Dangerous Therapy: O'Connor Brothers (Volume 1) (17 page)

Stephanie opened her eyes and surveyed her surroundings. At first confusion set in. Then it all came flooding back. Her lips curled into a grin. It was impossible not to smile. They made love so often she’d lost count. His recovery time was impressive.
Yeah! He’s certainly impressive.

Stephanie scanned John’s room as she stretched. The walls were a light taupe and accented by forest green drapes that covered the two large windows. The matching green comforter was pulled over her. It wasn’t store bought. Who could be so talented to make such a beautiful homemade quilt? His bed was so much bigger than hers. Probably why he brought her to his room instead of going to hers.

The sun peeked through the small opening in the drapes. A beautiful day. It was definitely a beautiful night.

She turned to the other side of the bed. John was still sleeping. One hand under his head and the other resting against his stomach. The quilt lay just below his navel. Her cheeks warmed. He could do amazing things with what was under that quilt. She rolled on her side and tucked her hand under her cheek. Even in sleep John oozed sexy. His light brown hair mussed. It was the first time she really noticed the light auburn highlights.

With John’s eyes closed she could study the features of his face without being distracted by his smile and those intense blue eyes. His long dark eyelashes fanned under his eyes. Women would kill for lashes that thick. A long straight nose that was the perfect shape almost as if it was sculpted. His lips were slightly parted as he breathed in and out.

She scanned down to his chest. Muscled with the light dusting of dark hair. She shivered as the memory of how the hair tickled her breasts as he pumped into her. Her gaze moved up at his face again. His eyes were open and there was a huge shit eating grin on his face.

“See anything you like?” He wiggled his eyebrows up and down.

“I like everything I see.” She purred. “And the things I can’t see.”

He turned on his side and pulled the blanket down, exposing her breasts. “I like everything I see too.” John wiggled his eyebrows as he slowly ran his index finger down her neck and between her breasts.

“Oh no! Not again! Did you see the time?” She playfully slapped his hand and pulled the blanket over her nakedness.

“No! I’m not worried about the time right now.” He lifted the blanket so she’d have a full view of his erection.

“Oh my God! Does that ever go down?” Stephanie giggled when he pulled her against him.

“It’s only been like that since I met you.” He buried his face in the crook of her neck and teased her with soft kisses. Now she was just turning to mush.

“What time is everyone supposed to be coming?” She sighed.

A deep voice echoed from the hallway.

“John, get your lazy ass out of the sack.”

James.

Shit.

John continued to tease her with kisses down her neck. She shoved him back and tugged the blanket up over her head.

“John, get up before he comes in here,” She whispered.

John grumbled.

“I can get a bucket of water, bro,” James yelled. This was not happening.

“I’m up,” John yelled at the door. He turned back to her with the cutest pout on his lips. “Remind me later to take the house keys from my family.” A quick kiss on the lips and he jumped out of bed.

“You have to distract him so I can go to my apartment,” She whispered.

“I’ll get him into the kitchen.” He winked as he dressed and hurried out of the bedroom.

She jumped out of bed and ran around the room picking up her clothes. Bra. Where the hell was her bra? She searched under the bed and pulled back the comforter.
Damn it.
There was no time. Right now, she needed to get to her apartment before James discovered her.

Stephanie pressed her ear against the door and listened. She wasn’t ashamed of what happened between them, but she knew his brothers would tease them mercilessly. Plus, would it really look professional for her to be sleeping with him when technically he was still her patient.

She opened the door a crack and heard the voices in the kitchen. Hopefully, she could slip out of the room without James seeing her. She kept her eyes on the kitchen door as she tiptoed down the hall. As she turned at the end of the hall, she came face to face with John’s father.

“Oh God.” She gasped. Sean’s lips quirked into a grin. Now she knew where John got his sly grin. Her cheeks felt like they were on fire. This was a time when it would be nice for the floor to open up and swallow her.

“Good Morning, Stephanie.” Sean greeted her.

“Um… Hi… Mr. O’Connor.” She stammered and looked everywhere but at him. What was she supposed to say? ‘Oh yes, Mr. O’Connor it is a good morning because your son and I spent the night naked and screwing until we were exhausted.’ Well, that would be crude, but what was she supposed to say to the father of the man who’s room she just tiptoed out of?

“Are my boys in the kitchen or is John still sleeping.” He raised an eyebrow. Yep, John definitely favored his father.

“They’re in the kitchen.” She told him and hoped that would be the end of the conversation. That way she could run to her apartment and die of humiliation in peace.

Sean patted her arm, stepped around her and disappeared into the kitchen.

Stephanie ran into her apartment and leaned against the door. That was totally humiliating. It was going to be really awkward the next time she came face to face with the man. There was no way the man missed her coming out of John’s bedroom. What must he think of her? It didn’t seem like he was shocked, but he couldn’t think very highly of her.

A long hot shower and fresh clothes made her feel a little better. She didn’t know if she could ever face John’s father again, but she was at least clean now. Yeah, because that made things a whole lot better. Stephanie flopped down on the couch and pressed one of the decorative pillows against her face. She really wanted to watch John and the band rehearse again, but if Sean was staying it would be uncomfortable. At least it would be for her. This was terrible. She heard her phone chime. It was a text from John.

‘Are you coming to watch?’

‘I’ll be out in a few minutes. Is your dad still there?’

‘Yeah! LOL he said he saw you in the hallway.’

‘Don’t LOL me! He saw me coming out of your room.’

‘He won’t say anything. I promise.’

‘Still, it’s embarrassing.’

‘Don’t worry, baby.’

‘Fine! I’ll be right out.’

A quick glance at herself in the mirror verified her cheeks were turning red at the thought of facing Sean. Before opening the door, she took a deep breath. Voices floated out from the living room. 
Oh God
! Sean and James weren’t the only ones there now. Another deep breath and she entered the living room.

The rest of the guys had arrived and were finishing the setup. She turned toward the couch and all the air whooshed out of her. Sean sat next to Kathleen on the couch.
Holy fucking shit!
Did Sean tell Kathleen? She really didn’t want Kathleen to know. Before she could escape back to her apartment, Kathleen motioned her to come closer.
John is so dead
!  She walked toward the woman feeling like she was on her way to the gallows. This could get awkward. She smiled and eased down next to John’s mother.

“We can’t go to the fundraiser, so I wanted to see my boys do a few of my favorite songs.” Kathleen squeezed Stephanie’s knee.

“They’re really good,” Stephanie admitted. John winked at her as he settled in behind the keyboard.

“How are you and John getting on?” Stephanie’s heart jumped in her chest, but Kathleen didn’t even look at her.

“Umm… great. His therapy is almost done.” Stephanie stammered as she stared down at her hands.

“I see.” Kathleen turned to her. “Has he asked you out yet?”

Stephanie’s heart thudded in her chest. “He.... ah.… the fundraiser.…he asked me to the fundraiser.” Stephanie stuttered.

“Oh for heaven’s sake that won’t be romantic,” Kathleen complained. “Sean, you have to teach that boy how to be romantic. Just like his dad.” Kathleen pinched Sean’s cheek.

“Sweetheart, I think John’s probably doing fine, all on his own.” Sean leaned forward and winked at Stephanie.

Oh. Dear. God. Kill me now
. She knew her face was scarlet red. Would it be bad to jump up and run away?

“We watched a movie last night and ate popcorn.” Stephanie blurted out. “It was nice.” She glanced up and John was grinning at her. It was the first time she wanted to slap that grin off his face. He was really enjoying this. Stephanie narrowed her eyes and glared at him. John laughed. Yep, she wanted to slap him. Hard.

Stephanie felt like she was on pins and needles. Where was Kristy? She helped out yesterday. Why wasn’t she here to save her today? It wasn’t that she didn’t like John’s parents, but Sean had a pretty good idea where Stephanie slept last night. His expression didn’t show disgust, but what did he think of her? After all, she was supposed to help John recover, not to jump into bed with him.

The longer she thought about it, the more paranoid she became. Was everyone staring at her? She scanned the room. Aaron, Nick, Mike, John and the other two guys in the band, were busy practicing. James was off to the side tapping his foot to the music, Ian’s head was down reading something, and Keith was entranced in something on his phone. Even John’s parents were not really paying any attention to her. She glanced back to John and he was watching her. Then he smiled, and every bit of tension in her body melted away.

Rehearsal ended and the equipment was loaded into the back of a large box truck parked in John’s driveway. Stephanie offered to help, but Kathleen axed that idea. Stephanie was escorted to the kitchen for a cup of tea with John’s mother.
Oh no!
What could she do? It was impossible to say no to the woman.

“One thing you need to learn, my dear. Let the men do all the manual labor.” Kathleen linked into the crook of Stephanie’s arm and steered her toward the kitchen. As soon as they entered, Kathleen released her arm and proceeded to the cupboards. She pulled two cups down and turned to Stephanie. The whole time Stephanie was waiting for Kathleen to say something about sleeping with John. “Cream and sugar, Dear?”

Stephanie sat on one of the stools next to the counter. “No, black please.”

Kathleen was chattering about the reason they couldn’t go to the fundraiser, but for the life of her Stephanie didn’t have a clue what the woman said. She was just relieved Sean hadn’t appeared to disclose his discovery to his wife. Kathleen would probably not think very highly of Stephanie if he did.

“Are you okay, Stephanie?” Kathleen placed a cup in front of her and sat on the stool beside her.  Kathleen’s blue eyes sparkled when she looked at Stephanie. There was no doubt, Kathleen O’Connor was a truly happy woman.

“I’m fine. Just a little tired.” Stephanie picked up her cup to sip her tea.

“That’ll happen when you’re up late.” Kathleen tipped her cup to her lips. Stephanie almost dropped her cup but quickly recovered and managed to lay it safely on the counter.

“Pardon.” Stephanie squeaked.

“Stephanie, I hoped John would see what a beautiful, and intelligent young lady you are. Cora knew you’re the one for him.” Kathleen took Stephanie’s hand. “When Sean told me he saw you this morning. Well you’ve got to know. I was thrilled.” Stephanie was sure she looked like one of those cartoons where the character’s eyes bulge out of their head. “Don’t be embarrassed, my dear, I’m so very happy for you and John.”

“Thank you.… but.... Cora…What do you mean Cora knew I was the one for John?” Was she really having this conversation and how the hell would Cora know something like that? Kathleen sat back, her lips curled up at the corners.

“Cora has a special gift. Since Cora was a little girl, she knew when people were meant to be together.” Was Kathleen being serious? “When Cora meets someone, she knows instantly when they are having love issues. The way Cora explains it is, her heart will race and she becomes really warm. Then a face will flash in front of her or in her mind. That part I’m not really sure about.” Kathleen took another sip of her tea and continued. “Cora’s nickname is Cora the Cupid and she’s never been wrong.”

What does she say to a crazy story like that? There was no way that Kathleen was serious about this. Any minute Kathleen was going to burst out laughing. Stephanie stared at John’s mother. The woman was completely serious.

“I can see you like my son, a lot. So it looks like Cora was right again.”

“John is a wonderful man,” Stephanie said softly.

“It’s hard to resist those O’Connor men. I could tell you stories about Sean that would curl your toes.”

Stephanie burst out laughing. “I’m sure you could.” Talking with Kathleen helped her relax. Maybe because she reminded Stephanie of her own mother. Kathleen O’Connor and Janet Kelly would get along well.

Their conversation turned to stories of John when he was younger. When John was a little boy, he spent one full summer running around with a batman costume. Anytime Kathleen had to wash it, John would sit in front of the dryer until it was done. It was the cutest story Stephanie ever heard. John walked into the kitchen and Stephanie tried to hold back a giggle. She covered her mouth as Kathleen sat up straight.