Free Curve Struck (A Celebrity Stepbrother Romance) by Christa Wick

the flight attendant had already turned away, no longer willing to risk her job for someone who didn't want helped.
    "Out we go," Declan nodded, his hand landing on her hip. "You first."
    She tried to maneuver away from his touch as she reached the small staircase attached to the plane. He deftly adjusted each time, never losing contact but ending with his hand firmly molded around her ass cheek as she reached the asphalt.
    "Stop it," she growled under her breath as the chauffeur finished loading Declan's bags and trotted over to retrieve her rolling case.
    "This, too," Declan said, slipping her backpack off her shoulder and handing it to the man.
    Smoothing a lock of hair back to expose her ear, Declan whispered into it. "Don't want anything between us on the drive."
    Before she could change her mind, the chauffeur had the trunk closed and was holding the door open for her. She turned, gave Declan a hard stare that warned him against any monkey business then climbed inside the limousine. He slid in after her, graceful despite his longer frame.
    Declan said nothing until the driver got behind the wheel. Right before he raised the tinted glass partition separating them from the driver, Declan told the man to proceed to the baggage terminal for JetFly at LAX.
    "That needs to go back down," she protested, reaching for the remote control.
    Grinning, he tucked the device behind him.
    "Juvenile jackass," she hissed.
    "No, sticking it down my pants would have been juvenile," he countered, lips pursing despite the smile. "This is just a little harmless teasing."
    "Sure, if you get to define harmless." Throwing her arms across her chest, Melanie slid all the way down the bench seat to hug the other side of the vehicle.
    "Funny how you were supposed to be out of my life by now but aren't."
    The words and his tone drew her gaze to Declan. His hands were folded in his lap, his attention focused on them. He seemed to be in a confessional, thinking deep thoughts as emotion slowly leaked from the edges of his expression. His hand ticked upward to stroke a finger just once along the bridge of his nose between his gray eyes.
    "Whatever improvisational acting you're doing right now, cut it the fuck out," she barked. "I'm not impressed."
    "Improvising?" His tone hardened and she flinched. "Is that what you think I was doing last night when I first saw you in the kitchen?"
    It had to be you...
    Those five little words and the look on his face had made her feel like scum. Why on earth, finding out he now had a stepsister, did it have to be that much worse because it was Melanie? How was she in any way that bad of a person, especially when he barely knew her!
    "No, you weren't acting then. You were staring daggers at me -- that was all too real. This..." she stopped and waved wildly at his butt hurt posture. "This is fake."
    "If you're so sure, kiss me," he said, reviving his earlier challenge. "Or do you think I'm that good of an actor?"
    Her nostrils flared and her lips grew thin. It didn't matter if he faked the kiss. If she let him get that close, get that much into her intimate space, she'd lie to herself seven ways to Sunday about how it all felt so real that it must be genuine. With his earth-sized ego, that was likely part of his plan.
    Declan slid along the seat until a foot or less of space separated them. Slowly, he reached his hand out then slid it behind her neck.
    "Come on, Melalee, it'll just take a second for you to prove to yourself that I'm lying, to expose me as a fraud, as some cruel, wicked bastard--"
    His throat seized on the last word, then his jaw went rigid. For one split second, she thought he would pull away, retreating entirely.
    He didn't. His grip on the back of her neck tightened and he drew her roughly to him, his mouth relentless in claiming the kiss he had been trying to coax out of her.
    Her arms, trapped between them, pushed upward. Her hands molded around his face as she tried to pull back. His hard mouth