All The Way (All Series Book 3) (21 page)

But he wasn’t accepting that answer this time. It was finally time to say it. It was the right time, and he couldn’t hold it back any longer. “Yes,” he corrected her. “I know you do, because you feel the same way I do, and I love you.”

The smile filled her face, and she let out a little laugh. “Finally. It took you long enough to say it.”

He laid his forehead on hers and released the breath he’d been holding. She still hadn’t said it back, but he wasn’t nervous about it. “You could have said it first,” he told her.

“True, but I figured you knew. And you’re right. I do love you too, so very much, Alec. I have for longer than I can even remember at this point.”

“Let’s show each other how deep our love is then.”

His and Hers

The next morning Brynn rolled over and looked at Alec sleeping on his back. She ran her hand lightly across his chest. He loved her, and she loved him. It was there all along, everything she wanted and looked for. A chance at a new job, a new life, and it led her right to him.

She’d do anything to not lose it, anything to hold on tight. Even keeping the one secret that still ate at her—the one thing that had changed the course of her life. She was working through it on her own and felt she was over the hump and past it. There was no need to bring it up, she convinced herself again.

Last night, he’d been so sweet and so tender when they made love. And that was exactly what it was. Love. He’d showed her how much he loved her, every part of her body. Even her soul felt loved last night.

It was magical, memorable, and tender. A side she hadn’t seen from him in the bedroom before.

Everything was slow and sweet. He made her beg and plead in the end. All he kept saying was he couldn’t stop touching her, that he didn’t ever want to stop. But all his touching and tasting had driven her insane.

She needed to feel him, all of him. In her, around her, and part of her. When she finally said those exact words to him, it was like a dam bursting forth.

He moved with a speed and urgency he hadn’t shown all night.

That was another thing. At the wedding, he held her, or part of her, all night. If they weren’t on the dance floor in each other’s arms, then he was sitting next to her holding her hand, caressing her shoulder, or touching her neck. She couldn’t get enough of it, his attention, and his love. Couldn’t get enough of him period.

“Like what you see?”

Her eyes roamed up and saw he was watching her. “Always.”

He smiled at her. His eyes crinkling up, the joy radiating in his face. “No need to stop.”

“I don’t plan on it.” Ever.

***

On the drive home, Alec looked over at Brynn. “Do I even want to know how many more projects we’ve got lined up?”

“Probably not.”

He loved that he could spend the weekend with her like he just did, put everything about work out of their minds, then hours later jump right back into it. No worries, no stress and no awkwardness. “Phil will be back in a week. Hopefully we won’t get too many calls in that time.”

“With the holidays, I doubt it. I’m sure it’s going to be slow in terms of new business for the next month or so. I think everyone has earned the break.”

“The men won’t be getting much of one,” he said. They had work coming out of their ears. He was thrilled he didn’t have to lay anyone off, and the way Brynn was drumming up business they might need to hire even more summer help come spring.

“Do you give them time off during the holidays?”

“I do. I normally give them the whole week between Christmas and New Year’s. Most people don’t want work done at that time anyway, so it always works out.”

“Are they laid off for that week or is it paid holiday time?”

“It’s holiday time for the men. The office staff still works, but not much. I leave that to Sean to deal with. If he says they can have the whole week off, then they do. Whatever works for him and the work they do.”

She laughed. “You really have no clue, do you?”

“What Sean and his staff do?” He shrugged. “The basics. That’s enough, isn’t it? That’s what I’ve got you for now. You can keep an eye on things and fill me in, not that I’ve ever been worried about Sean.”

“No reason to. Sean knows what he is doing. Harper’s is in good hands.”

He didn’t say anything else. It was true. Their business ran well.

He figured now might be the time to broach the Christmas holidays with her. She hadn’t said much prior to Thanksgiving, but he knew she had been nervous about being away from her father and brother. He suspected she was feeling the same about Christmas.

“Do you think your father and Drew might want to spend the week here? You said they were both laid off right now, correct?”

She looked over sharply. “Yeah, they are. Are you sure? That’s a lot of time to have houseguests. I’m afraid they might get bored too. They don’t sit around for long.”

“True. I’m sure though, if you want to extend the invitation for any length of time they want.”

“Thank you. I appreciate it, Alec.” She reached her hand over and grabbed his. “It means the world to me that you would include them. They’re all I’ve got left.”

“You’ve got me.”

She tilted her head, her eyes softened, and she lifted his hand and kissed it. “Yeah. I do, don’t I?”

***

Brynn tried to stop the racing of her heart and the fluttering in her stomach. Always at odd times again, flashes went through her brain. Her mother and father sitting at the table talking about everything from work, to the kids, to life in general.

Those long car rides she had growing up on their way to family vacations. Listening to her parents laugh and joke, going from one topic to another with ease. No pattern, no rhythm, but yet so in sync with each other.

Thinking she had that with Alec, she tested the water and changed the topic again just to see if he would lapse into that without thought, or if he would shift back. Would he care that she bounced around in her thoughts? “Do you want me to be at the closing this week for your next flip?” Alec and Phil had decided to buy the two-family house after all and turn it into another rental property.

“Sure. Actually, Sean is working out the details to get you to be able to legally sign for us, or at least represent us.”

Eyes wide, she said, “What?”

“Phil is out of town, and I’m so swamped, there will be times one of us can’t break away for these things, or we might get held up. Sean has legal authority to represent us in purchases. I asked him to get the paperwork set up for you too. This way you can do all the buying and selling, the closings and such. We know how much Phil hates meetings and paperwork.”

“You aren’t any better with it,” she said, teasing him. She hadn’t missed over the months how often he skipped a meeting, came in late, or zoned out completely during it.

“True. I just like to be on site. Anyway, this will make it easier for everyone.”

It
would
make it easier for her. She wouldn’t have to work around anyone else’s schedule, but it was a lot of responsibility they were handing over to her in the few shorts months she’d been employed. Though, she obviously wasn’t like a normal employee, at least based on her relationship with Alec. Still, you’d think that might be all the more reason to not hand over that type of control, not that she would ever abuse it.

“Anyway,” Alec said, interrupting her thoughts. “If your father and brother get really bored, they can help me demo the place. I figured I would spend some time there myself that week getting a feel for what I really want to do.” He turned and looked at her. “I was hoping we could do this together. Put our brains to work and make this our first flip from start to finish, your ideas and mine. What do you think?”

“I think that is the best idea you’ve had in a long time.” And she did. Together. Their first one. His and hers. She couldn’t believe how lucky she was.

Much Longer

“Hand me the sledgehammer, Drew,” Alec said, looking over his shoulder. He and Drew were downstairs demoing the kitchen, Brynn and her father were upstairs in the other apartment demoing there.

Drew walked over, his shoulders hunched, then grabbed what Alec had asked for from the wall and handed it over with a determined look on his face.

Alec accepted the hammer and dropped the head of it to the floor, holding onto the handle. “Something on your mind, Drew?”

The younger man shrugged and then went and grabbed another sledgehammer for himself, ignoring Alec’s question.

Together in silence the two of them brought the hammers down on the old tiles, smashing them to pieces on the kitchen counters. Once all the tiles were broken, they were pushed to the ground and swept into piles to be shoveled and brought to the dumpster. “Are you ready to tell me what is on your mind now?” Alec asked again twenty minutes later.

“Just be careful with her.”

Alec had no idea where that statement had come from. It seemed so far out of left field. “I am. Why would you think otherwise?” He wanted to know, needed to know. He’d thought Drew and he got along well. He felt the same way about Andy.

He thought back to yesterday morning. Rolling over, he’d run a fingertip down Brynn’s cheek, waking her up. “Merry Christmas.”

She smiled, and that smile of hers just lit up her face, in turn making his heart race faster. Who would have thought love would feel like it did? Watching the woman you loved smiling at you, and knowing everything she did just made you feel like a better man. Someone you never knew you could be, or want to be, but loving it just the same. “Merry Christmas right back at you.”

He’d turned then, opened the drawer next to his bed and pulled out an envelope, then laid it on her chest. “What’s this?”

“It’s your Christmas gift,” he explained.

He tried hard not to laugh at her confused frown, then watched as she opened the envelope and pulled out the brochure for Aruba. She had told him months ago that she had always wanted to go. He’d remembered and wanted to surprise her. “I’ll give you one week to figure out the best time for us to go. Just the two of us away from all of this craziness at work, away from this cold weather. I want to go before the end of March, so figure it out fast,” he’d told her and leaned in to kiss her surprised face.

“She’s tough, but not always as tough as she comes off,” Drew said instead, drawing him out of his thoughts of yesterday morning.

Alec had always suspected that himself, but it still didn’t tell him what possessed Drew to make the statement out of the blue. “I know she had issues at her last construction job.” Maybe that was what this was about.

“She told you?” Drew asked, looking startled.

“Of course she did. I asked in her interview. It seemed odd to me that she switched careers when she seemed to enjoy the construction side so much. Not only that, but she is so good at it.” Actually she was great at it. He really couldn’t imagine why she would let a bunch of stubborn men who wouldn’t take direction from her dictate her future.

Drew seemed to hedge, looking uncomfortable for a moment. “What exactly did she tell you?”

“That the men wouldn’t take orders from her, or at least most of them wouldn’t. She said it was more important to her that the clients got what they wanted.” Alec could see her making that decision, and he knew that there were plenty of men who didn’t want to take orders from a woman. He’d always thought it was a little odd, but brushed it off. Now by the look on Drew’s face, he was wishing he hadn’t, that he was missing something.

“That’s true,” Drew assured him. Then added, “It was a struggle at times, but she worked through it as best as she could.” Drew walked over and grabbed a shovel, then filled it with the broken tiles. “I’ll start bringing these out.”

Alec watched Drew’s retreating form and knew there was more going on than the young man was saying. He wanted to ask more questions, but Drew didn’t give him the chance, and he had a feeling he wouldn’t get any answers either.

***

“Are you happy?” Andy asked Brynn.

“Of course I am,” she said, laughing at her father’s question. She had never been as happy in her life as she had been in the last several days, and it was true.

Yesterday morning had been the icing on the cake. It was her and Alec’s first Christmas together. She really struggled with her gift for him. She didn’t want it to be light by any means, but she was afraid to go for something with a deeper meaning.

They loved each other, but it was still early. Still new. And though they were living together, she didn’t want to make things awkward by making assumptions about what their future might hold.

In the end, as much as he always laughed about his father sitting in his favorite recliner all the time when he wasn’t working, Alec had made mention plenty of times how nice it probably felt to come home at the end of a hard day and know there was one spot that was just waiting for your aching body. That one spot in a home that was always his.

She’d suspected that he’d never felt at home anywhere since he moved out on his own. He’d never lived anywhere long enough for that. But maybe having one piece of furniture would help with all the moving that he always did. Maybe one piece could ground him a little. So she’d shopped around until she found the perfect chair for him. Not a recliner after all, but rather a nice big wide leather chair and ottoman.

Drew and her father had picked it up the day before Christmas and had hidden it down in the guest suite where they were staying. When she and Alec had gone to bed that night, they brought it up and put it in the living room. Once she knew Alec was asleep, she snuck down and put a big red bow on it.

The look on his face when he went downstairs Christmas morning was priceless. He didn’t hesitate to walk right over, sit down, put his feet up and snuggle right in. “This is perfect. Don’t think I’m moving out of it at night until I’m ready for bed.”

She’d laughed at him, walked over and leaned down for a kiss. He pulled her onto his lap and held her tight, saying, “That doesn’t mean you can’t join me here every night though. It’s definitely big enough.”

“That was the point,” she said, laughing at him and snuggling in some more.

But just now, she watched her father shake his head, disregarding her statement, like he had so many times when she was growing up. She knew he was trying to dig deeper and he would do what he always did. He would change the topic and detour back at another time. “So tell me what you are doing in the apartment.”

Holding back the laugh, she explained everything to her father. “We’re going to demo the kitchens and baths and start from scratch. Keep it simple with basic counters and fixtures, nothing high-end since it’s a rental property, but we’ll make it nice and modern.” She’d had a hard time convincing Alec to go that route.

Alec was used to buying properties always intending to flip and then later deciding to rent. He always wanted high end—what potential buyers were looking for. But this was actually purchased for a rental income, so no need to put so much money into it for high-end finishes.

Their biggest disagreement had been the floors. He’d wanted to gut the whole place and lay down new hardwood flooring, but the old Victorian home had decent floors, and they should be preserved. “We’re going to refinish the floors and the wood molding throughout both apartments. A fresh coat of paint in all the rooms and that is about it, no structural or flow changes.” She walked around the kitchen and pointed out one corner. “The biggest layout change is in here making the counter bigger and adding stools for extra seating. These old homes have formal dining rooms, but we thought an eat-in kitchen would be nice.”

“That shouldn’t take too long,” Andy said, eying the kitchen space.

“Kitchens and baths take the longest, but it will be nice to get it all demoed this week. Once those are done, the rest is pretty easy.”

“Do you think Alec will let Drew and me put some decent time in here…without paying us?” he added, narrowing his eyes at her.

“I wouldn’t count on that.” She stopped talking and eyed him right back. “Dad, he knows you and Drew aren’t doing it for the paycheck, but this is their business. A very profitable business, I might add. Don’t argue. If he pays you, just take it. It’s benefiting everyone in the end. Why argue or feel insulted over it?”

She watched her father grunt, then grin. “I won’t embarrass you if that is what you’re worried about.”

“You’ve done it enough through the years,” she reminded him.

Laughing, he said, “But you’ve never cared about it before. Why now?”

She stopped and thought. What her father said was true. She never really cared if her father or brother embarrassed her before, even if she did bust on them about it. “Maybe because I love Alec.” There, she said it. It felt better to say it to her father. She wanted to know what his reaction would be and wasn’t disappointed.

“How long did it take you to realize it?” he said, grinning at her.

“Not long.”

“How long did it take you to say it?” he asked, adding a smirk.

“Much longer,” she replied, not being able to resist a laugh.

“So much like your mother,” he said, shaking his head and returning her laugh. The love was still so strong in his eyes for his deceased wife. It was evident to anyone who saw him when he spoke of her mother.

Tears sprang into her eyes. Damn her father for always knowing the right things to say to strike an emotional nerve with her.

“It’s not a bad thing,” he added.

“I didn’t say it was.”

“Then why are you crying?” He walked over and put his arms around her and held her tight. There was nothing more secure to her than being held by her father. No, that wasn’t true. Being held by Alec was right up there with it, just as secure, if she wanted to be honest with herself. Only different.

“I just miss her so much at times.”

“I know, sweetie. So do I. But you have to remember the good times, you have to focus on them. That will get you through these moments. It’s what helps me.”

Laying her head on his shoulder, she sniffled a little. “I know, and I do, but I wish she could have met Alec. I wish she could see me now, and see how happy I am.”

“She sees, and she knows, Brynn. You know she does. Don’t ever forget it.”

***

Alec opened the door to the upstairs apartment to see Brynn crying in Andy’s arms. Rushing forward, he pulled her away and held her by the shoulders. “Are you hurt? What happened?” His eyes were taking in all of her looking for any sign of injury.

He turned to Andy. “What’s wrong?”

Andy laughed. Alec didn’t appreciate it, but bit his tongue. “She’s not hurt, just emotional right now. We’ve been having a discussion about her mother.”

Oh. Alec lifted his hand and tenderly wiped the tears away with his thumb; then his eyes landed on the locket she was wearing. The one her father had given her yesterday that held a picture of Brynn’s mother looking about the same age as Brynn right now.

Alec had been astonished by how much the two of them looked alike, and the sorrow he felt when he realized he’d never meet the woman who mothered Brynn flooded him. He couldn’t imagine his mother not being in his life right now. “You can talk to me about your mom any time you want, honey. I’m always here.”

“Thanks, Alec. It’s nothing, really. My father always seems to say the right thing. Or I should say, the wrong thing that gets me upset. It’s not a bad thing though.”

“What did you say?” he asked Andy.

“I asked her if she was happy.”

Startled, Alec turned his eyes back to Brynn and held his breath. “And that made you cry?” What had he missed? Did he do something wrong? Say something stupid? Was she sick of picking up after him? He couldn’t remember.

“No,” she said, choking back a laugh. “That isn’t what made me cry and my father knows that. He said I was so much like my mother.”

“How is that?” he asked. He wished he knew more about Colleen at times. She always talked about her mother so fondly, and he assumed Brynn was like her but was never positive.

She reached up and kissed him. “I told him it took me much longer to say I loved you than it did to realize it.”

Shocked, he looked over at Andy who was silently laughing at him. “Colleen was the same way. It was like pulling teeth to get what was going on in her head out. She always knew what she wanted, but never told me. She made me work for it.”

Alec looked at Brynn for confirmation. She grinned, then said, “I wasn’t making you work for it…I really wasn’t.”

He believed her. He knew she loved him. He was positive he was in love with her before she was with him, and yet he never said it either. He couldn’t judge her on this.

“I would say we were both to blame on the length of time it took to say it,” Alec told Andy.

“Just like her mother.” Andy slapped Alec on the back. “That is exactly something I would have said too. I would have taken the blame for it without even knowing why. Love does that to you, doesn’t it?”