Chapter One
Verity
“Stupid fucking dillhole, fucking can’t make up his mind. Doesn't want to be with me but won’t let a guy close enough to touch me. Getting all huffy puffy when men come around me. Motherfucker!” I mumble to myself as I stomp away from the most infuriating man I have ever met. I have been up for the last twenty-four hours working my ass off to make sure my big brother’s wedding was perfect.
Who the fuck has a wedding on a Wednesday anyway? Oh well, doesn't matter. It’s done and if it makes my brother happy, I’ll do it. I rocked the shit out of that wedding and now I am running on fumes.
“Ty, Uncle Gage has new cows! Baby cows, Ty! They are soooo cute.” I turn to see my sweet munchkin squealing as she comes running up to me. I can't help the smile that breaks free. She really is my everything, I have only been her nanny for a year but somewhere along the way I stopped thinking of her as just Donnie’s and started thinking of her as mine too.
“Oh, my goodness, well I think you're going to have to show me these baby cows,” I say as I grab her hand. She practically drags me over to the pasture and points out her favorite one. Thank God I live in heels or I would have broken my ankle on the way over here.
“Look Ty, isn't he cute? I am going to name him Sprinkles.” I hide my laugh as I look down at her. Only she would come up with a name like that for a male brown cow.
“That's a perfect name baby.” I say smiling down at her
“Do you want to name one?” She asks looking up at me with her big brown eyes. I put my finger to my lips and pretend like I'm thinking.
“Okay, but you have to help me pick a name. You pick the best names.” She gives me a huge smile.
“Which one do you like?” I say as she turns back around to look at the baby cows, until she finds one she likes.
“I like that one.” She points to a little black one, who is looking at us with his head tilted.
“That one is perfect. What should we call him? Milkshake?”
Giggling, she shakes her head no. “He looks like a brownie, we should call him that.”
“That sounds awesome. He most definitely looks like a brownie.” She turns around and beams up at me.
“When do we get cake? I love cake. What kind is it? Can I have two pieces?” I laugh and pick her up, sitting her on my hip as she asks a million questions at once.
“How about we go see how long it'll be til we can have some. I think that it is a chocolate cake. You can have one piece.” She juts out her lip and gives me those sad puppy dog eyes.
“But I want two, pleeease.” She begs.
“One and then you can have something when we get home.” She sighs dramatically and wraps her arms around my neck.
“Fine.” She really is the cutest thing ever. I start kissing her all over her face and she immediately starts to squeal and giggle. I can't help but giggle along with her. Her laughter is contagious and fills my heart with so much joy. I couldn't imagine life without her or her infuriating dad. I love them both, but fuck, he is making me question my sanity.
When I stop, she hugs me tight and I start walking towards the house. By the time we make it there, she is passed out with her head resting against my shoulder. I bypass everyone and go straight to the spare bedroom.
I've been to Gage's house over a hundred times, so I know exactly where I'm going. When I get into the room, I shut the door and go to put Victoria on the bed. She hugs me tighter in her sleep. She buries her face into my neck like she doesn't want me to let her go. She does this almost every night. I know it is because of her mother walking away from their family. Before me, she didn't have a stable mother figure. She was a shy little thing that didn't know whether to keep her distance or let me in. Luckily it was the latter. Now if only I could get her dad to stop being so stubborn.
“Shh... It’s okay Love Bug, I got you.” I whisper, rubbing her back, and she relaxes against me. I lay her down and take her shoes off before covering her up with a blanket. Giving her a kiss on the head I turn around only to let out a small gasp.
“Damnit D, I told you to stop doing that!” I hiss at him. I am still pissed at him for the little stunt he pulled at the wedding.
“She really loves you.” He states, not acknowledging that he just snuck up on me again. I raise a brow and fold my arms.
“Of course, she does, she isn't stupid like some people I know.”
The words are out of my mouth before I can take them back, my eyes go big. Oh fuck, damn my temper is going to get the best of me one of these days. He folds his arms and I bite my lip as I see his huge arms flex as he does. God! I want so badly to feel those strong arms around me. I expect him to say something, well, actually it's more of a hope. A hope that is slowly dying each time he tells me that we can’t be together. We stand there for a few seconds just staring at each other when he doesn't say anything I shake my head.
“I gotta go, I’ll be late tonight. Don't wait up.” I say as I make my way around him and head for the open door.
“Wait!” He says and lightly grabs my arm. I turn to look up at him.
“What?” I meant it to come out strong and confident, but it comes out shaky at the feeling of his hand on my skin.
“Why are you going to be late?”
“Why does it matter? You don’t have work, I will be home tonight and be ready to take Vic to school in the morning.”
“Verity.” Hell, I love when his voice goes all deep like that. A shiver runs through my bo
dy as I picture him using that voice as I am bent over his knee, his hand on my ass. My pussy floods at the thought of his big hands all over me. I feel myself flush, I might be a virgin but that doesn't mean I don't know what I want in the bedroom. My daydream is interrupted when he clears his throat and moves his hand away.
“Why are you going to be late?” I don't know why the words come out but something in me must have snapped.
“I am going on a date,” I state matter-of-factly. I have no intention of actually going on a date because for some reason I'm in love with this big oaf, but he doesn't need to know that and technically I'm not lying I mean if you call going to study with Trinity a date then sure I’m going on a date. His eyes flash and his nostrils flare, “What?” He growls out as he stalks towards me. I don't move, just jut my chin out and stand my ground.
“You heard me. You don’t want me, and I am tired of pinning after you like a lost little puppy. If you don’t want me, I will find someone who does.”
Chapter Two
Donnie
The hell she is going on a date, I will kill any man who tries to touch what’s mine. Some men say that but in truth, they will most likely just kick someone's ass. When I say it, I mean it? I walk up to her until we are almost touching. Fuck, she smells like peaches and sin and the way she just sticks out her chin at me, not backing down has me wanting to pull her flat against my body and devour that sassy mouth of hers before turning her around and spanking her little ass for tempting me.
Ever since she walked in my front door last year, I have been in a constant state of arousal. Her luscious body would bring any man to his knees and her fiery temper has me rock hard. I want her like my next breath, but she is too young. too innocent, and way too sweet to be with a man like me. Be with a man that wants to do such filthy things to her tempting body.
At first, I thought that my attraction to Verity was just because of her amazing body but over time the lust turned into love. I fell in love with the small things. The way she laughs at her own jokes, her ability to find joy in the little things. How she seems to put everyone else first. The way she seems to know just what to say when I have had a hard day at work. Most of all is the way she is with Victoria. She treats her like she is her own. My baby girl loves her as much as I do.
I’ve spent the last year thinking that I can't risk losing her. I need her in my life too much to risk losing it all if we didn't work out. I would rather love her from afar then lose her altogether. Simply accepting the fact that I could settle for friendship, now none of that seems to matter. I didn't claim her and now she is going out with another man. As if there is a magnetic pull between us she leans in closer to me and licks her lips. When she feels my hard length against her soft stomach, she gasps.
“Why are you fighting this so hard, D? You have to know how I feel about you. How can you just so easily walk away from us, away from what we could be?”