Page 59 of Reckless Temptation

Goddammit!

I couldn’t take it anymore. This deliberate distance was wearing on my nerves. I couldn’t stand back and watch her take this crap from my stepsister. It was bullshit. Totally uncalled for. Even if I wasn’t starting to fall for the girl I wasn’t supposed to consider at all, I wouldn’t care for how low Tiffany would stoop.

As I hurried in their direction, other guests stepped back and gave Sabrina space to get up. No one helped her up, but even if any of the men near her dared to touch her, I wanted to be the one to assist. I wanted to be the only person she’d thank. Iwanted her to be mine, even to the point that no one else could matter as a helpful bystander.

Gasps over the spilled wine chorused through those closest to them. George and my mother weren’t anywhere near them. Neither were the professors Sabrina and Tiffany both had for classes.

Tiffany trounced off, shaking her head and telling other guests that Sabrina was too clumsy to have this job. I was close enough to catch her snobbish bitching after she’d caused that fall.

But by the time I got to Sabrina, she was already on her feet, rushing away.

Determined to reach her, I followed without pause. Weaving around tables and dodging past guests, she rushed toward the kitchen of the old conservatory venue.

And even then, I didn’t slow once.

“Sabrina.”

“No.” Her long chestnut ponytail shook as she pushed open another door to a smaller room beside the kitchen. “Leave me alone.”

I can’t.

I was obsessed with the idea of having her. I was addicted to this nonstop craving to explore with her.

“Sabrina, wait.”

I slammed my hand against the second door before she could close it on me. Entering the room, I frowned at the sight of blood where she’d touched the wooden surface. Frosted glass offeredsome light in here, which seemed to be an old kitchen prep room that was now more of a pantry or storage unit.

“Are you hurt?”

She sniffed once, furrowing her brow before she gave me her back. “Leave me alone, Nick. Please.”

“I can’t.” I didn’t mean to be that honest with her—yet. It just slipped out. My concern for her wasn’t something I could shut off.

Walking around her, I grabbed her forearm and lifted it to see the damage. “Fuck. Fuck that damn bitch.”

“Nick, stop.” She weakly tried to pull her arm free from my grasp, but I wasn’t having it.

“No.” Anger filled me, boiling hot and too intense to keep in. But as I urged her toward the metal utility sinks to rinse off where she was cut, I aimed to be gentle.

“Nick, for the last time.” She hissed as I stuck her hand under the running water. “Leave me alone.”

I frowned, concentrating on tugging out the shard of broken glass that had sliced her soft skin. “And also for the last time,no.”

“I get it, all right?”

I glanced up at her watching me tend to her bloody wound. “You get what?”

“You’re her brother.”

I groaned, shaking my head slightly. “No.Stepbrother, Sabrina. And even that doesn’t count. Mom and I are more like roommates than family members.”

“Still.” She shrugged, only moving the shoulder of the arm I wasn’t keeping in place. Keeping her head facing down, she was almost hiding her face from me with her disheveled ponytail loose and falling apart. “The only reason you entered my life was to taunt me and bully me, just like she does.”

“No—”

“Yes.” She tried—and failed—to pull her hand free. “Don’t lie. Don’t play games with me. I’m not that stupid. I was, but not anymore.”

“That’s not?—”

---