My Not So Wicked Stepbrother (My Not So Wicked Series Book 1)

by Jennifer Peel

  Everyone was looking at Sawyer and me with bated breath as we made it to the middle of the wooden dance floor. It made me feel a tad self-conscious. Grady’s band quieted to a low hum and all the lights except for those that lit the dance floor magically turned off. That was Sawyer’s cue to drop to one knee. We were in our own world, just him and me. He didn’t have to say a word. The makeup my sisters had caked on me was toast. I hoped they used waterproof mascara.

  Sawyer took my hand. “Em, I know technically we haven’t been dating all that long, but for the last year this is all I’ve wanted to do. I’ve known from our first phone call that you were the one for me.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a familiar ring, but there was something unfamiliar about it. He held the beautiful diamond ring deftly between his fingers. “Your dad gave me both of your mother’s rings.”

  I seriously lost it, like there-was-no-hope-for-the-makeup lost it. I recognized the gold band from my mother’s first wedding ring and the round diamond from her second. They were so beautiful together. Like they were meant to be one.

  “Emma Elaine Loveless, I love you, will you marry me under the pergola?”

  Words escaped me when I realized I would no longer be loveless. My mom whispered I never was and to hurry up and answer the man. I nodded my response furiously.

  “Is that a yes?”

  “Yes!” I shouted, making everyone laugh.

  Sawyer placed the ring on my finger before standing up and kissing me like we were alone. A dipping me down, parting my lips, tingles everywhere, and hands for days kind of a kiss. Holy crap, I wanted to be alone with him. When we came up for air, I realized everyone was clapping and the music had started again. Sawyer pulled me close to him. We began to sway to the beat of the music.

  I skimmed his lips with my own. “You realize we’re still related.”

  “I guess that makes me your wicked stepbrother,” he groaned low in my ear.

  I played with the curls in the back of his hair while I stared into his beautiful amber eyes. “You’re not so wicked.”

  His hand glided down my back, entering the danger zone while he pulled me as close as he could. “Believe me, Em,” he whispered in my ear, “I can be wicked. Very wicked.”

  Sneak Peek

  My Not So Wicked Ex-Fiancé

  Oh Mylanta, Mylanta. This cannot be happening. I scanned through the article my cousin had sent me on my phone, hardly able to comprehend what I was reading.

  Edenvale welcomes Prescott Technology, the up and coming software company started by owner and CEO, Ryder Prescott. In the past five years, Edenvale has become one of Colorado’s upcoming technological centers due to its . . .

  How could this be? I couldn’t breathe. I needed to talk to Emma. I walked out of the boutique’s back offices to find only a few customers browsing our new summer line. Macey and Marlowe were taking care of them beautifully. Weekdays were slower than weekends for now, until the summer months began. At least that’s what the sales data that Mr. Carrington had provided me when I bought M&M on Main last year said. Now it was M&M’S on Main. Memaw loaned me the money to take on this new adventure. She more than anyone knew how much I wanted out of my family’s business and my family out of my business.

  “Ladies, I will be right back.” I waved as I walked out the door into the beautiful late May day. I loved the Colorado sunshine and less humid days than I was used to in Georgia, but I was happy to see the snow go. This Southern girl had missed her mild winter, but it was worth it not to have to worry about running into my ex-fiancé, Ryder Prescott, cheater among men, love of my life and crusher of my soul.

  I scooted my heels down the cobblestone sidewalks of Main Street. Carrington Cove was right out of a Hallmark Channel town—darling. Close together shops and boutiques with brick storefronts, some with cute awnings like my store. Most of them had welcoming display windows. Some of the cafés had outdoor seating when it was warm enough, though the natives around here walked around in shorts in two feet of snow.

  The sun’s rays felt good on me as I hustled to Carrington Cove’s Eye Center, owned by some of the best friends I had ever had, Emma and Dr. Sawyer King. They weren’t open for business quite yet, but would be in the next two weeks. Carrington Cove was happy to finally get their own optometry practice. Not as happy as the newlyweds were to be fulfilling one of their dreams.

  The eye center was two blocks down from us on Willow Street. They were renovating an old coffee shop nestled between a family practice and an old-fashioned candy shop. I peeked through the frameport glass door with Carrington Cove Eye Center etched into it to find the lovebirds painting—more like kissing and pretending to paint—the reception area wall. I tried not to be jealous of the sweetest couple I had ever known.

  I knocked before letting myself in. “I’m sorry to interrupt.”

  The happy couple covered in paint from head to toe as if they had rolled around in it, which wouldn’t have surprised me, gave each other one last peck before turning my way with big grins.

  “Hey, Shelby, what’s up?” Emma set her paint brush down in the rolling tray.

  “I’m having sort of a dilemma and I need someone to talk to.”

  “Is this female related? Should I leave?” Sawyer asked.

  I shook my head. “No. Actually it might be good to have a male perspective.” I approached their reception desk covered in plastic, trying not to inhale too many paint fumes.

  Both Emma and Sawyer hopped on the plastic covered desk, ready to hear my tale.

  “Remember when I told you I was engaged?”

  They both nodded.

  “Well . . .” I paused, hardly able to say it, “it appears my ex-fiancé has started his own company and is moving to Edenvale.”

  Emma’s mouth dropped. “Does he know you live nearby?”

  “I don’t think so. I haven’t talked to him since, well, since I left town and never said a word to him.” Not to mention I had done my best to keep my whereabouts a secret from him, everything from deleting my social media and email accounts to blocking him from my phone. Momma and Daddy had convinced me it would be better this way. And after seeing those pictures of him with that woman on his supposed business trip, I had agreed.

  “Maybe it’s a coincidence,” Sawyer offered.

  Emma patted her husband’s cheeks, adding more paint to his scruff. “You men are so clueless sometimes.”

  He took her hands and kissed her as if I wasn’t there.

  I cleared my throat.

  They broke apart with apologetic smiles.

  “Sorry.” Emma grinned. “Hmm. This is interesting.”

  “Ryder Prescott . . .” I almost hated to say his name. It used to be the most wonderful bits of alphabet to escape my mouth. Now I felt like wiping my tongue off each time I had to speak it. “. . . moving to Colorado is more than interesting. I’m not even sure he’s been west of the Mississippi.”

  Emma squinted. “Ryder Prescott? That name sounds so familiar.”

  “You probably remember me talking about him.”

  She shook her head. “No. It’s more recent than that.” Emma thought for a second. “Holy crap.” She jumped off the desk. “A Ryder Prescott from Georgia booked one of our cabins at the Ranch for the entire summer. It caught my attention yesterday when I was going through our reservation site because of the length of his stay.”

  I reached for my heart, the one Ryder broke. “Please tell me this is one of your practical jokes.” I was living at Carrington Ranch in the main house until I could secure a place in town. It was part of the deal when I bought the store since my parents had cut me off for leaving the family business. Real estate was expensive in Carrington Cove so I was waiting until after the busy summer months to move into my own place. How could I avoid him if we were both there? And why out of all the places in the world had he chosen the Ranch? It was forty-five minutes away from Edenvale where his headquarters would be.

  “I’m sorry, Shelby
,” Emma interrupted my thoughts.

  Not as sorry as I was. I fanned my face. “It’s fine. It’s all fine.” I stood tall and proud while lying. My heart raced.

  Emma tilted her head. “It’s not fine. Maybe I can find some legitimate excuse to cancel the reservation.”

  I shook my head. “Goodness no, don’t do that. You and your daddy have a business to run. I’m sure,” I cleared my throat, “Ryder’s money is as good as anyone else’s.” Though I had to wonder how he’d come into all this money. An entire summer at Carrington Ranch would be well into the tens of thousands of dollars.

  Emma bit her lip and approached me in paint coated cutoffs and one of Sawyer’s old T-shirts. I wished I was more like her, comfortable in anything including her own skin. I loved how she was able to throw her hair up in a ponytail and not wear any makeup. Though she was naturally beautiful whether she thought so or not, her confidence and personality made her more so. I was taught growing up to never leave the house, not even to go grocery shopping, unless you were looking your best. I knew that was a turnoff to some people. But it’s not like I had to do a lot of those type of domestic things growing up or for most of my adult life. That’s what delivery services and the help were for, Momma would say. As silly as it sounded, I liked strolling through each aisle of the store. It reminded me of . . . well, different times. A time when I wanted nothing more than to be blissfully domestic and even clip coupons if I had to. What an evil thought for a Duchane.

  Emma got close but not too close as she was covered in wet paint. “Shelby, we don’t need the money and we always have a waiting list.”

  “I appreciate your offer, but Ryder Prescott means nothing to me. If I saw him today, I would . . .” My breath got caught in my chest. What would I do? Slap him? Ignore him? I knew one thing that would not happen. I would not let his dark chocolate eyes capture mine and melt into my soul. My breath came out in a rush thinking about that first moment, four years ago, when our eyes had locked. “Excuse me.” I turned on my heels.

  “Shelby,” Emma called, “Let’s go grab lunch. My treat.”

  I waved from behind; my whole body was shaking. “Thank you, but I have to go.” I opened the door and ran into the bright sun. I soaked in the rays and warmth, letting that feeling settle my heart. I silently berated myself for allowing him to affect me after all this time while I took a seat at the nearby bench under the gaslit lamppost.

  Ever my momma’s daughter I crossed my legs, smoothed out my pencil skirt, and sat up straight as a pin. I could hear Momma now yelling at me to keep my shoulders back and head held high. For once I didn’t listen to her as I sank against the wrought iron. That was a lie, it wasn’t the first time. There was a time, a beautiful time, almost like a dream now where I didn’t worry about the expectations of my family. When, for once in my life, I could be me, with him, curled up in his arms nestled under a blanket of stars out in the hay field on his momma’s and daddy’s farm. It was not befitting of a lady or a Duchane, Momma would have said. But I thought it fit me perfectly. Oh, how wrong I had been.

  At least the man left me with something. He made me see I was more than my name. I forgot that for a while last year when I came running here under the thumb of my family, but once the shock of his betrayal had worn off, I realized I was exactly right back where I had promised myself I would never be, living under the Duchane law. Ryder was right, I needed to be my own person. The question now was what was I going to do? And why was he coming here?

  If you enjoyed My Not So Wicked Stepbrother, here are some other books by Jennifer Peel that you may enjoy:

  The Sidelined Wife

  How to Get Over Your Ex in Ninety Days

  Narcissistic Tendencies

  Honeymoon for One- A Christmas at the Falls Romance

  Trouble in Loveland

  Paige’s Turn

  For a complete list of all her books, click here.

  About the Author

  Jennifer Peel is the award-winning, bestselling author of the Dating by Design and the More Than a Wife series, as well as several other contemporary romances. Though she lives and breathes writing, her first love is her family. She is the mother of three amazing kiddos and has added the title of mother-in-law, with the addition of two terrific sons-in-law. She’s been married to her best friend and partner in crime for a lot longer than seems possible. Some of her favorite things are late-night talks, beach vacations, the mountains, pink bubble gum ice cream, tours of model homes, and Southern living. She can frequently be found with her laptop on, fingers typing away, indulging in chocolate milk, and writing out the stories that are constantly swirling through her head.

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  To learn more about Jennifer and her books, visit her website at www.jenniferpeel.com.