Stepbrother's Unbridled Passion Boxed Set Read Online Free Page B

question?”
    Ryker frowned as he took a seat beside her. “If you’re asking permission to ask a question, I’m suspecting it’s a question I’m not going to want to answer.”
    “Maybe,” she shrugged. “Maybe not. But I’m kinda curious about something.”
    “All right.”
    She chewed at her lower lip, drawing his eyes to her lips, lightly glossed with cherry lip balm. “Why haven’t you ever had a relationship?”
    He cocked a brow up at her. “Huh?”
    “I mean, like, all the girls. Why all the girls? It’s like a parade of women you’ve been with. Don’t you want something more meaningful?”
    “God, Chirps.” He thrust a hand into his hair, not sure how to answer that. “You want the truth?”
    She laughed. “No, I want you to lie to me.” She gave his arm a playful swat. “Of course I want the truth.”
    “I don’t know.”
    “Come on,” she said, nudging his knee with her own. “Spill it.”
    “I really don’t…”
    “Everyone has a strategy in life for everything they do, whether they know it or not.”
    He cocked a brow up at her. “That so?”
    “It is.”
    “Are you being the overachiever, as usual, and been digging into the psychology text books early?” A cocky grin spread across his lips. “Am I some sort of test project for you?”
    Laughing she shook her head, and then brushed a lock of dark hair from her eyes. “No, smartass. If you must know, it’s something Dr. Phil says. It’s not a direct quote or anything, I can’t remember the exact way he says it, but that’s the jest of it.”
    A roar of laughter erupted from him. “Dr. Phil, huh?”
    “Yup. But we’re getting off track. Why do you go through women like you do?”
    His smile faded. When the guys joked with him about it, it was all fun and games, but being called out on his doggish behaviour by Chloe was somewhat embarrassing. “I guess that –” He raked his hand through his hair again, not sure how to answer. “I just haven’t been with someone who has kept me interested beyond, ya know.” And it was the truth; he didn’t intentionally play the date and ditch game, it just happened.
    “Did it ever occur to you that perhaps you’re dating the wrong sorts of women?”
    “What do you mean?”
    She rolled her eyes, and then began twirling a lock of hair around her index finger, puffing her chest out. “Ah, well, like, um. Ya know. Like. Girls with no brains, but big tits.”
    “Hey, that’s not fair!”
    Chloe gave him a dubious stare.
    “They don’t all have big tits. I’m happy with any size, thank you very much.”
    Laughing, she gave his shoulder a shove. “You’re such a dick.”
    “You said you wanted honesty. I’m being honest.”
    Once her laughter stopped, her expression grew serious again. “Honestly, though. Why the women? Take that piece of work you had at your place when I arrived for instance.”
    “I’m not as bad as I used to be.” When she continued to look skeptical, he added, “Honestly, Chloe.” He sure as hell wasn’t about to tell her the real reason he’d had Sylvia there, to try and get her off of his mind. Maybe having her move in with him was a bad idea, but what choice did he have? Chloe was one of the hardest working, dedicated people he’d ever met, he couldn’t not do whatever he could to make her life easier.
    Her expression grew serious and she drew her bottom lip between her teeth again. “Then why not consider someone who could hold your interest? Your dick doesn’t always have to do the picking, you know. Maybe consider someone who can be a friend as well.”
    Damn, the way she was looking up at him, her dark eyes seemed to be hinting at something. If he didn’t know better he’d have guessed that she wanted him to kiss her. And dammit he was tempted. His cock was becoming extremely bothersome, if it could it would be doing somersaults in his pants, but it couldn’t so it settled for an uncomfortable ache instead. 
    She swiped her tongue