“Like I said, Annie, it will be on your desk by tomorrow afternoon,” I said. “It won’t be a problem.”
Annie’s stern face slowly lightened up and she smiled.
“Great,” she said. “Thanks, Kelsey.”
Then turned around and left my office, making her way to the next cubicle to harass someone else. I leaned my head back, letting out a sigh.
Annie was annoying, but I guess that I couldn’t be too mad at her for being on my case. My work was starting to suffer. There was so much going on in my life and I wasn’t lying when I told her that I had a lot on my mind and it was making me feel distracted.
In fact, if I could have written out a list of all of the things that were going on in my mind that afternoon, the list would have been a mile long. My stepbrother Steven and I still needed to tell our parents about our secret relationship, my job was stressing me out beyond belief and my mother was driving me crazy like usual. But these things were just a small part of what was occupying my mind.
The biggest reason that I couldn’t focus was because it had been three weeks after Steven and I’s last encounter, and I still hadn’t had my period. I didn’t have the guts to go to the convenience store and buy a pregnancy test either. I just kept telling myself that the reason I was late was because of all of the stress in my life. I looked it up online, and it said that stress can cause you to miss your period. In fact, it was supposedly pretty common for that to happen.
I hope that’s all it is. Stress. That must be it. I’ve been late on having my period before...haven’t I?
These thoughts flowed through my mind as I aimlessly scrolled through my work on the computer. It wasn’t that I didn’t eventually want to be pregnant by Steven, but I had just hoped that our situation would be a little bit more stable before that happened.
As I sat there in front of my computer, with my chin resting on my fist, I started to wonder at what point I would get a pregnancy test and how I would give the news to Steven if I was actually pregnant. Just the thought of having that conversation almost made me nauseous. I had no idea how he would react to news like that.
My hands started to get sweaty and I felt a wave of dizziness flow through me. I felt like I was having a mild anxiety attack. I leaned back in my chair, putting my hands over my head and taking a few slow, deep breaths.
I have to get some fresh air. I need to get out of this office for a while.
I grabbed my purse and stood up from my chair, walking away from my cubicle and toward the door that led outside. As soon as I got to the door, I heard my cell phone vibrate. I quickly grabbed it out of my purse, relieved when I saw Steven’s name on the caller I.D.
A smile even found its way onto my face, as I lifted the phone to my ear.
“Hey you,” I said, as I stepped through the door and into the parking lot.
“Hey yourself,” Steven responded, in his deep and sexy voice.
Just hearing his voice caused the anxiety inside of me to lessen and the knot that was in my stomach began to unravel.
“I’m having the worst day,” I said.
Steven sounded concerned as he responded, “What’s wrong, baby?”
I sighed, as I made my way across the parking lot and toward my car.
“Oh, mostly just Annie getting on my case again,” I said. “I think I just need a vacation or something.”
I couldn’t tell him the whole truth. I couldn’t tell him that there was a chance that I was carrying his child.
“Well, I have some pretty exciting news,” Steven said. “It may even cheer you up. Do you want to meet me at the park? I hate to waste this nice day.”
I stepped up to my car in the parking lot, unlocking it and opening the door. Then I crawled in, relaxing into the driver’s seat.
“What time is it?” I asked. “I can only take forty-five minutes for lunch.”
Steven chuckled on the other end of the line.
“Well then you better hurry then,” he responded. “It won’t take long. I just want to tell you in person.”
I cocked my head to the side, immediately wondering what Steven wanted to tell me. I shrugged my shoulders and then reached forward, starting the engine.
I guess it’ll take my mind off of this whole possible pregnancy thing...I thought.
“Okay,” I said. “I’ll meet you at the park. Can we get some lunch or something too?”
Steven responded, in a sweet and caring tone.
“I’ll bring you lunch,” he said. “I’ll stop by that burrito place and get you a chicken burrito.”
A smile crossed my face, as I pulled out of the parking lot, making my way toward the park.
“Aww,” I said. “You’re so sweet. I’ll see you in a few.”
Chapter 14
After a ten-minute drive across town, I pulled up to Steven and I’s favorite park. It was tiny, but beautiful, with blooming red roses lining the sidewalk and two giant oak trees located in the center, tall enough to provide shade for the entire park.
I stopped the car and got out, bringing my gaze toward the center of the park, where three benches were located, set up in a way that created a triangle. I saw Steven sitting on one of them, his arms relaxed over the back of the bench and his face looking up toward the sky.
My heart practically skipped a beat the moment that I laid eyes on him and instantly all of the turmoil that was in my mind vanished. It was like someone had flipped a light switch, completely eliminating any concerns in my head. The only thing that I really needed in the entire world was sitting on that bench, just fifty feet away.
Steven saw me, as I walked down the grassy hill that led to the benches. He smiled wide and then stood up. I instantly noticed that he had a dozen roses in his hand and my eyes lit up as soon as I saw them.
“Steven!” I cried out. “You got me flowers?!”
Steven shrugged his shoulders and then nodded humbly.
“Well, you deserve them, just because,” he said. “Plus, we’re celebrating.”
I ran up to him and he held his arms out, pulling me in for a hug and lifting me up into the air at the same time. He twirled me around once and then set me down on the ground, his beautiful blue eyes locked with mine as he handed me the flowers.
I brought them to my face, breathing in the sweet scent of the roses.
“These are so nice, Steven,” I said. “Thank you. You didn’t have to buy me flowers.”
Steven brought his hands to my waist, pulling my body against his. Then he leaned forward, giving me a slow peck on the lips before pulling away.
“Of course I didn’t have to,” he responded. “But you deserve them.”
Then he brought his arm around my shoulder, squeezing me tight. It felt good to be near him again. Steven’s presence always seemed to fix any of the issues that I was dealing with in my life. He didn’t even have to say anything. Just his presence alone was enough.
“So,” Steven said. “Are you ready to hear the good news?”
We took a seat on the bench. Steven kept his arm wrapped around my shoulder, holding me close.
“Yes, what is it?” I asked, eagerly.
The entire car ride to the park, I tried to figure out what the good news could have been. I thought maybe his business had grown or he was taking a vacation or something. I had no idea what was about to come out of his mouth.
“Okay,” Steven said, as he placed a hand on my knee. “I finally did something that I’ve been talking about for a while now. I’m not positive that you’re going to love it, but I personally think it’s going to be a great thing.”
I cocked my head to the side.
“Well...” I said. “What is it, Steven?”
Steven’s smile grew and he reached into his pocket, pulling out a piece of paper. He unfolded it in front of me, revealing a picture of what appeared to be a mansion. He handed me the paper and then asked, “What do you think?”
I looked at the picture and then back to him, a co
nfused look on my face.
“I think that it’s a picture of a giant house,” I said, as I shrugged my shoulders. “It’s cool, but what does it have to do with you?”
Steven kept his eyes locked with mine, his smile unwavering.
“I bought it,” he said, after a few seconds of pause. “I just bought this house. It officially became mine this morning.”
“What?!” I responded immediately. “You bought that house?”
I pointed to the picture.
“This mansion?” I asked.
Steven was silent as he nodded in agreement. My jaw dropped and my eyes grew wide.
“Oh, my God, Steven!” I said, my voice growing loud with excitement. “This house is beautiful! I can’t believe it’s yours!”
I wrapped my arms around him, pulling him in for a hug. Then I grabbed the piece of paper, looking over the picture of the giant mansion one more time, shaking my head in awe.
“You just went and bought this...that’s crazy,” I said.
Then I asked, “Is it weird that your rash decisions actually turn me on?”
Steven chuckled and shook his head.
“I’m just glad that my being rash doesn’t scare you off, to be honest,” he said. “Sometimes it’s more of a blessing than a curse.”
I laughed and shook my head.
“There’s not a whole lot that you could do that would scare me off,” I responded. “Now, when do we get to see this new house...or should I say, this new mansion, of yours?”
Steven relaxed back onto the park bench, bringing his eyes up to the sky and taking a long, contented breath.
“Well, how about...as soon as you get off of work?” he asked. “The moving company will be at your parent’s house within the hour, so by the time you get done working, I should be unpacking at the new place.”
As he spoke, I suddenly felt my stomach drop. My initial excitement was quickly tainted as a realization crossed my mind. Steven would no longer be living in the bedroom next to mine. He wouldn’t be under the same roof as me. The man that I loved was going to be moving away from me.
Steven noticed my look of disappointment immediately.
“You don’t want me to move, do you?” he asked.
I looked at the ground and shook my head.
“I’m really excited that you bought your dream house,” I said. “But yeah, I guess the thought of you moving out makes me sad.”
Steven pulled me close and squeezed me affectionately.
“Baby, it’s only a couple of miles away for your mom’s house,” he said. “And I think it’s going to be better for us anyway. We can be naughty whenever we want without having to worry about one of our parents barging in.”
My eyes lit up and a smile crossed my face as he spoke the last sentence.
“Now that’s a good point,” I said, as I gave him a flirtatious wink. “I hadn’t thought of it that way.”
Chapter 15
Later that afternoon when I got off of work, I hurried back home. I wanted to be there to help Steven pack up his room and to spend as much time with him as possible before he moved out.
When I pulled into the driveway, I noticed a large moving truck parked alongside the house. Several men were loading up Steven’s furniture into the back of the truck.
I parked at the end of the driveway and walked to the house, making my way upstairs. Steven’s bedroom door was open and I popped my head in.
“Hello?” I called out.
I heard some noise coming from inside of his closet, so I stepped into his room a little further.
“Steven?”
Steven popped his head out of the closet. Then he stepped out, his arms overflowing with clothes that were still on the hangar.
“Hey, babe,” he said. “Just cleaning out my closet. I had way more clothes than I thought that I did.”
Steven stepped across the bedroom, dropping the armful of clothes into a large suitcase that sat open on the bed. Then he turned to me, immediately bringing his hands to my hips and pulling me in for a hug.
“I’m glad you’re here,” he said. “You’re a sight for sore eyes. I had forgotten how much moving sucks.”
I looked up at him and then stood on my tiptoes, giving him a peck on the lips. Then I slowly pulled away, looking around at the mess in his room. Clothes and boxes were everywhere, scattered haphazardly and covering nearly every square inch of the floor. Steven was gorgeous, wealthy and muscular...but “organized” would never be a word that I’d use to describe him.
“It looks like you could use some help,” I said, smiling.
Steven released my hips and then sat down on the bed, taking an exhausted sigh.
“I think I could use all of the help that I can get,” he responded. “Can you help me get all of these clothes into boxes? I’ll start taking apart the bed so that the movers can take care of that next.”
I giggled softly and then nodded in agreement.
“I think you should hire me as your personal organizer,” I said, jokingly.
Steven laughed.
“I would do that in a heartbeat!” he said. “But I think I’d rather you just be my girlfriend.”
I felt my face blush a bit as he spoke. I smiled and looked at him.
“Girlfriend?” I asked.
Steven nodded.
“Hell yea,” he responded. “Are you kidding me? I’d love that.”
I shrugged my shoulders and then turned to pick up a pile of shirts that were laying on the floor.
“I’d love that, too,” I said. “But before we do anything official like that, maybe we should actually tell our parents. We’ve been talking about it for a while now, but more and more, it seems like we should just go ahead and do it.”
Steven stood up from the bed and finished stuffing the pile of clothes into the suitcase. He then used his weight to squeeze it shut, before locking the clasps that held it together. The suitcase looked like it was about to explode.
“Let’s do it,” he said, as he picked the suitcase up off of the bed and set it on the floor. “Let’s tell them. Let’s tell our parents about it today.”
I stopped immediately and turned toward him.
“Are you sure?” I asked. “Don’t you have enough going on today with your move and all.”
Steven chuckled and then shrugged his shoulders.
“There’s never going to be a good time to do it,” he said. “So I feel like this evening is as good of a time as any.”
I grabbed a few more shirts and then tossed them into a moving box that was nearby. I knew that eventually we were going to tell our parents about us, I just kind of hoped we’d put it off for a little while longer. I couldn’t imagine how my mom was going to react and I didn’t even want to think about William’s reaction. But Steven was right, when he said that there would never be a good time. There would always be an excuse. So I shrugged my shoulders and slowly nodded my head in agreement.
“Okay,” I said, swallowing back the anxiety that had crept inside of me. “Let’s tell them.”
Steven took a long, deep breath. I could see that the idea of telling them also made him quite nervous.
“Sounds good,” he said. “How about this...I’ll tell my dad when he comes by my new house this afternoon. And you tell your mom after I leave with the moving truck. That way you and your mom will be alone and I’ll be alone with Dad. Seems like if we have them isolated, then they won’t be able to feed off of each other’s reactions.”
It was logical enough for me. I’d much rather just talk to my mom anyway and let Steven talk to William. I couldn’t handle exposing the secret to both of them by myself.
“I think that sounds like a plan,” I said, with nervousness in my voice. “God, I can’t believe we’re actually going to do this.”
Steven stepped close to me and then leaned forward, kissing me on the lips. As he pulled away, he looked at me with his fluorescent blue eyes. They pierced right through me, as always.
“It’s the only way that we can be together for real,” he said. “I’m done with this sneaking around stuff. I want you and I’m not afraid who knows it any more.”
I couldn’t help but to smile. He certainly did a good job of making me feel loved. And somehow, his confidence rubbed off on me, making me feel better about coming clean with our secret.
“You’re right,” I said. “And we’re going to tell them. Tonight.”
Chapter 16
Steven was all packed up. The moving truck was full and the movers were pulling out of the driveway as I stood in the front entrance, watching them leave. Steven was putting the last box of valuables into the back seat of his car. I watched as he closed the car door and walked back toward the house.
I stood in the entrance to the house, pouting out my lower lip.
“I’m sad that you’re leaving,” I said. “I don’t want you to go.”
Steven walked toward me, the definition of his muscles clearly defined underneath his tight blue t-shirt. He placed his hands onto my hips and looked me in the eyes as he responded.
“Hey, I’m not going anywhere,” he said. “I mean I’ll be a little further than one bedroom over, but I’m still only a couple of miles away. And once we come clean to our parents, we won’t have anything to hide from them. You can come over whenever you want.”
Suddenly, I began to have doubts as to whether or not I really wanted to expose our secret. I started to feel that maybe it wasn’t quite as necessary as I had originally thought.
“Steven,” I said. “Why couldn’t I just come over to your house anyway? I mean even if our parents didn’t know about us? It’s not like it’s that weird for a stepsister to spend time with her stepbrother. We’re kind of like siblings. I don’t think it’s all that suspicious.”
Steven’s face turned more serious as he looked at me. His hands were still on my hips, holding me with his strong hands.
“Kelsey, we talked about this,” he said. “We both agreed that it would be best if our parents knew about us.”
I nodded my head and then my voice started to raise as I took a defensive position.
Steven: A Billionaire Stepbrother Romance Novel Page 10
