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  “You’re incorrigible,” I say, leaning back into my seat and looking out the window at the wing of our plane.

  “I understand if you want to take some time to think about it,” says Jace, “Your dad wants to wait until we open this new building before we add you to the company, so you’ve basically got two months to do…whatever you want. We can talk about it again once we’ve settled in.”

  “Okay, fine.” I say, too exhausted to deal with Jace right now.

  Amber flings the curtain aside, a bright smile on her perfectly made-up face.

  “Ready for your Scotch?” she asks.

  Jace nods, and Amber pours a generous amount of Scotch into a tumbler and sets it in Jace’s cupholder.

  “And you wanted cranberry juice, right, Hilary?”

  Amber hands me a juice box full of cran-apple juice.

  “I’m afraid this was all we had.”

  “Actually, my name’s Haley, and I didn’t want anything to drink.”

  Amber flashes me a fake smile, letting me know with her eyes that she hadn’t made a mistake, she just doesn’t like me.

  “Wait, this is amazing,” Jace says, taking a sip of his Scotch. “Where’d you get this?”

  “I ordered it especially for you,” Amber says, her skinny hand perched on Jace’s shoulder, “I read in your GQ interview that you preferred your Scotch aged and imported.”

  “You see this, Haley?” asks Jace, pointing over his shoulder at Amber, “Take notes.”

  “I’m glad you like it,” says Amber.

  “You know what?” says Jace, “Stick around New York after we land, I want to talk to you about becoming my personal assistant.”

  “Hmm,” Amber says, tilting her head to the side as she pretends to consider Jace’s offer, “Alright, let’s talk.”

  “Awesome,” Jace says, and Amber walks back towards the nose of the plane, shooting me a death glare before she closes the curtain behind her.

  “Interesting taste in women,” I say, “I’m sure promoting someone like that will never come back to haunt you.”

  Jace smiles, takes another swallow of his Scotch, and mouths the word “jealous.” I narrow my eyes at him, mouth the word “asshole,” and start drinking my juice box.

  Chapter 6: Jace

  I love the way Haley’s lower lip sticks out when she sleeps. It’s so fucking adorable. She started looking out the window, acting like she was going to give me the silent treatment the entire rest of the flight, and it lasted about five minutes before she fell asleep.

  I finish my second glass of Scotch as I watch her sleep. I wonder if she knows how pretty she is. Big brown eyes, a cute little nose, an awesomely curvy body…she’s the ultimate girl next door. Only, in this case, she’s more like the girl in the room next door. My stepsister.

  “Want any more Scotch?” asks Amber, opening the curtain just a crack.

  “Yeah. One more glass.”

  I bet she thinks I’m a pervert because of this whole contract thing. I’m honestly surprised that I was able to pitch it to her without busting out laughing. She’s so fun to mess with…the way she gets flustered and turns pink every time I make anything that sounds like a sexual innuendo…I seriously can’t get enough of it.

  It’s going to be so awesome if I can actually convince her to sign that thing. The thought of Haley wearing what I tell her to wear, doing what I tell her to do, sleeping in my bed…if I can pull this off, this is going to be the best summer ever.

  “Sign the contract, Haley,” I say softly to my sleeping stepsister, “It’s for your own good.”

  That isn’t all a lie, though. Haley was shy when I met her, and it seems like her time in San Diego didn’t help at all. If she’s going on dates with people like that loser Paul guy, then it’s obvious that she has no idea how hot she really is. After two months of dressing in the sexiest outfits I can buy her, getting shown off at my friends’ parties, and spending some quality time with her hot stepbrother……hopefully she’ll realize what she’s really worth.

  She’s really worth a lot.

  Chapter 7: Haley

  Amber’s loud, obnoxious laugh jolts me out of my sleep. It sounds like three hyenas. Three male hyenas. I roll my eyes as I listen to her double over laughing at some story Jace is telling about a drunk guy at a party.

  I pull the curtain aside. “What time is it?”

  “No idea,” says Jace, “Feel free to go back to sleep if you want to.”

  “Really? We don’t have to leave?”

  “It’s a private jet. Nobody wakes you up when the plane lands.”

  “But aren’t we supposed to meet our parents?”

  “Yeah, but that’s not for…” Jace pulls out his phone, “Oh shit, yeah, we should go.”

  ***

  Dad gives me a hug as soon as I walk into the lobby. “Welcome home.”

  “It’s good to be back.”

  I haven’t seen him since I originally left for California. Since then, we’ve mostly communicated by email, with the occasional phone call on special occasions. Of course, that’s how it’s always been with Dad. Growing up, I saw babysitters way more than I saw him, especially after Mom left. She got tired him putting his work before her and just…packed up and moved to Oregon one day. I guess I sort of take after her.

  “Do you like the building?”

  I look around the lobby, all marble and glass. “Uh…yeah, it’s insane.”

  “We wanted to add ourselves to the skyline.”

  They definitely succeeded. Jace pointed it out to me in the cab as we came over the bridge into the city and I thought he was lying. It absolutely dominates the buildings around it, rising hundreds and hundreds of feet in the air before rounding off slightly at the top. To me, it pretty much looks like a giant cock…the perfect monument to Jace Fisher.

  Over on a black leather couch in the corner of the lobby, Laura, my stepmother, is typing away on her laptop. When she notices me looking at her, she looks up at me and gives me a quick smile and wave before going back to her work. My dad’s a busy guy who puts his job before everything else…but at least he’s capable of showing emotion and taking a day off every once in a while. I have no idea how Jace survived 18 years of being Laura’s son. Maybe that’s why he’s such an attention whore now.

  “Have a seat,” says Dad, motioning over to an L-shaped black couch on the opposite corner of the lobby. Jace sits down next to me, wrapping an arm around me and hugging me way to tightly to his body. I try to keep my breathing calm and steady and my face neutral as my side presses into Jace’s.

  “It’s good to see you two getting along. That’s going to be important as we incorporate Haley into the RentNation team. Haley, has Jace talked to you at all about the timeframe we’re working with?”

  “Yeah,” I say, “He said you guys want to open this place to the public, and then make me partner.”

  “Right,” says Dad, “We don’t want to take any attention away from the launch of the Fisher Building. We’re scheduled to open up in two months, which means that all you have to do between now and then is sign the necessary paperwork.”

  Jace kicks me in the foot and grins.

  “Asshole,” I say without moving my lips, so quietly that only Jace can hear it.

  “But just because you don’t have any responsibilities yet doesn’t mean you get to relax. You’re about to go from the service industry to being a partner at one of the fastest-growing startups in the world. You’re not going to get a chance to learn on the job, so for the next two months, I want you shadowing Jace, who will teach you everything there is to know about your new job. Think of him as the master, and you as the apprentice.”

  I can feel Jace’s side shaking as he holds in his laughter. At least somebody finds this funny.

  “To get you in the proper mindset for your coming responsibilities, I don’t want you two staying in the old house in Connecticut.”

  “What?” I say, “Dad!”

&
nbsp; “Instead, you two will be staying here, in one of the executive suites on the top floor.”

  “Sounds great,” says Jace.

  I shudder as I imagine two whole months of living in an empty, cock-shaped skyscraper with Jace. But what can I say? Once I’m an executive, I’ll be able to do anything I want.

  “Yeah, Dad, that’s a good idea.”

  “Great, it’s settled, then.”

  Dad pulls two key cards out of his pocket, handing one to me and another one to Jace.

  “I’m available if you have any questions or want any advice…but really, you should ask Jace first. He was able to do in 22 years what I couldn’t do in 50.”

  Jace shrugs. “Couldn’t have done it without you.” What a kiss-up.

  “I’d love to stay and talk with you more, Haley, but I have a natural gas contract to negotiate, and I need to be on the train in 15 minutes.”

  I nod and wave goodbye to Dad, who hurries out of the front door to the building. It takes Laura an entire minute to realize that he’s gone.

  “Oh. Are we done?” she asks, looking up from her laptop like an alarmed meerkat.

  “Yeah,” says Jace, “All done.”

  “Okay, well, I really have to be going, then.”

  Laura flashes me a forced smile as she leaves. “Welcome back to New York, honey.”

  Now, it’s just Jace and I, alone, in a 150-floor skyscraper. Wasting no time, Jace moves his arm from around my shoulders to around my waist and begins to caress my side. I wrap my fingers around his hand, peel it off my body, and drop it into his lap.

  “You’re no fun,” Jace says.

  “Sorry, but now that our parents are gone, we don’t have to pretend to be friends.”

  “We don’t have to pretend anything in here.” Jace flips his key card between his fingers, and then looks up at me. “Ready to see our room?”

  Chapter 8: Jace

  Oh, man, this is just too good. My stepdad, no doubt distracted by the four different jobs he’s trying to do at once, didn’t check to see how many bedrooms were in the suite he booked for us.

  There’s only one. And naturally, Haley’s fucking furious.

  “Haley, it’s not a big deal. It’s a huge bed. There’s plenty of room for both of us.”

  Haley looks at me like she wants to kill me, and that shit only makes me laugh harder.

  “I’m calling dad right now and telling him to fix this.”

  “Dad’s headed to North Dakota for the next two weeks, Haley. That’s where the natural gas is.”

  “Fine, then I’m heading to Connecticut to sleep in my actual bed.”

  “Come on, sis, am I that awful?” I ask.

  Right on cue, a thunderbolt rumbles in this distance. Haley looks out the huge condominium window, frowning at the intense dark clouds are rolling in.

  “Fine,” Haley says, “I guess I’ll stay here……for tonight. It’s not worth getting caught in that storm and getting soaked.”

  “Right. Why go out there when you can stay in and get wet right here?”

  “Jace! You can’t just say things like that to your relatives!”

  “We’re not blood related, Haley. We barely even grew up together.”

  “That doesn’t mean that I want to sleep in the same bed with you for two months.”

  Haley’s foot twists against the condominium carpet. I bet her toes are curling inside her shoes. She must be thinking about the two of us sharing a bed.

  “I’m going to sleep on the couch,” she says, pointing to the comfy-looking grey couch in the center of the room. As a demonstration, she flops dramatically onto the couch and nuzzles against the back cushions.

  “This is actually really, really comfortable,” she says, “It’s probably better than your bed.”

  “Really?” I ask, “Well, don’t hog it.”

  Haley whimpers in protest as I climb onto the couch with her, but she scoots over. I press her body into the back curtains, and her reaction is perfect. She has a look on her face like she wants to yell at me, but her mouth is just hanging open and her body is pushing back against mine. She wants to enjoy this feeling for a few seconds before she gets on her high horse again and tells me to get off.

  “You’re right,” I say, “This is really, really comfortable.”

  My fingers draw a line up Haley’s side. She swallows, and then takes a sharp breath in. She can’t hide from me at his distance. She can’t lie to me. I can read her body too well.

  “Jace…” Haley’s voice comes out low and breathy. It feels so fucking nice to feel her breathe against me, heart racing inside her chest. Listen to your heart, Haley.

  “What would you do right now if we weren’t stepsiblings?” I ask.

  “I have no idea,” she says, “And it doesn’t matter, because we are stepsiblings.”

  “You know what I think? I think that if our parents had never married, and I’d met you at a party or something, you’d have been sucking my cock within thirty minutes of meeting me.”

  Haley closes her eyes and takes a few deep breaths in and out. I hope she’s enjoying that little image.

  “And then, once you were done, I would have brought my tongue down to the wet little slit between your legs and…”

  Haley pushes me off the couch, and I burst out laughing. I wondered where her breaking point was, and I guess I just found it. Honestly, I had to go much farther than I thought I would to get a reaction out of her.

  “You’re so immature,” she says, “I can’t believe we’re the same age.”

  “I guess immaturity pays,” I say, “Because look where we are because of me.”

  Haley rolls her eyes, gets off the couch, walks into the bathroom, and turns on the shower.

  It’s good to have her back.

  Chapter 9: Haley

  As I step out of the shower, I notice that I’ve gotten a text from Violet.

  Where are you? Jace came by looking for you last night, did you see him?

  Oh, man…I forgot about Violet. I have to tell her that I’m in New York and I have no idea when I’m coming back.

  Yeah, he took me back to New York. He wants me to help with his business, so I’m going to be here for at least two months.

  Ever since Jace put me on that plane, the idea of leaving my San Diego life behind has been fluttering around the back of my mind. I was expecting it to be scary, but it isn’t really. Instead, it feels like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders.

  I’m SO JEALOUS of you right now. Did Jace say anything about me?

  I feel an annoying twinge of possessiveness as I read Violet’s text. What’s that about? That asshole can marry Violet for all I care. She might be the only person in the world who’d actually sign his stupid contract.

  No, but I’ll be sure to get you two some quality alone time next time I’m in San Diego. ;)

  I twist my mouth as I look down at the text. I know it’s never going to happen. As far as I’m concerned, Violet doesn’t need any of my help to get laid. Besides, I had no idea when I’ll be in San Diego again. I’m back home now.

  When I step out of the bathroom, I’m surprised to see that Jace has left the suite. I look around suspiciously, trying to make sure that he isn’t lurking around some corner waiting to jump out and scare me. Nothing is too immature for Jace Fisher.

  After 15 minutes with no surprises, I start to accept that Jace might have actually left. Where could he have gone off to, though? I think about texting him, but I decide that I should maybe just enjoy a little time separate from Jace.

  Rain begins to drip down the condominium window. As I watch the thunderstorm roll into Manhattan, everything hits me at once. I’ve gone from a struggling recent graduate to a high-level executive-in-waiting in less than 24 hours…all thanks to Jace Fisher.

  I’ve got a lot of work to do.

  With the rain and thunder providing a dark, romantic backdrop, I pull out my phone and start looking up everything I can on Re
ntNation: its business model, its history, its competitors…everything. While I’m jumping from article to article, I have to swipe past an alarming number of photos featuring Jace on the red carpet. Out west, a lot of people acted like my stepbrother was some kind of celebrity, but it’s different seeing him on the internet. Suddenly, I’m struck by a fear that I’m not going to fit into any of this. I mean, I majored in business, but I was thinking about going into publishing…not doing anything that would put me on the cover of a magazine.

  To take my mind off my stepbrother, I buy a couple of eBooks about leadership and business and start reading through them.

  Before I know it, it’s dark outside. I’d read one and a half books on leadership and watched three TED talks, and I don’t feel any more qualified to help run a company. Hopefully, I’ll get used to the idea over the next three months, and if I don’t…I can always suck it up and ask Jace for help. For now, though, I’d better get to sleep; I’m still jetlagged from the cross-country flight. I steal one of the blankets off of Jace’s bed, take another shower, and pass out almost the instant my head hits the couch.

  Chapter 10: Haley

  I’m running as fast as I can down my old street in Connecticut, trying to get home as quickly as possible. I leap over the ditch, sprint up the front porch steps, and pull my front door open. It isn’t until I’m inside the house that I realize I’m naked.

  Jace is there. I try and cover myself up as best I can, but he thinks I got naked for him. He tells me to lower my hands so he can look at my body, and I do it. For some reason, it just feels like the right thing to do. Then, he tells me to get over and lay on the couch.

  Again, I obey him. As soon as I’m on the couch, he strips off his clothes and climbs on top of me, pulling me into a deep kiss as his hands explore my body. One hand pushes between my legs and sparks an intense, hungry heat.