Evangeline

My hard lemonade is empty, and that's about all the progress I've made on anything in the past couple of hours. It turns out, it's difficult to focus on a job search when nice music is playing and the pool water is perfectly cool against my heated skin.


I need another sunscreen application. I wrap a towel around myself so I don't drip on Dad's floors and head inside. One quick sunscreen application later, and I step out of the bathroom.

A man is standing in the hallway. I shriek and dart back into the bathroom where I slam the door shut and lock it, my heart thudding in alarm.

'Evangeline, it's Leonard," the guy says.


Leonard. My step-uncle.

'I thought you weren't coming until tonight," I say from behind the door.


'Sorry. I didn't have your number to warn you that I finished up early."

'Shit, you freaking scared me," I say as I unlock the bathroom door and step back into the hallway.

I take one look at Leonard, at his light brown eyes, that strong jaw, that sexy mouth, and I gasp.

'Jaime?" Before he can correct me, I shake my head. 'Leonard Jaime. Jaime is your last name."

He nods, an inscrutable expression on his face. A face that, four days ago, was buried in my pussy.

My face heats with embarrassment. This cannot be happening. All I can picture is those eyes locking on mine while his mouth works between my legs, where I'm completely naked before him, spread for his pleasure.

These are thoughts I should not be having about my step-uncle.

'What have we done?" I whisper.

He reaches over his shoulder to rub the back of his neck while he shakes his head. 'I don't fucking know."

I have no disaster plan for this. There isn't a handbook on what to do if you accidentally fuck your uncle.

Not my uncle, I immediately remind myself. My step-uncle. No blood relation, at least.

But I shouldn't have to say 'at least" about this. The whole point of going to Vice was to meet a stranger. Turns out I met two of them. I just happen to be sort-of-kind-of related to one.

If Carter is tangentially related to me, I'm going to riot.

Before I can say anything else, Leonard's phone rings.

He pulls it from his pocket. When he looks at the screen, his eyes get big. 'Fuck. It's Mark."

'Don't answer," I hiss.

'He'll worry if I don't, and then he'll call you."

I swallow. 'Um, go ahead and answer, then, I guess."

'Yeah, thought so." He taps his phone screen and holds the device to his ear.

Cinching my towel more tightly around my chest, I evaluate my chances for escape. If I want to go back to the pool, I have to get past Leonard, who takes up most of the hallway. Not so much in size, but in presence. My bedroom is also past him. I guess I could go back into the bathroom.

And there I'll remain until the end of time, slowly dying of mortification.

'Hey," Leonard says into the phone.

There's a long pause while my dad speaks. I can hear his voice, but not the words.

'I'm already here," Leonard says. 'Traffic was light and I wanted to take advantage." A pause. 'She was a little surprised. Yep. She seems good, why don't you ask her yourself? She's right here, looks like she just came in from the pool."

I shake my head rapidly. I am a lot of things. Embarrassed. Squicked out. Weirdly turned on. But one thing I am not, is ready to talk to my dad.

'I'm too wet to talk," I say.

Leonard's eyes flare with interest, but he shakes his head as if clearing the thought.

'Hey, Dad," I say loudly. 'I'll text you later, okay?"

'He says that's fine," Leonard tells me.

Phew. Bullet dodged.

A minute later, Leonard wraps up the call and pockets his phone. We stare at each other for a long moment. I don't know what to say.

Finally, he speaks. 'Obviously, I can't stay here with you."

'I'm not keeping you," I say, making a little shooing motion with my fingers, like run along.

'If I go now, Mark will wonder why. He asked me to keep an eye on you. So I'll stay a couple of days, we'll keep out of each other's way."

I frown. 'This isn't ideal."

'No? What would be ideal?"

'Ideal would be you fucking off into the great unknown and I find a magical potion to wipe my memory of this entire affair."

His mouth tilts upward. 'Wipe both our memories."

It shouldn't sting that he wants to get rid of the memory, but I just said it, too. That night could've been the hottest experience of my entire life, but now it's ruined. Why couldn't the guy who made me call him 'Daddy" be anyone other than someone who's related—even by marriage—to my actual dad?

Ugh. I bend at the waist, feeling sick.

'Hey," he says. 'Are you okay?"

'Fantastic." Saliva gathers in my mouth.

'You look like you're going to puke." He steps forward, hesitant as if he's afraid I'll lash out at him. His warm hand moves over my upper back, sliding the damp strands of my hair out of the way so he can rub a soothing circle over my skin. 'Breathe in slowly, and out slowly. Deep breaths. You're safe, everything's okay."

'It's not okay," I say, my voice quiet.

'It will be. Just breathe, Evie."

The nickname causes me to stand up straight and scowl at him. 'Nobody calls me that."

'Sorry, it's the name you gave us."

Us. Him and his friend.

I explain, 'Well, I couldn't think of a fake name fast enough."

'Well, it suits you."

He steps back, and I immediately mourn the loss of contact between us. His hand felt so good on my skin.

But it's wrong.

'Whatever." I probably shouldn't be rude to this guy—my step-uncle—but all of my defenses are up.

His lips pull into a line of disapproval. 'My brother must never find out about what happened between us."

'Like I would tell him!"

'And it will never happen again."

Rolling my eyes, I say, 'I thought that was a given."

'You are a brat," he says.

'And you are a dick." I can't believe I said it out loud. He's supposed to be my uncle, and here I am disrespecting him. It isn't like me.

But I guess I've gone through four of the five stages of Finding Out One Mistakenly Fucked Her Step-Uncle: disbelief, bargaining, nausea, and now anger. Next, I hope, is forgetfulness: the complete obliteration of my memory.

There's nothing else to be said. We did the thing, now we're sworn to secrecy, and now I'm going back out to the pool to wait for that fifth and final stage of forgetfulness.

I'm no longer scared of walking past him. In fact, I fucking flounce as I traipse past. Let him see how little he affects me, let him see how little I care.

Once outside, I drop my towel and dive into the pool, hoping the water will cool my anger. I don't know why I'm so pissed, but I suppose it's an improvement over nausea.

Leonard

While I unpack, I catch sight of Evangeline when she steps out of the pool, her curves fully on display within that tiny bathing suit, water clinging to her smooth skin. She settles into a lounge chair and puts on sunglasses before picking up her phone. The sugary pop music gets louder. A woman sings about heartbreak and hedonism, repeating the words so often they cease to have meaning.

Evangeline looks toward the window, sees me staring. Flips me off.

When I first called her Trouble, I had no fucking idea just how much trouble she would be.

I'm not going to bother unpacking. I'm staying two nights, max, then I'm getting the fuck out of here. Evangeline in her tiny bathing suit, flipping me off, practically begging me to take her over my knee like I threatened at Vice.

Fuck.

I'm going to go crazy if I stay here.

I sit on the bed, breathing deeply. She's Mark's daughter. Mark's girl.

But she'd called me Daddy so sweetly.

I'm going straight to hell for even remembering what we did. I need to push it from my mind. No more jerking off to the memories of her bent over that couch, taking my cock like a good girl.

Growling in frustration, I go back to the window overlooking the pool. She's still on the lounge chair, her skin glistening in the sun as she reads something on her phone. Her light blond hair is darker because it's wet, and those sunglasses hide her beautiful blue eyes.

Mark's eyes. I can't believe I didn't recognize her at the club. I should have, but I was too eager to be with her—someone who'd thrown off that other asshole on the dance floor like a pro. She didn't want to take his shit, which made her strong, and it made the prospect of dominating her even more tantalizing.

Yep. I gotta get out of here. I dominated her that night, but now she's dominating my thoughts.

My phone chimes with a text and I look down to see a message from Mark.

Thanks for watching over my little girl. I know it'll cramp your style, but knowing you'll be there for the next few weeks while she gets over her heartbreak means the world to me. Thanks, brother.

Actually, I start to type out, I can't stay as long as I thought…

I don't send it. He needs me to do this, and he was here for me when I needed him. Anytime I need a place to stay, he lets me. Our parents might have sucked, but we always had each other. And if I can't keep my dick in my pants while hanging around his daughter for a couple of weeks because apparently she's been going through some shit, then I'm the asshole.

What is she going through, anyway? I remember that night, after we fucked, she said something about needing to get her life in order.

Of course, I write to Mark. Happy to help.

Pushing myself away from the window, I head downstairs and out to the pool.

Evangeline looks up, her beautiful lips pursed. 'What's up?"

'I'm going to stay. If I leave early, I'm letting Mark down. I can't do it. But I'll stay out of your way as much as possible, if you stay out of mine."

'Sure." She returns her attention to her phone, clearly dismissing me.

Her bratty behavior is pushing all of my buttons. She has to know this.

'Do you want to tell me why he's so worried about you?" I ask.

'Not particularly."

'Are you going out every night, making reckless decisions?"

She lets out a sarcastic laugh. 'Just that one night."

I rub the back of my neck, perplexed. What does she want from me? 'Look, did I piss you off somehow?"

'No." She sets her phone face-down on her thigh and blesses me with her full attention once more. 'But you said it yourself, we'll stay out of each other's way, pretend it never happened, blah blah blah. So that's what I'm doing."

'We can still be civil."

'Am I not civil right now?"

It takes all my willpower to not throw her over my lap and spank out her attitude. But she's off limits now, forever. Whatever happened between us before, can absolutely not happen again.

'Right," I say. 'See you around."

'Or not," she mutters.

I pause, warring with my Daddydom instincts, then quickly stride back into the house.