Carter wasn’t joking when he said I could have an entire wing of the house to myself.

I followed a young housekeeper through large and spacious hallways into the east side of the house, which is usually reserved for guests, but had been converted into a living space for me. I had my own kitchen, my own living room, my own bedroom, and at least two bathrooms that I knew about. The kitchen was stocked with whatever I wanted and I had access to the outdoor pool and the indoor pool. My mother was staying in Carter’s room, though really she was in the room adjacent to his. As I unpacked and looked around my new living situation, I had to admit that I was a little blown away.

I knew that people like Carter lived this way, but I’d never really seen it before. My father left my mother when I was very young, and my mother never really found another partner after he was gone. She was a single mother raising a daughter on a secretary’s salary, and although Carter paid Mom very well, that wasn’t always the case with her bosses before him. There were times where we really struggled, but Mom managed to give me a comfortable life despite all that.

Still, I’d never seen luxury like Carter’s palatial mansion. He lived on the outskirts of San Francisco, up in the hills surrounded by natural wildlife and trees. He kept away from the other tech billionaires for reasons that I didn’t understand and wasn’t going to bother to ask him about. From what I could tell, there were three main wings in the house attached to a central hub. I had one wing, Carter and Mom had the other, and the third was being switched over to guest duty. Before, it had been some kind of recreational place. I wasn’t really sure what that meant and didn’t bother to ask.

I was too busy wandering around the grounds.

From what I understood, there were two pools, one indoor and one outdoor, plus a full gym, bar, and restaurant that was only open when guests were around. There were tennis courts, a basketball court, an indoor volleyball court, a bowling alley, two movie theaters, and something like two hundred computers. There was a machine shop and a robotics lab, plus an infirmary with in-house medical staff.

In short, it was more like a resort than a house, and I got lost immediately.

Not that I minded being lost. I came across housekeepers every once in awhile, but they basically just ignored me. I was too busy looking into rooms, staring at paintings, and basically trying to come to grips that a single person could afford all of this stuff. I knew Carter was rich, but I had no clue what that really meant.

It was becoming clearer and clearer to me that Carter Green really was the spoiled rich playboy that the media made him seem to be. His home was extravagant, like a resort for the insanely wealthy, except owned and operated for one man. He apparently had guests constantly, but I hadn’t seen anybody yet, and doubted I ever would. Even if people were staying there, the place was just too huge to stumble across someone.

And I liked it that way. I didn’t want to see Carter Green and really wanted to just pretend that I was living in some lavish hotel for the summer. I didn’t want to be reminded that the man was my stepfather, even though he was the age of a man I’d consider dating. Not that I’d ever date Carter, of course, but it just made no sense for him to be my stepfather. There was no real relationship there anyway, since he was just using my mother for the good press, and she was using him for money.

I came down a flight of stairs, wondering briefly where my mother was, when I saw a sign for the gym. Curious, I decided to go check it out and see what sort of facilities were available, since maybe I’d start jogging or something. If there were treadmills, I just might use them, since I had nothing else to do.

As I came around the corner and pushed through the frosted glass door, I nearly stumbled directly into someone. I stepped backwards, surprised, and put my hands up in apology.

“I’m so sorry,” I blurted out.

“It’s very okay.”

I stopped moving and got a good look at the man I had almost directly smashed into. Carter grinned back at me, dripping with sweat, shirtless and with earbuds in his ears.

He cocked his head and took the buds from his ears. He wore only a pair of gray running shorts and had his shirt casually tossed onto a nearby bench. His ripped body was covered in tattoos and dripping with sweat, and he was breathing heavily like he just finished a workout. I tried not to stare at him but I couldn’t help myself. There was a reason that Carter was such a notorious playboy: the man was absolutely gorgeous.

I felt excitement pooling between my legs the second I got a good look at his chiseled chest, and I hated myself for it. I didn’t want to be some vapid, boring girl that got all wet at the first glimpse of some half-naked, sweaty bad boy, but my god, he was too gorgeous. I couldn’t help myself.

“There you are,” he said. “I’m glad I almost bumped into you.”

“I was just looking around,” I said.

“How’s the room?”

“It’s not a room. It’s an entire house.”

He grinned at me. “I told you I’d give you an entire wing.”

“I didn’t think you’d actually do it.”

“I want you to be comfortable.” He shrugged. “I know you hate this arrangement, so I want to do my best to ease that for you.”

“That’s actually nice of you,” I said, surprised.

“Despite what you may think, I am very fond of your mother. I want her to be happy, and you to be happy, even if this marriage thing isn’t for real.”

“Well, thanks, Carter.”

“How are you finding the place so far?”

“It’s big.”

“Huge, right?”

“Absolutely huge.”

He nodded, smiling devilishly. “I know it’s a little absurd. I just can’t help it. Do you think it’s too big?”

“I guess there’s no such thing as too big.”

The smile got larger and I was starting to think we weren’t talking about his home anymore.

“I’d love to show you around if you’re not busy,” he said.

“You don’t have to do that.”

“Sure I do. Come on.”

He walked down the hall and I lingered there a second, holding the door open, wanting to run the other way. Instead, I managed to pull myself after him, trying not to stare at the muscles in his back. I heard the gym door swing closed as I hurried to catch up to him.

“That was the gym, obviously,” he said. “Up here is the robotics lab.”

“You build robots?”

“Sometimes. Mostly they don’t work.”

“Sounds really exciting.”

“We’ve made some cool shit in there.”

“Voltron? Megazord?”

He laughed. “Not quite yet.”

“Then I’m not impressed.”

He grinned at me. “Okay then. What will impress you?”

“I don’t know,” I said, teasing. “But you’re not there yet.”

“Oh, I know what’ll do it.” He took me by the arm and steered me down a side hallway. For a second, I felt my heart flutter being so close to him, breathing in his musky scent, but that quickly passed. I had to remind myself that this man was my stepfather, even if it wasn’t real. I had to treat him that way.

He took me down a few hallways and through a little door marked “Exit.” We stepped outside onto plush green grass, the sunlight falling in through thick oak trees, and I gasped at what I saw.

Sculptures were everywhere in all shapes and sizes. Some there tiny, garden gnome-sized things, and one was as large as a giraffe. Some were of people and some were more abstract and colorful.

“Okay,” I said. “This is impressive.”

“Thanks,” he said. “It’s my sculpture garden. I’ve been buying these things for years, I don’t even know why anymore. I guess I think they’re beautiful.”

“Carter Green, the playboy billionaire that likes sculptures.”

He grinned at me. “You can like chasing women and fine art, you know.”

“I guess they’re not mutually exclusive.”

“You realize that I’m doing my two favorite pastimes right now, don’t you?”

His grin got huge as I turned red and stepped away from him. “You’re not chasing anything.”

“You’re right. I don’t need to chase.”

“Carter,” I warned.

“That’s right. Say my name.”

I rolled my eyes. “Come on.”

“How long are you going to pretend that you don’t want me?”

“Fortunately for me, I don’t have to pretend.”

“Liar. I can’t stop thinking about the way you looked at me the other day. It was half hate and half lust.”

“Which half do you think is stronger right now?”

“I’d love to find out.”

I sighed. “Are you like this with all your family members?”

“We’re not really family, sweetheart.”

“Sweetheart?” I nearly gagged. “Don’t be a macho asshole.”

He spread his arms, palms up, grinning at me. “I’m not macho. Look at this garden.”

“Macho with a soft side.”

“Maybe. Or maybe I’m just using this to try and get in your pants.”

“It’s not working.”

“I disagree.”

“You’re nowhere near getting into my pants.”

“Maybe not. But you’re standing here looking at my nice, shirtless body and you’re not running away. That’s a win for now.”

I shook my head at him, amazed. “You’re unreal.”

He grinned that boyish smile. “Come on. Pretend like you’re not a little bit impressed.”

“Not at all. You’re just another rich Silicon Valley asshole.”

“I’m your stepfather. You shouldn’t speak to me that way.”

“Oh, gross,” I said, turning around and walking back inside.

His laughter followed me as I stormed back down the hall. I couldn’t believe I ran into him and, even worse, I let him give me that little tour. I should have known it was just an excuse for him to hit on me some more, but I naively thought maybe he was trying to be nice.

Either that, or I was totally blinded by his attractive, shirtless body. I realized that I was like a silly teenage girl around him, and I hated it.

Carter was arrogant like every other Silicon Valley jerk. He thought that just because he cashed in on the early internet world and made a ton of money that he was somehow better than other people. He acted like he could do anything he wanted, going from girl to girl and scandal to scandal without a second thought. I was sick of guys like him, and I vowed never to date any tech bros for as long as I possibly could.

I was just going to have to be more careful. Just because the mansion was huge, didn’t mean that I’d never run into Carter. It was his place, after all. I would just have to make sure that I had an excuse ready for whenever he decided to appear out of nowhere and act all confident again.