Brother's Best Friend_An Older Man Younger Woman Romance Read online

  BROTHER’S BEST FRIEND

  AN OLDER MAN YOUNGER WOMAN ROMANCE

  _______________________

  A MAN WHO KNOWS WHAT HE WANTS, 50

  FLORA FERRARI

  CONTENTS

  Copyright

  A Man Who Knows What He Wants Series

  Brother's Best Friend

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Epilogue

  Extended Epilogue

  Series

  COPYRIGHT

  Copyright © 2018 by Flora Ferrari.

  All Rights Reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  The following story contains mature themes, strong language and sexual situations. It is intended for mature readers.

  A MAN WHO KNOWS WHAT HE WANTS

  Book 1: Baby Lust

  Book 2: Veteran

  Book 3: Built

  Book 4: Bambino

  Book 5: Rescued

  Book 6: Leader

  Book 7: Professor

  Book 8: Burned

  Book 9: Worldly

  Book 10: Pistol

  Book 11: Policed

  Book 12: Driven

  Book 13: Lucky 13

  Book 14: Lumberjacked

  Book 15: Protector

  Book 16: Carpenter

  Book 17: Italian Stallion

  Book 18: Gardener

  Book 19: Budapest Billionaire’s Virgin

  Book 20: Billionaire’s Babysitter

  Book 21: Cocky CFO

  Book 22: Fireman’s Filthy 4th

  Book 23: Mechanic

  Book 24: SEAL’s Secret

  Book 25: Police, Pooch, and Smooch

  Book 26: Fireman’s Fake Fiancée

  Book 27: Billionaire’s Virgin Ballerina

  Book 28: Bitcoin Billionaire’s Babysitter

  Book 29: Veterans Day Daddy

  Book 30: Cowboy’s Christmas Carol

  Book 31: Police Officer’s Princess

  Book 32: Statham

  Book 33: Bodyguard

  Book 34: Greek God

  Book 35: Billionaire Single Dad's Babysitter

  Book 36: Mountain Man

  Book 37: SEAL’s Justice

  Book 38: Royal Romance

  Book 39: Doctor Mountain Man’s Special Delivery

  Book 40: Crocodile Dan D

  Book 41: Mountain Man’s Secret Baby

  Book 42: Doctor Bad Boy’s Secret Baby

  Book 43: Cop’s Babysitter

  Book 44: Nanny for the Cop Next Door

  Book 45: Small Town SEAL’s Saving Grace

  Book 46: Cop’s Fake Fiancée

  Book 47: Billionaire’s Nanny

  Book 48: Cowboy’s Babysitter

  Book 49: Steamy

  Book 50: Brother’s Best Friend

  BROTHER’S BEST FRIEND

  Leah

  My brother’s best friend is a New York model with brains as big as his biceps and his bank account.

  But he only sees me as his best friend’s sister leaving me to only see him on the posters I have hanging on my dorm room wall. I thought going across country would result in a little college romance and my very first time, but I’ve found these sophomoric coeds completely lacking.

  Xavier

  My best friend’s little sister is the only woman I’ve ever had eyes for, but her brother tells me she’s not into this whole older man younger woman romance thing, but somehow I’m not convinced.

  Leah

  I can’t believe what my brother did! The nerve. When his best friend and I set things straight it leads us straight to the bedroom, but only for one night.

  My brother kept a secret from me for years, but suddenly I find out I’m carrying a secret of my own. Now I’m the one forced to choose what to reveal and what to keep a secret. Can I really keep this secret baby secret?

  *Brother’s Best Friend is an insta-everything standalone romance with an HEA, no cheating, and no cliffhanger.

  CHAPTER 1

  Leah

  I can’t stop thinking about him.

  And that means there’s no way I’m falling asleep anytime soon.

  I was absolutely convinced he wouldn’t make it to my college graduation party. I really only sent him an invite out of courtesy. But he came. Oh did he ever.

  The second I saw him walk through the hotel banquet room doors it was like no one else existed. My grandma was holding my hand telling me how much I looked like my mom, but hers and all the other voices and sights immediately melted into the background.

  He strutted in like he owned the place, and he might as well have. He certainly owned my heart. And the real graduation gift I wanted was for him to own the rest of me. My body. My mind. My everything.

  I’d been crushing on him for years. I remember the first time my brother brought him by the house. It was the summer before their senior year of college and they wanted to perfect their game leading into their final year. I’d seen pictures of him in the paper and had heard my brother talking to him on the phone, but never actually seen him up close. There’s only so much you can really see at a game when he’s wearing his pads and helmet, not that his muscles, size and tight tush didn’t go unnoticed.

  I ran upstairs and pulled the curtains back watching him catch and throw the ball with my brother that day nine years ago. I just stared at him.

  And of course the day he picked to come over was one of those muggy summer New York early evenings and he just had to take his shirt off.

  In the summer their team had “two-a-days” for football practice. He’d already practiced twice, but yet here he was still full of energy. He had the stamina to go all day. Back then it was just a teenage crush and my thoughts weren’t as aggressive as they are now. Now I’d wondered what it would look like to see him go all night.

  My mind races back to today. He was wearing a charcoal gray suit with a crimson pocket square and the shiniest shoes ever. Surely they were from a top Paris fashion house. I hadn’t been the only one who noticed just how incredible he looked back then.

  When their season ended and the reality of college life coming to a close was also staring them in the face they were both about to start job hunting. But his life took a drastic turn when a model scout happened to be at their final game. The scout was there to cheer for her nephew on the opposing team, but apparently she couldn’t keep her eyes off Xavier.

  After the game she approached him and asked him his future plans.

  He hadn’t lined up anything yet, but with a finance degree, good looks, and connections he was likely to wind up on Wall Street.

  Instead he wound up on Savile Row. And then Milan. Paris. Tokyo. He went everywhere and I would cut out the pictures I’d see of him in magazines and keep them in a scrapbook. The same scrapbook I kept in a chest in my room. The one that held one of his college practice T-shirts. The one he took off that first day and forgot in our backyar
d. I scooped it up later that night and have cherished it ever since.

  I look at the clock on the nightstand next to my bed in the hotel room. It’s 1:30 a.m. in New York City, but my body thinks it’s 10:30 p.m. thanks to spending the last four years in Los Angeles at U.S.C.

  My entire family has this floor of the hotel for the graduation party which just wrapped up. And to me friends count as family.

  But what is he? Xavier is my brother’s friend. Sure he’s his best friend and that’s probably the only reason he came today. He probably just wanted to catch up with his buddy and maybe run into some of his other old teammates as well. They were older now. Thirty-one. It’s not like they got a chance to see each other much anymore so my graduation party would be a good chance to catch up with everyone. He wasn’t here for me. I’d just provided the venue.

  And I know this but there’s something inside me that’s trying to think positive. Just maybe there is something here. But there’s not. There’s just no way, but still I wonder.

  Even though I’m on West Coast time I should be dead tired after entertaining guests all day back home here in the Big Apple. It’s just something about seeing him that energized me.

  I’ve got way too much energy to even consider trying to go to bed and I’m not about to sit up here and watch crummy hotel television.

  A walk would be good for me anyways. I’m still in my dress from today and it’s not like New York goes to sleep at 2:00 a.m. like California does. I’ll just step outside and take in the energy of the city hoping it over stimulates me and wears me out.

  But oh how I wish he was the one up here in my room right now wearing me out. My college graduation night and I’ve even got the best suite in the building, but no one to share it with.

  But there’s a lot to be thankful for and to reflect on and that’s exactly what I’m going to do.

  I step out of my room and take the elevator down to the ground floor. I pass through the lobby and at the far end I see it.

  The crimson pocket square screaming at me from that charcoal gray suit.

  I freeze.

  His head slowly rotates towards me and our eyes lock.

  His elbow rotates on the bar and when his forearm becomes vertical he motions with the back of his fingers in a come hither motion.

  My legs feel wobbly and my stomach tightens.

  He’s calling me over.

  I take in a deep breath trying not to let my chest rise and fall. I don’t want him to see the effect he has on me.

  For some reason my legs are frozen. I just stare at him staring at me. He motions to me again. He’s not giving up.

  I lift my stiletto from the marble floor. My leg feels like it’s cast in a concrete bucket. It’s like I’m stuck in quicksand, but my foot manages to go forward.

  But my head is spinning and my balance isn’t true. I feel my knees buckle and I look down watching my collapse to the floor in real time, but in slow motion.

  My body goes limp and my mind blank as I’m about to faceplant right in front of the hotel reception.

  CHAPTER 2

  Xavier

  Somehow she looks even more beautiful in person.

  “She’s coming to,” the waiter says.

  I brush her hair back from her face and with my other hand rub the ice cube along her neck. I want to lean in and kiss her right now so bad, but I’d never take advantage of anyone, especially a woman.

  “Where…what?”

  “You fainted,” the waiter says. “But luckily for you this gentleman caught you just before you hit the deck.”

  “I fai—“

  “Relax,” I say. “Just try and get some air. I’m right here until you feel better.” And I want to be here like this always. Here for her whenever she needs me.

  “I’m okay,” she says.

  “No need to rush. Take your time.”

  And I’m certainly not in a rush for her head to come off my lap. It fits perfectly there. The entire hotel bar is cleared out. We’re in the back booth and it’s nice and quiet and dark. And with the waiter now gone it’s just the two of us.

  “Would you like some water?”

  “Yes,” she says.

  I lift her up slowly and gently, but just a little bit. I bring the bottle to her lips and carefully tip it back slowly, letting her take just a little first to see how her system is.

  “How was that?”

  “Good. Maybe a little more?”

  “Just tell me when,” I say, giving her more water. It feels good to take care of her. To protect her. To nurse her back, not that I ever want to see anything happen to her. I just want to wrap her up in my arms and keep her safe forever.

  To stare into those beautiful brown eyes of hers. She can be my brown eyed girl for sure. My one and only.

  How perfect would it be. My best friend’s sister. We’d become brothers in law.

  But it can’t. Her brother told me why and it crushed me, but I still feel like maybe there could be some sort of chance. I feel like I could be the one to turn her. And if it’s ever going to happen now’s my chance.

  “I can sit up,” she says.

  “Okay. I got you,” I say helping her up the rest of the way.

  “How are you feeling?”

  “Much, much better thanks to you.”

  “It was nothing. Really.”

  “I…passed out?”

  “More like over, but yeah,” I say trying to lighten the mood a bit. She smiles.

  “Sorry. I’m not normally so clumsy.”

  “It was a big day today. We could all use some rest,” I say. “Not that it looks like you need it or anything. You look incredible. I’m just saying that you had to entertain people all day and that’s a lot of work.”

  “Thank you,” she says. “I’m not that tired actually. And I’m glad I’m here now. I need to unwind a bit right now.”

  She motions for the waiter.

  “Can I get a glass of rose on ice?”

  “Coming right up,” he says.

  “Are you sure you want to drink right now?”

  “I haven’t had a drink all day, and I had maybe one or two my entire time in college. But right now I feel like I could really use one.”

  “Who am I to argue with the woman of the hour? And one who looks so incredibly beautiful too,” I say. Tone it down Xavier!

  But my mind can’t control my heart right now. Emotions are going to prevail over logic. It’s rare that I really want something but I want her and I’m not about to hold back. I have to let her know now, no matter the consequences. We don’t have a lot of time.

  I’m not one to normally believe in fate, but if her collapsing into my arms isn’t enough to second-guess if fate is real I don’t know what is.

  I was considered fast when I played sports in college, but the fastest I’ve ever ran was from that bar to her to catch her before she hit the ground.

  I’d help anyone, friend or foe. Stranger or friend. But this was different. I felt a certain kind of fear there. A kind of loss. The idea that she might be hurt and just thinking about that possibility crushed me. There was no way I could let that happen.

  Not to the girl I’ve always wanted.

  And it’s time to let her know.

  CHAPTER 3

  Leah

  “I can’t believe you made it,” I say a few minutes later when I’m upright and feeling back to my normal self. Minus of course the butterflies and nerves I have sitting right here with him. The way he makes me feel is definitely not normal.

  “Are you kidding me? I had the date circled on my calendar before the invite even came in the mail.”

  So my brother, Luke, had invited him and that’s the reason he was here.

  “Oh.” I pause and take a drink. “It must be nice that you had a chance to catch up with Luke today.”

  “It was, but we only spoke briefly.”

  “Why is that?”

  “He was busy entertaining.” This time he paus
es to take a drink of his clear liquid on two ice cubes. “Amongst other things.”

  “Well,” I say, turning my lower body more in his direction without being consciously aware of it at first. “Whatever the reason I’m glad you came.” My shoe accidentally grazes his shin and I notice my legs are crossed but my foot is rocking back and forward like crazy. I need to get my nerves under control.

  Change the subject, Leah.

  “So you’re overseas a lot these days, huh? That must be fun.”

  “It was okay when I first started, but these days I can’t tolerate it as much. I’d like to get a base and work from it instead of racking up the frequent flyer miles and the toll that it takes on your body. That and…you know…it’s more challenging to meet people and have a real relationships with them.”