Chapter 22

Eden

He's looking at me so intensely with his azure blue eyes my throat runs dry. And he's not being Mr. Jokey right now. He's actually serious.

"Brook…"

He places his finger over my lips and holds it there. I try not to shudder from his touch. "You don't have to say anything right now. Take all the time you need. I know it's a lot. I don't know the finer details either, only that the spark hasn't died for me, Eden. I'm not sure it ever will."

"I feel it too, Brook. I just worry about all the other factors."

"Just give the idea a chance before you write it off as too hard," he asks, lowering his tone as I watch the movement of his lips.

"Okay."

"Can I ask now how you slipped in the bath?"

"It wasn't reaching for my vibrator, if that's what you think."

He chuckles. "You sure?"

"My cell was ringing off the hook. It was Kirk. He rang a few times before you did."

"I wonder what the fucker wants."

"Well, he's blocked now so I guess we'll never know."

"He's such an asshole."

The fact Brook thinks that makes me feel better somehow. "You knew it all along," I sigh.

"I'm still sorry you got hurt."

"Lucky I didn't go and marry the guy, huh." I laugh without humor.

"Bad joke, wifey."

"Be a good hubs and help me up," I try to joke back with him.

His eyes smile. "You'll go to the hospital?"

"Yeah. They might give me something for the pain. I think my left side is a little swollen."

"I'll grab you some clothes."

"Thanks, Brookie."

There's that famous smile again. I watch him walk back to my bedroom and come back with some sweats and some underwear. He picked some fancy lacy ones of course, the kind I don't reach for all too much.

"Seriously?" I twirl the barely there lace panties around on my finger.

"I grabbed the first thing I could find," he says, holding his hands up in surrender, attempting at an innocent face but his eyes quickly spark.

"Yeah, yeah."

"Do you need a hand putting them on?"

I throw him a look, half-amused, half-withering. It's true when I said I don't know what to do with him.

"Fine." He chuckles. "Just trying to help."

I shimmy them on under my robe while Brook searches around for my sneakers.

"Do you think you can walk?" he asks when he comes back.

"I don't think I want to put any weight on that side," I admit.

"I'll carry you to the car."

"You seem to be doing a lot of that lately." I give Noodle a pat and tell her mommy won't be long.

"At least, in the last week anyway." He purses his lips for effect, then scoops me up again.

"Ow!"

"Sorry."

I wrap my arms around his neck as he walks up the hall and one-handedly unlatches the door. I take a moment to press my face into his chest, reveling in his gorgeous, masculine scent. It's so familiar and sexy, and everything Brook. I've missed it so much.

When he pulls the door open, we both shriek at the same time.

Kirk is standing there right in front of us, about to knock on the door.

Holy shit!

He gapes with his jaw just about hanging on the floor when he sees us both. And I'm in Brook's arms, no less.

"What the hell!" Brook gruffs, his tone showing exactly how he's feeling.

I think if he wasn't holding me in his arms, he'd probably have lashed out and punched Kirk already.

"What are you doing here?" I shriek.

Kirk is immediately caught off guard, if his scowl is anything to go by. "What are you two doing?" He glares at me, then Brook.

"None of your Goddamn business!" Brook shouts.

And so the showdown begins.

"You came all the way here to ask me that?" I balk incredulously at Kirk.

Brook barges past him, almost knocking him out of the way as he pulls the front door shut behind him and strides over to his truck. He unlocks it, somehow still holding me, and slides me onto the passenger seat.

"She's hurt, you idiot. Can't you see that?" Brook is seething. I feel the heat and anger radiating from him, if his icy tone isn't anything to go by, his rigid body language sure is.

"I just want to talk to her, she won't answer my —"

I'm tempted to block my ears to try and drown him out, not that it would do any good.

"Can you blame me?" I interrupt. "I told you to leave me the fuck alone, Kirk, and I meant it!"

"You hear that?" Brook says, turning to him and standing tall and protective in front of my door. "She doesn't want to talk to you. Heck, she doesn't even want to see you."

"This is between me and her!" Kirk has the audacity to shout.

I facepalm myself. I could not have anticipated this if I'd tried, but I'm shocked at how this is all unfolding right in front of me. I watch in horror as Brook steps towards him and grabs him by the shirt.

"Brook!" I yell. "Don't. It's not worth it."

"Oh, it's worth it to me, Baby Doll, trust me," Brooklyn grits, glancing my way with the door still wedged open. He turns back to Kirk and shoves him backwards. "You're a piece of shit do you know that!"

"You couldn't wait to just jump in, could you?" Kirk spits, stupidly undeterred. "No wonder she was holding out on me. I bet she was fucking you all along!"

My eyes bug wide. Great, why doesn't he just yell everything out for the whole neighborhood to hear. And also, I can't get over his rudeness!

"How fucking dare you!" Brook yells back. "Don't ever talk that way about my wife, you got it?"

"Wife!" Kirk sneers. "You've got to be kidding me."

"Nothing was going on with Brook," I yell from the car. "So back off, Kirk. He's more of a man than you will ever be."

"This is unbelievable!" Kirk glares at me again. "Did you want this hick cowboy all along? Is that it?"

"Maybe I did!"

"So you wouldn't fuck me, but you're happy to throw one to your ex-husband!"

"Husband!" Brook and I both shout at him in tandem. That part would almost be comical if it wasn't playing out like a soap opera.

"You were fine to take things slow at the time!" I shout. "I'm sure glad I did now! And I told you, nothing happened with me and Brook, not that I need to explain that to you."

"And don't fucking talk to her like that." Brook gives him another shove.

Kirk is clearly confused over the whole husband thing but I'm not explaining anything to him. He can think whatever he wants for all I care. He takes a step towards Brook so they're face to face.

"She's not a cheating scumbag like you." I can tell Brook is losing patience. He's a pretty level-headed guy so it takes a lot to get him riled. "So kindly get back in your car and fuck off back to Georgia. I've said it once, I won't say it again."

Kirk laughs without humor. "Or what?"

"That pretty boy face won't look so pretty by the time I'm done with it."

Oh here we go, and I'm helpless to stop them bickering back and forth like schoolboys.

"Is that so?"

"You know it, jerk. I knew all along that you were no good for her."

"Oh, and you think you're better? What was it you said about hog calling or was it tractor maintenance?"

Now I really do facepalm myself, pressing my hand to my forehead in hope I can somehow block this out from unfolding. Has Kirk gone completely crazy? He's no match for Brook who towers over him and is as wide as a barn. And Brook meant that hog/tractor thing as a joke at the party.

Brook is also very successful in his own right, something Kirk never took the time to hear when I explained to him in the past about the Bassett Distillery.

"Fucking hilarious, Mr. Hotshot."

"Brook, let's go!" I call. "We need to get to the hospital."

"I knew it was too good to be true. Saying you're friends with your ex-husband, what a crock of shit!"

"Say whatever you want if it makes you feel better about being a cheater," I holler. "We don't have time for this, I'm in pain. We need to go."

"Got that?" Brook stands in his way with his hands on his hips.

"Fuck you!" Kirk spits. "You and that bitch are welcome to each other, you know that!"

I stare with an open mouth. Before I can even blink, Brook spins, draws his arm back and punches Kirk right in the face. "That's my wife!"

Kirk's head flies back, then he doubles over in pain, clutching his nose, blood already spurting everywhere.

It's a good punch, I have to say, and violence isn't something I normally condone.

"That freaking hurt!" he wails, but thankfully starts backing away. "I'm calling the sheriff!"

"Oh, you do that," Brook throws back, not looking one bit phased by the punch, or by his threat. "Can you remind Travis he owes me a drink after I won the last game of pool down at Moose's?"

Kirk is almost in his car now anyway.

"Don't come around here again." Brook points at him.

"You're welcome to each other!" Kirk is trying to stop his nosebleed using the sleeve of his fancy, probably designer, shirt.

"Good riddance!" I call out. I am shocked by the showdown, but I also want him gone.

He starts his car — hopefully getting blood all over the interior of his Mercedes — and backs out, taking off into the night. I can only thank my lucky stars that Blake wasn't here.

Brook closes my door and walks around to the driver's side and jumps in.

He glances at me as I finally take my hands from my mouth where they were covering it in shock when Brook punched him.

"Wow," I say. "That was intense. I can't believe that just happened."

"I hope I broke his goddamned nose. The guy just wasn't getting the hint."

"I don't understand how I'm the bitch in all of this either?"

"Some people's egos will never understand that it's never them that's done anything wrong. He's gone, E. I don't think you need to worry about him anymore. Now, baby doll, I need to get you to the hospital."

We get to see Dr McCarthy pretty quickly and I'm given the all clear. Just some jarring and bruising, but nothing is broken, thank goodness.

He gives me some pain meds and we finally head home after a more than dramatic evening. We stop by the Burger Stop for two veggie burgers and fries, as I said I'd try the plant based one with him.

"What a night," I sigh when we're a few minutes from home.

"I'm sorry if that scared you. The guy was asking for it."

"Those things he said," I murmur, still in shock from the confrontation.

Brook's eyes graze over me softly. "I told you, he's an ass. One you won't need to worry about again. I've already let Travis know what happened while you were seeing the doctor. If he really does want to take it further, we have those texts, missed calls, and the fact he showed up at your door. Though I think we've seen the last of him."

"I meant about not sleeping with him."

"Oh." Brook looks at me for a moment, pressing his lips together.

"Yeah, oh."

"So, you really were taking it slow?"

"Yeah, I didn't want to jump straight in without getting to know him. It's been a long time since…"

"I'm glad." He lets out a breath. "I know I shouldn't say that, but I am."

"Brook?"

"Yeah, E?"

"That was sexy the way you stuck up for me."

He halts at the stop sign, his eyes diverting to mine. I see the gentle rise and fall of his breathing in the still of the cab as my eyes flick down to his broad chest. I have the urge to run my hands across that sexy rim of his collar bones and trail them down his body, feeling every inch of him as I go. He pauses and I notice in the side mirror that there's no one behind us, or in sight for that matter. "Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"You don't think I'm a country hick who loves hog calling?" He tilts his head.

"You have been known for your skills in tractor maintenance." I giggle. It's really no laughing matter, but if I didn't laugh, I might cry. That was so rude of Kirk. Luckily Brook is pretty thick skinned. "And hogs are similar to pigs, right? So maybe that's not a bad thing at all. Mandy is proof of that."

He regards me now with new, appreciative eyes, ones that still sparkle in the darkness and send waves of heat straight to my core. It's like a jolt of electricity, the chemistry buzzing between us like a live wire. So much so, I have to look away.

"I'll always stick up for you," he says, his voice suddenly husky. "That you can be assured of. And now I know you find it sexy…"

"Hey, don't make a habit of it. I mean, punching him was pretty extreme. But I admit, you looked hot while doing it."

He grins and I realize I just called him both sexy and hot within a matter of minutes. "I can't believe the nerve of that guy," he says.

I edge closer to him on the seat, shuffling my sore body slowly. He still hasn't moved the truck from the stop sign. "It made me feel a little…" I stop myself. No, that's wrong to feel like that from Kirk getting hit in the face. Isn't it?

"Like what, Baby Doll?"

My teeth grip my bottom lip and look up at him. My hand reaches to his thigh and I give it a squeeze with eager fingers. Fingers that want more, so much more.

I don't know what I think I'm doing, but one thing is for sure, I love the way Brook is so protective over me.

"Fuck, E." His quiet groan encourages me to reach up to kiss him on the cheek, because that's all I'm brave enough for, especially while the car is still running. But he turns his face at the last second so his lips land on mine.

"Brookie!" I squeal, pulling back ever so slightly.

He laughs, his warm breath on my cheek. "You pretty much said my protectiveness turned you on, and that I'm sexy. You really wanna kiss me on the cheek?"

My panties are telling me I want to do a whole lot more with a wet buzz between my thighs. I bite my lip again and shake my head to his question, going back in for another. His lips are soft and sweet, sending tingles down my spine, rippling their way to my core. He makes a sexy noise in the back of his throat as he deepens the kiss, his lips working some new kind of magic and I sigh into his mouth. He's about to switch angles when we hear a honk behind us and we both jump. Then we burst out laughing. Neither of us saw or heard a car come up behind us.

"Fuck." Brook quickly pulls himself together and rolls forwards as we continue on the next couple of blocks back to my house. When he parks, he shuts the engine off and immediately turns to me, his weight shifting in the seat as it crunches. It may be dark in the truck, but I can see his hungry eyes in the moonlight never leaving mine. "You wanna tell me again what you found so sexy and hot about your husband?" he murmurs, moving a strand of hair from my face with his big fingers and tucking it behind my ear. No matter how large he may be, he still knows how to be gentle.

I squeeze my thighs together at his touch and the way he says your husband. "You," I say simply, glad that he can't let it go. "Just you, Brook."

He grins, his tongue dusting his bottom lip briefly. Then he bends his neck and reaches down to kiss me again. I smack his arm lightly before he makes contact and he stops mid-kiss. "You want the whole neighborhood seeing us?"

"It's dark." He laughs. "And who's going to be looking?"

"Well, I'm sure my friendly neighbors are up to speed with everything going on in my life after Kirk showed up."

"Might as well give them dinner and a show," he muses.

I hit him playfully again.

"Ow." He rubs his arm.

"That didn't hurt."

"You know, come to think of it, you never minded our truck activities in the past."

"Well, things might have changed since then," I say. I did hand him my virginity on a golden platter in the back of my Jeep way back when.

"Nah, I don't think so."

"Cocky much?" I can't help but smile. Things sure have taken a turn tonight, in more ways than one. The situation with Kirk wasn't great, neither was falling and hurting myself from the bathtub. But once again, Brook is here and he's made everything better.

Just like he always does. Cocky and all.

I know that if the buzz in my body and in my entire being is anything to go by, I'm falling again.

Big time.

Maybe I fell long ago, but I just never realized it.

"Did you say cock?" Brook jibes, poking me in the ribs on my not sore side.

I punch him again lightly in the same spot. "You!"

"You love it really."

Maybe I do