Page 8 of Double Obsession

Stacie slapped a palm on the table. “I knew it. My ol’ sis still has hormones.”

“I didn’t think you could post stuff like this on social media?”

“Guess you can if you’re a male influencer.” Stacie chuckled. “He’s hot as hell. Isn’t he?”

“He looks familiar.” Jenna read the account name and swirledHunter Stonearound in her brain. Something tugged at the edges of her memory. She was close to recalling how she knew him when Stacie’s voice interrupted.

“Whoever this ABCannon is, they’re sending both you and Hunter Stone a shitload of crazy-ass messages.” With a cheesy grin overtaking her face, Stacie tapped at the phone.

“What are you up to?”

“Nothing,” Stacie said.

“Give me my phone!”

Jenna grabbed as Stacie chortled and pulled the device out of reach.

“Damn it. Give it here!”

Stacie’s eyes twinkled as she handed the phone to Jenna. “You can thank me later.”

“What did you do?”

“Got you a muse.”

Jenna clenched her jaw. “Meaning?”

“Just sent Hunter Stone a sexy little message from best-selling smut writer Jenna Gibson,” Stacie announced.

Jenna’s teeth clenched. “Did you tell Kylie she looked cute in a bra and short skirt?”

“Probably,” Stacie said. “Kylie would look cute in Dad’s wifebeater, old-man shorts, and ankle-high black socks.”

****

It was early evening when Ethan raced to the door screeching, “Aunt Stacie is here! Aunt Stacie is here!” He threw the door wide, shot his aunt in the shoulder with a nerf gun, then half crawled, half leaped up the stairs, screaming, “Argh! Scallywags, abandon ship!”

Earlier Jenna had double-checked the day’s compartment in the ADHD pill organizer. Empty! There was no hope.

Stacie cut across the living room to yell up the stairs, “Ahoy, matey, you’re supposed to use a sword, not a foam gun.” Then she made her way to where Jenna sat with Lisa, set a canvas bag on the ground, and planted a kiss on the youngest Gibson. “Hiya, cutie patootie.”

Lisa giggled.

Jenna pushed herself from her cross-legged position on the floor to sit on the couch. “Kylie’s throwing a fit. She says she’s staying home because she doesn’t need a sitter.”

Stacie snorted. “I hope to hell you didn’t say the wordbabysitterreferencing her. She’s damn near old enough to drive.”

“No,” Jenna murmured, trying to recall the exact words she had used.

Stacie pulled her cell phone out and fiddled with it before shoving it into her back pocket. Straight lips replaced her smart-ass grin. “Don’t say a word. Let me handle this. The kid needs a confidant, not a sitter.”

Jenna bristled. She certainly didn’t need a younger sister with questionable decision-making abilities telling her how to raise her children. She was forming her rebuttal when Kylie came down the stairs flaunting her bare midriff.

“Hi, Aunt Stacie. What do you need?”

“I wanted to show you these fabulous clothes we just got in at the boutique.” Stacie removed three shirts from the bag and positioned them so that the fabric glistened under the chandelier’s beams. “They criss-cross in front, show off a tiny bit of cleavage, and hang perfectly.”

Kylie’s eyes glimmered as she rubbed emerald silk between her thumb and forefinger. “It’s so soft.”