This is the thirtieth part in a series, so if you have not already done so, you might want to read Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI, Part VII, Part VIII, Part IX, Part X, Part XI, Part XII, Part XIII, Part XIV, Part XV, Part XVI, Part XVII, Part XVIII, Part XIX, Part XX, Part XXI, Part XXII, Part XXIII, Part XXIV, Part XXV, Part XXVI, Part XXVII, Part XXVIII, and Part XXIX before continuing.
After the brownie incident, I knew I had to make a preemptive strike against Glenda. I couldn’t afford to wait around for Owen to catch on to what Glenda had already seen in me. I had to destroy her character before she could destroy mine.
Because she was already on the lookout for my flaws, I couldn’t point out her flaws to her face. She would just point out my flaws and I couldn’t risk her doing that in front of Owen or the rest of the family. I needed to divide and conquer.
So I waited until we got home before telling Owen, “I don’t think your sister likes me.”
“What makes you say that?”
“She basically just called me a bitch.”
“She was just giving you shit.”
“It didn’t feel like it. Did you see the way she was looking at me? She really thinks I’m a bitch.”
“She does not.”
Arguing with him wouldn’t get me anywhere, so I tried a different approach. “Well, it really hurt my feelings when she said that.”
Owen finally gave me the look of sympathy for which I had been angling. “Come here,” he said, holding out his arms.
I went into them and let him fold those big, strong arms around me. I have to admit I felt safer with those arms surrounding me. I let myself melt into them — just a little — and didn’t even have to pull out my acting talents … much.
Owen rubbed my back, and after a minute I instinctively started rubbing his back. We stayed like that for a long moment, and when we finally pulled apart, he looked at me and kissed me on the forehead.
I smiled, but I wanted his lips on other parts of my body. Afraid that appearing at all forward would blow my cover (and I had already come too close to doing that), I went up on my tip toes just long enough to give him a peck on the lips. He responded in kind, and before long, I had him right where I wanted him.
It occurred to me that this was really all I needed. Glenda might be his sister, but it was because of that relationship that she would never be able to compete with me in this department.
This is not the end of the story, but it is the last segment to be published online. If you want to know if Kiera ends up getting the best of Glenda, sign up for my newsletter to be notified when the book comes out.