SeducedByTheAntiHero (3 page)

“Oh please.” Chloe gave her a level look. “They have
everything to do with why you’re here and tonight is the perfect opportunity to
get started on your mission.”

“You mean with Adam?” The other option just wasn’t, well, an
option.

The grin that graced Chloe’s face then could only be
described as evil. Pure and simple. “I was thinking more along the lines of the
quiet one.”

She felt her stomach bottom out at just the concept being
mentioned out loud. “No, absolutely not.” When all the response she got was a shit-eating
grin, she added, “Chloe, he doesn’t fit
anywhere
on my list. And he
wasn’t exactly clamoring for my attention.”

Rolling her eyes, Chloe waved Emma’s words away. “You and
that stupid-ass list. You aren’t going to marry him. You’re going to fuck him. And
you forget. I know him way better than you do and I can tell when he’s
interested. You just leave it to me.”

This time, Emma didn’t even bother to hide her groan. “I
can’t talk you out of this, can I?” She knew Chloe. When the woman had her mind
set on something, there was no changing it. And she loved to play matchmaker.

When Chloe smiled sweetly and said, “Nope,” she knew arguing
was moot.

“Just don’t embarrass me, please? And when he turns you
down, don’t badger him or try to trick him.”

“Don’t worry, he won’t turn me down. And really.” Chloe shot
her an exasperated look. “When have I ever embarrassed you?”

There were so many cars in the driveway and along the road
that Emma didn’t have to look down at the paper Mina gave her to know that this
was the right address. How many people had been invited to this “small”
gathering anyway? Nervous jitters clattered away in her stomach at all the
possibilities that lay behind that door. Especially as she had no idea what
Chloe had planned. With that girl it could be anything.

Once she found a parking spot, she squared her shoulders and
tried to calm her anxiety as she made her way up to the two-story brick house.
It
doesn’t matter what Chloe’s plans are
, she thought defiantly,
they aren’t
going to come to fruition
. She would pick her own man to work out her plan
with, thank you very much. A man who would certainly be more interested in her
than Ben Serano was.

She had just raised her fist to knock on the door when it
swung open and she was almost plowed over by a mountain of a man. As it was, he
bumped into her, knocking her slightly off balance. Large hands reached out to
steady her and a shock close to static electricity, only with a warm
aftereffect, burst over her skin at the point of contact.

Immediately, the hands dropped away and she looked up to
find Ben staring at her almost in bewilderment. “Sorry,” he rumbled, the low,
gravelly tone playing havoc with her nervous system.

Shaking herself out of her stupor, she managed a small
smile. “It’s okay. Partly my fault, too.”

To that, it seemed, he had no response. Just looked
awkwardly toward the house then back to her. “You going in?” he barked out and
was it impatiently?

As she stepped back from him, she could feel her eyebrows
reach toward her hairline. “I was planning on it.” Her eyes narrowed. “Unless
you have a reason I shouldn’t?”

“Emma!” Chloe’s enthusiastic shout from inside the house
drew Emma’s reluctant attention away from Ben. “I wondered what had taken you
so long. I thought you weren’t going to make it.”

The smile that graced her face then was genuine. Chloe was
always giving her a hard time for her perpetual lack of respect for
punctuality. Most of the time, Emma was late on purpose just to goad her. “You
know me, always like to be fashionably late.”

Chloe laughed. “Yeah, I don’t know about the fashionable
part. C’mon, I want to introduce you to everybody.”

“Okay, give me a minute.” She turned back toward Ben only to
find that he had already walked away, moving toward a truck at the end of the
driveway.

Facing Chloe once more, she threw her friend a pointed look.
“I rest my case.”

Shaking her head, Chloe waved that away as she grabbled
Emma’s arm and pulled her into the house. “Don’t take that personally. He sucks
with people. Doesn’t mean I’m not right.”

“If you say so.” She laughed, refusing to feel slighted by
someone she didn’t know.

They hung a right immediately after the main hallway and
found themselves in the kitchen. There were bottles of alcohol lined up on the
counter with bowls of chips and pretzels close by. Tyler was standing by the
sink talking to a blond man Emma didn’t recognize.

“Emma.” The lopsided smile Tyler gave her surely must have
broken more than a few hearts. “I’m glad you made it. Want a drink?”

“Thank you,” she said returning his smile. “Red wine?”

“Sure.” He nodded and moved to pull a glass from the
cupboard.

“Ah, so you’re Emma,” the blond said with dancing blue eyes
as he extended his hand. “Chloe’s told me a lot about you. I’m Brian.”

“Ah, so you’re Brian.” Emma laughed and shook his hand. “I’ve
heard a lot about you as well.”
And some of it is downright seedy.

He chuckled. “I can tell by the look on your face exactly
what kinds of things you’ve heard. Don’t worry, surprise is a common reaction.”
He winked and right then she decided that she liked him.

“Well, I have to say, I was sort of expecting a hulked-out
meathead with sleeve tattoos and maybe a scar on your cheek just for flavor.” While
that was slightly exaggerated, she hadn’t been expecting this personable,
almost preppy-boy with his washed jeans and striped polo shirt.

“You know,” he said and clicked his tongue, “I can’t tell
you how many times I’ve heard that exact thing. Maybe I need to toughen up my
image. What do you think, babe?” He looked at Chloe.

“I can help you with the scar part,” Tyler offered with a
grin as he handed Emma her wine.

The feminine growl filling the room made Emma laugh. “Don’t
you dare, or I’ll give you one to match,” Chloe spat. “Then Mina would never
speak to me again and it’d be your fault.”

There was a pause as he pretended to think about it. “Actually,
that might make my life a little easier.”

Folding her arms over her chest, Chloe narrowed her eyes at
Tyler then rolled them over to Emma. “You see what I’ve been putting up with
since I saw you last?”

Emma smiled. “Yes and I know you love every minute of it.”

Brian laughed and pulled Chloe’s hand into his. “I like her.
She calls you on your shit, babe.”

Chloe playfully punched him then tugged him toward the kitchen
door, which led to the backyard. “Yeah, yeah. Let’s go sit by the fire.”

The backyard, Emma found, was where all the people who
belonged to all those cars were, gathered around the fire pit. Ben, she was
surprised to see, was part of the crowd. He must have only gone out to his
truck for a few seconds before coming back to the party through the door in the
privacy fence that surrounded the property. Though, to say that he was part of
it might have been too generous. More like he was there but was decidedly
separate
from everyone else.

A prompt introduction to the remaining Serano brother,
Brandon, and his lovely, curvy and petite wife, Kim, forced her attention from
Ben and she was grateful. Brandon, not surprisingly, bore a striking
resemblance to his brothers. There were some seriously awesome genes running
around in that family and they weren’t just in the looks department. It didn’t
take Emma long to see that Brandon doted on Kim much the same way Tyler did
Mina. It was in the way he looked after her, making sure her cup was always
filled and the considerate way he listened to her when she spoke. It was with a
new understanding that she thought of Adam’s earlier complaints about how mushy
in love they were. Only, unlike him, she found herself envious of their
affection, rather than annoyed by it.

More introductions were made and she came to learn many of
the guys there were fighters from the gym Tyler and Brian belonged to. Some had
girlfriends with them but some, she was delighted to find, were on their own. And
some of them were pretty hot. Hot
and
they seemed to reciprocate her
interest. Unlike a certain gorgeous man sitting by the fire she was trying her
damndest to ignore.

Before she could elaborate on that thought, she was
extricated from her reverie when Adam arrived and pulled her into an unexpected
hug. “I’m glad you showed,” he said with that panty-melting smile of his when
he pulled away. Not for the first time did she wonder if Chloe maybe hadn’t
picked the wrong twin to hook her up with. But then she felt the weight of a
silent gaze boring into her profile and it just
did
something to her
that Adam’s warm embrace couldn’t match.

Which was bullshit and something she needed to get over if
she wanted her plan to be successful. Ben was so off her “Charming List” radar
it wasn’t even funny. While she knew her mission called for her to kick her
list to the side, the guy she hooked up with had to possess
some
of
those qualities. Ben was just downright rude and non-personable.

“I’m glad
you
decided to show up, too, little
brother,” Brandon quipped, looking down at his watch for emphasis.

Adam shot him a sheepish but worried look. “I know. I would
have been here sooner but it was The Captain. He’s been having some…um…trouble
lately and I wanted to make sure he was comfortable before I left.”

Brandon laughed. “I swear to God, man, you should just marry
that damn dog and be done with it.”

And with that, an almighty bicker-fest started up between
the three brothers surrounding her and she couldn’t contain her amusement. But
along with her mirth came a pang of homesickness for her own family. It had
been a long time since her family had been assembled like this all in one place
and she hadn’t realized until this moment how much she had been missing them. They
were scattered on different ends of the country and didn’t get the opportunity
to come together very often outside of the major holidays.

It didn’t escape her notice, however, that Ben remained
removed from his brothers. His lack of contribution to the lively conversation
spoke volumes and despite herself, she was curious.

For the time being she shook off her wayward interest and
settled into a seat by the fire to enjoy the company she was in. The fact that
he soon got up and made his way toward the house helped. But he was stopped by
a burly-looking man who could only be a fighter and from then on she was
acutely aware of his location in relation to hers. Still, she tried to forget
he was there.

“So, Emma,” Kim said turning away from the brothers and their
arguing to face Chloe and Emma. “Chloe tells me you two went to college
together. What did you study?”

A rueful smile lifted her lips when she thought about it. “I
was an English major, actually. So I have no idea how I ended up in banking.”

Kim’s laugh was warm and infectious and Emma took an instant
liking to her. “Believe me I understand how that goes. I majored in psychology,
intending to be this affluent psychiatrist for the criminally insane. The
courses were interesting but it took me almost four years to realize I really
wanted to go to culinary school. Go figure.” She rolled her eyes. “I would say
it was a complete waste of time, but that’s how I met Brandon.” There was no
mistaking the dreamy satisfaction that surfaced in her expression and from
everything Emma had seen, it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that
their marriage was a happy one.

“Well, at least you ended up doing something you wanted to
do. That’s all that matters,” Emma said.

“You did too, though. Or at least you’re on your way,” Chloe
interjected then leaned forward on her elbows toward Kim. “Emma’s going to be a
world famous writer.”

Emma scoffed, thinking about the latest critique she’d
gotten on her novel. “Yeah, I don’t know about that.”

Chloe shot her an affronted glare. “I do.” She turned back
to Kim. “She writes these really hot books—”

The thread of the conversation was lost on Emma when Ben
made his way back to the fire to sit near her. He didn’t speak to anyone and
her curiosity was inflamed once more. She didn’t know why, but his stillness
and appearance of solitude in a crowd full of people were enthralling. What had
made him this way? Obviously, it wasn’t a family trait, as his brothers
appeared happy and well adjusted. There was a story there. She could feel it.

The shadowed light of the fire danced over his features. That
strong jaw with just a touch of dark stubble. Those almost obscenely full lips Those
dark eyes that appeared black and fathomless. In that moment he looked like
Lucifer himself sitting across from her, tempting and evil, staring solemnly
into the flames of the fire-pit. And it was then that she became cognizant of
the fact that she had never been more attracted to a person in her entire life.
The realization was alarming.

When Ben’s head snapped in her direction as though he’d been
startled, she once again began to take notice of the other people around her
and caught the tail end of what Chloe had been saying.

“…severe lack of quality orgasms are cutting off her
creative flow.”

Wait, what was that now?

It was with dawning horror she realized, too late, that
Chloe had been telling the whole world Emma’s real reasons for coming to visit.
Okay, so maybe not the whole world but anyone other than Chloe knowing was one
person too many. Let alone
Ben
knowing. Because oh yeah, in addition to
Mina and Kim, he’d heard her.

This was Chloe’s grand strategy? To just lay it all out
there for public consumption? Wow, she’d forgotten how tactless Chloe could
actually be. Now all she wanted to do was let the ground open up and swallow
her whole.

Especially when Ben looked at her pensively and said, “What,
your city boys can’t satisfy you?”

Good Lord, please just take me now and get it over with
.
What the hell was she supposed to even say to that?

In the end it didn’t matter because before she could utter a
word, Chloe cut her off at the pass. “
I
personally think it’s just men
in general. Well, except my man of course,” she smiled sweetly at Brian who
seemed oblivious. Looking back at Ben she cocked an eyebrow. “You think you can
do any better?”

Sinfully dark eyes met Emma’s before his gaze slowly roamed
over the length of her body. Down then back up causing tingling goose bumps to
form on her skin. Then, what she was coming to believe was a rare smile tilted
the corners of his lips. “Hell yeah, I can,” he all but growled. The deep sound
sent a flood of moisture between her legs and she swallowed hard.

Just as the implications of his words were starting to sink
in, Chloe once again interjected on her behalf without consulting her. “Prove
it, then. And since she needs inspiration that lasts, you have to make it
diverse. Switch it up in a bunch of different ways so that her…stories,” an
evil grin split her lips, “don’t ever get stale.”

Emma would have then turned to her so-called friend to gape
in outraged shock if she hadn’t seen the dark light glittering in Ben’s eyes as
he put his beer to his lips. “I’ll take that bet,” he said after a slow swallow
then licked his lips. “And don’t worry, Sugar, I can make it last.”