Authors: Anna Howard
The water is glistening off his hard body matting his chest hair and making my fingers itch to comb through it. With each step he takes my breath catches, but he doesn’t even look in my direction as he grab
s
a towel and wraps it around his
lean
waist before taking another to dry his dripping body.
“Want some lunch?” He asks in a cool tone.
“No. Thank you.” I am starving but not for food.
It
is
raining. It seem
s
fitting.
The sky is just as unhappy and filled with tears as I am. I wipe away an errant tear with the back of my hand and stare into the warmth of the fire. Beside of me sits Hunter, seeming just as lost as I am. Keith stands by the window looking weary and pale. I want to go to him, hold him close, but know that he will only push me away.
It has been a long week. Thanksgiving is only a few days
away,
but this year it will go
un
celebrated in this house. There is too much pain.
My mother is gone. The woman that gave me life has had her own ripped away all too soon. My step father, whom I have come to love over the last two
years,
is gone too. And I…I am lost.
I was in London with Bianca for a nice weekend when Hunter called to tell me that one of Winthrop Industrial’s small planes went down with our parents inside. A small plane with only the Mindy and Charles inside on their way to Atlanta for
a
few days to themselves before Charles left for a week in Germany on business.
I rushed home as soon as I could get a flight out. But when I got back there was nothing I could do. Charles who had barely been holding on just hours before was gone before I could say goodbye. My mother hadn’t even lasted that long.
I didn’t know what to do. There were so many arrangements to make, people to call. But I was unable to do any of that. Thankfully Keith was there. He took over and everything got taken care of, all the right people were called. And I set back, helpless to do even the smallest thing.
The funeral had been today. I let Keith guide me through it all, stuck on auto pilot. My father, Bianca, all my other friends and family arrived to say goodbye to my mother and step-father but without Keith I don’t think I could have done any of it.
And no
w, as some of the cold shock is beginning
to wear off and it
i
s just th
e three of us once more I want
to offer him the same comfort that he has so readily offered me.
But I knew it would just be a waste of my energy. Keith hated for me to touch him. Hated for me to show him how much I care. Over the last
two years
my feelings for my step-brother have grown stronger, turning from raging lust to gut wrenching love. But he has made it clear on more than one occasion that he doesn’t want me…
“
How about some dinner?”
Hunter murmurs beside of me. “When was the last time we ate?”
I give him a sad smile. “I can’t remember.” I murmur. “But I’m not hungry. You go
though
.”
He gets to his feet. “Keith?” But his brother shakes his dark head. Quietly Hunter leaves the room.
Unable to just sit there, knowing I am facing rejection I go to him anyway. Fingers trembling I touch his arm. He stiffens but thankfully doesn’t pull away. I watch his face and he closes his eyes for a brief moment. There is strain around his eyes, tension in his jaw.
I wrap my arms around his waist and bury my face into his chest
, relieved that I am not being pushed away
. Within seconds he pulls me closer and I hold on tighter. “Are you okay?” I whisper.
His lips are in my hair
making me shiver
.
“Getting there.”
H
is
voice
is
hoarse
with emotion.
Under my ear his heart is racing and I snuggle closer, breathing in the smell that I have learned belongs uniquely to him alone. “Thank you for helping so much this week.” I tip my head back enough to see his handsome face. “Thank you for being the strong one when I needed you to be.”
His smile is small, but genuine. “Thanks for the hug when I needed it the most.” He drops a kiss on my forehead and I close my eyes, enjoying his lips on my skin. “Kari…”
There is something in his voice, something powerful and full of danger that makes me open my eyes. His emerald eyes are blazing with need down at me. I want him so much but know that if I give in to our needs now, when we are both so vulnerable, he will only hate me when he is himself again. Yet I am weak, and hurting, and love him so damn much…
The buzzing of his cell phone from his pants pocket draws us apart. With a muttered curse he pulls it out and glares down at the number before answering. “This is Keith.” He barks into the cellphone.
I watch as his eyes darken yet again and hear the difference in his voice the next time he speaks. “
Eliza…Busy, no.” He steps further away from me without another look and leaves the room without a backward glance.
Tears fill my eyes. Eliza. There were rumors that he had been dating the Austrian model. And now, with one of the hottest new models on the phone no doubt wanting to see him, I am pushed to the back
of
his mind.
The feeling of rejection makes my chest hurt. This new pain on top of the pain I have been feeling at the loss of two of the most precious people in my life is nearly my undoing and I rush upstairs. I don’t want anyone to see me like this. Sobs escape me as I drop down onto my bed and pull my favorite pillow close, burying my face deep to muffle my crying…
I must have cried myself to sleep because the next time I open my eyes it is pitch dark outside. My cellphone is ringing and I stretch out to grab it off my nightstand. Bianca, I think, as I put it to my ear. I need my best friend. “Hey.” I muttered, laying back once more and covering my eyes with my arm.
“How are you?” Bianca asks gently.
Fresh tears sting my eyes but I blink them away. “Crappy.” I tell her truthfully.
“Can you come get me?” My car is at my father’s. I wasn’t going to return to the apartment that I shared with Bianca for a few more days, thinking that my step-brothers needed me. But Keith sure as hell didn’t need me with the lovely Eliza to console him. Hunter…Well Hunter would understand.
“I don’t have my car.” Bianca tells me. “I’m at Christian’s. But we will be there as soon as we can.” She promises me. “And then I’ll take you home and feed you all kinds of sinful things.”
Despite my pain and despair I cannot help but smile. “I am so glad I have you as my best friend, Bee.”
“It goes both ways, Kari.” She assures me. “Be there soon!”
“Happy Birthday, my lovely girl!”
I grin over at my father. We are sitting at a small table for two in one of my favorite restaurants in Manhattan having lunch. Since my mother’s death in the fall I haven’t gotten out much, but I always make time for my father. And since he has been away more often than not in recent months I am thrilled to see him.
All day he has been getting heated looks from nearly every woman who sees him. It annoys me that most of the female population thinks my father is hot. But I can’t really blame them. With his short light blond hair, his big chocolate
brown eyes, and the physique of a body builder, he is most women’s dream man. A few months ago he had even been on the cover of GQ as one of the top ten sexiest business men over the age of forty.
We have just finished some grilled tilapia, one of my favorite dishes and as soon as the waiter has cleared our empty plates he sets a small gift box before me. I know it is jewelry, from one of my favorite shops
,
Cartier
, simply from the shape of the box. With enthusiasm I shred the wrapping and carefully lift the lid to find a dazzling bracelet sparkling up at me.
“It’s beautiful, Daddy!” I exclaim throwing my arms around his neck. “Thank you!” I kiss his cheek and he laughs, delighted that I love my present.
“You can wear it tonight when Bianca takes you clubbing.” He tells me, taking a sip of his wine.
I shake my head at him. “So that’s what she has planned.” I hadn’t been sure, but if my father knows about it then I’m pretty sure that is what is going to happen. I grimace, knowing that my best friend plans on getting me stone cold drunk for my big twenty-first birthday.
“Sh. I wasn’t supposed to tell you.” He winks at me. “Actually Hunter has
reserved the VIP
floor
of
Club 101
. From what Bianca has hinted at to me when I spoke to her recently you are have a big bang of a celebration ahead of you, pet.”
“Can you tell her I fell and broke something?” I am only half joking. I don’t want to go clubbing, and especially with a large group of friends. All I had really wanted was a quiet night to
myself
gorging on mint chocolate chip ice cream with lots of extra toppings.
Baxter Brandon gives me a sympathetic smile and downs the last of his wine. “Sorry. But I promised Bee that you would be in one piece for tonight.”
“Oh, Daddy!”
“Don’t blame me.” He laughs.
“Fine.”
I pout prettily. “I guess I still love you.”
I enjoy the rest of the afternoon with my favorite man in the world before reluctantly going back to my apartment. I won’t get to see my father again for at least another month because he has more business to take care of in the Middle East. But it was wonderful to spend the day with him.
Bianca is already in the shower when I get home, so I lock myself in my room. Unfortunately my bestie has already raided my closet and selected the dress that she thinks I should wear tonight. I groan when I find it is the little scrap of silk that she bought me for Christmas.
Passion red with shoestring straps the thing is only long enough to cover my butt, just barely. Not surprising, Bianca has also tossed a pair of red bikini briefs on the bed. And of course there is no matching bra, because the dress does not allow for one.
Sighing I toss the items aside and strip. I shower and take my time washing my hair. When I finished I get out and frown at my steamed pink face in my vanity mirror over the sink. I have aged considerably since my last birthday, mostly since the death of my mother and step-father five months ago. And perhaps a little because I have almost completely cut Keith Winthrop out of my life…
My chest hurts at the thought of him and I turn from my reflection to run a bubble bath. I dry my fingers long enough to turn on my playlist on my iPhone and sink into the gloriously hot bubbles.
With a contented sigh I close my eyes and try not to think about my sexy stepbrother and all the pain he has put me through in recent months.
Over Christmas I spent a few days
at
the Winthrop estate with Hunter. It was our first Christmas without our parents and we needed to be together to celebrate for them if no other reason. Of course Keith was there too, and he hadn’t been alone.
His Eliza had been there!
I clench my fists under the sweet smelling bubbles and push all thoughts of that woman from my mind.
“You awake in there?”
“Go away!” I shout at Bianca. “I am drowning myself. Might I do that in peace, or would you like to plan what I shall wear to my funeral?”
“Hey, I just want to make tonight special!” Bianca calls back, not sounding the least bit offended or sorry.