TEASE ( A Stepbrother Romance ) By Caitlin Daire

1

Chapter 1

Rayna

"Wanna drink?"

My friend Liana held up a beer as she returned to her bedroom, and I grinned at her. "We haven't even gone to the party yet!" I said.

"Don't they have pre-drinking over in the States?" she asked. "Oh wait, I forgot...back home, you aren't even legally allowed to drink yet, are you?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Feels so weird knowing that I can just walk into a bar here."

"Pub," she replied, sticking her tongue out. "That's what we call it here most of the time. Now that you're gonna be living here, I'll have to teach you all the lingo."

I smiled again and smoothed my dress down as I considered her words. I'd been in London for a week now, and it had still barely hit me that this was my home now; this unfamiliar city, with its comparatively ancient architecture, quaint little shops and far narrower streets than my hometown all the way across the Atlantic in good old California.

But this was it-England was where I lived now, after I'd moved over here with my Mom.

After spending my entire life up to this point in the States, it was safe to say that this recent move had been a bit of a shock to the system. One of the first things I'd noticed as I stepped off the plane was how cold it was. Compared to the balmy Californian summers I was accustomed to, London was friggin' freezing! I wasn't entirely convinced that this new lifestyle was going to suit me at all, because I'd always been such a beach bum, and my usual wardrobe of shorts and casual tank tops was going to have to change dramatically. Luckily, I'd been shopping just before I came, and I'd purchased a myriad of oversized sweaters, coats and jeans.

I wouldn't have come here permanently if I'd been given the choice, but I wasn't an idiot-I knew I wasn't ready to face the world without my Mom around just yet. Yes, I was nineteen years old; at an age where I could've remained behind, living by myself, and I wouldn't have minded doing so if she'd simply been moving down the street...but she'd moved to a different continent entirely. I knew I wasn't ready to be that far away from her just yet-especially seeing as she was the only biological parent I had in my life-so here I was.

She was about to marry Gerald Wilde; a wealthy English businessman who she was certain was the love of her life after a whirlwind romance. They'd met online, and after I'd finally met the guy in person, I half-wondered how certain she really was, but that wasn't something I would ever say out loud.

I didn't really know a lot about Gerald, apart from the fact that he had a huge manor on an estate on the outskirts of London, a very profitable corporate finance business, an enormous luxury car collection, and a son who was about the same age as me. Mom had shown me a photo of the pair of them together when she first met Gerald, but I hadn't taken much notice at the time, because I hadn't expected it to go this far. I'd honestly thought it would fizzle out long before it got to this stage. I wasn't aware that people actually moved across to the other side of the world to be with someone they met online; it sounded more like something from a rom-com movie than real life.

I could see what she saw in Gerald, though. He was successful and good-looking-and speaking of good-looking, so was his son, from what I vaguely recalled of the photo I'd been shown-but I still wasn't totally convinced that this was the best decision for any of us. As a result, I'd only been to Gerald's manor house once since I'd arrived in London. I'd let Mom go on ahead to settle in before I joined her, assuming she might want some 'alone time' for a few days with her new fiancé before I moved in with them. That way the two of them could figure out if this was really the best choice for them.

So, instead of living in the manor house, I was staying with my friend Liana for the time being. I'd met her online in a chat room years before, and we'd stayed in touch our entire teenage lives. We'd always promised that we'd meet up at some point in our lives, so I'd been absolutely over the moon to learn that I would be living near her when we moved to England. As soon as she'd heard about it, she'd invited me to stay in her spare room whenever I wanted, and I'd jumped at the opportunity when I'd first arrived and realized that Mom and Gerald might want some private time together.