My Stepbrother's Dirty Little Secret novel Chapter 247

Chapter 247

The flashlight beam whipped around instantly, blinding me.

“I can help with that,” I said, as I walked right up to him and pulled the flashlight out of his mouth.

His mouth stayed open for a second, as he looked me up and down. The beam of light was now in my hand, shaking just a little, but he didn’t try to take it back.

“What are you doing out here, Gianna?” he finally asked.

I stepped closer, and pointed the light down at the base of the roses, where the weeds were thick, “Hold the light, “I said, handing it back to him.

I dropped to my knees right next to him, my bare skin hitting the cool, damp earth. I reached into the thorns, my fingers searching for the base of the next weed.

“You’ll get your hands dirty,” he muttered, but he shifted his body to give me room.

“I’m already a mess, Raphael,” I said, giving a sharp tug on a stubborn root, “A little dirt isn’t going to break me.”

We worked in a strange silence for a while. The only sounds were the rustle of leaves and the occasional snap of a weed being ripped from the ground. Every time I moved, I could feel the heat coming off him. He was so close that our shoulders occasionally brushed, a spark of electricity jumping through my skin every time it happened.

Honestly, I probably need to see a specialist about all these shocks I keep getting around him. The last time I felt this much voltage running through me, I was strapped into a chair in a room with padded walls and a doctor who kept yelling at me. It’s a lot less fun when there’s a nurse standing by with a mouthguard, but hey, at least this time the electricity is coming from a hot guy in a dirt-stained dress shirt instead of a wall outlet.

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I stopped pulling at the weeds and just looked at him. In the dim light, I saw the boy who had lost his mother, the boy who was still trying to protect her memory with his bare hands. My heart actually ached for him.

“She’d be proud of you,” I said softly.

Raphael turned his head. The light from the flashlight hit his glasses, so I couldn’t see his eyes, but I could feel them burning into me. He reached out, his hand covered in dark soil, and hovered near my face. He hesitated, his fingers trembling just a fraction, before he tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear. His thumb grazed my temple, leaving a smudge of dirt on it.

Every breath I took felt like I was inhaling him, the scent of expensive cologne mixed with damp earth. I could feel the heat coming off his body in waves, and even though we weren’t touching, my skin felt like it was on fire.