No Regrets (A Stepbrother New Adult Novella)(8)

“Wait, Olivia, don’t leave like this.” His hand tingled all the way up to his shoulder from the contact with her skin.

She didn’t say a word, which worried him. She was usually so full of things to say, but now she wasn’t speaking at all. He had hurt her feelings—he knew it.

She gave him another stern look, and it was his undoing. He pulled her curvy frame to his, and his mouth found hers in a crushing kiss.






Chapter Seven





Olivia





She couldn’t breathe.

It was too much, too many senses reeling at once. The kiss broke, but only for a moment so that she could catch her breath. This was wrong, on more than one level.

He pulled her closer to him. His hands seemed to be everywhere at once. He was slow at first—he just ran his fingers across her neck. Then he traced his hand over the tops of her breasts. He kissed her there, lightly, before he undid her hair and let it cascade around her like a dark blanket. He wove his fingers through it, pulling her hard against him, and covered her lips with his mouth again.

Liv was lost. She tried to put up a defense against him and failed. The chemistry between them was hotter than anything she had ever felt with another man. She didn’t have the experience for someone like Parker, and suddenly she was afraid.

“Parker…wait. I can’t.” She finally pulled free of him. “We can’t…this is not right.” She trembled; he was too close. She backed away a little more.

He let go of her, and gripped both of his hands on the rail of the deck. “I know…I’m sorry, Olivia. I just…you were so quiet, and I panicked.”

“I see.” So, he only kissed her because he panicked? “This should’ve never happened, and we both know it.” She turned to go. “We have to get along, Parker, for their sake, but let’s not complicate things further.” Leave, Olivia. Leave now.

She left in a flurry and quickly made her way to her old room. Once there, she was again reminded that her room was gone and in its place was storage. She didn’t want to cry, in fact, she rarely did, but this day had been too much. The tears rolled down her face as she sobbed into her pillow; how had this happened?




The morning came, and with it came reality. Her mother was getting married to his father. How these two people could be so different, and yet love each other so much, seemed incomprehensible. The plan was to go to breakfast together, and then the men would go to their house to get ready for the party that night. Now that she and Parker had been told, the engagement party was just a formality, a way to make the news public.

Liv was up early. She threw on some sweats and slipped down the front stairs. She needed some fresh air. She had lived here her entire life, and she loved it. Taking a walk seemed to clear her head a little, and she headed back home.

As she entered, she almost stopped on the stairs when she saw him sleeping in the den. She didn’t want to look; she wanted to hate him for what happened the night before. A panic kiss, thanks a lot. But curiosity got the better of her, and she walked into the den.

Still asleep, he’d kicked off the blankets and his long, muscular body was draped across the fold-out couch. One arm was over his head and he was bare chested. She would be a liar if she said he wasn’t perfect to look at. He was sculpted and molded, every inch that she could see. Her stomach clenched at the sight of him.

Suddenly, he rolled over, and it set her into action—she didn’t want to get caught. She took the stairs two at a time to get back to her room.

She refused to think about Parker that way, ever again. She would do her best to approach the rest of the day with a smile on her face, intending to ignore her soon-to-be step brother.

She took extra care with her hair and makeup that morning. For her mother’s sake, she wanted to look her best. She refused to admit that she wanted to make a statement to Parker, too. She smoothed down her dress, and made her way downstairs.

She tried not to look at him, but it was almost impossible as they all ate and talked together. He tried to get her attention on more than one occasion, of course. Eventually, it was unavoidable.

“Liv, why don’t you and Parker go check out some of the locations for the reception today? We have access to many places, and it might be fun for you two before the dinner party tonight.” Richard smiled encouragingly at Parker.

“Oh, that’s so nice. Liv loves checking out new restaurants. Don’t you, dear?” Her mother unknowingly put her in an impossible position.

“Yes, Mom, I do, but I’m sure Parker has plans since he’s home from school. I wouldn’t want to keep him from that.”

“Actually, no, I don’t. I told Dad I would be here this weekend and I have no plans to do anything else. I do need to stop by our house, but otherwise it would be fun to go into town.” He gave her a smile, and she had no choice but to accept. Great, time alone with Sexy Parker in a small car. Fabulous.

After breakfast, she and Parker went into the city driving his car. Despite its small size, it was almost too comfortable inside his little red Porsche 911. She did her best to try and relax, but it was quite difficult. Neither of them said a word until he pulled up to the gate in front of an estate.


His house was forty-five minutes away, and she rarely had a chance to venture into this part of town. She couldn’t help but gape. This was his house?