Stepbrother's Allure: At His Mercy

He's staring at me!

I blinked, unable to believe my eyes. I rubbed them furiously, to be certain I didn't make it all up. When I opened my eyes, he was still there, smiling at the director, who, like the others, wished to get on the good side of the new CEO.

Maria nudged me. “He's handsome, huh?”

But he's my freaking stepbrother and one-night stand! I wanted to yell, but couldn't let her know my secret. She only knew I broke up with Asher, but not what went on that night and I don't plan on telling her about it. Ever.

“April?”

“Yeah, he is. But he's not my type.”

Of course he is! I wouldn't have thought twice about dating him if he weren't my stepbrother and one-night stand. And now, the new CEO. It would have been great to have someone like him as a lover, but there was no hope for me.

Kieran's eyes met mine, and I froze. His grin widened as I narrowed my eyes. Maria had difficulty keeping her admiration to herself. Having caught his attention on us, she couldn't stop gushing about how drop-dead gorgeous he was.

Me?

I just rolled my eyes at how childish she sounded, like a lovestruck teenager. You would have thought she would be immune to charms after spending almost all her days being a manager. We had more male idols in this place compared to the women. She should have had her damned fill.

“He's staring at me, April! That drop-dead handsome man is staring at me!”

Oh, God! I resisted the urge to palm my face. She was earning us glares from the others. I ducked my head as his eyes kept resting on me.

Why the hell was he staring at me now?

While those next to us stood straighter, I just wanted this to be over, to escape his stares. He wasn't even that handsome...

Kieran stepped down onto the red carpet. Yeah, you read that right. To welcome the new CEO, they had gone to the beyond to make him seem like a celebrity when he was nothing but an annoying stepbrother.

As he strode towards us, his stare didn't waver. I had to avert my gaze when his stare became so hot, it seemed like he would melt me with his eyes.

Maria was almost on the verge of losing it the nearer he got. Since she was standing next to me. It felt like he was staring straight at her, even when he wasn't. I didn't correct her. I just let her believe whatever the hell she wanted.

Maria sighed heavily. “If only we weren't about to be let off…”

She sounded so heartbroken, more than I felt at the prospect of losing the only job I have, one I'd known for years. It hurts, thinking of returning to how I lived. While others thrived as freelancers, I sucked. I barely got enough to scrape by all because I wasn't as skinny as the others, who looked like they might get blown away by the wind at the slightest provocation.

I opened my mouth to console her, even when I knew no amount of consolation would end our predicament. Companies hardly employ models who were let out by their first company.

However, before I could say anything, she beat me to it. “What if he falls in love with me and asks us to stay back?”

Oh my God. I rolled my eyes at that. In case I failed to mention, Maria has this vivid imagination. Before being a manager, she tried out being an author. The only reason she couldn't progress was her inability to pen her inspiration down. She would have been a bestseller if she had actually worked hard to improve. She was just too lazy.

“It's just…” she trailed off when he came nearer to where I was. He looked at me and smirked before he continued to the front door, with the directors trailing after him.

We didn't move until he entered the company before everyone returned to their workstation. Maria didn't shut up even after we returned to our room. She kept on gushing about how she almost fainted when he smiled. I was tempted, countless times, to tell her he wasn't staring at her, but I couldn't. Letting her know that I was the one he was looking at, would only provoke questions I wasn't ready to answer.

Instead of letting her know the truth, I opted to pack our things while waiting to be served a letter with our final pay for the month. That would be the last salary we would be paid.

Maria didn't help at all. She was just busy gushing about the new CEO, and how outstanding it would have been if our lives were a movie. He would have chosen her if it were. She was damned certain about that.

By the time I got everything sorted out, she was deep into her fantasy story [she just gave birth to triplets for Kieran] she didn't hear the knock on the door. Letting out an exasperated sigh at my manager, who looked like she was a foot away from a therapeutic community, I stood up from the couch and went to open the door. It was time to leave. The letter will be enough to help Maria step out of her fantasy world. She will realize no prince was charming coming over to save us.

However, when I opened the door and saw the head director, I was taken aback. She wasn't supposed to be here. The HR office was in charge of the dismissal letters, not the directors'.

“Mrs Smith?”

She smiled, her motherly face softening. “How are you doing, child?”

I shrugged. “Packing my things.” Before she could say anything or ask a question, I beat her to it. “Is everything okay?”

She nodded. “Yeah. It's just…” She looked behind me at Maria. “Can you spare a bit of your time before you leave?”

“Why?”

“The new CEO wishes to see you.”