My Billionaire Stepbrother by Jillian Sterling Read Free Book Online

he’s
gotten to me. I can’t let him see that he’s struck more than one nerve.
    Humiliated, angry, and exhausted, I
can think of nothing else to say.
    I pick up my skirts and my pride
and brush past Remington Wilde, playboy of the western and eastern world, and
look for a dark corner to hide.
    As I walk away from Remington with
my chin held high, I steal one last glance at the dance floor where my Dad and
Diana look happier than anyone I’ve ever seen. In spite of my worry about their
insanely fast relationship, the sight of them makes my chest ache not a little
bit with something like longing.
    I’m not jealous. Not even a little
bit. Nope.
    Not me.

 
     
    Chapter Five
     
    It’s not easy slipping out of a
party inconspicuously in an Oscar de la Renta gown and Louboutin shoes, but I do
it. Now I am walking down the resort road in what I think is the general
direction of my bungalow. The hot sun beats down on my head and my fancy skirt sticks
to my sweaty legs, but at least I am finally alone.
    I know it’s only the middle of the
day here, but I am EXHAUSTED. That enormous bed in my bungalow is calling to me.
I just want to go nap my confused feelings away.
    “Ow.”
    It finally occurs to me that I
don’t have to walk in these 4-inch heels through the god damn jungle, so I take
them off and go barefoot.
    “Much better.”
    A few golf carts and bicycles wiz
by me, proving that there was an easier way for me to get back to my bungalow,
but I resign myself to the walk. After all, I could use a minute to let off some
steam. I’m still fuming and furious and, I have to admit, slightly turned on
from my confusing exchange with Remington Wilde.
    What a snob.
    What a pig!
    What a sexy, sexy jerk.
    I have never felt more confused or
angry in my life. Between my disturbing introduction to Remington and my Dad’s
surprise wedding, it feels like I’ve lost everything normal and predictable about
my life all in one day. The rules have suddenly changed and I just don’t know
how to handle it. Is Dad rich now that he’s married a billionaire? Are all his
promises to take care of me finally coming true?
    Does it mean I am rich now, too?
    Or am I fired from school for
missing finals?
    I need to find a computer and email
my professors. Just because Dad got married doesn’t mean my problems are
solved. I could be right back at zero at any second – less than zero if I lose
my place at school. And it doesn’t help that Remington Wilde seems determined
to toss me out on the streets again.
    Nothing feels safe. Nothing feels
familiar. Even though this island is gloriously beautiful, I have never felt
more alone.
    Finally I see my bungalow up ahead.
    “Thank god.”
    I speed up my pace, already feeling
some of the tension release from my shoulders. This is what I need: some alone
time to process everything from my Dad’s shocking marriage to my stress about
missing finals to the fact that I’ve just slapped Remington Wilde across the
face.
    Yeah, remember when that happened?
I just met the most eligible bachelor in the world and my response was to slap
him across the face.
    He deserved it, though.
    He’s a jerk.
    He’s…
    “Stop thinking about him,” I
command myself.
    But that proves to be impossible,
because when I open the door to my bungalow, who should be here waiting for me
but the devil himself?
    “Remington!” I squeak. “What are
you doing here?”
    How is he here? Wasn’t he just at
the wedding? Didn’t I leave before him?
    Goddamn golf carts! I knew I should
have taken one.
    Remington is in the kitchen,
stripped to his boxers, fixing what looks to be an epic pitcher of margaritas.
I don’t know what surprises me most: that Remington Wilde is in my kitchen in
his boxers, or that Remington Wilde, billionaire playboy, makes his own
margaritas. Doesn’t he have servants for this kind of thing? Slaves even?
    I feel myself bristling already.
What kind of billionaire jerk takes off his pants and makes