Auctioned on Valentine's Day: A Second Chance Stepbrother Romance

by Amy Brent

  Cogent specialized in large-grade, highly-specialized computer hardware. We had contracts with some of the world’s most influential institutions including NASA, the NSA, the FBI, and the CIA, just to name a few. We developed systems capable of handling the newest technology in the most extreme circumstances with no drag or delay. Sounded boring, but our systems had helped track down some of the most notorious criminals in history, we assisted in forging forward into the stars, and we picked up the pieces when a catastrophe happened. It was a good company, and I was proud to say I owned it.

  On a normal day, my work was simple. I signed off on prototypes, checked in with the employees, and then headed downstairs and did some testing of my own. My best friend and VP of the company, Trevor, thought it was silly that I had the most intelligent men in the world tinkering on new toys and I still found it necessary to work on things in the lab. I liked to keep my feet grounded and keep my head in the midst of all of it. I wanted to know what was shipping out those doors, and I liked to create, even if it never went anywhere. Besides, the company was my number two priority, my number one, of course, being my seven-year-old daughter, Sicily. That was my life, the company and my daughter, and I had learned to like it that way.

  “Hey,” Trevor said, popping his head in and interrupting my thoughts. “You about ready to go? Happy hour has started, my friend, and there are drinks to be had, a celebration for an amazing year to commence, and women to peruse.”

  “Yeah,” I chuckled. “Let me send this report over to my secretary so she can get the packets made for the shareholders.”

  “Is that the annual report?”

  “Sure is,” I said proudly.

  “Those were some damn good numbers,” Trevor said, nodding his head. “You took the world last year.”

  “We took the world last year.” I smiled. “And this year will be even better.”

  “So, there’s a band tonight at the bar. You going to stick around?” he asked.

  “I’ll have a couple drinks, but Sicily has school tomorrow, so I can’t stay all night,” I said.

  “How’s Sicily doing? I need to come pay her a visit. You know she loves Uncle Trevor.”

  “She’s growing so fast, dude,” I said. “She has the wit of a thirty-year-old, and it blows my mind. It’s like talking to an adult in a tiny little body. She’s also taken up the project of trying to find me a girlfriend. It drives me crazy. I can’t tell her that women are all the same, and I’m not in the mood for another version of her mother, so I just smile and nod every time she brings it up.”

  “She’s a badass.” Trevor laughed. “She’s just like you.”

  “She is, thank God,” I said with a smile. “All right, I’m ready.”

  I grabbed my jacket and locked my office, nodding to my secretary as I left. We walked down the halls of the building, and I smiled, seeing different projects in pieces on desks inside the passing offices. I loved innovation, so I’d built a company that made sure innovation surrounded me at all times. I got to the elevator and pressed my palm against the hand scanner, waiting for the doors to open. The security in the building was top-notch, and it had to be since we handled classified projects for the government.

  When we got out of the building and down the street to the bar, we both took a seat and ordered our drinks. I stirred my whiskey and coke, thinking about the report I had just read. Trevor was scanning the bar for women. He was always scanning for women.

  “I came up with this really sweet idea for a new prototype for our AI series,” I said. “I just have to get one of the analysts to give me pointers on the information upload.”

  “Brandt,” Trevor said, slapping his hand on the bar. “Enough with the work talk. You are so uptight. You need to loosen up and pick up one of these women. Let off a little steam.”

  “Right,” I chuckled.

  I turned and watched as Trevor walked off into the crowd, approaching a group of ladies in the middle. He said something, and they immediately laughed. He always did have a way with the women. I’d met Trevor my junior year at Yale, and we’d clicked immediately. He was charming and funny, but under that, he was a genius. He was the one who’d come up with the NSA’s new system this last term, but he never wanted to take credit. He liked people underestimating him, and it baffled me. But he was right that I needed to relax, find a release. It had been a few weeks since I’d had sex, and I could feel the tension in my shoulders.

  I swung my chair around and glared out over the crowd, watching everyone talking and laughing. I hated bars. They were like a meat market, with the men trying to get laid and the women trying to find the highest bidder. I scoffed, shaking my head as I watched all the ladies in the joint trying to pick up a man, trying to cement their future with someone who had deep pockets. It was a joke, and all I really wanted was a release, not a headache. I turned back around and took a sip of my drink, figuring I would end up going back empty-handed like usual. It was too much work to try to pick up these women. They were looking for more than a one-night stand, or one-hour stand actually.

  My knee bounced up and down as I sat there, waiting for enough time to pass that I could leave without Trevor giving me too much shit. Sure, I really wanted to get laid, but I wasn’t going to go searching for it. As I thought about it, I felt a hand touch my shoulder and move across my back. A young redhead with bright green eyes sat down next to me. She was wearing a tight red dress that barely covered anything, and her legs went on for miles. It was Missy, my go-to girl when I needed to blow off some steam, among other things. She never gave me a hard time or looked for anything more. I was pleased she’d found her way out that night.

  “Hey there, handsome,” she said. “You look tense.”

  “Missy.” I lifted my glass to her. “I’m always tense.”

  “Not always.” She smirked. “You just get here?”

  “I was actually about to leave,” I said. “Unless you had other thoughts.”

  “I have a few,” she said with a coy smile. “Come with me.”

  I gulped down my drink and threw a twenty on the bar, taking her by the hand and letting her pull me to the back. This was exactly what I like about her. She never made a scene, always had a plan, and didn’t force me into uncomfortable conversations. She was to the point, and the point was, I needed a blowjob badly. She pulled me into the back room and shut the door, locking it behind us. I smiled as she walked forward, biting her bottom lip and sliding her dress straps down, letting her big, fake tits bounce out of her dress. I grabbed tightly to them and pulled her to me, lingering inches from her pouty red lips.

  “Suck it,” I said with a smile.

  “Mmmm,” she said. “I like a man who knows what he wants.”

  She laughed and grabbed a cushion from the stacked chairs to the side, throwing it down on the cement floor. She lowered herself down and undid my belt, unzipping my pants, and dropping to her knees. She reached inside of my boxer briefs and pulled out my cock, already hard from watching her bounce those tits around. She smiled and stroked it before pulling her lips around the tip and running her tongue over it. I groaned, rubbing my hand across the back of her head and closing my eyes. She sheathed her teeth and slowly pulled her mouth down my shaft, immediately deep throating my dick. She always did have a way with that mouth.

  She bobbed her head up and down quickly, and I grabbed onto her hair, slowing her down a bit. She smiled and opened her throat, taking my shaft into her warm, soft throat and touching her lips against the base. I slowly pulled her back up, growling at the way she sucked from the back of her throat. Missy was good, and my mind stayed blank for the first time in a while as she pleasured me. I looked down, meeting her watery glance and bit my lip, watching her tits jiggle below her. She had pulled her skirt up her hips and pushed her hand down into her panties, rubbing her pussy.

  “That’s right,” I said, pushing her head back down. “Rub that pussy for me.”

  “Mmmm,” she moaned with a f
ull mouth, her eyes closing as her fingers moved faster.

  I could feel the heat in my belly beginning to rise, thinking about that sweet, pink pussy between her legs, sopping wet, no doubt. I grabbed her head with both hands and spread my feet apart, pulling and pushing her at a faster pace. I held her down at the base and bobbed her up and down for a few seconds before pulling her back up for air. I groaned deeply, feeling her moans vibrating against my cock as she pushed herself to climax. She was a giver, but she knew I loved to watch her come with her mouth around my dick. She moved her head faster, my hand wrapped around her red curls. I watched her writhing, her hips twisting against her palm as she pleasured me and herself at the same time. It was hot and erotic, and I couldn’t wait to explode into her mouth.

  The suction in her mouth increased as she whimpered, her body beginning to tense. She opened her mouth and squealed, coming to a full climax, her eyes rolling back as she came hard. I grabbed her head like I always did and bounced it up and down my shaft, groaning as the fire in me burst into full flames. Her head slammed down against my dick, and her tongue swirled up the shaft. I gripped tightly, pulling her down to the base and thrusting my hips gently as my cock pulsed in her mouth, the explosion in my stomach taking over my whole body. Hot seed streamed down her throat, and my body tensed and released. I shuddered, slowly pulling her head back up as she licked the tip and swallowed.

  I took in a deep breath and looked down at her, glad I’d had something to calm my stress. I tucked my cock into my boxers as she sat there on her knees, watching me. I fixed my pants and straightened my tie, before patting her head and walking out of the room. Not a bad ending to my day at all.

  Chapter 2

  Emma

  Another bright, sunny but cold day in Camden, Maine, and I still couldn’t get the condescension out of my attitude. There was snow on the sidewalks creating a slushy mess, and our winter was definitely not over with. Still, I loved this town. I was just feeling a bit bitter with Valentine’s Day twelve hours away. Luckily, I had taken my lunch break with one of my closest friends, Caroline, who had come back from another one of her crazy trips. Caroline was not rooted in reality at all, but I loved her. She was a trust fund baby and spent her days traveling, satisfying her wanderlust personality. I smiled as she went on about her time in Sussex, her bohemian jewelry clinking together as her long, dirty blond hair fell around her shoulders.

  “I’m really shocked you went to England,” I said, eating a chip. “I didn’t think it would be exotic enough for you.”

  “It’s history, my love.” She smiled. “Besides, I had to give my thirty thousand Instagram followers something more than sand and surf. They were starting to think I was a snob.”

  “You have thirty thousand Instagram followers?”

  “Yeah.” She laughed. “Crazy, isn’t it? I picked up a sponsorship from that privately-owned bathing suit company, and I went from five k to thirty k overnight. It was insane.”

  “It’s the belly chain,” I said. “Dudes dig the belly chain.”

  “And chicks,” she pointed out.

  “You need to start your own brand,” I said. “Let me make you something, like a logo and you can sell cut off T-shirts with it on the back.”

  “I like that, but seriously, you need to come with me soon. I’m going to Hawaii in a few weeks. You should come, get some tan on those cheeks, and I don’t mean the ones on your face. I’ll teach you to surf.”

  “I wish,” I sighed. “I’m the only graphic artist other than the owner, and we’re the only company in Camden that does it. We are swamped all of the time.”

  “Maybe he’d let you work remotely,” she said. “I meet people all the time who work and travel. That’s what they do.”

  “You know he’s too uptight for that.” I laughed at the image in my head of his reaction to such a request. “I can barely work off the other computer in the office without him getting paranoid.”

  “Well, I’m not going to lose hope.” She smiled. “So how have you been doing with the break-up?”

  “I don’t know.” I shrugged and looked out the window.

  I stopped everything, stopped talking, stopped chewing, everything. As if Alex, my ex, could hear our conversation, he popped up in front of the window, canoodling with his new girlfriend, the girl I’d caught him cheating on me with. Alex and I had been high school sweethearts, had gone to the same college, and we were shoo-ins for the first to be happily married. That was, until I’d found him balls deep in one of the local first-grade teachers. Apparently, they had been together for months behind my back, and everyone knew but me. It was humiliating and heartbreaking, and his little antic had completely turned me off to other men.

  “Ew,” Caroline said, looking over her shoulder at them and yelling out as she tapped the window. “Get a room, asshole!”

  I smirked and giggled as they looked wide-eyed at her and then gave her the finger. Alex glanced at me for a moment before his girlfriend pulled him down the sidewalk and out of view. It still hurt, almost as much as it did the first time I heard the news, and I still couldn’t get the picture of the two of them doing it out of my head. My mood immediately darkened.

  “Come on,” Caroline said. “Don’t be pouty. He had a flat ass anyway. That should have been your first sign. Men with flat asses always end up being douchebags.”

  “Is that a scientific fact, or are you making it up?” I laughed and gathered my things. “I’m fine. I have to go back to work. I love you forever.”

  “I love you too.” She kissed me on the cheek. “I’ll call you later.”

  I went back to work, sitting at my desk and staring at the logo on the screen. My mind was traveling through all the things that had happened recently. The breakup, my downward spiral, the winter blues, and my jealousy of Caroline’s perfect life all culminated into one huge shitstorm that clouded any happiness from coming over me. I struggled to concentrate for the rest of the day, pretending like I was working, but really, I was only moving lines back and forth. My boss didn’t really give me a hard time, knowing without me, the place would crumble, but still, I had work that was coming up to its due date.

  With the rain cloud following over my head, there was no way I was going to get anything accomplished. I tried fielding some client calls, putting some finishing touches on other projects, but in the end, my mind was not into it. My boss, Greg, came out of his office and stood in front of my desk, staring at me. He was such a strange guy, never wanting to interrupt the train of thought I apparently looked like I had. I moved the mouse around on the pad and then glanced up at him and smiled.

  “What’s up, boss?”

  “It’s supposed to start snowing again in about an hour,” he said, nodding toward the window. “Why don’t you head on out so you don’t get stuck driving in it? I know you live on the other side of town.”

  “Thanks.” I faked a bit of cheer. “I’ll see you tomorrow, then.”

  “Great,” he said. “And Emma?”

  “Yeah?” I glanced up again.

  “Don’t let Alex get to you. He didn’t deserve you anyway.”

  “Oh,” I said. Wow. News traveled fast. “Thanks, Greg.”

  I sighed as he walked away. That served to remind me I lived in a town where my ex sneezed, and everyone knew. I guess someone had told him about that afternoon, and though Greg was awkward and didn’t know how to talk to people, he’d felt obliged to try to comfort me in a robotic and forced kind of way. I shook my head and pulled my bag over my shoulder, nodding at Greg as I left the office. My life was starting to feel like something from the Twilight Zone. I jumped in my car and headed over to my house, happy to finally be home for the day. My neighbor, who was about a million years old, waved at me from her window, and I forced a huge grin and smiled back. I was not in the mood for my life that day.

  I got inside and threw my stuff down, headed into the kitchen, grabbed a bag of chips and a beer, and plopped down in my living room with
my feet up. I was not looking forward to going to work the next day, knowing the whole town would be decked out in hearts, ribbons, and everything to do with love. It was like this holiday was trying to make me the most miserable woman in the world. I leaned my head back, trying to relieve my stress headache. When had I gotten so bitter and angry? Then I remembered what Alex had done, and I shook my head, giving myself permission to continue. I flipped through the channels trying to avoid jewelry commercials, any sitcoms because they were all V-Day themed, or any channels playing the endless drone of chick flicks. I settled on cartoons and stared at the television, letting my brain go numb.

  About two hours later, and five episodes of Ren and Stimpy reruns, I blinked. Had I really been sitting in the same spot, zoning out, and holding the same beer that I had only sipped twice? I was letting myself slip away into a self-pity coma. Just then my phone rang, and I grabbed it, thankful to be brought back to the real world.

  “Hello?”

  “Hey there, bestie,” my other best friend, Gillian said. “What are you doing?”

  “Trying to numb my brain on useless television,” I said in a monotone voice.

  “Well, give it a rest, and come to my house,” she said. “Caroline is here, and we have something we want to talk to you about.”