Read Online Scandal (Tainted #1) by Aimee Duffy - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Aimee Duffy
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on.’ He took her hand and led her to the bedroom.
The suffocating feeling got worse, especially when he glanced pointedly at the bed with a wicked grin. So what if it was pink? The sheets were the only thing in her life she was brave enough to douse in colour. The hues in her bedroom were the only thing she got to pick in the manor too – though she guessed that was because her father never went into her room there.
‘Where are your shoes?’ he asked.
Alicia nodded at the foot of her wardrobe and took a seat on the edge of the bed. Sebastian got on his knees and rummaged through the footwear that probably had more place in a pensioners closet.
‘I want to look respectable,’ she said, defending her choices even though he hadn’t attacked them. ‘I just can’t figure out how to do that and keep things … elegant.’
He looked back at her. ‘Your family are that uptight?’
‘Among other things. My father is very strict and demands respect. He thinks we should be just like him.’
Of course she wasn’t, she was the disappointing child – or at least, the ‘other’ disappointing one. She doubted Jonathan would have been shunned if he’d made their father proud. If it hadn’t been for her mother fighting for her, she’d have been thrown out long ago and banned from having contact with the rest of them.
Exactly like Jonathan.
She’d wanted to leave once, after the ‘incident’, but she loved her sisters and mother too much. The only option she’d had was to stay, try to win back her father’s approval, and count down the days until she could leave Cumbria for university.
But having to live up to her father’s expectations had never stopped. She didn’t think she’d ever be able to.
‘That sounds rough,’ he said, and she saw the understanding in his eyes.
Before she could ask what happened that he could understand having a control freak parent, Sebastian reached blindly into the cupboard. He pulled out shoe box after shoe box, in all shapes and sizes, but he only glanced at the contents then set them aside.
‘Most kids would’ve rebelled,’ he observed.
‘I’m not the rebelling type.’ Not now she knew the consequences.
The pain it caused her: Jonathan’s exile. It seemed better to be the kind of daughter a father would be proud of than a woman who lived her life without caring about the latest scandal or the Simpson reputation.
A flash of light blue caught her eye as Sebastian pulled another box out of her closet. Her palms got damp, her heart paused for a beat then took off double time, and scolding blood boiled up her neck.
She dived for the box but he was faster, pulling it out of her reach. She slammed into his chest, grabbing his shoulders for support, but he’d already clocked what she was desperately trying to hide. This had to be the most embarrassing moment in the history of the world.
Sylvia was going to pay.
‘Now this is more like it.’
She grabbed for it again but he moved it further out of reach, shaking the blue vibrator’s box at her like a kid who’d just found the secret cookie stash.
She groaned. ‘It’s a gag gift from my sister, it’s only –’
‘An eight-inch deluxe with five stimulating features,’ he read from the box out loud.
Alicia covered her burning face in her palms. ‘It’s not like I wanted it!’
She heard something clattering on the floor, then he tugged her hands away. She didn’t want to look at him, but would the new, improved Alicia cower and hide like this? Determined not to show him how affected she was, she met his gaze.
‘Why?’ Sebastian looked more like she’d just told him she didn’t like ice cream than she didn’t want a vibrator.
‘Because it’s … it’s …’ She couldn’t hold eye contact as a wave of mortification washed through her. ‘Inappropriate.’
‘To who? There’s nothing wrong with having this. It’s kinda hot, actually. Don’t all women have one?’
Her mouth opened but no
The suffocating feeling got worse, especially when he glanced pointedly at the bed with a wicked grin. So what if it was pink? The sheets were the only thing in her life she was brave enough to douse in colour. The hues in her bedroom were the only thing she got to pick in the manor too – though she guessed that was because her father never went into her room there.
‘Where are your shoes?’ he asked.
Alicia nodded at the foot of her wardrobe and took a seat on the edge of the bed. Sebastian got on his knees and rummaged through the footwear that probably had more place in a pensioners closet.
‘I want to look respectable,’ she said, defending her choices even though he hadn’t attacked them. ‘I just can’t figure out how to do that and keep things … elegant.’
He looked back at her. ‘Your family are that uptight?’
‘Among other things. My father is very strict and demands respect. He thinks we should be just like him.’
Of course she wasn’t, she was the disappointing child – or at least, the ‘other’ disappointing one. She doubted Jonathan would have been shunned if he’d made their father proud. If it hadn’t been for her mother fighting for her, she’d have been thrown out long ago and banned from having contact with the rest of them.
Exactly like Jonathan.
She’d wanted to leave once, after the ‘incident’, but she loved her sisters and mother too much. The only option she’d had was to stay, try to win back her father’s approval, and count down the days until she could leave Cumbria for university.
But having to live up to her father’s expectations had never stopped. She didn’t think she’d ever be able to.
‘That sounds rough,’ he said, and she saw the understanding in his eyes.
Before she could ask what happened that he could understand having a control freak parent, Sebastian reached blindly into the cupboard. He pulled out shoe box after shoe box, in all shapes and sizes, but he only glanced at the contents then set them aside.
‘Most kids would’ve rebelled,’ he observed.
‘I’m not the rebelling type.’ Not now she knew the consequences.
The pain it caused her: Jonathan’s exile. It seemed better to be the kind of daughter a father would be proud of than a woman who lived her life without caring about the latest scandal or the Simpson reputation.
A flash of light blue caught her eye as Sebastian pulled another box out of her closet. Her palms got damp, her heart paused for a beat then took off double time, and scolding blood boiled up her neck.
She dived for the box but he was faster, pulling it out of her reach. She slammed into his chest, grabbing his shoulders for support, but he’d already clocked what she was desperately trying to hide. This had to be the most embarrassing moment in the history of the world.
Sylvia was going to pay.
‘Now this is more like it.’
She grabbed for it again but he moved it further out of reach, shaking the blue vibrator’s box at her like a kid who’d just found the secret cookie stash.
She groaned. ‘It’s a gag gift from my sister, it’s only –’
‘An eight-inch deluxe with five stimulating features,’ he read from the box out loud.
Alicia covered her burning face in her palms. ‘It’s not like I wanted it!’
She heard something clattering on the floor, then he tugged her hands away. She didn’t want to look at him, but would the new, improved Alicia cower and hide like this? Determined not to show him how affected she was, she met his gaze.
‘Why?’ Sebastian looked more like she’d just told him she didn’t like ice cream than she didn’t want a vibrator.
‘Because it’s … it’s …’ She couldn’t hold eye contact as a wave of mortification washed through her. ‘Inappropriate.’
‘To who? There’s nothing wrong with having this. It’s kinda hot, actually. Don’t all women have one?’
Her mouth opened but no
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