If only the brick could grind like my teeth. I’d wear it down in only a couple nights.
I checked the time. I was supposed to be back at the college in less than an hour to deal with student teaching arrangements for the next semester. Since I was living at the mansion, I had to finagle a new assignment, one closer to home but out of my assigned school district.
That didn’t make my advisor happy.
Music pumped from the stairs. I stared over the kitchen counter as Zach strutted past me to get another Gatorade from the fridge. I averted my eyes.
“Don’t you ever wear a shirt?” I asked.
Zach flexed as he drank. He showed off his perfect body, and it wasn’t an accident. Zach loved nothing more than teasing me with the one temptation I wholeheartedly denied.
I hated that he had no shame about it. What he lacked in humility, he packed in sheer, brute muscle. I never met a man more focused on fitness and strength than him. It must have been a SEAL thing. I tried not to imagine him in the gym.
Shirtless. Lifting weights. Grunting. Sweating.
“Like what you see?” Zach offered me his dimpled grin.
Great. I stared. I checked my chin for drool. No wetness there. Wish I could say the same about other places.
I put the phone on speakerphone while the company blared tinny music at me. I handed Zach a glass before he took another drink directly from the milk carton.
“Please,” I said. “That’s gross.”
His eyes revealed him—an impish green that promised only trouble, aggravation, and another night alone in bed, regretting ever sending him away.
“You’d had worse,” he teased.
And he’d never let me live it down. I wagged the glass. “You’re a guest, not a puppy. I shouldn’t have to housebreak you.”
“I’d love to see you get a collar on me.”
Nope. Wasn’t playing. Too aggravated with the phone call. I groaned again.
“What’s wrong?” He asked.
“Life.”
“Care to be more specific?”
I ended the call. Those were two hours I’d never recover. “I’ve gotta go to the campus to rearrange my schedule, and I still haven’t sorted out the internet.”
Zach shrugged. “I’ll do it.”
Yeah, right. “I can do it when I get back.”
“Let me. I live here too.”
I arched an eyebrow.
He smirked. “For a little bit. Or, until you beg me to stay.”
“Unlikely.”
He crossed his arms. The muscles bulged. He didn’t even notice. “My mom was also on the deed and utilities. I can handle this one. I’ll get your name on it too.”
I didn’t have time to argue. Or the patience. Or the strength. Hanging near Zach 24/7 wore me down. He was sweet. He was charming.
And he was the sexiest man I ever saw.
I tried to keep the distance between us, but he knew just how to get under my skin. It was better than under my sheets, but just barely. He liked teasing as much as he liked fooling around, but it only wound me up. Zach had more control over his urges than I did.
One good fight and my suppressed emotions and memories would boil over. We’d have another disastrous kiss.
Which would lead to a good kiss.
And then even more.
It couldn’t happen. As far as I was concerned, Zach’s stay in the mansion was a business arrangement. Strictly business until I got my trust and he shipped out wherever they needed superheroes with egos bigger than the country they defended.
“Okay, fine.” I pointed the phone at him. “Make sure I’m listed as the primary contact. I’ll be back in a couple hours after I fix my schedule. Don’t burn the house down while I’m gone.”
“You can count on me.”
He mock saluted and then drank straight from the milk carton.
Damn it, I nearly smiled. I escaped from the kitchen as quickly as I could without looking suspicious.
Bad idea. Very bad idea. Worst possible idea.
I repeated the words in a quick cadence. It didn’t help. I sought refuge in my car and headed back to the campus. I tried not to think about Zach. I got to the main gate before his grin popped into my head again.
Not too bad for a first attempt. I made it half a mile, but it wasn’t enough. My fingers curled over the steering wheel as I chastised myself. I’d have to try harder.
“No way,” I murmured. “You are not trying anything Hard. Not ever again.”
No matter how much my idiotic body wanted it.
Step-brother. Stealing your inheritance. Worst possible idea.
God, he was a great kisser.
I rolled onto campus a mess of nerves, stress, and a horrid combination of shame and unfulfilled need.
The few students taking their summer classes stared at my sleek Mercedes, but I swore they glared at me, like they knew what I did. I checked to make sure I didn’t wear a giant sign looped over my body, sandwich-board style.