Stepbrother Catfish: The Complete Series by Izzy Sweet Read Free Book Online Page A

first to the empty podium where the hostess usually stands. Then my eyes scan the restaurant, it’s empty, save for the lone man seated at a table in the back. It’s him, it’s Andrew. I’d recognize his profile anywhere, even if I wasn’t expecting to run into him.
    Andrew turns his head and our eyes lock. A look of surprise passes fleetingly over his features. I feel a bit of satisfaction knowing I’ve surprised him with the way I’m dressed. He usually only looks at me with disdain or contempt, so the surprise is a big improvement.
    Andrew lifts his hand, beckoning me to come to him. My eyes roam over his body as I walk to his table. I don’t go as far to put a sway to my hips, but I do seriously consider it.
    He must have been at work today. He’s dressed as if he just came from the office. He’s wearing a white cotton shirt, black pants, and a red tie. The tie hasn’t been loosened yet.
    Andrew stands when I reach the table and pulls out a chair for me. I gracefully accept the chair while trying to hide my own surprised reaction. He’s really going all out with this.
    The sounds of pots and pans banging together drift out from the kitchen. Andrew hasn’t said anything yet. I still haven’t spoken. He pushes my chair in and lingers. I hold my breath.
    Having him behind me, sensing his presence without seeing him, brings back memories of our time in the dark. Memories of how his body pressed into mine, and the way his lips tasted. My body is thrumming now, overly aware of him. I’m waiting, hoping he reaches out to me, hoping to feel his touch.
    He steps away and I release my breath. What the hell was that?
    I watch him walk back around, into my field of vision. Now he’s no longer the stranger in the dark with the hot, roaming hands. Now he’s my asshole of a stepbrother and I can breathe again.
    He sits across from me. The silence between us is uncomfortable and tense. Our eyes meet, locking again. His bore into mine, fierce, and unwavering. My eyes try to match the intensity.
    Now that I’m staring into his face, I start to feel all the anger inside me bubbling back up to the surface.
    “Thank you for coming,” he finally says.
    I can’t help but snort with derision. “You didn’t really give me a choice.”
    “If you would have responded to me, I wouldn’t have had to blackmail you,” he snaps back.
    I worried that seeing Andrew in the flesh would leave me vulnerable and open. After all, he tricked me into falling in love with him. He tricked me into sleeping with him. But now, when I look at him, I’m remembering all those times he stuck his nose up as if I was beneath him. All the insults and sly little jabs. And not to mention the files. I see piles and piles of files and I see the smirk he always wore when he unloaded them on to me with relish.
    “What’s the definition of blackmail again?” I ask bitterly.
    Andrew sighs. “I don’t want to do this.”
    I don’t want to do it either, but I keep it to myself. I just press my lips together and look away. I rather be at home, binging on Netflix and getting over him.
    “What do you want, Andrew?” I ask as I look around the restaurant. It’s so empty. Are we even going to have lunch? I don’t see a waiter or hostess anywhere.
    I’m looking at anything and everything that’s not him. If I keep trying to win the staring contest, I’m not going to come out of this ahead.
    “I want you,” he says as if it’s painful for him to admit it.
    Not looking at him, not seeing him say it was a mistake. His words, his voice strike a chord in me. That’s AJ’s voice. That’s what AJ would say to me.
    “You want what?” I ask in confusion, looking back at him.
    He scowls at first as if he’s unhappy that I’m making this more difficult or something.
    I stare at his lips, watching them move, watching Andrew speak the words but hearing AJ’s voice, “I want you.”
    The voice is the same, it hasn’t changed. Somehow I expected it to.