3 Seconds
Time for Love Series
Book 6
By
Bethany Lopez
3 Seconds
Copyright 2015 Bethany Lopez
Published Aug 2015
ISBN: 978-1514887370
Smashwords Edition
Cover Design by B Design
Editing by Red Road Editing / Kristina Circelli
Ebook Formatting by White Hot Formatting
Smashwords Edition License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this ebook with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this ebook and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite book retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author. All rights reserved.
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.
This ebook is also available in print at most online retailers.
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
Acknowledgements
About the Author
Books by Bethany Lopez
Young Adult:
Stories about Melissa – series
Ta Ta for Now!
xoxoxo
Ciao
TTYL
With Love
Adios ~ Coming in 2015
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 ~ Coming Soon
Christmas Come Early
Contemporary Romance
An Inconvenient Dare (A Dare to Love Kindle World Novella)
Cookbook:
Love & Recipes
Books by Katie and Bethany Lopez
Katie and the North Star
For Lori Rattay, thanks for reading 3 Seconds early and giving me your feedback. I’m so happy we met at Penned Con 2014, and have been able to forge a friendship.
Chapter One ~ Brendan
One…
Two…
Three…
There was nothing like those three seconds after Brock began strumming the first cord. I always waited backstage while my brothers got settled, waiting for Brock’s cue before strutting out into the lights to take my place center stage. I’d close my eyes as the lyrics erupted from my vocal cords.
Those moments were true bliss.
Yes, I loved the sounds of fans screaming my name, and the way it made me feel to hear them sing along with me, but the rush of those three seconds…
It was like a drug, and I was addicted.
After taking a break and heading to Europe, it felt amazing to be back on the stage with my brothers. I opened my eyes and turned my head, smiling when I saw Brock with his head down and eyes closed as he played.
With my eldest brother it was never about the spotlight, just the music. He would have been just as happy playing in his backyard as he was on the stage. Brock never wanted more than to share this experience with Brady, our middle brother, and me.
Although I was the youngest, I was the driving force behind Whiskey Heat. I knew without a doubt that my brothers stayed in the band because they knew how much I loved it. We were all getting older, and Brock was a husband and father now, but he still showed up every time I booked us a gig, and I loved him for it.
I swiveled my head and scanned the decent-sized crowd that littered the dance floor of Jake’s, the bar we often played. My eyes skidded to a halt when I noticed a woman dancing with a group in the middle of the floor.
She was average height, with dark, possibly red, hair, which hung long and thick over her creamy white skin. It was hard to tell when the lights on the stage were so bright, and the dance floor so dark … Who the fuck cared what color it was anyway. It was lush and beautiful, and begged to be wrapped around my hands.
Her body was thick … sexy thick … all ass, tits, and legs. The way she moved screamed confidence. Even from my vantage point, I could tell she wasn’t one of the normal girls that came to our shows – the groupies, the young, hot chicks in short dresses, who were perfectly made up. This chick was one hundred percent real, and comfortable in her own skin. She was one fine, fucking package, and my dick swelled in my jeans as my thoughts took a dirty turn.
I narrowed my eyes on her as I sang, oblivious to the girls screaming and reaching for me at the front of the stage, but she was just as oblivious of me. The gorgeous stranger was laughing and having a good time with her friends, dancing, drinking, and ignoring the passes from each drunken moron that tried to infiltrate their group.
After a couple songs, I stepped back to grab a drink of water and give Brady shit about the pair of white panties that were currently hanging from the corner of his set. I laughed when he scowled and used one of his sticks to fling it off.
Brady never went for the groupies. I had no idea why. He wasn’t as awesome as I was, but the ladies seemed eager to get in his pants. Rather than take them up on the opportunities they offered, he always slipped out the back after a show. I think his brooding silence made him more of a challenge, because he had a couple girls who were rabidly trying to get his attention … One of them being the owner of the white panties.
I ambled back to the mic, pulling my hair back and securing it behind my head so it wouldn’t stick to my face, before addressing the crowd.
“How’s it goin’?” I yelled with a grin. “You guys having a good time?”
The grin curved higher as I looked them over, their affirmations fueling the fire in my belly that craved their adoration.
“I’m gonna slow it down for a bit … This one’s new.”
I nodded to Brock, then turned my eyes and caught the red-haired woman from earlier staring up at me. Her smile was a little loopy, hinting to the fact that she’d had enough to drink to make her feel
good, but her movements were still controlled enough that I knew she wasn’t wasted. She was close enough now that I could see the light smattering of freckles that danced across her face.
Something about the combination of her confidence, mixed with sexy adorableness, really turned me on.
I kept my eyes locked on her as I laid out the words to the song I’d written about Brock and Victoria. It was slow, sexy, and guaranteed to turn these girls into a puddle of wanton need at my feet. We played mostly covers, but liked to slip an original in now and then.
I’d been excited to debut my song tonight, but was even more so as I watched the way Freckles responded to my lyrics.
She felt it, I knew it … That unexplainable bond you’d sometimes have with a stranger. A simple meeting of the eyes that sent a jolt through your body, and you knew, even if you never saw them again, you had a connection.
Chemistry.
It was a rare and precious thing, and sometimes you never had a chance to act on it, but we had it. I could feel it in my bones, and I’d swear she could too.
As I finished the song, my voice lowering as I uttered the last words, I broke eye contact with Freckles and turned to Brock, eager to see his reaction.
The women in the audience were screaming, but all I was focused on was my brother. His eyes were misty and his lips were only slightly upturned, but his expression gave it all away. He was touched. I felt immediate and immense pleasure, that feeling you can only get when you’ve made someone you look up to … your hero, mentor, father … proud.
Brock may have been my brother, but he’d raised me since I was fourteen, and was the only father figure I had in my life. His opinion of me meant everything, and I wasn’t afraid to show it.
I strode to him and he lifted his free arm to pull me in for a side hug. I ignored the “awes” from the girls in the crowd and basked in the moment, then found my way back to center stage.
“Enough of that shit, let’s kick it up a notch!” I yelled, smiling when the crowd cheered, then signaled Brady to start his solo.
He might not like the limelight, but my brother killed it on drums.
We finished up the set with a couple of encore songs, then it was time to see the fans and have a couple drinks. We had a few local guys that acted as our “roadies,” tearing stuff down and putting it away until our next gig. They wanted the experience and extra cash, and it was a bonus that we didn’t have to do it ourselves.
I said goodbye to Brady and gave another quick hug to Brock, who was going home to his family.
“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” Brock said with a wink before he headed out.
“Where’s the fun in that?” I responded with a chuckle. I thrust my chin up at the two most important people in my life, then turned to see what kind of trouble I could get in to.
“Hey, Nat, can I have an IPA?” I called out to one of the regular waitresses.
“Sure thing,” Nat responded, her eyes as sad as always. I didn’t know what her story was, she pretty much kept to herself, but I always felt a stab of worry whenever the raven-haired beauty got up the courage to look me in the face. “Here you go, Bren.”
“Thanks, babe,” I said, then lowered my voice and asked, “Everything good?”
She brought her large, startled eyes to mine, before shifting her gaze to the right.
“Yeah, of course.”
I knew she was lying, but I also knew I couldn’t help her if she didn’t want me to. Brock, Brady, and I were ready to tear apart her husband for putting the fear of God in her, but she’d always tell us everything was fine.
“Okay,” I replied, letting her off the hook as I took the cold beer from her hand. “But you know we’re here if you ever need anything … yeah?”
Natalie nodded sharply, then slipped away.
I sighed loudly, then turned when I heard the twitter of giggles to my right.
Suddenly surrounded by women of every shape and size, I turned on the charm and drawled, “Ladies, enjoy the show?”
I listened to them shower me with praise, each trying to nudge the other out of the way to get closer and get the coveted slot on my arm. I kept the smile on my face, but tuned them out when I zeroed in on Freckles. She was standing at a tall table, still with her friends, but her eyes were on me. It was like a jolt to the system.
I had to have her. Now.
Without a word to the girls around me, I started walking toward her. She stood taller, tipping her chin up, as if to show me she was in no way intimidated.
Thank Christ, I thought. The last thing I wanted was some cowering girl who was too meek to tell me what she wanted.
Everything about this woman was turning me on. I was hard as steel and hadn’t even spoken to her yet.
I walked right up to her, dipped my head so my lips would be close enough for her, and only her, to hear me. “Want to get out of here, Freckles?” I caught the scent of something fruity, maybe from her shampoo, and inhaled deeply to capture the sweet smell.
Her nose wrinkled at the nickname, but she tilted her head to look me right in the eye and answered, “Absolutely.”
Chapter Two ~ Bronagh
I barely registered my surroundings as I followed the lead singer of Whiskey Heat up the stairs and into his open-air loft. I caught glimpses of a record collection, a bicycle hanging from the ceiling and walls covered in drawings, but quickly lost focus when his lips found the base of my neck and began to kiss their way up.
“What’s your name, Freckles?” he asked huskily when he reached my ear.
We’d rushed out of the bar and onto the back of his motorcycle before we’d had the chance to exchange pleasantries.
“Bronagh,” I replied, unashamed that it came out breathless.
“Gorgeous,” he stated, and I wasn’t sure if he was talking about me or my name. “I’m Brendan.”
I honestly didn’t care if his name was Fred. I’d watched him walk on stage, and I swear, not three seconds later his eyes met mine with an electric shock. My body’d reacted like we were already lovers, and I’d known I’d go home with him if given the chance. I’d never felt such an instant attraction for a man before, and it had been soooo long that my body was beginning for release. I was positive, he was the guy to give it to me.
“Mmmm,” I moaned as his hands found their way up my shirt, branding my skin as they memorized the contours of my body. God, how long had it been since I’d been touched like this? Oh yeah, two years, three months, and twenty-one days … three days before I found my lying, cheating, bastard of a husband bare assed and fucking one of the waitresses.
I shook my head, willing myself to forget my jackass of an ex-husband, and lose myself completely in the moment.
I deserved this…
I deserved a one-night stand with a hot-as-hell rock star.
Okay, maybe rock star was a stretch, but he was young, hotter than hell, and had more than his fair share of talent.
I’d never had a wild streak when I was younger, and had married pretty young, so I figured it was time to live in the moment, and what better time than the present?
Kissing and groping with each step, we maneuvered up the stairs to what I assumed was the bed. I found myself growing impatient, the years of abstinence from anything other than my hand or a vibrator making me bold. I gripped my fingers into the already slightly torn neckline of his shirt and ripped it apart.
I broke away, careful not to stumble back down the stairs, to see what surprise lay underneath the wrapping. I gasped in delight as my eyes drank in his lean and toned body. Defined chest, check … rock-hard abs, check … happy trail, check… Hallelujah!
I was so overcome by seeing a body like his for the first time in real life, and not just in the pages of a magazine, that I literally clapped my hands together with glee before laying them on his heated skin and exploring the anomaly for myself.
He chuckled lightly as I explored, but when I leaned forward to replace my hands with my
mouth he said, “Just a few more feet, Freckles,” and tugged me the rest of the way up the stairs.
His mattress was on the floor, like obvious young, bachelor that he was, but I didn’t care. Not about the lack of bed frame, or that I figured he clocked in at least ten years younger than me.
I had no sense of embarrassment or shame when I tossed my tank on the floor and shimmied out of my cut-offs, revealing a cute, but practical black cotton bra and panty set.
“Party Time?” Brendan asked with a chuckle as he read the words that were written across my panties.
“Seemed appropriate,” I murmured in response.
Brendan didn’t seem to notice, or care, that my thighs were thick, or that my belly was soft and round. He was fixated on where my breasts were spilling over my C-cup. The expression on his face told me he was more than happy with what I had to offer.
Good, because I was fucking him either way.
This was going to happen. I was going to break my slump, have sex with someone who not only wasn’t my ex, but who was by far the sexiest man I’d ever met.
This was going to be a story to be told over Bellini’s with the girls.
He pushed his hair back from his face, the action sexier than I’d ever imagined it would be, and crooked his finger, drawing me closer as if by magic, then pushed me lightly so I fell back onto the mattress. He joined me swiftly, covering my nearly naked body with his jean-clad one.
What started out slow and searching, quickly turned frenzied, and before long I was bucking underneath his skillful touch. He cupped me lightly, teasingly at first, while his lips feathered kisses against my exposed cleavage. The anticipation was almost too much; I needed things to go faster before I lost hold of the last thread of control I had.