AllFreeNovel
Share Us
My trance breaks amidst her nervous rambling, and I jolt like I’ve been electrocuted. In a fumbling rush that lacks all the sure confidence of my usual movements, I stumble backward, reaching for the towel hanging on the rack that I’ve been blocking with my body. I practically throw the fluffy white towel at her, biting my tongue to stop a groan when she gasps and bends at the waist to grab it before it hits the floor.
Fuck, this girl is beautiful.
More than just her stunning body, the fact she’s not still screaming and threatening to call the cops on me makes me need to know more about her. Because any normal person would be kicking and fighting and grabbing for the nearest available device capable of calling the emergency services.
Instead, this shower-damp goddess, hair dripping onto the bath mat and shivering, bundles herself up in the towel that’s just long enough to cover the curve of her ass when she holds it around her chest, covering herself even though the image of her will be seared into my brain for the rest of my life.
It would be impossible to ever forget her even if I try, which I already know I won’t.
Which is why I need to get the fuck away from her. This response, this caveman-style possessive desire burning throughme—this is absolutely not fucking normal. And for all her rambling and lack of running away, it’s clear I’ve scared this girl by barging in on her.
It takes more force of will than I want to admit to turn on my heel and stomp out of the bathroom, the cloud of fruity shampoo-scented humidity following me out the door before I slam it behind me.
I shake my head, practically sprinting back down the stairs to the kitchen, putting as much distance between me and her as I can without leaving the house altogether. I nearly break my phone when I yank it out of my pocket. It takes me three times to find my father’s contact and press call because I’m so fucking shaken by what just happened. I don’t get shaken easily. Not through emergencies or threats or major injury. So how the hell has this girl managed to wreck me from just an accidental look at her?
And, probably more importantly, why the fuck is she here at all?
My dad picks up on the last ring, and I don’t even let him get through the wordhellobefore I’m growling down the phone.
“Did you know there’s a woman in your house?” I snap, grip tightening on the phone. Not wanting to actually break the device, I set it down on the counter and put it on speaker.
“A woman…? Oh!” My dad pauses to laugh, and I hear a feminine voice in the background. “That’s just Talia!”
As if that explains anything. “Dad, who the hell is Talia?” I try and fail to keep the exasperation I feel out of my voice.
“Oh, didn’t I tell you?” Dad asks, and I grit my teeth becauseobviously not. “Well, since Lucille and I are away ‘till the end of the month and Talia needed somewhere to say, she’s stayingthere over the summer. Lucille, understandably, wanted her daughter to have somewhere to go on her college break, and we agreed before you told us you were coming for a visit too.”
My head spins. Is any of this supposed to make sense?
“Dad, you’ve missed like ten fucking steps of explanation,” I grunt, glaring at the phone as though he can see my frustration. “Who is Lucille?”
“My wife!”
His …what?
I must make some sort of noise because he continues, “We eloped a month ago, wanted to put the money towards the cruise rather than have a fancy wedding.”
Married. My dad is married. I blink a few times, unsure of how to feel. My mom died when I was little, so I always kind of knew Dad might find another partner at some point. But he’s gone and got married without even mentioning it to me, and I can’t help but feel a little bitter about that.
“And Talia?” I ask, needing all the facts. I’m starting to put the pieces together, though, and I come to the conclusion right before Dad helpfully puts it into words.
“Talia’s your new stepsister.”
2
TALIA
Istare at the closed bathroom door with my mouth hanging open.
My fingers are clenched in the damp towel. I’m shivering from standing here soaking wet, but I can’t remember how to move. I’m frozen, cold except for the spark of heat simmering low in my stomach, which gives me just as many questions as everything else that’s just happened.
“What on earth…” I murmur to myself, trying to shake the shock off.
I think I probably should be scared shitless. Yeah, I’m shocked and confused, but the longer I think about the guy who barged in, the less terrified I feel. He was huge—tall and so fit I could see his muscles even through the steam and his clothes—but he hadn’t made any move to grab me or use any of that strength against me. In fact, all he’d done was stare at me in as much shock as I’d been feeling.
Plus … I’d have to be blind not to have noticed how freaking hot he was.
My curiosity vastly overwhelms any trepidation I feel, and before I really realize I’m doing it, I’m jogging out of the bathroom in my towel and down the stairs to where I can hear footsteps pacing back and forth in the kitchen.
