Dirty Little Secret: New Adult Rock Star Romance (Not Exactly A Stepbrother Romance Book 1) Read Online Free Page A

bottle out of my hand, then rubbed the lotion between his palms. “The only thing worse than a sunburn is an uneven sunburn.”
    I ignored him.
    “Turn around,” he said in a tone I’d never heard before. The low timbre of his voice vibrated in all the wrong places. If I made too big a deal out of this, shit was going to get weird. Weirder. I rolled my eyes and sighed before doing what he said.
    His big hands were rough from playing guitar and all the work he did outside. He didn’t miss a spot; he rubbed the lotion in like he was giving me a massage. I was so glad he couldn’t see my face when he ran his hand under the string of my top. I pulled away from him before I untied the thing. “That’s enough. I can get the rest. Need help with anything else?”
    “No.” Bret rubbed the rest of the lotion into his arms. “Thanks. I have a plan for how I want it to look.”
    “Don’t trust me not to fuck it up?” I’d only offered to be nice. Going back to my book and watching Bret do all the work was more than fine with me.
    “Maybe a little.” He winked. “It’s just easier to do it myself than explain what I want.”
    “Control freak.” I laughed and picked up my Kindle.
    “You better believe it,” he said before he walked away.
    I went back to the top step and tried to get back into my story about the billionaire CEO and his clueless yet sexy secretary. He’d tied her up and told her all the ways he was going to fuck her, and I had to go down another step to hide my squirming. The hero’s demands sounded like Bret’s voice in my head, that low commanding inflection he’d used when he wanted to put sunscreen on my back.
    Bret had forgotten all about me, hard at work, shoveling sod into the flower beds. A new layer of sweat slicked his skin, and his muscles tensed as he picked up the shovel. He looked up and caught me staring at him open mouthed. The smile he gave me before he continued his mission was enough to make me implode.
    “Can I get both of you for dinner tonight?” Mom came out on the deck, still dressed from going to the lawyer. “Nothing formal. We can eat out here if you want. I just want to talk to you about what happened at the meeting today.”
    “Yeah, I’m not going anywhere,” I said, and then looked back to Bret, who shrugged and nodded.
    **
    There was no putting a bra on. My shoulders were fried. I had a maxi halter dress that still rubbed against my angry skin, but it would sort of hold the girls up. A little dressy for the occasion, but it had to do. If Bret wasn’t there, I’d just throw on a T-shirt, but he stared at my chest enough already.
    I helped Mom make Caprese salad while Bret cooked chicken on the grill. It was one of those gorgeous nights after a hot day, when the air cooled down just enough that we could sit outside. Mom had made some sort of rum punch. She and Dad drank at home, but she was never big on us doing it, even as adults, so I considered it an omen.
    “How was your meeting, Ellen?” Bret asked the question that loomed heavy as we dug into dinner.
    “Good. I probably should’ve had both of you come with me,” she said. I wasn’t sure what the big deal was. She probably got everything. I was sure Dad left a little something to me and Bret, but I didn’t expect much. “The way things were worded was a little tricky, so hopefully we can work things out without any problems.”
    “What happened?” I asked. Dad would never leave anything up in the air. “Should you have another lawyer look at it?”
    “Maybe.” Mom took a long sip of her drink. She got up from the table and came back with a folder. “I’m going to read the part that pertains to both of you out loud, and then you can ask questions if you have any.”
    Bret and I looked at each other, eyes narrowed.
    Mom put on her glasses. “A sum of five million dollars will be given to either Bret Starling or Gemma Starling. The money is only to go to the one who needs it the most. Bret and