Blindsided - A Stepbrother Romance Novel (11 page)

“Let me go after him.”

Conrad still had that worried look but he nodded at his roommate. Shawn got up and grabbed his keys off of the counter and another piece of pizza. “I’ll go with you,” Drew said, slipping on her shoes. The room was dead silent as the rest of the crew watched them go. Once they were gone Conrad said,

“Shit. I’m sorry guys but you know how he gets. I’m not going to give him the okay to race a car that’s going to blow up on the track and kill his ass.”

Stew and Robert didn’t say anything but Casey said, “We have to get him out of that situation.”

“He’s here three or four nights a week, but he always goes back,” Conrad said.

“Because he doesn’t want to leave his mother alone with that piece of shit,” she said. Sam listened quietly and the similarities to her previous life made her sick to her stomach.

“We can’t fix his problems, Case. All we can do is make sure he doesn’t kill himself.”

“Right, we keep him alive so that scumbag sperm donor of his can kill him.”

“Casey,” Robert spoke softly and rested his hand on hers. She jerked it away and stood up.

“Is this meeting over?” she asked Conrad. Conrad ran a hand through his hair and sighed.

“Yeah, it’s over.”

“Come on, Robert.” Her boyfriend stood up and for some reason that’s when Sam recognized him. He was the bartender from the Island Bar. He looked down at Stewart and said,

“Do you still want a ride?”

“Is she driving?” Stew asked. Robert looked like he was fighting a smile as he said,

“Nah, we’ll let her pout in the back seat. I’ll drive.”

“Fuck you guys,” Casey said, storming out and leaving the front door open. Robert and Stewart both clasped hands with Conrad and nodded at Sam as they left. When they closed the door behind them Sam stood up and said,

“I’ll get out of your way too.”

“Please don’t go,” Conrad said. “I’m sorry.”

Samantha sat back down. “You’re sorry for what?”

“I’m sorry that your first meeting with us turned into a middle school brawl.”

Sam smiled. “That’s not what I saw.”

Turning his body so he could look at her Conrad said, “What did you see?”

“I saw a bunch of people who care about their friend and are trying to save his life.”

Conrad was looking at her like he wanted to kiss her again. Samantha wanted that, badly. She’d completely forgotten how uncomfortable facing him the next day would be or her resolve to stay far away from there. Watching him stand up like that to protect Beau, knowing it was going to piss him off made her want him that much more.

“Thank you for saying that,” he said. Samantha considered for just a second what to say in response to that. Instead she did what came more natural than talking. She reached up for his face and drew him down to her lips. Conrad didn’t offer any resistance and within seconds the brush of their mouths together became harder and more urgent. Sam sighed into it and Conrad took advantage of her open mouth and snaked his tongue in between her lips. He kissed her with a skill that she normally appreciated, but in his case she felt another unfamiliar emotion…jealousy for all of the women who came before her.

Conrad had been thinking about kissing Sam since the second he met her. The reality of her lips on his and now her warm, wet tongue in his mouth was better than any fantasy. He quickly lost himself in the moment and while she continued to hold onto his face with her warm, soft hands, he dropped back down to his knees and put his hands on her waist. He deepened the kiss and slowly began to slide his hands up underneath her tank top.

“Sam,” he pulled back just enough so that he could speak without completely breaking contact with her lips. His heart was beating a thousand times a minute and he could actually feel it slamming against his chest. She stopped kissing him, leaned her forehead into his and looked into his eyes.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

“Don’t be sorry. I wanted to do that since the first time I saw you.”

Her face drew up in a smile. It made him want to kiss her again and forget anything that was going on in his head. “But?” Her voice was breathless and raspy. Everything about her was suddenly amplified in his brain by a thousand.

“But, for some reason I actually want to get to know you before we do this.”

“That’s the stupidest idea I’ve ever heard,” she said. He felt her body shake as she laughed silently. He pulled her body into his and she buried her face into his neck. It felt so good and his body was responding so hotly to hers that it took every fiber in his body not to rip off her clothes and throw her down on the carpet behind them. He let his lips travel to her ear and he felt her body shudder against him.

“You’re right, stupid idea. Kiss me again.” She lifted up her head and he put his lips back on hers. He got slowly to his feet and brought her up with him without breaking the kiss. He walked her back the few steps to the couch and gently lowered her down. Once she was seated on it she lay back and he lay down with her. The kiss broke for a second but as soon as their bodies were comfortably tangled up together he said,

“Do you want to do this, Sam?”

“Yes,” she whispered.

He kissed her again and this time his hands slid further up her body until they were cupping the underside of her bra. He let his rough fingers work their way up underneath it. She was soft and warm and he was dying to pull the tank and the bra off of her and throw them across the room. He was aching to touch every intimate part of her. She was lying there with her breaths coming in short gasps and her cheeks filled with color and her pretty eyes half closed as she looked up at him and he knew that she wanted it too. He wished that he could shut off his head and take it. But there was something different about Sam. The feelings he got when he was around her touched in places that no woman ever had. He didn’t want this to be a quickie. He didn’t want them to start out in a place where normal conversation and friendship was going to be uncomfortable or even impossible. He wasn’t just giving her a line; he actually wanted to know her.

“Sam…” this time she growled slightly before he felt her lips move against his.

“Yes?”

“You want to go to the beach?”

Her body started to shake again. She’d stopped kissing him because now she was laughing hard. Sadly, the sound of her laughter only made his growing erection throb that much more. The desire coursed through him and he almost gave into it again until she suddenly said, “Yes, the beach sounds like fun.”

A half an hour later they were in Conrad’s Charger with the rest of the pizza, soda and a blanket. As they were driving Sam asked, “Beau’s father beats him up?”

Conrad winced. “Yeah, he’s a drunk and Beau and his mom suffer for it.”

“Beau stays because he’s worried about his mother.” It was said like a statement, not a question but Conrad said,

“Yes. When he’s there he takes the bulk of it. It’s frustrating as hell to watch though. He won’t fight back and he won’t leave so what the hell can we do for him, you know?”

“I know better than you think,” she said.

Conrad pulled the car into an empty lot near a little stretch of beach that was usually not very crowded. He shut off the engine and said, “Is your old man abusive?” He was surprised at how pissed off that thought made him. What was happening to him? He barely knew this girl.

“No, my father’s not like that. My step-father was, mostly to my brother. That’s all in the past for us now though, thank God.” She looked around and asked, “Where are we?”

Conrad got the hint that she didn’t want to talk about it anymore and said, “Manhattan Beach.”

“I thought that was in New York.”

He smiled. “There’s one there too. Ours is a little smaller.” He reached over the seat and grabbed the duffel bag with the blanket in it and the pizza box before opening his door and stepping out. The day had been a hot one but the night air was cooler and the smell of the ocean was almost intoxicating. Sam stepped out of the passenger side and he held out his hand. She looked at it for a second before putting her small one in it. He led her down the path from the parking lot to the beach. There were two other couples there. One was walking away from them and the other one sitting on a blanket and sharing a bottle of champagne. Conrad found them a spot away from where the tide was coming in and spread out the blanket. The moon was almost full and the sky was filled with stars. It was beautiful.

Conrad sat down and gently pulled Sam down next to him. Sam was staring out at the ocean and the look in her eyes was one of awe. He just watched her for several long seconds before breaking the silence by asking her, “Have you ever seen the ocean, Sam?” She lived in the desert and from what little she’d told him he assumed she’d been there her entire life.

She looked embarrassed as she said, “No, not in person.” Conrad started pulling his shoes off and rolling up his jeans. Sam watched him curiously before asking, “What are you doing?”

He grinned at her. “Take off your shoes.”

“Foot fetish?”

God she was so sexy he almost couldn’t stand it. He’d take her feet, or any part of her she wanted to give him. He cleared his throat and said, “Maybe, we’ll talk about that later. Right now I want to formally introduce you to the ocean.”

Sam looked at him suspiciously but she started untying one of her black Chucks. Conrad reached over and untied the other one and pulled it off. He looked at the shoe in his hand and said, “I really can’t believe your foot is as heavy as it looked the other night.”

Raising her eyebrow she said, “What does that have to do with my shoe exactly?”

“I can fit this whole thing in the palm of my hand,” he said. “I can’t imagine how it could be heavy enough to get you an eleven-six.”

Sam smirked and took her shoe out of his hand. “You don’t have to imagine it, you saw it first-hand.”

“And I’m sure if I ever forget, you’ll be happy to remind me.”

“More than happy,” she said with a pretty smile. Her confidence was another thing about her that turned him on. She finished rolling up her jeans and stuffing her socks into her shoes. He took hold of her hand again and led her down toward the water. They stopped when they reached the edge of the lacy foam that spread out across the sand like the edges of a frilly skirt. The breeze blew in cool air off of the water and as Samantha stood there with her tousled locks blowing out behind her Conrad thought that he’d never seen anything so beautiful. She let go of his hand and he watched as she sucked in a deep breath of the salty air and then walked forward until the cold water covered her ankles and stretched up toward the bottom of her jeans.

“It’s beautiful,” she said. “Did you grow up here?”

Conrad walked up behind her and put his arms around her waist. She stiffened up for just a second but almost as quickly relaxed back into him. He bent his head slightly so that his mouth was next to her ear and he said, “Yeah, in Pasadena. Pasadena is weird. It’s kind of like Mayberry only surrounded by oceans and big cities. But you know what?”

“What?”

“None of it is as beautiful as you are.”

Samantha twisted around and looked up at him. Conrad hadn’t meant to bring her out here to seduce her. He had brought her out here to stop himself from taking things with her way too fast. He wanted to get to know her without the awkwardness of sex between them, but her breasts were pressed into his chest and her crystal blue eyes were shining like the moonlight was coming right out of them and he couldn’t resist another kiss. He brushed his lips gently against hers and then hesitated for half a second to see what she would do. She didn’t pull away. As a matter of fact she actually snuggled in closer and tipped her head back. He gave her a real kiss then, soft and unrushed, savoring every part of her lips. He slid the tip of his tongue along the seam of her lips and her mouth instantly fell open and his tongue slid inside to meet hers. She brought her arms up and put them around his shoulders and he had his hands on the small of her back. He let them slide down and finally touch her sexy backside. She moaned into his mouth when he did and the sound was like throwing kerosene on the already raging fire.

He reluctantly broke the kiss and led her back over to the blanket. Neither of them said a word as he lowered her gently down to the blanket. She lay down on her back and reached up for him. He knelt over her and she put her hands in his hair and twisted her fingers up in it. He brought his mouth back down to hers as he felt her slide her hands down from his head and over his shoulders and down his back. Her touch left a trail of heat in its wake. When she reached the hem of his shirt she pulled it up and he gasped against her lips when he felt her warm hands sliding up the sides of his torso until they reached his chest. She pressed her palms into the hard muscles of his and touched him like a blind woman reading braille, or like she was trying to memorize every curve. It was so sexy and Conrad had a painful erection again. He pulled out of the kiss and reached down to pull her shirt up. He slid it up until it was around her ribcage and looked down at her. Her body is insane. He leaned down and put his lips on her neck and began slowly placing open kisses down the length of it. She tipped her head back to give him better access. She was so soft and pliable in his hands and he could tell she wanted him as badly as he did her. He had tingling sensations racing throughout his body and the taste and feel of her had shut down the argument in his brain right up until he heard her say,