Forbidden: Ultimate Stepbrother Collection by Anna Hard Page A

you never showed me that picture of me on my first ride,” she said.
    I lowered Ranger’s foot to the ground and pulled my phone out of my pocket. “I’ve got it right here. I’ve looked at it many times.” I pulled up the picture, and she walked over to look at it.
    “That smile was plastered on my face.” She took hold of the phone to get a better look. As she did, her thumb accidentally brushed the screen. The picture swept away and another picture popped open. It took me a second to see that it was the picture of Chloe tied to her headboard.
    “Shit.” I reached for the phone but hadn’t needed to. McKenna threw it at me. “McKenna, I took that before—”
    “Go to hell.” She ran from the barn before I could say another word.

Chapter 17
    McKenna
    I sat in the center of the bed. Tears burned my eyes, and my head hurt from crying.
    I’d heard his boot heels clacking along the wood floor of the hallway. I was expecting his knock, but it still startled me. “McKenna,” Luke’s deep voice came through the door. “Just let me in so we can talk.”
    I didn’t respond. I wrapped my arms around my legs and pulled my knees closer. I had nothing to say to him. After I’d seen the highly erotic picture of Chloe on Luke’s phone, I’d been reminded that I’d stepped into his life too abruptly. None of this should have happened. Circumstances had brought us together, but I needed to face the fact that I didn’t belong here. I’d come to stay only temporarily, just long enough to get my feet back under me. Then that would be the end of my connection with the Mavericks. After all, as Luke was always so fond of pointing out, I wasn’t really family. Now, it seemed, I’d overstayed my welcome.
    It had all been such a dream. Spending time with Luke had made me feel loved and not so terribly alone, but I’d taken it all too much for granted. I’d become complacent about my own situation. I knew so few people in Texas. It occurred to me that I would be better off going back to California. I’d been gone for a few weeks. Joshua would have moved on by now. Besides, I couldn’t always live in fear of the man. I needed to get on with my life.
    “Chloe and I had a thing,” Luke continued from the hallway. “You knew that. You’re being unreasonable. I just want to talk.”
    Unreasonable? The word rubbed me the wrong way. I climbed off the bed, stomped to the door and swung it open. Luke was standing in the hallway. His expression was a cross between anger and hurt.
    I turned and walked back into the room. He followed and shut the door. “You knew I’d been seeing Chloe. That was before I met you. I haven’t seen her since you got here. At least not in that way.”
    “Yes that way. I’m surprised you were able to stop seeing her. It looks as if you two had quite a thing going.”
    He dismissed the comment. “It’s in the past.” He stepped closer. His eyes looked exceptionally green in his tanned face. Everything about the man reminded me of just how damn appealing he was, but I needed to end this. I needed to end it before my heart was shattered to pieces. “McKenna, I haven’t thought of anyone but you since that first day I met you.”
    I wrapped my arms around myself to stop the ache in my chest. “This was wrong.” The words nearly stuck in my dry throat. “We let ourselves get wrapped up in something that should never have happened.”
    His eyes flickered with emotion. “That’s it? You’ve decided now, after all this, that our relationship was a mistake. We’re not related, McKenna. In fact, now that your mother is gone, we have no real connection at all. Except that I’m fucking nuts about you and I can’t stop thinking about you. I thought you cared for me too.”
    He moved to take hold of my arm, but I backed away. He reacted as if I’d socked him in the stomach. It was self-defense. I knew if he touched me, I’d break apart, and I refused to crumble.
    “Of course I do, but that