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Authors: Carly Phillips

BOOK: Serendipity
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Until he met her gaze and obviously remembered from whom he'd bought the house. The house and the moment clearly reminded her of their change in status. They were still far apart on the food chain, they'd just reversed positions.
His expression sobered and he cleared his throat.
“So you and Dale are still partners?” she asked, eager to return to his past before he could hop onto her own.
With the way he'd skipped over the year his parents died, he wasn't so keen on delving into painful history either. Hopefully he'd take the hint and keep discussing himself.
“Nope. I had to buy him out pretty quickly after we made the government deal. Dale wasn't always the stablest nut in the tree,” he explained.
She nodded, taking it all in. “And where's your main office?”
“Manhattan and a smaller base in D.C. But with the wonders of technology and FedEx, I can work from here just as easily.”
“I'm impressed,” she said, referring to his success. Regardless of the fact that he now lived here—and she didn't—he'd made something of himself on his own.
“Thanks. But frankly, until my brothers come around, these kinds of accomplishments don't mean as much.”
Having seen how one of his brothers treated him, she understood. As much as she wanted to question the dynamics of his relationship with them and why he blamed himself for so much, she knew better. Bringing it up would only ruin the comfortable byplay between them, and she was selfish enough to want him at ease with her.
“They will. Now that you're here, they'll come to see how much you've changed. Not that you were so bad to begin with,” she said with complete honesty.
He eyed her with wonder. “Why do you do that?” he asked.
“Do what?”
He pulled his chair closer, so their knees touched as he looked into her eyes. “Try so damn hard to see the best in me?” he asked gruffly.
She blinked, taken off guard by the question. Why did she? “I don't know.”
All she knew was what she felt—and those feelings extended back ten long years—to when she'd taken that bike ride because she'd wanted to know him better. And to a kiss she'd never been able to forget.
“Whatever the reason, I'm grateful.”
She swallowed hard. “I don't want your gratitude.” She wanted more.
His eyes darkened, making her wonder if he was somehow able to read her mind again.
She'd always felt a secret connection to him that made her want to believe he was good despite what the rest of the world thought. What
he
thought. She hadn't turned him down ten years ago because of him, she'd turned him down because of herself. She hadn't been ready.
Now she was.
They were both adults, both wanted sex without making apologies for it. She just wasn't ready to invest her heart, but he wasn't asking for it. From all the signals he'd sent so far, he had sex on his mind.
“So what do you want?” His compelling gaze, his taut expression all told her he already knew.
She swallowed hard. “I want you.”
“That's what I hoped you'd say.” He leaned in and his mouth touched hers.
Want, need, desire, all the things she'd been missing for so long, collided inside her. His lips lingered, a teasing torment, a prelude for what was to come.
Then, suddenly, chimes rang out, and she knew his kiss wasn't setting off these particular bells. They were too familiar. “Doorbell,” she whispered against his lips.
Ethan muttered a low growl, followed by a curse. No one in this damned town even liked him. “Who the hell would come ringing my doorbell now?”
He stood and Faith rose with him.
“Might as well see.” She sounded as disappointed as he was with the interruption.
“Whoever that is, I'll get rid of them.” He grabbed her hand and headed for the door.
Now that he had her in his home, ready and willing, no way would he allow some visitor he couldn't give a damn about to stop them from finishing what they'd started.
He reached the large wood door and opened it wide. In front of him stood a stranger, a woman about his own age, maybe a few years younger. “Can I help you?” he asked, not bothering to hide his irritation.
The woman, a brunette, glanced back over her shoulder. “Tess. Get over here now.”
Tess?
Ethan didn't know anyone by the name of Tess.
Suddenly a teenage girl—a sullen teenage girl—stepped up beside the other woman. Folding her arms across her chest, Tess glared at Ethan, looking no happier to see him than he was to find either of the women on his doorstep.
He braced one hand on the doorframe. “I don't know who you are or what you want, but it's not a good time.” Ethan started to swing the door closed.
“Just see what they want,” Faith suggested from behind him.
He had no choice. The older of the two had shoved her sneakered foot in front of the door, preventing him from shutting her out anyway.
“Not so fast. I'm Kelly Moss and this is my sister . . . well, my half sister, Tess. Tess is your sister too.”
Ethan narrowed his gaze. “Hey, lady, I don't know what kind of scam you're running, but I can assure you I don't have a sister.”
Two brothers who wanted nothing to do with him? Yeah, he had those. “There are no females in my family, so you can go find some other sucker to play.”
The teen just glared, looking for all the world as if she didn't give a shit about whatever was going on around her. Having perfected that facade once, Ethan had a hunch there was a helluva lot more going on beneath the mask of indifference. Not that he cared. No way was she his sister.
The brunette rolled her eyes. “Not everything in life is about money. Does the name Leah Moss sound familiar?” She was nothing if not persistent.
“No.” He was tempted to swing the door shut again when the name suddenly rang a bell. “Wait.” He searched back in time until he finally remembered why. “My father's secretary,” he said.
An uneasy feeling crept up Ethan's spine as childhood memories came flooding back. His father being away on business, arguments behind closed doors when his dad had been home and in town. An awareness that things between his parents weren't quite right and the fear his family unit might be falling apart.
“Bingo.” The woman snapped her finger in the air. “Leah Moss is our mother.” She gestured back and forth between herself and the teen, who, Ethan realized, had short black hair with a streak of purple in the front.
“And what's that got to do with me?” Ethan asked.
Behind him, he felt Faith step closer, offering silent support, as if she shared his unease.
“Tess's father died when she was four.” The woman deliberately paused. “Ten years ago.”
Ethan's mouth grew dry.
“Like your father did, right?” the woman asked.
Ethan clenched his jaw. “So you did your research. Everyone in this town knows about that.”
“I didn't have to dig further than this.” She pulled a piece of paper from her purse. “Tess's birth certificate naming your old man as her father. My mother had no reason to lie.”
And though Ethan had no reason to believe her, he'd always known his family hadn't come from a Normal Rockwell painting. As the oldest, he'd been keenly aware of his father's absence; Ethan's early troubles had been an attempt to get his father's attention, keep him home with his family more. Not that his extreme behavior had worked.
Ethan stared from the woman to the teen she claimed was his sister.
Had
Mark Barron been having an affair with his secretary? Ethan had overheard his mother accuse his dad of fooling around. Mark and Alicia Barron hadn't had the best marriage, and Mark sure as hell wouldn't be the first man to knock up his secretary.
“Where is your mother?” Ethan asked.
The woman shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine. We haven't heard from her in almost a year. Tess came home from school one day to a note telling her she ran off with some man.”
The teen didn't flinch at her sister's description. Her walls were damned high, Ethan thought.
“I'm sorry,” he said, meaning it. “It's a sad story. But if you're looking for a handout . . .”
The brunette pinned him with a disgusted glare.
Behind him, Faith poked him in the back. Obviously neither was happy with his assessment.
“Look, I don't need your money. Tess here doesn't need your money. What Tess needs is a firm, guiding hand. A male guiding hand. Look at her.”
Ethan's gaze traveled back to the girl. The shrubbery lighting that lit up the path gave him a solid view and for the first time, he really looked. Black T-shirt, black pants, black combat boots, along with the black hair, added to the overall look. A step closer revealed that black eyeliner ringed her eyes and she had a ring piercing her eyebrow.
“From your stunned expression, I see you finally realize what I've been dealing with.” The brunette looked none too pleased to have made her point.
And the uneasy feeling in Ethan's gut returned, magnified.
“She's out of control—drinking, smoking, running with a dangerous crowd, and I can't handle her anymore. I definitely can't work and raise a rebellious teenager. I have a job to get back to, so it's your turn.”
“Excuse me?”
“I said it's your turn. Step up and play big brother. I'll come back at the end of the summer before school starts and we'll figure out what to do next. In the meantime, get to know each other and see if you can handle her any better than I can.”
Ethan clenched and unclenched his fists. She couldn't possibly mean to leave the girl here. “Just because your mother wrote my father's name down on a piece of paper doesn't make it true.”
Faith groaned.
“I told you this was a fucking mistake.” Tess folded her arms over her chest defensively.
Ethan winced. Even as the words spewed from his mouth, he
knew
he was out of line, especially to say it in front of the kid. But he just wanted this mess to go away.
“I figured you'd say that.” Only the older sister hadn't reacted to Ethan's words. “Luckily for you, my mother was smart enough to grab some of his DNA,” she said. “Toothbrush,” she continued before he could ask. “She had the tests run. I had them repeated.” She handed him another envelope from her purse. “Read it and weep.”
He wanted to.
Because if her story was true, Tess
was
his sibling. Another person he'd deprived of a parent. Another person he owed for his past mistakes. And she looked pretty screwed up too.
He met the brunette's gaze. “Look . . . what did you say your name was again?” He winced as he spoke.
“Kelly Moss, but the only name you have to concern yourself with is Tess.” As if from nowhere, the older sister produced a large duffel bag from the darkness and tossed it onto his front step.
“Kelly.” Ethan heard the apology in his tone. Hopefully she'd caught it too. “You took me off guard. Come on in and we'll talk about this, okay?” He reluctantly gestured for them to come inside.
His chance at being alone with Faith had long since been shot to hell, but he still wasn't ready for the responsibility Kelly Moss intended for him to take.
She shook her head. “Nope. Took me over an hour to drive here from the city. I have a long drive back so I can be at work in the morning. But Tess would be more than happy to come inside, right, Tess?” She stepped closer to the teen and nudged her in the back.
“Bite me,” the girl said in a clearly pissed tone.
She glanced at Ethan. “
You
can get her to come inside. Oh, and one more thing? Her juvenile probation officer knows she's going to be living with you. His name is on here.” She held out a card.
Stunned, Ethan couldn't make his hand move.
Faith accepted the card for him.
“Make sure you check in with the man,” Kelly said.
“Probation officer?” he finally blurted out, feeling as if he were in a nightmare from which he couldn't wake up.
Without warning, the woman abruptly turned and hugged the teenager—the first sign that she cared since Ethan had opened the door.
When she spoke, her voice quivered. “Be good. Be smart . . . smarter anyway, and be safe. I love you. I'll call you every night, okay? And I'll see you at the end of the summer.”
The teen stood with her arms stiff at her sides. She didn't return the hug or utter a word in reply, but suddenly Ethan knew that for Kelly, dumping her sister on his doorstep hadn't been easy. In fact, it suddenly seemed like a desperate last-ditch effort on the girl's behalf.
But that made her Ethan's problem and damned if he knew what to do with a hostile teenager, and a girl no less. He'd barely survived those years himself.
Ethan suddenly had a family crisis on his hands. Which meant, he realized, he needed to call a family meeting. He nearly laughed aloud at the absurdity of that thought. He and his brothers were far from being a family, but with this new sister, Nash and Dare would have no choice but to come over and deal with the new family reality.
Whether they wanted to or not.
Eight
Faith stood in the empty living room area of Ethan's house, her mind whirling with all that had occurred. On top of the obvious—Ethan had a troubled sister dumped on his doorstep—Faith realized he also had an empty house that needed furniture much faster than either of them had thought.
He strode back into the room, cell phone in hand, his expression tight.

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