First Time With My Stepbrother Boxed Set: A Stepbrother Romance Bundle (First Time With My Stepbrother Boxed Sets Book 1) (2 page)

Squeezing her shoulders back, she managed to get the clip to engage. She smoothed her top out, then had just enough time to apply clear mascara and some lip tint before Greg bounded back into her room, offering his arm.

Maddie was proud of herself for making it back to her room and inside the door before she let her face crumple or the tears flow. She folded her stick on auto-pilot and laid it on the edge of the table just inside the door. She’d managed to suck things up for Lisa for a couple hours but eventually had to claim a headache to get out of there to be by herself.

She made her way over to the bed and stretched out on her back, allowing her sobs to have their moment. Holding them back just meant a couple hours of miserable sniffing and a worse mood at the end of it.

You’re being fucking ridiculous. Nobody’s trying to make you feel awkward—they just forget you need a little more help. And at least you don’t have to see these people more than twice a year or whatever.

She heard a rap on the side door and turned her head towards Greg’s room, wiping her eyes. “Yeah?”

“You okay in there?”

“Yeah!” Crap, she’d better wash her face. She loved that he was always there when she needed him, but hated that she went all blotchy when she cried.

“Not convinced! Coming in, so I hope you’re dressed.”

She didn’t have time to get to the bathroom. He intercepted her within feet of the bed and she quit trying to suck it up, crying into his neck and letting him hold her.

“Hey… ” He stroked her hair, his fingertips making her tingle every time they touched the skin at the back of her neck. “What happened back there?”

“I’m being totally dumb.”

Greg squeezed his hug that little bit tighter then led her back to the bed, coaxing her down onto the edge. She felt a tissue being pushed into her hand and he put his arm around her shoulders. “In all the years I’ve known you, you’ve never cried like that for no reason. So… spill.”

“This is going to sound so childish.” She dabbed at her eyes and tried to get some control over the hitch in her voice. “A bunch of stuff’s been bothering me, but the game set me off.”

“Party games? For real?” Greg sighed. “For God’s sake, why can’t girls just sit and talk? I can guess who the Mistress of Ceremonies was.”

Maddie’s lips twitched. Those were almost exactly her own thoughts as Elaine directed the entertainment—give the girl short shorts and a whistle, and she’d have made a good P.E. teacher.

“Yeah, Elaine. So we each had to put on lipstick and kiss Lisa’s belly while she kept her eyes shut. If Lisa could guess which one of us the kiss belonged to, we had to tell Lisa’s bump-baby three things about his mama.”

“I can’t even understand how that’s supposed to be ‘fun’.”

“It wasn’t! The girls guided me to her seat, but I could hardly keep my balance while I was reaching down for her ‘baby bump.’ My kiss was real heavy and awkward and she busted me instantly.”

And then you had to think of interesting stuff to say and couldn’t ’cause you were so embarrassed?”

Maddie nodded, so grateful she didn’t have to spell it out for him. The awkward silence that followed her lame statements about ‘Mama’ filled her inner ears like lead.

“Then Elaine was like ‘Oh honey, I guess you’re not wearing your creative-teacher hat today.’”

“Bitch.”

Maddie blinked. She’d thought so too, but it was maybe only the second time she’d ever heard Greg use that word. “I think she was just trying to make it not be awkward—”

“I think we both know you’re cutting her more slack than she deserves. Anyway, go on.”

“I just kinda hid and listened to them talk. They all have boyfriends or fiancés. They were going on about annoying guy habits, cute guy habits, former boyfriends, current sex lives. And I had
nothing
to say. I’ve had two crappy dates that ended at the doorway and who wants to hear about that?” She sniffed, her lip quivering just to think that—at nearly twenty-two—the sum total of her ‘guy history’ was her constant fight with her feelings for Greg. She’d never found anyone to measure up. She looked towards him, her eyes stinging all over again. “I just sat there feeling like some stupid wallflower. Don’t get me wrong, I am
so
happy for Lisa and I can’t wait for her to be a mom and have baby stories, but that’s just not my futu—”

“Who said that?”

The hard edge in his voice was so sudden it made Maddie flinch. “Well no one out loud, but… c’mon, now. I’m high maintenance and I’m not being flooded with offers—”

“That’s such bullshit.”

She felt him scramble off the bed and kneel in front of her, his hands on her thighs, his thumbs high up. A big-ass bucket of adrenaline swashed up the back of her legs as he tightened his grip just a little.

“Maddie—let me tell you something about girls like Elaine. She’s friends with Lisa because the Westgaits and Van Tullekens run in the same Westchester jet-set, and she resents your close friendship with
her
‘BFF’. See, you and Lisa have something in common—and I’m not just talking about becoming friends at special school. You’re gonna graduate from assistant to fully-fledged teacher one day, right? And Lisa has been figuring out a professional network to sell her art. Elaine has no goals. She’s going to float through life either on her own trust fund or someone else’s. She’s never had boundaries set for her and probably feels totally insecure.
You
, on the other hand, have a lot to offer a guy. You’re focused. Smart. And let’s not forget beautiful.”

Maddie’s head spun. She’d never heard him say so much at one time before. And that last phrase… she swallowed hard and tried to think of a response, but he wasn’t done.

“Tomorrow, during part two of this over-complicated baby shower, just… feel sorry for Elaine, okay? The rest of the girls are nice enough and the guys are fine. Just cut loose and be yourself.” Greg pressed up from the floor and kissed the top of her head. “Besides, I know at least one guy who really wants to kiss you.”

At least one?

Maddie felt a starburst flare in her chest as his aftershave wafted around her. She could pray that one of them was him, but was curious about the ‘others’. She managed a grin. “Now’s the time to give me a name. Any name. I promise I won’t act on it and show you up, but I could do with the ego boost.”

“I’m gonna run you a bath, then we’ll get something to eat.”

“Greg, who wants the kiss?”

He laughed as he retreated to the bathroom. “I’m not saying a damn thing! But I’ll make you a deal—if you’re back in your room all happy tomorrow after the main shower, I’ve got a little surprise for you.”

She yelled over the sound of running water. “Give me a hint?”

“Private massage, in your room. New masseur shows promise, but he needs a guinea pig. However, if you get back here all upset, it’s cancelled. Got that?”

“Got it!” She grinned and flopped back on the bed. He always knew how to cheer her up and she was determined not to let anything get her down for the rest of the weekend.

She was back in her room five minutes before Greg pounced.

Maddie giggled as he put his arms around her waist from behind and made a point of sniffing the air by her face. “All right, I had a couple of drinks!”

“I’m getting Pina Colada, Long Island Iced Tea, champagne. A hint of red wine—”

“Okay, more than a couple.”

“But not to help you have a good time?”

She caught the cautionary tone and turned to face him, linking her hands behind his neck. He was wearing a tank top. The sensitive skin of her underarms brushed over the muscle tone in his shoulders. She gave him her best innocent look. “Fine, maybe to start with. But no way was I passing up on that private massage!”

“And later?”

She rested her face in the warm dip of his shoulder. “What you said yesterday totally helped. I had a blast. I was wondering if Jamie Westgait was actually making a pass at me and Elaine pretty much proved it by getting all snotty.” She grinned just thinking of the vibes the girl gave off as her younger brother flirted with her. “And you know what? I didn’t give a damn. I just kicked back and enjoyed myself.”

“Did you flirt back?” Greg murmured into her hair.

“No, I was just polite. I’m sure he’s cute—his face feels cute—but it’s not ‘cute’ I’m after.” She inhaled Greg’s safe, clean, fresh smell, trying not to make the joy of it too obvious on the exhale. “I met a lot of the boyfriends and they were all really nice but none of them are… like you.”

“I’m glad you had a good time. All you have to do is concentrate on who you want to be with and someday, a very lucky guy will get to keep you for himself and give you all the babies you want.”

She imagined fighting her way around a nursery of squalling tiny people, trying to figure out who was in which bassinette and which diaper to put on first. She figured her nose would be up to that task, but her voice recognition was way below the standard people seemed to expect from the blind. She’d make a
horrible
penguin. The thought made her giggle. “I thought I might stick to two kids—a few years apart. Not quintuplets.”

“That’s just your lazy-girl talking.” Greg chuckled. “So, you kept your end of the deal. Your masseur will be in your room at eight. I’m giving him the spare key card, but he’ll knock.”

“You won’t be introducing us?”

“Nope. I have a massage booked for myself at the same time. I have this competitive urge to see how much better at it I am than the standard spa girl-or-guy.”

Maddie laughed. “I’m sure you could teach them a thing or two.”

“Nuh-uh. I’m all in it for the pleasure, this time.” He gave her a peck on the cheek and went to pull away, but then caught her hand again. “Oh—I ought to tell you, your masseur’s damn good at what he does. He’s a trainee, but more like a prodigy.”

She sighed in anticipation. “Oh, that sounds good.”

“But he doesn’t speak a word of English apart from ‘no’, which doesn’t really help because he doesn’t know what he’s saying ‘no’ to. Oh, and he wears
way
too much body-spray, which is something I’ll need to address when I can get a training interpreter who can speak Czech. Can’t have him drowning out the essential oils.”