Filed to story: Crushing on My Enemy Stepbrother
‘The video goes to our provider’ I explain, ‘we can’t get the footage for forty eight hours, so until then, we have a hole somewhere in our security and we don’t know where.’
Tessa nibbles on her bottom lip nervously and I gently lift my thumb, pulling it from between her teeth with a small smile.
‘So where do we go?’ she asks quietly.
I suck in a breath, hoping I can convince her of the plan that me, my brother and our best friend came up with. ‘Dad has a cabin’ I explain, ‘it’s not under our name, it was actually my mother’s great grandfather’s cabin, and has been in the family for generations, it is still held under her family name. Someone goes every spring to open it up and back in winter to close it down and we rent it out to people. It’s by a lake and quite rural, there are like three shops and a petrol station, that’s it. No one is using it right now, as it’s too early in the season, so it’s perfect for us to stay for a couple of days until we find out how our rock thrower got to the house.’
I watch her carefully, waiting to see what she thinks, slowly she nods, ‘that makes sense’ she mutters, ‘but what about school? I’m already behind, I need to attend all my classes.’
‘Gage will contact the college’ I reply, ‘tell them about your accident and that you are still recovering. He will ask for any assignments and notes to be sent directly to him which he will then forward to me through our family email. With everything being well, we will only have to be up there a couple of days, then we can sort out the security issue and come back home. Gage and Callan will also be looking into anyone who might be behind the stone through our window.’
Tessa meets my gaze, ‘you think you know who did this?’ she asks, ‘are they dangerous?’
I smile in a way that I hope reassures her, ‘I have a couple of people who might not like me very much right now’ I admit, ‘neither of them worry me, but I’d rather be safe than sorry.’
The teenager nods, ‘OK’ she agrees, ‘we’ll go to the cabin for a couple of days, just to be on the safe side.’
A tension in my chest that I didn’t realise I was carrying eases at her words and I press a kiss to her forehead.
‘Thank you baby’ I murmur against her skin.
I can feel the warmth of her smile even though her lips aren’t touching me, ‘thank you for asking my opinion’ she replies.
Sliding off my lap, she giggles at the pout I pull, I was really hoping for some make-up from our argument make-out session.
‘If we are going to a cabin for two or three days, I need to pack’ she points out, heading toward her closet, ‘as do you Mr Grumpy.’
I bark out a laugh at her name for me, ‘I’m not grumpy’ I reply, following her into the closet, grabbing her wrist, spinning her toward me and crowding her back to the wall.
‘Could have fooled me’ she teases lightly, allowing me to invade her personal space, wrapping her arms around my neck as I hoist her up around my waist.
‘I’ve only been grumpy because I’ve been tortured daily by a woman who demands all my attention but whom I couldn’t touch’ I huff as I run my tongue up her neck, making her shiver.
‘You were the one who made that rule’ she reminds me huskily, tilting her head for me as I nip at the flesh where her neck meets her shoulder.
‘Yeah, I’m an idiot’ I agree, ‘so I think I should make up for lost time, don’t you?’
Crushing my mouth to hers, I part her lips with my tongue as my body pins her in place, my hands tugging at the tiny sleep shirt that is soon dropped in a pile to the floor.
Needless to say, our packing was delayed because where Tessa is concerned, nothing seems to satiate the hunger I have for her.
Tessa’s POV
We’ve been driving for a few hours, instead of taking either of our vehicles, Gage arrived later in the day with a rental. He then took Caleb’s keys and waited for us to leave before following us out in Caleb’s car, tailing us for a few blocks before peeling off and heading back to his own place.
I thought it was a bit overkill, but kept my thoughts to myself, if it keeps the boys happy and makes them feel like I’m safer then I don’t need to argue with them.
The scenery flies past the window and my companion is humming gently along with the radio as he drives. Bored, I turn to face him, curious about the man beside me.
‘What did you do in the Military?’ I ask. I’d found out that all three of the men that now ran Hawthorne Security were in the forces, had worked out that both Gage and Callan were in the Army from Caleb’s doghead comment, but I’d never had the chance to ask what this broodingly sexy beside me, did.
Caleb’s grip tightens slightly around the steering wheel for a second before he relaxes again.
‘I was a Marine’ he replies.
‘Did you enjoy it?’ I probe, wanting to know everything about him.
Caleb nods, ‘I loved it’ he mutters, ‘it wasn’t just a job, it was my life, what I was born to be.’
I study him for a moment, really taking in his physique and not in a drooling way this time. I can see his training in the way he sits, the awareness he has of our surroundings even here in the car, and with the tightly bunched muscles under his shirt, it’s easy to see the soldier that’s still in him.
I fidget for a moment, trying to build up the courage before blurting out, ‘why did you leave?’
The air in the vehicle thickens as Caleb’s body tenses, his jaw setting in place as he mutters, ‘I don’t want to talk about it.’