Shit. I was completely screwed.

Dylan didn’t seem to notice her hesitance. “I’m Dylan Madden. I spoke to you on the phone this morning. I needed a Math tutor, so my brother put an ad…”

Estella’s eyes glazed over at those words. I could see her brain working as she tried to process the fact that we were Maddens. I waited for her to turn around and run, but it surprised me when she smiled down at Dylan and returned his handshake.

“Dylan, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Estella Markson.”

From where I was standing, I could see Dylan’s ears turn red as he dropped her hand. “Estella? That’s such a nice name. Are you going to tutor me, Estella? Please say you will! I’m having trouble with fractions and I want to do really well in school.” I knew he was giving her that smile—the Madden smile. The smile that women found irresistible.

“I think I can help you with fractions and anything else you need help with.” Estella’s smile only grew, until her entire face was glowing and radiating warmth that I’d never experienced before. Just from that look on her face, you could tell she was kind and genuine. I wanted to soak in that smile of hers and bask in the glow radiating from her face.

Something stirred in the pit of my stomach, like tiny shivers were somehow working their way inside me. Fuck that. I didn’t want to feel whatever the fuck I was feeling. This wasn’t going to happen. I had to put an end to it.

I strode forward and placed both hands on Dylan’s shoulders. “This isn’t going to work out. We have to go now, Dil.”

Dylan twisted out of my grasp and backed away from me until he was almost pressed up against Estella. “Why? I like her.”

Groaning, I pushed a hand through my hair in frustration. It wasn’t going to be easy arguing with Dylan once he was determined about something. “You’ve known her for about a minute. You’ll get over it.”

I reached out for him but he shrunk away against Estella who wrapped a protective arm around him and frowned at me like I was the enemy. Shit. If only she knew I was doing this to keep her out of my world. She didn’t need to have any part in it.

She gave me a level look. “I have no problem with being Dylan’s tutor.”

My jaw clenched. I wasn’t used to people not agreeing with me. But that was what had drawn me to Estella; the fact that she stood up to me even when she’d been intimidated by me. “That’s not going to happen. Deal with it.”

This time, I grabbed Dylan by the arm and began dragging him back towards the truck. He let out a cry of protest, which I ignored, and didn’t stop until I’d opened up the passenger side door.

“Vincent, wait!”

I’d just been about to throw Dylan into the passenger seat when Estella’s voice made me stop. Dylan, who up then had been crying and yelling, also stopped to crane his neck around my body so he could catch a glimpse of Estella.

My body was extremely tense when I turned around to meet her, and found her standing directly behind me. The proximity to her made me want to shrink away, but that would make me the queen of pussies everywhere, so I held my ground like a Madden would.

“What?’ I barked out, liking the way her mouth turned down at my cold tone.

Good. I didn’t want her to like me. I wanted her to stay the hell away.

Her eyes darted past me, before returning to me and sizing me up. “Can we talk in private?”

No. Fuck no. I didn’t want to get any closer to her than was necessary.

For some reason, I was nodding. My Goddamn head was nodding. Why the hell was I nodding?

We walked a few feet away from the car, out of earshot of Dylan, and I started speaking before she could open her mouth.

“I don’t want you to tutor my brother, do you get it?”

Estella folded her arms across her chest, and I could tell I was in for a battle. “No, I don’t really get it. Did I leave such a bad impression on you last night that you won’t even consider me for the position?” There was a smirk forming on the edge of her lips that I wanted to take into my mouth and devour.

The point she was trying to make came across loud and clear. She was a good girl; I was the one who’d left a bad impression on her, yet I refused to hire her. She couldn’t understand why and I couldn’t explain it to her. My gut instinct was telling me to stay away and my instincts were never wrong.

“You’re obviously not right for the job.” That was the only thing I could think of in response.

“And why is that?”

“Because I said so.” Yeah, I went there. I was twenty-years-old and I’d just used that as an excuse. I wanted to punch myself in the face.

Estella stared at me like I was crazy. “That might usually work for you in your line of work, but that isn’t going to fly with me. You really need to come up with something better than that if you expect me to believe you.”

She took a step towards me, irritation clear in the lines of her forehead. I didn’t know why she was being so damn stubborn about this. Why did she want the job so badly?

Well, I wasn’t going to let her throw me off my game, so I took a step closer to her until I was so close that I could see the faint freckles that dotted her cheeks.

I folded my arms across my chest to match her. “I don’t need to explain myself to you.”

“That’s what happens when you get high on power.” Irritation flared up in her eyes and she stared at me like she wanted to throw something at my head.

“I’m not high on power.” I smirked at her. “I’m just on a steady diet of awesomeness.”

She let out a small sound of indignation and raised her hand as though she was about to push me, but my fighter’s senses kicked in and I reached out and grabbed her wrist before she could make impact.

“Are you attempting to act violently towards me, Estella?” I could feel a smile tugging at the edges of my mouth as she shot me a dirty look.

“I-you-ugh!” She stammered, her expression changing from irritation to embarrassment. “You are so frustrating!”

I lowered my head closer to hers. “Darlin’, I think you mean ‘attractive’, ‘irresistible’, ‘sexy’.”

“You’re none of those things,” she scoffed, looking pointedly at a spot just past my ear. She took a deep breath and then turned back to me. “Look, your brother seems to want me as his tutor so I don’t get what your problem is.”

My smile fell as we go back to the point. She was right; Dylan wanted her as his tutor and I couldn’t disappoint him. He’d had enough disappointment in life. Finally, I nodded, still unsure why Estella made me feel so conflicted about, well, everything.

“Fine, you can tutor him, but it has to be here.” I nodded at the library. “That’s if you pass the interview.”

“But the tutor always comes to the house!” At some point during my conversation with Estella, Dylan had approached us and was now standing in between us with a pout on his face.

Estella raised a brow in question at me which made knots form in the center of my stomach. There was no way I was going to let Estella in my house. If she was already affecting me like this, if she already had the ability to get inside my head and bring my guard down, I didn’t even want to know what was going to happen once she saw how we lived.

“It’s either the library or nothing.” My tone was firm and Dylan could tell I was being serious about this so he didn’t push the issue.

“That works for me,” Estella took a step back and let out a deep breath. “Um, why don’t we go inside and talk over what Dylan would like to work on and then I guess you can interview me.”

She led the way and Dylan and I followed closely behind. Beside me, Dylan gripped my shirt excitedly, but then stopped mid-step and shot me a curious look. “You know what I don’t get, Vin? How did she know your name? I never told her.”

I tousled my brother’s hair and continued walking after Estella. “Magic, Dil; she’s magic.”

Chapter Five

Estella

Vincent’s idea of an interview was to ask me about my availability, go over the amount he’d be paying me, and to make sure Dylan and I were on the same page where his Math work was concerned.

It was safe to say that I was hired.

We’d both agreed that the lessons would take place every Tuesday and Friday at the Penthill library since Vincent had made it clear that I wasn’t welcome at his house. I mean, I wasn’t even sure if I really wanted to go there anyway. Did I really want to step inside the Madden house? The sensible part of me was telling me no.

And, with all seriousness, could my life get even stranger? How could it be possible that Vincent and I had crossed paths twice already in the span of 24 hours? And what was that strange pull I could feel between us?

Whenever he got too close or we fell into our banter, the air would charge between us, like we were tangled up in a web of electrical currents. It was the strangest sensation.

Once all the formalities were done and out of the way, Dylan turned his earnest eyes onto me. “Estella, do you have a boyfriend?”

Well, this wasn’t something I expected to come out of a ten-year-old’s mouth. It was a question that always made me uncomfortable. Things were made even more uncomfortable by the fact that Vincent was sitting across from me watching me with his obsidian eyes.

People always wondered why I was single or had never had a boyfriend. Truthfully, it was something that didn’t matter to me. And, besides, no one wanted to date the girl with the out-of-control, alcoholic father.

Vincent was still studying me, and my body was starting to grow warm under his steady gaze, so I focused all my attention onto Dylan. “No, I don’t have a boyfriend.”