Page 81 of Do Not Disturb
She just didn’t get it. She didn’t appreciate everything I gave up for her. She never even thanked me.
Last year, the roof of our house collapsed during a storm. Our attic filled with water, which then leaked down into our bedrooms. I remember standing outside the house with Quinn, showing her the damage.
“How awful!” she remarked.
“It’s eating right through all the wood,” I told her.
She frowned at me. “But you can fix it, right?”
“Yes, but it’ll cost a bundle.”
I stood there, waiting for her to offer to help. Derek was rolling in money, and even Quinn earned four or five times as much as I did from my massage clients. “Well, at least you can fix it,” she said.
That was it. No offer to help the sister that had sacrificed so much for her. And it wasn’t the first time either. She always expected me to be there for her, but she was never there for me. When Rob got laid off a few years back, she took some trip off to Bermuda with her boyfriend. She never cared about me. It was always the Quinn Show.
Can you blame me for hating her? Wouldn’t anyone?
You might wonder how I ended up sleeping with Derek. Like I said, Quinn is the pretty one. Why would Derek want to be with me when he already had the prettier, younger sister?
It happened when Quinn was away on a business trip. I had the key to her house, and she asked me to water her plants, because she knew Derek wouldn’t do it. Of course, she could’ve hired somebody to water her goddamn plants instead of me making the trek all the way over and do it for her, but Quinn never thought about it like that. What better thing did I have to do than take care of her stupid overpriced plants?
While I was at her house, I helped myself to her wardrobe closet. Quinn had more clothes than she knew what to do with, and even though I was a couple of sizes bigger, some of her stuff still fit me, like her jackets. And even if it didn’t fit me, I might get a good price for it on eBay. She would never even know it was gone.
I was in the middle of trying on one of her Bottega Veneta jackets and admiring myself in the mirror, when I saw a reflection that made me nearly jump out of my skin. Derek was standing in the doorway, watching me.
“Oh, hi!” I quickly shrugged off the jacket and reached for a hanger. “I was just… you know…”
But there was no judgment on Derek’s face. He smiled at me, and he looked so handsome at that moment, it made my knees weak. “It looks better on you.”
I blushed like a teenager. I didn’t think it was true, but his face looked sincere. “Thanks.”
He came across the room, and my heart sped up. He reached out and straightened the collar of my shirt. His fingers lingered there, making a tingle go down my entire body. I held my breath, not sure what to make of this turn of events. Sometimes when I was visiting, Derek would flirt with me a bit or maybe wink suggestively. Truth be told, I had a crush on him. It was hard not to.
“You’re a masseuse, right?” he said.
“Yes,” I managed. Men rarely left me breathless, but there was something about Derek.
He rubbed at his shoulder. “You know, I have this terrible crick in my neck. I was wondering if you might take a look.”
“I could do that.” My body tingled at the thought of getting Derek on my massage table. “When do you have in mind?”
“How about right now?”
“I don’t have my massage table.”
His lips quirk up. “Couldn’t we use the bed?”
I felt suddenly breathless, but I managed to nod. “Yes. We could.”
I watched Derek strip down in front of me to his underwear. I’ve never seen my sister’s husband naked before, and I have to say, he was spectacular. Like a sculpture. He lay down on the bed, face down. Waiting for me.
I rubbed my hands together to warm them. I didn’t have any of my oils or lotions, so I ran my bare fingers along his broad shoulders. I started working the palms of my hands into his trapezius, kneading his taut muscles. He moaned at my touch.
“You’re good at this,” he commented.
“It’s my special skill.”
“Do you have any other special skills?”
