She moved out of his grip, and turned her back facing him. Surprised to see her acting the way she was, when a few hours earlier it was a completely different story, and wondered what changed. "Victoria, what's going on here?" he asked sounding bewildered, while walking up to her, and placing his hands on her shoulders. "Am I missing something here?"

She slowly turned around, and took a deep breath as she looked at him. She didn't want to tell him what his sister said, but was now curious what she meant by it. "I started thinking... you wanted to know everything about me, and about Brayden, but never once did you tell me about you, or your history. Is there something that I should know?"

He squinted his eyes, and slightly shook his head, not understanding what she was talking about. "Victoria, I have no clue what you're talking about. Where is all this coming from?" he asked. After looking at her, and by the look on her face, it hit him... Janelle. "What did she tell you?" he asked quietly.

"Who?" she asked, playing dumb, not wanting to throw his sister under the bus.

"I'm not stupid, my sister is working back there with you, and obviously something was said... so, I'm asking, what was all said?"

"She didn't say much of anything... she just said that she knows you all too well, and that she didn't want to see me get hurt by you. So now the question I have for you is, what did she mean by that? And, what are you hiding from me?"

He placed his hand in hers, and walked her over to his office chair, sat down, and had her sit on his lap. He wrapped his arms around her waist, and exhaled deeply. "I don't know what Janelle was getting at, and I'm sure she's just looking out for me."

"But the question is why... quit trying to beat around the bush, and just tell me. You wanted to know about me, insisted on me talking to you about me, now I want to know about you, and why she would even say anything like that to me... I'm still not understanding why she would even bring that up."

'I don't know either, unless she was reading you. She's been known to be good at reading people, and she must have saw something with you... perhaps with your smile?" She shifted her body to look at him, and stared at him waiting to hear what he had to say. He sighed, and wrapped his hand around his mouth, thinking as he looked at the ground. He lowered his hand, and rested it on her thigh as he cleared his throat. If he wanted any kind of relationship with her, he knew he needed to tell her, even though it was something he wanted to forget about. "I too, recently split with someone that I had been with for a while."

"How long ago?"

"About five months ago, or so... I took her on a vacation to place she always wanted to go, and thought everything was going good between us, didn't see any issues, and was shocked when I asked for her hand in marriage, and she said no. When we got back home, she packed up her things, and moved out, I haven't heard from her since."

"Wow, I'm sorry that happened to you... I guess in a good way, you're lucky it happened then, rather at the altar, or after you were married." She felt bad for asking, but with him questioning her, she felt it was only fair to question him. "Now I understand why she said what she said to me. But I still don't understand why she thinks you would hurt me?"

"Only thing I can think of why she would say that is, if Krista were to come back, and wanting me to take her back, that I would."

"Would you?"

"No." he said hesitantly, while shaking his head no.

She leaned back, and wrinkled up her nose, not liking how he said no, "You hesitated." she says, trying to get off his lap.

He tightened his grip around her, not letting her get up, and leaned closer to her to look her in the eyes. "There's no way I would take her back, not anymore... especially if you were mine... I've grown quite fond of you, and wouldn't give you up for anyone... and that means her, especially." He curled his finger under her chin, and turned her head to face him after she looked away. "She means nothing to me anymore, and the one I want in my life is sitting right on my lap, looking at me like I would give up a good thing, for something rotten."

With his other hand, he reached behind her, pulling her to him, and kissed her. He wasn't about to let her leave his office questioning how he felt about her, or if he would leave her for his ex. He knew where his heart is, and who he wants in it, and it wasn't with his ex. He deepened the kiss, hoping she'll finally accept him, and hoped to be able to call her his gal, girlfriend, or love of his life, soon.

He wanted to show her his ex meant nothing to him anymore, and wanted to give her all his attention. He grabbed a fistful of her hair, tilted her head back, and ravaged her neck with kisses while unbuttoning her shirt. His hand slid inside her shirt, cupped her breast, then slid his hand behind her, and unlatched her bra. Feeling the heat rise within her, she stood up, removed her top, and stood partially naked before him, wanting him to take a good look at her, hoping he'll take her on his desk. She had a hard time being upset with him, and was starting to look at him with more than just lust. She noticed she was developing feelings for him, and wondered if it was Janelle who may have triggered her feelings for him.

He stood up, and devoured her mouth as he lifted, and lowered her onto the desk. Feeling hot, and revved up, she quickly grabbed a hold of his shirt, and forcefully tugged his shirt open, popping all the buttons off, with them flying all over the place. "Oops." she giggled, and pulled him down on top of her, kissing him with force.

He stood up, and dropped his pants as she removed the rest of her clothes. He then hovered over her, crashing his lips to hers, and thrusted himself into her, thrusting hard, and fast after she begged him to fuck her harder. It's not something he wanted to do, and not the way he likes to make love, but wanted to give her whatever she wanted to satisfy her happiness.

After they were finished, he laid on top of her, and looked her in the eyes before pulling himself out of her. "Just for the record, I'm not one for fucking like that, I enjoy making love, but if that's what it takes to keep you happy, let me know."

She rested her hand on the side of his face, and stared at the man who kept trying to give her his heart, and smiled. "I like the way you make love to me, I just wanted to see how well you would listen to me, and you did." she says giggling.

"You're terrible." he chuckled, and rested his forehead onto hers, while rubbing his nose back and forth against hers, smiling. She slid her hand up his back, to his head, and pressed his lips down to hers, kissing him passionately.

"I better get going." she quietly said.

He sighed, and rested his head in the crook of her neck, placing soft kisses along the side of her neck, and spoke lowly "I wish you would come home with me; I don't like you going home to him."

"I'm not going home to him, it's still my home, and I still need to figure who's moving out."

He got off her, and helped her off the desk. While getting dressed, he tried thinking of ways to get her to come home with him, and whatever he said to her, nothing worked. "If you change your mind, the door will be open for you, just walk right in."

"Thanks." She looked at him, and covered her mouth, trying not to laugh when she saw he couldn't button his shirt. "Hopefully everyone is gone by now."

"You better hope so, with the moaning, and groaning you were doing, I'm sure the next town heard you." he laughed.

"You're the one with no buttons left on your shirt, and have to walk through the clinic to leave." she said with a smile, one that looked wider than her face.

After she left to go home, he sat at his desk for a while thinking about her, wondering what it'll take for her to move out of her apartment, and for her to move in with him. The thought of what it would be like waking up to her every morning, gave him a smile.

He finally locked the doors to the clinic, and on the way home, he decided to stop at the grocery store, and stocked up on foods that she would be able to eat, hoping to get her to come over more often, and bought a few more bags of coffee for her. He didn't know how she could drink coffee all day, and still be able to go to bed, and be able to sleep at night. He felt if he were to do that, he would be up tossing, and turning all night.

As he was nearing his house, he was surprised to see a car in the driveway, and the closer he got, he realized who it was. What's she doing here? he groaned. He parked, got out of his car, and started grabbing the bags of groceries.

"Lose the buttons on your shirt?"

He shut the car door, and chuckled a little. "I had a wild moment... what are you doing here?"

"I needed to talk to you." She looked at how his arms were full of grocery bags, then noticed a few more bags in the car, and felt she should be helping. "Need help carrying any of those bags?"

"Yea, there's a couple more in the backseat if you could grab them, thanks."

He opened the door for his sister, letting her in before him, and had her place the bags on the counter. "It's pretty late, shouldn't you be at home with your kids, and putting them to bed by now?" He looked at the time, and hoped she wasn't going to be staying long, in case Victoria decided to come over.

She gave him a curious look, and started helping him unload the bags. "Shawn is at home with them. Why, are you expecting someone?"

"No." he says, taking the food out of her hands, and setting them back down on the counter. "I can put my own groceries away, thanks anyway."

"Could have fooled me with all the food you bought." she says, looking at all the food, and smiled, thinking he was having Victoria come over.

He opened the fridge, showing her how empty it was, then started opening all the cupboards. "Now do you see why I bought the groceries?" He went back in the fridge, grabbed a beer, then leaned against the counter as he twisted the cap off his beer. He then threw the bottle cap onto the counter, and took a swig of his beer while looking at her. "You never answered why you were here." he says, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Dalton, what are you doing?" she asked as she turned around, with a worried look on her face.

'What do you mean what am I doing? And, why are you looking at me like you're worried about something?"

"What's going on with you, and Victoria?"

He took another drink of his beer, and set it down on the counter. Being that Victoria didn't want anyone knowing what they have been doing, he was going to leave it at that, and not say anything to upset her. "Nothing, why? Should there be?"

"I don't know, you tell me..." she looked at his shirt, and knew that just didn't happen. She also knew Victoria was still at the clinic when she left, and how quiet she had gotten after they talked at lunch time. "I had a little talk with Victoria at lunch, she didn't say you two were together, but I can see it in both your faces. When you warned me about her before I started, I saw that look in your eye, it was the same look you would give, whenever you would talk about Krista. I also noticed after she talks to you, the smile she has on her face when she comes back into the office... I've known you for twenty-eight years, you can't fool me one bit."

"Still don't know what you're talking about, and why you even care who's in my life. This is my life, remember?"

"I'm your sister, and I care what happens to you. Look what Krista did to you, I don't want to see that happen again. I also don't want to see you get involved with someone, then turn around hurt her. You can't tell me you still don't have feelings for Krista... Let me ask you this... what if she were to come knocking on that door, saying she made a mistake, and wants you back, would you take her back?"

"Nope, wouldn't take her back if my life depended on it... I'm over her."

She laughed a mocking laugh, placed her hands on her hips, and furrowed her eyebrows. "Yeah right, since when? Before you bought that clinic, I specifically remember a conversation we had. You sat at that table, right over there, telling me how much you missed her, how you didn't understand what you did for her to do that to you, and how bad you wanted her to come back... what changed?"

"I wised up..." he growled. He remembered having the conversation with her, and wished he never did. After meeting Victoria, seeing her every day, and getting to know her, he didn't know why he was drowning his sorrows for a woman who obviously didn't love him anymore. "I came to terms that we were over, and needed to move on. So, don't be coming in here accusing me of trying to hurt someone, something that will never happen."

"You sure about that? Because I don't want to see anyone hurt, especially someone that works for you... You never know, you could piss her off, and she could turn around and sue your ass for sexual harassment."

He laughed, covered his face, and slowly moved his hands down, still laughing. "I cannot believe you just said that... don't worry, nothing is going on, and nothing like that will ever happen, trust me."

"Just remember, I'm older than you, and have seen a lot. Women can be cruel, and the way you two bicker, I wouldn't be surprised if she tells you to fuck off."

"Alright, I've heard enough..." he groaned, grabbing his beer off the counter, and slamming the entire bottle. "What I see, or feel for Victoria, is none of your concern. She's a good person, and one who I enjoy picking on. She may claim she hates it, but it's all a front. So, trust me... if I knew she would be another Krista, I would back off. But there's something about her that I like, and would love to get to know her better. If you don't like it, tough... now if there's someplace you need to be, I suggest you leave, and let me be."

"I'm just looking out for you, that's all." she sighed. "And don't tell me nothing is going on, there's lipstick on your collar."

Victoria was relieved to see Brayden was gone when she got home. She wasn't sure how long he would be gone for, and didn't care. All she cared about was that he wasn't home. She made herself dinner, and enjoyed eating in peace for once. There was no loud music being played, no loud TV, and no loud yelling while video games were being played. While eating, she looked at everything around her, and wondered if any of it was worth packing, or worth leaving behind. She didn't care anymore, she couldn't live like this any longer, made her decision, and wanted out of the apartment.

She grabbed her laptop, logged into a renter's site, and put out an ad for a renter to take over the remainder of her lease. She didn't care if he would be upset about it, and felt if he wasn't going to move out, then she was going to be the one to make the move.

She was getting ready to go to bed, and heard the door open, and close hard, along with loud moaning noises. She stepped out of her room to see what was going on, and stopped when saw Brayden, making out with a woman against the door, and removing their clothes.

Hope the chapter was OK! 🤞🤞🤞🤞