A variety of scenarios played out in my head as I wondered what tonight’s dinner was going to entail. Maybe James had made some big business deal which he wanted to celebrate with us? Or maybe he was going to ask my Mom to marry him, and Mom already suspected? That would certainly explain her smile. It would also be a real fairytale ending for her, seeing as we’d never had a lot of money. James was mega-loaded, so if he was proposing, then that’d be great for the family.
Not that it was all about money, of course—I just thought it’d be good because Mom wouldn’t have to work her low-paying reception job anymore, and she’d have way more time to spend with Grandma…and me, when I wasn’t at my own job.
I bit my lower lip as I considered the possibility. I’d only met James on two occasions, and he seemed nice enough, if not a bit of a workaholic judging by the way he’d dashed off to make dozens of phone calls both times. Then again, owning an entire hotel took a lot of work, so I guess that wasn’t surprising. If he was planning on proposing to Mom, then I’d be happy with it overall.
Look at me, getting all ahead of myself. For all I knew, the dinner was for something else entirely. Brushing the thought of a new stepfather aside, I quickly finished folding a shirt and then excused myself from the room to try and find my black and white dress. It was the same dress I’d worn to my failed date the other night, but it was the only fancy thing I owned. I lived in sweats and jeans except for when I was at work, and even then, the office I worked at was quite casual and didn’t require anything too fancy.
I would’ve liked to own more nice clothes, but I simply didn’t have the money to waste on pretty, well-fitting dresses when I didn’t really need them all that much. San Francisco rents were sky high, and even an area like Hunter’s Point swallowed up a substantial portion of my monthly paycheck, seeing as I’d started helping Mom pay it as soon as I found my job.
As I showered, dressed and swiped on some mascara and lip tint, my mind drifted back unbidden to the other night. I’d hoped to expand my horizons and get back into the dating game by going out on the blind date, but it had failed ever-so-spectacularly, and I was unsure if I ever wanted to try something like that again. It was bad enough that my real date had completely forgotten to meet me, and it was worse that the guy who’d inadvertently taken his place had turned out to be an asshole player.
Wow, such great luck. Not.
As much as I didn’t like Mystery Man, I couldn’t stop thinking about his chiseled features and powerful chest and arms. His shoulders were so broad that it wouldn’t surprise me if he had trouble fitting through doors, and I closed my eyes for a second and pictured myself being picked up and thrown over those very shoulders.
A girl can dream…
I realized I was absentmindedly chewing on a strand of my hair as I drifted away in fantasy-land, and I shook my head at myself. I needed to get it together. Despite my weird mood, it was time to go out to dinner and play nice for my Mom and her boyfriend. Hopefully they’d have happy news for me, and their mood would rub off on me.
I should be so lucky.
***
I glanced around as we entered the Balmoral forty minutes later, hearing the hushed tones of conversation and the clinking of wine glasses around us. The restaurant design was similar to the main hotel with a mixture of cream colors and dark woods; modern yet still elegant. I’d only been here once before, on the first occasion upon which I’d met James. Seeing as he owned the place, he’d kindly let me eat for free, and thank God for that, because even the appetizers were way out of my price range.
“There he is,” Mom announced, waving across the restaurant.
The hostess obviously already knew her well, because she didn’t even try to stop us and ask for a name as we headed over to a prime booth with leather seats, where James was sitting. He was dressed in a tailored grey suit which contrasted nicely with his salt and pepper hair and blue eyes.
His eyes lit up as he saw us approaching, and he jumped to his feet. “Anna!” he said, enveloping her in a hug before turning to me and my Grandma. “Adelina, lovely to see you again. Those pearl earrings are beautiful. And Aurora, you look wonderful too.”
“Thanks. Call me Rory,” I said with a smile.
“Ah, of course, I forgot you prefer that. Although if I call you that, I can’t collectively refer to you ladies as the ‘Triple A’, can I?”
I laughed softly. It was a tradition in our family that every girl was given a name beginning with A, but I’d always preferred Rory for myself. It was easier for people to say than Aurora, which had always come across as a little pretentious despite what a pretty name it was. My real name also reminded me that I’d been named after a fairytale princess, which bothered me somewhat due to how un-fairytale-like my life had always been.
“Finn is going to be a little late. Some trouble at one of our bars, it seems. But he’ll be along shortly,” James said.
“Finn?” I asked, forehead creasing in a puzzled expression.
“My son,” James replied. “Didn’t you meet him last time we had dinner? Oh wait, no, he was elsewhere that night.”
I turned to my Mom with surprise, and she raised her eyebrows as if to say ‘what?’
I’d had no idea James had a son, and she’d never mentioned it. Typical. Shrugging, I took a seat after helping my grandmother sit down, and James and Mom stayed standing. They both looked nervous, and a waiter quickly deposited a premium bottle of champagne in a wine cooler bucket next to the table before scurrying away.
“All right, you two, what’s going on?” Grandma asked. “I didn’t come down in the last shower. I know there’s something going on, and I’m an old woman, so you better damn well tell me now before I drop dead.”
“Abuela!” I said, shaking my head and grinning at her sharp tongue. “Don’t talk about yourself like that. You aren’t that old.”
“Even though I had pet dinosaurs as a child?” she said, flashing me an amused look. “That’s what you used to tell me when you were younger.”
I giggled, and Mom rolled her eyes at us and waved her hands. “Okay, okay, shush. You’re right. We invited you to dinner to tell you the news.”
“And what’s the news?” I asked before catching a glimpse of her left hand as she waved it. There was a sparking diamond ring the size of Texas on her ring finger, and I gulped. That hadn’t been there before. I guess my earlier suspicion that she and James had gotten engaged had been correct.
“You’re engaged?” I said.
“Well…no. We’re married.”
My eyes widened, and I simply stared at the two of them for a moment. “I’m sorry…what?”
“We’re married!” she repeated.
My jaw dropped, and out of the corner of my eye, I could see my grandmother having the same reaction. “Married…wow. I mean, I thought you might be engaged, but already married?” I said.
“You’re upset?” James asked, looking even more anxious. “Anna, you told me they’d be okay with—“
Mom waved her hand at him, cutting him off. “Oh, they’re fine. Aren’t you, Rory? And Mama? You guys aren’t upset, are you?”
I exchanged a glance with Grandma before turning back to Mom. “No…I’m not upset. I just…um…” I started slowly, trying to put my emotions into words.
Although I was surprised, this wasn’t exactly atypical behavior for my mother. She’d never actually eloped before, but she did tend to make all kinds of decisions without anyone else’s input, especially when it came to men. When she’d gotten engaged to my father at the age of nineteen, my Grandma hadn’t even been aware that she was seeing anyone, let alone already six weeks pregnant with me. Yup, that had been a shotgun wedding.
“It’s just unexpected,” Grandma said. “I think that’s what Rory is trying to say. Right, mi niña?”
I nodded. “Yes. I mean, you two have only known each other for a couple of months, right?”
“Yes, but it just seemed so right,” Mom sa
id with a dreamy expression on her face. “As soon as we met, we both knew right away that we’d end up married eventually. Even though we come from two different worlds, that just never mattered. Then James took me on a trip up to his lake house and surprised me with a ring.”
“I’d only planned on proposing,” James interjected. “But it was so beautiful up there with the views of the water and the mountains, and I suddenly felt we had to seize the moment. So I made some calls and arranged for the nearest officiant to marry us right by the water that afternoon. We both wished you could have been there, but like I said, we just seized the moment and did it as quickly as possible. It was an engagement, wedding and honeymoon all in one.”
“I see,” I replied. “Well, congratulations! Shouldn’t you have waited until Flynn got here to tell us all, though?”
“It’s Finn,” James said. “He already knows. He found out thanks to my big-mouthed general manager.”
“Sorry, I meant Finn,” I said with an apologetic smile. “Well, I…um…I can’t wait to meet him.”
I was trying to sound happy, but my mind was whirling too much to register much of any emotion. This was completely unexpected. Earlier, I’d been wondering what it would be like to have James as a future stepfather, but as it turned out, he already was my stepfather, and I had a new stepbrother to boot.
God, why did my Mom always keep us in the dark about everything? She could be really flighty and selfish sometimes. I didn’t blame James at all; Mom had probably told him Grandma and I would be totally fine with them springing their surprise marriage on us, and he hadn’t known any better.
“So what happens now? Where will we be living?” Grandma asked, pursing her lips.
My stomach seemed to nervously flop around as I waited for Mom’s reply. I hadn’t even considered what we’d be doing in terms of living arrangements just yet. Even though our house in Hunter’s Point wasn’t the nicest place, it had still been our home for the last nineteen and a half years, and part of me really didn’t want to leave. Another bolder part of me was excited at the prospect of a new home.
That is, if my Mom even wanted us to keep living with her.
“Don’t worry, I won’t leave you two behind. We’ll be moving in here,” Mom said.
“To the hotel?” I asked, my eyebrows shooting up. I’d known James owned the place, but I had no idea he lived here.
“Yes,” she replied with a nod. “James and his son live here, because it makes more sense for them to always be close to the place in case something happens. So we’ll all be living here together as of next week.”
“Oh. Okay,” I said. I didn’t really know what else to say. It seemed like the decision had already been made, and I didn’t get a say in any of it.
I guess living in a hotel could be pretty cool. Room service, beautiful furniture in large suites, and wonderful views from the windows…not too shabby. Plus, there was a maid service, so my grandmother would be able to give herself a well-deserved break from all the housework she bothered herself with every day.
Something caught my eye near the front end of the restaurant, and I looked over Mom’s shoulder to see an all-too familiar man walking over to us with an intense expression smoldering in his eyes. My stomach dropped with horror as I registered exactly who it was.
No flippin’ way.
It was Mystery Man from the other night, clad in tailored black pants and a light blue button-up dress shirt…which appeared to have blood smeared on the front. Beads of sweat formed at my hairline as he sauntered towards us, and a million and one questions flashed through my mind. Why the hell was he here? Had he tracked me down like some kind of stalker? And why on earth was he covered in blood?
Maybe I’d become paranoid from watching too many creepy serial killer documentaries on Netflix, or maybe it was just the blood on his shirt, but either way I immediately recoiled and pointed in his direction.
“I think we should call security. That guy looks dangerous!” I said.
“What?” James gave me a funny look before turning and looking in the direction of my pointed finger. “Oh. There you are!” he called out, forgetting my concerns and stepping out from behind our table.
Um…what?
He patted Mystery Man on the back before turning to us with a broad grin.
“Ladies, this is my son, Finn. Finn, this is my new wife, Anna, her mother, Adelina, and her daughter, Rory.”
Oh no…
I stared up at them, completely and utterly dumbfounded as my Mom and Grandma said hello and shook Finn’s hand. Everything seemed to move in slow motion, and I couldn’t believe what was happening right before my eyes. Nope, nope, nope. This was some sort of crazy nightmare, right? He couldn’t be my new stepbrother. He just couldn’t be.
And yet he was.
Well, at least I knew his name now…
“Nice to meet you, Rory,” he said, a glimmer of lust in his eyes as he turned his attention to me. “I can’t wait to become better…ahem…acquainted with you.”
Seriously? After the other night, surely he knew the only part of me that wanted to get acquainted with him was my fist. I mumbled a vague response, unable to form a coherent sentence. At least he was pretending this was the first time we’d met so we didn’t have to acknowledge where we’d really met and make things awkward for our parents.
“Now, what on earth is this on your shirt, Finn?” James asked. “Did someone throw a drink or a bottle of sauce on you? You’re filthy!”
Finn kept looking at me, a small smile turning the corners of his lips up as he replied to his father. “It’s blood. I got in a fight outside Clancy’s,” he said, not even taking his eyes off me for a second. “But don’t worry, it’s not my blood.”
Ew. Did he think he was all awesome and hardcore for getting into bar fights? I guess he was even more of a douchebag than I already thought.
“You couldn’t have changed shirts before you graced us with your presence?” Grandma asked, raising an eyebrow. “It’s so unhygienic…my goodness!”
Good old Grandma. She’d only just met the guy, but she was already giving him a dressing down for looking so disgusting. And no wonder. Seriously, the guy was hot as hell, as much as I hated to admit it, but showing up at a Michelin-starred restaurant with blood on his shirt was unbelievably gross.
“I’m sorry…Adelina, was it?” he said. “I was already late, and I didn’t want to be even later, so I rushed straight over here from the bar.”
“You can call me Mrs. Villanueva, young man,” she replied, her voice stiff. “This first name nonsense is far too familiar.”
I stifled a giggle, glad that she was treating the prick exactly how he deserved—like a bad little boy. Ironic, because he obviously tried to present himself as having a bad boy image…just not the kind of bad boy my Grandma saw him as.
Mom and James looked uncomfortable, clearly aware that this was off to a bad start, and James glanced over at me before quickly changing the subject. “Sorry, Rory, what were you saying just before Finn arrived? Something about the security here?”
“Err…nothing,” I mumbled. “It’s okay.”
Truthfully, I would have loved nothing more than to have security drag Finn away so that I wasn’t forced to share a dinner table with him, but I was going to be sharing a lot more than a table with him soon, given that we had to live together, so I bit my tongue and tried to ignore him as he slid into the booth next to me.
My body had already started to betray me. The warmth from his leg next to mine under the table was making my heart race like mad as heat blossomed between my legs, and I kept staring straight ahead, praying he wouldn’t somehow notice.
“So…made the big announcement yet?” Finn asked, glancing around the table.
James nodded. “Yep.”
He looked beyond pleased with himself, and my Mom’s megawatt smile practically lit up the room. I couldn’t help but grin despite my horror at the stepbrother situation, and my grand
mother did the same. Even though Mom had selfishly eloped, we couldn’t deny how happy she looked, and that made us happy too.
“I’m so happy to finally meet you, Finn,” Mom simpered, reaching across and touching his hand. He immediately drew it back and slid it under the table, his smile faltering for a second.
“Er…yeah. Me too,” he muttered.
“Rory always wanted a brother, and now she has one. How exciting, right?” she went on.
I couldn’t even pretend to keep smiling at that, so I took a sip of water and nodded, hoping no one would notice my sudden change in expression. Finn’s hand suddenly crept up onto my bare thigh, and I almost spat out my mouthful. He looked straight ahead, pretending that nothing was going on, and I struggled to maintain my composure as I tried to figure out what to do without drawing attention to what was going on. On the one hand, I didn’t want to make things weird for Mom and James while they looked so enraptured, but on the other hand, I didn’t want this sleazy asshole touching me.
I put my own hand on top of his, and he looked momentarily excited until I dug my sharp nails right into him. He took a sharp intake of breath, but to his credit, he didn’t reflexively yank his hand out and make what had happened obvious to everyone else at the table.
“Fun’s over, dirtbag,” I hissed, making sure Grandma and our parents weren’t paying attention. “You can go back to your cage now.”
I pressed my nails down further, and finally, he pulled his hand away, but not before shooting me a dark look. I glared back at him, wishing he could hear my thoughts. Too bad, prick. Dislike me all you want, because I already can’t stand you.
Honestly, what did he expect after the other night? For me to be nice to him? For me to fall over my feet trying to hook up with him? Yeah, right.
A waitress came over and poured the bottle of champagne into our flutes, and James held up his glass before clearing his throat. “To our new family,” he said. “Cheers!”
Bad Boy - A Stepbrother Romance Page 4
