Seduction for Beginners Page 5

  * * *

  Annie carefully weaved around the busy catering staff in the kitchen to avoid spilling wine on anyone else. Once had been embarrassing enough. Make that almost twice. She breathed a sigh of relief when she set down the tray on the kitchen counter. Okay, get out of here before Jake—

  “There you are!” Jake’s voice wrecked her escape plan. When she turned, her brother squinted up at her, looking annoyed—as always—that his younger sister had outgrown him. “Great party, isn’t it? I bet you’re glad you came.”

  Glad? Annie pierced him with a disbelieving stare. Glad?

  “What are you doing in here?” He pointed at the tray. “I hired a catering service to take care of that.”

  Annie glared at him. “You called me over for help, so that’s what I’m doing,” she said in the coldest, most controlled tone she was capable of mustering. “If you ever pull a stunt like that again, I’ll—”

  “Oh, come on. Don’t sulk. Lighten up. Would you have come over if I said we’re having a party?”

  “No,” Annie said, “I—”

  “See?” Jake wrapped one arm around her. “You would have missed out on all the fun.”

  Annie resisted the urge to shove him away. “Our ideas of fun couldn’t be more different, and you know it. If I’d wanted to come to your stupid party, I would have said yes when you asked me. You scared me half to death with your call, you jerk!”

  “It’s not a stupid party,” Jake said.

  God. Annie wanted to hit him. Discussions with Jake were like trying to reason with a three-year-old. Even if she got him to apologize, his regret wouldn’t be sincere. At the next best opportunity, he would do the same thing again. This is useless. “Forget it. I have to go.”

  “Now? It’s not even nine!”

  “I’m meeting with a client early tomorrow morning.” Annie shook off her brother’s arm. Besides, an excellent book awaited her at home, but she wasn’t about to tell Jake that. Her brother already thought her life was boring.

  “Oh, come on! All work and no play makes Annie a very dull girl.”

  That joke was getting old. “And all play and no work makes Jake a very bankrupt boy,” Annie said. “Don’t you have to work tomorrow?”

  Jake waved his hand through the air as if chasing away an irritating fly. He gulped his drink and grinned. “Sasha can open the gym for me. What are employees good for if not for covering for me after a party like this? Come on.” He nudged her. “Stay. Just a little longer. Let me introduce you to a friend of mine.”

  One more reason to leave. Jake’s friends tended to be adrenaline junkies who talked about nothing but their sports cars, partying, and their latest free-climbing adventure. Annie drove an electric car, hated parties, and hanging from a rock without a safety net was not her idea of a fun vacation. If she said yes to meeting Jake’s friend, she would be bored within seconds.

  “No, thanks.” She tried to push past him.

  Jake shoved his arm out, blocking her way. “I’ll let you leave on one condition.”

  “Let me?” Annie’s voice rose. “I’m no longer the little girl you can boss around.”

  “Me?” Hand on his chest, Jake laughed. “Boss you around? You told me what to do from the moment you learned to talk!”

  “Because you needed it.” Even as a child, Jake had constantly gotten himself into trouble. She still remembered the chaos twelve-year-old Jake had produced at their cousin’s christening when he poured ink into the basin with the holy water.

  When he made no move to withdraw his arm and let her leave, she sighed. “So what’s the condition?”

  “My friend Drew wants a date with you.” His eyes twinkled, and his lips twitched in a way that told Annie he was trying to hide a mischievous grin.

  Was this another one of his pranks? But even Jake wouldn’t try to play a second practical joke on her on the same evening, would he? “Drew?” She had heard that name before. Maybe one of his college buddies? Every spring break, Jake had come home and boasted about the pranks he had pulled on his friends, but at one point, she had stopped listening. Or was Drew that weird guy Jake had introduced her to when she had helped him paint his house? “Isn’t that the one with the BDMS fetish?”

  “That’s BDSM, sis.” Jake laughed at her blush. “And no, that’s Dave. Drew doesn’t have any fetishes as far as I know.”

  “Still,” Annie said, “I told you I’m not going out with another one of your friends.”

  “Oh, but Drew is not like any of my other friends.” His lips twitched again. “In fact, you have a lot in common.”

  Now that would be a first. She eyed her brother, but he looked completely serious now. “Okay, if it’ll get you off my back, I’ll go out with him sometime.” She waved and hurried past him. With any luck, Jake would have forgotten all about it by tomorrow.

  Available at Smashwords and many other online bookstores

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