Untamed (A Bad Boy Secret Baby Romance)(199)

Unbelievably, his sleeves are rolled up, and he’s got his jacket slung over his shoulder as if he was posing for a freaking modeling shoot.

I can only shake my head and grin.

Pierce joins his mother on the aisle, and she gives him a disapproving look. He holds his arm out, and she slips hers into it, and together they walk up, his cigar still smoking, leaving a grey trail behind them like a coal train.

When they get to the altar, I hear him say, “I give you away, Mother.”

And then I hear her say, “I’m a woman. Nobody is going to give me away for dowry.”

Pierce laughs, and kisses his mother on the cheek. “Tradition be damned, right?”

“Right.”

“Then I wish you happiness.”

“Thank you for showing up,” she says. I swear, for a second, I see a smile.

Pierce sits down in the empty seat next to me, and gives me an innocent ‘what?’ look.

“Did you have to be late?” I hiss, bunching my brow.

He doesn’t reply. He looks me up and down, and then sucks in a deep breath of air.

“God, you look fuckable in that dress,” he says.

“You’ve got cigar breath.”

“I’m going to fuck you in every room of that house,” he says, jerking his head behind us.

I cover the smile on my mouth with a hand. “We’ll be eating in there later.”

“We’ll find a way to do it in the dining room.”

The only thing I can do is shake my head.

At the altar, Isabelle says, “I do.”

The priest says, “You may kiss the bride.”

My father and my new stepmother kiss.

My new stepbrother’s fingers sidle over my thigh, leaving tingles and buzzing in their wake.

“Stop it!” I whisper, slapping his hand away.

He just grins, gets up, and swaggers off.

I watch him over my shoulder. The ceremony is not even fully finished, and already he’s disappeared into the cottage. Moments later his figure appears in one of the upstairs windows. He beckons me through the glass.

Everybody is starting to chat and mill about now, and so I use the opportunity to sneak away. Nobody notices me as I recede slowly from the congratulating crowd.

I enter the cottage, walk up the creaky steps, and into the room that Pierce is in. It’s a small bedroom, fully furnished, though no doubt it’s all for show. A four-poster bed lies against the wall; it looks old, a little too grand for this small cottage. A folded card sits on top, and it reads: Do not sit.

“What do you want?” I ask. Pierce is standing at the window, leaning out of it, smoking cigar clasped between his thumb and index finger. “Why did you come up here?”

He turns around, a smirk prying his lips apart. “Why do you think?”

“Gross,” I say, grimacing. “God knows when this place was last properly cleaned. God knows who last… you know, did it in this bed. I’m sure somebody has.”

“I’m sure, too.”

“What did you really ask me up here for?” My eyes go to his cigar. “What does it taste like, anyway?”

“It’s difficult to describe. I don’t think you’d like it.”

“Can I try?”

“Sure, but don’t inhale.”

He holds the cigar out, and I take a puff, let it out of my mouth, and make a face. “It’s so bitter.”

“Truth be told,” he says, and he stubs it out on the windowsill. “I don’t know why people even smoke these things.”

“Pierce!” I hiss, going to the window. The wooden sill has been burned, and black ash is smudged in a faint circle. Some of the old off-white paint is now chipping.

“I think we should tell them.”

I spin around, blinking. “No, we shouldn’t.”

“Why not?” he asks. “Don’t you think it would be fun, Pen?”

“They’ll be gone from Melbourne in a couple of days for their honeymoon, and then they’ll be gone from this country in two weeks.”

“So you just want to let them leave without knowing? And we continue our little forbidden tryst in secret?”

I sigh. “Yes.”

He leans against the wall at an angle, and puts his hands into his pockets. “Sounds like a plan, Pen.”

We don’t speak for a moment. He’s staring off into the middle distance.

“What are you thinking about?”

“I was serious, you know.”

“About what?”

“Getting a Prince Albert.”

“Oh for God’s sake,” I say, heaving a dramatic sigh. “No you weren’t. You were just trying to annoy me.”

“I was,” he admits. “But I’ve thought about it a little more. Could be fun, you know?”