Bad Boy - A Stepbrother Romance by Caitlin Daire, Alyssa Alpha Read Free Book Online Page B

hand, I didn’t want this sleazy asshole touching me.
    I put my own hand on top of his, and he looked momentarily excited until I dug my sharp nails right into him. He took a sharp intake of breath, but to his credit, he didn’t reflexively yank his hand out and make what had happened obvious to everyone else at the table.
    “Fun’s over, dirtbag,” I hissed, making sure Grandma and our parents weren’t paying attention. “You can go back to your cage now.”
    I pressed my nails down further, and finally, he pulled his hand away, but not before shooting me a dark look. I glared back at him, wishing he could hear my thoughts. Too bad, prick. Dislike me all you want, because I already can’t stand you.
    Honestly, what did he expect after the other night? For me to be nice to him? For me to fall over my feet trying to hook up with him? Yeah, right.
    A waitress came over and poured the bottle of champagne into our flutes, and James held up his glass before clearing his throat. “To our new family,” he said. “Cheers!”
    “Cheers,” I mumbled before tipping the champagne flute back and emptying the entire contents of it into my mouth. After the last ten minutes, I needed more than a drink…I needed a full-body sedative. Unfortunately, alcohol was all I could have right now.
    I decided it had been immature of me to stab Finn with my fingernails and hiss insults at him. I should’ve just ignored his hand on my leg or moved away, but I’d let him get a rise out of me instead. As I sneaked a glance at him again, he smirked at me before winking, and I realized that had been his intention all along—he’d wanted to get a reaction out of me. It was just like what my Grandma had always said about my bully in elementary school. She just wants a reaction, and you’re giving it to her. Ignore her and she’ll start to ignore you.
    Maybe that wasn’t the best advice, but it had worked for me, so from now on, I was going to ignore everything Finn said and did in order to try and get a rise out of me.
    “Playing hard to get?” he whispered when I completely snubbed him for the next half an hour.
    “Playing hard to want?” I replied before mentally slapping myself. Dammit. So much for ignoring him. I’d vowed not to react to him anymore, and look how long that had lasted…
    Okay, okay. This time it was for real. No more reactions. He could sleaze onto me all he wanted, and I wouldn’t respond at all. I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction.
    Not now, not ever again.

 
                 
    Chapter Four
    Rory
    Today was D-day. Otherwise known as move-in day.
    Any misgivings about sharing a building with Finn had been forgotten the second I stepped into my new bedroom; an executive suite on the tenth floor of the hotel. A man named Elijah, who was apparently the hotel’s general manager, had shown me into the room while James led Mom and Grandma to their new rooms, and I gasped as I took it all in.
    “Wow!”
    A huge bed with a quilted velveteen headboard stood on one side, made up with soft white sheets and a matching white quilt cover with gold brocade around the edges. A matching bureau, vanity and bedside tables made up the rest of the furniture on that side of the room, and I could also see a half-open door which led into a walk-in closet.
    I glanced over to the left to see what appeared to be a kitchenette, lounge and dining area on the other side, and further down from that, there was an entrance to a spacious bathroom. I checked it all out before turning around and looking back at Elijah.
    “This is all mine for as long as I live here?” I asked. It was like having my very own house, minus a laundry room.
    He nodded. “Yes. Not as big as the penthouse suites, but still a decent size.”
    “You don’t say,” I said, marveling as I checked out the incredible view from the window. It was more than decent. “Who has the penthouse? Just guests?”
    “No,” Elijah said. “There’s two