Hero Duty Read Free Page B

fostered it. Derek is good at sport, good looking, smart and funny. He’s a star. He reflected well on Dad.’
    ‘A star?’ Brodie repeated, his tone flat. Then again, he was another star: strong, competent, good looking. ‘I take it you aren’t similarly close to Portia?’
    ‘No.’ She shivered. Portia had never pretended friendship with her stepdaughter. Jessica had been the cuckoo in the new nest the older woman had built and furnished so lavishly. But saying that sounded unbalanced and immature, and Jessica was always careful to pre-empt criticism. ‘At fifteen, I was old enough to have lots of memories of Mum. I’d probably have resented any woman Dad replaced her with, but Portia was her polar opposite. Maybe not in looks. Mum was tall and blonde, too. But Mum was open and friendly, so enthusiastic for life. She never cared how she looked or what people thought of her. Portia has made it her life’s work to rule the Sydney social scene.’
    ‘That doesn’t appeal to you?’
    ‘Do I look like it does?’ she demanded.
    ‘Well…’ Amusement shaded his voice. ‘…yes.’
    She pulled away to stare at him. ‘You’re kidding.’
    ‘Uh, no. Look at you. Blonde hair in a perfect bun, or whatever it is you call it. Lovely face, any imperfections corrected by surgery.’
    ‘I have not had plastic surgery.’
    Buddy grumbled as she bounced in indignation.
    Brodie’s arm stayed around her shoulders. ‘My mistake,’ he said easily. ‘But look at your figure and the way you’re dressed.’
    ‘Jeans and a shirt?’ She couldn’t believe this.
    ‘Expensive jeans and a shirt that fits like a glove, that makes a man want to touch the crispness of it and discover if the skin beneath is soft and warm.’
    She goggled at him. ‘Portia would tell you I’m too fat.’
    ‘What?’
    ‘I have curves. I swim daily.’ She wasn’t scared of the water if it was safely in a pool. ‘But no matter how much I exercise, I’m a big girl.’
    He snorted.
    ‘I am. I’m nearly six-foot tall and I have curves to match. I refuse to look like a skeleton for anyone.’
    ‘Well thank F-heaven for that.’
    A giggle escaped her. ‘You can swear in front of me.’
    ‘Not on my grandfather’s veranda or in his house. Swearing in the garage is allowed, if you’re alone. In front of a woman is soap in the mouth time.’
    She laughed for real.
    He grinned and squeezed her shoulders. ‘Okay, so despite looking like a supermodel, you’re actually a normal, if rich, girl. Go on with the story.’
    ‘Oh.’ She’d been feeling happy. Being admired did wonders for a girl’s ego. ‘I can’t remember where I…I guess I should tell you about Derek.’
    ‘Your stepbrother? What was it you said about him? That he “reflected well” on your dad? Maybe your stepmother wasn’t as confident as your dad and felt threatened. Maybe you were too much competition.’
    ‘Ha. I was never any competition for Portia. I always made that clear. I signalled submission. I stood in the background, wore plain colours.’
    ‘None of that would make you invisible.’
    ‘It did.’ She slumped back against the porch swing. ‘I never caused trouble. Once I left school and left Dad’s house, the family would forget me for months at a time. I was an awkward but ignorable appendage to the perfect family unit. I met Derek’s fiancée for the first time at their engagement party. She had no idea that Derek had a stepsister, that Dad had a daughter as well as a son.’
    Brodie covered her hand where it lay on Buddy’s rough fur. The simple action said everything. He saw her. She was not lost.
    The temptation to believe that was huge, and it was precisely what she needed him to protect her from: she needed his strength to save her from trading everything for the feeling of belonging.
    ‘Let me tell you about Derek. Everyone sees him as a rich man’s son. That’s how he sees himself. Except it’s not true. Dad, Portia, and Derek used to talk