Leverage (The Brannock Siblings) by Jessica Wilde Read Free Book Online

ever, even if the
worry lines on his face seemed a little deeper than they had been early that
morning.
    "Promise me you will be careful, Dad. Lucas will be
stuck with me if you aren't around, so be careful for him, too."
    He chuckled again and glanced at Lucas who was back to
sitting at the island. "Oh, I don't think he would mind too much, my
beauty."
    I snorted in disbelief, but a piece of me wished I could
really believe it. When I turned back to the island to serve dinner, Lucas was
watching me. Our eyes met briefly, but the look he gave me didn't seem to
contradict my father's words. It was the look he got when he was about to go
after something he really wanted, a determined look. It was a shock to my
system. He was always so stoic, never letting his emotions seep through the
cracks. He was always so serious, too, with the exception of a few memories I
had of him laughing with my brothers.
    If he did feel anything for me other than brotherly love, I
wouldn't know how to take it. He cared about the people that were important to
him, but never let his emotions get in the way. I wasn't sure if he was even
capable of love. He had never been serious about anyone.
    As we all sat to eat, I thought about all the times that I
felt like I actually annoyed him more than anything. I followed my brothers
around a lot, even when we were older, because I had no one else to spend my
time with, thanks to them. They didn't mind too much if they weren't doing
anything special, but Lucas always seemed like he was avoiding me the whole
time. I didn't let it keep me away, though, because it gave me the opportunity
to watch him without him noticing.
    I learned a lot about him that way.
    He always seemed like he was a player, especially around
Conall and Fergus. They believed he was, too, but what I had observed told me
something completely different. Yes, he was experienced, but he wasn't a jerk
to any of the girls he spent his time with and he never led them on. In fact, I
always thought he was really sweet to the women he dated. He always acted like
a gentleman and he never made them feel like they were an object. Not like my
brothers did.
    He was never with the same girl, though. Never brought the
same one out with us more than once, which got him the player label. I don't know
if he slept with every one of them. Part of me felt like he had, but his
actions seemed to tell another story. A man who played like that didn't offer
to take his friends' little sister home while he was leaving with his date. He
always offered and most of the time I would accept, especially when the girl
who was on his arm was one that had taken an opportunity to belittle me
whenever she saw me.
    I didn't like being around my brothers when they got too
crazy and there was no point in hanging around if I had nothing to look forward
to at the end of the night, so Lucas would drop me off at home and wait until I
got inside before driving off with his date in the passenger seat.
    A guy who wanted in a girl's pants didn't do things like
that and delay the fun.
    At least, I didn't think so. But what do I know, right?
    My plan to be over Lucas by dessert didn't work out so well.
He kept doing things that reminded me of why I fell in love with him in the
first place, like pouring me another glass of wine without me asking for it,
telling me how much he missed my cooking while I was gone, or just sitting
there looking like he had just stepped out of GQ magazine and didn't even have
to try.
    Simple things.
    I knew it would be impossible when he stood to clear the
table against my protests and even put all the leftover lasagna away, taking a
container for himself with a goofy grin on his face almost allowing those
perfect dimples to reveal themselves, but holding them back just barely.
    After I finished up the dishes, I had come to the conclusion
that I was pretty much going to die without ever losing my virginity. How could
I ever give it up to anyone when none of them