To Tempt My Stepbrother novel Chapter 3

There are three things you must never do. One, kiss a stranger. Two, kiss a hot stranger. Three, kiss a hot stranger you might never see again.

Why?

Because if the hot stranger is a good kisser, you will never forget about it. And for the rest of your life, you will compare the kiss with others.

I groan into the pillow and drag myself out of bed. C has ruined my life. I kissed Jackson on the first day of school but it was different. It didn’t feel like C’s soft lips. It wasn’t demanding and gentle. Hot and needy and delicate. It was just Jackson. I push down those thoughts once I’m in the bathroom.

Amelia will start honking like a little angry bitch if she gets here and I’m not ready. I round up to the room for a change of clothes and finish off in front of the mirror. The dark roots of my hair contrast with the pink flowing down my shoulders. Dad hasn’t gotten over my new hair colour. Dani, my stepmom, thinks it’s cool. I think she’s cool.

My phone vibrates on the vanity and I let out a groan. I’m not ready yet. I pick and Amelia murmurs, “I can’t make it to your house today.”

I’m closer to her than the other two but we are all pretty close. Since I don’t have a car yet, thanks to my driving phobia, she is my ride to school. I hate riding with my dad. He asks too many questions.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Amelia replies. I sink into the chair and frown at my reflection in the mirror. My blue eyes are the colour of the sky after a heavy downpour. Right now, they don’t look as pretty as C’s. Fuck that guy anyway. “Just a little dizzy. My sister is staying home to babysit me.”

Her elder sister is a nurse in training. They do nice, girly stuff together that I can’t relate to as an only child.

Twirling a strand of my hair, I nod. “Take care.” A sound from outside catches my attention. I apply my eyeliner and rush to the window to check. Dad is coming up from the backyard with a dead rabbit. “Bye.”

“Bye. Don’t have too much fun without me.”

I’m still laughing after she ends the call. There is no real fun without Amelia. My head pokes out of my window. “Dad,” I scream. He waves. His shotgun swings from his shoulder. He is still in the business of going out to hunt in the wee hours of the morning. “Good morning.”

“Morning, sweetie.” He stops below my window. My room is on the first floor. “You slept well?”

“Yeah. You’ll be late.”

“I’m the principal,” he answers.

How did Dani fall in love with this local man? I close the curtains and return to the mirror. One last smack of my lips and I’m good to go. I’ll need to call Rose or just follow Dad to school. I jog down the flight of stairs with my books jiggling in my backpack and my feet falter on the last stair.

Dani is not alone in the living room. She’s talking to someone seated on the couch. It’s not Dad, she never uses that patronising tone on him. I step down but none of them notices me. She’s obstructing my view of the person. Hands propped on her waist, back rigid, I feel bad for whoever she’s talking to. But that thought doesn’t stop me from heading to the kitchen to grab breakfast.

I walk out of the kitchen with a jar of milk and a plate of pancakes. Dani is not in the living room but her guest is. His head is bowed over his phone but he isn’t pressing it. When I brush past his couch, he raises his head for the briefest second and… hold on a minute. I drop the plate on the dining table and walk right back to him.

What the–?

C crosses his legs at the ankles, throws his arms over the couch, the couch my dad bought after my mum’s death. His eyes glide over me in a slow, appreciative sweep and I grow conscious of my pink long-sleeved top paired with black jeans.

I rub my hands over my eyes and look again. C is still here, staring at me with an arrogant smirk. I move towards him before my brain sends a signal to my feet. My hand lifts in an awkward wave.

“Hi. What are you doing here?”

His tongue swipes over his bottom lip and I am reminded of our kiss. I don’t know when C stands until he cups my jaw with one big palm. The warmth of his palm spreads through my face and my cheeks heat up. C is here. He’s real.

“What are you…”

He steals the rest of my words with a kiss, a painfully brief kiss and backs away. I release my breath when he sinks into the couch. My thoughts flood my mind in judgmental whispers.

What’s wrong with me? Kissing a stranger in my house? A stranger that might as well have been stalking me. No. Dani seems to know him so he can’t be a stalker. I steal another look at the familiar stranger. Without his overgrown beards and bushy moustache, C looks different, new and younger. The cut on his eyebrow is also gone.

Why did it take him so long to show up? Dani has been here for a month. If he had shown up when she did, I would never have kissed him.