TASTE: A Stepbrother Romance Read Online Free PDF

“Thank you Alice. You are an amazing daughter.” The happy couple soon breaks out into excited chatter and I turn back to my thoughts. I am not as happy and accepting of the situation as I pretend to be. But, I figure that my mother deserves happiness. It has been years since she lost her husband and I can imagine that she gets lonely. Plus, Jared seems like a decent man.
    The thought of Jared leads to unwanted thoughts of his son. Bile rises up in my throat and soon I taste the bitterness in my mouth. Damon . The name invokes resentment in my heart. I freeze. If his father is getting married to my mom, it means that I will be seeing him very soon. Damn it. After what he did to me, I was hoping that I would never lay eyes on him again.
    “Have you decided on a date for the wedding?” I ask casually.
    My mom’s face splits into a broad grin. “We have decided on a May wedding.”
    What? “Wow, that’s only two months from now.”
    She shrugs, “Well we figured there’s no need for a long engagement.”
    “Great,” I say weakly. I do not like this at all, but I decide to keep my mouth shut. I don’t want to be the one to wipe that lovely smile off of my mother’s face. I peek up at Jared through my lashes, hoping that my eyes doesn’t reveal too much. “So Jared, does Damon know you are getting married?”
    He nods. “He does. I actually discussed it with him about a week ago.”
    “I see. I assume he will be present at the wedding then.”
    “Unfortunately, two months isn’t enough notice and since he just started his job, he can’t afford to take any vacation time just yet.”
    I nearly let out a loud relieved sigh, but manage to stifle it. “Well isn’t that too bad,” I drawl. Thank goodness. Now I am sure that I can attend the wedding. If Damon was going to be there, I would have found some excuse not to attend. I am immensely relieved that I will not have to hurt or disappoint my mother because of that wretched man. Memories of that night three months ago threaten to overwhelm me. I quickly shove them down, or I will begin to sob in front of Jared and my mom.
    It irritates me how much the memory of what Damon did to me still hurts. Maybe any other girl would have gotten over his stupid prank by now, but not me. Mostly because I was in love with him for years, so his actions cut me deeper than he or I could have imagined. At least I won’t have to see him at the wedding. Content with that knowledge I lift my glass once more to take another long swig of wine in silent celebration.
     
    ***
 
    I am leaving work after a long but enjoyable day, when my cell phone begins to vibrate in my handbag. I stop to fish around the many compartments until my fingers wrap around it.
    “Hey, mom.” I smile widely. I’m always happy to hear from her. I miss her so much.
    After I moved out almost three years ago, things haven’t been the same. When she and Jared got married, she decided to move into his house. Of course the offer was made for me to move in with them, but I felt out of place. It was finally time for me to leave the proverbial nest, so I moved onto the university’s campus. It took me a little while to adjust but things had worked out pretty well.
    “Hi, honey. How are you? How’s the new job going?”
    “Everything is fine, mom. The job is great.”
    I’m on the right path to pursuing my ultimate goal. Landing a job as an analytical chemist for one of Wisconsin’s largest pharmaceutical companies so soon after leaving school was sheer luck on my part.
    “How is Richard?” she asks.
    I blush slightly at her tone. Her voice drops to a conspiratorial note when she mentions his name. I roll my eyes. “He’s great.” I silently pray that she doesn’t ask me if we have set a date yet. We have only been engaged for five months. But my mother is anxious to throw herself into planning another wedding. I am relieved when she doesn’t delve into questions about my impending