Cannon (A Step Brother Romance #3)

"Did you go back to sleep?" I ask, sipping my coffee. Well, this is about as awkward as I expected it to be.

"Hendrix, we should talk about what happened," she starts. But she doesn't look at me, clearly embarrassed.

"Should we?" I ask. "Because nothing happened."

"Out in the hallway," she says. "And then...what you heard. And what I heard."

Oh good, she heard me, I think. But I shrug nonchalantly. "It was a momentary lapse in judgment," I say.

"That's it." She looks up at me, her eyes wary. "You were going to...kiss me."

I turn to grab the printout of her schedule and put it in front of her on the counter, intending to change the subject. "I was horny, and you were wearing...that shirt. And those panties."

"You saw my panties?" she asks.

"Shit, Addy." I shake my head, laughing. "You're something. Let's just write it off, all right? Nothing happened."

"That's it," she says, her voice wary. "You were just horny. I was just horny."

No, that's not fucking it, I think. That's what I want to say. That's not it at all. But I don't. "That's it," I lie. I force a shrug, and a casualness I definitely don't feel. "You know me, sweet cheeks. Have I ever been able to pass up a hot chick?"

"You think I'm a hot chick?" she asks, her cheeks flushing.

Damn it. I clench my jaw. "You're Addy," I say. "Not a hot chick."

"You're saying I'm not hot, then?" But the corner of her mouth turns up, and I think she's about to break into her signature grin. Thank God she's not taking this seriously.

"You're the hottest girl I know," I say, looking her in the eye. That makes her face flush deeper.

"Obviously, the Marines have ruined you," she says. "You probably haven't been around any hot girls in years."

"That's probably it," I lie. "And it explains my temporary lapse in judgment. It was basically temporary insanity."

"Yes." She nods. She doesn't look away, and for a minute, I think about walking around to the other side of the counter, picking her up and setting her on the marble, so she can wrap her legs around me. I want to take her right here, right now.

But I don't.

Addy clears her throat. "So it won't happen again."

I can't tell if she's telling me, or asking a question. "No, Addy-girl," I say. "It won't happen again."

I want to be telling the truth. It shouldn't happen again. It can't happen again. I know the stakes for her if it does. If I put my lips on her, it's over. Everything is over. Her career, her future. I knew the stakes when I signed up for this gig. Her record label would eat her alive.

So I steel my jaw, and shrug. "Honestly?" I ask. "Getting out of the Marines is like getting out of prison. Don't fault me if you're the first good-looking girl I've seen in a while. I just need a good lay, and that's it. It's nothing personal."

"Nothing personal," she repeats. She blinks - once, twice, three times, then nods again. "Yes. That's...how it should be."

"So, anyway. Here's the schedule for today," I say, looking down. "You want to go through it, or you need to finish your coffee first? You've got an interview this morning, and time at the studio this afternoon, and then dinner with our parents tonight."

"Dinner with our parents?" Addy asks, her brow furrowed. "When did that get added?"

"Are you going to deep-freeze them forever?"

She crosses her arms over her chest and glares at me. "That was my plan," she says.

"Why not just fire me?" I ask. "If it bothers you so much." Honestly, I'm shocked she's kept me around this long anyway. I don't know why she has. I'm sure she could have found another assistant who would manage shit and keep an eye on her. I really don't know why she needs someone to babysit her -- it's not like she's snorting coke off male strippers in the living room or dancing on tables at the club. I haven't even met these so-called friends of hers, the ones she was getting into trouble with.

Addy shrugs and looks at her phone, preoccupied with texting. She looks up at me. "Because my lawyer advised me not to," she says.

"You talked to your lawyer?" I ask. I'm not sure whether to be offended or impressed that she was smart enough to try to get rid of me.

"Yeah, duh," she says. "What, you think I just rolled over and took my label's advice? Do you think I'm dumb?"

"I think I've been with you this whole time," I say. "Practically."

Addy smirks. "I took a meeting with my attorney and it wasn't any of your business," she says.

"When?"

"Don't be so nosy, Hendrix," she says, her voice clipped. "Not everything in my life is your damn business. When I said before that I didn't need a babysitter, I meant it. On my attorney's advice, I'm stuck with you until this all plays out."

"Shit, you're no picnic either, sweet cheeks," I say. I rack my brain trying to figure out when the hell she talked to her attorney. I'm irritated that she tried to get rid of me. And after I've been so goddamned agreeable, doing her grocery shopping and cooking for her and refraining from ripping her clothes off in the damn hallway.