CUZ: Billionaire Stepbrother Romance Read Free

laid down, I checked my email on the MacBook Air on my desk.
    To my surprise, I had another message from the woman helping me find my birth parents. I opened the mail without sitting down. My eyes widened in surprise as I leaned over the back of my chair and read the message. She had dug up an address in New Orleans where the book containing my past might be located. Even better, she had already reached out to the owners of the property.
    I walked back over to my bed and laid down. If they had suffered through Katrina, the owners of the old house would have probably been relocated somewhere else in the country. I loved a good mystery, and I had to find out if the family bible with my family tree was stored in the old house damaged by the biggest hurricane of 2005. I can’t believe I’m making progress!
    Instead of waiting for the woman to find the owners, I thought about traveling to New Orleans. I might be able to find the house on my own and check it out. If I was lucky, and crafty, I might be able to get Josh to pay for the whole trip and go with me. My mind slipped into overdrive as I tried to come up with a way to get him to go without telling him the truth.
    As plans ran through my mind, I heard him close the door to our shared bathroom. Is he going to bed instead of whoring around? I took a deep breath, telling myself it was wrong to get excited, especially with our parents downstairs. We had been close growing up, but we never crossed any lines. The sexual tension between us had built up to intolerable levels, at least for me.
    I crawled out of bed and crept across the floor. The wood creaked slightly. In the silence, it sounded so loud. My heart raced in my chest as I pressed my ear against the door. No sounds seeped through the wood, so I reached out and turned the handle slowly. When the door opened to a dark and empty bathroom, I took a deep breath.
    You should go to bed. Just go to bed . Ignoring the voice in my head, I took a few steps across the room and knocked on his door. I instantly regretted it and turned around in a hurry. Before I could get back into my room, the door opened. Josh stood in the doorway, wearing nothing but a pair of boxer briefs. His hard, muscular chest and amazing abs looked so delicious and tempting.
    “What’s up?” he asked.
    “Huh?” I looked into his eyes, trying not to ogle his body. “It’s nothing. I thought I heard something.”
    “Just me. About to go to bed. We can talk in the morning if you want.”
    He closed the door a few inches.
    “Wait,” I said.
    “What is it? I’m really tired.”
    “Do you have a few minutes to talk?”
    His eyes stared into mine, neither of us looking away.
    “Sure,” he said finally, opening the door the rest of the way. “Come on in.”
    “Do you have a robe or something?” I asked as I walked into his room in our parents’ house.
    He cracked a smile. “What’s this? Sis is suddenly a prude?”
    “I’m not your sister, Cuz,” I said, smiling.
    It’s been so long since he called me that. I missed it.
    “Have a seat.” He walked to his closet and got out a white robe.
    Fuck. Why did you have to open your mouth? I scolded myself.
    As he put it on, I remembered I didn’t want to be distracted by his hot body. I sat down on the edge of his bed, watching him. He came over and sat down next to me. Only a foot or two separated us. Blood raced through my veins as I tried to keep my cool. I looked into his eyes, still not sure what I was about to say.
    “I need your help.”
    “Are you pregnant?” he asked.
    “What? No. What makes you think that?”
    Am I getting fat?
    “The tone of your voice.”
    “What about it?”
    “I don’t know. It’s like your nervous or something.”
    I AM nervous , I thought before I said, “No, it’s not that. I wanted to ask you a favor.”
    “You need more money?”
    “Well, yeah, I always need more money, but that’s not it.”
    “Well?”
    I took a deep breath, biting my bottom lip.