Shame: A Stepbrother Romance by Emma Soule Read Free Book Online Page A

perfection? I don’t know him. I doubt she even knows him. Either way, he is part of a past she rarely talks about. We were poor then and she even had to work. I try to picture her as a waitress or a dry cleaning worker, but it just doesn’t fit her image.
    Anyway, I know she is not all natural, but I prefer not to tease her. She can get seriously worked up over this. No, her face is smooth and her lips are full, her hips are trim and her breasts don’t sag at forty-six because of genes. I leave it at that.
    “So, mom?”
    “Uh-huh,” she mutters with her mouth closed. If she moves, I’ll have a mother with no eye lids.
    “What’s that big falling out Joe and Andrew had? When was it?”
    She doesn’t respond immediately, but I know she’s going to, so I wait. When she is done with her lashes, she turns around.
    “I don’t know this for a fact,” she says, “but I think just before your father and I got together, he sent Andrew away and cut him out of his will.”
    “Wow, that’s intense. And by the way, isn’t that convenient,” I smirk, “For you, I mean.”
    “Jo!” my mom is outraged, “Don’t be so cynical. You know I love your father. Plus, I didn’t know anything about Andrew at the time.”
    My father. If I hear this one more time, I feel like I’m going to snap.
    “What’s there to know?”
    “I don’t want you to form opinions before you’ve met him, honey,” mom says, “I told you, he’s changed. And he is part of the family, so we need to get used to him being back.”
    “You mean, you have to get used to it. I don’t plan on sticking around too much. I have my own life now.”
    “Why do you keep insisting that working at a bookstore is a life? Everyone needs family, honey.”
    She can’t be more wrong. The book shop is my life. I’ve started out with nothing. Well, sure there was the generous down payment that Joe insisted on donating and the very favorable loan terms he negotiated for me with the bank, but other than that, it’s been all a work of my love.
    I remember first walking into that empty space on Chestnut Street, running my hands over the peeling paint on the walls, examining the busted light fixtures, checking out the various leaks and cracks. And still, I managed to turn it into what it is today. I’ve hand-picked every single title that lines my shelves. I’ve browsed catalogs for furniture and decor items. I’ve picked out colors and emptied my apartment’s kitchen to bring some necessary items over to the back room. It’s my baby, my book shop, and I love every tiny speck of dust in it.
    Of course, I don’t expect my mom to understand. I doubt she’s ever seen anything come to life through the work of her two bare hands.
    “So, what did he do that was so bad?” I say to get away from my favorite topic. Family.
    “I’m not sure. Many things. Drugs, gambling, drinking. You get the picture. He was also constantly involved with the wrong woman. Older ladies, married women, nannies. He was always all over the papers.”
    “It doesn’t sound worse than most men,” I say and I realize I’ve stepped into cynical territory once again.
    “Jo! If you had even the smallest experience with men, I’d let that slip. You can’t talk like that. There are wonderful men out there, if you’d only for once get yourself a date.”
    “So, Joe catches Andrew with wealthy widow next door and disinherits him?”
    “Of course not,” my mom says and I feel she is getting tired of me, “I don’t think it was just one thing. To Joe, his company, his reputation mean everything. He realizes that an end to an empire comes with him and having no one trustworthy to take over the reigns just breaks his heart.”
    “But you said Andrew’s changed.”
    “I hope so,” she says distractedly, “I’ve had my fair share of men claiming to have changed. It’s not impossible, but… I guess we owe it to your father to give Andrew a chance.”
    “Is