7 Months
Time for Love Series
Book 7
By
Bethany Lopez
7 Months
Copyright 2016 Bethany Lopez
Published Mar 2016
ISBN: 978-1523414543
Amazon Edition
Cover Design by Makeready Designs
Editing by Red Road Editing / Kristina Circelli
Proofreading by KMS Freelance Editing
Ebook Formatting by White Hot Formatting
Amazon Edition License Notes
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All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please don’t participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
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Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Other Titles
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Epilogue
Acknowledgements
About the Author
Books by Bethany Lopez
Young Adult:
Stories about Melissa – series
Ta Ta for Now!
xoxoxo
Ciao
TTYL
With Love
Adios
Nissa: a contemporary fairy tale
New Adult:
Friends & Lovers Trilogy
Make it Last
I Choose You
Trust in Me
Indelible
A Time for Love Series
8 Weeks
21 Days
42 Hours
15 Minutes
10 Years
3 Seconds
7 Months
Christmas Come Early
Contemporary Romance
An Inconvenient Dare (A Dare to Love Kindle World Novella)
Always Room for Cupcakes
Cookbook:
Love & Recipes
Books by Katie and Bethany Lopez
Katie and the North Star
For the staff and conferees of the Southern California Writer’s Conference. You’ve all meant so much to me over the years. Thanks for the workshops, words of wisdom, and gift of friendship.
Chapter One ~ Brady
Girls were screaming, shouting, calling out our names, but I blocked it all out. Instead, I focused on the music, on my drums, and forgot about the crowd. I’d gotten good at it over the years, blocking out the women, ignoring the groupies … they weren’t the reason I played; I played for my brothers.
Truth be told, I’d much rather play with them in my garage, or Brock’s back patio, than in the bars we’d been playing for years. I loved the music, and what it felt like to share creatively with my brothers, but I couldn’t care less about the rest of it.
I didn’t want fame, or the limelight, and I certainly didn’t want the adoration of a woman who knew nothing about me other than that I rocked out on stage. I’d always left that to my youngest brother, Brendan, our lead singer and front man.
Brendan had always loved the spotlight, lived for it even, but now he was married and happy to go home every night to his pregnant wife.
And, Brock, our oldest brother, well, he was married with two kids at home.
Which meant, unfortunately, that I was now an even bigger target for the fans of Whiskey Heat.
The lone single brother. The only member of the band they had any chance of going home with … which was laughable, since I’d never taken a woman home after a set. I never even stayed to bask in their adoration. I always left alone, so they should know they had no chance of catching this fish, which only seemed to make me more desirable.
“Are you kidding me?” Brendan joked before the show. “You’re tall, dark and brooding. You never pick up the panties they throw at you, and you ignore the cleavage they offer. You’re a challenge. You glowering at them from behind your kit, then leaving every night without a backwards glance, is half the reason why these women come to our shows. They get off on that shit.”
“Shut up,” had been my response, but my brothers had both just grinned at me.
I glared out at the crowd as Brendan introduced the next song, and I noticed Natalie was serving Bronagh, Brendan’s wife, and her friends Ming and Cass. I watched as she maneuvered through the throng of women, head slightly down as she averted her eyes, trying to disappear right in the middle of everyone.
Nat had been going through a rough time. She’d finally left her verbally abusive husband and was trying to get a divorce. It was difficult, because Zeke, her husband, had gone off the grid. Totally disappeared. It was hard to divorce someone you couldn’t find. I’d only spoken to her about it a couple of times, but my partner and I were keeping our eyes peeled and ears to the ground. We’d find that asshole eventually.
My head swiveled back and I caught Ming’s eye right as the song began to start and I closed my eyes.
I knew she’d seen me looking after Nat.
Ming didn’t miss a beat.
Intelligent, observant, and highly attuned to everything around her, Ming was Bronagh’s best friend and a damn good lawyer.
She’d had a crush on me since we’d met over a year ago. The way she watched me, as if I were a wild animal that she wanted to tame, had been strange at first, but I’d gotten used to it. Ming wasn’t the type I usually went for, and I wasn’t hers. We’d never had a serious conversation about anything, still, there was no denying that she was a very attractive woman. I found her interest in me very flattering, and a bit of a turn on.
As the music consumed me and the drumsticks flew over my skins as if they controlled themselves, I thought back seven months to the night of my graduation party at Brendan and Bronagh’s.
I’d successfully graduated from the police academy and was feeling proud and a little nervous about what was to come. Brendan had invited everyone. All of the friends and people from the bar, people Brock and I had worked with at O’Malley Brother’s, which meant I was really uncomfortable.
Being in large groups wasn’t my scene. I’d go to the parties and barbecues, but I usually separated myself from the crowd and didn’t stay long. I knew my brothers were close with Cal, Shelly, TJ, Sasha, Scott, and Gaby, but I wasn’t.
I mean, TJ was my boy … He was a talented mechanic and had restored my 1966 Chevelle Malibu. Plus, he was a funny dude. Sasha, his wife, was cool too, and I didn’t mind Cal and Shelly, although I didn’t know them all that well. But, Scott and Gaby? I never said it out loud, but could admit to myself that I’d never forgiven them for the way they’d screwed over Brock.
Yes, it had been a few years ago, and yes, Brock and Victoria were happy with two kids of their own, and I wouldn’t trade Tori and the kids in for anything. But, Gaby and Scott had cheated when Brock was with Gaby, and I couldn’t forget that betrayal.
So, suffice it to say I’d been uncomfortable at my own party and just biding my time until I could slip out the back.
I’d been about to do just that when Ming had found me in the kitchen.
“Congratulations,” she’d said softly. I’d never heard her speak softly before. Ming usually spoke in sharp tones with sarcasm. I hadn’t been around her much, but I knew she was the strong one in her group, and that she didn’t suffer fools.
She was a no nonsense kind of woman. Both of my sisters-in-law were strong women and I loved them unconditionally, but that was not the kind of woman I went for. I was more of a provider, a protector … I didn’t want a woman to wear the pants, so to speak.
I needed a woman more like Nat, someone I could help. Someone who would need me and appreciate what I had to offer.
Still, there was something there, so I went home with Ming that night, and we’d been having sex ever since.
For seven months.
We met a few times a week. We didn’t date. She’d never been to my house, and no one knew about us.
It was just sex.
Primal. Raw. Unbelievable.
Sex.
Chapter Two ~ Ming
I felt the pain slash through my heart as Brady closed his eyes and lost himself in the music.
I’d seen him watching Natalie. He was always watching Natalie.
I got it, I did … He was the kind of guy who needed someone to save. He was drawn to vulnerability, and liked feeling needed, and Natalie was married to a douchebag who liked to use her as his verbal punching bag. I didn’t blame Natalie … I didn’t even blame Brady.
He’d always been a hundred percent up front about what we shared. He wasn’t a player, a jerk, or a liar.
It wasn’t his fault that I was in love with him. That I’d been in love with him for the past seven months. He didn’t even know, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to tell him, or anyone for that matter. If I did, he might end what we had. He’d want to protect me from the pain he’d inevitably cause, the pain he’d unintentionally been causing me for the past seven months.
Every time he left.
Every time we didn’t talk, didn’t share, didn’t learn more about each other.
Every time I saw him looking at her…
It was like a knife to the gut, but it was better than the alternative.
I’d rather have Brady in my bed, in secret, than not have him at all.
Did I want more? Absolutely. Was I going to try and push him into something that I knew he didn’t want? Hell no!
So, I ignored the pain and watched Whiskey Heat, enjoying the music and spending time with my friends. I knew he’d be warming my bed later that night, and I’d continue trying to convince myself that it was enough.
“You okay?” Bronagh shouted over the sound of her husband’s voice.
I turned to my friend, plastering on the same smile I’d been giving her for the last seven months. I hated lying to her, and to Cass, but I knew they’d try and talk me out of what I was doing … having a non-relationship with Bronagh’s brother-in-law, who kept to himself and liked it that way.
They’d tell me that I deserved more, deserved better. That I should be with someone who wanted a relationship, a future with me. The same things that my parents had been drilling in my head since I’d graduated law school.
The thing was, I didn’t want anyone else. I wanted Brady, I had since the moment I first saw him, and if I had to keep my non-relationship with him a secret from my friends, well, I was willing to do so.
“Yeah, I’m good. Just working a tough case right now,” I answered, telling half of the truth.
“You work too hard,” she replied, and I watched as her hands moved gently over her swollen belly. “I’m glad you were able to break away tonight. I’ve missed you.”
I placed my hand over hers on her stomach and smiled warmly at my best friend.
“I’ve missed you too. I’ll do better,” I promised.
Bronagh had wanted children for as long as I could remember, and I was so happy that she and Brendan were pregnant. I needed to make more of an effort to share this time with her, but I’d been so wrapped up with work and Brady, that I hadn’t made much time for my friends.
“Brady’s on fire tonight!” Cass yelled as she danced, her arms above her head.
My eyes were drawn back to the stage, back to Brady as he played his solo.
God, he was so freaking hot!
Dark hair and tanned skin, his coloring favoring his mother’s Mexican heritage rather than his father’s Irish, eyes closed as he let the music flow from him. He was tall, built, and sexy as hell.
He’d always been fine, but after his time in the police academy and the subsequent months on the force, Brady was ripped.
“Can I get you ladies anything else?”
I tore my eyes from Brady to see Natalie standing next to our table, her tray full of empty glasses and bottles.
Natalie was beautiful in a fragile sort of way. Her hair was black, like mine, but she’d recently cut it all off into a cute pixie cut, which only made her sad eyes seem to take up more of her face. She always seemed to be poised to bolt, and kept her head down and shoulders hunched. I felt sorry for her, even though I was jealous of her.
Not of her life, her job, or her circumstances, of course. No, I was jealous of the way Brady looked at her. Like she was a delicate flower, whose petals could fall at any moment.
He never looked at me that way.
I knew he found me attractive. And the way he looked when he was turned on had kept me fully satisfied on my nights away from him. But the way he looked at her, like she was something to be cherished?
I’d kill to see it aimed at me.
Shaking my head, I tipped my lips up and answered, “No, thanks.”
Natalie lifted her head slightly in response, those big eyes seeming to look in my soul, then she turned and moved through the crowd.
“I have to go to the bathroom,” Bronagh said with a shrug. She seriously peed every five minutes, so we were used to her constant trips to the restroom.
Once we were alone, Cass leaned in to me and said, “Can you get together next week to start talking baby shower?”
“Yeah, absolutely,” I replied, mentally looking through my schedule to see where I could fit it in. “Wednesday at lunch?”
“Yeah, I can do that,” Cass responded, then put her fingers to her lips and let out a shrill whistle when Brendan thanked the crowd for coming out tonight. When she was done she turned her head to me and asked, “You going home, or do you want to hit up a club?”
I looked to the stage to see Brady walking off and heading toward the back door.
“No, I’d better get home and turn in, I’ve got to get up early for work,” I lied, knowing full well I wanted to hurry home so that I was there when Brady came over.
Maybe it made me weak, sad, and girly, but I lived for the sound of his fist hitting my door.
I could tear a man apart on the stand, and loved the thrill of a good debate, but Brady O’Malley made me feel like a teenage girl again, all giddy and excited … And at the same time, all he had to do was look at me with those dark brooding eyes of his, and my body lit on fire.
Being in a non-relationship with a man I loved who only wanted me for sex may be a bad thing, but being bad had never felt so damn good.
Chapter Three ~ Brady
I was in my Chevelle, about to head over to Ming’s house, when my phone went off.
“O’Malley,” I said as I pressed accept.
“Hey, Irish, sorry to interrupt your concert, but Smitty says they need us down at the station,” my partner, Tyler Dubois, said when I answered.
“Uniform?” I asked, wondering if I needed to go back home and change.
“Nah, it’s just a meeting.”
“Got it,” I replied, then pressed end as I turned my car toward the station.
Tyler “Doobie” Dubois and I had been in the police academy and field training together, and were now partners. We were still pretty green, but luckily we weren’t in a big city and hadn’t come across anything we couldn’t handle yet.
We’d had a lot of firsts already. First drunk wagon, patrol, arrest, crime report, field interview. The hardest so far had been a DUI, and everything seemed to require paperwork. Tons of paperwork. Thankfully, the paperwork didn’t bother me that much. Unfortunately, Doobie hated it, so I was often expected to do it all. That’s okay. He was good at communicating with people, while I wasn’t, so things evened out.
We made a pretty good team.
He talked a lot, but as long as he did his job and had my back, I could ignore his constant rambling.
When I parked behind the station, I shot Ming a text before heading inside.