Stepbrother Virgin (2 page)

Surprise

“No way, no fucking way.”

“Yes way, and stop fucking swearing at me.”

Buck rolled his eyes at his dad and tried to reason with him. “There is no reason what-so-ever for me to move into some lady’s house that I don’t know just because you married her. I’m an adult, and now that you don’t need me to fucking babysit you and give you money for the rent and food, I can stay here and you can go there.”

Buck was pissed. He hadn’t been home for thirty seconds when his dad had given him the “good” news that not only was he moving out, but Buck was going with him.

“You can’t stay here.”

“The hell I can’t.”

“No seriously, you can’t. I already told the landlord we were leaving. He’s got it rented out to someone else already.”

“What the all mighty
fuck,
Pop? When did you plan on telling me this? When you had your shit packed and you were walking out the door?”

“I did it for you, son. I know how hard you’ve worked, and it makes sense. We move in there, you save money, win-win.”

“Jesus, Pop. First, I’m an adult, I don’t need to follow your ass around like I’m an eight year old kid. Second, I’ve never even met this woman, and you want me to live in her house?”

“It’s not like it’s a two bedroom apartment, Buck. She lives in a fucking mansion. They have like ten people who live and work there full time. One of her ex-husbands left her a shit-ton of money, along with the money she got from her first husband’s death. She’s a billionaire.”

Buck paced the small living room. His dad was sitting on the couch he’d picked up at goodwill for a steal. It only had two holes in it, but with the blanket thrown over the back of it, they weren’t visible. There were so many things wrong with what his dad just told him, Buck wasn’t sure where to start.

“Pop. God. Okay, let’s break this down. One of her ex-husbands?”

“Yeah, I think there’s been like three or four.”

“Pop.”

“It’s not a big deal, Buck. Hell, I’ve been married a few times myself.”

Buck knew this. It was one reason he swore he’d never get married. It was too much hassle and he hadn’t met a woman that made him want to risk tying himself to for the rest of his life…well, for as long as it might last at least. He’d dated one girl in high school, and when he’d found out she was only dating him because one of her friends’ boyfriend told her he had a big dick and she wanted to see for herself, he broke it off. He dealt with enough drama at home with his dad to have any desire to deal with that shit in a relationship of his own.

He went back to questioning his dad. “
They
have people who work for them?”

“Yeah.”

“Pop. They? Who the fuck is ‘they’?”

“Oh, I thought I told you this morning…Lorraine has a daughter. She lives there with them.”

“
Dammit
, Pop. So now you’re a stepdad? How old is this daughter? Are you gonna be expected to go to fucking cheerleading competitions and ballet classes for Christ’s sake? You couldn’t manage to deal with me, how the fuck are you gonna deal with a kid?”

“Calm down. Jesus fucking Christ. She’s your age, Buck. She’s not a fucking kid.”

Oh this just got better and better. “She’s my age? And living at home? Why?”

“How the fuck do I know?” Buck could see his dad getting agitated, but didn’t care. “I haven’t even met her. Lorraine and I were getting to know each other without bringing our kids into it. You’re both adults, so you don’t have to approve of our relationship or our marriage.”

“But you expect me to give up this apartment and come and live with you and this chick?”

“It’s not that big of a deal. Jesus, Buck. I
told
you their house has a gazillion rooms in it. You won’t even see them.”

Buck just shook his head and stalked down the hall to his room, running his hand through his hair in frustration, leaving his hair sticking up in wonky angles. He couldn’t afford to keep the apartment on his own salary. His dad was a fuckup, but he did contribute some money toward the rent. Buck had been saving to try to move out, and finally let his dad fend for himself once and for all, but didn’t quite have enough to do it yet.

As much as he hated to admit it, his dad was right. He could save a lot of money living in this woman’s house rent-free. And if Pop was right, and she did have as big of a house as he claimed, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad after all.

* * *

“Mother, seriously, I don’t understand why his son has to move in here. Isn’t he too old to be living at home?”

“
You’re
living at home.”

Susie powered through the sting at her mother’s words. She didn’t
want
to be living at home, but her mother had no idea how to manage all the people she had working for her and the last thing she wanted was for them to not get paid, or to be treated like shit by her mom. There were times she loved her mother, but there were other times she had no idea how she was related at all.

“I am, but I’m helping you with the staff around here. It’s not like I’m sitting around eating bon-bons.”

“Susanne, dear…I want you to like your new stepbrother. I want you to get along. After all, you’re family now.”

Susie sighed and barely resisted rolling her eyes. She hated when her mom called her Susanne, and like hell was she ever going to call anyone her “brother.” Her mom would most likely get sick of slumming it with this mechanic guy and divorce him, just as she had most of her other husbands. She thought of something suddenly. “Mother, please tell me you had him sign a pre-nup.”

“Of course.”

Susie sighed in relief. Her mother drove her crazy most of the time, but there was no way in hell she was gonna let all of her billion dollars fall into anyone else’s hands. The guy would get a “good-will stipend,” or whatever it was called, but he wouldn’t be able to get his hands on most of her money. “Well, that’s good then.”

“Are you wearing that for dinner?”

“Yes, mother, I’m wearing this.”
This
was a pair of jeans that fit her like a glove, high heeled boots, a black tank top that was cut low in front, and back. Susie wasn’t going to change into a freaking prom dress just because she’d be meeting her mother’s new husband and his kid for the first time.

“You look like a tramp.”

“Mother…”

“You should change.”

“I’m not changing.”

“I’m not sure that’s the impression you want to give your new stepfather and stepbrother.”

“I don’t give a shit, mother. And stop calling them that. We’re both adults. We aren’t going to start calling each other brother and sister.”

Her mother opened her mouth to speak, but the doorbell pealed from far off at the front of the house. Susie watched as her mom stood up, ran a hand over her hair to make sure it was in place, and hurried out of the room. Susie snorted quietly, knowing if it was anyone else, her mom would just hang out in the sitting room until James escorted whoever was at the door to her.

Susie followed behind her mother slowly, dreading the evening. She couldn’t believe two strangers would be moving into the house. Her mother had only known this Patrick guy for about a month…and he was a mechanic for God’s sake. He was probably covered in grease and would most likely have no manners.

And Susie didn’t even want to think about his son...her new stepbrother. What kind of weirdo would follow his dad and move into his new wife’s house when he’d never met her? She supposed she’d find out soon enough. She could hear voices in the hall and reluctantly made her way to meet her new fucking family.

* * *

Susie walked into the foyer and saw James closing the front door. Her eyes went to her mother hugging a tall, surprisingly good looking, man who was obviously her mother’s new husband.

He was a few inches taller than her mother, with brown hair. It was longer than it should’ve been, and he had a bit of a pot belly, but Susie was glad to see that he wasn’t covered in grease and was wearing what she considered to be normal clothes. No overalls, just a pair of jeans, work boots, and a black polo shirt.

He put his hand around her mom’s waist and turned to Susie. “You must be Susie. I’m Patrick. It’s nice to meet you. Let me introduce my son.” He turned and Susie noticed the guy standing behind him for the first time. She’d been so focused on seeing the man her mother had married that she’d momentarily forgotten his son would be there too.

“This is Buck, your new stepbrother.”

Susie gaped at the man currently smirking at her. She knew him. It was the groundskeeper from the golf course Mo had threatened that afternoon. Fuck.

He held out his hand to her and said, “Nice to meet you.”

Susie automatically put her hand out to grasp his. When she did he leaned in and whispered for her ears only, “Surprise.”

Double fuck.

Movin’ In

Dinner was extremely awkward, but Buck shrugged it off. He couldn’t believe it when he’d walked in the biggest fucking house he’d ever seen and recognized one of the bitches he’d chewed out that afternoon at the golf course. Granted, Susie was the least bitchy out of all of them, but still. He took great pleasure in smirking at her and being over the top polite throughout dinner.

Pop’s new wife didn’t seem so bad, but then again, he just met her. Who knew what she was really like. There was a lot of superficial talk at the table, and Buck learned Loraine didn’t work, and Susie didn’t either. He’d barely resisted rolling his eyes at the pair of them. Didn’t work. Jesus. He’d worked what seemed like every day of his life since he turned thirteen, and bent over backwards trying to earn enough cash to keep a roof over his and Pop’s head and to eat.

After dinner they’d all gone into the sitting room to chat. Buck declined to sit and stood near the floor to ceiling windows, arms crossed across his chest, leaning against the wall, taking in the dynamics of his new stepsister.

When she wasn’t around her bitchy friends she seemed very different. She wasn’t shy, exactly, but she also didn’t throw her weight around. At one point, when Loraine asked when Pop and he were moving in, that it wouldn’t make a bit of difference to the “help,” he swore he saw Susie flinch.

“I’ve told our landlord we’ll be out by the end of the month,” Patrick told Loraine.

“Good, that’ll give the help time to get my stepson’s room perfect.”

“Yeah, okay,” Susie said standing up abruptly, “I gotta go.”

“Go? But sweetie, you need to get to know your new stepbrother.”

“No, I gotta go do…something.” Turning to Buck and Patrick she said through gritted teeth, “It was nice meeting you.”

“I’ll walk you out.” Buck couldn’t resist. He’d wanted to get her alone all night. He had some things he wanted to say to her.

“It’s okay, I…”

“Great idea!” Loraine cut in. “You’re siblings now, you should get to know each other.”

Buck saw Susie did roll her eyes at that. He watched as she said good bye to his father and he trailed her out the door.

They walked to the end of a long hallway and Susie stopped and turned to him. She didn’t beat around the bush. “Look, here’s the deal. I didn’t know you existed until today. I had no idea my mother got married until she sprung it on me earlier tonight. I don’t want you or your father in this house.”

“Wow, don’t hold back,” Buck said sarcastically, assuming his normal pose of arms crossed and leaning against the wall.

“I won’t. I can’t believe my mother got married again. She has no clue how to be a wife. I’m sorry to say this, but I don’t think they’re going to be married all that long. Don’t get used to anything. You guys will be out sooner rather than later.”

Buck couldn’t really disagree with her, but her words still pissed him off. They seemed like a dig against his dad. “Your mom better not hurt my Pop.”

“Fuckin’ A. Really? Your Pop…” she sneered the word, “was the one who married her after only a fucking month of dating. You know there’s a pre-nup right? He’s not going to get her billions.”

“We don’t want your money.”

“Well, it sure looks like you could use it.”

Buck felt every muscle tense at her snotty words. “Look,
Sis
, I don’t like this any more than you do, but it looks like our parents have decided they’re doing this.”

“Fine, just stay out of my way and I’ll stay out of yours.”

“Fine.”

“Fine.”

Buck was ready to storm off to somewhere, anywhere other than standing in front of the pissed off, stuck up, bitch of a woman that was now his stepsister, his
rich
stepsister, when someone called Susie’s name from down the hall.

“Jesus. Again?”

The soft words came from Susie. She was standing in the hallway looking at the three men standing there, obviously waiting for her. She looked back to Buck and said, “See you around,” and she stalked down the hall toward the men.

Buck watched as the four had what was obviously a heated discussion. Susie’s hands were flying a million miles an hour and the men were scowling at her. Buck shrugged and turned his back and headed back to the sitting room.

The men were obviously some of the hired help for the house and Susie was most likely trying to get the poor overworked employees to do something else that they probably wouldn’t be paid for and would be taken advantage of.

How had this happened? He was relatively good looking, he was strong, he was a hard worker…how had he found himself being forcefully moved into a huge ass house, with a new stepmother and stepsister? It was crazy. As soon as he saved enough money he was out of there. Pop was officially on his own. He only had to stay away from his new stepsister until he saved that money. No problem. It was a big house.

* * *

Susie watched Buck turn away and head back to the sitting room and she repressed a sigh. Thomas, Roman, and Tayzon had wanted to speak to her about her mother. It seemed she’d wanted to go shopping for a new outfit to wear to meet her stepson for the first time, and she’d “forgotten” her credit card. They might be rich, but Loraine was the cheapest woman Susie had ever met.

She did this all the time…forced their employees to pay for her stuff, under the guise that she’d pay them back later. Loraine had fired three people, accusing them of trying to cheat her by asking to be repaid for money they spent at the request of Loraine. Loraine would “forget” she asked them and accuse them of theft.

It wasn’t until James steered them her way, and let her handle it that they’d been able to keep employees more than a couple of weeks.

“I’m sorry, Roman, I’ll take care of it and get you paid back. Do you have the receipts?”

“Of course, I’m really sorry, Susie.”

“Not your fault. You guys too?” Tayzon and Thomas nodded and handed her receipts from their outing as well.

Susie had thought about getting them a credit card they could use, but that seemed a bit too trusting, even for her.

“Find me tomorrow and I’ll have the money to pay you back.”

Each of the men thanked her again. When they turned to go, Susie put her hand on Roman’s arm. “Hey, hang on a sec.”

Roman nodded.

When the other men were gone, Susie said, “Mom got remarried today. Her new husband and his son will be moving in by the end of the month.” She saw Roman flinch and powered on. “I know, it means more work for everyone. If you can talk to Alison and let her know. Mother will need some space made in her wing for Patrick, her new husband.”

“Where do you want the son?”

“I don’t care. As long as it isn’t near me.”

“No problem.”

“I’ll talk to Missy and let her know she’s gonna have to increase the meals. I’ll talk to mother and see if I can’t figure out what these guys like to eat or what their schedules will be.”

“Anything else?”

“That’s all I can think of right now.”

“Okay, I’ll let the others know as well. Er…payday is still this Friday right?”

Susie sighed again and rubbed her temple. “Yeah. I’ll have everyone’s pay ready to go.” She’d also taken over paying their employees because mother usually forgot that as well and then tried to stiff the employees claiming they were lazy or some such thing. Susie honestly didn’t know why any of them stayed around. But at least it had gotten better since she’d taken over the managing of the house.

“See you tomorrow.”

“Yeah, bye, Roman.”