Page 61 of The Grizzly Situation
“And I’ll do it again later, if you’d like.” I smirked and leaned in closer. “Would you like me to kiss you later, Brent?”
A slow smile spread over his face. “Oh, I’m so very sure I’d enjoy that.”
BRENT
I lickedmy lips again as I picked up the phone. Kissing Uly was akin to sticking my tongue into an electrical outlet. He fried my damn brain, and I wanted more of it. Lots more. It wasn’t even about sex—well, okay, notjustabout sex. It was sitting in the great room, a fire roaring to warm us while we continued our conversations with a cup of tea, a couple of sleeping kids, and spending time simply talking to each other.
Although sex would be nice too. Having looked at Uly’s ass, it would be really,reallynice.
The kiss had been an accident. I was so comfortable and did it without a second thought. As soon as our lips touched, I knew I’d screwed up, but Uly? He surprised me by deepening the kiss, showing me he enjoyed it. God, I needed to have him.
I shook my head to get rid of the carnal thoughts. That was impossible. All I could envision was being in bed with Uly, our limbs tangled as we mauled each other’s mouths, mingled our sweat and other bodily fluids, the look on his face when I pushed into him, the sweet whimpers as our bodies rocked together, and the urgency of his cries as he orgasmed.
Fuck, now I was harder than I had been in years. Good to know the ol’ boy still worked.
I pushed down on the thoughts. I had a job to do, and I needed to ensure it got done as soon as possible. I entered my office and closed the door behind me. Taking out my phone, I scrolled through the contacts, finding myself grateful that HR entered all employees in our list. I found the one I wanted, then tapped it and sat in my black leather chair to wait. It didn’t take long before there was an answer.
“Mr. Lockhart? Is everything okay? There’s not something wrong with Uly, is there?” came Jamie’s panicked voice that was rising in pitch.
“No, everything is fine with Uly and there’s nothing wrong. I was hoping we could talk.”
“Has one of us done something wrong?”
Man, being the boss sucked, because people always assumed they’d done something to mess up and you were about to lower the hammer on them.
“No one has done anything wrong,” I promised. “I would like to talk to you about Uly, but it’s not anything where there is something that isn’t right. However, being his closest relative, I wanted to have a conversation with you about…. Um. I’d like totalk to you about seeing Uly in the future. Is that acceptable to you?”
He was quiet for so long I thought he’d disconnected the call.
“I’m sorry, did you say you wanted to see my brother? Outside of work?”
“Well, I… Yes, that’s what I said. I wanted to ensure it was okay with you.”
He chuckled, then called out to Deb, who rushed in from wherever she’d been.
“What’s up?”
“Mr. Lockhart is asking permission to see Uly in a non-work kind of way.”
“Hewhat?”
I sat listening to them discuss it. Deb seemed oddly excited about the prospect, which made me happy. Finally Jamie came back.
“Mr. Lockhart, my brother is a big boy. If he wants to see you?—”
“I don’t want to see him. I want to date him.” I coughed to cover my nervousness. “I don’t want there to be any misunderstanding. I want to date your brother.”
“And why are you asking me?”
Damn you, Chaim. You’re the one who told me to ask. If you’re fucking with me…. “I want to know what he likes. What are his favorite foods? What can I do to really wow him? I was hoping you could give me some pointers.” I sighed. “I’ll be honest, I haven’t had a date or anything else since Jenna, my late wife, died. So it’s been more than a few years. I’m rusty and out of practice, not that I was ever really in practice. For the most part, it was a lot more theory than anything else. Jenna was the one who led me through the trials and tribulations. She always teased if she’d left me to my own devices we would never have gotten past hello.”
“Are you saying you’re socially inept?” Deb asked, her voice akin to a smirk.
Of course I was. Always had been. “I won’t deny it. I’m okay in the boardroom, but personal interactions always confuse me, because I never know what people want. Yes, I can make a decision and steamroll ahead with it, but there will always be that niggle in the back of my head that I made the wrong choice. I don’t want to do that with Uly.”
“I understand,” Jamie said. “Uly is very special. He likes to be needed, because he never felt that way before. Our parents, his bosses, pretty much everyone in his life—me included—were forever protecting him. He doesn’t need that now. What he needs is to be shown he can be an equal partner to someone. To prove to them he’s not incompetent or useless, as he’s always thought.”
“He isn’t,” I assured them. “Uly has one of the most giving natures of anyone I know. He made my boys feel safe with just his presence alone. They opened up to him in a way they haven’t with anyone—even me.”
