Obsessed (Hostile Takeover #1) (2 page)

I checked my phone. No response from Ransom yet. She had to stay with me. Or I would go crazy with boredom. Absolutely crazy.

Heck, I was going crazy already.

Now what?

I snooped around my new room, checking out the walk-in closet, with its many empty drawers and hanging bars and nooks for shoes. I made use of the luxurious attached four-piece bathroom with walk-in glass shower stall and oversized bathtub. There were all kinds of toiletries in the bathroom. Towels and washcloths, sheets and blankets and extra pillows for the bed. But nowhere did I find a single thing that belonged to me.

This was not my room; it was
a
room. A very nice room. On loan to me.

After fixing my hair and makeup, changing my clothes into something cute, I ventured out of my borrowed room. By now my stomach was grumbly. I was over the shock of having a beautiful stepbrother. I needed food. 

The kitchen, I discovered, was not empty.

I saw her first, the woman. She was barefoot with long, slender legs, and a short, short skirt. She was leaning into Kent, a stemmed glass hanging from one perfectly-groomed hand. Kent’s hands, in contrast, were cupped over her tits. His nose was nestled in the crook of her neck.

Well, hello. Don’t let me interrupt.

I couldn’t help staring at the scene of seduction playing out before me. The woman’s eyes were slitted, her lips curled into a ghost of a smile. Through the heavy silence I heard the sounds of labored breathing, the woman’s soft moans of pleasure.

How far would this go if I didn’t say anything to interrupt?

My heart started pounding as Kent shoved the woman’s top out of the way and uncovered her round breasts. He bent lower, flicking his tongue over one nipple, and little spikes of heat pierced me between my legs. It was like watching a live porno. But better.

No, not better! What was I thinking? If my new step brother caught me standing here, watching, I would die from humiliation. I needed to get out of here. Now.

I turned a one-eighty and rushed from the room. I swear I didn’t take a breath until I was safe in my bedroom, the door shut.

Wow, wasn’t expecting that.

My phone chimed. Finally, Ransom had responded.

Can’t get out there until tomorrow. Sorry.

Sorry. Ransom was sorry.

But I was sorrier.

My stomach reminded me it wanted food.

Food.

I was so
not
going into that kitchen again.

But if I didn’t get something from the kitchen, that meant I needed money to go buy something to eat. Ugh. I checked my wallet. I found a five and a couple of ones. Not enough to buy much, unless I wanted to visit the golden arches.

Well, that was better than nothing.

I skittered through the house and out the front door. If Ransom couldn’t come until tomorrow, I’d have to find something to keep me busy for the rest of the day. I didn’t want to be alone in this place with
that
going on.

Talk about being the third wheel.

Ahhhhh, life was good.

So fucking good.

I liked this town. Turned out all the restaurants were full of good-looking men with big, fat wallets. Rich men who liked to buy single girls drinks.

I was so warm and happy, happy, happy! My purse was full of business cards with cell phone numbers scrawled on the back. I’d been treated like a princess.

What a night. Free dinner. Lots (and lots and lots) of free drinks. Ransom had missed out. Big time. Neither of us were used to this kind of treatment. My bestie lived in our hometown, a distinctly working-class town where guys were far less generous and their wallets far less ample. And September through May I lived on campus, with a bunch of horny, broke college guys who might buy you a pizza before they tried to get into your pants.
Might.
Most of them didn’t bother.

But not here.

I liked it here. This was my kind of town.

Propping myself against the exterior wall, I tried Kent’s ginormous mansion’s front door. It was unlocked. I stumbled inside. It was dark and late, or rather, dark and early (morning), but the glowing lights on the fancy waterfall illuminated the entry enough for me to see. I kicked off my shoes and wobbled inside. Was it just me or was the floor a little slanted?

The walls and furniture helped steady me as I stumbled my way to my temporary room. As I was rounding a corner, something moved in my way. That something was big and tall and darkly handsome.

“Hello, Kent,” I said as I tried to side-step around him.

“You’ve been out,” Kent said, voice a little sharp.

“Yes, I have. I’m a big girl. Almost twenty-two. I’m allowed to go out by myself.” I wriggled past him.

He sniffed. “You’re drunk.”

“No, not drunk. Just feeling good. Very gooooood.” I giggled. How funny. Here was this guy, acting all big-brother-y and we’d known each other for less than one day. I was going to have to put an end to that right here, right now. “Before you get preachy, I saw what you were doing earlier. With your
friend
.” I rolled my eyes and poked my index finger at his chest. Ouch. It was hard. I continued toward my room.

“You saw me?” When my hip knocked into the wall I hadn’t seen, he wrapped an arm around my waist. “What did you see?”

“Hands off, Kent.” I shoved him away. “What’re you trying to do? Seduce me?” I clicked my tongue. “Naughty, naughty. We wouldn’t want your girlfriend to get jealous.”

“I don’t have a girlfriend.”

“You don’t? Then why were you sucking on that girl’s tits?” I asked. Wow, alcohol sure made me brave. I liked it. I liked being able to speak my mind.

“Because they’re nice tits.” He grabbed my elbow.

I waved my arm and gave him mean eyes. “Sheesh, you’re mighty grabby. Would you stop that?”

“I want to make sure you make it to your room in one piece.”

“I’ll be fine. Just fine. It’s only a hundred…miles away.” I nodded. “Has anyone ever told you this house is ridiculously huge?” I waved a dismissive hand. “Don’t worry. I don’t really get the concern anyway. It isn’t like we’re really related. You don’t know me. I don’t know you.”

“Very true.” He opened my door for me and watched as I shuffled past him. “Let’s just say I tend to be concerned about the welfare of my guests.”

“Your guests?” I echoed.

Had he really said I was
his
guest?

Wasn’t I his
father’s
guest?

Wasn’t this stupidly huge house his
father’s
house?

“Yes, this is my home,” he informed me.

“Your home? Not your father’s?”

“My father lives in the carriage house.” He pointed out the window. “Your mother will be moving in with him once they return from their wedding.”

“Carriage house?” I repeated. “So this massive freaking house belongs to you?”

His smile was as wide as the freaking Grand Canyon. “It does.”

“Only you?”

“Um, if you mean to ask if I’m taken, the answer is no.” He placed an index finger under my chin and lifted until my gaze met his. “I’m flattered you asked.”

Another giggle bubbled in my belly and I couldn’t hold it in. God, I was such a silly, pathetic, drunk mess right now. But did I care? Not really. I liked the glimmer of heat sparkling in his eyes. And the pleasant little zaps that buzzed under my skin when he touched me. “I didn’t ask because I was interested in…well, you know.”

“Because you find me attractive?” he offered.

My face burned. “No! Of course not. I mean, not that you’re ugly or anything, but we’re brother and sister now. Kind of. I mean, you’re older than me, too.”

“Yes, that I am. Old enough to leave a drunk girl alone.” He leaned in, and I held my breath. What was he doing? I angled back, spine straining, and watched him come closer, closer. His mouth met the tip of my nose. He pressed his perfect lips to my skin then backed away. “Sweet dreams, little sister. See you in the morning.”

I waved then fell into bed, fully clothed, with a silly, stupid smile on my face.

Oh, shit.

I was dying.

Okay, I wasn’t dying. I just wished I was dead. My head was exploding. My stomach was roiling.

Last night had been fun, a whole lot of fun, but what a mistake. I never should have drunk so much. I was definitely going to pay for it today.

Head swimming, I staggered into the bathroom and tried to shower myself back to life. It didn’t work. I felt like crap. But after brushing my teeth thoroughly and gargling with mouthwash, at least I ditched that awful morning-after taste.

Wrapped in a towel the size of a sheet and as soft as a cloud, I shuffled out of the bathroom and discovered there was a tray sitting on my bed.

Water. Aspirin. Toast. And, bless him, coffee.

Maybe having a big brother wasn’t such a bad thing.

I downed the water and aspirin and nibbled on toast, washing it down with coffee. The coffee perked me up a bit. The aspirin knocked out the throbbing in my skull. And before long I was feeling human again and ready to get dressed. I pulled on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt before going in search of the angel named Kent, who had saved my life this morning.

As I barefooted through his house, memories of last night flooded my brain. I remembered getting home. I remembered him telling me this mansion was his, not his father’s. I remembered him kissing my nose and my wishing it hadn’t been my nose. But in between there were some blank spots.

I hoped that was all that had happened. I hoped I hadn’t made a total ass of myself.

I found him in the kitchen, a gray pair of sweatpants hanging from his hips and a tank showing off arms that made me salivate. He was loading the dishwasher, water running in the sink and drowning out the sound of my footsteps.

“Thank you,” I said loud enough for him to hear.

He looked over one drool-worthy muscular shoulder and smiled. “Good morning. I didn’t expect to see you for a few hours…at least.”

I felt my face warming. Oh God, had I totally made an ass of myself? “Yeah, last night was...quite the night. I think I might have overdone it. A little.”

He chuckled. “You think?”

“Okay, I know, I know. I definitely had too much to drink last night. Anyway, thanks for the aspirin and coffee. They were a heaven-send.”

“No problem.” Having finished loading the dishwasher, he turned, facing me fully. His gaze meandered up and down my body, making me a little self-conscious. “I talked to my father. There’s an envelope with your name on it in the entry. The money is for you. Do whatever you wish with it.”

“Thanks.” My phone buzzed and, remembering Ransom’s promise yesterday, I slid it from my pocket. “I hope it’s okay…I invited a friend over, to stay for a few days. Since I’m so far from home.”

He shrugged. “Sure.”

“I wouldn’t expect you to entertain me for two whole weeks,” I said while poking at my phone. I glanced up, catching the flirty half-smile stretching across his perfect mouth.

Ransom could wait.

“Take my word for it,” he said, “you wouldn’t want me to ‘entertain’ you either.”

“Why would you say that?” I asked, extremely curious. The devil-made-me-do-it expression on his face had my full attention now. To hell with everything. I had to know more.

“Let’s just say my idea of entertainment is very different from yours and leave it at that. Fair enough?” he asked, his playful gleam totally making me melt.

Was he really going to drop it? Just like that? “Fair enough.”

“That said, if you need anything, just let me know. I’ll be in and out this weekend. And on weekdays, I don’t get home until very late. So it’s better that you have someone stay here to keep you company.”

“Thanks. Will do.” I watched him walk away.

Wow, did he have a nice butt. And great hair, so dark and silky, and amazing shoulders. And he was thoughtful, too.

Once he was out of sight, I checked my phone.

Yep, it was Ransom.

Caught a bad stomach flu. Can’t come out today.

Well, crap. That sucked!

Sorry, hon. Get better soon. I have money. I guess I’ll go shopping alone. Text me if you feel better.

It was Saturday. And it looked like I would be spending it alone.

I grabbed the envelope and trudged back to my room to stuff it in my purse. Before I put it in, I counted bills inside. They were all one hundred dollar bills. And there were twenty of them. Twenty.

Holy crap. That was a lot of cash!

Thank you, Kent! I think I love you.

I was not going to blow this money on stupid stuff. This much money would come in very handy at school. I was always running short on cash and scraping together pennies for food.

But for once in my life I could let myself loosen the purse strings a little.

I knew where I was going today.

Hello,
Coach
.

A lot of the girls at school had Coach bags. Thanks to Mom’s new husband and his crazy-rich son, maybe I could have one too.

Maybe.

I changed my top, since the t-shirt I had been wearing was a little worn out and faded, fiddled with my hair and makeup a bit and grabbed my cutest pair of shoes before slinging my purchased-at-Walmart faux-leather handbag over my shoulder. I didn’t hear, or see, any sign of my gracious, generous host as I hurried to my car. Using my phone as a GPS, I headed to the closest mall with a Coach store.

Thank you Mom! Correction, thank you stepfather and stepbrother, dearest.