Pit Stop by Joanne Ganci
Parker
Riley commandeers the remote while we—mostly me—devour the meat lover’s pizza. I’ve learned over the years that once I pull her out of her head, she needs some normalcy to recharge back to her vivacious self.
When the show we’re watching ends, she picks up the remote and shuts the TV off. “I need to get going. Thanks for this, Park.”
“Anytime, Rye.” Pulling her into my side, I kiss the top of her head. “You sure you need to go?”
“Yeah. Plus, you have a beautiful woman’s car to look at. Then when you’re done, maybe you’ll get the chance to check out her undercarriage.” Winking, she pulls away from me, getting up off the couch to clean up our mess from lunch.
“Not tonight, but maybe soon.” A man can only dream.
She gives me a pointed look. “Mhmm.”
“You know you don’t have to clean up after me, right?”
Her laughter echoes around my tiny apartment. “If I don’t, who will?”
“I’m grown. I’m perfectly capable of cleaning up my own messes.”
She looks around, eyes lingering on the pile of dirty laundry between the hamper and the divider that separates my bedroom from my living room. “I know damn well if I look behind that screen, I’ll find a bunch of dirty dishes and empty soda cans on your nightstand. Probably even more dirty clothes lying on the floor.”
“I mean… You’re not wrong. But I am capable. I just…”
“Choose not to?” She lets out another bark of laughter as she tidies up the kitchen.
Pressing my hand against my chest, I shoot her a grin. “You know me so well.”
Droppingthe hood of Mia’s Civic, I pull a rag out to wipe the grease off my hands. She just needed a sensor changed out—those digital things can be so fucking finicky.
Grabbing my phone, I tap the messages icon. I’ll see what the hell Lydia wants, then shoot James a text. I wish I had enough blood flowing to my brain to grab Prim’s number before she left. Then I could send her a dipstick pic and let her know I checked her fluids. As far as apologies go, I’m sure that’s an award winner.
Lydia: We’re all at Julian’s…
Lydia: That was a fucking hint, baby brother.
Lydia: Clearly subtle wasn’t the way to go. Stop being such a loner and come hang out with us!
Lydia: There’s food. I expect you here for dinner, asshole.
Are all sisters such a pain in the fucking ass?
I’ll just bring Prim’s car to Julian’s. Kill two birds with one stone. Maybe Lydia will get off my back for the foreseeable future...
I don’t know why I’m lying to myself. Lydia lives to drive me nuts. And I wouldn’t bother going over there if I didn’t want to see Prim.
Getting involved with her is a bad idea. Avoiding her isn’t an option either. I need to just drop off her car, eat some food, and catch a ride home.
I head upstairs to grab a quick shower and change my clothes. There’s no need to dirty her car. I’d like to get dirty with her, but…
Fuck. I need to get my mind out of the gutter. It doesn’t help that I’ve been half hard all fucking day thinking about her. Or that I just jacked off to an image of her lying across the hood of my car while I was in the shower.
I know how it is to be a protective brother. I really don’t need James kicking my ass.
And from what I hear, she’s got a kid. I mean, the car seat strapped in behind me makes that pretty damn obvious.
The prim and proper, sexy as fuck mom wouldn’t want me for more than one wild night. Is that worth all the potential awkwardness there would surely be between us afterward? This afternoon already pushed the limit. As soon as I found out who she was, I should have run the other way.
She’s enticing, that’s for damn sure. Much more than any other woman I’ve been around in a long ass time. I’m smarter than that. I don’t think with my dick like every other jackass my age. No, while they’re out chasing tail, I’ve been building my business. Taking what Wally left for me and growing it exponentially. I don’t have time to chase women, especially not one this close to home.
Now, if she wanted more than a night…
I shake my head at the ridiculous thought. She already said she didn’t want a relationship.
Parking Mia’s Civic on the street, I jump out of the car, twirling her key ring with way too many keychains around my finger.
I texted Lydia back earlier, so there’s no need to knock. Not that there ever is. We’re a very open door kind of family. You just need to be careful coming here. You never fucking know if they’re going to be naked. I learned the hard way to get a confirmation that they know I’m on my way over. I can’t really blame them. They’re all so damn in love, it’s sickening. I’d never fucking say this out loud, but I hope I can find someone to love just as hard as my brother loves Rachael and Zack.
As soon as I open the door, I’m met with the sound of laughter coming from the kitchen. The rapid pitter-patter of tiny feet on the wood floor is the only warning I get before a little boy with brownish-red hair comes running up to me, stark fucking naked. He stops in his tracks and looks up with a mischievous toothy grin. “Hi!” he squeaks, then runs toward the kitchen.
“ALEXANDER, YOU GET BACK HERE!” Prim yells, running out of the bathroom with a towel. She skids to a stop when she sees me standing there.
I let my gaze travel over her body. She’s still in the prim outfit, but her blouse is half untucked, and if I’m not mistaken, she’s got barbeque sauce on the collar.
Her hair is falling out of the perfect bun, tendrils framing her pretty face. “Wh-what are you doing here?” she stammers out. I can see a twinge of embarrassment in her big brown eyes at being caught off guard, but if I’m being honest, she looks even more beautiful like this.
I hold up her keys, rattling them slightly. “Came to bring you your car, Prim.”
She nods, huffing out a breath. “Right. Uh…” Running a hand over her hair to push the loose strands out of her face, she ends up getting bubbles in them.
Smirking, I ask her, “Bath time?”
“Yeah. Shit. I’ll… be right back.”
She hurries off after her wild child, muttering to herself about kids and losing her mind. I chuckle and for some reason, I stay right there, waiting for her. Mentally slapping myself, I know I should just follow her, grab some food, and hang out with my family. That was definitely the plan I told myself on the way over here. After seeing her, all those well-intentioned plans flew out the window. I want to wait here, steal another moment with her before we’re surrounded by my nosy family.
When she takes longer than I was expecting, I shake my head and decide to just walk into the kitchen. I look like an idiot just waiting in the doorway for a woman I have no chance with. Before I can push that decision out to the rest of my body, she’s walking back this way with the wild man on her hip. “Sorry about that. This is my son, Alex.”
“We met briefly. Hi, Alex.” I give the little guy a wave, and he beams up at me. “You givin’ your mama trouble?”
His face transforms into a look of innocence, but I don’t miss that glint in his eyes that says he knows exactly what he’s doing.
“Oh, you don’t even know the half of it,” Mia says, focusing her tired eyes on her son. Even looking exhausted, there’s so much love in those eyes. She’s so fucking beautiful.
“I’ve watched my nieces a few times. They’re little hellions at that age. He’s around four, right?”
“Four and a half,” he proudly corrects.
Her smile lights up her face. “Can’t forget the half. He’ll be five in December.”
“Right. James went up to visit y’all for his birthday, didn’t he?”
“He did,” she says, nodding. “It was nice to have him there. Wasn’t it, bubba?”
Alex nods his head vigorously, trying to wriggle out of her hold. “You probably want to… I’ll just, uh…” I hold her keys up. “You want me to leave them here or…?”
“Right, yeah. I should probably put clothes on him.” She closes her eyes and sighs. “Could you just leave them there? Are you staying for a bit?”
“Yeah, I heard there’s barbecue.” I don’t tell her I didn’t know there was barbecue until I saw the sauce on her shirt. I don’t want to embarrass her, especially when I like this disheveled look. It makes her seem more… I don’t know, real?
“Damn good barbecue, too. James smoked some pork and mmm.” Goddammit. That little moan of appreciation has me instantly imagining her lips around my cock. Being around this woman is going to be much harder than I fucking expected. I don’t know if she can see the evidence of where my mind went, but she seems to realize what she just did if her stammering is any indication. “I… we’re… BATH!”
With a smirk on my lips and a hard-on in my jeans, I watch her rush down the hall to the bathroom, shaking her head.
I’m definitely in trouble with this one.