Marie Rochelle - More Than Friends - Brad

Yes, he was in love with Alicia and wanted to help her with this, but he wasn’t going to alienate his entire family for her. No matter what his feelings might be for the sexy reporter. He would always protect his family no matter the cost.

“Are you going to keep us in suspense or should we guess what is going on?” There was a faint glint of humor in Zack’s eyes. “If you didn’t want Lee to be here with us, it must be something that would set him off on one of his lectures.”

“Alicia wants to do a special about our family,” Brad said, watching how everyone looked at each other and then back at him. “She thinks the community and other people would love to know how three of the most eligible bachelors in Houston, Texas ended up getting married.”

“Don’t try to cover up for her. We all know the real topic of the story,” Richard snapped. “I can see why Lee wouldn’t want to be here tonight.”

“Richard, calm down,” Dawn told her husband touching him on the leg. “Let Brad finish. Honestly, I’m not upset about this. I love any kind of couple specials. It’s always so interesting learning how couples fell in love with each other; I would like to be a part of it.”

“I would too,” Traci jumped in. “I’ll be able to brag to all the women out there how my sexy husband wanted to know my name from first sight and I was wearing no make-up and sweaty gym clothes at the time.”

Brad liked how Traci’s beautiful face became more animated as she talked about the first time she saw Zack. His brother had dated a lot of women over the years, but he was very pleased that Traci was the woman he married in the end. Her sweet and outgoing personality was a perfect blend to Zack’s usually laid back image unless someone bothered him or his family and then his protective side came out in full force.

“What about you Zack?” Brad asked, knowing that he would get an honest answer. “Do you want to get interviewed by Alicia? I told her that I had to get everyone’s approval first.”

A shadow of annoyance crossed Zack’s face as he laid Carter down on the couch next to him. Brad was surprised that neither child had woken up with all of the talking going on around them.

“Brad, I’ve turned down about eight interviews over the years because they wanted to know more about my personal life than my business life. The only reason I did the most eligible bachelor thing was because the money from the sales went to charity.”

Great , Brad thought as he dropped his head. This was going worst than he thought it would. He loved the idea; however, all of his brothers hated it and their wives didn’t.

“But since I’ve fallen in love with the most brilliant woman in the world, I’ll be more than delighted to tell my story. Count me in,” Zack answered, shocking the hell out of him.

Brad’s head snapped up quickly and his shocked eyes locked with Zack’s amused ones. “Are you serious about this? I was sure you would hate it as much as Lee.”

One corner of Zack’s mouth pulled up into a slight smile. “No, I’m not against it and I’m pretty sure that Lee will come around after Cherise has a talk with him. You know he tries to act tough with her, but she has him wrapped around her little finger.”

“Stop making fun of Lee,” Richard cut in laughing. “I think both of us suffer from the same thing. Well, I guess that I should agree too. I don’t want to be left out in the cold and I need to show Hamilton and other men that Dawn is off limits forever.”

“Haven’t I told you that Hamilton is just a big flirt and you should ignore him,” Dawn said, shaking her head. “He loves getting under your skin.”

Jealously intermingled with hurt touched Brad’s heart as he sat back and watched his older siblings talk to their wives. He’d always thought he would be the first brother to get married because it had been a dream of his for as long as he could remember. Now, he was the single brother playing with his nephews instead of his own kids.

Alicia was the woman he wanted to build a family with but either she was too scared to be with him for some reason or Lee was right and he had been wasting his time and energy longing for a woman he had no chance of winning over.

Could he love a woman who might not have any real interest in him, but only wanted what she could get out of him?

Finally…you’re beginning to see that Lee was right. Alicia isn’t any good for you. Stay away from her. You can do so much better.

Brad shoved the wayward thought from his mind. No! He wasn’t ready to give up on Alicia yet. He was going to try one more time to break down the stubborn wall she held so close to her heart.

“Hey Brad! Are you listening?” Richard asked.

“I heard every word. Thanks so much for doing this. I’m pretty sure Lee won’t give me the green light for him. It’s hard for him to believe and understand that I’m not that little boy who used to be scared of the dark or wanted to follow behind my three big brothers. I’m a grown man and he should treat me accordingly.”

“Lee is just an overbearing big brother. He fits into the mold perfectly,” Traci said. “I grew up with a sister cut from the same cloth. That’s why both of them are so perfectly matched for each other. Don’t worry about him because after the twins are born Lee will forget all about you and Alicia.”

“Listen to my beautiful wife here,” Zack said. “She knows what she’s talking about. I know that Richard even got a life when his son was born, so there is help for Lee.”

Dawn’s soft laughter drew Brad’s attention over to her. Out of all of his sisters-in-law, he liked Dawn the best. She had been in love with Richard so long and had been through so much.

He almost thought that Richard was going to lose the love of his life when Dawn found out he was asked by Richard to follow her and he unearthed the huge secret she was keeping from him.

“I think our son really changed Richard. He was loving and understanding before, but it grew more after the baby. So, I would love to be a part of the interview.”

“Wonderful,” Brad smiled. “I can’t thank all of you enough. I’ll go ahead and tell Alicia whose all in and then I’ll leave Lee’s decision up to him.”

“Well, we better go,” Zack said, picking up Carter. “Our little man here wore himself out at his play date. We need to get him back home and into bed.”

“Yeah, we should get going too. We have a little bit of a longer drive back home than these two,” Richard pointed at Traci and Zack before picking up the car seat. “Let me know if Lee gives you any problems and I’ll have a long talk with him.”

Following behind his guests, Brad fought down a smile. Richard was always the one who stood up to Lee for him when he was a kid. Not that Zack was a good brother or they weren’t close, but it just seemed like he was closer to Richard.

“Have a safe drive home,” he told everyone as they secured their kids and then got into the car. Brad waved at his brothers as they pulled out of his driveway and drove off.

Instead of going back inside, Brad went over and took a seat on the swing set on his porch. He had so many good memories sitting out here with his parents as a little kid. It seemed like his mother always had a snack for him and his brothers to share on this porch every day after school.

After their parents had died, Lee had been old enough to be his and his brothers’ legal guardian which helped them stay in their childhood home. Over the years, his brothers moved out leaving the house to him.

Just last year, Zack had asked him if he wanted to sell the huge house for him so he could get a smaller one or a condo closer to town, but he turned down the offer. Instead, he hired a contractor to update certain parts of the house because he wanted to stay here and raise his family.