Hard: A Military Stepbrother Romance by Lara Swann Read Free Book Online Page A

head with a small, tolerant smile.
    “I
think you’ve been watching too much CSI, my dear.”
    Bella
tensed for a moment beside me, before forcing herself to relax and shrugging.
    “It’s
just something to consider - maybe we should talk about it another time.”
    “I
don’t think there’s much to talk about, Annabelle. It’s not a good idea.”
    His
response made my blood boil and I was ready to snap at him, but glanced to the
side and waited for Bella to do so - she wouldn’t appreciate me fighting her
battles. And it wasn’t like it was my place to anyway. But to my surprise she
just slunk further into her chair and pushed her food around the plate.
    This
was the girl who had never once failed to find a come-back for one of my jibes?
    It
took all my effort not to stare at her. For some reason, her attitude just made
me even angrier - with her or him, I couldn’t tell. Maybe both of them. Maybe
just the world for this whole fucked up situation.
    What
did I care whether she did medicine or forensics, anyway?
    Except
that I couldn’t stand to see her treated that way.
    Says
the guy who was taunting her a few minutes ago…
    My
reaction made less sense than her behavior and it was all irritating the hell
out of me.
    The
air was tense for a minute, until my mother picked up the slack again and
rattled on about some conversation she’d had out shopping today. If I wasn’t so
irate, I would have been impressed with her sudden social graces.
    Bella
asked to be excused a few minutes later, when a couple of people came to
collect our plates, saying she had a headache and wasn’t feeling like dessert.
Her father just nodded and she turned to my mother.
    “It
was good to meet you, Cora…Seth.”
    She
didn’t look at me as she turned and left, and it took more willpower than I
would have expected not to watch her go.
    Great.
And now I’m all alone with them both…
    Not
that that mattered when my only thought was of her - the way she’d looked,
dejected and defeated in the face of her father’s comments. A direct contrast
to the spark of anger and outrage I’d provoked earlier tonight, the familiar
game that was now tinged with an uncomfortable edge. The way I could still
remember her body, skin against skin as we drove each other to heights I’ve
never seen before or since.
    God
damn!
    I
could almost feel her against me again, hearing her cry my name as I was taken
with the way this somewhat shy, innocent girl could become such an intense
wildcat when provoked. That was what had enthralled me, I’d known from the first
instant. And seeing the opposite tonight had provoked me almost beyond
tolerance.
    I
wanted to go after her, to change whatever had just happened between her and
her father - even knowing most likely I could only make it worse. The sporadic
conversation between Terence and my mother almost drove me up the wall as I sat
there debating whether to storm up after her or stay away. I knew what the
sensible thing to do was. I knew what was right.
    And
I wanted to damn it all to hell.
    It
was a terrible idea. But there was so much between us…so much left unsaid. And
now that our parents had hooked up, it wasn’t like we could avoid each other
forever.
    But
we couldn’t have anything else either. Even if I hadn’t gone out of my way to
push her away tonight, my mother had ensured she was firmly out of reach. I
just wasn’t conditioned to accept that.
    There
is no “can’t”. Will or will not, that’s your only choice.
    Dale’s
oft-repeated phrases seemed meaningless in the face of this. She was about to
become my step-sister - what could be more impossible?
    And
even if she wasn’t, it would be hard enough, with what I’d said tonight…with
what lay between us three years ago…
    I
tried to tell myself the disgust and anger I’d seen in her eyes was a good
thing - it would keep me away, stop me doing anything rash - but it ate at me
anyway, even if I had invited it.
    I’d
committed to