Page 57 of You Don’t Kiss Your Brother's Best Friends

“Umm… hi.”

He had small hands, small ears. Greasy black hair, looking so uniformly dark I knew it flowed straight out of a bottle. Those offset eyes scanned me in a way that took quick inventory, rather than convey admiration. Shit, even his voice was broken and creepy. Just like his lips.

“I’m not sure why I’m—”

“Victor said you wanted to meet me,” Jacob croaked.

“He did, huh?”

“Yes,” he replied, his grin growing wider. He licked his lips again. “And so here I am.”

I turned to consult Victor, but Victor was gone. The spot he’d been standing only a moment ago was nothing but tall grass now, blowing in the wind.

A cold feeling of utter dread washed over me. And I still didn’t have my hand back.

“I—I’m obviously pleased to meet you,” I started, lying through my teeth. “And maybe later we can get to know each other better. But right now, I’ve got to get back to the house. I’m needed in the kitchen, where—”

He interrupted me with a full belly laugh. In the middle of it, I somehow took my hand back.

“Emily, please,” Jacob snorted. “You’re withme,now.None of that matters.”

“But—”

“Come on, seriously?” he asked, and not without a measure of blind condescension. “We’re here alone, on this beautiful island, in this beautiful place. And you’re worried about dinner?”

I noticed he’d taken a step closer, in the middle of talking. Now he took another. If the distance between us was already uncomfortable, it was growing unbearable now.

But not for him.

“Why do you think Victor brought you out here?” he challenged. “To shake my hand?”

I took a faltering step back, increasing the space between us. And then there it was: the telltale frown.

“Emily, Emily…”

Jacob Foley made a clicking sound with his tongue that only heightened my revulsion. He moved forward again, this time with surprising speed, and I took another step back.

“You obviously came here for a reason,” Jacob theorized. “And we both know what that reason is.”

I shook my head, and even put my hands up. But he only kept coming.

“You know it,” he growled. “I know it…”

His expression had changed now, almost completely. Gone was the friendly, placating smile. In its place was a look of hunger, lustfulness, even ownership. But it was the look in his dark, dead eyes that chilled me to the absolute core.

“If you want to get back quickly, you still can,” the man hissed. “We can do it quickly. In fact, I prefer it.”

I stepped back yet again, countering his every forward movement. In a moment of panic however, I realized I’d put my back to the lake.

I was running out of room.

“Nothing else to say?” the man teased.

The serenity I’d enjoyed while jogging the lake was working against me now. I considered screaming, but we were too far from the house. Too distant to hope anyone might hear my cries for help.

Besides, I didn’t want to give this asshole the satisfaction.

“The quiet girls always want it rough,” the man whispered, huskily. “Do you like it rough, Emily?”

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