Stepbrother Studs Kevin: A Stepbrother Romance Read Free Page B

skin. He had blunted-off eye teeth that showed when he grinned broadly. She hadn’t seen him do that for a while. Well, not because of anything she’d said, anyway.
    “How are your legs doing?” He reached for her hand. “Got another couple of miles in the tank?”
    She felt like her legs might fall off, but to see pride in his eyes again, she’d walk another ten miles, even if she was running on fumes at the end. “I’m good.”
    “Atta girl. See? This is the sweet, charming, beautiful girl I remember.”
    She blushed and squeezed his hand, hoping he’d keep hold of it.
    He squeezed back. “All right, let’s walk through the leg-ache. It’s the first rule of the wilderness, you know. It feels better inside if you make things just a little difficult for yourself, but win anyway.”
    She glowed inside as he kept hold of her, walking them both up the trail. Actually she felt like she was quite an expert at making things hard for herself, but this kind of physical stretch-out was doing wonders at letting light back in. She might come out here with him more often.
    * * * *
    He finally declared it was time to stop and camp about ten seconds before she was about to drop to his feet and beg for mercy. She half-collapsed on a rock, stretching her legs out and toeing off her shoes. He rolled his eyes with a grin and started gathering small stones and brush for a fire.
    “Evie, you still smoking?”
    She whistled innocently up to the sky, making him laugh.
    “I’m not gonna ride your ass about it, I just want to know if you have a lighter.”
    She dug one out of her pocket and handed it over.
    “Thanks. It’s easier than using my flint.”
    She stretched her legs out in front, enjoying the gentle, late afternoon sun on her shins. It would be even nicer if the sun gave her a little color.
    There was plenty of color on Kevin. His muscles flowed smoothly under tan, velvet skin as he lit a stick and stuck it into the middle of the brush pile. He was hunkered almost double but there was barely a wrinkle across his waist. He was solid and taut. Between his two jobs, he must’ve trimmed his body fat down to something like twenty percent. His bronze beard glowed in the setting sun, looking almost blond. She watched as long, strong—and apparently fireproof—fingers poked and pulled strands of smouldering brush on top of the blaze until the flames were being pulled up through the fuel pile. She imagined those fingers trailing up her inner thigh and had to look away. She didn’t have long to compose herself before feeling a nudge at her arm. She turned to see him handing the lighter back.
    “Wasn’t that cheating?”
    “Second rule of the wilderness—don’t make things unnecessarily hard for yourself.”
    She giggled and threw a twig at him.
    Dinner was basic and came out of his backpack. As she sipped the soup and tore off mouthfuls of bread, she confessed she’d worried at one point that their evening meal would involve her stalking and killing some of the wildlife.
    It took Kevin about twenty minutes to stop laughing at her, and she was ready to stalk and kill him by the time he was done with his spontaneous snorts. But then he looped his arm around her neck as the sun set. She snuggled up to him, unable to remember how long it’d been since she felt this peaceful.
    “Thank you.”
    “For what?”
    She rested her face in the crook of his shoulder. He smelled of clean sweat and the last tinges of some delicious cologne. She could’ve spent hours with her cheek against him, just inhaling his closeness.
    “Thanks for bringing me out here. Letting me see where you go to escape. Being there for me. You know, you’re the only guy who’s ever really seen me? Cared about me… even when I’m at my worst?”
    “Your worst isn’t so bad.”
    They stared down the gully they’d hiked up. The sunset had given way to stars by the time Kevin spoke again.
    “Amazing out here, isn’t it? This is the only place I can