She shook her head. “No. This. You know what I mean. It’s weird.”
“I promised that you’d get lucky tonight. Can’t go back on a promise.”
There was no use arguing. She’d never wanted to kiss someone so badly—and slug him at the same time. She imagined this was what it was like to be hooked on crack. At first, she’d thought it was just the thrill of bringing home a stranger the night before. But she wanted him even more now.
Even though he was the last possible person she should being doing this with.
And it was clear he wanted her too, as he kicked the chair out of the way and pulled off her stockings with his sticky, frosted fingers.
“Okay, we are not doing that again,” she announced in bed the next morning, propped up on her elbow, staring at him.
“You’re right. There’s no time. I have to go home and get changed before this picnic.”
She hopped out of bed and tied on her robe. “I mean this. Us.”
He sat up. “Are you going to kick me out again?”
She shook her head and sat on the bed. “I should.”
“That’s not very sisterly of you.”
She got up and paced the room. “Let’s just forget this ever happened. You’re my womanizing stepbrother. It was fun, but now it’s done and we never speak of it again. Deal?”
Crossing his arms, he laughed. “Sure, it’s a deal. If you can stick to it.”
She narrowed her eyes and threw a pillow at him.
***
Rob spent most of his time with Carly at the picnic, under the pretense of introducing her to his side of the family. It was nearly impossible to keep his hands from sliding around her waist, or reaching over to take her mouth in his. He tried to keep an extra step away from her, but, somehow, they always ended up right next to each other, shoulders brushing or hips bumping.
While grabbing drinks from the cooler for them, his cousin Troy approached him. “Dude, your new stepsister is hot.”
He looked over at her, the breeze rustling her hair so that she had to push it off her face. He’d liked to grab a fistful of that silky hair, pull back her head and…
“Is she available?”
“Who? Carly?” He snapped his gaze away from her.
“Yeah, that would be cool, right? I mean, she’s no relation to me.” Troy’s lusty gaze had Rob curling up his fists.
Rob shook his head. “I think she’s got a boyfriend.”
“But she’s here alone.”
“Right. He’s out of town.” He nodded.
“Hey, let me know if that changes.”
“Will do.”
Not. Never. She’s mine
. And that thought surprised the hell out of him.
He said goodbye to his dad and Delilah, and wished them a good time on their honeymoon to Hawaii. They’d be gone for two weeks and he intended to use that time to get to know his stepsister better.
He found her before he left and gave her a quick brotherly hug. “Can I come over again?”
She pressed her eyes shut. Her head was shaking no, but the word
yes
slipped from her lips.
“I’ll meet you there in an hour.”
He grabbed clothes so he could head to work the next morning from her place. He should’ve stopped to think about what he was doing. He hadn’t been lying to Carly about having his share of one-nighters. He didn’t do relationships well, and he didn’t do them often. So what was it about her that was so different?
The fact that she was his stepsister didn’t change anything. Hell, he’d found her before they even knew. But if this thing ended ugly, it would be messier than most. It’s not like he could avoid her at family get-togethers.
Didn’t matter. There was only one thing in the world he wanted right now, and that was her.
***
A week later, Carly had to admit this was more than a fling. Several times she’d tried talking herself out of it. He’d conceded he was a dog when it came to women, and oh, yeah, he was her new baby brother. She had no idea how her mother would react to this bit of news. Certainly, it was a relationship with a short future. What if they ended up hating each other? Would their parents fight about who was at fault? Her mother would probably disown Rob if he dumped her.
She decided it might be best to let the relationship run its course—and keep the whole thing a secret from their parents.
They spent the entire two weeks together, going out to dinner and the movies, playing Frisbee at the park. And they spent each night at his place or hers. She couldn’t deny that they were getting closer. She’d been hoping for her desire to fizzle out. But it only burned stronger.
Her nerves wound up as their parents’ honeymoon wound down. “I’m not ready to tell them yet,” she said, while they lounged on the couch at his place, watching a movie. “Let’s be sure this is for real before we say anything.”
“The last two weeks felt pretty real to me.” He toyed with a piece of her hair. “We’re going to have to tell them sometime.”
Sighing, she leaned against him. “Not yet.”
He kissed her. “You’re the boss on this one.”
Their parents were due back Sunday morning, so they stayed at Carly’s for one last night together until they figured out their next move. Around noon, it seemed like a good time to get out of bed, but the doorbell rang. Carly ran to the bedroom window to see who was there. “It’s my mother!” She pulled on yoga pants and a shirt. “Get in the closet. I don’t want her to find out like this.”
Rob bolted out of bed and dashed for the door, closing it behind him.
She ran to let her mother in and was greeted with hugs, kisses, and boxes of chocolate macadamia nuts and other goodies from Oahu.
“I missed you so much!” her mom said. “I had to come right over and catch up. What’s new?”
“Um, not much.” She scratched her head.
“Now that can’t be true. Let’s go to lunch and I’ll tell you all about our trip.” She frowned at Carly. “But you need to do something with yourself. You look like you just got out of bed. You’re not even wearing a bra,” she whispered. “Go on upstairs. We’ll talk while you get ready.”
Carly froze, but there was no stopping her mother, who was half-way up the stairs already. She chased her into the room, and her mother frowned at her bed, then stripped off the sheets. “You really need to clean up the place.”
Carly grimaced. “I can get those, Mom. Really.”
“Nonsense. You talk while I clean.”
Carly slunk into the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth. “I’ll be real quick.” She dug out her makeup and got to work.
“We had a wonderful time in Hawaii. But I must say, the food at the luau was horrible. Where do you keep your sheets, honey? In the closet here?”
Carly ran out, brandishing her hairbrush. “No! In the hall.” She set her hand on her chest, trying to calm her heart.
Her mother’s eyes widened. “What, you think I haven’t seen your messy closet before?” She went out into the hall and raised her voice. “So, I guess Rob’s seeing someone.”
Her heart dropped for a moment, but she realized it couldn’t be true; she’d been spending all her time with Rob. “Who?” Her voice cracked.
“Some Samantha person. Maybe he met her at the wedding. Is that a friend of yours?”
She fought back a smile. “No.”
She snapped the sheet open over the bed. “Well, he talked with his father a few times while we were on vacation and told him he’s crazy about her.”
“Really?”
Nodding, she slipped a pillow into a new case. “Which is remarkable, because I guess he’s quite the ladies’ man. Who knows, maybe you’ll be in another wedding soon.”
Carly put on her bra and shirt in the bathroom while her mother chattered away. “I just wish you could meet someone.”
“I did.”
Her mother dropped the pillow. “Who?”
She looked at herself in the mirror, satisfied with her quick fix-up. “Clark. I met him at the charity ball the night before your wedding.”
Her mother rushed over and hugged her. “Oh, that’s such good news. I was starting to worry about you. Is it serious?”
She glanced at the closet. “We can talk about this over lunch.”
“No. You sit down and tell me all about it now.” She pulled her onto the freshly-made bed.
“Well, he’s very good-looking. And nice.”
Her mother waved her hand dismissively. “Oh, skip that business, is he good in bed?”
Carly started choking. “Mother, that’s not something I want to talk about with you.”
Her mom gave her a playful push. “Darling, you’re not a little girl anymore. You’re in a relationship, why not talk about it? Wayne and I got this wonderful lovemaking book as a wedding gift:
365 Positions of Passion
. I could lend it to you. Although we’ve only gotten through the first twenty-five.”
Carly heard a groan from the closet.
“What was that?” her mom asked.
Carly rubbed her belly. “My stomach. I’m hungry. Let’s go.”
“Put on something nicer than that.” She stood up and headed for Carly’s closet.
“No! I’ve got a jacket downstairs.”
Her mother opened the door. “Where’s that nice cardigan I got you? And what in the world did you do in here?” She pointed to the mound of clothes on the floor.
Carly rushed over and pulled the sweater off its hanger. “I was sorting through some things. Let’s go.” She slammed the closet door shut and led her mother downstairs.
***
Rob waited until he heard the car pull away to climb out of the closet. His knees hurt like hell from being curled up in a ball under the clothes he’d pulled off the shelves behind him. He held up a slinky blue shirt that probably looked damn sexy on Carly.
Heading for the bathroom, he thought about washing his ears out after their discussion of 365 passionate positions. But hearing Carly say she was really into him made it all worth it. He got dressed and left her a note to meet him at his place.
Two hours later, Carly showed up on his doorstep.
He kissed her and led her inside. “Hey, Samantha. Where’s Clark?”
“Very funny.”
“Why did you make up a boyfriend? Isn’t that going to make it harder to tell her the truth about us?”
“I know. I panicked. But I’m glad to hear you like Samantha so much.” Her big grin delighted him.
“You know me, the womanizer. Juggling the two of you has been hard.”
She gave him a look that threatened no fun later unless he knocked it off.
The doorbell rang, interrupting his plans to pull her into the bedroom.
“Maybe it’s Samantha. Be right back.” He dashed to the front door, unlocked the deadbolt and found his father and Delilah on the other side carrying Panama Jack bags from Hawaii. “Dad, Delilah!”
Guess this is how they find out
. “What a surprise!”
“Hi, Rob,” his father said. “Your stepmother just couldn’t wait to bring you some of the goodies we got on our honeymoon.” They walked in without exactly being invited.
“Yes, I visited Carly earlier—” she looked up, surprised. “Carly?”
Carly said nothing and just held one hand up in greeting. He was waiting for her to spill the beans, but she kept her mouth clamped tight.
Her mother’s eyes darted back and forth between the two of them and Rob figured she was working out exactly what was going on. A big smile unfurled on Delilah’s face. “I’m so glad to see you spending time together. This is working out just like I hoped it would. How does it feel to have a sister after all these years?”
Rob rubbed the back of his neck. “Different than I expected.”
Carly nodded in agreement. “I should go. Thanks for inviting me over.”
“Don’t you want to stay and get the folks caught up on
everything
?” he asked with a big smile.
She shook her head, no.
Delilah grabbed Carly’s hand and led her over to the couch. “Yes, stay, honey. We just got here.”
“Please, sit down,” Rob said. “Let me get us some wine.”
It might help us all
.
“How’s your girlfriend, Samantha?” Delilah asked.
Rob caught his breath. “Oh, she’s good. Real good.”
Delilah clapped. “That’s so exciting. Carly has a new boyfriend, too. We should all go out together. Wouldn’t that be fun?”
He almost dropped the wine glass he was filling. “Sure. We’ll have to do that sometime. A few months from now or something.” Why wasn’t Carly speaking up?
“How about this Friday?” Delilah asked.
He rubbed the back of his head. “I’ll have to check with her. With Samantha.” Damn, they should just get it out in the open now before they dug themselves in deeper. But he wasn’t going to be the one to do it. He wanted to be sure Carly felt comfortable enough to share the news.
“Good. Carly, do you think Clark can make our triple date?”
“I’ll have to see,” she stammered.
Delilah pulled out her cell and punched in the information. “Good. Let’s say Friday at six.”
“So, what’s this Samantha like?” his dad asked. “Pretty?”
“She’s beautiful.” He handed Carly her glass of wine and got caught in her gorgeous green eyes that looked scared as hell.
“And in bed?”
He looked down at the floor. “Um, not in front of the ladies, Dad.”
“Oh, Wayne. Tell him about our book.”
Rob held up his hand. “I don’t want to hear about the book. Please.”
They stayed for an hour, and when he closed the door behind them, Carly started gathering her things. “I’ve got to go. I can’t do this anymore.”
He snaked his arms around her waist, but she pushed her way out of his embrace.
He sighed. “Let’s just tell them the truth. We’re dating. Is it that big of a deal?”
Collecting the empty wine glasses from the room, she shook her head. “My mother calls you her son. I don’t want to ruin things for them. They just got married. And when we break up, they’ll blame each other. It’ll be horrible.”
He took her by the shoulders. “Are you sure this is really about our parents?”
“Of course it is.”
He took her hand. “I think you might be afraid we really do have something special going on. And it scares you enough to send you running.”
She let her fingers slide from his and headed for the door. She looked back at him. “I’m sorry. It’s been fun. That’s what I asked for, right?”