Score: A Stepbrother Sports Romance (42 page)

I whirl around to him, my eyes wild and my mouth hanging open to see him grinning at me as he finishes buckling his belt.

“Are…are you-” I’m clawing for words, my mind still foggy and barely coherent from coming as close as humanly possible to an orgasm without
actually
coming. I blink at him. “Are you serious?”

I stare at him in shock as he brings his fingers to his mouth and licks them, smirking at me the whole time as he arches his eyebrows. “I mean, you’ve already
said
them, too.” He shakes his head and sighs dramatically.

“That was different, and you fucking know it.”

Oliver glances at his watch, “Oy, jeez, look at the time, I’ve got to run!” He winks as he quickly darts forward and kisses my cheek. His lips drift back to my ear, lingering there for a moment.

“
All you’ve gotta do is say it, sweetheart
,” he growls into my ear, almost pushing me back over the edge right there with his words.

And then he’s whirling around and walking out of the kitchen, leaving me panting, disheveled, and more sexually pent up than I’ve ever been in my entire life.

I somehow get the impression that I’m the first girl in history that can say that after Oliver Beckett walks away from her.

I
groan and
drop my forehead against the kitchen door of
Jolie.

Right, Monday; we’re closed on Monday.

Of course we’re closed, which is why I spent the morning at home.

At home being brought to within an
inch
of orgasm by my cocky, arrogant, swaggering stepbrother.

I blush bright pink at the memory of him leaving me like that in the kitchen; the memory of me opening and closing my mouth as if still searching for words as the front door to the townhouse closed behind me. And then of course, there’s the memory of what came after. The memory of me barely closing the door to my room behind me before I was face down in my bed, my fingers pushing my panties to the side and gasping at the release they brought.

I decide to pretend I don’t remember that it was Oliver’s face I pictured as I came screaming into my pillow. I pretend it wasn’t his tongue I was imaging dancing across my clit, or his thick cock that I pictured fucking me from behind as I brought myself crashing over the edge with my fingers.

And of course, now I’m so scattered-brained by the whole damn morning that I show at work to
do work
on the one day it’s closed.

Lovely.

I bump my head against the door one more time, swearing under my breath, when the voice behind me catches me off guard, “Be a shame to bruise a pretty head like yours there, gorgeous.”

I whirl to see an older, extremely handsome man grinning at me.

“By the way, the entrance is around the front, luv.”

He’s sharply dressed - well-fit designer jeans and clearly tailored sports coat over a white linen shirt open at the collar. His face exudes a sort of cockiness not altogether different than Oliver’s, though this man’s is more deeply lined and a bit more world-weary.

“Oh, I- uh, I work here, actually.”

He shoots me a white, winning smile, “Waitress?”

“Kitchen, actually.”

He arches his eyebrows and nods, as if impressed, “Ahh, one of Ollie’s crew then?” He chuckles as he pulls a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and sticks one in his mouth. “And how is the young Emperor Nero these days?”

I snort, “So you know Oliver?”

“Is it a cliché to say I taught ‘im everything he knows?”

He must see the look of surprise on my face because he steps towards me with his hand out, “Danny Cole, at your service, luv.”

My jaw drops;
the Danny Cole?

He frowns and rolls his eyes at me, as if reading the look on my face.

“Oh, c’mon sweetheart, I’m just a cook like you. I’m not Jesus fucking Christ, you know.” I grin then, and he seems to brighten as that grin flashes again, “And you? Or should I just keep calling you ‘gorgeous’?”

I blush, shaking my head. “Sorry, Chloe. It’s a pleasure to meet you, chef.”

He rolls his eyes again, “
Please
, we’re not in my kitchen out here, darling; Danny will do.” He winks at me. “And the pleasure is all mine, my dear.” He shoots me a smoldering look that has me blushing a bit more than I’d have expected.

“So what’s got you here this early, darling?”

I smile and shrug, “I thought I’d try and get in before my shift and work on some recipes.”

“Well you’re a keeper, huh?” He winks at me, “Hard worker and a lovely smile to boot?” Danny whistles and grins at me again, “You’re a rare one indeed, gorgeous.”

I’m blushing again at the flirtations from this quite honestly
extremely
handsome man. Sure, he’s being a bit forward and utterly shameless about it, but it’s charming. He might be full of lines, but it’s a nice sort of cultured attention, instead of Oliver’s “spread your legs” type of attention.

“Listen, I was just about to go for a spot of tea down the road. Care to join while you wait for that lazy chef of yours to open his damn kitchen?”

I smile and nod, “Sure. Actually, the place is closed, I’m just an idiot and forgot.” He chuckles and I shake my head, “But definitely, though I’m more of a coffee girl.”

“Ahh, well, I guess I’m just old school then.” He offers his arm, which I take, before he leans in and winks, “Of course, not
too
old there, luv.”

The blush in my cheeks goes bright crimson as I lower my face to hide my grin.

“And now what do you do at
Jolie
, Ms. Chloe?” Danny asks as we stroll down the south bank street in search of tea and coffee.

“Pastry.”

“And what brought you there?”

I smile, “What, to baking?”

“Indeed.”

“I don’t know, I guess I just love it. My dad baked bread, and I just fell in love with it. The mixing, the making something with your hands.”

He nods knowingly at me, “Making greatness.”

“Yeah,” I say, smiling, “
Yeah,
I guess that’s exactly it.” I grin as I glance at him realizing how good it feels to talk shop with someone like this who
gets it
. Someone who
gets
why a person would want to spend all day in a hot, loud, chaotic kitchen making food for people.

Well, someone who gets it who also isn’t making my head spin with desire and thoughts I shouldn’t be having. Someone who’s name isn’t Oliver Beckett.

“Yep, that’s the spark, isn’t it,” Danny nods, “Finding it at
Jolie
are you?”

“Oh, definitely. Oliver’s amazing.”

“He’s a cocky prick is what he is.”

I choke out a laugh as I turn and raise my eyebrows at him.

“Oh, it’s fine, he and I go way back. I actually know his family from way back in the old neighborhood, truth be told.” He grins at my surprise look, “Oy, don’t let the
tres chic haute couture
that I surround myself in fool you, luv. I’m an East-Ender from
way back;
it’s how I know that little prick.”

“Wait, so you taught him how to cook or something?”

Danny shrugs. “Eh, I taught him how not to get himself cut, burned, or beaten up with that mouth of his in the kitchen. The army taught him a bit more, and then I just showed him where he was fucking up later when he came back.” He snorts, “Oy, he was a little
terror
that one, when he was young. He and that little shit Marco got in with the wrong crew, as it were. It was his mum, you know; she’s the one that asked me to give him his first kitchen job to keep him outta trouble.”

I’m grinning at the thought of a young Oliver running around terrorizing the neighborhood. Of course, in my bizarre mind, young Oliver still has all the same tattoos and the same buzzed-side haircut he does now, which makes the image even more hilarious.

Danny grins at my slight chuckle, “
Oy
, I’ll tell you, any other woman but Ella, and he’d ‘ave been right back on his arse in the street.”

“Ella?”

“His mum.” A shadow crosses over Danny’s face for a half second before he looks away; “She was one of the good ones, I’ll tell you.” He frowns, “It’s her I knew, from way back when we were kids.” He laughs, the sound darker and empty this time, “Course, then she has to go and marry that prick Barney. What she saw in
him
I’ve got no idea.” He shakes his head, suddenly smiling brightly again as he turns back to me. “Anyways,
ugh
. Ancient history; utterly
boring
stuff, isn’t it?”

“Not at all, actually,” I say, smiling, “It’s nice to hear about my new family.”

Danny frowns for a second before suddenly the recognition hits his face, “Oh
blimey!
You’re
fuckin
Chloe
!” He suddenly takes a step back from me, “Well fuck me, huh?”

“
Excuse
me?” I narrow my eyes at him as I jerk my hand out his arm.

He must see the look on my face because he stops laughing for a second and gives me a quick look, “Aww, no-no, luv, nothing like that. I just get it now.”

I frown, “Get what?”

“What that little shit’s problem is.”

“
Who?
”

Danny laughs, “Ollie!”

I shake my head. “I’m not sure I follow.
What’s
his problem?”

He grins and cocks a finger at me, “
You are
, luv.”

“Pardon?”

“Or you’re each other’s problem, rather, as I sense the case may be.”

My cheeks go bright red as I frown at him, “I- I don’t know what-”

“Oh stop it,” he says, pulling another cigarette out of his pack and sticking it his mouth, “Fuck, if you were my stepsister I’d want in your knickers too.”

My face goes positively magenta as I roll my eyes.

“Jesus, and here I am the dirty old man hitting on you.” He quickly flashes me an apologetic look, “
So
sorry, gorgeous. Won’t happen again, scout’s honor and all that.” He does a little salute, as he puffs on his cigarette and I have to laugh, which seems to release the sudden tension.

“He’s good, you know.” Danny nods at me, “Oliver that is. He’s good, and
Jolie
is a good place, but he could be
great
.”

We stop in front of the tea shop and he glances at me, “Don’t suppose you still want to get that coffee after I acted like little scoundrel back there.”

I grin. “I’d love to.”

Danny laughs and flicks his smoke away as he reaches for the door, “Lovely, lovely. Besides, how old are you? Twenty-two?”

“Twenty-three.”

He winces dramatically and clutches at his heart, “
Oof
, see? Sorry, luv, but it’d never work out with us anyways. You’re
much
too old for me.”

I’m still hooting with laughter as we step into the tea shop.

A
week later
, and I’m hitting the wall. The games aren’t working, or if they are they aren’t working fast enough. Because this girl is driving me fucking
nuts
. She’s hot then cold, and for the last nine damn days, she’s been frosty and full of one word answers.

At first, the “yes chef” thing was kind of awesome; it was like winning the power game. Except now, it’s just getting annoying. Now, I just want her to say my
name
. Fuck, I mean what I
actually
want is to hear her scream it, but I’d settle for a normal conversation at this point.  I’m tempted to fuck off on the whole thing. Honestly, I need to go fuck Chloe right out of my system. I need to fuck every single thing with tits in the restaurant until whatever brief dirty fling I had with my
stepsister
is out of my head. What am I, afraid of hurting her feelings or some shit?

* * *

I
’m checking
in the meat delivery out back, sipping espresso with my clipboard in hand when she comes walking around the corner, giggling.

With fucking
Marco
.

Every muscle in my body tightens. Marco might be a mate, but I’m certainly not above burying him in a shallow fucking grave.

“Marco!” I snap, jerking his attention from the opening at the top of Chloe’s blouse to me.

“Oy chef!” He grins, nodding at me as they come up in front of me, “Shit, mate, you catch that fuckin footy game last-“

“You’re late,” I snap.

Marco frowns, and then quickly nods, shifting right into work mode.

Good man.

“Sorry, chef.”

I soften the sour look on my face, “Hey, do me a favor and get that stock going before you break down these shanks, yeah?”

“You got it, boss,” he nods. He shoots a quick look at Chloe before ducking inside.

She rolls her eyes the second the backdoor to the kitchen shuts behind him. “Oh
what
is it?”

I scowl, “Nothing, I’m just curious what
that
whole things was.”

She sighs, “He saw me coming out of the tube, we got coffee on the way over.”

I nod. “Huh, great.”

“Jesus, Oliver, are we going to play this game forever?”

“And what game is that, luv?”

“The game where we act like we’re children. The game where you don’t talk to me because I said
no
to you.”

I bark out a laugh, “Right, as if that’s what all this is.”

Of course it is
.

“Look, I told you, it’s not…”

She trails off and I grin, “It’s not…what? ‘It’s not you, it’s me’?” I snort.

“Whatever, you know what I mean. We just can’t do this,” she whispers quietly.

“I don’t see why not.”

She shoots me a look, “
Seriously?
” She shakes her head, “Oliver, I told you, it’s not like I don’t want us to be friends-“

“
I
don’t.”

She stumbles. “Excuse me?”

And right then, something inside snaps. It’s like saying it cements all the roaring, rambling thoughts I’ve had inside my head for the past week; hell, since she stepped off that fucking plane. Whatever it is, it’s like a switch being flicked, and the rest of world drops away except for her and me, standing in the raining London afternoon.

And I know right then, I’m not letting another fucking second tick by without doing something about this.

I grab her by the arm and drag her as she gasps around the corner to the alley beside the restaurant. Instantly, I’m pushing her up against the brick wall behind her, my eyes wild as my gaze burns fire right into her eyes.

“I
said
I DON’T,” I say gruffly, holding her by both her wrists against the wall. “I don’t want to be your
friend
, or your
buddy
, or your fucking
pal
, Chloe.”

And the second I say it, even
I’m
wondering what it means. What
do
I want to be with this girl?

But she throws that look right back at me; that fiery, defiant look filled with heat and power, but also this sort of scared tenderness behind it that just
slays
me. And just for a second - just for the
briefest
second - her lip trembles just a hair, as if giving testament to that scared girl behind this defiant mask of sass and attitude.

And it’s my undoing.

My mouth crashes against hers,
hard.
I push my whole body against hers as I grab her head in my hands and kiss her with everything I have; everything single thing I’ve been holding back. I’m hungry for her as I sear my lips to hers, heedless of whatever consequences this may bring.

And we’re frozen, just like that, for a single moment in time; a single second of just two people stopped in the flow of time. Just as we begin to unfreeze - just as the world is about to keep on spinning under our feet - I know she’s about to push me away, or slap me, or yell, or all three of the above, and that’ll be the end of it. After that, I’ll have my final verdict, and I’ll be done with this whole bloody thing.

Except, she doesn’t push me away, and she doesn’t slap me, or yell at me.

She fucking
moans
.

And it’s like unleashing the animal inside of me.

I growl into her kiss as we open our lips, tongues sliding against the other. Breaths come in halting gasps as we lose ourselves to each other. I’m pressing her up hard against the wall, and she’s rolling her hips against me, bringing her fucking knee up to my waists and hooking her leg around me as if to pull me even tighter against her. We break the kiss, gasping as we pull back for a second, eyes darting around the other’s and our breathing coming ragged before we go crashing right back into it.

I’m fucking
lost
in those lips; dropping out of all sense of time or space or any other fucking issue in the world. Because
nothing
else matters in that moment but those perfect, pouty lips pressed against my own.

“
Oliver,
” she gasps, pulling away for a second before pressing her lips back to mine, kissing me hungrily, “I- I-“

“I want you,” I growl, bringing my mouth to her neck and biting the skin there, hard. “I wanna bend you over right here, yank those pants down over that sweet ass, pull your panties to the side and bury my face in your pussy.”

She moans, her breath hitching and her hands clutching at my back as I rasp the words into her ears. I can feel her hips undulate against me.

“And then I want to slide every single inch of my cock inside of you, and fuck you like you
need
to be fucked,” I hiss the words into her ear, my hand coming up cup her breast through her shirt. I run my thumb across a hard nipple I can feel right through the material. “And I’m not gonna stop until I hear you screaming my name.”

She groans and cranes her neck to bite at my ear as she pulls me hard against her, “I want to know what your face looks like when you come on my cock, Chloe-“

“Oy, chef!” The backdoor opens with a bang, and it’s like lighting hitting us with crack as she suddenly jumps away from me at the sound of Marco’s voice.

“Chef?”

He can’t see us around the corner here in the alley way; not
yet.

I swear viciously under my breath, my eyes holding hers, “I-“

“
Go
,” she whispers quickly, biting her lip. There’s a teasing glimmer of a smile there, one that she’s trying to hide with that sexy little lip bite thing she does. But there’s no hiding the glow in her cheeks or the fire dancing across her eyes.

“Oy, Ollie, where the fuck did you run off to-“

“
What
, Jesus, mate,” I say quickly, stepping out from the alleyway and punching Marco in the arm. “You’re like a fuckin lost puppy or something.” He grins and I wrestle him into a headlock like we’re just two pals horsing around.

Or, you know, like I’m averting his eyes from the backdoor so that Chloe can dart out from the alley, looking
exactly
like she’s just been making out with someone. Her eyes meet mine for a quick second, and I can see her chest rising and falling quickly as she bites her bottom lip softly between her teeth, before she turns and slips into the kitchen.

“Git,” Marco shoves me off, grinning as he flips me off. “Ian needs you to look at the new menu fonts or some shit.”

I roll my eyes, “Ah, right.”

“The glamorous life at the top, eh Chef?” Marco winks before ducking back inside, leaving me to finally let my breath out and wonder how in the
fuck
I’m going to get through this shift without dragging Chloe into my office and fucking her brains out in the middle of a dinner rush.