by Ryli Jordan
I rolled my eyes. “No,” I muttered. “They decided they’d be better off hiring from outside the company.”
Tanya shook her head and laid a hand on my shoulder. “Oh honey,” she said sympathetically. “Your boss is just a bit of an idiot. One of these days, he’ll actually find the time to try something that you’ve cooked and will see that you can do much more than a simple line cook position. After all, you did go to culinary school…”
“A lot of good that’s doing me.”
“At least you’re still enjoying it, right?” Tanya asked.
I sighed. “Yeah,” I agreed reluctantly. “I guess that’s better than a lot of people have.” I looked around the room, trying to come up with another topic of conversation.
“You're staring at him again,” Tanya pointed out gleefully, and I took another large swig of champagne.
“Glad someone is enjoying my misery,” I muttered.
“Aww, darling,” she said. “Maybe the reason he isn't talking to you is because he's attracted to you too but he also knows that your relationship would be doomed.”
“Tanya, I don't like him,” I protested, but I knew she didn't believe me. And I couldn't seem to keep my eyes off David, watching jealously as he brushed back Linda Mathewson's hair and laughed at something she said in response. “It's just sickening,” I said. “What type of guy really sleeps with everything with legs, outside of a movie or a college dorm?”
“I'm sure that's all this is,” Tanya said, still smirking. “Look, he's headed into the kitchen; why don't you go after him and make sure he doesn't get into any trouble in there.”
I stared at him for a long moment and then stood abruptly, realizing as I did so, I could tell how tipsy I was. The world swayed for a moment, but I eventually managed to right myself. “I'm going after him,” I declared. “But not to make sure he doesn't get into any trouble. That's his business. I just...am looking for something to eat. That isn't sugar cookies or party appetizers.”
“Whatever you want to tell yourself,” Tanya said, taking another sip of her drink, still smiling knowingly.
I walked slowly into the kitchen, wanting to make sure I gave David enough time that it didn't look like I was, in fact, just following him. In the kitchen, it was just the two of us. He was leaning against the counter, his fingertips pressed to his eyeballs. “Starting to get hungover already?” I asked teasingly.
David jerked and then stared at me, his mouth hanging slightly open. He shook his head slowly and then looked away, biting his lower lip. For a moment, he looked unsure of himself—which wasn't anything I had ever associated with David before. Not that I knew him all that well, though.
He sighed shakily. “Kate,” he said in a low voice, reaching out and pulling me closer to him.
I stumbled a couple steps, surprised by his movement, and ended up standing between his legs looking up at him with wide eyes. David's hand came up to softly caress my cheek, his thumb sliding across my cheekbone and down my jawline. He sighed again, more heavily this time.
“Kate, you don't know what you do to me,” he said in a serious undertone. “Ever since I laid eyes on you the week leading up to our parents' wedding...” He swallowed hard.
I laughed sharply and pushed away from him. “Don't, you’re drunk” I said sharply.
“Don't what?” he asked, actually looking confused.
I paused for a moment, although instinct was screaming at me to get out of there. I put my hands on my hips. “Look, I know your type,” I said finally. “I know I'm...” I waved a hand at my form, feeling a blush start forming on my cheeks.
David reached for me again, his hands coming to rest on my cheeks. “You're what?” he asked, breath ghosting over my lips. “You're absolutely gorgeous, is what I think.”
My breath caught in my throat. Surely he knew want I was getting at… we are related…by marriage of course. I shook my head; of course, he didn't mean that. He just saw me as an easy target who would fall head over heels for him—or worse, he saw me as someone he could tease. I found myself suddenly blinking back tears.
“Oh, Kate,” David said, releasing me and taking a step away. He sighed heavily. “I know,” he said. “I know we can't do this, not when our parents are...” He turned earnest eyes back on me. “But you are gorgeous, and if you don't know that…well, I wish I could be the one to show you.”
I stared at him and then took a step closer, realizing that he was actually being serious—or he was drunkenly a better actor than I ever could have expected. “You really mean that?” I asked.
“100%,” David responded. He bit his lip again and then tilted his head questioningly to the side. This time, I surged forwards into the kiss, surprised at how pliant his lips were. I'd expected him to kiss like we were battling like he was trying to show me how dominant and how possessive he could be. But there was none of that. Instead, he was curiously tender, as his hand came up to card gently through my hair.
I moaned quietly as he caught my lower lip between his teeth and tugged at it. I slid my arms around him, and David arched against me so that I could feel his hard length trapped between us. Suddenly, he flipped our positions, pressing me back against the counter and leaning up against me, his arms bracketing me and keeping me there so that I couldn't get away even if I tried. His fingertips dropped teasingly down from my jawline to my shoulders and then to my breasts. His thumbs played with my nipples through the fabric of my dress, and I couldn't help but move into his touch.
“I want to fuck you right here,” David growled into my ear. And even though I knew it wasn't right, I whimpered in response. He slipped a hand down between my legs and hummed softly as he stroked along my panties. “Feel how damp you are,” he murmured against my neck. “It's like you're just waiting for it.”
“I am,” I said, voice raw with honesty. “You don't know how much I want this.” Then, I winced. “I mean–“
“Me too,” David said, the tips of his digits pressing into me through the silken fabric. “God, I bet you would ride my cock so beautifully. I bet you could take it so deep and–“
Before he could finish that thought, I tugged roughly at his hair and brought him into another searing kiss. His lips slotted perfectly against mine, in a way I had never experienced before. I could feel little zings of pleasure shooting down my spine, winding me up more and more.
When his fingers slipped my panties aside and plunged into me for real, I had to pull away from the kiss, pressing my forehead against his and biting the inside of my cheek so I could keep from making an embarrassing noise. Suddenly, I became aware of our surroundings and of just how exposed we were there.
And of the sound of high heels coming down the hallway just outside.
I frantically shoved David away from me and turned to face the cabinets—yanking my skirt down to where it should be—just before someone entered the room.
“Oh, hi,” David greeted the woman brightly.
I took a couple deep breaths, giving myself a moment to compose myself, before I turned around as well, giving a fake but cheery smile. “Hi Tanya,” I said, voice faltering slightly. Of all the people to interrupt us…
She gave me an apologetic smile. “Your mom is looking for you,” she told me. “For real.” Her eyes slid over towards David. “You might want to...um...” She reached over and helped flatten out his hair a little, tugging his shirt back to its proper place. “And Kate, you may want to...actually go find her, before she finds you.” She gave me a meaningful look. I glanced over at David and then fled the kitchen.
Chapter Five
KATE
A few days later…
I looked distastefully around the crowded mall, noting the incredibly long line that stretched from the coffee cart. “Mom, did you really have to bring us here five days before Christmas?” I complained. We had always come Christmas shopping together, but we'd never done so this late in the season before. Things were nuts, and I had a feeling that by the end
of the day, we were all going to be on edge.
Mom gave me a look. “Honey, this was the only time all of our schedules were free at the same time,” she reminded me, gesturing around.
Because of course, it wasn't only the two of us this year. Instead, there was also Alex and David and Luke and Luke's friend Jen.
Mom clapped her hands together. “All right. So keeping track of all six of us together is probably a hopeless cause, and anyway, we probably all need to buy gifts for one another, right? Why don't we pair off? I'll go with Alex. Luke and Jen, you can go together. And that leaves the new siblings, David and Kate.”
I winced. “Why don't we switch it up a little?” I asked—no, begged. “Mom, why don't you and me–“
She cut me off with a look. “You and David have had hardly any sibling bonding time since you met,” she reminded me. “I really think it would be a good idea if the two of you got to know one another a little better and–“
I tuned her out, thinking of the way I already knew the feeling of his fingers slipping deep inside of me, crooking just enough against the walls of my vagina that I could imagine myself writhing and driving my weight down against his hand… I was sure my blush was visible to all of them—hell, it was probably visible from space. I swallowed hard and shook my head. “Okay, okay,” I said, interrupting her diatribe about the great things about having siblings. “David and I will shop together. Sheesh.”
“Could you have made that any more awkward?” David hissed as we peeled away from the rest of the group.
I scowled over at him. “Well, maybe I wanted to make sure that you don't go getting any ideas,” I snapped, folding my arms over my chest. “This is just shopping, okay? Nothing else.”
“Do I need to remind you that you're the one who came after me the other day? When you saw that I was alone in the kitchen, you could have turned and left. And don't think I've forgotten how wet you were before I'd barely touched you. You want this just as much as I do.”
We were both silent for a long moment, staring at one another. Finally, I rolled my eyes. “Let's just get this done with. Come on, I already know what I want for my mom; let's start there.”
We shopped in terse near-silence for a little while. “I'm really stuck on what to get for Alex—your dad,” I admittedly after about twenty minutes of looking at ties. All the patterns and colors seemed to blur together after a while, and how was I supposed to know what the man would like anyway? I hardly knew him.
David looked at me in disbelief. “You've been looking for ties for my dad?” he asked. “Jesus, if I'd known that's what you were looking for, I would have stopped you ages ago. I thought you were looking for a friend or something.”
I frowned. “But he wears ties. Ties are a nice gift, right?”
David snorted and reached out to catch my shoulder, turning me away from the ties and leading me out of the store. “Come on, let me help you find something he'd actually like to get.” As we walked through the mall, with him still steering me with a hand on my shoulder, he said, “Dad wears ties because he's expected to at work. And every year, my Aunt Lucille gives him a new tie—those are all the ties that he owns. But he secretly hates the things.”
“Oh,” I said faintly. “What did you get for him?”
David shrugged, grinning over at me. “Same thing I get for him every year: a box of nostalgia. A bunch of the candy that he grew up with, plus stupid things like Slinkys and Silly Putty and whatever else he can use to keep himself occupied when he's on long calls at work.”
“Huh,” I said. “That's surprisingly thoughtful.”
David rolled his eyes. “He's my dad, Kate. I'm not such a heartless human being that I don't try to get him a decent gift.”
I blushed. “I didn't mean it that way.”
“Well, what way did you mean it, then?” David shook his head. “No, I don't even want to know.” He stopped us outside a bookstore. “Dad likes new fiction bestsellers. I'm sure you can find something he wants here while I go pick up something elsewhere. I'll meet you back here in twenty minutes.”
“Wait, but how will I know what books he already has or has read?” I protested.
David shook his head. “Kate, it's the thought that counts, right? Does it really matter if you give him a book that he already has? Better that than a tie.”
“Fine,” I muttered, folding my arms across my chest. “But where are you going to be anyway?”
“Don't worry about it,” David said. “Just go pick a book.”
I wandered through the shelves for a while and finally settled on a book. I was waiting in line to pay when David materialized next to me. I gasped and jumped a little. “You scared me!”
David looked genuinely contrite. “Sorry about that,” he said, smiling down at me and pulling me into a one-armed hug. He peered down at the book that I'd selected and flipped it over to read the back. “Hey, well done, this actually looks pretty interesting.”
I snorted. “Thanks. I did actually try.” I paid for the book and slipped it into the bag with my other purchases. I frowned, trying to figure out what else I needed. Just a gift for David, I was pretty sure, but it wasn't like I could buy that while he was there next to me. I didn't have the faintest idea of what to get for him, even, and it wasn't like I could just ask him—that would ruin the surprise. I'd figure that out some other time that week. For now… “Think I'm about done shopping,” I said.
“Yeah, me too,” David said. He glanced at his watch and grimaced. “We've got another 45 minutes before we have to meet everyone, though.”
“Mom will need all of that time too,” I muttered, knowing this from previous experience.
David snorted and slung an arm around my shoulders, steering me out into the crowds again. “I'm sure we can find something to do. Maybe get some food?”
“Not hungry,” I said. “I really just want to get away from all these people.” I looked around distastefully.
Suddenly, David tugged me sideways into a shop. “Well, you're in luck, because there's hardly anyone in this...hat shop.” He grinned over at me.
I raised an eyebrow at him and looked around the shop. “Yeah, and this is so much fun.” I glanced over at the bored-looking salesperson who was eyeing us critically. “She clearly knows we're not in here to buy a hat.”
“But we could be,” David said, a devilish gleam in his eye. “Come here.” He pulled me over one of the walls of hats and selected one at random, dropping it down on my head.
I looked in the mirror at the ridiculous—feathered—purple hat that he'd put on my head and couldn't help but giggle a little. “That looks… Well, it's not really my style.”
“Maybe not,” David said mock-regretfully. “Let's try another one.” He swapped out the hat I was currently wearing for an even more ridiculous one that was shockingly blue and sequined. “How about this one?”
I snickered and shook my head. “You can do better than that.”
David raised an eyebrow at me. “Challenge accepted.” He turned back towards the wall of hats and then glanced over at me. “Okay, close your eyes. Are you ready for this?”
I snorted and obediently closed my eyes, waiting impatiently to see which of the absurd hats he would choose next.
“Okay, open your eyes.”
I slowly opened my eyes and found myself staring up at David. He blinked down at me and then slowly reached up to brush a bit of hair off to the side. “Wow,” he said quietly. He cleared his throat. “That hat, uh, actually really suits you.”
I snorted and grabbed the mirror, wondering what kind of joke he was playing on me. But he was right: the hat really did look good on me. The burgundy color went perfectly with my dark brown hair, and the cute almost-fedora style with the rakishly tilted brim slimmed my face somehow and made my cheekbones really stand out. I laughed a little self-consciously and turned back towards David. “Uh, yeah. Definitely not what I was expecting.”
David brought his hand up to
cup my cheek, looking like he wanted to say something more. But just then, a pointed cough sounded off to my left.
I stumbled back away from David as I realized Luke and Jen were standing there. “Uh, hi guys,” I said quickly.
Luke raised an eyebrow. “So I kind of expected it, but the two of you are officially...” He made a rude gesture with his hands.
I felt my face start burning. “No,” I said emphatically, shaking my head. “We were just kidding around with these hats and stuff. David threw this one on my head and made all my hair fall in my eyes, so he was brushing it back out of the way.”
Neither of them looked convinced, of course. David drew himself up to his full height. “Look, nothing's going on—we're definitely not...” He repeated the same gesture, and oh, I didn't know why it actually turned me on to see him do something so lewd with his fingers. (Fingers that had been inside of me at the holiday party, my mind helpfully supplied.)
“Whatever you say,” Luke said, but I could tell this wasn't the last we were going to hear of this. “Are you guys done? We finished early and were just wandering around. Do you want to get some food?” Without waiting for an answer, he and Jen started towards the front of the store, leaving David and I to trail behind. I shot David a guilty look, but he was resolutely staring straight ahead of himself.
Chapter Six
KATE
The next big hurdle was Christmas. And it was definitely a hurdle, since by now Luke already seemed to know that something was up between David and I—although I'd managed to avoid him all week after the shopping trip, somehow, except for a passing awkward moment on our parents' front porch as I'd been walking in and he'd been walking out. I'd tried to pointedly ignore him; he'd reached out to pull me into a hug, one hand gently cupping the back of my head as though he'd like to tilt my face up into a kiss. I'd quickly pulled away from him and gone inside, firmly shutting the door between us.