This Love's Not for Sale (29 page)

“Oh, Tuck, this one’s a pretty little thing. Look at you! You’re so damned cute!
But that eye! Who did this to you?” she frowned.

Lilliana felt her face burn bright red and she glanced at Tucker who was smiling crookedly at Lilliana.

“I had a run in with my ex-husband.”

Charlene looked to Tucker. “
I hope you took care of that SOB!”

Tucker puffed his chest out proudly. “
Hell yes, I did. He won’t be bothering Lilly again.” Tucker disappeared behind the car to gather their luggage while his mother took inventory her.

“Good boy.
Well, I can already see you’re different than the usual women Tucker brings home: you have real boobs!”

Tucker’s
head popped out from behind the trunk lid. His eyes were wide and his mouth was opened in shock. “Nice, mom!”

Lilliana did her own inspection of Tucker’
s mom: Toned body with large breasts, about 5’7”, firm soft hands, bobbed shoulder-length, gray-brown hair, and a warm, genuine laugh that reminded Lilliana of her own mother. Her face showed lines consistent with her age of late 50s, but there was no denying she was beautiful.

“I’m Charlene, but you
can call me Char,” she winked.

Tucker looked so much like his mother it was strangely odd. They shared the same lips and nos
e, the same color and shape of eyes, and even the same quirky and signature wink. When Lilliana looked up, Tucker’s father was ambling slowly towards her. His stare was critical as his eyes moved over her body. Lilliana was accustomed to dealing with old farmers and she suppressed her smile and approached him bravely.

“Nice to meet you, Sir. I’m Lilliana Norris of Concordia, Kansas. But my family
is originally from Connecticut,” she stated with certainty as she thrust her hand at him.

Tucker’s father’s eyebrows went up and Lilliana thought she
saw the faint hint of a smile in his eyes. He was a handsome man with longish, wavy silver hair, a craggy face, and he was just as tall and solid as Tucker. Despite his rough exterior, his grey eyes were friendly and shined brightly. Tucker’s father took her outreached hand between his two large, stony palms.

“
Nice to meet you. I’m Gregory McGrath. Concordia, you say? What is that? Cloud County?”

Lilliana smiled and nodded.

“Yes, I know the place. I had an aunt and uncle from Clay County. I used to visit them often. Remember them, Char?” Gregory lifted his head to Charlene.

Charlene
nodded in acknowledgement, but was too busy doting over Tucker to pay any attention to Gregory. 

As soon as Lilliana walked into the McGrath residence, she felt at home. The smell of something savory lingered in the air and every wall was covered in pictures. The small wooden mantle held trophies of every sort and Lilliana made her way over to them. She loved the feel of a lived in home with all its quaintness and familiarity. Two trophies bel
onged to Tucker from eons ago, one for farming and one for athletics. Lilliana ran her fingers over the old painted gold statue and smiled. Her eyes wandered around the immaculate home and rested on several family photo collages. Tucker had always been handsome, just like his younger brothers.

Tucker was speaking excitedly about work and other nonsense
, and Lilliana was caught up in all the family mementos. Charlene laughed and it rang so familiar in her ears, it took her by surprise. She spun on her heel and her breath caught in her throat. No, she wasn’t going to break down. Not today; not here. She swallowed her pain and turned away from the McGrath family to gather her composure.

“Are you alright, Lilly?” Tucker was behind her with his arms around her shoulders and whispering sweetly in her ear.

“Yes. You have a beautiful family. You’re so lucky, Tucker. I hope you never take them for granted.”

Tucker turned Lilliana around by her shoulders and skimmed his fingers under her c
hin. He opened his mouth to say something, but his mother was on them, dragging them to kitchen to try and feed them. Tucker chuckled at Lilliana and rolled his eyes.

“That’s my mom. My
brothers and I have an ongoing bet how long it’ll take until she tries to feed us from the moment we step into the house. What was that? Five minutes? That might just a new record for her.”

“I heard that!” Char sniped. “Your brothers should be here a little later. It was like pulling teeth to get Gavin to agree to come. I think he’s afraid you’ll give him a hard time about his little fiasco
at Tuscaloosa Memorial.”

Tucker looked visibly
annoyed and shook his head. “He should be afraid. His dick is going to get him into hot water and kicked out of his medical program.”

“Tucker
G. McGrath, watch your language,” Charlene snarled.

“It’s true and you know
it. I’m just not afraid to say something to him. You both allowed him to rule the roost in this house and now he doesn’t know his own limits. Everyone knows the Golden Rule in business is to never sleep with your coworkers. Back me up, Lilly.” Tucker looked to Lilliana for support.

She was caught off guard by he and Charlene’s pointed stares
, and she shrugged her shoulders not wanting to get in the middle of a family disagreement.

“Come on,
girl. You have an opinion. Spit it out,” Charlene glared.

“Well, although I rarely agree with
Tucker, and find he’s often times brash and frankly ridiculous and arrogant, I think he’s right this time. No pussy at work sounds like a good rule of thumb to follow.”

Tucker’s body stiffened in
surprise, his mouth hung open, and his eyes were as round as saucers. When she glanced sideways at Charlene, her eyes were just as wide as Tucker’s and her mouth gaped open. Lilliana sheepishly grinned at them, and looked to Gregory who had an enormous smile spread across his face.

“Hot damn, I think you found yourself a keeper, Tuck!” Gregory bellowed
as he strode across the room and shook Lilliana by the shoulders.

He s
lapped her on the back brusquely, “Yes, I think this one will do just fine.”

Lilliana kicked herself for
her big mouth and wondered if her ass wouldn’t pay for her remark later. Gregory drug Lilliana to the kitchen chatting her ear off ,and Lilliana looked back at Tucker apologetically who was still reeling from her honest, though brazen, statement. She had said she wouldn’t lead his parents on and now her father was obviously thoroughly impressed with her. Lilliana decided to keep her mouth firmly closed the remainder of the visit and try her best to be a fly on the wall.

Several hours later both Gavin and Mason showed up and the house became a bubbling cauldron of laughter and love. Lilliana hung back and watched in awe. Tucker waited only a few minutes before thoroughly ripping into Gavin a
nd telling him the rules of engagement when it came to women and work, and about keeping his dick in his pants. That conversation led to Lilliana’s statement which Gregory was all too excited to tell them about. They all quieted and their eyes darted to Lilliana.

Mason was the first to greet her. Lilliana reached a hand out, but Mason pulled her close and hugged her tightly.

“Oh, sugar, that eye. You poor thing. I hear Tucker really walloped him good, though. Anyway, now we can have a real conversation. I have
so
much to tell you about Tucker. Don’t let him fool you, he’s not as aloof and innocent as he pretends,” he waggled his brows up and down.

Lilliana let out a short laugh. She was well aware that Tucker was not innocent and she had a few stories
of her own she could tell them, but she decided to let them keep their ideas of who they thought Tucker really was. Lilliana looked over Mason’s shoulder and smiled slyly at Tucker, and she was rewarded for her silence with a seductive lick of his lips and a wink.

“Lilly, darling. Do you know of anyone you might be able to set Mason up with,” Charlene called over Mason’s shoulder.

Mason’s mouth puckered into a frown and he rolled his eyes exaggeratedly at Lilliana.

“Yes, I think so. The dentist I work for is single,” Lilliana stated. Charlene’
s eyes widened with hope. Lilliana looked back to Mason who looked confused. “Dr. York is a wonderful man, Mason. Maybe I can introduce you two sometime,” she smiled slyly at Mason.

Tucker coughed and chuckled
, and Mason’s grin was so large it practically crowded everyone out of the room. Charlene huffed and went back to talking Tucker’s ear off.

“Lilly
from Kansas, you’re officially the shiz,” Mason gushed.

Gavin eventually made his way over and to her surprise, he was soft-spoken and sh
y. He was young and attractive with layered, short, light-brown hair, and with the same body type as Tucker and Mason; tall with a strong, lean physique. All his other attributes were like his father, including his piercing grey eyes. As for his smile, Lilliana had no doubt it had melted many a heart. He offered a polite hand but only made eye contact when Lilliana spoke directly to him. Lilliana was confused. This was the man who couldn’t keep his dick in his pants? Go-figure. It’s always the quiet ones you had to watch out for. If he was at all like Tucker, he had charm and charisma in spades.

Lilliana was
inexplicably able to keep her sarcasm in check the rest of the night. Tucker kept a firm hand on her at all times. He massaged circles on her back during dinner, and squeezed her thigh possessively during post-supper discussions. When they all eventually moved outside to the back deck, Lilliana kept her eyes glued to Tucker’s mouth, and dreamed of being crushed in his arms. The half-moon was shining vibrantly, the wind was blowing gently, and Tucker’s eyes sparkled in the lunar light. More than once Lilliana was caught ogling Tucker and she did her best to hide her obvious embarrassment. Tucker, too, kept glancing at her time and time again, and she couldn’t help but feel hopeful for their future. It must have been the atmosphere and her surroundings, but Lilliana allowed herself to daydream. 

Settling into the spare bedroom that was clearly designated for Tucker, Lilliana looked at all the ribbons of awards and trophies scattered around the room. There was a corkboard with high-school photos and Lilliana laughed loudly at Tucker’s dated hair style.

“I was hot, wasn’t I?” Tucker chuckled from behind her as he stripped down to his boxers and dug into his suitcase.

“Absolutely. It’s amazing how g
ood looking all the McGrath men are. You were all blessed with amazing genes. Your mother, too. She’s so pretty.”

“I’ll be
sure to tell her you said that,” Tucker stated proudly.

“So tell me, what does the G
stand for in your name?”

Tucker smirked and flashed his teeth. “Girthy.”

Not amused, Lilliana stared blankly at Tucker. “I’m serious.”

“Yeah, se
riously. I’m girthy. Want me to remind you?” he asked, gripping his cock through his pants.

“
Never mind,” Lilliana gave up, turning her back to retrieve her pajamas form her bag.

“It stands for Garrett.” Tucker’s voice deepened and became husky. “
So… how’s your ass feeling?”

Lilliana whirled around to see his usually brown eyes now black.

“I didn’t mean what I said, earlier,” Lilliana stammered.

Tucker smiled evilly. “Yes, you did. And I think that little remark deserves punishment. If I’m going to be accused of being brash, then I should live up to that.
”

Tucker pulled a hand out from behind his back and was holding a large wooden paddle.

“Where the hell did that come from?” Lilliana gasped, startled at the sheer size of it.

“I brought
it just in case I might need it.”

“Were you hoping to use that on me here
?” Lilliana countered breathlessly.

Tucker’s face
lit up. “Honestly, yes, but not for punishment.”

Lilliana
took a quick look at the paddle and turned away. Without Tucker instructing her on what to do, she leaned her upper body over the edge of bed, her chest resting on the plush, comforter. Her breathing became shallow and rapid in response to what Tucker was about to do; what she was allowing Tucker to do.  If Lilliana hadn’t felt so guilty about what she said, she would’ve put up a fight, but she had to admit to herself that, yes, she was deserving of some sort discipline for her wayward mouth. Lilliana attempted to tuck her arms beneath her for support.

“Hands behind your back, Lilly. Wrists locked.”

Lilliana was amazed at how authoritarian Tucker’s voice could sound and the sheer control he exuded when placed in the position of doling out punishment. He truly was a man with many layers.

Doing as she was told, Lilliana moved her hands to her lower back. Her heart beat uncontrollably. Why was she allowing this? Why did Tucker need this? Why did she need this? What if his parents heard her?

Tucker raised the paddle and Lilliana flinched, her body tensing up in preparation of her punishment.