BIG: (A Bad Boy Stepbrother Romance) Read Online Free Page A

face.
     
    And those grey-green eyes were unmistakable in an otherwise unrecognizable face. He had Ric’s wavy, unruly hair, too, she now realized, but sun-lightened from its usual mid-brown and shoulder-length instead of cropped short. But all the babyish roundness of his face had gone. Ric now had the cheekbones to go with the Viking eyes, his jaw a hard, firm line.
     
    She knew she was gaping and looked an idiot, but she didn’t care and couldn’t have stopped herself, even if she did care. He had a new, hard body and moved like he’d always been built that way, even though he must have lost the equivalent of a whole entire person in weight.
     
    His eyes glinted down at her, like he was enjoying her shock. She couldn’t blame him. No wonder he’d stayed off Facebook and hadn’t shared any photos for the last three years! He’d probably been waiting for this moment to reveal his amazing new body—like the finale on one of those make-over shows where everyone claps and cries and exclaims over the incredible transformation as if it was some magic trick.
     
    But this was no illusion. And, she imagined, no wave of a wand had accomplished this. He’d worked hard for this. Damned hard. That was clearly evident.
     
    Eventually, she pulled her gaze from the velvet skin over his taut abs and yanked her eyes back up to his face.
     
    “Ric?”
     
    “Hullo.”
     
    “Oh my God!” A laugh of utter disbelief and sheer happiness to see him rose up and threatened to escape, but at the same time, a knot formed in her throat at the tremendous scale of his transformation. She just couldn’t stop staring. “Look at you!”
     
    “I’ve done a lot of that.” He chuckled. “It’s your turn to get used to it.”
     
    “Come here!” She rushed at him, jumping up to get her arms around his shoulders.
     
    “Whoa, Leese!”
     
    “Shut up and let me hug you!” She hung onto him hard, barely able to comprehend the size of the biceps now pressing in at either side of her waist as she buried her face against the side of his neck and breathed him in. She was trying hard to keep the hug in the “sisterly” realm of affection, but it wasn’t easy. Her body wanted to melt against him like butter in a hot pan.
     
    “It’s you! It’s really you!” She dared to plant a light kiss on his sweaty neck and felt a slight tremor go through him. “I didn’t think it could be you. I mean, I didn’t mean—it’s just that you always show up at the last minute for everything. And... you... you wanker! You never even mentioned losing weight. Oh bugger. I’m babbling.”
     
    She swallowed, feeling stupid for having tears in her eyes. They were partly tears of relief. His hold on her felt as patient and affectionate as ever. It was like the start of a whole new world, only now her Ric was as beautiful on the outside as he was on the inside. If that was even possible.
     
    “Sorry, I’ll try to button up about it if you want me to, but it may take me a while to get used to this new you,” she confessed, smiling up at him, so filled with feeling it was hard to get words out. “I’m just so chuffed. You can’t stop me being proud of my gorgeous big brother.”
     
    “Do me a favor?” Ric’s arms stiffened around her and he set her back on her feet, putting his hands on her shoulders.
     
    “What’s that?”
     
    “No more of the ‘big brother’ stuff. Gorgeous or not. Your mum and my dad haven’t been married for years.”
     
    She felt a clutch of anxiety rush through her at his stiff tone.
     
    “I know. But they’re always going to see us as siblings...” She didn’t say anything about wishing that she and Ric had never been related in any way, shape or form, so they could have pursued the now-suppressed feeling that had eventually risen up between them.
     
    “As for the gorgeous part?” She grinned, raising her dark brows at his solid build and smooth, taut gut. “It’s... my God, Ric! You look so