by Coco Cadence
“I’m sorry, that’s my fault,” I say. “I really didn’t mean to intrude on your privacy. I just felt like I had no other choice.”
“Yeah, Dad, it’s really no big deal.”
“No big deal? Do you realize what could happen?”
Emily frowns. “I know, but—”
“I’m not here to do anything but study, I promise you,” I say. “Your daughter has been so helpful with my homework, and if we quit now, I’d fail my classes. I swear, we’re studying as hard as we can. That’s all that’s happening.”
“Right …” Her father raises his brow at me. “And you got in here how exactly?”
“Ah … through the window,” I say, a little embarrassed.
Her father cocks his head. “You were that desperate to study?”
“Our test is tomorrow morning, Dad. He studied all day and night, but it still wasn’t enough. I knew you wouldn’t let him into the house this late, so we had to think of something else. I’m sorry,” Emily says.
I look at her and send her a mental thank you, but I think she got it.
“Of course, you did …” Her father sighs and rubs his forehead with his fingers. “You’re that dedicated, huh?”
Oh boy, this doesn’t look good.
Then a few more thuds are audible. Someone’s coming up the stairs.
“Who’s that?” Emily asks.
Her dad clears his throat. “Well, I wanted to come and tell you something, which is why I came to your room in the first place. Except I didn’t think I’d find him here.”
“Tell me what?” She sits up straight.
Her father coughs. It’s then that I notice someone appearing in the door with him. Someone who almost makes my eyeballs pop from their sockets.
“Mom?” I say.
Emily looks at me, confused, her eyes switching back and forth between her father and me.
“Wait, what?” her father says. “He’s your son?”
“Hold on. How are you even here?” I ask my mom.
“I could ask you the same thing,” she says. “This is certainly a surprise. I didn’t expect to see you here as well. Gosh, this does make it confusing, doesn’t it?” She gazes up at Emily’s father as if they’re having some sort of moment together. She licks her lips and focuses her attention back to Emily and me again. “I meant to tell you this, but I didn’t expect it to be so soon. Oh well, I guess there’s no point in denying it now.”
That’s when she grabs Emily’s father’s hand. On her finger is a sparkling new ring.
Oh, fuck no.
Shock makes me lose my balance, and I tip over the edge of the bed, landing on the floor with a huge thud. Emily sucks in a breath and leans over the edge. “Are you okay?”
I couldn’t be further from okay.
My mom wasn’t just leaving my dad for another man.
The man she’s been dating all this time is none other than Emily’s father.
“Oh, Christopher. I know this might come as a shock to you, but I assure you it’s as hard on me as it is for you.”
“I doubt that,” I mumble, gazing at Emily with a concerned look on my face.
My mother clears her throat. “Well, with all that studying you kids did together these past few weeks; you must’ve really gotten to know each other well.”
That we have.
My mother’s perky voice doesn’t make her words any less painful. “I’m so glad you already got to spend some time with your future stepsister.”
Chapter 14
Chris
Present
“You still think about that?” she says.
As I throw my coat over the back of my chair, I glance at her. “You don’t?”
She shrugs with a confusing look. “I don’t know … I guess I don’t really linger on the past.”
“Or you’re trying to forget something you can’t forget.” I flash a cocky smile, which makes her blush. Good. I hated that comment. She’s making me feel like I shouldn’t think about her and maybe she’s right, because we’re family and all, but it still makes me feel like shit.
“Or I’m trying to forget because it’s really wrong.”
There we go. I knew it. She just had to go there.
I sigh and lean forward. “You know it would really do you good if you could stop being so judgmental toward your own choices.”
Her eyebrow rises as if she’s insulted. “Who? Me?”
“Yeah, who else?” I shrug, gazing straight into her eyes.
“My choices are fine.”
“Why does it sound like you just lied?”
She looks up at me with a twitch of her nose, which makes me smile like a devilish kid. I can’t help it; I just want to get under her skin. Better yet, under her clothes would do just fine.
“Whatever,” she says, shaking her head. “Your mom made the decision for us.”
“No, your dad had to go and tear my mom away from her family.”
She rolls her eyes. “No matter whose fault it is, it won’t change the fact that we’re stuck together now.”
I lean back in my chair and cross my arms. “Fine. If you wanna play that game, then I’m going back to my old habits.”
“What do you mean?”
The barista arrives to take our order, and I ask her for two strong chocolate Frappuccinos. I’ll need it with Emily eyeing me from top to bottom. As the cherry on top, I wink at the barista. When she walks off, I make sure to check out her ass. Might as well score now that Emily has made it clear she’s off-limits, and I’m about to burst here.
Hanging out with Em has made it impossible for me to look elsewhere, and my cock keeps growing thicker and thicker around her. It’s so fucking wrong—especially when she’s being so fucking serious about not getting together—even though both of us knows she wants to. I can tell from the way that she looks at me, as she’s doing now, squinting, like she’s jealous or something.
“What?” I say, when she won’t stop staring.
“Really? You had to do that?”
“Do what?” My smirk ticks her off even more.
She growls a little. “Never mind.”
When the barista comes back with our chocolate Frappuccinos, I lick my lips and thank her, which seems to piss Emily off even more. God, I love that look on her face. I’m a son of a bitch for doing this, but honestly, I don’t care right now. I want to know how she really feels, and this is the only way to find out.
“I’d love to know what I did to make you so angry,” I muse.
“You mean now or all those times before?”
I chuckle. “Oh, Em, your claws are so sharp today.”
“I file them especially for you,” she says, blowing on her fingernails as if they’re a smoking gun.
It makes me laugh. “Tell me then. Why am I such a bastard?”
“You know exactly why,” she mumbles, taking a sip.
I pick up my coffee. “Because you wish I was staring at your ass instead?”
Her coffee almost comes spurting out of her mouth, but she barely manages to contain herself and swallows it down with trouble.
“Of course, who says I don’t do that already?”
“Chris!” she admonishes, patting herself on the chest to stop her cough.
“You want me to stop?”
“Yes.” She takes another gulp, this time bigger than before.
“Okay. I get it. I won’t go after you.” I clear my throat. “Besides, I already have a new target.”
“What?” She makes a face.
I get up from my seat after taking another sip from my coffee. “Be right back.”
“Where are you going?”
I don’t answer. Instead, I walk to the bar and have a small chat with the barista. Sometimes, I glance over my shoulder and spot Emily trying to hide her concern. I don’t mind, but I don’t like being constrained. Either she takes what I have to offer, or she lets me do whatever the fuck I want. There’s no having her pie and eat
ing it, too. The only one who’s going to eat anything around here is me, and I swear to fucking god, it’ll be her pie I’m eating soon.
I’ll make it fucking happen, whether she’s ready for it or not.
I talk with her for a minute, after which I saunter back to my seat. Meanwhile, Emily is giving me the stink eye.
“I’m not thirsty anymore,” she says, picking up her coffee and throwing it into the trash. “I have to get back to work.”
“All right. Catch you later,” I say, taking the last sip of my coffee.
I struggle to keep a straight face as she walks out the door and leaves me here. She’s mad, and we both know why, but she won’t admit it. Soon, baby … soon.
Chapter 15
Emily
Back in the office, I immediately log on to my email, trying to get my head off Chris and back to my work. I have to do something to take my mind off him, but the moment I open my email, all hell breaks loose. The media company we have ties with sends me the pictures they take of my clients so I can approve them for publication, but this one makes my jaw drop. It’s Chris, and he’s having a drink with that same barista who served us only an hour ago.
Hot off the press. And hot in my head.
Goddammit. I smack my hand on the table and almost scream out, but when I notice my coworkers eyeing me, I stop and force myself to control my anger.
“Calm down. He’s just your stepbrother. Your annoyingly dead-sexy asshole of a stepbrother,” I whisper to myself.
I blow out a few breaths before picking up my mobile phone and dialing his number. But then I realize that he’ll probably just avoid the questions that I have. Plus, he doesn’t even know about this picture yet. He’s still sitting there with her, pretending nobody will notice.
Well, I noticed. He can’t just go around having drinks with everyone. Soon, they’ll think they’re dating, or worse, having random, steamy sex in a hotel room every night. I can already imagine his strong arms pinning her down on the bed, kissing her lips with fervor, growling into her mouth, licking her neck … oh, god. Why am I even thinking of this?
It’s wrong, so wrong, and yet I can’t stop inserting myself into thoughts about Chris.
I have to stop him from humping every girl he can find because it damages his image, which is already at a historical low. He’s been dubbed the next bad boy in town, the one who gets girls to do things they’ll regret later. And I can tell from personal experience that’s exactly what happens when you fall for his charms.
“What are you doing?” Alyssa asks as I tuck away my cell phone.
I look up, surprised to see her there, even though I shouldn’t because this is the freaking office. When I’m in my mind, I just tend to forget there are people around me.
“Ah … nothing.”
She gives me a small nudge. “Oh, c’mon. I can tell you’re hiding something.”
An awkward laugh leaves my mouth. “Well … it’s kind of embarrassing.”
“What? Tell me!” She sits down beside me.
I roll my eyes. “My …stepbrother is my client, which is problem number one. I’m supposed to help him with his problematic reputation, but I just got this picture sent to me.” I show her the email.
“Oh, my … wait, is he grabbing her butt?”
She points at the second picture I hadn’t even dared to look at.
“Oh, my god,” I say, staring up close. My face is almost hitting the screen, and Alyssa laughs at me. With a flush, I lean back.
“I see you’re involved,” she says with a snicker.
“No, I’m just trying to contain this.”
“I can see that.” She muffles another laugh.
“Stop laughing,” I whisper-yell.
“What? It’s funny to see you get so worked up over this guy.”
“What? No, I’m not worked up. He’s just making it so hard on me.”
“I think there’s more to it than that,” she says, winking at me.
“Uh … right.”
She smiles. “I know you. I also know you never act this way around a guy. Or even remotely talk about them like this.”
“Like what?”
“Like you’re embarrassed … confused … maybe a little jealous.”
My jaw drops. “I am not jealous!”
“Don’t tell me,” she says, getting up from her seat. “I’m not the one who needs convincing.”
“Fine, maybe I am, but so what? This is still not what he’s supposed to be doing to keep his reputation intact. Before you know it, she’ll go to the tabloids with some crazy-ass story, and then shit really hits the fan.”
“Or you just want him for yourself,” she muses.
I give her a playful shove. “Shut up.”
She giggles. “I can tell you like him, so there is no use in hiding it.”
“When? How? What are you, some kind of magician?” I say.
“No, but I’ve seen enough. He’s been here, and you’ve talked about him. One plus one … ahh, you get it.”
I shrug. “I don’t like like him. We just have … history …”
“Uh-huh …” She nods as if she just doesn’t believe me. “Whatever you say. Let’s just go get him, shall we?”
I frown as she wraps her arm around my shoulder. “We?”
“Yeah, I’m backing you up, girl,” she says with a grin. “I know when I’m needed.”
I’m still not sure if there’s anything that can be done. I mean, I’m supposed to help Chris, but I’m not doing a great job. He’s so stubborn and cocky all the time; it just gets on my nerves. That, and him flaunting all his goods in my face isn’t helping.
I think I’ll have to flaunt his own actions in his face. Maybe that’ll wake him up. If anything, at least this picture will show that girl to be careful around him. She might not want all the attention. Or at least, that’s what I tell myself when we walk out of the office, determined to tell him what I really think.
***
30 minutes later
Of course, he’s already gone by the time we arrive. I shouldn’t have expected anything different, but I guess I was hoping I could catch him in the act and confront him. Too bad it’ll have to wait, but he can sure as hell expect me to talk about this with him.
“Wanna go grab a coffee then, since we’re here anyway?” she asks.
“Nah, I just had one. Besides, I’m not really feeling well right now.”
“Oh … heartbreak troubles.”
I roll my eyes at her. “My heart isn’t breaking and especially not over him.”
“I understand,” she says, but I know she’s being sarcastic. “But I still think we should do something fun to take your mind off him. Hey, I know! Let’s go out tonight.”
“I don’t need a distraction or your pity, Alyssa,” I say, sighing.
“It’s not pity! It’s to celebrate my birthday,” she says. “I said I’d think about it, and I have. I wanna go out and party!”
“You’re sure?” I squint. “This isn’t about me, right? You’re doing this for you, okay?”
“Yes, of course. Now, are you coming or what?”
“Of course,” I say with a big smile. “We’ll have something to look forward to tonight.”
“And if all goes well, you might even forget about that big asshole. What’s his name, Chris?”
Of course, I can’t forget about him after she says that, which is exactly what she wanted to happen. I shove her, making her laugh like crazy. “I’m just messing with you.”
“I know you are. That’s why you’re such a bitch,” I growl playfully.
“That’s me, the incredibly helpful bitch, at your service.”
***
Later that night …
Alyssa has picked one of the best places in town to celebrate her birthday. This place serves my favorite drinks, and they have the craziest music. Just what I need to forget everything and focus on the good life.
“I love this place!” I tell h
er.
The music is blaring so loud that we have to scream in each other’s ears.
“I know! Me, too,” she says. “Let’s go grab a drink and hit the dance floor.”
“Margaritas?” I say with a smirk.
“You got it,” she says, walking to the bar with me.
We each get one and sip them while looking around for hot dudes we can include in our small party. Nothing like ogling some man-meat on a Friday night.
Right when I take another sip from my margarita, I spot a familiar body in the crowd. Specifically because his tattoos match those of Chris.
“Motherfucker …” I mutter.
“What?” Alyssa says.
“Look!” I grab her chin and make her look at him. “What is he doing here?”
“Oh …” She smashes her lips together as if she’s hiding a smile, so I turn toward her and put down my margarita.
“You don’t seem the least bit surprised,” I say.
“No … I’m not, really.”
I narrow my eyes. “You know something, don’t you?”
She shrugs, but her eyes tell me that she’s lying. Tapping my foot, I say, “Spill it.”
“Hey, it’s my birthday, and I don’t have to do shit,” she muses, laughing a bit.
I sigh. “Fine, I’ll go find out myself.”
When I turn around, I notice he’s dancing with a girl … the same one who served us coffee. Damn him.
I chug back my margarita and take a deep breath.
“You go, girl!” Alyssa yells after me as I walk toward him.
The moment he spots me, a devious smile appears on his face, but I just want to smack it off him. I don’t know why I’m so pissed, but I’m sure as hell blaming it on the fact that anyone could photograph him here, and when they do, the newspapers will eat it up.
“Oh, hey Em,” he says, casually glancing at me.
The girl takes her arms off him. Good.
“What are you doing here?” I say.
