Entice (Brooklet Dreams Book 4)
ENTICE
BROOKLET DREAMS #4
C. A. HARMS
CONTENTS
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Epilogue
Sneak Peek
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Also by C. A. Harms
Copyright @ 2022 C.A. Harms All Rights Reserved
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and other elements portrayed herein are either the product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to real persons or events is coincidental.
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior permission of the author. If you should do so, legal action may be taken to protect the author and their work
Sometimes you make the wrong choices that eventually lead you to all the right ones.
PROLOGUE
Grace
* * *
I’ve spent my life under the protection of two of the most unbearable, unreasonable, and controlling men. My father and my brother treat me like I’m made of glass. I’m not a diva, I’ve never been a girl to wait for any man to open the door for me, I can do that shit on my own. I don’t like to be fawned over; I can handle myself.
But in their eyes they think I’m still a ten-year-old girl who needs protection. I lost those pigtails and ballet flats a long time ago.
I am tough. I am strong, and damn it, it was about time everyone stopped seeing me as the baby. I had to assure them all I’m not a child. I’m a woman, a woman with needs, and if they don’t like it, well, they can just look the other way.
Grace Jackson is about to stop hiding out, she is about to step out of the shadows and show everyone who she really is, like it or not.
And if Terrance Taylor doesn’t open his eyes and man up soon, then I’ll find a man who will.
I’m over this game of cat and mouse. If he can’t admit that he feels something for me, then it’s his loss. If he won’t face the fact that he wants his best friends younger sister then I know somewhere out there there’ll be a guy that won’t allow my brother or father to scare him off.
He’ll be sorry he let me go, that I can promise.
CHAPTER
ONE
Grace
* * *
Best night ever.
Okay so maybe not the best night but I was finally away from my father and brother Rhett, and for once I don’t have them hovering over me, forcing me to stand on the sidelines.
AJ was right I am like a ticking time bomb. I’ve been forced to remain all proper and quiet, but damn it I’m a vessel of pent-up frustration and I am going to ignite if I can’t let out a little wild desire.
Right now, it is flowing like the streams in the mountains of Tennessee, and I don’t need alcohol because I already feel high from it all.
“Are those sequined underwear?” AJ whispers from somewhere in the room, but I can’t look away. We’re in Statesboro, locked in a hotel room, with male strippers and neither one of the men in my family are here to kill the moment. I plan on enjoying every single second. And to answer her question, oh yes, they are most definitely sequined and my eyes are loving it. “I think they’re see through.” She adds and it’s then that I look toward her. She leans in to get a closer look at the two men in front of us, then Chloe grabs her shirt and pulls her backward.
She flops against the couch cushions with a thud and her head lobs to the side as she tries to bring everything into focus.
“Don’t get too close, you might lose an eye the way it’s flopping around.” Chloe tells her and AJ’s eyes widen.
“That would be a hard one to explain to Rhett.” AJ says as she breaks out in a fit of giggles. “Hard.” She points to the blond guy’s cock, and I bite my lip to hide my smile. She is toasted.
“This is amazing.” I stand on the coffee table, my arms stretch out and wrap securely around the brunette stripper. His hair feels so soft, as I comb my fingers through the long ends. “I’m never leaving this hotel room.” I was completely sober, not one drop of alcohol but the freedom of the night was intoxicating enough.
As the stripper steps back my hands fall away from him, and I feel disappointed. That was until he reaches out for me and helps me down from the coffee table. Spinning me in a circle I laugh and he smiles. My back to his front as he once again begins to move against me, and I gasp when I feel his hardness against my ass. His breath on my shoulder, his hand on my hip, it is all so much.
I close my eyes and allow myself to imagine the man behind me is someone else. Someone I’ve dreamt of often.
A loud pounding on the door breaks through the daze I’ve found myself in and I look over toward the door just as Maddy moves in that direction. When she pulls open the door I know my eyes have to be as wide as saucers when I see Landon on the opposite side. I look around the room for Chloe, as her man seethes a warning.
Suddenly the room becomes a crazy scramble of bodies like their asses are on fire.
The strippers are being ushered out of the room and Landon moves inside and looks around frantically. Then he is gone, disappearing into the bedroom.
I’m just about to ask what in the hell is happening when the door flies open once more and there staring at all of us is Mikey and Rhett. Even though they are both angry, their nostrils flaring as they take us all in, it’s the person just behind them that I can’t look away from.
Terrance is a fun-loving guy, always finding the good in the bad, and doing what he can to ease the tension of the moment and make people smile. It’s one of the things I truly love about him, but not tonight. No, tonight he reminds me of Rhett and every other hot-headed male in my family.
His jaw flexes in anger; his eyes narrow as he stares at no one but me.
“Strippers Maddison, really?” Mike’s angry voice makes me jump.
“What in the fuck were you all thinking?” Rhett, my brother, shoves past Mike and walks toward AJ. Bending down he immediately realizes how drunk she is, and he looks up finding me in the crowd. His nostrils flaring again
while glaring at me.
“I’m not a baby Rhett,” I don’t know what I thought I’d accomplish by yelling back at him, he is a bull-headed asshole who thinks I should be locked away in my room playing barbies. I am not eight years old damn it.
“I’m not doing this,” I throw my hands up in the air and spin around, trying to find an escape. I’ll sit in a closet to escape him if I have to.
I could hear the sounds of angry footsteps behind me as I reach the bathroom. “I don’t want to hear it Rhett.” I don’t even look at him before moving into the bathroom and turning around to shut the door. Only it’s not Rhett I come face to face with.
“Do you realize what could have happened?” Terrance steps closer and I step back. “Is that the kind of thing you like? Half-naked men dancing around in front of you, making you feel like you are the only fucking girl in the world.”
“Well, that last part sounds nice.” I shrug which only manages to make him more irritated. This is a side I’m not used to seeing from Terrance.
Frustration pours off of him as he stares at me, his jaw clenching over and over while he fights against whatever it is building inside of him.
“You can just go now; I will hear enough about this from every male member of my family. I don’t need a lecture from you too.”
“I’m pretty sure your mom is gonna have something to say about this,” he isn’t lying but the way he is looking at me is making my stomach tense and my heart race, and not in a good way.
“I’m eighteen, when is everyone gonna get that. I’m not a baby.”
“Believe me I know,” when he says this I stop my ramble.
“What is that supposed to mean?” When he doesn’t answer me and instead looks toward the floor I move across the small space and stand closer to him. “Terrance?”
“Grace,” he says my name and I can tell he wants to say more. Lifting my hand, I place my palm on his chest and instantly he lifts his own hand to cover mine. “We can’t.” He doesn’t sound so sure.
Those are the same words he’s been saying since the very first time he said that I batted my eyelashes at him and gave him my flirty smile. I had no idea I was even doing it. Now I was fully aware of it and maybe it was the rush of the night, the last hour and a half of male strippers dancing to the fast rhythm of the music and the relaxed state I was in before all these damn gorilla’s showed up, but what I do know is I am tired of being treated like a toddler.
CHAPTER
TWO
Terrance
* * *
“We can,” Grace whispers, fisting my shirt and closing the small distance between us. I know if I lift my head I will find her pouty lips and gorgeous eyes; only inches from me. “Stop thinking about it so much and just do what you want to for a change.”
Without thinking it through I lift my gaze and instantly regret it. Not because Grace isn’t beautiful to look at, but because seeing her only makes it harder to resist.
She’s right, she is eighteen, but I’m twenty-two and she’s Rhett’s little sister. I’ve watched her grow up and yes, I’ve seen her turn into a gorgeous woman, dropping the pigtails and braces. She is no longer the cute kid that would someday became an incredible woman, she is now that woman. She is so much more than I ever imagined her to be. She knows she’s a knockout, and right now I can feel my control slipping fast. “Is it my brother?” she says moving away from me.
“And your father, your uncles, Mike, hell even Landon. It’s all of them Grace, you are my best friends little sister. You’re eighteen and I’m—,”
“A coward,” she says the words bringing all my reasoning to a halt. “I am tired of people treating me like a baby. I am not innocent little Grace with her head stuck in the clouds I am someone with needs, just like everyone else. I want to be touched, kissed...” Grace is breathing fast and all I can concentrate on is her words. No one will touch her, fuck the idea alone infuriates me. I could barely contain myself when I found out she was in a hotel room with strippers. She isn’t mine, but I still wanted to kill the fuckers for being near her.
“I’m tired of everyone treating me like I’m made of glass. I’m tired of everyone thinking I am untouchable because of the team of gorilla’s that surround me. At this point I’m gonna run off and find some stranger to—,”
Before I can stop myself I’m moving across the room and grabbing her, pulling her body flush to mine. My mouth covers hers and instantly I taste strawberries. I fucking love strawberries.
She gasps but is suddenly drawn into the kiss and balls my shirt in her hands. Her lips part and my tongue traces her lip before entering her mouth to seek her own. Damn she can kiss, the kind of kiss that makes it impossible to stop, one you can feel in every part of your body.
Gliding my hand down her back, over her hip, pausing at her ass, I give it a squeeze, pulling her closer. She feels incredible pressed against me, as my hunger takes over I know if I don’t stop I’ll have her pressed against a wall in seconds. Leaning away I find her breathing in deep, trying to regain her composure.
Grace lifts her hand and holds her fingers to her lips. They’re red and swollen from our kiss.
“I’m not a coward Grace, I’m weak. I know if I touch you the way I truly want to, the way I’ve dreamt about, I’ll never be able to stop.” I’ve never wanted any one person more than I want her. But it’s wrong, I’ll risk losing my best friend and my job if I let this go on any further.
“Then don’t stop.” Her beauty physically pains me. She says she’s not made of glass, but truth be told she is like the most precious China doll, almost like her features where etched to perfection. Blonde hair, skin that has a natural tan, and those eyes, her eyes kill me every single time. The shade of blue is by far the most unique shade I’ve ever seen, like staring into the endless ocean. An aqua blue, with a touch of emerald.
Lifting my hand to her face, I trace over her lower lip with my thumb and fight the urge to kiss her again. I never imagined sweet Grace to conquer a kiss the way she just did. Her lips to mine, her tongue dancing with my own, it was a zing from head to toe that set me on fire.
“I have to respect Rhett and your father,” stopping this is the hardest thing I have ever had to do. “But most of all I have to respect you.”
With that I drop my hand and turn around, leaving her. Each step feels like the biggest mistake because I know this will only make her hate me. Leaving her feels like I’m pushing her into the hands of another, and that terrifies me.
“What’s this?” I ask Rhett as we pull to a stop in front of my apartment, and he passes me a wad of cash.
“We all threw in some money to cover the cost of the room you put on your card.”
Holding my hand out I tried to pass it back to him. Guilt over what happened between Grace and me is weighing heavy on me. I can barely look at Rhett.
“Really, it’s fine.”
“It’s not,” he refuses the money. “You didn’t have to be there, hell you have nothing that ties you to the situation, yet you were there. You are always there to back me up, even if you don’t have to be and I appreciate it.”
My chest grows tight, and I fight the urge to confess that I kissed Grace .
Rhett is a stand-up guy, a straight shooter. He has never crossed me, never not been there when I needed him, yet I mauled his eighteen-year-old sister one room over from him.
Shits not right.
“You shouldn’t have to foot the bill man,” I nod knowing that arguing with him will get me nowhere. “I have a feeling things are gonna be hell over the next few days, so let us do this.”
He had that right; Mikey was unsettled and with Maddison being pregnant I think that only made matters worse. He was so careful with her, even more so now. That man was a bottle of pent-up anger that couldn’t pop.
“Thanks for soothing Grace.”
“Um,” I cleared my throat, “what?”
“She was pissed I know, and I didn’t have the time to deal
with her and AJ. So I appreciate it.”
Trigger the guilt once again. I am an asshole.
“No problem man.”
“I know she can be a handful,” he has no fucking idea.
CHAPTER
THREE
Grace
* * *
When we pull into the driveway at my home I can already see my father sitting on the front steps of the porch. My mother is pacing behind him, and I know that means she is nervous. She knows how my father and my brother are and yes, she’s worried about me, but she’s also torn between them and me. It is always the same, she understands I’ve grown up and deserve to live my life, but they still seen me as little Grace.
I’m not sure that will ever change.
Mikey drove me, because I refused to get in the truck with Rhett, and Terrance. Not that Mikey was much better but at lease he was in the brooding stage and did most of the ride in silence.