Read Anything for the Man of the House: Ten Brats who Learn how to Behave for Free Online Page B

her voice that makes me want to melt
into the ground as I grope for my bikini top. Unfortunately for me,
I had flicked it just out of reach.
    Daddy bends down, laying his
briefcase to the ground before casually making his way across the
patio, his shiny black shoes clicking upon the poolside as he
waltzes on in like nothing was amiss.
    “I see,” he remarks, looking us
both over before he flips up his own sunglasses, letting his green
eyes soak us in. “And I guess no study is necessary, huh?” he says,
one hand in his pocket, as he looks at us so casually, from
Samantha to me and back again.
    My lips tremble as I look to
Samantha, then to Daddy, praying she doesn’t say anything else.
    “We studied all morning, daddy,
I promise, but we just wanted to get some sun before supper. It
helps us think!” I lie, and I know it’s a lie. Every time I lay out
in the sun, I’m zapped of all energy and definitely don’t want to
think at all.
    “Besides, Mr. Cartwright,”
Samantha pitches in, “you know we’re both shoe-ins for College. I
mean, look at us,” she says, shimmying her shoulders and making her
large breasts jiggle.
    I don’t know what was worse: the
fact that she did that, or that my daddy openly watched her do
it!
    “Mmhmm,” he says as if listening
to someone make a pitch to him at his office, that skeptical look
upon his face as he studies us again. “Just a moment ladies,” he
says, holding up a finger, and I felt like my life was at an end.
I’m absolutely certain he’s gonna come back and end us!
    “Oh shit, we’re in for it now,
Samantha,” I say, as I get up and make to grab for my bikini top,
but daddy returns quicker than I anticipated. And strangely, it’s
with three wine glasses and a bottle in tow.
    “Since you’re both such
shoe-ins, I guess a bit of celebration is in order with your
relaxation, no?” he says, as he lays the glasses down on the deck
table and pours some of the shiraz up into each of the three
glasses. “Here you go sweetie,” he says, offering me one first.
    I feel like it’s a trap, but
Samantha’s looking at me with a dangerous glint of excitement in
her eyes, and everything’s happening so fast.
    I reach out to take it, but in
my panic, I’m reaching out with the wrong hand, flashing him all
over again.
    This is the worst day of my
life. I get dumped, and now I’m accidentally flashing my own
step-father.
    I accept it quickly, trying to
hide my breasts once more.
    But despite it all, daddy smiles
at me with that usual, loving expression, linking our gaze a while
before he turns his attention to Samantha, handing her glass, which
she takes daintily but without hesitation.
    “Thank you, Mr. Cartwright,” she
says, smiling so brazenly at him as she helps herself to a sip.
    Much to my surprise, daddy
raises his glass in a toast to us and sits back in one of the
chairs, loosening his tie before taking a sip and lounging in the
sun.
    “I suppose there’s no point in
wasting such a beautiful, free day for any of us, is there ladies?”
he says casually, as if we are any other beautiful women, and not
his daughter and her best friend.
    He’s being so fucking casual
about it all, that I kind of feel like trying to put on the bikini
top is going to be harder than it seems, and draw way too much
attention to it. Besides, now I only have one hand free.
    But my nerves are frayed and I’m
scared to take a sip. I mean, it’s not like my dad’s a jerk. He’s
taken really good care of me since my mom died two years ago, but
he has kind of a disciplinarian streak to him, usual. I have to
make my bed just as he likes it, do the laundry just so. He has a
lot of ways about him, and he’s really controlling about it.
    He’s the same at work, I know,
so it’s not so weird. But I’m afraid if I take a sip, he’s going to
punish me once Samantha’s gone.
    “So why are you home with the
girls so soon, Mr. Cartwright?” Samantha asks brazenly, leaning
upon one arm,