Step Brother by Jayna King Read Free Book Online Page A

then! We’ll tell Lee that we’ll take the house from Christmas to New Year’s, and we’ll spend it together as a family.”
    “Wait, what?” I sputtered.
    Dad looked at me. “We’re all going to Tahoe for the holidays. It’ll be great. We haven’t been skiing together since we went to Vail when you were in middle school.”
    Reed lifted the hem of my skirt and slid his hand higher on my thigh. I wanted him to stop, but I also wanted to tear his clothes off and take him to bed.
    I had problems. Big ones.
    I pushed my chair back from the table and stood up. “I gotta go. Thanks for the lunch. It was nice to meet you, Tina, and it was good to see you, Dad.” I looked down at Reed, who was silently laughing. “Um, Reed. I guess I’ll … um … see you around.”
    For a girl who always knew what to say, I felt remarkably tongue-tied as I practically ran out of the dining room.

4 -- Reed
    I was trying to concentrate on the ink, but visions of a hot blonde kept intruding, distracting me from the shading I was doing along the jawline of a skull. “I gotta take a break,” I said, putting down my gun.
    Butch looked over at me. “That’s usually my line, man. What’s on your mind?”
    We hadn’t talked a whole lot when he arrived for his appointment. The afternoon had been so unbelievably overwhelming that I really had no fucking idea where to begin. My mom, my dad, her new husband, and my smokin’ hot sister. Stepsister, that is. Big difference, especially because I couldn’t think about anything but taking Tatum back to bed.
    “You just wouldn’t believe the day I had. You cool to go out for a couple of drinks after I finish?”
    “Yeah. Marla’s gonna let me go, but I can’t stay too late.”
    “Remind me never to get married.”
    “Yeah, it’s awful. A hot wife I get to sleep with every night. Someone to help out around the house. Fuckin’ prison, man.”
    “I know, I know,” I said with a smile. “Marla’s one of the good ones.”
    “She is. And for some stupid reason she loves you.”
    “Whatever. It’s just ’cause I sign her paycheck.”
    “You know that’s not the truth.”
    I stood up and stretched. “I know. Look, man, I’m really not feeling it tonight. Can we just clean you up and head out? I’ll owe you a session on the house.”
    “As long as you’ll make it a long one, you’ve got a deal. I want to get this sleeve finished and have you start on my calf next.”
    “You’re going to look great with shaved legs, Butch.”
    “Shut the fuck up. Let’s go. You’re buying the first round.”
    I cleaned Butch up and we headed to my favorite bar—a little dive off the Strip. I ordered us a round of beers and we sat at a table in the corner, where we could watch our local pool sharks hustling tourists for easy money. One way or another tourism boosted the local economy.
    “So talk, man. I’m on borrowed time,” Butch said, swilling down about half of his beer.
    “What’s the hurry?”
    He looked at me like a little kid with a secret. “You have to promise not to tell Marla.”
    “You have an appointment with an escort?”
    He hit me on the upper arm, hard. “No, man. Seriously. You can’t tell her. I promised I’d let her tell you, and she wants to wait a while to let everyone know.”
    “Man, just tell me. I won’t say anything.”
    “She’s knocked up. We have an appointment for a sonogram in the morning.” He looked like he’d just won the lottery or something.
    “Well, shit,” I said, pretending to be upset. “There goes my office manager.”
    “Seriously? That’s all you have to say?”
    I laughed. “Naw, man. Congratulations. That’s awesome news.”
    “You can’t tell her I told you, though. She hasn’t even told her parents yet. She wants to wait until after the first trimester.”
    “Silent as the grave,” I said.
    “So what’s going on with you?” Butch asked.
    “You can’t even imagine. So I had lunch with my mom today. I hadn’t