Free My Charming Stepbrother by Grace Valentine

would meet her at the event.
    She packed the last of her bags just as she heard the car honking outside. Her phone rang.
    "Car service is ready for you," the voice said from the other end.
    "Thank you."
    Daisy smiled as she put on her earrings and did one last check to make sure she had everything. She thought that she would feel nervous about the decision, but she did not at all. As a matter of fact, she felt empowered and the strongest she had ever felt in her life. For the first time, everything felt right.
    She began putting the bags on the front porch and the driver came to her aid. She thanked him and walked to the town car.
    The door opened.
    "I did not think that you would come with me."
    Her heart jumped when she saw Brian in the back seat. He stepped out of the car.
    "I thought I was meeting you at the event. I wanted to surprise you," she whined.
    Picking her up in his arms, he whirled her around. "This is a surprise. Probably the best one yet. I think tonight is going to be perfect."
    Setting her down on the ground, he pulled him in to his body, kissing her on the lips.
    "Perfect night you say?" she asked playfully.
    "Perfect night. Perfect month. I couldn't ask for anything more." He kissed her once again on the lips and then stood to the side as she got in the car. As they drove off, for the first time in her life, Daisy was looking forward to what was next, but happy to live in and love what was happening to her right now.
    THE END

 
     
     
     
     

 
     
    Prologue
    6 Years Earlier
    I swallowed the lump in my throat. It was as though I could feel Garrett’s pain, or maybe it was just my own suffocating me with despair. He stood off to the side with his hands shoved in his pockets and tears on his cheeks. I wanted to comfort him so badly, but for months now I’d avoided him as much as possible, which was easy because he was always gone and only visited when he was in town. I had good reason for steering clear of him, but today we needed to be there for each other. His father was a wonderful man, and one I was proud to call mine, even though he was only my stepfather.
    ‘ I’m going to make it big Andra. You’ll see, ’ he always said when we were downstairs watching crappy horror films. I’d nod and pretend as though I believed that he would really make it to the big time. No one from my small town ever left, better yet made it famous, but I knew if anyone succeed, it would be Garrett. He had the passion and the skill.
    But now as I stood watching his suffering I didn’t know what to do or say. I never had a dad until my mother married Michael Beck when I was 14, and I couldn’t have wished for one better. He didn’t care that I was a bitchy teenage girl with a chip my shoulder, and it never seemed to faze him that I wasn’t his child. He took care of me like I was really his daughter.
    At the time Garrett was nearly 21 and loved to party. He was getting it out of his system before going to school for acting. Or so he liked to say. That didn’t matter, I swooned over him from the first time we met, and more with each passing day. He had the blond hair and baby blue eyes, but with three day bread growth that was sexy enough to be bad. To put simply; he was the hottest guy in town, and everyone wanted him.
    I never got over my crush, and none of the other boys in town compared. I spent my spare time wishing he would notice me, but that didn’t happen, not for a couple of years yet.
    I shook out of my memories and focused on him. Now it was time to buck up and go talk to him. Hug him and cry with him. As if he felt me watching, his eyes shot over to mine. His blue eyes were filled with sorrow, and it broke my heart. I found myself almost gliding towards him. It was a magnetic pull and one I couldn’t fight, but one I knew I had to fight. It was wrong. Our parents were married, but my heart didn’t care, and that was exactly why I avoided him any chance I got.
    I reached my hand out for his hand