“Your crazy sister reminds you of me?” There had to be a compliment buried in that insult. “Thanks, William.”
“Good crazy, remember?” He pulled on a faded pair of jeans and an old University of Chicago t-shirt. He flashed me his dazzling smile and a sly wink. “God knows you drive me crazy.”
“Is that so?” I pretended to be offended. William took my hand and pulled me to my feet.
With his hands resting on my hips, he gently kissed my lips and whispered, “You drive me crazy in bed…” Another kiss. “And in the shower…” A longer kiss. “And on the kitchen floor…”
“Your mother is waiting for us,” I said as his hands moved over my hips and began to caress my ass.
William winced. “Yep. Cock definitely blocked.”
“Only temporarily. I promise.” I jabbed him in the side. “Now man up. We can’t hide up here forever.”
“Yeah. Let’s go.” William led the way to the stairs and I followed reluctantly. Like it or not, his family scared me. Especially his mother.
“I think that’s him now.” Just the sound of Jean’s voice gave me chills.
“Will is that you?” This voice was younger and higher pitched. I could only assume it belonged to Cessily.
“Hey, Cess.” William braced himself as a burst of red hair and bright clothes collided against him. He choked out a laugh as he hugged his sister. “Good to see you, sis.”
“Damn right.” Cessily released him. “You look good, little brother.”
“Damn right.” William gave her a quick once over. “New hair color?”
“Mother hates red hair. I couldn’t resist.” She gave him a conspiratorial wink and then her eyes widened as she noticed me for the first time. “So what mother said is true. You brought home a whore?”
“Jesus, Cess.” William’s face turned a bright shade of red. “You could at least pretend our family isn’t a bunch of assholes.”
“Sorry.” Cessily turned to me. “I’m sorry if I offended you. That was supposed to be a joke, but my brother isn’t exactly known for his sense of humor.”
“I’m not offended.” In reality, I was sure Jean had said much worse things about me. “At least she didn’t say ugly whore.”
Cessily laughed, a deep laugh that came from her gut. It was a wonderful sound. “I think you might be a keeper,” she said and turned back to William. “It’s a shame though. I was really hoping you would turn out to be gay. It would have so pissed off our mother.”
“He could always get his whore knocked up,” I suggested. “That would probably piss her off even more.”
Cessily grinned a wicked smile. “I like it. And I like you. Come. Let’s go do some damage.” With that, Cessily grabbed my arm and pulled me into the devil’s lair.
CHAPTER TWO
“So anyway, that was the third time I got arrested,” Cessily said as she filled up her wine glass for at least the sixth time. “That was also when mother started seeing her therapist.”
I glanced across the room to where Jean was sitting, knitting a purple scarf and passing judgment on me with her beady eyes. She had already called me both a whore and a gold digger, so I was glad to have the space between us.
William was seated next to me on the couch, his eye focused only on his phone. He had been answering work emails all afternoon, in between defending me from his mother’s barbs. On more than one occasion, he had tried to drag me away but Cessily wouldn’t allow it. She was determined to share her life story with me.
“So what about you? What did you do to drive your parents insane when you were a teenager?” Cessily kicked her feet up onto the coffee table.
William had the presence of mind to realize that his sister was treading on sensitive ground. He tossed an arm around my shoulders and frowned at her. “Cess, I thought you were making dinner tonight. Shouldn’t you get started on that?”
“Pssh. There is plenty of time for that. I’m bonding with your girlfriend.”
William glared at her. “Stop being so much like our mother,” he said.
“It’s okay, William.” It was true that she was being nosy, but she was also the only member of his family that had acknowledged that I was anything more than the woman that was screwing William.
“Yeah, calm down, bro. I only asked an innocent question about her childhood. She doesn’t have to answer.” Cessily nudged her brother’s foot and turned back to me. “Back to you, Livs.”
“There’s not much to tell. I didn’t get into much trouble back then. I never got arrested, or even a detention.” In fact, sleeping with my boss was probably the most scandalous thing I had ever done.