For The Love Of Sir (15 page)

Epilogue

Alex had had a long day. All he wanted was to put his feet up. Preferably with a scotch in one hand and Tara curled up in his lap. Naked.

He couldn’t believe how his life had changed. A year ago there was no way he would have believed that he would be living with another woman.

He thought Simone had burned him too badly for him to ever trust another woman. But Tara had proven him wrong. The last few months since she’d been shot had passed by in a blur. It hadn’t all been smooth sailing, of course. They’d both had to learn how to open up more.

Working for Reagan had worked out better than he’d thought. Tara really enjoyed it and while he thought he’d have to put his foot down about her hours, Reagan was the one who insisted Tara go home at a decent hour, despite the fact that Reagan often worked into the late hours of the night.

Alex parked his car in the garage and walked into the apartment, slipping his shoes off in the foyer.

“Tara, where are you?” he called out. Stepping into the living room he found her curled up on the sofa, talking to another man.

The other man looked up at him curiously. Alex felt a stab of disappointment that they weren’t alone. But that was all he felt, he realized. There wasn’t even a twinge of jealousy or suspicion.

“Hello, sweetheart,” he said leaning down and kissing Tara.

So, he might have kissed her a little longer and deeper than he usually would have in front of a stranger. Just because he trusted her didn’t mean he couldn’t make it perfectly clear who Tara belonged to.

Tara blushed as Alex pulled back. She knew it couldn’t be easy for him to come in and find a strange man sitting on his couch. But he hadn’t gone cold and brisk like he did when he was feeling suspicious or jealous.

Sure, he’d kissed her a little more possessively than he usually did around strangers, but then there was a bit of a caveman lurking beneath his polish.

“I tried calling you but you didn’t answer,” she said.

“My phone is flat and I couldn’t find the car charger.”

He sat on the edge of the sofa and put his arm over the back of it. She snuggled closer.

“I’d like you to meet my brother, Ben. He decided to surprise me with a visit.”

She arched her eyebrow at her brother. He shrugged unapologetically. He’d wanted to get up here earlier to meet Alex, but had been in the midst of exams. Still, he could have warned her he was coming.

Alex stood up with a smile, holding his hand out. To his credit he showed no annoyance about having a house guest just appear.

“Ben, it’s great to meet you,” Alex said warmly. “You look different than in the photos I’ve seen.”

“I cut my hair, shaved the goatee and I’ve lost a bit of weight.”

More than a bit
she thought with a frown, looking him over. “You look like a skeleton.”

“You can talk,” he shot back, sending Alex a look.

“Hey, don’t look at him like that,” Tara scolded.

“I know she’s underweight,” Alex said before her brother could speak. “I’m working on it, but she lost a lot of weight when she was shot and she’s not being very cooperative.”

He sent her telling look. He’d spanked her for skipping lunch just yesterday and she had not appreciated it. Especially as she hadn’t been allowed any pleasure after the spanking. Tara scowled at him. He winked back at her.

“Shot!”

Tara jumped as her brother shouted. She bit her lip.

“Umm, yeah, I may not have mentioned that. It’s not as bad as it sounds.”

“She didn’t tell you?” Alex asked her brother.

“No, she did not,” her brother exclaimed, glaring at her. Tara sunk back into the sofa. Oh, this was not good.

“I wondered why you didn’t come to visit her,” Alex mused. “I even offered to call you, but she said that she would get around to it.” He sent her a look that told her she was in trouble. Whoops.

“Somebody better tell me. Now.”

Tara raised her eyebrows at her brother’s demanding tone. He almost sounded Dom-like. But no, he was her little brother. He knew nothing about BDSM.

She quickly relayed the story. Ben interrupted a few times with questions, but otherwise he just sat there, scowling.

“Why the hell did you work for that jerk?” he asked finally.

“Umm, he paid well.”

“Wasn’t worth it, for the shit he put you through…” Ben trailed off with a frown. “It was because of me, wasn’t it? To help me out. Damn it, Tara.”

“Don’t ‘damn it, Tara’ me,” she said grumpily. “You’re my brother. I love you.”

“I love you too.” He leaned over and pulled her into his arms. “Thank you. But don’t you ever do that again.”

***

Later on that night Tara lay snuggled in Alex’s arms.

“I’m sorry about the unexpected house guest,” she said.

Alex brushed the hair back from her face and kissed her forehead. “It’s not a problem. Honestly.”

Tara smiled up at him. “Don’t worry, he’s only staying two nights. He’ll be gone before the weekend.”

They’d planned a trip to the club that weekend.

“Good,” Alex said with a look of relief.

She chuckled and he smiled. “Not that your brother isn’t welcome to stay with us anytime.”

“But shorter is better.”

“Or maybe a guest suite would be the best idea.”

She frowned in confusion. “What?”

He rolled onto his side. “What do you think about buying a house? Something where the master bedroom is far away from the other rooms so your brother can feel welcome to visit anytime without being right next door.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I think it’s time we had something that was ours. I bought this place as a bachelor pad after I separated with Simone, but now it’s not quite meeting our needs. What do you say?”

She smiled. “I say yes.”

Alex leaned down and kissed her.

“I wish we could do more,” she said as he nibbled down her neck.

“I should have bought an apartment with a soundproof bedroom.” He cupped her breast, squeezing lightly.

She groaned. “We can’t.”

“We can,” he replied as he slid under the covers and flicked one nipple with his tongue. “You’ll just have to be very, very quiet…”