Rory: A Stepbrother Romance (Coded For Love Book 1)

by Saskia Walker

  “Well, I do want you to help me, and if you like this proposal I think we can make it work for us both.” His eyes were bright, but there was tension in him, as if he wasn’t sure how she would react.

  It made Sky wary and she pulled away. “Come on, out with it, you’re making me fret.”

  He sighed and rolled his eyes. “That’s exactly what I don’t want to do. Look, I need help at the workshop. I thought maybe you’d be like an office manager, take the calls for bookings, scheduling and stuff. I also want to get security cameras fitted so I need someone with one eye on the screen. I’d like a hand with the accounts. We both need to be trained for that, but we could train together.”

  “Wait, you’re going to keep working at Halliday’s?”

  “I have to, it’s what George wanted.” Sky frowned, but then Rory’s expression broke, and he laughed. “George wanted me to take over the workshop if anything happened to him. He left it to me in his will. If I pull a big enough profit his daughter Kate has shares so she’s earns a bit too.”

  “Oh Rory, that’s amazing.”

  “Its been tough, but once I got my head around it, I wondered if you would come and work with me instead of doing the barista stuff, hang out, maybe do the books, or answer the phones, make coffee for anyone who calls by.”

  “You want me to make coffee, like your own private barista?” She arched her brows at him.

  “Shit no. I mean yes. Sorry Sky, this is all coming out wrong. Look…I want you to have a job if you want it, but what I really want is for you to be able to go to Art College and I’ll be able to help you out now.”

  Help? “The family thing again? You’re being big brother now?”

  He shook his head. “No, not at all. My life is changing, fast, but the only sure thing I know is that I want you to be part of it.”

  Inhaling sharply, Sky blinked back sudden, unbidden tears.

  She tried to follow what he was saying, but those words kept echoing around her mind. I want you to be part of it.

  “There was a lump sum, his savings, which he left for his daughter. Apart from that he left me his stuff, and his workshop. Kate didn’t want to deal with the business, said it was a weight off her shoulders to have it looked after, just wanted to be sure I kept his name going, which of course I will. It’ll always be Halliday’s. He’d lived frugally and what he didn’t put into the business he invested for her, and she’s happy with that. His will left the house to Kate. Kate wanted to keep it as an investment, but doesn’t want to rent to a stranger, someone who wouldn’t want the pets. So she said I could live here rent free if I maintain it, and if I ever move out and sell, she’d split the profit with me. So…I have a home, and a business. I promised him to keep it all going. I need to do justice to George’s memory. It’s a really big deal. I can hardly take it in, that’s why I had to get away, think for a while. I decided I could cope, if you were part of it.”

  Sky swiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

  “Don’t get me wrong,” he rattled on, making her laugh, “the house needs work, George hadn’t done anything to it for years and it’s full of motorbike junk. Kristaps is going to come by tomorrow and make a list of work to be done. It’ll take time but it would make a lovely home, for both of us, together, if you’re willing.”

  “Stop! Stop talking!” She shook her head, laugher bubbling up and escaping her. “Rory all you had to say was you wanted me to be part of it, part of your life. You could’ve stopped there.”

  Because all I want you. I love you. The words were drumming in her head and in her heart, louder, louder, daring her to blurt them out. But how would he react? Her body was on fire with need for him. She rose to her feet, attempting not to explode in a torrent of gushing adoration. “The details aren’t important, the fact you want me around, that’s enough.”

  Rory stood up and looped his hand around the back of her neck, closing in tight against her. “The details are important. I want to help you get your dream, and now I can. I love you Sky, always have.”

  “I love you. I’d live in one room with a futon forever if it was with you.”

  His eyes twinkled and he laughed at that. “That futon can go to hell. I want you to be with me, always.”

  Emotion frothed inside her. “In that case, you’d better take me in and show me around, hadn’t you?”

  He fished a key out of his pocket and led her to the door.

  And when he opened that door, it was their entrance to a new life.

  Together.

  ###

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  Watch out for books #2 and #3 in the CODED FOR LOVE series – coming very soon!

  DRACO

  Lara Compton is in her first year of a business degree, but what she really wants to do is impress her dad and beat her older brothers into his favor. When she overhears her father talking about a mole within their finance company she decides to play detective. What better way to investigate than to secretly hire one of the hackers who broke into their computer systems the year before?

  Draco Vaughn spots the attractive woman stalking him and confronts her. She’s hot, she’s flirting, and he’s interested. However, Lara surprises Draco by offering him a job with a big financial company—and it’s only the same company who sent his stepbrother Sean to jail. Tempted by the prospect of getting inside to make the company owner suffer, he agrees to take on the job. What he didn’t account for was the unstoppable attraction between him and Lara, and the layers of subterfuge he finds in the corridors of power.

  Working closely, Lara and Draco’s undercover detective hunt runs in parallel with an intoxicating affair, a powerful relationship that won’t be denied—no matter what Draco discovers, and who it will hurt.

  EXCERPT

  Draco lingered at the diner longer than usual, because of her presence.

  People came and went but she stayed, so he stayed. Or maybe she stayed because he did. The thought amused him. Whichever it was, the curiosity appeared to be mutual.

  Shortly after he’d noticed her, he caught her taking surreptitious glances his way from beneath her eyelashes. When he caught her eye, she quickly shifted her attention back to her laptop and her face flushed. She didn’t want to get caught looking at him. Either she was shy, or it was important he didn’t notice her.

  What was she, an undercover cyber crime cop? It was a distinct possibility. This diner was where his stepbrother, Sean, had been hanging out when the cyber cops turned up and arrested him, over a year ago. In fact, if the cops had arrived a few minutes later, all three of them would have been there. Draco knew he shouldn’t come back here, but they’d had good times in this place before Sean’s arrest, and he missed those days. It was a familiar haunt and it kept drawing him back

  If she was a cop, was he under suspicion? It didn’t compute, because he hadn’t hacked for ages, not since Sean had been sent down. Rory and Draco had made a pact. No hacking any more.

  Miss Prim and Proper seemed a bit too young to be a plain clothes detective. She looked the part though, in black framed glasses and a tight business suit. All the suit did was show off her curvaceous figure. Draco guessed she was the same age as him, maybe even a bit younger, it was hard to tell with the heavy spectacles. If she was police, she wouldn’t find anything incriminating on him or his laptop. Since Sean had been sent down, Draco had stuck to the pact.

  Amused at the possibility she was going to try to arrest him, he anticipated her coming over, presenting a badge, asking him to accompany her for questioning. Could be interesting. Could be a chance to get her number.

  Then there was the other guy. A lanky, smartly dressed guy who sat in the booth directly behind her. Draco had the feeling they were together, even though they’d arrived separately. The guy, who was smartly dressed and older, looked out of place as well. He studied his laptop too, but every time the girl picked up her phone to sen
d a text message he picked up his own. Coincidence, or comparing notes? It was the weirdest setup. Draco wanted to know why it was happening.

  Mostly he wanted to know the girl. There was something intriguing about her. Intense, that’s what she was. Edgy, like she had a wild side she was keeping in check. The idea of it made his interest levels soar.

  Who was she? Maybe his cyber crime cop guess was off. They definitely weren’t regulars. The pair of them looked particularly out of place. Sometimes people came in who had a meeting nearby but they made a quick escape after they checked the place out. The diner was pretty much a greasy spoon, not for the likes of her, that was for sure.

  She was attractive but was trying to play it down with her glossy blonde hair tied back sharply. The suit was all wrong for her. Too uptight. He figured it was either new, or she wore it to create an impression. Maybe both. When she’d first entered the diner, Draco caught a breath of her perfume as she passed by. She’d taken a booth away from his on the opposite side of the long narrow coffee bar and observed from behind her laptop.

  Just then he caught her having a look at him, and it went on for so long it made him twitch. The scrutiny of law enforcement? He ought to get out of there, but something about her made him stay, made him take that risk.

  He’d always been observant and he was blessed with a photographic memory, but since his step brother Sean went into prison over a foolish hacking challenge, it was like his senses had been heightened. He was always watching for something that they’d missed or should’ve been aware, a step that could’ve stopped Sean going down. That moment had changed their lives, otherwise the three of them would still be together taking on the world

  From what he could make out across the diner her eyes were dark, possibly a shade of brown. Draco detected no lipstick. Her mouth was beautiful, kissable.

  Imagining kissing those lips, he smiled her way.

  She blushed, her face coloring quickly, and looked away to fiddle with her bag. Either she was squirming in her seat because of his scrutiny, or she was about to leave. He couldn’t possibly let her leave without getting a closer look, and he didn’t want her to leave first.

  Pocketing his phone, he slid out of his booth

  Would she follow him, try to make an arrest?

  Only one way to find out.

  He did a circuit of the diner before he left, taking a good look at the lanky guy as he passed. He could cover the distance to the door in seconds. He’d be on the street and away down the back alleyways. They could still catch him, but he took the risk.

  The lanky guy pocketed his phone and looked in the other direction, clearly rattled. Draco figured Lanky wasn’t just overseeing the girl—which was one possibility—he was watching Draco as well. But she was in charge, she was at the front. Definitely something weird about it, and the quicker he figured them out the better.

  Slowing his paces, he came up behind her. She turned her laptop off and glanced over her shoulder as he came up behind her. Her eyes were definitely a darker shade of brown. Their gazes locked. Draco saw instantly how shocked she was at his approach.

  Finally sure, he smiled directly at her, letting her know he’d figured her out.

  Seconds later he was out the door.

  Breaking into a jog, he turned down a nearby alleyway, drew to a halt and put his back against the wall. The passageway was narrow and shadowy, a small gap between the buildings. Would she send Lanky out, or would she come herself? He didn’t have to wait long to find out.

  He heard the bell chime on the diner door.

  When she passed the end of the alleyway, Draco reached out and pulled her into the shadows with him…

  Publication date: March 30th 2018

  Available to preorder for your Kindle now!

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  Also available in print from Amazon.

  SEAN

  Rowan Vaughn doesn’t need a man. All men do is break your heart. So when Sean Rattigan drives into town on a Harley Davidson—ripped and brooding—she has to lift her jaw and act like she doesn’t care. Sean is the one who stole her heart and promptly disappeared with it. She isn’t going to give him the satisfaction of falling on her back for him all over again.

  Fresh out of jail for cyber crimes—and with a pack of hungry gangsters on his trail, slavering for his hacking skills—Sean Rattigan heads to Wales, determined to lay low in the land of the dragons. Seeking only a bed for the night, he calls on his stepsister, Rowan. But the magnetic attraction between Sean and Rowan is more powerful than ever, and their passion is quickly reignited.

  Rowan has a confession to make, but Sean disappears again without hearing her out. Furious, Rowan vows to give him a taste of his own medicine and follows him to London. What she doesn’t know is Sean left her behind to protect her, and she’s about to walk into the mother of all gangland showdowns.

  Coming soon!

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  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Saskia Walker is an award-winning British author and a USA Today Bestseller. Her short stories and novellas have appeared in over one hundred international anthologies and several international magazines. After writing shorts for several years Saskia moved into novel-length projects.

  Fascinated with seduction, Saskia loves to explore how and why we get from saying “hello” to sharing our most intimate selves in moments of extreme passion. Her novels DOUBLE DARE and RAMPANT both won Passionate Plume awards and her writing has twice been nominated for a Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award. She has lots more stories in the pipeline! Saskia lives in the north of England on the beautiful Yorkshire moors, with her real life hero, Mark, and a house full of felines.

  A few other books by Saskia Walker

  The Witches of Scotland series

  Inescapable

  Along for the Ride

  Monica’s Secret

  Holly’s Intuition

  Faye’s Spirit

  Trading Hearts

  Sex, Lies and Bondage Tape

  Mastering Meg

  Winner Takes All

  Double Dare

  Rampant

  Reckless

  Minding Amy

  Find more at the website.

  Thank you for reading!