Dangerous Therapy: O'Connor Brothers (Volume 1) (15 page)

To say Stephanie was thrilled would be an understatement. John liked her and gave her a kiss that set her body on fire. A kiss that made her toes curl. If she was being truthful with herself, she felt it in more places than her toes. Her body was still reeling. She’d never been affected this much by a kiss before. It was amazing and terrifying all at the same time. This was real trouble because she was falling fast and hard.
Oh, brother
.

Sleep was not her friend and after a restless night, Stephanie gave up. So what. She was up at five in the morning. At least she got to see the sun rise over the ocean. How many people could look out their window every morning and see that? So her morning consisted of sitting on the back deck of the house and watching the sun slowly peak over the horizon. Well, not exactly. It was spent with her eyes constantly looking toward the patio doors that led to John’s kitchen. Pathetic.

The rest of her day consisted of cleaning her tiny apartment. Which took all of thirty minutes because she had cleaned like a lunatic yesterday. It was her day off.  Which meant John didn’t have therapy. That also meant technically there wasn’t a reason to go into his part of the house. Except, she desperately wanted to see him. Again, pathetic.

What was really depressing her was John wouldn’t need much more therapy. He’d regained nearly all his strength, and was completely back to his normal workout schedule. She had to admit, it made her feel guilty. He was doing everything she’d taught by himself. With the exception of some ultrasound therapy and massage, John was pretty much recovered. When he was working out she really didn’t have to be there, but watching his muscles ripple with every push-up, or sit up was just too hard to walk away from.

“Grrrr.… this is insane. Stop thinking about him.” She grabbed her IPad and forced herself to sit down. It was time she got started on the numerous books she’d downloaded. Reading always killed time.

Deep into a murder mystery, she was startled by loud ringing from the phone. Her arms flew up and the IPad tumbled to the floor. She cursed under her breath as she glanced at the screen. Blocked caller. Who would be blocking their number?
Marina
. Her sister had gotten her phone number changed. It was probably hidden from everyone. She tapped the screen and answered. The voice on the other end made her muscles tense and her teeth clench.

“Where’s my wife and son?” Marc screamed into her ear.

Stephanie didn’t mince words. “What do you want?” Stephanie gritted her teeth, she never hated someone, but Marc had become the first.

“First of all, she won’t be your wife much longer. She already filed for a divorce, Marc, or are you so high you don’t remember that.” Stephanie gritted her teeth. She never thought she could hate someone, but Marc made that a reality.

“Listen here you self-righteous bitch, it’s none of your fucking business,” Marc growled. “I want to know where they are. Right now.”

“I wouldn’t tell you where they were if you were on your death bed, asshole,” She yelled.

“You better tell me or you’ll be in for a world of hurt, little girl.” His voice was sinister, but Stephanie wasn’t afraid of him. At least she didn’t feel afraid.

“Fuck off and drop dead. I’m not telling you anything.” She yelled. “She’s where you can’t hurt her or Danny anymore, so don’t ever call me again.” Stephanie ended the call and tossed her phone on the couch. She pressed her fists into her eyes and roared. It took a lot to make her angry, but at this point her heart was thundering and her body trembled. Marc put her sister through hell, and if he thought he was going to get any information out of her, then he was sadly mistaken.

She needed to calm down. This type of anger was not good for anyone. Closing her eyes and taking several deep breaths helped her body start to relax, but a knock made her jolt upright.
Jumpin’ Jesus
.

“Come in!” She called out. The door opened and her heart skipped.

“Is everything okay, Stephanie?” John had concern written all over his handsome face. She cringed.

“It’s nothing. I just got a call from my soon to be ex brother in law.” She sighed as John sat next to her. “He wanted me to tell him where Marina and Danny are.” Why couldn’t Marina find a guy like John? “It’s a long story, but I’m not telling him anything.” With all the conversations they’d had over the past few months, Stephanie never really told him much about her sister’s situation.

“Is he dangerous?” That was definitely the policeman in him coming out.

“Not to me, but he put my sister through a lot, and she’s finally getting back on her feet.” She swallowed against the lump in her throat. “She’s away from him and that’s all that matters.”

“If he starts bothering you, make sure you let me know.” He was serious. She smiled. It was nice he wanted to protect her.

“I’ll be fine,” She said. “Was there something else?”
Like you want to kiss me again
.

“Yeah.” He smiled. “I just wanted to let you know, it’s gonna be a bit loud here for a few hours. My brothers are here to rehearse.”

“Really! Can I watch?” The words were out of her mouth before she knew it.

“Sure, but most of the music we do isn’t recent stuff.” John seemed a little embarrassed. “Mostly the oldies, like the sixties, seventies, eighties stuff. We do country too, and depending on the venue we do some Newfie music”

“I grew up with that stuff. My parents listened to all kinds of music.” She smiled.

“Mine too. I guess that’s why we got used to playing it.”  He stood up and headed toward the door. “We’re getting the equipment set up. Should be ready in about an hour.” He stopped. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine. Really. He doesn’t worry me.”

John winked and closed the door behind him. The man was sex on a stick, there was no question about it. Stephanie flopped back on the couch with a sigh.

Her thoughts went back to Marina. Should she call her sister and tell her Marc was looking for her? It would upset her to know Marc contacted Stephanie. Marina was happy now or at least she seemed to be. She was over two thousand kilometers away. Marc wouldn’t be able to find her. No, Marina didn’t need to know Marc was looking for her.

Stephanie closed her eyes. She took a couple of deep breaths and the tension in her body eased. The faint sound of music made her open her eyes. She listened, but she didn’t recognize the song. She listened again. It sounded like everyone was playing a different song. They were probably just tuning instruments. She grabbed her phone off the couch and headed to the door. She pulled open the door and almost ran into Kristy.

“Oh, I was just coming to get you.” Kristy laughed. “They’re ready to start, and the guys have a surprise song for John.”

“Oh!” Stephanie closed the door behind her and followed Kristy into the living room.

“Something about motivational music but the guys hope he’ll think it’s a good addition to their list.” The room no longer looked like John’s living room. All the furniture was pushed back against the walls. Drums, guitars, and a keyboard stood in the center with two microphones in front. Kristy grabbed her hand and dragged her over to the couch.

“You know, that part of the family got all the talent.” Kristy giggled.

“Why don’t Ian, Keith, and James play with them?” James was leaning against the doorframe and Ian sat on the arm of the chair. Keith was plugging in some equipment.

“It’s not that they can’t play or sing because those guys got pipes. They just never liked being in the spotlight. Especially, Keith.” Kristy explained. “So they stay on the sidelines like me, and just help set everything up, but honestly James is an amazing singer. Ian can sing too, and Keith can play pretty much any instrument you put in front of him.”

“Do Isabelle and Jess help out?” Stephanie liked the three sisters. They were funny.

“Isabelle doesn’t really have time. She’s got restaurant and that’s pretty much her life and Jess, well, let’s just say Jess doesn’t like to be around the members of the band that are not related to us. Well at least one of them anyway.”

Stephanie noticed two men she didn’t know. Kristy explained the drummer was Cory Fleming. He was in the police academy with Aaron and they’d been friends for years. The guitar player was Jason Brenton. He was Nick’s friend and a lawyer.

“So which one is the reason Jess isn’t here?”

“That would be Jason. Jess used to date him, but something happened and now they can’t even be in the same room together. Jess hasn’t told anyone what happened and apparently, neither has Jason.”

“That’s not good.” Stephanie said and Kristy nodded in agreement.

John walked into the living room. Even with the abundance of gorgeous looking men, he was the only one to make her breath catch. His jeans hung low on his slim hips. The grey T-shirt clung to his chiseled chest and abdominals. He should be arrested for looking that good.

John seemed to search her out when he moved into the room. His eyes met hers and her cheeks warmed. He smiled at her. How did he constantly make her heart flutter with that smile? It seemed like when he entered the room nobody else existed. It was just her and him.

Then the spell was broken when Kristy nudged her shoulder. “I think my cousin has a little crush on you.”

If Stephanie was being completely honest. She was a little smitten herself. Oh, who was she kidding? She was completely bewitched by him.

“Before we start, we’ve got a song we want to play for John.” The sound of Aaron’s voice echoed through the room. He motioned for John to sit on the stool next to James. Aaron grinned as the music started. Stephanie recognized it right away.
Eye of the Tiger
. She glanced at John. He was laughing and shaking his head. 

“This is for you, bro.” Aaron started to sing and it sounded great. He really did have an amazing voice. John’s elbows rested on his knees, and he grinned at his brother. When the song ended John slid off the stool and approached Aaron.

“I know that was just an attempt to poke fun, but it did sound great.” John chuckled.

“I really think we should do it, though. As that beauty over there said, it can be motivational.” Aaron’s normally mischievous grin was gone. He was sincere. “A lot of those sick kids need that motivation, and maybe it can motivate people to donate more.” A small lump formed in her throat and her eyes filled with tears. Aaron really had a heart of gold. John ruffled his hair.

“You’re right, A.J. Motivation really helps and we should do it.” John turned and winked at Stephanie. She couldn’t help it, but her cheeks burned and she had to hold herself back from running across the room and jumping his bones.

For the next few hours, they played dozens of songs. Some of them she recognized as favorites of her parents and others she didn’t know. Ian held a clipboard and wrote down each song they agreed to add to the playlist. For a bunch of guys who were only doing this as a hobby, they were impressive. Hell, they were better than a lot of bands she heard on the radio.

“Hey, John what about, ‘You are the Woman’ by Firefall?” James asked. “You know it’s one of Mom’s favorites and she expects you to sing it every time.” James glanced over at Stephanie and grinned. “I think you’ve got the inspiration for it in front of you.” She didn’t recognize the band name. Probably, before her time.

“Come on John, let’s see if you still got it.” Nick teased. Ian pulled the stool over next to the microphone, and John sat down. He glanced up at her and gave her a shy smile. When the music started Stephanie still didn’t recognize it, but as he started to sing his eyes didn’t leave hers.

“You are the woman that I’ve always dreamed of, I knew it from the start.”
John’s voice was low and husky but perfect tone. At least it sounded perfect to her. If someone told her to look away or she’d die, Stephanie would’ve died then and there. Everything about him singing entranced her. Her heart pounded as he sang each verse. It was as if nobody else was in the room. All she could see and hear was John.

The end of the song came way too soon. Stephanie could’ve listened to him all night. The room erupted into a chorus of hoots and hollers. John lowered his head. When he lifted it again, his eyes went straight to her. They were sparkling and that damn dimple. That was it. She knew at that very second. She was in love.

“I guess having a beautiful lady in the room makes John sing with all his heart.” Kristy teased as she pushed Stephanie with her shoulder. She didn’t need a mirror to know her face glowed red when all eyes turned to her.

“Inspiration is everything, Cuz.” John winked at Stephanie.

Rehearsal finished and John chatted with his brothers and cousins. He’d be tired once they left. Stephanie slipped around the people standing in the hallway. She reached for the door of her apartment when John grabbed her hand.

“Did you have fun?” He took both of her hands in his while the last of his family exited through the front door.

“Yeah, I did.” She smiled. “You guys are incredible.”

“Thanks.” He glanced down to where he held her hands.

“I’ve never heard that song before.” The song made her almost melt into the floor.

“It’s an oldie but a goodie.” He chuckled. “My dad sang it to my mom when he proposed. So it’s always been her favorite.”