“We can’t pay them,” I said.
“Why not? If we do, this all goes away.”
“No, it doesn’t. We pay them but we get nothing in return. We need proof that those pictures are destroyed, or else we can’t pay.”
“How do we get that?”
“I don’t know.”
“Maybe we should tell our parents.”
I barked a short laugh. “Sure you want to do that, sis? Imagine how your dad will react.”
“Yeah.” I could hear the tension in her voice, and I wished I could fix it.
“We can’t risk screwing up their jobs. You said that, remember?”
“I know.”
“Then we figure this out.”
“Okay. Okay. Just come back home.”
“I’m on my way.”
“And don’t disappear like that again.”
“It’s good to hear your voice,” I said softly. “I can almost imagine what you’re wearing.”
“Stop it.”
“Low-cut shirt, no bra. Nipples hard as fuck at the sound of my voice. Short little shirt, white panties, totally useless now since they’re soaking. Am I close?”
“Not even.”
“I’m sure I’m right about the panties.”
“Nowhere near close.”
“You know, I can’t get that perfect little pussy of yours out of my mind.”
“I’m sure you could find something to distract you.”
“Maybe, but why would I want to when you’re dripping wet and waiting for me to come home?”
“Take a cold shower. Better yet, take care of it yourself.”
“You’d like that, wouldn’t you? I bet you’d love to listen to me jerk my hard cock while I thought about you.”
“Bye, Cole.”
She hung up the phone.
I laughed as I slipped my cell back into my pants and looked up at the sky. What an insanely shitty situation I had found myself in with no easy way out.
Then again, I wasn’t always the biggest fan of the easy way.
Sometimes the hard way was much more fun.
Chapter Eleven: Alexa
I wanted him to come back home. Or at least I wanted him to move back in and maybe things could be okay again.
The night in the dressing room kept coming back to me, over and over again. It had felt so electric, so right, and I knew that I wanted more of him. I needed more of him, actually. And when we had gotten home and I was about to finally feel what it would be like to slide down along his thick cock, to feel him inside me, I had found those pictures.
Those horrible pictures. True, we were just kissing, and really that’s no big deal. Plenty of people had pictures of them kissing other people on Facebook.
But most of those people weren’t kissing their stepbrother. And they didn’t have media scrutinizing their parents’ jobs.
Even without sex, Cole drove me insane. The memories of the time we spent together in paradise mingled with the night in the dressing room.
So when he finally came home, when the noise of his motorcycle finally showed up outside, I should have been excited. I should have wanted him to press me down on my bed and lick every inch of my body.
Instead, I felt afraid.
I watched as he climbed off the bike, his duffel bag slung over his shoulders. He sauntered up the stoop and disappeared from view into the house.
“Alexa?” he called out, downstairs.
I didn’t know why I felt reluctant. Up until the moment his bike pulled up out front, all I had wanted was for him to come home. He may have been trouble, the last thing I needed, crude and rude and an asshole, but I felt better with him around.
Now, though, things were so complicated.
I heard him come up the steps and watched as he pushed open my door. He stood there grinning that delicious smile, his eyes locked on mine.
“There you are.”
“Welcome back,” I said.
“Good to be home.” He walked into my room and sat down on my bed.
I leaned up against the window. “How was our friend?”
“Fine,” Cole said, waving his hand. “He won’t talk to anyone. But he did suggest I check out the staff, see if maybe someone there was involved.”
I nodded. That made sense. If it wasn’t the paparazzi, then it had to be someone even closer. “Okay,” I said.
He cocked his head. “What’s wrong with you?”
My heart skipped a beat. He could probably sense my hesitation and my nervousness.
“Nothing. Just, don’t you think we should hire someone to help with this?”
“I can handle it,” he grunted.
“I’m sure. But if you can’t?”
“Then we’ll pay.”
“But you said—”
He stood up, frustrated. “I know what I said.”