Bodyguard: A Bad Boy Stepbrother Romance (Snake Eyes Book 1) (10 page)

“Coming right up.” The waitress flashes a strategic, tip-bait smile and walks away to put our order in.

I take a long sip of coffee, relishing in the caffeine boost. “Pancakes, eh?”

Dani slides her sunglasses down to the tip of her nose. “Dad rarely lets me have carbs,” she explains. “I might as well have them while I still can.”

I lean back in the booth. “Why do you let Bennett control you so much?”

Her eyes fall. “
Let
is a pretty strong word.”

“Dani, you have more than enough means to cut him off. It’s not like either of you will be on the street if you do.”

“I just…” Her teeth scratch her bottom lip. “Never mind. It’s stupid.”

“No, tell me,” I urge.

She takes her time. Her elbows bend and move as she slides her palms along her thighs beneath the table. “I don’t know anything else. He’s all I have and… he’s done a pretty good job at reminding me of that fact.”

Classic Bennett. What better way is there to keep a leash on her than to give her no other alternative than to follow? “You’ll adapt,” I say. “The world isn’t as scary as he makes it out to be.”

“Says the former contract killer,” she quips.

“You know what I mean.”

“That’s the thing, though, isn’t it? I really don’t.” She pushes her sagging sunglasses back up her nose. “I was born in L.A. If I ever make it back, I’ll probably die there, too.”

“There are worse ways to die.
Trust me.
”

“You’re right.” She nods softly as she runs a fingertip along the edge of her coffee mug. “I just wish my life didn’t feel so manufactured. And it’s not like I can complain about it either. If I even try to express an ounce of negativity, people just brush it off.
What the hell does she have to complain about? Look at her.
” She lets out a hard exhale. “They forget there’s an actual person beneath that spotlight.”

“You have a
good
life, Dani,” I whisper, grasping for ways to comfort her.

She tilts her head. “Yeah, but… is it really a life when someone else makes all of your decisions for you? Honestly, the choice between pancakes or waffles was the biggest decision I’ve made since…
ever
. I almost asked for your opinion.”

“I would have gone with waffles.”

She smiles and little dimples cave on her chin. “Well, shit…”

“Forget about all of that stuff.” I smile back without thinking. “We’re in the middle of nowhere. You don’t have to be anyone but Dani out here. Especially not with me.”

She scoffs. “Don’t pretend like you don’t see Roxie Roberts staring back every time you look over here.”

“You’ve never been Roxie to me.” I bite my tongue, feeling like I’ve gone too far. Her eyes flick up at me over the tops of her shades and her cheeks turn red. Definitely too far. “I mean…” I shrug and grab my coffee. “You’re my little sister, you know?”

Dani clears her throat. Her eyes drop to the table. “Yeah, I know.”

“All right!”

I lurch slightly as the waitress appears at the booth. “One bacon cheeseburger with fries and some pancakes.” She lays the plates down in front of us, along with a container of maple syrup for Dani. “Is there anything else I can get you two?”

“No, thanks,” I answer. Dani shakes her head with a kind smile.

“Enjoy.” She wanders off again.

Dani grabs the syrup and pours a healthy amount over the small stack of carbohydrate heaven. “I refuse to not enjoy this,” she mutters, squeezing even more from the bottle. It seeps to the edges of the plate before she finally stops and readies her fork.

I smile. It can’t be helped.
This
is Dani; the girl I knew before she was molded and shaped through the Hollywood filter. “Hey—” She looks up at me as I slide the edge of my plate towards hers. I nudge it a bit closer until she snags a fry and crushes it between her teeth.

“Oh, my god…”
Her eyelids flutter closed. “I miss fries.”

I chuckle and pull my plate back.

***

I decide to get some rest and continue on to Denver in the morning.

I can easily manage the rest of the trip, but there’s something about extending it that just feels so damn tempting. It’s dangerous as hell. Getting this file decrypted is priority number one. Taking Mercer’s focus off of Dani is everything. And yet…

I don’t know. Maybe this
is
a little fun.

Dani lies on the other bed with the television remote in one hand, surfing away at the limited channels available. She’s on her side with her head propped up on her other hand. Her feet dangle off the side, connected to perfect, smooth legs. She slipped out of her jeans and into my big shirt again the second we arrived and it’s taking everything in me not to gawk at her.

“Uh-oh…” Dani points to the television.

A national news channel flashes a photo of her face, along with an older one of mine.
ROXIE ROBERTS KIDNAPPED BY STEPBROTHER.

“Looks like Bennett is going all out with this…” I mutter.

“He must
really
hate you,” she says.

“Always has.”

She clicks away from the channel. I stand up from my own bed and walk to the window for a distraction, but there’s not much to see out here. It’s the most secluded, rundown motel I saw off the road. I guess it’s all my fault that there’s nothing else to look at other than her perky—

Dani lets out an exasperated moan and my ears twitch. “You’d figure there’d be something decent on. What else do people have to do around here?” I glance at her as she rolls onto her back. Her chest rises and falls. “A-ha!”

I blink out of it. “What?”

She points at the television. “Finally, some quality programming.”

Roxie Roberts looks back at me from the old, glass screen. Her blonde hair tumbles in the wind as waves crash below her feet, submerging her up to her knees. It’s the ending of the first
Night Trials
movie. Tears roll down her dirt-covered cheeks and she waves her arms up and down. The rescue boat sits on the horizon. Music swells. She’s finally escaped… until
Part 2
, of course.

I cross my arms and lean against the wall. “Is that you?”

“Yes, it’s
me
,” she laughs. “How have you
never
seen this before?!”

I shrug.

She peeks at me from the corners of her eyes. “You know, you’re pretty boring for a dead guy.
Ooo
— They’re showing it again. Sit down. The beginning is the best part.”

I stay on the wall. “I thought actors
hated
watching themselves on screen.”

“Only when I’m crying,” she says. “Or laughing. Or kissing somebody. I usually turn away then.”

“Why?”

She drops the remote by her side. “No one likes looking into the mirror when they’re actually feeling something.”

“But it’s not real,” I point out.

“It’s my job to make it
look
real, so it
feels
real.”

My eyes fall on the screen again. There she is. Little Roxie Roberts in the role that catapulted her to major stardom. I’ve seen this so many times, I could say the lines out loud. I’ve cried with her and laughed with her but it wasn’t real. Not like now. Now, she is
real
. She speaks and her voice vibrates my ears without passing through a set of speakers first. She’s so close, I could reach out and touch her warm, apple-scented skin. My fingers tremble. My face explodes with heat. My cock twitches in my slacks.

“Fuck it.”

I push off the wall and walk around the bed to her. She watches with suspicious eyes and they grow in surprise as I lower myself to the bed and balance over her.

“Fox, what—”

I kiss her. I fucking kiss her. It’s short, only a few seconds, but feels a like sublime hour of bliss. Blood rushes south, locking me in place above her. I open my eyes, prepared for the inevitable backlash.
Get away from me, you creep. Don’t touch me. Who the hell do you think you are?

Dani stares at me but she doesn’t move. There’s only an inch of air between us. Her breath trembles through her lips to touch mine, smelling like warm cider. My mouth waters for more of her.

I touch her face, drawn to her like a magnet. Again, she doesn’t move. Heat radiates off her skin. I slide my thumb across her bottom lip. It feels so soft and smooth beneath my fingers, just like it did five years ago. I give her one more second, one last chance to push me away, before finally leaning in and kissing her again.

Her body feels tense and stiff but I can’t make myself stop tasting her. I take a much-needed breath, feeling the cold air wash through my body but it does little to chill my racing heart. She trembles beneath me. I can’t tell if it’s fear or pleasure driving her. I look into her eyes and I see both staring back at me.

Dani’s hands rise to my hips, hovering for a moment before she builds the courage to touch me. It’s like fireworks shooting up my back; the gentle pressure of her fingertips igniting the nerves beneath my skin.

She licks her lips and kisses me back. Her lips press against mine, pursing and quivering.

I ease myself between her legs and her knees settle against my sides.

Fuck. This is really happening.

I’ve fantasized a thousand times about this moment. Every night for
years
, I’ve lied in bed with closed eyes and this is what I saw. I’d kiss every inch of her alabaster skin. I’d taste her long enough to quench my thirst for her. I’d fuck her until she turned numb.

Tonight, I’m finally going to do it.

She leans back, her breath heavy and wild, as I attack her neck and collar bone. I keep my hands moving, practically twitching around her entire body with minds of their own. I can’t help it. It’s Roxie
fucking
Roberts for god’s sake — beautiful, perfect
Dani
.

I navigate down her shirt, flicking the buttons free, and slip my hands beneath it. Her skin feels like warm milk and tastes just as good. I cup her breast with one hand and feel her nipple swell between my fingers as she shudders beneath my touch. Pleasure radiates down my spine, fueling the blood in my cock. It rages for her, begs for her. Years of bedding look-a-likes have come to this moment. Years of imagining her face instead of theirs — of her lips wrapped around my the tip of my dick instead of theirs.

I slip a hand beneath her shorts and her warmth tickles my fingertips.

“Fox, slow down.”

I lick between her breasts, barely hearing her words, as I push my hand deeper between her thighs.

She goes tense in my arms.
“Slow down.”

I pause. Her pupils twitch with a deep hesitation that I haven’t seen in a woman’s eyes in quite some time. “Dani, are you a…?”

She looks down and wets her throat. “Yes…”

“That’s
impossible.
” I push up on my arms. “How are you still a virgin?”

She gives an awkward chuckle. “My very overprotective agent schedules my time and he doesn’t exactly leave room for personal relationships with men.”

Reality crushes me. She’s too vulnerable — too fragile for this. For me.

I’m taking advantage of Roxie
fucking
Roberts.

What the hell am I doing?

I hang my head and slide away from her.

“Wait— Fox.” She reaches for me. “You don’t have to stop. Does this really bother you?”

“No, it’s not that. It’s just…” I linger on the bed’s edge, unable to believe my own reaction. “I don’t think I can be gentle with you, Dani.”

“Oh.” She grips her shirt and holds it closed. “I mean, I guess you don’t have to be…”

My heart stops pumping blood towards my disappointed cock. “I don’t want to hurt you. I’ve wanted you for so long, I… I don’t want to do things that you can’t handle.”

“I
can
handle it.” Her eyes flash with anger.

Here she is. My perfect stepsister.

Nubile, untouched Dani lying in front of me asking me to touch her in ways no man ever has.

But I can’t do it.

I can’t corrupt America’s sweetheart.

Chapter 10

Dani

Fox shakes his head. “Dani, don’t say that because you think it’s what I want to hear.”

My jaw drops. Every bit of pleasure melts off my body, replaced by seething annoyance. “I can handle it, Fox.” I sit up and throw my feet on the floor.
“God
, when are people going to stop treating me like some dainty fucking flower?!”

“Dani—” He stands up and presses his shirt down. “You should get some sleep.”

“Are you serious right now?” I don’t mean to raise my voice but the emotion in me is far too intense.

Fox. My ridiculously hot stepbrother. Even when he was dead and I hated him for disappearing, part of me still wanted him. Years of heartache brought back again in one moment of rejection.

“I’m sorry,” he whispers. “It’s not
right
.”

“
This
isn’t right? Being a member of a secret murder club is morally okay but
fucking me
is out of the question?”

He hangs his head and runs his fingers through his hair. “When you say it like that, it sounds dumb, I know, but—”

“You’re damn right it sounds
dumb
.” I grab my shirt and flick the buttons closed. “I can’t believe this…”

“Dani, calm down. This was just a mistake. It’s okay—”

“No, this is
not
okay, Fox.” I stand up and anger rattles my knees. “You told me you don’t see me like they do, but — surprise, surprise — yes, you fucking do.”

“That’s not true,” he claims. “I meant every word I said about that. We just need to take a minute and think about this first—”

“I’ve thought enough about it, Fox. I want to do this.”

“You shouldn’t rush something that should be special for you.”

“You
are
special to me.” I throw up my hands. “And please don’t give me that cartoon princess view of sex. I know how the real world works. I’m not twelve-years-old.”