by Audrey Drake
It grated on Callie’s nerves. She didn’t want anything else from Gary Carmichael. She’d hoped this whole divorce thing would cut all ties. At the same time, she couldn’t turn down a free salary, could she? And when she thought of the possibilities she had being locked down here with Keegan…
It was a no-brainer. She’d have everything – money, a grand home, and a stepbrother to drive nuts in the process. The question was, would Keegan accept the offer?
“So, let me get this clear,” he began. “I can go home to Switzerland and be completely separated from all of this for the rest of my life. I never have to hear anything from the man who donated sperm for me again. Or, I can stay here and take care of that man’s shit in exchange for a guaranteed pittance for the rest of my life. Do I get that in writing? Because I don’t trust the man who calls himself my father with anything short of a signed contract. And that means no extra caveats we haven’t already discussed.”
Ooh, Callie was impressed. She hadn’t thought of that. Gary was a master at slipping things in underhandedly. Holding his head in his hands, Gary nodded. “Yes, it’ll be in a contract. Jesus, Keegan, one of these days you’re going to stop trying to prove you’re smarter than me.”
“I don’t have to prove it anymore,” Keegan smirked. “It’s obvious.”
Callie looked at her mother, who just seemed relieved, and then at Gary, whose stress level was galactic. Then, she turned to Keegan, who wore a teasing smile and stared right back. She knew exactly what he was going to say, and she grinned back, accepting the challenge. “I’m in,” she said.
“I guess I am, too,” Keegan sighed, putting on a show of reluctance.
Callie made sure to flip the back of her skirt as she stood and bounced away, calling back, “Just shove the contract under my door, and I’ll sign it once I’ve read it.”
Chapter Three
“That was interesting.” Callie didn’t even look up from the book in front of her. She lay on her stomach on the bed, wearing nothing but lacey black underwear under a thin film of black gauze. She’d purposely left her door open just enough that, when Keegan knocked, it would just open.
And apparently, he hadn’t missed a beat. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see him, leaning in her doorframe in those royally disarming silky pants, his arms crossed over his chest. Instead of making eye contact, Callie turned the page and yawned, “Which part?” She stretched one leg, pointing her toe to emphasize the muscles on the back side for him.
“I’m impartial. I think all of it was pretty…out of the ordinary.” He stepped into her room, and it was like breaking an invisible barrier. Callie couldn’t help but look up. She had forced herself to be somewhat immune to him when she was in her bubble. But the uninvited entry took away her comfort, and Callie’s heart sped. Keegan strolled over and sat on the edge of her bed, leaning on a hand he placed dangerously close to her hip.
To anyone else, it would look like they were having an innocent conversation, and Keegan had left the door open for just such a purpose. Not that anyone would pass by, but it set the stage for the game to begin.
And now, Callie needed to lay some ground rules. She sat up quickly, turning to face him with her legs crossed. She’d intended to back away, but that would be admitting a lost round. Instead, she turned it into a new challenge, exposing herself even further.
His glance down was so discreet she almost missed it, and she was impressed. Callie was a master of the same sort of unobvious shift of gaze. Clearing her throat, she told him, “So, there were a few oddities, I suppose. But Keegan, I hate your father, and I’ll take advantage of any opportunity to keep him as far away from him as possible. And I’ll work even harder to drain him of every penny I can.”
There it was, that teasing glint in the corner of his eyes. “It sounds like the two of us might have similar agendas.”
Callie smirked. She’d laid the bait, and Keegan had taken it, hook, line and sinker. “Well, that may be the case. But I don’t tell just anyone my deepest, darkest desires.” She leaned toward him. “So, if you want to know whether our plans are aligned, you have to get a little more intimate with me.”
Callie held her breath as he leaned down toward her, his lips slightly parted so she could feel puffs of air between them. His breath was hot and enticing, and as her heart fluttered, Callie prepared to dart away just as he dove in for the kiss. But he never crossed that line, and it became a battle of wills.
The ache in her lower body had Callie on the verge of quitting when Keegan simply chucked her on the chin and walked away. She was a bit blindsided and even more excited that she’d won. But once he was out of the room, Callie’s brain cleared, and she celebrated with a quiet little cheer.
Keegan may have gotten her a couple of times, but Callie had scored her fair share of points in the short time she’d even been up and moving. And that was quite the feat, considering the turn of events. Of course, she couldn’t leave anything up to fate from this point forward.
Callie needed to create a plan of attack. And she needed backup ideas, in case something got in the way of her original plans, as they had today. She smiled to herself. All those cause and effect charts and interweaved plot graphs she’d hated in school would finally have an application. She would beat her stepbrother in the seduction game and get an eyeful of everything she wanted to appreciate all at the same time.
***
No amount of cold showering was going to relieve the ache in Keegan’s groin. The image of that crotch shot Callie had given him was burned into his mind, etched in clear detail. He’d called in a couple of resources to ask around about Callie, and he’d gotten clear detail about her reputation. She never got sexually frustrated. In fact, she probably had plans to take that hot little body out on the town tonight – again – and feed her ego as well as her sexual appetite.
He could do the same thing, if he wanted. If Callie spent all day getting herself hot and bothered at the sight of him so she could go flaunt it and sell it to some retard with a sports car, Keegan should take his hot rod and go pick up some bleached blond airhead and take out his frustration on her.
But for some reason, the thought of screwing some random chick made him sick to his stomach. It wasn’t that he was prude or anything; the European culture was pretty promiscuous. But honestly, you had a small circle of trusted people you could sleep around with. Every once in a while, they added new friends to the circle, and you connected with other trusted partners through those people. You didn’t just pick up some chick in a bar.
He hated Callie more than ever for making him feel this way. Once again, he was a reject, and now, it was a completely valid term. After all, he was lusting after his adopted stepsister like some idiot out of Deliverance. To make matters worse, she seemed to have decided to turn this into a real game rather than a little friendly – if sick – fun. He’d played along for a bit, enjoying the fact that the girl who’d treated him like shit couldn’t hold herself together at the sight of him. And needless to say, she was the poster girl for lusty bodies.
Now, though, this idea Keegan’s idiot father had dropped on them had created an opportunity to turn the game into a real war. Callie had bit at the chance, whether out of greed or pride, it didn’t matter. She had set Keegan up so he couldn’t say no and keep his dignity.
Placing his anger into compartments toward his father and Callie had helped ease the pain of his blue balls. With a little blood flowing to the head on his shoulders again, he leaned back against the wall in his bedroom, closing his eyes and taking deep breaths. He was willing to bet Callie didn’t know what she’d gotten herself into. Keegan was a competitor in everything he did.
And he didn’t lose.
Whatever tricks Callie pulled, he could take it up a notch. He could anticipate anything she considered fair game and block her attacks or take her by surprise by intercepting her or making her plans backfire.
Knowing exactly where to start, he reached for his
cell phone and made a call.
***
Callie heard the doorbell and frowned. It was nearly eight, and she wasn’t expecting anyone. She’d told Rena she needed a night to recuperate, which had been perfectly fine with Rena. She was obviously worn out from all Callie’s recent demands. And Callie couldn’t really blame her. In fact, last night’s attempt to get her rocks off hadn’t gone so well. She couldn’t find a single guy worth her time, and she’d drank far too much to go home with anyone anyway. It was part of the reason she’d slept so late and been so callous to Keegan this morning. Or rather, this afternoon.
She couldn’t imagine anyone showing up to talk to Keegan. He hadn’t been around in two decades. Callie didn’t think he even knew anyone here, much less had any friends. And Callie didn’t have any friends who would just drop by without calling or texting first. She was in for the night, and they all knew that.
She had a bad feeling that someone had come looking for her mother or stepfather, and she didn’t like the idea of having to handle that discussion. Maybe whoever answered the door would seek out Keegan first, since he was the ‘blood relative’ onsite.
When no one had tried to contact her after a few minutes, Callie assumed that was exactly what happened, and she went back to removing her toenail polish. She was going for a Mani Pedi and facial tomorrow, and she’d be radiant when she got home. She would lay out by the pool and let Keegan have an enticing view.
The doorbell rang again, and the sound was followed by voices out back, in the pool area. Scowling in confusion, she got up and peeked out her window to see three people she didn’t know milling around the wet bar with beers in their hands. She gaped, thinking that someone on the staff must have decided to take advantage of the fact that her mother and her soon-to-be-ex-husband were out of town. The gall!
She was going to storm down there and fire the scoundrel and chase those people out, including whoever had just arrived. She grabbed her door handle and jumped when there was a knock on the other side. Gathering herself and throwing the door open, she stopped with her mouth wide open. She’d been ready to let someone have it, but it was only Keegan standing there. He wore a pair of black swim trunks with gold piping that were slung low on his hips, and she quickly snapped her mouth shut before she drooled.
“Hey,” he greeted with his dimpled grin. “I just thought I’d let you know I’m having some friends over for a little reunion downstairs at the pool. If you want to join us, you’re welcome to. Maybe you can, you know, do your thing and pick up someone for the evening.”
A reunion? Had he contacted the two or three pathetic friends he’d had in elementary school to come over in an attempt to make her jealous? It was a strange move, and it goaded her curiosity. Besides, she was sure the dorks would follow her like a pack of hungry dogs, which just might rankle Keegan a bit. “Sure, I’d like that. Let me just change into something a little more appropriate.” She shrugged off her robe while he stood there, giving him a clear view of her still in lacy underwear.
“Okay, I’ll see you down there. Oh, are you okay with steak on the grill? I’m doing up some veggies, too. I just don’t know if you have any special dietary requirements when it comes to protein.” There was a lilt to his tone that insinuated he referred to her sexual practices rather than eating habits.
Still not facing him as she pulled out the skimpiest bikini she owned, she told him, “Oh, I eat meat all the time, as long as it’s high quality.” She glanced back at him over her shoulder and was glad to see that at least he didn’t look quite so smug. Still, he seemed barely affected, and Callie realized she might have actually met her match. How the hell had her snot-nosed stepbrother turned into such a fun, socially intelligent hottie?
“Good,” he responded. “I’ll see you down there. I don’t want to leave these guys alone with an open liquor cabinet too long.”
There was no way Keegan had party friends, no matter what he suggested. Still, Callie was confident she could change that. A little flirting turned the shiest of men into party animals around her, and that’s exactly what she planned to do. By the time she was finished, Keegan’s jealous would run so deep his blood would flow green.
She quickly changed, rubbed the polish off the last two toes, and slipped her feet into a pair of cute sandals. She twisted her hair up into a messy quaff, knowing it would just give her that ‘cute’ edge on top of the sex appeal, and grabbed a towel. By the time she actually made it to the pool, four more people had arrived, and the ‘reunion’ was shifting from the population of a gathering to a shindig. Another four or five and they would have a definite party on their hands. If she didn’t have a particular agenda, Callie would have started calling her friends and torn the place apart.
Her eyes fell on Keegan, who stood in just the right lighting to throw shadows across all the deep lines of his muscles. She bit her lip to keep from growling as she took note of the little bleach blond bimbo clinging to him. The girl’s eyes were devoid of any brain activity and registered only lust.
The thought that he could do so much better truly surprised Callie, and she brushed it off. After all, it was just the reaction of a sibling being protective. Keegan was smart, and while he should be with someone that matched him in terms of looks, he also needed to be intellectually stimulated. Girls like that one would bore him in minutes.
None of that had anything to do with the fact that Callie couldn’t take her eyes off the guy. The two reactions were mutually exclusive. At least, that’s what she told herself as she approached the group with her hips swaying. She made a quick assessment, knowing she had a good eye for it, and determined which of the guys she should hit on to get the biggest reaction from Keegan.
She was surprised that, out of four options, there was only one she wouldn’t consider attractive at all and another that was somewhat plain. Three of them were viable options, and she went for the obvious choice. He was taller than Keegan by about three inches, with dark hair and green eyes. His physique was similar to Keegan’s, but his shoulders were slightly broader, and he stood with an aloof attitude that made him stand out.
“Well, look who it is!” Keegan called out as Callie rounded to the side of the pool where they stood. “Callie, these are some of my oldest and dearest friends. Guys, this is my stepsister, Callie. I didn’t think she’d miss a chance to party a little.”
Callie nodded to each of them, skimming past the bimbo and focusing her attention on the tall guy. “You know, it’s been so long since Keegan was around I could be wrong, but I think I would have remembered you.”
He gave her the calculated lopsided grin that told her he was definitely interested. “I never came to the house as a kid. We were on a swim team together, outside school. I’m Luke,” he told her, holding out his hand. “I think I would have remembered you, too.”
Feigning humility, she brushed him off. “I doubt it. Keegan and his friends tended to ignore me most of the time. I’m afraid I was never quite as smart as he was.” She turned and gave Keegan a look and was triumphant in seeing his cheek twitch. “I never knew he was on a swim team, but we weren’t really close as children.”
With a sinister smile, Keegan added, “You know what they say, though. Absence makes the heart grow fond, and since I’ve been back, we’ve grown really close.”
Callie felt her smile falter a bit and had to force it to remain in place. “Yes, we very much have. I’m impressed with how much he’s grown and changed. After all, I had this image of a little boy in glasses, and here comes a grown man who happens to be a genius. What more could a woman want in her family?” She turned pointedly back to Luke. “Of course, she might look for a little more in her personal life.” She dropped her eyes to his crotch suggestively.
He took the hint and winked at her. She didn’t look back at Keegan as his big-busted tart fawned over him and said, “He really is smart. I had no idea he was going to law school. I bet he’s not even just a lawyer, he’s an attorney. Am I right, Ke
egan?”
Callie had never been more relieved to be facing away from someone – or to not have a swig of beer in her mouth. The rest of the group chuckled and said nothing, while Keegan stroked the girl’s ego. “You are right, Misty. I’m impressed with you.”
The girl giggled. “Oh, if you’re impressed because you think I’m smart, wait till you see what else I can do. I’m a very talented girl.”
Clenching her fists at her sides, Callie gazed up at Luke through her lashes. “Hon, would you mind opening a beer for me? I always end up tearing skin or breaking a nail. And Keegan, how about firing up that grill? I’m starving.”
The others chorused their agreement as Luke dug into the cooler someone had filled with beer and popped the top. He handed it to her, and she used her lips and tongue to make her swig sensual. Luke swallowed visibly, and she knew he was hooked. It would work so much better now!
She took his hand and guided him over toward the grill, where Keegan was now diligently working. He gave her what she assumed was supposed to be some sort of warning look, and Callie just smiled back at him. There was nothing he could say or do to stop her. Sidling up next to him and sandwiching herself with Luke on the other side, she asked, “So, how long were you on a swim team together? I want to hear more about this. My brother here never shared his particular talent with me.”
“What was it, about four years?” Luke asked, and Keegan nodded silently. “Well, the first year or so, it was more like lessons and swim meets. It wasn’t until we were about seven that it really became competitive. Keegan here was the champion at the butterfly and not half bad at the thousand meter freestyle.”
Keegan looked up and pointed with the barbecue brush at Luke, but his eyes were on Callie. “This man right here won several medals and trophies for his breaststroke.” She shivered slightly at the insinuation.
But she came right back at him. “Is that why you still like to wear a Speedo when you come out to swim laps? Or is it because it catches the ladies’ attention?”