Contents
Title page
1
2
3
4
Epilogue
Other Books by Stephanie Brother
About the Author
Billionaire Stepbrother in Paris
Stephanie Brother
Published by Stephanie Brother, 2015
Please note that this work is intended only for adults over the age of 18, and all characters represented are 18 or older. This story contains explicit sexual content. The story depicts consensual sex between an adult woman and an adult man. The characters in this story are not related by blood. This story may contain unprotected sex.
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1
Ellie put on her apron for another day of waitressing at the diner. She’d stayed past her shift the day before to fill salt and pepper shakers and make sure there weren’t any empty ketchup bottles on the tables, so at least she didn’t have to think about that first thing. She liked working breakfast. Regulars came in, ordered the same breakfast every day, and the routine of it was comforting.
After everything that Ellie Garner had been through, she figured she could use all the comforting she could get.
“Morning!” said Stanley, the cook. “You’re looking perky today, El!”
Ellie smiled and nodded but didn’t say anything.
“Talkative as usual, eh?” he said, putting his hands on his wide hips and shaking his head. “You know, I think there’s a chatterbox in there somewhere, I just haven’t figured out where the key to the vault is yet. But I will,” he added, to himself. “I will.”
The diner opened in five minutes. Ellie put paper placemats at all ten tables, along with napkin-wrapped bundles of silverware. Then she went to the back for glasses, coffee cups, and saucers.
“Gonna be warm today!” Stanley shouted after her. “Might get some hot surfers in here!”
Ellie rolled her eyes, knowing Stanley couldn’t see her. He was always trying to set her up with some guy, always pushing for her to have a social life. What he didn’t understand was she didn’t want a social life. She was grieving. Her mother was dead and she was not over it. She wasn’t sure if she’d ever be over it.
The breakfast rush went by quickly in a flurry of Lumberjack plates and omelets, of orange juices and coffee refills. Stanley was right—the weather was turning, and you could see the change in their clientele. Two surfers in wetsuits came in to eat before heading out to the waves. Ellie glanced out the window to see what they were driving. A banged-up Subaru with dusty windows, nothing too exciting.
“Well, it is a good morning!” one said, when he laid eyes on Ellie.
It was the one thing she hated about her job. She had tried wearing a uniform a size too big to hide her shape, she had tried wearing ugly glasses, but nothing seemed to make much difference. Ellie figured hitting on waitresses was just something most guys did, out of boredom. And all she could do was grit her teeth and try not to show how irritating it was, especially if she wanted decent tips.
Of course, the waitress who worked opposite shifts, Rhondelle—she knew how to flirt back, and she made almost twice as much as Ellie. Ellie didn’t care. It’s not like she expected to get rich working at Stanley’s anyway.
“Ellie Garner!” shrieked a familiar voice.
Ellie whirled around to see an old friend from middle school standing with her arms outstretch for a hug. Slowly she walked over and gave the other girl a brief squeeze. “Patsy, how are you?” she said, her voice a little weak.
Stanley turned away from the grill to watch the two girls. He had watched them grow up, as he’d watched all the kids in town grow up over the years—everyone came to the diner. He always joked it was because the town was so small, there was no place else to eat.
“I’m so so so glad to see you! I can’t believe you’re still working here. No offense, Stanley!” she called out. “I mean, with your grades? I thought you’d be in med school by now or something.”
Ellie shrugged. “Grades don’t have much to do with real life.”
Patsy looked askance, then hugged her again. “Listen, I’m just back in town for a few days. Gotta make my yearly pilgrimage back from California to visit the parents, right? I’m having some people over tonight and you’ve got to come. Please say you will?”
Ellie froze. No way was she going to Patsy’s house, no way could she handle all the stares and the questions. “I’d love to, Pats…but I’m busy.” Ellie looked over her shoulder at a couple at a window table and took out her pad. “Hey, it was great to see you, but I’ve got to get back to work.”
Patsy didn’t say anything for a moment. She looked at her old friend and cocked her head, considering. “Okay, if you say so,” she said finally. “You know, I heard Leo’s in town. I’m inviting him too.”
And then with a tinkle of the bell on the door, Patsy was gone. “I heard that,” said Stanley, his voice too loud for the small diner. “Leo.” He slid two platters of eggs over easy onto the counter and Ellie picked them up and headed to a table with them.
“Here you are,” she said, smiling at the older couple. “Would you like more coffee?”
“Leo!” boomed Stanley. “Isn’t it about time you crawled out of that shell and faced your brother?”
Ellie’s shift was done after lunch, and she walked back to her small apartment, sweater off, trying to enjoy the warmth of the spring sun. She had forgotten all about Patsy’s invitation—instead, all she could think was: Leo’s back in town.
Leo Amaretti. Her friend, her crush, her stepbrother. Her mom and his dad had gotten married when Leo and Ellie were just kids, only twelve and eleven years old. And for a few years, the blended family had done really well: the parents were in love, and their happiness made for a happy family. Leo and Ellie became friends, even best friends. They were both sort of nerdy, although Ellie did well in school while Leo was always off doing his own projects and skipping classes and getting into trouble. Ellie used to tease him mercilessly for it, which he loved.
When they got old enough to date, neither had any interest except in each other…but they were both too shy to say anything directly. The family traveled together, and were planning a family trip to France, which was Ellie’s dream. Her secret fantasy was for her and Leo to share their first kiss on the Eiffel Tower.
And then, dropping out of nowhere the way terrible accidents always seem to do, Ellie’s mother had drowned. Got caught in a riptide while doing her usual morning swim in the ocean. Ellie was fourteen when it happened, and five years later, she was still just as raw and unhealed as she was on that awful day.
Ellie climbed the outside staircase that led to her small attic apartment. The building had seen better days, but she liked her little place. She could lie in bed at night with the window open and hear the pounding of the waves on the beach. It made her sad, listening to the ocean, but it was the last place her mother had been alive and so she craved the sound instead of running from it.
Everyone keeps looking at me funny, or telling me to get over it. Ellie tossed her handbag on the bed and went into the tiny bathroom to wash her face. I don’t want to get over it. Getting over it would mean leaving her behind, and that’s the last thing I want to do.
Her apartment didn’t have a real kitchen, only a small refrigerator that had one electric burner on top. She made herself some scrambled eggs for lunch and climbed into bed with a book, after cracking the window so she could hear the surf.
She was a fast reader, but that afternoon her mind kept straying from the book and going to…Leo. She couldn’t think of him without getting a stabbing pain in her
heart, and then boiling with rage, back and forth and back and forth until she would do anything to shut it all out.
I don’t care how much money he’s made—he’s still a betrayer. I never want to see him again.
Ellie slammed her book shut in frustration, unable to focus. The phone rang and she ignored it. The only young adult in town without a cell phone, Ellie didn’t have voicemail either and she would have paid extra to keep it that way. But Stanley knew her number and where she lived, and she had no doubt at all that he would blab to whoever asked. Especially Leo.
Not that she expected Leo to ask, or to have any interest at all. He had shown how much he cared when he took off right after her mother died. Took off for France, of all places, and she hadn’t seen him in years. Probably kissed a million women on the Eiffel Tower by now, on his way to making a bajillion dollars out of one of his nutty ideas that turned out not to be so nutty.
He’d been back once or twice but hadn’t bothered to contact her, and she expected the same this time.
Selfish, callous bastard.
The phone rang again and Ellie wondered if Stanley had given her number to Patsy. Maybe she needed to give one more no, firmer this time, and then Patsy would leave her be. She picked up.
“Hello?”
“Ellie. My dear.” It was her stepfather, Leo’s dad. His voice was warm and filled with all sorts of emotion that Ellie wanted to run from. He said, “It’s so good to hear your voice. I’ve missed you, missed seeing you.”
Ellie had no idea what to say to that. When her mother died, he had been so lost in his own grief that he had let Ellie slip away, and she was determined now more than ever to keep it that way. Why call now, after five years? It was too late. Way too late.
“Ellie, it was a complete surprise but Leo is home for a visit. Flew here in his own Gulfstream, if you can believe that! He’d love to see you, we both would. I was hoping you could come to dinner tonight?”
“I’m sorry, I’m busy. Listen—great talking to you, but I’ve got to run. Thanks for the invitation. Bye!” Summoning all the self-control she had, she put the phone back in its cradle instead of throwing it against the wall.
His own Gulfstream. Gag me.
With a flash of inspiration, Ellie got a pair of sharp scissors from her sewing box and cut through the phone line. It took some effort but not for one moment did she have second thoughts. One way or antother, they were all going to leave her alone. She would make damn sure of that.
2
The next day was Tuesday, Ellie’s day off. On a regular Tuesday with weather this nice, she might have offered to do some gardening for her landlady—but with Leo and Patsy in town, she decided to hole up inside even though all she had to eat was a box of stale Wheat Thins.
Which is fine. I love Wheat Thins. Adore them. Would rather eat them than anything else in the whole world.
Ellie had found an old beanbag chair at the thrift store and sewn a new cover for it, and she sat curled up in it, right next to the window so the sun streamed in on her, reading a doorstop of a fantasy novel. For at least a few hours, she was completely swept away by the questing adventurers in her book, and Patsy and Leo—especially Leo—were blissfully gone from her thoughts.
She put the book aside and got up to stretch. She ate a few handfuls of Wheat Thins and peered out the window at the ocean, which was fairly calm.
Surfers won’t be happy.
Her bed was neatly made and the whole place clean and tidy; she had so few things that it was easy to keep it that way. But it also meant that when she needed the kind of distraction a good cleaning could give, there wasn’t much to do.
I know, I’ll wash the windows!
She got glass cleaner out from under the sink, and armed with paper towels attacked pane after pane. It was satisfying work and the beautiful day looked even sunnier and more sparkling through the clean windows.
Then, as she was just finishing up the last window, she heard someone thumping up the outside staircase.
No one ever came up that staircase, not even the landlady. Most people knew she wanted to be left alone.
Ellie saw a man trot past the window. She didn’t know him and wondered if she should even open the door, but her curiosity got the best of her.
She didn’t—it couldn’t—
Whaaat?
“Leo!”
“Hey there, Ellie.”
She was completely bowled over. The last time she’d seen Leo, he was a nerdy, gangly kid, the classic 98-pound weakling. This man at her door was…was something else altogether. He was tall and broad-shouldered, and Ellie could see his incredible build through his fitted, and extremely expensive-looking, clothes. Nothing about his body looked like Leo. But the grinning face, yeah, there wasn’t any doubt it was her stepbrother. And the hair sticking up all over the place even though he clearly had a haircut that probably cost her salary for a month.
He was all grown up—a confident, gorgeous, hunk of man.
“You gonna invite me in, or what?”
“I…I don’t really want to, to be honest.”
“Oh come on, El! It’s been forever, and I really want to see you.”
“Yep. That’s right. ‘Forever’ sums it up quite well. What’s it been, five years? So hey, no hard feelings, but let’s keep it that way, huh?”
Leo stuck his sandaled foot in the doorway just as she was closing it and the edge of the door slammed into his arch. “Ow!” He yelled, and something about the way he shouted reminded Ellie of him as a kid.
Ellie bit her lip to hold back a grin. “You big baby.”
“You’ve crippled me. I’ll never walk again. I’ll probably have to hire a nurse to look after me every second from now on,” he said, grinning and holding his foot. “Got any arnica?”
Ellie hesitated. Her relationship with Leo was like a big ugly scab that she’d gotten used to. If she let her stepbrother in now, it would be like ripping that thing off all in one go. She was pretty sure she wasn’t ready for that.
On the other hand…look at him!
Her breath was quickening and she let her eyes travel up his tanned legs covered with light golden hair, up to his—
Jiminy cricket! His…his…I’ve never actually seen a woody before. Scratch that, I think I have now!
Without making any conscious decision to do it, Ellie opened the door wide and Leo hopped in, still holding his hurt foot.
The only place to sit was the beanbag chair, so Ellie pointed to it. “Just sit down and I’ll get the arnica,” she said, hoping her voice sounded steady.
Because she did not feel steady. After months, no years, of being in the same emotional place, day after day—all of a sudden she was in complete turmoil. So happy to see him. So furious at him. And confusing everything even more, her body was ordering her to get close to him, to touch him, to kiss him….
“So, how’s France?” she said, squeezing a dab of the gel onto her palm.
“The best,” said Leo. “The food, the culture—I love everything about it. I would—” He stopped himself.
“Would what?” asked Ellie, smoothing the gel on the arch of Leo’s foot where she could see a bruise forming already. She rubbed a moment longer than necessary, because her hand did not seem to want to come back to her.
Leo looked out the window and didn’t answer. “That feels good,” he murmured, and Ellie snatched her hand back. She couldn’t help sneaking a glance at his crotch, and yep, that situation was still…well, it was disturbing, was what it was! Sure, she’d had that crush, years ago. Back then she would have loved…but it was obviously never going to work. He was her stepbrother, for one thing, was that even allowed? And for another thing, the big thing: he was a selfish jerk.
With apparently a gigantic ding-dong.
Not that she cared.
“So Dad told me you won’t come for dinner?”
Ellie just looked at him, trying not to betray how jumbled up and confused she was feeling.
“If I can’t talk you into that—and I totally get why you wouldn’t want to—I was hoping you’d come out for coffee with me now, if you’re free? You still love coffee, right?”
Oh, she loved coffee all right. It was one of the things she loved about working at the diner, smelling it all day. And she made sure the customers weren’t getting cups of singed dishwater either. Stanley teased her about how it seemed like she was making a fresh, strong pot every half hour.
“Well, coffee…coffee is…yes, I still like coffee,” she said, a little more prissily than she meant to. Just the thought of a steaming cup of coffee with just the right amount of cream…it seemed like maybe it would calm her down a little. Her stomach was so empty it was gnawing on itself. “Okay. Just for old times’ sake,” she said, taking yet another peek at his crotch as he stood up from the beanbag. “But just for the record, I don’t want to come with you,” she said, smiling with her eyes if not her mouth.
“Of course not,” said Leo. “I’m a loathsome excuse for humanity, and you do me a great honor for which I am grateful.”
“Nerd.”
“Back atcha.”
And just like that, it felt like it really was old times, when they were so comfortable with each other, when they trusted each other. Ellie felt herself relax a little.
“Not the diner. Stanley will be…well, glad to see you I’m sure, but let’s go somewhere else. You have a car?”
“You could say that,” said Leo, smiling, and Ellie noticed that his smile was the warmest thing she had felt in her heart in a long, long time.
Leo and Ellie clattered down the outside stairs and walked to the front of the house where Leo’s car was parked in the driveway.
“Oh my God,” said Ellie, running over to it. “Are you kidding me?”
Leo laughed. “It’s just a rental. I’m not in the States enough to keep a car here. But I figured as long as I was renting, why not make it something fun?”
Ellie walked around the candy apple red Ferrari. “It looks brand new! Is it fun to drive?”
“You want the keys?” Leo held them up, and when she nodded, eyes wide, he tossed them to her. “I don’t care if you wreck the car,” he said, deadpan. “But I do have to get back to France for some important meetings in a couple of days, so try not to hurt me too bad.”
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