“I’m going to be your new father.”

I stared at him, eyes wide, not sure whether I wanted to run away, slap him, or scream. Probably a combination of all three. His face was so familiar and I almost felt like I knew him, even though I’d only ever seen him mentioned in articles and pictures online. He was handsome, with rugged scruff and deep, piercing green eyes. I could only guess how many women had fallen for that incredibly handsome face, and apparently my mother was now one of them.

“You can call me daddy if you want.” That sly grin made me want to stay and slap him after all.

“I’m definitely not going to call you daddy,” I said.

“We’ll see.”

My mom gave Carter a look. “Don’t tease her, Carter,” she said and turned back to me. “I know this is a surprise, honey.”

“Surprise?” I said, barely controlling my annoyance. “A surprise is when you come home with a tattoo. Or that time you bought a cat without telling me.”

“I wonder where Whiskers is,” Mom said, looking around.

“Mom. This isn’t a surprise.” I glanced at Carter and his gorgeous grinning face, then back at her. “This is a nightmare.”

Carter burst out laughing and Mom gave me an exasperated look. “Come on, honey. You have to understand this situation. You know me.”

“I thought I did.”

“You still do. Mr. Green and I are only getting married for business reasons.”

“That’s right,” Carter cut in. “You and your mother are getting a big, fat check, and I’m getting some much needed respectability.”

I shook my head, glaring at him. Carter Green was one of the richest men under forty and a notorious playboy. He was in his mid-thirties but looked no older than late-twenties with his ripped, cut body and his boyish charm. He wore expensive suits like he was born in them, and the man was known to date multiple women at the same time.

Or, in his most recent scandal, multiple married women at the same time. He claimed that he had no clue, but I wasn’t so sure.

“I don’t think marrying my mom can possibly save your reputation,” I said to him.

“Your mother is a lovely and respected woman.”

“She was your secretary.”

“Men like me have a long and proud tradition of falling for their secretaries,” he said, winking at Mom.

She smiled. “Don’t be an ass, Carter.”

“Sorry, Evie, dear.”

“Evie,” I said, practically gagging. “Her name is Evelyn. Nobody calls her that.”

“I do. I figured I should think up some cute nicknames for the press,” he said.

“Oh, great idea,” Mom said, nodding. “We’ll have to come up with something for you.”

“I still like daddy,” he said, glancing at me.

I wanted to vomit right then and there.

I couldn’t believe this was happening. It just made no sense.

I looked at my mom, practically pleading. “Come on, Mom. You can’t be serious with this. I know that you’re—“

“Enough, Emily,” Mom cut in, glancing at Carter. “The past doesn’t matter. All that matters is that this is happening and I need you to accept it.”

I knew that tone. It meant that as far as my mother was concerned, the discussion was over.

Except that it wasn’t. My mother was under the impression that I was still a little girl, which was very far from the truth. Really, if they were going to pull off this absurd and stupid idea, they were going to need my help.

And so far, I had no interest in helping them.

“This has to be illegal,” I said to her. “You guys are lying to the world.”

Carter looked thoughtful for a second. “Not illegal,” he said, clearly musing. “Maybe immoral, but I can’t think of any laws we’re breaking.”

“Enough, honey. The money Mr. Green is offering will pay for your student loans.”

“And then some,” he said with a smile.

“I don’t care about the money.”

“You should,” Mom said, sighing.

“We can get money some other way.” Carter was smirking at me again, and to my total horror I found that I couldn’t look away from him.

“Is this really so bad?” he asked me. “It’s a temporary arrangement. You and your mother will come live with me—“

“Live with you?” I cut in, staring at Mom wild-eyed. “You didn’t say anything about that.”

“We’re married now,” she said, sighing.

“No way. I’m not living in his house.”

“Mansion,” he corrected. “And you can have a whole wing, if you want.”

“I don’t care if you give me the whole place, I’m not interested.”

“Sweetie.” Mom stared at me hard and I fell silent. “This is happening. You can keep resisting and fighting this and make things very hard for Mr. Green and me, or you can play along and help out. I can’t force you, but please, for my sake and for your own, help us.”

I frowned at her, silent for a second, and almost wanted to give in. I opened my mouth to speak, to tell her that I’d do absolutely anything for her no matter what because she was my mother and I loved her, but then I felt something under the table that stopped me.

It was Carter’s foot sliding up my calf.

I nearly jumped out of my chair. The triumphant grin on his face drove me totally crazy as Mom cocked her head at me, wondering what the hell I was doing. I quickly stood up, not interested in getting foot-stroked by that rich asshole again, no matter how excited it made me.

“I can’t do this,” I said and quickly walked away from the table. My head was spinning and I didn’t know where else to go, so I went out the back door and headed into the yard, looking around at the familiar place.

I couldn’t believe my mom was doing this. She complained about Carter all the time, said he was a spoiled playboy. She’d been working for him for years, and I had no clue why she stuck by him all that time if she thought he wasn’t any good, but clearly there was something between them that I didn’t understand. They were almost friends, or at least as close to friends as a boss and his secretary can get.

As I headed out to the stump in the back of our yard, I heard the door open and shut behind me. I turned to see Carter following me out into the sunlight.

He was so handsome it was hard to stomach. His cocky grin made me want to either smack him or kiss him and I couldn’t decide which. He was technically my stepfather, or going to be soon enough anyway, and yet all I wanted to do was feel the muscles beneath his impeccable suit.

“Hey,” he said.

“I’m not interested.” I turned and headed to the stump. He followed as I sat down and crossed my legs, looking away from him.

“Look, I get it, you’re pissed. You don’t want some rich asshole coming into your life and fucking shit up. Right?”

I raised an eyebrow at him. “More or less.”

“This wasn’t totally my idea,” he said. “Your mother thought of it. She’s doing it for you.”

“How?”

“I pay her pretty well, but college is expensive. She’s a single mom trying to do her best.”

I sighed, shaking my head. “I don’t want to hear this from you.”

“No kidding.” Carter stepped closer to me. “But do it for your mother.”

“What was with you back there, anyway?” I asked, changing the subject.

He grinned. “Just messing with my new daughter.”

“Stop. Don’t ever call me that again. It makes me feel . . . unclean.”

“Good. I want to make you dirty.” His grin got bigger.

I rolled my eyes. “Real clever.”

He shrugged. “I can’t help it around you.”

“What, can’t help making bad jokes?”

“No,” he said, getting serious. “I can’t help wanting to tear those tight jeans off your perfect legs and taste that dripping pussy.”

I stared at him, totally taken by surprise. His serious look softened as he turned to leave.

“Do it for your mother,” he said then waved and headed back inside.

I stared after him, heart hammering in my chest. I couldn’t believe he said that to me. He was supposed to be convincing me to play along with their game, not saying such filthy things. And yet . . .

I shook my head. I couldn’t entertain any thoughts of what I wanted that cocky asshole to do to me. He loved that he was going to become my stepdad, and he was going to rub it in my face. He just liked teasing me, that was all, and I wasn’t going to give in to that teasing.

Still, there was something in the way he looked at me when he said it that was different from before. There wasn’t any of that playfulness, it was just intense lust and desire clear in his expression.

I didn’t know what I was going to do. I wanted to fight this and didn’t want anything to do with Carter Green, but my mother clearly needed my help if this was going to work. She was taking a huge personal risk, and I didn’t want to see her embarrassed. My reasons for not helping were mostly selfish, and I was totally aware of that fact, but that didn’t change anything.

I took a deep breath, looking at the home of my childhood. It was all I ever knew and now my mother wanted me to move into some rich asshole’s mansion for the summer.

Well, that didn’t sound so bad, actually. There was probably a pool and the place was sure to be really gorgeous. Maybe if it was big enough, I could avoid seeing Carter entirely. This would hopefully be a short-lived experiment and they’d be divorced by the time I left to return to school.

I groaned, leaning back on my elbows. I was going to help my mother, even though I really didn’t want to, because it was the right thing to do and she’d do it for me.

This was going to be a really, really weird summer.