Falling for his Step-Sister by Alie Garnett

Chapter Eleven

Stayingat his father’s house was nearly impossible!

Judith was intolerable, and her house guests were even worse. One had turned quickly into two when Ross Chamberlain Jr had brought his friend Brett Andrews with him.

Ross was an obnoxious kid who didn’t care what anyone thought about him, but Brett wasn’t from money. It also turned out that Ross didn’t care a bit about Louisa, but Brett seemed to be very interested in Jonas’s blonde-haired little sister. Everything he said made her giggle like a schoolgirl, which she was, but some college kid shouldn’t make her do that.

This sudden need to protect his sister was new and a complete surprise to Jonas. They had never been close, but here he was, wanting to kick both men from the house because neither dared to talk to his sister.

Which was why he was staying at his dad’s house right now, as his baby sister watched a chick flick in a tank top she shouldn’t have been able to wear until she could buy alcohol. Ross was out of the house or at least not in the den, but Brett was practically sitting on top of his sister. His dad had been right to worry, even if the guy he was worried about wasn’t the one who was leering at his daughter.

“Jonas, can you get us some snacks?” Louisa asked him innocently—too innocently, in his mind. He was watching the stupid movie from the most uncomfortable side chair ever and was enjoying it, or so he pretended.

Before he could answer, Brett added, “And drinks, man.”

He got up from the chair in a huff, sure that the kid’s hands would be all over his sister the moment he left. It was what he would have done in the same situation. But of course, he had been a pervert at that age also.

Hurrying out of the room because he wasn’t leaving them alone long enough for anything, he headed to the kitchen. Today, Judith had actually found a chef who would work for her. No more take-out for his stepmother. Not that he cared; he would eat anything.

“Jonas, come and meet the new chef,” Judith called to him the moment he entered the kitchen.

Jonas rolled his eyes. He hadn’t wanted or needed to meet the person who managed the food. If the chef withheld the snacks, on the other hand, then there would be war.

Looking from his stepmother to the woman in the white coat, he stopped breathing. Beatrix in the flesh. Her red hair was tied up in a tight bun on the top of her head, and she was staring at him like he was an alien. He was sure he was looking at her the same way.

“Bea Bradford, this is my son, Jonas.” She indicated to him.

The redhead looked from him to Judith and back again. Her face had gone completely pale under the splattering of freckles across her nose. “Son? How old are you?”

“That’s impolite to ask, dear. Where are your manners? Didn’t your parents teach you anything? He’s not my real son, just my stepson. I’m not nearly old enough to have a child his age, but I’ve been married to his father for years now. I raised him,” Judith stated as if she’d done anything special for him over the years.

He had been thwarted in all attempts to find her, but now she was here, right in the same house as him. Taking her hand in his, he couldn’t not caress the small warm hand as he did. “Bea, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Instantly, she pulled her hand from his and tucked it into the pocket of her white jacket. “Nice to meet you also, Jonas Raiden.”

“The pleasure is all mine.” He went into the pantry and grabbed a few bags of chips. No matter who was in the kitchen, his sister was alone in the den with Mr. Handsy.

“Ignore him, Miss Bradford. Remember, you have a clause in your contract about fraternizing with the household members,” Judith said more to Bea, but it was also to him.

“Are you living here, Bea?” Jonas asked in case he wanted to find her later. And he did.

“She is not. There is no need for that. I do not need to provide a home for the staff, Jonas,” Judith answered for her, just like she did for Louisa all the time, though he was sure that Beatrix was more vocal than his sister was.

“But what if I need someone to make me a midnight snack? Who will make that for me?” His eyes were on the redhead only; his words were only for her.

Judith huffed. “Quit flirting, Jonas. It’s unbecoming of you.”

“Let’s ask the chef, Judith. Is it working?” He stepped closer to Buzz.

Buzz stiffened. “It is not, sir.”

“Is B an initial or like a bee, buzz-buzz?” he asked, watching her lick her lips. He was sure her mind went right back to that bathroom a few days before, just like his had.

“Buzz-buzz,” she whispered.

“I like it, buzz-buzz.” He looked at her unflattering coat but only saw the body beneath it.

“We have menus to go over,” Judith stated loudly. “You must leave the room, Jonas.”

After grabbing two sodas, he headed back into the den. It wasn’t very far from the kitchen, but it was long enough that he had time to realize how lucky he was with that woman. She was right where he was so often, and always just as surprised to see him as he was to see her.

She might be a good actress, but not that good. In fact, she couldn’t hide her emotions at all; her face showed everything that ran through her mind.

In the den, Louisa was no longer watching TV, unless she was watching from the back of her head. She was facing the pervert, and not just facing him—she was on his lap, and they were kissing.

Dropping everything he was carrying, or throwing it all, he rushed the couch and grabbed the kid by the shoulder, pulling him away from his sister. The kid’s hands were so caught up under his sister’s shirt that Jonas thought it had ripped as she fell to the floor.

Slamming the kid into the coffee table, it splintered under the force. All he could see was what the pervert had been doing to his innocent sister. His only goal was to keep her that way.

“Jonas, let him go!” Louisa yelled from the floor.

“In a minute,” he mumbled as he drew back his fist. The kid shut his eyes, seeing what was going to happen and having no way to stop it.

“Jonas, what are you doing?” Judith demanded from far away.

Before he could punch the punk, something barreled into him, knocking him off the kid and onto the floor. Once he figured out what was happening, he realized that Bea Bradford had tackled him. Currently, she was holding his body down with hers, which was no inconvenience until she sat up.

Her eyes didn’t meet with his, and she didn’t say anything to him. That she had come to Brett’s defense was confusing; did she know him?

“Miss Bradford, no need for dramatics. Jonas, leave Brett alone. You’ve been mad ever since he moved in. You’re just a guest in this house, Jonas, so act like it,” Judith chastised, then turned to Bea and added, “Brett just moved in over the weekend. He and an old family friend, Ross, are staying with us as they go to college.”

“He was kissing Louisa,” Jonas defended himself.

“She kissed me back, man.” Brett sat up finally, realizing the danger was over.

“I kissed him, Jonas. Are you going to hit me?” Louisa stated angrily as she got to her feet.

“You’re thinking about nothing but sex.” He pointed at Brett, who was still on the floor. Jonas had been that kid once.

“Maybe I am!” Louisa yelled at him before Brett could defend himself, but her words caused the kid to smirk.

“Louisa May, do not talk about sex. Nobody wants to hear about it,” Judith argued.

“Louisa May?” the redhead whispered beside him, suddenly staring at his sister. “Louisa May Alcott?”

“Louisa, go to your room. Jonas and Brett, clean up the coffee table. Miss Bradford, we have menus to create.” Judith was over the fight it seemed. Apparently, she didn’t care that Louisa had said she was thinking about sex, and there were two single men in the house not two doors down from the room she had just been sent to.

Getting to his feet, he realized that Bea was still watching Louisa as she left the room in a huff. Grabbing her hand, he pulled her to her feet. She was shorter than he remembered close up, but then again, they hadn’t spent a lot of time comparing height before.

“You have menus, Chef Buzz-Buzz.” His words snapped her back from wherever her mind had went.

“Leave me alone. I don’t know you, and you do not know me,” she hissed and walked out of the room.

Except there was no way he didn’t know her, but he did want to know her better.