Blended Hearts (An Interracial Stepbrother Romance Book) Read online

  BLENDED HEARTS

  By Alycia Taylor

  Copyright 2015. All rights reserved.

  Get Future New Releases In This Series For 99 Cents

  Click Here to Like My Facebook Page

  Get your free copies of 3 books and a 4th never released novel when you sign up for the authors VIP mailing list.

  Click here to get your free books

  CHAPTER 1

  At the time my story began, I was utterly frustrated. My name is Madison Hatfield, by the way, and I couldn’t take one more minute of my step-brother’s loud noise, which he called “music”, echoing in my head like Tibetan gongs gone crazy. I was sitting on my bed, trying to study for tomorrow’s exam. I had just turned eighteen a couple of weeks ago and ever since, there had been a long string of changes in my life. The world as I knew it for the past eighteen years came down in a heap of memories and regrets.

  My mother, Janice Robson-Hatfield, married the man she loved and we moved into a new house. Since the move there were quite a few tense moments between the members of our new family. My mom never dreamt there could be so many problems when she decided to say “Yes” to Richard Robson. They had been in a relationship for a few years and we, my step-brother Daniel and I, seemed to get along fine then. But now I was really reacting to the new arrangements. I didn’t even want to unpack my boxes – they surrounded my bed, unopened.

  It was in this frame of mind that I screamed my step-brother’s name through the adjoining wall of the rooms.

  “Do you mind? I’m trying to study in here. Turn down that stupid noise…! You hear me?”

  I had been told, although rarely, that I was a stunner. I didn’t know it at the time. With the eyes of a fawn in the spring, the wild auburn hair framing a gorgeous face, I would melt the hearts of many before long…some people said.

  As for Daniel Robson, his dark, silken skin, his deep brown eyes and his muscular torso would attract the eye of the many young women avid to touch such a sensual body. He was a handsome specimen, no doubt about it, but he was the bad boy par excellence. As popular and as well connected as he was in high school, he was only interested in bigger dreams, in far reaching goals and in much better things than those he enjoyed today. He wanted bigger and better things for himself and didn’t much care how he would reach these goals. He would do whatever it took to get what he wanted.

  “Hey you,” Daniel said, as he opened the door of my room, “What’s up? What were you saying?” He sagged against the doorframe, crossing his arms over his chest; he looked totally carefree.

  I rolled my eyes into my head, trying not to think about the fact that he was not wearing a shirt and was displaying his particularly attractive abs; especially for being eighteen.

  “Would you mind turning down your music; I’m trying to study.” I looked at him and then lowered my gaze.

  Daniel shrugged and said, “No, of course I don’t mind, sis. Not a problem,” as if it wasn’t a big deal; certainly not enough of a deal to yell through the walls. He walked out, a big smile plastered on his lips.

  If I had been irritated before, now, that exasperating aloofness of his had my nerves tied in knots. As he closed the door, I was ready to throw the book at him – literally.

  As soon as Daniel left my room, I wanted to return to my studying. However, it proved more difficult than I expected. I pondered over the fact that life wasn’t the same since my mother had married Richard. They dated for three years before they decided to tie the knot, yet as cool as Richard was, upon reflection, I missed the time my mother and I were comfortable living alone – without men about the house. It wasn’t as if the wedding hadn’t been announced months ahead of time. I had been well aware of my mother’s intentions. At the time I thought it was the “rad” thing to do. What a mistake that was, I thought now. When they got married I never thought we were all going to be married and dropped into this new life. Like a real nightmare it’s been!

  My idea of living with a step-father and a step-brother was quite different to what I was experiencing these days. I didn’t like it. The situation was too stressful – really! No way of being alone was bothering me to no end. Always a guy underfoot, I thought. It felt as if I was baby-sitting an eighteen-year-old boy. More than anything, I missed being the only child in the family. When it was just me and my mom, we had a good time together. Now, there was no more time alone with mom; no more evening cackling while watching chick-flicks on TV or no more shopping days. But there were plenty of family dinners; family this, family that…. Yuck, I thought and finally returned to studying for my exam.

  When it came to school, I was a loner. I used to put up walls around me, not to let anything or anyone hurt me. Since we moved into a new house and I now had a new family, things went from bad to worse. My world had been turned upside down, and I raised the walls around me even higher yet. I had become more standoffish, more distant and indifferent. Although I didn’t know it, and would never admit it if I did, I would need someone strong to crack through my seemingly impregnable shell.

  When I was finally done studying, I decided it was time to call it a night. For the past two hours I hadn’t heard a peep from Daniel’s room. I figured he was probably asleep or something. He had turned down the music and I doubted if he would turn it up again – at least I hoped it would be the case.

  As soon as I was undressed and had donned my night shirt, I walked out of my bedroom quietly, still thinking Daniel was probably asleep by now, and trotted to the bathroom at the end of the hallway to freshen up and brush my teeth. I could hardly wait to get into bed; I was tired and desperately in need of some shut-eye.

  When I opened the bathroom door, I stopped and stared. Daniel turned to face me. Seeing him – totally naked and not even a towel around his waist; just his hands cupping his genitals – I let go of a muffled gasp that soon sounded like a shriek.

  “What the…?” Daniel shouted, grabbing a towel from the rack behind him and wrapping it around his hips.

  “What are you doing…?” I blurted, not too sure what to say. “I mean I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t you know how to knock?” Daniel demanded, glaring at me.

  “I said I’m sorry,” I shouted. I was unnerved.

  “Yeah, sure. And I suppose you’re gonna tell me I should have locked the door, right?”

  “Why not? You’re not the only person living in this house; or haven’t you noticed?”

  “Next time might as well take your own advice and realize that you’re not alone either. Maybe then you’ll knock before you barge in.”

  “Whatever!” I shouted, slamming the door on Daniel’s face and rushing down the stairs to use the ground floor bathroom.

  CHAPTER 2

  I pointedly ignored Daniel the next day at breakfast. Now, Daniel and I were walking to the bus stop – on our way to school – and I wished I could have bought a car. Not really for the prestige of owning a car at my age, but to escape Daniel’s company at times like these and to escape everything I hated about this new family life. I threw a glance at him. I felt as if there was a lot I would want to say to him, but right now nothing came to mind. Besides, he didn’t seem very talkative either. I was truly annoyed with him. Why on earth didn’t he wear a stitch of clothing last night? And then he doesn’t even lock the darn door. It’s like he wanted to be caught naked. Maybe he’s a perv? Those thoughts and many others were battling for first place at the forefront of my mind. Throwing another quick glance at his body, I couldn’t help but undress him. He looked that good, didn’t he?

  Ultimately, I became frustrated with the insi
stent and recurring visions of Daniel’s naked body. The thoughts were becoming overwhelming. Once again I tried to divert my attention onto something else, to no avail. Reaching an impasse, I decided to break the silence.

  “Maybe we should talk about last night?” I told him almost inaudibly.

  Taken aback, Daniel turned his face to me. He looked at me as if I was crazy but didn’t reply.

  When he shrugged, I started apologizing. “Sorry. I should have knocked, you were right. I’m sorry I’ve walked in on you like that.”

  “Forget it! I’m the one who should have known better than to leave the door unlocked.” He sniggered. “Can you imagine what would have happened if your mom came in and found me like that?”

  I could not imagine! And right now all I could do was to venture a discreet smile.

  “I mean things like that are bound to happen now that we all live under one roof,” he added, throwing me a strange smile.

  I was not sure how to take it.

  I shook my doubts away and asked, “Have you ever borrowed your dad’s car?”

  Daniel turned his face to me with raised eyebrows. “Why? Do you want me to take you somewhere?”

  “No, silly. I just wondered, that’s all. I mean, I’ve borrowed my mom’s car plenty of times”—that was quite an exaggeration on my part—“and I thought maybe you did the same with your dad’s.”

  “Not often, no. We used to drive to the bike track together and he’d let me take the wheel. Or when we hit the slopes, he would let me drive home.”

  We fell silent again.

  Daniel was tongue-tied this morning. He probably kept reliving last night’s bathroom scene in his mind’s eye.

  I continued to wonder why I was having these strange thoughts of him. Maybe it was just the fact that I had never lived with a man, any man before. Since my father had always been out of the picture, and even though nothing was wrong between me and Daniel, my hormones didn’t know another way to rage, so I just felt awkward.

  While I was not really focusing on what Daniel was doing, I noticed him walking ahead and meeting with some guy near the bus stop. I didn’t think anything of it until I saw Daniel exchange something with the guy for money. What the…? What is he selling? I was still baffled when the bus pulled around the corner. I had no choice but to run for it. The incident was soon forgotten.

  Once inside, we sat beside each other for the first few minutes – until the next stop, when some of his friends climbed aboard.

  “Hey, Frances,” Daniel said, when the young fellow came down the aisle. “How you doing, man?”

  “Good,” Frances replied, “and you?” He switched his gaze to me. “Sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt…”

  “You’re not, man,” Daniel said, getting up. “This is my step-sister, Madison Hatfield.”

  “Hey, nice meeting you, Madison,” Frances said, smiling at me.

  “Hey to you too,” I replied, turning my head away from the two young men.

  The whole thing felt so awkward that I didn’t know if I should remain on the bus or get off at the next stop and walk the rest of the way. Thankfully the guys moved to the back of the bus and left me alone.

  Sitting by myself again, my thoughts went back to Daniel and his body. The guy is so good looking, I should feel lucky to be living down the hall from him… Oh, stop it, Madison; you’re not going there, okay?

  Talking about Frances; He was not a bad-looking guy either. With his blond hair, hazel eyes and muscular stature, he could have the pick of the crop when it came to girls at school and elsewhere. He was proud of his scoreboard – many names on it with quite a few notches beside each of them. Frances was definitely a “runner”.

  As I was scolding myself, a few rows back, Daniel and Frances were talking about me. I didn’t exactly hear what they were saying, but it went on something like this.

  “It must be hot-living with that goddess,” Frances remarked.

  “It’s not like that,” Daniel said, “you don’t make out with your sister, do you?” He turned to Frances, a spark of annoyance in his eyes. “Well, do you?”

  “No, of course I don’t, man. But Madison’s not really family, is she?”

  “Why don’t you drop it, Frances? As far as you’re concerned, I suggest you stay away all the same, okay?”

  “Okay, man. No probs. I’d just like to ‘know her better’, that’s all.”

  Daniel sounded truly annoyed now.

  “I told you to drop it, man, okay?” he said, getting up and returning to sit beside me.

  I turned my face to him in surprise. “I thought…” I blurted.

  “Don’t…. He’s just a jerk,” Daniel said by way of an explanation.

  CHAPTER 3

  As soon as we arrived at school, I ran down the hallway toward my locker. I was hoping not to meet anyone before first period, but I wasn’t to be that lucky.

  “Hey, Madison?” Elise called after me as I came down the corridor. “I meant to ask you”—Elise turned to her friends—“I mean we all want to know; what do we call you now? Is it Miss Robson or Ms. Daniel Robson-Hatfield?” The girls started giggling as they let me go down to my locker.

  I shrugged. Once again, I found this whole deal about my mom marrying Richard more of a problem than a blessing. I wished people would leave me alone.

  Ever since the ninth grade, these girls had singled me out and teased me, not to say bullied me, about everything under the sun: from having no boyfriend, to being a virgin, to having an affair with my step-father, and now for supposedly making out with Daniel. Truth be told, I had had about as much as I could take from these spoiled brats.

  When I started high school, they made fun of my looks, then it came down to my being too timid – the shy type – they called me. After that, it was the way I always took the bus to school – “Poor little mouse. Her mom doesn’t even have enough money to buy a car.” Then when mom and Richard got married and Daniel entered the picture, I was now the girl on the outside. “Who would have thought that Daniel’s dad could be so dumb as to marry Madison’s mother?”

  I felt utterly beaten. I couldn’t see myself living any sort of life if I was continually teased for being so un-cool or not being allowed to associate with the “cool” people. I felt like a pariah, someone whose only reason for living was because it was the thing to do – staying alive and hoping for better days to come. Perhaps when I graduated from this stinking school, I’d be able to go some place where no one would be remotely interested in how I dressed, how I combed my hair, how I took the bus, how I lived with my step-brother and step-father … and on and on.

  As soon as I came out of my class, where I had not done too badly on my test, I decided it was time to have something to eat. I ran down the corridors, up the stairs and through the doors of the cafeteria, hoping no one would stop me and try talking to me. I only wanted to grab an apple from the basket on the lunch room counter and run out to the school yard, and eat it in peace.

  I literally felt like a tracked animal, especially now that I had supposedly stepped out and had become a member of Daniel’s cool family. On my way out of the cafeteria, Elise stopped me as I was about to rush down the stairs. Elise and her fans surrounded me and began to hassle me again.

  “Just tell us how it feels to be living with Daniel. It must be great to have such a cool brother. Do you feel lucky?” Elise demanded, shoving me with a hand on my shoulder. “Just let it all out. Is he trying to fuck you every night?”

  I didn’t answer and pushed past the girls to run down the stairs when I saw Daniel on the upper landing ignoring the show while he was talking to some other guy. I wasn’t sure if I should have been angry with him for not trying to help me. Maybe I should be glad that he didn’t.

  I was outside, eating my apple when I saw Gabrielle come round the corner and sit on the bench beside me.

  Gabrielle had been friends with me since we were old enough to walk. However, Gabrielle moved away for a few year
s when her dad was transferred to somewhere in Europe for his job. When she came back, Gabrielle renewed her relationship with me. Gabby, as everyone called her, wasn’t an eye-catching girl; she was rather on the plump side of the scale, but it was her congenial attitude that attracted people to her. Her ash-blond hair and big blue eyes were the features that perhaps made her look not-half bad.

  “Fancy meeting you here,” Gabby said with a smirk on her face. “Is that all you’re having?” She pointed to my half-eaten apple.

  I nodded and took another bite.

  “What would you like as a second course?” Gabby asked, opening her knapsack. “I’ve got some cheese and crackers, a cupcake, or maybe a chicken leg with some salad – what is it gonna be?”

  “Nothing, thanks,” I replied. “I’m not hungry really.” I finished my apple and stood up to throw the core in the trash can.

  “Come off it, Madison,” Gabby insisted. “You never refuse to share a cupcake with me. What’s really going on here?”

  “Nothing…”

  “Don’t give me that, girl. It’s me you’re talking to. So, what is it?”

  I shook my head, but finally decided to say what bothered me. “It’s not any easier around here since my mom got married with Richard.”

  “You mean Elise is at it again?” Gabby said, biting the chicken leg.

  I nodded. “It’s worse than ever. She’s now spreading some kind of rumor about Daniel and me. It’s like I can’t win. She’s saying that I’m not worthy to have a brother like that.”

  “And you let it bother you, I suppose?”

  “Of course it bothers me. What do you think? Can you imagine if somebody was accusing you of making out with Gill?”

  “That’d be a laugh and a half. We can hardly stand each other. But you know that.” Gabby continued eating. “But how do you feel about Daniel?” I chewed on a piece of lettuce concertedly. “I mean he’s a hunk, isn’t he?”