Dearest Stepbrother Romance: Billionaire Standalone (4 page)

Sarah

After my walk on the beach I’d entered the house again, only to see Brad sitting at the chair, looking at me with a smile on his face. It looked like he’d been waiting for me to come back inside.

“What?” I asked him, hoping to get rid of the grin on his face.

“I think I’ve just done you a huge favor,” he replied.

“How’s that?” I raised an eyebrow and took place at the table on the seat next to him.

“Your ex-boyfriend’s name is Kurt, right?”

“Yes it is. How do you know that?” My eyes bulged open and my heart beat faster. How could he possibly know the name of my ex-boyfriend? I had a bad feeling about this.

“He’s been here.” He nodded.

“What?” I yelled. “What do you mean he’s been here? When? How did he find me?” What in the world was he talking about? There was just no way Kurt could know I stayed here for the next two weeks.

“He was at the door when you were doing your walk on the beach. Not the friendliest guy out there, I can tell you that.” He tilted his head to the side and frowned.

“But… How? I don’t get it.” I shrugged.

“I have no idea how he knew about this place but he was here. And he seemed pretty mad if you ask me.”

“Of course he’s mad. I broke up with him and he can’t accept that, even though he cheated on me!” I yelled. Brad stared at me, his mouth open.

“I’m sorry to hear that. I didn’t know that,” he said.

“It’s fine, I’m way over the cheating part but I’m not over the stalking part.”

“What do you mean the stalking part?” Brad got up and moved next to me, his face close to mine and he stared me in the eyes.

“He’s been stalking me for a couple of weeks now but these past few days it’s only gotten worse. He’s been calling and messaging me almost non-stop and it’s freaking me out. He even threatened me in one of the messages, saying he’d entered my house and he asked where I was.” My eyes turned watery but I held the tears from falling down my cheeks. I didn’t want Brad to see me cry.

“I had no idea he was stalking you,” he said and grabbed my hand. “If I’d known that I would’ve handled him a lot harder than I did.”

“What do you mean? I thought he only came to look for me?” I squinched my eyes.

“He did. But when I told him you weren’t here he turned kind of aggressive. So I had to use some force to show he shouldn’t mess with.” He shrugged.

“You fought with Kurt?” My eyes bulged open, I was hoping he would say no but I feared for the worst. Kurt wasn’t the kind of guy to leave things be, especially not if he didn’t get what he wanted. He would come back, no doubt about it.

“No I didn’t fight him, I just hurt him a little that’s all. He’s a big boy, he can handle it,” he told me with a smile on his face.

“I’m sure he can handle it but I’m not so sure he’ll just leave it be. Don’t forget you’ve made him mad about two things at the same time right now. You didn’t allow him to see me and you’ve humiliated him by throwing him out of the house.” I sighed and aimed my eyes at the floor.

“It’s no big deal, we’ll see what happens. I’ve dealt with angry businessmen before and let me tell you, they aren’t pretty to argue with.” He laughed. He probably tried to make me feel at ease again and it actually worked. His lovely smile warmed my heart and I felt better again.

“I don’t think I can express how much I appreciate what you’ve done, but thank you,” I said to him with a smile on my face.

“How about a dinner for the two of us? I know a great place we can go to.”

“You mean like a date?”

“It’s only a date if you see it that way. I like to call it a night out between two friends, casually having dinner together.” There was that grin again. I hadn’t seen it since the day of the wedding party. I immediately recognized it, this was the old Brad again, the Brad I had so much fun with before.

“That’s nicely put.” I met his smile with one of my own.

“So what do you say?” he asked me in a soft voice and gave me a kiss on the cheek, followed by another one. Heat pooled between my legs and I couldn’t do anything but agree.

“I’d love that.” I nodded.

“Great, then we leave tonight. I’ll call the restaurant to make a reservation right away.” Brad walked into the second living room to make the call.

“What are you all smiling about?” my mother asked me as she entered the living room.

“Nothing,” I said with a blush on my face, trying my best to get rid of it.

“You look happy.”

“I am happy. Brad wants to show me a great restaurant he knows and you know how much I love good food.” My smile widened. This was the perfect cover, nobody would think this was suspicious.

“How nice of him. Seems like you two get along just fine, don’t you?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, you’re eating breakfast together every morning and now you’re eating out together. It can’t be going that bad between the two of you then, can it?” She grinned. She knew me too well, I hoped she didn’t know how much I actually liked him.

“That’s right I guess. I’m glad we get along fine, imagine if Dwain’s dad would’ve been an asshole. I would never have forgiven you.” I laughed.

“You got that right. But I wouldn’t do that to you, so I picked a man with a decent son.” She laughed and rubbed my back, then left the living room again. Phew. She had no idea. I rushed upstairs and went through my closet, looking for the perfect outfit to wear for the night. I needed something that said I wasn’t a slut, but still something that looked sexy. I had so many clothes it was hard to find something decent. I’d stalled out different dresses on my bed and narrowed them down to the three I liked the most. This wouldn’t be an easy decision. I’d come back later and decide then because I couldn’t make my mind up right now.

Brad

I needed to ask her out, I couldn’t hold myself any longer. And I sure wouldn’t want her to end up with that asshole Kurt again, I’d rather kill myself then letting that happen. She deserves way better than him, Sarah was a girl with class and style who was pretty and kind. The perfect woman for me. I’d gotten rid of Kurt so she basically owed it to me to go out with me. Besides, I knew she wanted to, I’d caught her staring that night when I brought home that other girl and the look she sometimes gave me was more than just a friendly look too.

I put on my best suit, ready to take Sarah to dinner. Finally I’d go out with her again, finally I’d be able to have a good time with her again, I really missed that. One last look in the mirror and I was ready to go, to take her on a date again. I’d told her it wasn’t necessarily a date but just a dinner. I lied. To me it was certainly a date and I’d treat her like she was my date too.

This night I could focus on her again without trying to resist it. For way too long I’d been holding back, keeping myself from talking to her because I’d give in to her charm if I did. It was going to be a great night, that was for sure. I sat downstairs, waiting for her to come down, imagining how she’d look.

Sarah

Warmth filled my body as I stood in front of my mirror one last time, making sure everything looked good. I wanted to look at my absolute best for my date with Brad tonight, I wouldn’t allow myself to ruin it. I’d waited way too long for this to do that. I took a deep breath and nodded, I was ready.

I made my way downstairs, slowly and step by step with my pumps. He stared at me from the living room, his mouth open and his eyes big. I blushed at the sight of it, happy to know he still found me attractive.

“Are you ready?” I asked him as I entered the living room.

“I sure am. You look stunning Sarah,” he told me with a smile on his face.

“Thank you.” I bit my lower lip. “You look handsome too.”

“Where are mom and Dwain?” I raised an eyebrow and looked around the room.

“They’re out for the night. Didn’t they tell you?”

“No, I know nothing about it.” I shook my head.

“They went to the movies and then planned on going out together.”

“Going out? At their age?” I laughed.

“Yep.” He met my smile with one of his own. “I think they still feel young.”

“I guess so.” I nodded. “If it makes them happy, then I don’t see the harm of it anyway. So that basically means we have the house to ourselves tonight?”

“Exactly. But we’re going on a date so that doesn’t really matter. I want you to have a good time so it’ll probably get late.”

“You’re calling it a date again.” I grinned.

“To me it is a date. I only told you that you didn’t have to see it as a date if you didn’t want to, that’s all.” His smile widened.

“Great, then it’s a date.” I turned around, ready to leave.

“Let’s get going then. I’ve made the reservation and a restaurant like that doesn’t really like to wait.”

It was probably an expensive restaurant where he was taking me. I was quite excited for that, I hadn’t been in such a restaurant yet. Bars and local restaurants where my go-to places. Then again, I couldn’t afford to go to anything else anyway. Having a job as a waitress wasn’t exactly making me rich. But I had to do something, money didn’t just grow on trees. Although that would be wonderful.

We drove off toward the restaurant and by the looks of it, it didn’t exactly look crowded. Even worse, there didn’t seem to be anyone at all.

“That’s weird,” Brad said while he looked outside the car window, aiming his eyes at the restaurant.

“What’s weird?”

“Something’s going on. I’ve been here many times before and this place should be crowded.” He parked the car next to the restaurant, we were the only one there.

“Wait here,” he said to me and walked to the front door of the restaurant.

I grabbed my little mirror from my purse and did my lips again, they needed to look perfect. Shortly after, Brad returned to the car again.

“So?” I asked him. “What’s going on?” I shrugged.

“The restaurant’s closed, apparently there’s been some kind of emergency. There was a note on the door, apologizing for the inconvenience.”

“That’s too bad, I was really looking forward to this night,” I said to him, meeting his gaze.

“Me too, but not all is lost. We still have the house completely to ourselves. Our parents won’t be home within the next few hours anyway.” A big smile appeared on his face.

“That’s right. So we’re going to continue our date at home then?”

“Yes we are.” He grinned.

This night had gone from bad to extremely good. Finally I’d get to spend the night with him alone again, just the two of us in an empty house. Nobody around to bust us or spy on us, just two people who enjoy each other’s presence. I couldn’t wait for us to arrive home again so I could throw myself into his arms.

Upon arriving at home again, he stopped the car in front of the house but he didn’t get out.

“What’s wrong?” I asked him.

“I’ve got a great idea for our date tonight. Why don’t we make this a cozy date? We haven’t eaten anything yet, so what do you say I go get us some pizza and wine? Can’t go wrong with that.”

“I’d love that.” I smiled at him.

“Great! Then that’s settled. Why don’t you go inside and put on some candles and turn on the TV, choose something funny to watch,” he proposed.

“Sounds great. Don’t take too long, I want you next to me,” I told him as I got out of the car.

“I won’t. I’m not going to waste our precious time together.”

I crawled into the car again, leaning over the passenger’s seat and gave him a kiss on the lips.

“I’ll be waiting for you,” I whispered, trying to tease him.

“I’ll hurry.” He swallowed hard and turned on the engine again. It seemed to have worked.

He took off and I entered the house, I was all alone for the next half an hour or so. I lit some candles and spread them around the living room, it looked so cozy and romantic. It was perfect.

“Big plans for tonight?” a voice sounded from behind me. My heart beat faster and adrenaline rushed through my body. I turned around and my eyes bulged open. It was Kurt.

“How in the world did you get into this house?” I took a step back and a chill ran down my spine.

“Wasn’t too hard to be honest. You’d think rich people have better security, right? Maybe they’re just too full of themselves to ever worry about something like that. So what are you planning? You sure decorated the place for a romantic evening.” He took a step forward and stood just a few feet away from me.

“I’m not planning anything,” I lied. “I just want to have a relaxing evening on my own, that’s all.” I gave him a fake smile.

“Right. I can’t believe you still think I’ll believe everything you say, even after all these years. You’re dating that rich asshole, aren’t you? The one that dropped you off here?” He squinched his eyes at me.

“You’ve been spying on me? And he’s not an asshole. He’s twice the man you’ll ever be. You do know that this is burglary right? I don’t think Brad will let you get away with something like this.” I shook my head.

“Brad? So that’s his name. It is quite funny though, because you’d think Brad would be more protective toward his girlfriend. But Brad’s not here right now so maybe he’s not the good kind of man you ought him to be.” He grinned, walking circles around me. My heart kept beating faster and faster, what was he planning to do with me?

“Brad will be here soon, alright? And when he does, you’ll be sorry you’ve entered his house. It’s not even entering, you’ve broken in into his house. What were you thinking Kurt, seriously?” I held my hands next to me and shrugged. He was such a moron, I was so glad I’d broken up with him. But that moron stood in front of my right now and that didn’t predict anything positive.

“So he is coming back? I thought you said you were alone for the evening?” He grinned. “You’ve always been a terrible liar Sarah. It’s sad to see you haven’t become better at it. This was a pretty pathetic attempt. And I’m not scared of your new boyfriend who is, if I’m not mistaken, your stepbrother?” He raised an eyebrow. “That’s pretty sick, even for you.”

“He’s not my boyfriend for crying out loud. We just went to grab some dinner together. Who are you to judge anyway? You’re just jealous of him,” I snapped at him. What a jerk. Who did he think he was? Calling me sick and pathetic? If I didn’t know him any better, I’d swear he had some sort of psychologic disease. Something in his mind didn’t quite add up.

“Ooh, someone’s getting all mad and defensive. It looks like I’ve hit a sensitive spot.” He laughed.

“You’re such a jerk. Why are you here? Are you going to hit me again, just like you used to when we were still together?”

“Ouch. I’m not going to hit you. I’m taking you to my place again, you belong to me.” He stared me deep in the eyes.

“Are you out of your mind? You’ve broken in into my friend’s house to swear at me, only to ask me to get back together? I can’t believe you.” I shook my head.

“I’m not asking you to come back to me, I’m demanding it. You have no saying in this Sarah. You’re going home with me no matter what.”

“No I’m not.” I shook my head, determined about my case.

“I said, you don’t have a choice in this.” He took a step forward and grabbed my arm with a firm grip, squeezing it.

“Stop it! You’re hurting me Kurt!” I yelled.

“That’s what you get for not listening to me Sarah. You need to learn to respect me, that’s all I’m asking from you. It’s not hard you know, you just need to stop being so stubborn all the time. Live a little.”

“I am living, I have a great life. I’m not living if you’re in my life, you make my life worse and miserable. I hate you!” I yelled at him again.

“Shut up!”’ he yelled and slapped me. A tingling sensation filled my cheek, it hurt so much.

“Don’t tell me what to do, I’m in control here. You need to listen and do as I say or you’ll be sorry.”

“Never!” I yelled and moved my arms around my body, wriggling to get out of his grip.

“Stop it!” His hand moved around my throat, squeezing it hard. I started kicking him in an attempt to make him stop but it didn’t work, nothing worked. He smiled while the force of his grip increased. My vision blurred and the sound around me slowly disappeared until everything went black in front of my eyes.