Cupidity

Chris saw Emma’s blush deepen as he continued to touch her. He wondered if it spread past her collar onto her chest.

Chris let go of Emma as if she was on fire. This is your baby sister, Chris scolded himself. What the hell are you thinking?

“Come on. Let’s go,” he said tersely.

Turning and walking away from Emma, he missed the hurt look on her face. But he slowed down so she could walk beside him and not after him.

Out of the corner of his eye, Chris could see Jackson taking glimpses of Emma as they strolled out to the parking lot. This pissed him off; Jackson was not hiding his desire for Emma.

Chris looked at his sister to see her reaction.

Emma seemed oblivious to his best friend’s interest. She stared straight ahead or at her feet.

Chris used the opportunity to check Emma out. Her black cotton T-shirt and worn blue jeans hid nothing. She had curves that dipped and rose in dizzying valleys and hills.

His hand itched to see if he could palm one breast with his entire hand, or would she overflow his grip.

He shook his head to get rid of that image.

What was he doing visualizing something like that about his sister? What was wrong with him? Just because she was his type didn’t give him permission to think nasty thoughts about her.

It had been a while since Chris had gotten laid. Perhaps he needed to find a willing body to fuck out some of this sexual need he was feeling.

Otherwise, it was going to be tough living under the same roof with her for a week.

“Here we are,” Chris announced when they got to his truck. He opened the back door and put Emma’s bags on the seat. “You can sit on the other side…unless you’d like to ride up front?”

Emma shook her head and followed Chris to the other side of the truck. He pulled the door open and stepped aside so she could climb in.

What a peach of an ass, Chris thought as she made her way up and into the vehicle. ~Would it jiggle if I slapped it?~

Once she was seated, Chris grabbed the seatbelt, reached over Emma, and clipped it into place. He lingered a second longer than he needed to, intoxicated by her smell.

It was a mellow sweetness that lingered in the air. He didn’t think it was perfume, but a combination of all her beauty products and probably her own distinctive feminine and heady scent.

Not able to stop himself, Chris sniffed her hair before finally pulling back from her. Emma looked at him strangely.

Probably wondering why you smelled her, Chris thought. He quickly shut the truck door and got in. Jackson was already riding shotgun.

“Are you hungry?” Chris asked after they had pulled onto the freeway. “I can stop if you want something in particular.”

“I’m not hungry. Thanks,” Emma replied, meeting his gaze in the rearview mirror.

Chris made himself look away from her dark contemplation. Her eyes were gorgeous and exotic.

Trying to remember her parents’ ethnic origins, he thought he recalled correctly that her mother had been Mexican and her father Asian. The combination had produced one hell of a beautiful daughter.

Emma was unlike any woman Chris had ever seen. How had he not seen her beauty when she was younger?

The first time Chris had met Emma, she had been painfully shy. After an initial hello, she had spent the rest of the evening in her room. She hadn’t even joined them for dinner.

Chris had questioned his parents about Emma’s behavior. They told him she was still not used to being with them, which made sense when she was eight and had first come to live with Mom and Dad.

Even at the Christmas dinner four years later he had made it home for, she had acted the same way.

That time, she’d left her room to come down to dinner, but she hadn’t said a word to any of them. Emma hadn’t looked at him the whole time either.

As soon as she was done, she’d asked for permission to leave the table. Their parents had let her go.

“She’s still getting used to being in a family,” his mother explained, seeing Chris’s concerned face. “You’re a stranger to her, and it takes her time to warm up to people.”

“It doesn’t help that you’re a man either,” his dad intoned. “She’s just now learning to trust me when it’s just her and me in the same room.”

“What happened to her?” Chris asked. By the time they were done telling him, he wished he hadn’t asked.

Chris looked at Emma in the rearview mirror again. She was looking out the window, biting her lip nervously.

For the most part, she seemed to be okay being with him and Jackson, although he had noticed her anxiety when she’d met the big center.

Jackson was intimidating to most people, but given her history, Chris understood why Emma feared him.

Yet, she hadn’t shied away from him. That is progress, Chris thought. ~Maybe she is doing better after being in the care of our~ ~parents for a decade.~

“Emma,” Jackson said, turning around in his seat so he could look her in the eye.

Chris saw her swallow hard, and a flash of fear graced her face, but she recovered quickly and looked impassively at his friend.

“How long are you going to be here?”

“One week,” Emma answered quickly.

“What will you be doing while you’re here?”

“I’m going to visit a couple of colleges.”

“Which ones?”

“Stanford, Caltech, UCLA, and Berkley,” Emma listed shyly.

“Wow,” Jackson exclaimed. “Those are excellent schools. You must be very smart.”

Chris smiled when he saw Emma blush at the compliment.

“I’m not very smart,” she disagreed humbly. “I study a lot, and it takes a lot of work for me to get good grades. But I enjoy taking classes and learning about the world.”

“Have you been accepted into all those schools?” Chris asked.

“Yes,” Emma answered modestly.

“Are you leaning toward one?”

“Not really. Mom and Dad want me to stay on the East Coast, so I’ll probably do that.”

“Why come out here then?”

“They wanted me to make sure I didn’t regret not visiting the schools out here. And I, uh, I wanted to…see you,” Emma got out self-consciously. She caught his attention in the rearview mirror.

Chris smiled at her. “I’m glad you came to visit,” he told her honestly. “Maybe I can talk you into accepting a spot in a school out here. Then we could have more time together.”

Emma smiled and said, “Maybe. But I think Mom and Dad want me to go to Harvard.”

“You got into Harvard?!” Jackson exclaimed. “That’s so cool.”

“Yeah, I guess so,” Emma conceded meekly.

“Well, promise me you’ll keep an open mind when you visit our schools,” Chris asked seriously. “I think you might like it out here.”

“Okay,” she assured. “I can do that.”

Chris felt an overwhelming need to get to know his adopted sister better. He hadn’t realized how smart Emma was.

She could probably hold a conversation with him about something worth talking about.

Perhaps their relationship could grow. He was used to being an only child; he wondered what it would be like to have a sibling.

Maybe you’ll start thinking about her like a sister, Chris told himself. And not some hot young pussy for you to fuck.

Shit! Was that what he wanted to do with her?

No, Chris told himself. He was horny from not getting any in a few weeks. It wasn’t Emma specifically. He needed a woman built like her, but not her, his sister.

Right?

Chapter 4

When they arrived at Chris’s home in Malibu, it amazed Emma. The house was on the beach. It was huge and richly appointed.

The bedroom he showed her was perfect. It had a canopy bed like the one she had at home, only much nicer.

There was a sitting area in the room, where one could watch an enormous screen TV or maybe relax on the chaise lounge to read, and the windows overlooked the ocean.

The attached bathroom had a huge tub that could fit three and a shower with six showerheads. Emma couldn’t wait to see what it felt like to have water spraying at her from all directions.

Chris gave Emma a quick tour and then moved to take Jackson back to the Pumas training facility.

“I hope to see you again soon,” Jackson said before leaving. “Let me know if you want to do any sightseeing while you’re here. I can take you wherever you want.”

Emma smiled graciously and said she just might take him up on his offer. Jackson then took her hand, raised it to his lips, and kissed it. He shot her a grin and left.

Emma’s smile grew broader with Jackson’s attention. Jackson was a big man, but he was very graceful and gentle in his movements. Emma felt herself relaxing around him.

Before he was out the door, Emma saw a concerned look on Chris’s face. She wondered if he felt nervous about leaving her alone in his home.

She wouldn’t touch anything except the furniture in her room and the lounge chair on the deck. That way, she couldn’t ruin anything.

So, Emma changed into a pair of shorts and a tank top and went outside and onto the deck.

Lying down on the deck chaise, after opening an umbrella, Emma felt her tiredness from the insomnia and travel overwhelm her body.

She closed her eyes and listened to the waves crashing, the seagulls crying, and the wind blowing. The sun felt good on her exposed skin.

Thinking she should get into bed, the waves lulled her into a deep sleep.