Total pages in book: 28
Estimated words: 26251 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 131(@200wpm)___ 105(@250wpm)___ 88(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 26251 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 131(@200wpm)___ 105(@250wpm)___ 88(@300wpm)
It’s only then that the door opens fully, and Mari stands there. My stepdaughter looks gorgeous of course, with her face flushed and even a small sheen of come still on her chin. But she takes one look at me, at Benji, and at the mess on the ground, and instinctively knows what just happened. Those brown eyes darken to an almost black as she fixes me with a smoldering look. But then Mari turns away.
“Oh my god, Benji are you okay?”
At this point, the boy’s howling in agony.
“It hurts, it hurts!” he screams. “I think I threw out my back! How will I survive basic training now?”
“It’s fine,” I growl. “Don’t move. Let me call an ambulance and we’ll get you taken care of. Mari, can you get a towel and clean him up a bit? Thanks, hon.”
She stands there for a moment with her hands on her hips, and her cheeks flaming. Hell, even her hair is going to burst into flames because she’s so annoyed at my command. But then Mari turns on one heel and storms away to the bathroom to retrieve a towel of some sort. She knows it’s my come on the floor, and that her boyfriend just injured himself in a pool of my semen. Still, there are worse things to fall in, right? It could be a puddle of urine or toxic waste.
Things moved at light-speed then. The paramedics arrived, and fortunately by then, we’d gotten the pool of semen cleaned up. Even crazier, Benji seemed to have no idea what had fouled him up. I suppose he assumed it was just a wet spot of water because the bathroom is across the hall from Mari’s bedroom, but there was no one taking a shower at the moment. Still, it’s good that he doesn’t suspect because what actually happened is depraved, and he obviously wouldn’t appreciate knowing that Mari’s stepfather has a craving for the pretty brat.
But still, Mari knows. After the paramedics left, she avoided my eyes and disappeared into her bedroom without a word. Yet we can’t avoid the subject forever because I’m driving her to her new school tomorrow, and it’s going be a five-hour trip. In fact, we’re staying the night at a hotel along the way, so there will be plenty of time for conversation. But will Mari acknowledge what happened between us? Or will she ignore the subject completely? After all, I know I should be embarrassed, not to mention ashamed and horrified at my physical reaction to her. But instead, the opposite is true: I’m attracted to the sassy brat, and suddenly, our road trip just got a lot more interesting.
CHAPTER 3
Mari
I open my eyes the next morning, and I’m not sure what to think. This is the day that I finally leave Oakdale for college, and my stepdad is the one who’s going to drop me off. But do we acknowledge what happened yesterday? Or is he going to pretend like nothing happened at all?
I creep down the stairs, and even though it’s only 7 a.m., Harris is already in the kitchen. He looks gorgeous, as usual. The huge man has a white t-shirt on, in addition to plaid pajama pants. His black hair is mussed, and that bronzed expression intense as he stares at whatever he’s frying on the stove.
“Scrambled eggs?” I say by way of greeting, leaning one hip against the counter.
He turns, his features deceptively relaxed because beneath the superficial smile, I can see that he’s stressed.
“I was thinking fried, but if you like scrambled it’s no problem,” he says, waving towards the breakfast bar. “Take a seat and I’ll have your eggs ready for you in a sec.”
But I can see how his eyes sweep over me before quickly moving away. I can also see how much Harris hates himself for it. After all, I like to sleep comfortably, and that means that I’m dressed in my usual pajama set: a crop top that shows off my belly button, as well as short shorts that highlight my long legs. My hair is messed in that sexy, casual, Victoria’s Secret kind of way, and my cheeks are still flushed from a good night’s rest.
But Harris isn’t like that. He merely looks away again before practically boring holes into the frying pan with his stare. His hand grips the spatula so tightly that it’s white-knuckled, but then the alpha male takes a deep breath, like he’s telling himself to relax. Sure enough, the muscles in his back unclench a bit, and the lines around his eyes soften. The man of the house is doing what’s right, and I appreciate him for it.
But still, I don’t know what I want because the truth is that I’ve been attracted to Harris for the past year or so. It came out of nowhere. One day, he was just my mom’s ex, and then last summer, my friend Alice was over and we were in the pool in back. She giggled because Harris and one of his friends were grilling on the deck, and she kept throwing them flirtatious looks.