Page 12 of Stepbrother With Benefits

F I F T Y T W O

- Quinn -

A few years ago, if someone asked me whether I'd ever enjoy couch canoodling with a woman and a bottle of wine, I would've laughed in their face. Not only could I not imagine enjoying any woman's company enough to willingly forgo a night out with my friends, but I couldn't imagine myself doing something so…domestic.

Funny how things change when you fall in love.

Now, I had my feet up on the coffee table, a glass of red within reach, and a beautiful woman nestled under my arm. Her fragrant hair was messed against my chest and her limbs were strewn across my body like a mermaid who’d just washed ashore.

We were watching Friends reruns, which weren't my favorite. I was more of a Family Guy fan, but I loved the way her hearty laugh echoed through my chest every time Joey waggled his eyebrows or Ross and Monica bickered. Plus, I knew she was anxious about picking James up at the airport tomorrow, and I wanted her to feel relaxed. If she was a bundle of stress, it wasn't going to help him accept our coupledom, something I believed would mean even more to me than it would to her.

After all, James had known me for years. He'd seen me break hearts and treat women like they were disposable. He'd seen women cry because of me and watched me maintain a sociopath’s level of remorse through it all. Truth be told, I’d never been less proud of those moments than I was now. But if he could be happy for me, it would prove that he believed I could eventually become worthy of his sister, and that would mean the world.

"Are you worried about living with me?" Maddy asked, not lifting her face.

"What?"

"I mean, I know we were roommates before, but that's different than sharing your personal space."

"Maddy, look at me."

She lifted her face, which looked cloaked with fatigue.

"There's nothing I don't want to share with you, okay? What's mine is yours. Haven't I made that clear?"

"Yes, but—"

"But what?"

"You freaked out before when things started to move too fast, and I don't want that to happen again."

I sighed. "Come here." I hoisted her up and dragged her legs across my lap.

She straddled me lazily, as if our laps were a simple puzzle she could put together in her sleep.

"I didn't freak out because things were moving too fast."

She let her head fall to one side and swirled a finger across my chest.

"I freaked out because I didn't know what I wanted."

"And now you do?"

I nodded.

She pointed at herself, her lashes batting slowly.

I smiled. "Don't dig, woman. You know how I feel about you."

"Remind me?"

I laughed. "I know things have moved quickly, okay? I've thought about it a lot, and I think it's because we got the order of events all screwed up."

"What do you mean?" She reached for my wine, took a small sip, and set it down carefully again as she licked her stained lips.

"Well, we were crazy about each other before we moved in together, and then you were stressed when I was smitten, and then I was stressed when you were smitten. And we had secrets upon secrets, and I was an asshole who'd never even considered the idea of reforming, and you were a princess who couldn't tell I was a prince."

"Wait, I'm confused. When did you go from being an asshole to a prince?"

---