Page 3 of Eggnog and Edging
“Oh my gosh, you’re the best.” She throws her arms around him in a hug that should be for me.
I freeze. Where’s the card? And why is he taking credit? “That’s not—”
The front door opens and Dad walks in, clearly uncomfortable with the hug he’s witnessing.
Cullen pulls away from Starla, clears his throat, and says, “Hey, Ross.”
Starla quickly holds up the unwrapped gift. “I love this so much! Look Dad, jaggery powder. I can’t wait to try it out.”
Cullen shoots me a glance and says, “We need to talk.”
Dad waves him off. “You’ll have to talk later; they bumped the interview up. We’ve got to go.”
I can’t exactly breathe yet, maybe after they leave when I clear up the confusion with Starla.
“Why don’t you come with us, Ryker? You might as well see how the selection process works. Get you a little more invested in the family business, son.”
Any other day, I would have been ecstatic. Dad and Cullen run a business helping restaurants improve their marketability. I’vealways been the guy behind the scenes who gives suggestions on how to improve their menu selection.
I can’t go, but I also can’t say no. Dad and Cullen head for the door.
Then I see it… the corner of a pink card sticking out of Cullen’s back pocket. That fucker stole my card. And if he read it, he knows my secret.
Chapter 2
Cullen
As quickly as I can manage, I pretend to get an important phone call that requires me to leave. It was actually just a warning that my car warranty was about to expire.
Ross and Ryker can finish up with the local bakery owners who are consulting us about branching out. It’ll be an easy endeavor, I think. It was hard to focus given what I just found out about Ryker.
Fueled by Ryker’s confession of love, which I accidentally intercepted, I jump into my Corvette and head straight to their house. I didn’t spend the last four years telling myself my best friend’s daughter was off limits, denying the ways she looked at me, only to have her stepbrother steal her out from under me.
Her dad will be livid either way. His beliefs about women and marriage are well-intentioned, but archaic. The saving grace would be that I could explain I want to take care of her forever, she’ll never have to work, and she can be the best mom ever.
I’m just not sure that’s what she wants. Her interest in our culinary business is evident to everyone except her dad.
For now, all I have to do is let her know that I have feelings for her. If she doesn’t freak out about me being old enough to be her father, then I can figure out how to break it to her that Ryker does too. If she blows me off, he’s on his own.
Pulling up to their house, I’m pissed that there are three other cars there. I have to let her know how I feel before Ryker does. Because while she’s made my dick hard with the way she looks at me, I’ve seen her give the same look to Ryker.
Unsure what I’m about to walk into, I pull the note out of the glovebox and read it one more time, confirming that Ryker’s a ballsy motherfucker.
I always suspected that he had a thing for Starla, but she’s as off limits to him as she is to me. I’m not even opposed to sharing Starla with him, if she’d like that. I just can’t let him have her to himself.
But if Ryker’s willing to cross the line, I can’t hold back any longer. I can’t let the bond between Ross and me prevent my one chance at love. I can’t ignore that Starla and I have shared more lingering glances than is appropriate.
It’s not my fault his damn daughter is the only one to ever make me want to settle down. I have to rub my hand over my jeans to beg my cock to give me a break.
Ross and I go way back, basically growing up as brothers, so I never have to knock. Letting myself in, I nod at someone I presume is Starla’s friend who’s at the sink.
Starla’s a few feet away cooking and doesn’t realize I’ve entered. She’s in the same thin tank top she was wearing earlier but has pulled her hair into a pony tail.
Assessing what’s going on in the living room, it looks like another friend, a blond, is getting fitted in a skimpy red-and-white dress. I’d come undone if I saw Starla in something like that.
Is this what girls do when they’re alone? There are also jewelry making things on the table. Whatever’s going on is weird to say the least, but I don’t let that stop me.
I stride straight to Starla, stopping behind her, caging her against the counter. If I was still the younger version of myself, I wouldn’t be able to stop an erection from prodding her, but I’m using every bit of my willpower not to freak her out.
