in the same house, we’d still spent plenty of time together, especially since we became adults. She knew this was not the type of establishment I usually frequented. Even when I was with Scott, if he was going to a bar or sporting event with his friends, I opted to stay home.

Being raised by my father, and Felicia, my stepmother, I was bred for country clubs and charity dinners, not venues that featured all-male rock bands … no matter how handsome they were.

“I wanted you to see Brendan,” she had to yell as the band began to play. “Plus, I thought it would be good for you to get out. You know, get your mind off stuff.”

I controlled the retort that sat on my lips, because I knew she meant well, and instead I leaned in and spoke calmly in her ear.

“If you wanted to get my mind off of stuff, why did you bring me here?” At her look of confusion, I nodded my head in the direction of the door, which Scott had just entered. Abigail’s eyes tracked him from the door, to the table up front, where he tapped Gaby on the shoulder then bent to give her a kiss in greeting.

Abigail’s eyes got round, and I could tell by the look on her face that she felt terrible.

“I’m so sorry.” Abigail brought her hand up to touch me, then dropped it when she remembered I didn’t like people touching me. “I had no idea he’d be here.”

I looked over at them once more, my stomach clenching painfully, before I ripped my gaze away and looked back at my sister.

“I know you didn’t. You’d never be that cruel.”

And she wouldn’t. I was the bitch in the family, and Abigail was the sweetheart. Even though she gave our mother heart palpitations with her penchant for bad boys and her love of partying, I knew she was proud of how sweet and charismatic Abigail was. I, on the other hand, never managed to please her.

I leaned in and gave her a quick hug, more for her comfort than my own, then pulled away and pleaded, “Can I meet Brendan another time? Maybe over coffee or something? I can’t stay here.”

The band was in full swing now, and it was getting almost impossible to speak over them, so Abigail nodded her answer.

I paused, looking back at the stage one more time. My breath caught in my throat when I saw Brock up there, eyes closed and fingers moving rapidly along the guitar as he played, and I watched him a few more minutes before nodding to my sister and rushing out to my car.

When I was safely tucked away inside, I let out the breath that I’d been holding. So much had happened in a short amount of time and I needed a moment to wrap my head around everything before going home.

Brock coming on to me had been surprising, although unwanted, and seeing Gaby and her friends there had added to my discomfort. But seeing Scott and Gaby together, without them knowing that I was there, was the deciding factor in my quick exit. They were obviously in love with each other, and it was just as obvious that he’d never felt for me, the way he did for Gaby.

Did I still love Scott? No. Did I want to marry him and spend the rest of my life with him? No.

But it still hurt to know, that even when things between us were good, they weren’t that good.

The drive home was quick and uneventful, and once I arrived, I found comfort in being in my sanctuary. After I put on my pajamas I grabbed the book I’d left on the nightstand and went out to settle into my chaise.

I opened the book, eager to escape into someone else’s love story, but paused with the book on my stomach as a vision of Brock on stage stole its way into my mind. My body shivered as I remembered the feel of his lips on my ear. The brush of his whiskers against my cheek. No one had ever been so brazen with me before, and I wasn’t sure what to make of it, but one thing was for certain. He’d made me feel something that no one ever had before. Pure lust.

I shook my head to clear it, eager to forget the episode and move on. I settled lower onto the chaise and opened it up to the page I’d bookmarked, willing myself to forget about the handsome man with light-green eyes that had seemed to look though my hardened exterior and directly into my soul.

Brock

Once our set was done, I grabbed a towel off the table in the bar’s back room, wiping the sweat off of my face and neck. It got hot under those lights, but man … was it worth it. The crowd had been exceptionally receptive tonight, and the session had been fucking fantastic. This was why I kept going, even though my body wanted to drop. The feeling I got when feeding off the fans while playing was the greatest high I’d ever felt. Second only to sex … Because, let’s face it, nothing felt better than sex.

“I’m gonna head out there,” Brendan said after taking a deep swallow of ice-cold water. “I’ve got a couple ladies lined up.”

“A couple?” Brady asked with a shake of his head.

Brendan just grinned and winked at him, then disappeared out the door, eager to get to his adoring fans.

I tolerated the groupies. Though it was flattering, the way they threw themselves at us just because we got on stage and played, but Brady hated it. He loved the music, and us, but he hated being in the spotlight.

Brendan thrived on it. If there was ever a man born to front a band, it was my youngest brother. He had the pipes, the charisma, and the look, and lord, did the ladies love him. At twenty-four, he was still trying to find his place in the world, so I wasn’t worried about him. Brendan was nothing if not honest, and he always made sure the groupies knew he was in it to have fun for as long as it lasted. As long as he was upfront with them, I let him live his life without giving him a hard time.

Brendan still lived with me in our parents’ home. When they’d died in an accident, I was seventeen. A senior in high school and nowhere near ready to be a parent, but there was no way I was going to be separated from my brothers, or have them moved from the only home they’d ever known. I’d petitioned the court for custody and won. I was almost done with school and a few weeks away from eighteen, so I took early exams and graduated without walking. Instead I started fixing cars at a garage during the day, and painting houses at night.

I became not only an older brother, but a mother and father to Brady and Brendan, and I’d learned responsibility the hard way. Now I owned my own business, and gave Brendan a place to lay his head while he went to culinary school. Brady had moved out a few years ago, but not far. He’d bought a house just down the street, so he often stopped by for meals, or just to grab a beer. Brady’d always needed his space, unlike Brendan and me, who were always happier with people around us.

My brothers were the most important things in the world to me. Everything thing I did was with their future in mind. When my parents had passed, the only thing they’d owned was our house, so I wanted to preserve that part of them and ensure that they were never forgotten.

“I’m gonna head home,” Brady said, pulling me from my thoughts. “You stayin’?”

“Yeah.” I gave him a nod as I threw the dirty towel in a bin. “I’m going to go out and see what TJ and Cal are up to.”

“Later,” Brady responded with a lift of his chin.

I followed him out, veering right toward the bar as he turned to the exit.

“Excuse me,” I said with a chuckle to the gaggle of girls that were surrounding Brendan, my eyes lifting to search the room as I broke the threshold.

My gaze flitted through the bar, but there was no tall brunette with a tight little ass in a pencil skirt. I hadn’t really believed that Victoria would hang around for the show. She didn’t strike me as the rock and roll type. But, damn, I couldn’t deny that I was disappointed. The little taste I’d gotten, and her reaction to it, promised that underneath that uptight exterior was a woman who had yet to tap into her brazen sexuality. And, God help me, I wanted to be the man to help her do it.

I lifted a chin in acknowledgement when TJ’s hand lifted to wave me over to their group.

When I neared my friends’ table, I saw that the top was littered with empty pitchers, martini glasses, and steins. I looked at my friends, who were all happily watching me approach, and asked, “Did you save any for me?”

Sasha sauntered over to give me a hug, and smacked my cheek with a juicy kiss. “You guys rocked as usual!”

“Calm down, Red,” TJ said with a chuckle for his fiancé, as his arm snaked around her waist. “You don’t want to give Brock the wrong idea.” This he said with a wink.

“Oh … Phst,” Sasha said, her words slurring before she broke out in giggles.

I grinned at my friend and asked, “You guys have a ride home?”

“Yup,” Shelly answered wryly, with a dramatic gesture to her now swollen stomach. I wasn’t sure how far along she was, but you could definitely tell she was pregnant. Her face had a permanent smile, and her hand rubbed lazily over her bump.

I took in the large group and asked, “What’d you do, rent a bus?”

Cal looked up at me, his face embarrassed, then put his hand over his mouth and mumbled, “We mout a ban.”

“What was that?” I asked with a laugh.

Cal dropped his hand and replied softly, “We bought a van.”

When I started laughing, visions of Cal driving around in a wood-paneled van dancing in my head, he shot me a pained expression, then promptly flipped me off. This only caused me to laugh harder, and pretty soon, TJ and Scott were chuckling along with me.

“That’s awesome,” I finally managed to say when I stopped laughing. “Are you gonna showcase that at the shop?”

“Shut up,” Cal said darkly as he grabbed his beer and took a swig.