Man of the House: A Dark Bad Boy Romance(6)

“You realize that I’m doing my two favorite pastimes right now, don’t you?”

His grin got huge as I turned red and stepped away from him. “You’re not chasing anything.”

“You’re right. I don’t need to chase.”

“Carter,” I warned.

“That’s right. Say my name.”

I rolled my eyes. “Come on.”

“How long are you going to pretend that you don’t want me?”

“Fortunately for me, I don’t have to pretend.”

“Liar. I can’t stop thinking about the way you looked at me the other day. It was half hate and half lust.”

“Which half do you think is stronger right now?”

“I’d love to find out.”

I sighed. “Are you like this with all your family members?”

“We’re not really family, sweetheart.”

“Sweetheart?” I nearly gagged. “Don’t be a macho *.”

He spread his arms, palms up, grinning at me. “I’m not macho. Look at this garden.”

“Macho with a soft side.”

“Maybe. Or maybe I’m just using this to try and get in your pants.”

“It’s not working.”

“I disagree.”

“You’re nowhere near getting into my pants.”

“Maybe not. But you’re standing here looking at my nice, shirtless body and you’re not running away. That’s a win for now.”

I shook my head at him, amazed. “You’re unreal.”

He grinned that boyish smile. “Come on. Pretend like you’re not a little bit impressed.”

“Not at all. You’re just another rich Silicon Valley *.”

“I’m your stepfather. You shouldn’t speak to me that way.”

“Oh, gross,” I said, turning around and walking back inside.

His laughter followed me as I stormed back down the hall. I couldn’t believe I ran into him and, even worse, I let him give me that little tour. I should have known it was just an excuse for him to hit on me some more, but I naively thought maybe he was trying to be nice.

Either that, or I was totally blinded by his attractive, shirtless body. I realized that I was like a silly teenage girl around him, and I hated it.

Carter was arrogant like every other Silicon Valley jerk. He thought that just because he cashed in on the early internet world and made a ton of money that he was somehow better than other people. He acted like he could do anything he wanted, going from girl to girl and scandal to scandal without a second thought. I was sick of guys like him, and I vowed never to date any tech bros for as long as I possibly could.

I was just going to have to be more careful. Just because the mansion was huge, didn’t mean that I’d never run into Carter. It was his place, after all. I would just have to make sure that I had an excuse ready for whenever he decided to appear out of nowhere and act all confident again.





4





Carter





My second encounter with Emily only confirmed two things: she’s f*cking gorgeous. And she seems to totally hate me.

I wasn’t sure why, but it didn’t really matter. She probably had a huge list of reasons, starting with a general disinterest in rich tech guys. It wasn’t really my fault that I found success the way I had, and it wasn’t like I just hoarded all my money. I invested tons of cash back into worthy causes like charities, laboratory sponsorships, special grants for low-income students, and other companies working on great projects. Maybe I was a jerk-off playboy, but at least I was a jerk-off playboy that donated shitloads of cash every year.

That didn’t matter to girls like her. All she saw was the media scandal and she assumed that was all that I was. She didn’t know about the hundreds of kids I gave scholarships to or the community service actions I was constantly funding.

Didn’t matte either way. I knew I’d win her over sooner or later, I just wanted it to be sooner. I caught her eyeing my body and I knew what she was thinking. I looked at her exactly the same way. I wanted to see what she looked like bent over and naked, her * dripping wet for me, ready to give me everything I wanted.

Too bad that was pretty f*cked up, legally speaking at least. She was technically my stepdaughter, and although I wasn’t even slightly related to her, and my marriage to her mother was a total sham, it was still pretty f*cking frowned upon. Getting caught with my cock down her throat, which I desperately f*cking wanted, would absolutely ruin any chances I had at regaining control of Valor.

I was relatively safe in my mansion. The people that worked for me have all been vetted and are paid very, very well. They never leaked a story before, though there had never been one so juicy as the boss f*cking his stepdaughter. Still, if I was smart and careful, it shouldn’t be a problem.

The bigger problem was showing Emily exactly what she wanted. I was insanely attracted to her, practically hard just thinking about her, despite it being wrong. Maybe because it was so forbidden. That forbidden aspect absolutely added to the excitement. But really, she was a whip-smart girl with a f*cking gorgeous body, and I wanted to make her mine. At the very least, I wanted things to be civil between the two of us.

It was a gorgeous summer afternoon, warm and comfortable, as I walked the grounds outside near the pool. I nodded to the gardener as I made my way down the path, looking up at the clouds moving lazily across the sky.