“Just happy to be out and not having to run around here naked for entertainment,” I said as the cooler air hit my face.
I stepped into the hallway, about to turn toward the coat check, knowing Julia would be there.
Ready for her to see all of me.
My brother pulled me away, but I protested.
He shook his head. “Monty, we don’t have time for that. We have to go. Now.”
There was worry in his eyes but hope in mine as I glanced back, wishing to see Julia come around the corner.
But I never did.
Chapter 6
Julia
“WERE YOU HIDING IN there to get out of work?” Laura asked with her hands on her hips.
“No, of course not. I was trapped.”
My sister rolled her eyes.
“I came back here to check to see how it was going, and you had disappeared. At first, I thought bathroom break. But after waiting a while and then checking the bathroom, I realized you weren’t there.”
I nodded and threw my thumb over my shoulder. “Because I was locked in an antiquated closet with no doorknob. Which, by the way, is a fire hazard. I will write a strongly worded email to the management and copy the health department about this.”
My sister tilted her head. “I think it’s the fire marshal.”
“Whatever. I will copy someone on the email. The point is, what if you never came back? I could have died in there. Then this place would really be haunted.”
Haunted by orgasms. But my sister didn’t need to know that part. I smirked.
“You seem happy to have been trapped in there.” Her eyes fell to the floor. “And where are your shoes? Also, who were you talking to in there?”
A couple came up to the coat check door. I stepped around my sister and took their coats and gave them a ticket. Once I placed the matching ticket on the hangers and hung up their coats, I turned back to face my sister.
“See? Was that so hard?” She pointed to the disappearing couple. “Did you really need to hide in a dark room to get out of doing that?”
As I placed the man’s long, wool coat on the hanger, I noted the size. I bet that would fit Wonder Dick. I frowned. I didn’t want to keep calling him that, but I never got his name.
“I wasn’t hiding. I told you, I was trapped. If I could have escaped, I would have.”
My eyes slid to my sister. Why was she here? Just to berate me? That wasn’t like her. Sure, she knew I was never an A-plus worker, but she had yet to hold it over my head.
She snorted and rolled her eyes. “I bent over backward for you, Julia. I promised Jason that you would do an outstanding job. Then he came into the kitchen ten minutes ago, asking where you were, as guests had started to arrive half an hour ago.”
I slid the coat from the hanger and cradled it in my arm.
“It’s just a coat check job. You act like I’m about to work for a powerful CEO, and your reputation’s at stake. Don’t worry, Sis, your job’s secure as long as you have Beau at your side.” I pursed my lips.
My sister gasped. That was harsh, even for me, but I didn’t like her accusatory tone.
“You think the only reason Lee Wisely hired me is because I’m dating his son?”
No, not at all.
I folded my arms and said, “Not really, but that man is just like his son. Where do you think Beau learned to be such a turd? I love you, Laura, and I think you’re an amazing chef, but you’re wasting your time working for that man. You should have your own restaurant where your dishes can shine.”
Her bottom lip wobbled, causing my heart to crack. “So, the best I can hope to get is by sleeping with someone to get a job.” She wiped at a tear that fell from her eye. “That’s just great. You know, I hear the whispers from the other cooks in the kitchen. I even brought it up to Beau, but he swore none of it was true. He said they were jealous that I was dating him and they weren’t.”
My mouth fell open. “Do you believe that?”
She winced. “I don’t know what to believe anymore.”
I opened my arms, the coat still hanging from one, and waved her in for a hug. “Come here.”
Laura hadn’t even made it into my arms before she burst into tears.
“If anyone is jealous, it’s because of your talent. Okay? I don’t know why Lee hired you. I only met him once.” Which was enough for me to realize how awful that family was. “But I know your cooking. Someone would have to be a fool to not want you as a chef at their restaurant.”
“And what about Beau?” Laura pulled back with a sniffle.
“You know my thoughts on that man. But if you love him, then I’ll try to find the good in him.”
She shook her head. “He’s just stressed. Trying to live up to his father’s reputation. No one’s perfect.”
I hated that she was making excuses for him.
“Okay. Then why are you really here?”
My sister may have said it was because of Jason, the HR assistant here at The Benjamin, but I could tell something was bothering her.
She let go of me and cupped her cheeks. Oh boy, this would be big.
“I think he’s cheating on me.”
I bit my tongue. No, really. I bit hard on that sucker just so the words I told you so didn’t escape my mouth.
I nodded and sprinkled words like “What?” and “No!” and finally, “That fucker!” while she explained more of her cheating theories.
“I think it’s with Sangi.”
Our cousin. Sangria Hobbleton. A wealthy, spoiled heiress to a billion-dollar fortune. We may have been cousins, but we were the family she didn’t like to acknowledge, unless she needed us to help her. Like my sister to cater her lavish parties.
I felt as highly for Sangi as I did for Beau. Now that I thought about it, they’d make the perfect couple. Both vapid and spoiled.
It wasn’t a surprise hearing my sister accuse Sangi of sleeping with her boyfriend. I called it months ago, but no one listened to me.
It was one of my talents. My sister’s talent was cooking, and mine was reading people. I could spot someone void of morals a mile away.
“Really? What makes you think that?”
“He was supposed to work the catering gig with me for the Jingle Balls Ball but then said he had to meet a potential client for his father in Aspen.”
“Isn't that where Sangi is vacationing right now?”
The only reason I knew was because I couldn’t glance at a social media site without coming across ads for the latest gossip on America’s princess in Aspen.
My sister exhaled, and her shoulders fell. “Yes.”
She looked defeated.
I pulled her back into my arms. If I disliked Beau before, it was nothing compared to what I felt for him now. If I ever saw him, I’d kick him in the nut sack.
“How about we get some hot chocolate and watch action movies?” I offered, tucking a loose strand from her bun behind her ear.
“But I still have to work. And you do too.”
“You know there’s another coat check in the lobby. The party started almost an hour ago, and I had one couple check their coat.”
“That’s true. But I still need to help.”
“Really? After Lee demoted you to server for the evening.”
She shook her head, ready to defend her terrible boss. “That’s only because he was short on servers. Besides, I helped prep the food.” She smiled meagerly.
“Laura, please. Do something for you for once. Do something a little bad. Take a risk.”
My sister bit her thumbnail, contemplating what I said.
Her grin grew. “Okay. I’ll do it.”
“Great. I just have to give this—”
“Can you tell Freida I became ill? Like, violently ill. So ill you had to tell them I had to leave.”
My eyes widened. When my sister broke the rules, she went all in.
I looked back toward the dark hallway that led to the closet where Wonde
r Dick was still trapped. My plan was go to the kitchen first and then hand over the coat to the man who gave me the best orgasms of my life.
I placed the coat back on the hanger and left my sister cowering in the coat closet while I went to the kitchen to dole out her over-the-top lie of an excuse.
Once I found Freida, she accepted the excuse and was visibly concerned. Wow, they believed her. If I had ever used that excuse I’d hear the disbelief loud and clear and most likely never get asked back.
Once I made my way back, I found my sister hiding behind the coats.
“What are you doing?”
“In case someone from the kitchen walks by. I don’t want them to see me.”
I shook my head. “Oh, Sis, how innocent you are to the world of playing hooky.”
I grabbed the man’s coat again and told Laura to wait a moment while I checked on something in the back.
Excitement bubbled in my chest. Maybe I could see what he looked like. I kept trying to imagine him in my head, but he would morph into Harrison Ford. But not Harrison Ford now, because that would be disturbing. I wasn’t into men who were my grandfather’s age.
I meant Harrison Ford from Raiders of the Lost Ark. When he was a professor and had glasses. Okay, I liked to watch that movie a lot and would’ve totally been the student who wrote Love You on her eyelids. There’s just something about that nerdy hotness . . .
When I got to the small door, I took a breath. Luck better be a hot Indiana Jones lookalike.
Pushing the door open, the room was black. He might have hidden behind the boxes.
“It’s me. Julia. I got something for you to wear.”
This time, I made sure not to step inside the room. Didn’t want to get stuck again. Or did I?
Nope. Better if he came out.
There was no answer.
“Uh, Wonder Dick?” I winced.
I needed a light. I grabbed the small lamp on the stool and pointed it into the room. Just some boxes. No sexy naked guy.
“Hey, Laura?” I called back to my sister.
I didn’t want my sister to see him naked, but I had to make sure he wasn’t in the room. What if he was unconscious? What if his gigantic cock pulled too much blood from his head and caused him to faint? It would be cruel of me not to check.
“Yeah?” She stepped into the small hallway.
“Can you hold the lamp and the door open while I check inside?”
“Did you leave something in there?” she asked, taking the lamp from my hands.
“Yes, my shoes. Remember?”
Until she said something when I came out, I had forgotten about them. And when I thought about my missing undies and tights, I grinned.
“Right. Here, you might need this.” She held out her phone.
“To make a call?”
I could have used that an hour ago when I was trapped.
“No, the flashlight app.” She tapped on the screen until the flashlight glared from the other side.
I grabbed it and went inside. The room was smaller than I had expected. The darkness made it seem large. Also, there were fewer boxes than I had imagined.
I checked behind every corner and box, but Wonder Dick was nowhere in the room. I discovered my shoes pushed into a corner. But no matter how many boxes I shoved aside, I couldn’t find my panties or tights.
“You found your shoes. Let’s go before someone from the kitchen finds me.”
I slid my eyes to my sister. “Yes, they’ll meander through a coat closet. Because that’s what kitchen staff do.”
“Enough sass. Let’s go.”
I hastily put on my shoes and took one last look around. Then something caught my eyes. There, on the floor, was a red-and-white-striped ribbon.
Bending down, I picked it up, my cheeks warming in remembrance.
I didn’t get a chance to see what my orgasmic superhero looked like tonight, but at least I had a token of his candy cane dick.
Chapter 7
Monty
9 1/2 Months Later
I RAISED MY FIST TO the red-painted door of the Cape Cod-style house and knocked.
Glancing around the tiny cement porch, I noticed a few blue balloons that had “Happy Birthday” printed on them. Adjusting the box in my hand, I tried not to leave a perspiration mark on it.
My palms were sweating. Not from the heat that lingered in the early September air, but for the reason I hadn’t met the birthday boy—or his mother.
I was here because my brother Rock asked me to help. I’d do anything for him, even crash a one-month-old’s birthday party.
The door opened, and a cool gust of air hit me. A temporary relief from the heat.
“Monty. I didn’t know you were coming. Rock will be happy to see you,” Laura, Rock’s girlfriend, said with a welcoming smile.
“He’s here?”
She nodded.
That’s odd. The whole reason I was here was because Laura and Rock weren’t speaking. He showed up drunk in my office and lamented about how Laura would move out. She wanted to live with her sister to help her raise the baby.
From what I had gathered, the baby’s father was a no show. I suspected he found out Laura’s sister was pregnant and left. That was usually the case with these situations.
Dirtbag.
I may not have had a child, but if I found out a woman was pregnant with my baby, I wouldn’t leave them to fend for themselves. That was the behavior of a lowlife.
My father wasn’t around a lot when I was young because he worked to support his family. Sometimes he worked two jobs, but he never left my mother or even threatened to leave. He worked hard because he loved us and would do anything to keep food on the table and a roof over our heads.
When a construction accident killed my father when I was a teenager, it broke our family, devastating my mom most of all. She died just six months later of a broken heart.
James said it was her drinking, but she never would have drunk so much if it wasn’t for losing the love of her life.
“I thought you two weren’t speaking?”
Laura tilted her head, her long blond hair falling like a waterfall over her shoulder.
“No. We’re fine. It upset him that I wanted to move back in here when Jami left for a few weeks, but we worked it out. Since Jami’s back, there’s no reason for me to live here.”
I tightened my jaw. What a drama queen. I thought James was over the top, but Rock had him beat.
He begged me to help him. Now I felt like a freeloader crashing a baby’s party.
“But that’s why I came—”
“Hey, Monty. Why are you here?” Rock appeared behind Laura, placing his hand on her shoulder.
I blinked at my brother. “Really?”
“Yes, really. Was it about the cookies? I know how much you love cookies.” He turned his head toward Laura. “You know, when he was eight, Mom had to put him on a cookie-free diet. Any time there were cookies in the house, especially chocolate chip cookies, he’d eat all of them. Mom once found him under the sink with a half-empty box of them.”
“I was a kid. That was twenty years ago.”
But it was true. I was addicted to cookies.
“I brought something for the baby.” I pushed the small box with blue wrapping paper and a white bow toward Laura.
“You didn’t have to do that. Please, come inside.” She waved me in.
They stepped back, and I walked into the small entryway. The updated design surprised me. I knew Laura’s family didn’t have a lot of money, much like my family when we were growing up—before my brothers and I became billionaires.
I expected to walk into a dated home.
Instead, there were dark, hardwood floors and a large, wooden staircase off to the side. I could see through to the back of the house and noticed French doors leading to a grassy yard. Everything was new and like something I’d seen in a home design magazine.
“This place is nice.” I gazed around and pe
eked into the snug living room with a large blue couch filled with people.
“Thanks to Rock.” Laura smiled up at him. “Once he found out my sister was pregnant, he made sure everything in this home was up to date and babyproof.”
“Now that you will be my wife, I have to take care of my future sister-in-law.” Rock lowered his head and kissed the tip of Laura’s nose.
It was sweet but sickening at the same time.
“Wife? Did you propose?” How had I not heard of this?
Laura’s arm shot out, and I stared at my mother’s ring. The same ring Rock told me he never had. And once I found out he did, he said he only carried it for good luck, not because he planned to propose to Laura.
I nodded and tried not to frown. I was happy for my brother, but the way he went about this didn’t sit well with me. He lied about the ring. He lied about proposing. What else was he lying about?
“It’s beautiful. I see you used Ma’s ring.” I narrowed my eyes at Rock.
He knew I wouldn’t make a scene. That was James’s job. And that was probably why he only wanted me here and not James. But I wasn’t going to forget about this.
I’d let him know how I felt when we were alone.
He visibly swallowed and said, “I wanted to keep it in the family. Anyway, enough about us. It’s little Nathan’s birthday. Presents go on the dining table in the kitchen.” Rock pointed down the hall, past the stairs.
I nodded and made my way toward the kitchen, needing a break from my brother. I loved him with all my heart, but the proposal bothered me. We were family. He could tell me anything, but he didn’t with one of the most important decisions of his life.
Stepping into the kitchen, it too appeared brand-new. Everything was white—the cabinets, the backsplash by the oven, the marble counters. The only bit of color was the small, dark blue island in the center with a wooden countertop.
In front of the French doors was a round, wooden table that had a few presents on top. A woman who looked like a younger version of Laura stood by the table with a chicken in her arm. She was letting the chicken peck at the ribbon on one gift.
Surprising the Billionaire with a Baby (Blue Ridge Mountain Billionaires Book 2) Page 4
