Page 2 of Steamy Mountain Daddy

Don’t tell me this is Laz’s girl.

“Who are you?” She asked a little snarkily, and my palm practically itched to spank her, but I refrained myself from doing so.

“My name is Rhydian Carver, I am Laz’s best friend.” I told her politely, eyeing the disgusted expression on her face, “are you his girl?”

She scoffed slightly, as if the idea repulsed her, “never in a million years. I’m Taylor, Taylor Callaway. I am Charlotte’s sister.”

I relaxed slightly, relieved that she wasn’t indeed Laz’s girl, “it’s nice to meet you. Where is Laz and his girl?”

Taylor’s nose wrinkled slightly, and I couldn’t help but wonder what her problem was, “they are in the kitchen preparing dinner. Fair warned though, they have a giant ass dog in there.”

“Alpha, you mean?” I questioned her, confused by her pissy attitude when it came to Laz and his girl, “he’s a good dog. He doesn’t have a mean bone in his body.”

The moment she rolled her eyes, my temper flared, but I knew I couldn’t push it. Although she was quite beautiful, her personality was deterring me from even wanting to see where things would go with her. How she was acting, it made me think that she has some kind of issue with her sister being with Laz, and automatically then has an issue with me since I am Laz’s friend.

“You know, Laz is a good guy.” I murmured, seeing the fire brewing in her eyes at the mention of his name, “I don’t know what kind of issue you have with him, but from what Laz has told me, he truly loves your sister, and would do anything for her. I think maybe you should just let him show you that.”

Her gaze was fierce and ugly, and she practically spewed venom, “I don’t care what you have to say, Mr. ‘Best Friend’! Charlotte has never mentioned this ‘love’ of hers at all until recently, and if he was such a good guy, you would think she would’ve mentioned him a lot sooner. I don’t trust him and I sure don’t trust you. All I’m concerned about is getting my sister home.”

I was immediately taken back, wondering if I had just heard her right, “what are you talking about? Isn’t this her home?”

I saw her hesitate, and that’s when I realized she said more than what she was originally going to say. I took a step forward, going to pry her more because I had this feeling that her intentions were bad, but before I could question her, she whipped around and stormed back inside the house, disappearing out of view.

I stood there for a moment, contemplating what I should do next. What if this was just a big misunderstanding, and I heard her wrong? Would it be right for me to go and discuss with Laz and Charlotte what Taylor had just told me? I didn’t want to cause any drama, but I had a feeling that Taylor was up to something, and it wasn’t going to be good. I sighed in annoyance, wondering why the pretty ones had to be so crazy sometimes.

I stepped through the threshold and made a promise then and there that I was going to stop Taylor from doing whatever she had planned.

No matter what I had to do…

CHAPTER THREE

Taylor

The room was dead silent as we all ate dinner, but the tension was high, making me feel on alert. Charlotte and Laz sat across from me while Rhydian sat beside me, and I was getting to the point I was getting sick to my stomach as I watched Laz feed Charlotte every now and then, acting like she was some kind of helpless fool who couldn’t take care of herself.

How sickening…

But they were the least of my problems at the moment. My biggest problem was the ‘best friend’ who sat beside me that seemed to have a bit of a staring problem. As much as I wanted to deny it, Rhydian was very handsome, and really my type. He was tall, even taller than me and I was pretty tall for a woman. His short, curly brown hair dangled around his ears and forehead, bouncing slightly when he would be walking around. He has a wicked, sinful kind of smile that made you want to drop your panties and spread your legs for him, and his sky blue eyes sparkled with mischief that made me want to find out more about him.

And that is dangerous.

Earlier, I had already slipped up my plans to him about getting Charlotte out of here and back home. I know he might’ve just thought he had heard me wrong, but by the way, he was staring at me, I had this feeling that it wasn’t the case. I no doubt sprung his curiosity, and now no doubt he was probably debating on whether to tell his friend or not. I wasn’t stupid, I just had to somehow convince him to be on my side about this. It wouldn’t be that hard if I just seduced him.

I doubt he would resist.

“Laz and I have an important announcement to make.” Charlotte murmured, a cheerful tone in her voice that I couldn’t quite understand, “we both wanted the two of you to be the first to know since we hold you closer than anyone else.”

My stomach clenched, not liking the way she was saying that, “what are you saying, Charlotte?”

Charlotte’s eyes met my own, and my heart seemed to drop in my chest. I knew then at that moment that I really wasn’t going to like what would come out of her mouth, but I couldn’t bring myself to stop her. I needed to hear what she had to say, no matter what kinds of feelings it would bring inside of me.

“Laz and I are expecting a baby in four months,” Charlotte announced, placing her hands on her now quite visibly swollen belly.

As Rhydian hooped and hollered, congratulating the couple, all I could do was stand there and stare at the sister I have always looked up to, not recognizing her. Charlotte was always one who wanted to get married before having kids, and she wanted to spend a few years with a person before deciding if she wanted to marry them or not. Aaron and Charlotte were planning on getting married and having kids not even five months ago. How could all of this change in a matter of months? How could she hide this from me? Why would she want to be with someone who treats her like she is helpless?

“Taylor?” Charlotte whispered, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion, “what’s the matter?”

I was broken out of my thoughts, realizing that all of them were now staring at me. My cheeks flushed and I jumped to my feet, the chair screeching across the floor at my sudden movement. I wanted to cringe at the sound, but I was too hurt and angry at that moment.