Bad Boy - A Stepbrother Romance

by Daire, Caitlin

  “Not at all,” he says with a wide smile. “You ladies have a great meal.”

  And so it is I find myself walking to a burger place at ten P.M. at night with my mother, wearing a ridiculous sequin dress and tottering along in sky-high heels.

  ***

  “So tell me what’s on your mind, sweetheart.”

  Mom gets straight to the point as we wait for our juicy burgers. My mouth is watering at the mere scent of this place, delicious meat roasting, and oil bubbling as they fry the potatoes. I’ve ordered a Brie burger with mushrooms and a special sauce, and I’m pretty excited about it.

  I sigh heavily, realizing my mom won’t let me get away with it this time around. She hasn’t brought up my stay at the hospital, but she has wondered out loud about my health. I’ve assured her I’m fine, and I think she believes me. I know I look better, and my attitude has changed in the past hour, too.

  “I’m going to come right out and say it,” I say, and my mom nods encouragingly. I look at her, fidgeting with a paper napkin on the table. I really, really can’t bring myself to say it, though, so I take the long way to get to the subject.

  “When I got released from the hospital, I went to Adam’s,” I say quietly, even though I know mom already knows this. Adam must’ve called her pretty soon after I arrived, and I’m no longer angry about that. My mom deserved to know I was all right.

  She’s nodding now, encouraging me to go on.

  “I didn’t know what else to do, it seemed like the only option. I know we haven’t seen each other in years, mom, but we really used to be quite good friends…even though we fought a lot.”

  “I remember it all, honey,” she says simply.

  “Well…I had a pretty big crush on Adam when we were younger,” I admit, looking at my mom and feeling like a scaredy cat. She has a totally stoic expression on her face, though, and doesn’t react at all.

  Who knew mom had such a good poker face?

  “And how do you feel about him now?” she asks, not revealing any emotions whatsoever.

  “Um,” I say, struggling to come up with the right words. Just then, I realize how I actually, truthfully feel about Adam. And it really fucking scares me.

  “I love him,” I finally blurt out, and it’s like a dam has been opened and the words are just spilling out of my mouth. “I really, really love him, mom…”

  She’s still got that poker face going, but slowly, it fades into a soft smile. She pats my hand on the table just as our food is delivered, and we’re left staring at each other over the two juiciest burgers I’ve ever seen in my life.

  “Let’s eat, honey,” she says calmly, and I nearly drop a fork on the floor.

  Let’s fucking eat?! I’m losing my freaking mind over here!

  “Mom, I can’t eat now,” I whine. “You have to tell me what you think, you have to! I can’t just drop a bombshell like that and you tell me to dig into my burger, goddammit!”

  She doesn’t respond, but I can see her lips twitching. Good lord, is she about to cry? Please, I can’t add making my mom cry to the list of horrible things I’ve done, please lord.

  All of a sudden, mother dearest starts laughing her ass off.

  I stare at her along with the rest of the restaurant as she nearly loses it, almost toppling out of her chair.

  “Are you done?” I ask her once she’s calmed down a bit, and truth be told, I’m fighting a smile of my own, too.

  “Oh, Tessa,” she says, still giggling like she’s thirty years younger than her age. “Don’t you know I’m your mother?”

  I stare at her in confusion. “I had a vague idea, yeah.”

  “I’ve known you liked Adam since the moment he walked into our kitchen, honey,” she says with a knowing smile. “I’ve watched you pine for him, when he was gone, and when he was around. I know he liked you too, and I was just waiting for you to come and speak to me about it…but that moment never came.”

  My heart thumps loudly as I look at my burger, my appetite disappearing. I really should have talked to my mom sooner…I can only hope it’s not too late.

  Her hand grabs mine from across the table and I look into her warm blue eyes, the very color I’ve inherited myself. I smile weakly and she returns a strong, confident smile.

  “You love whom you love honey, not much you can do about that,” she says softly. “Does Adam know you feel this way?”

  I shake my head weakly.

  “Well, then you better go on and tell him,” she encourages me, and my face slowly lights up with a smile. “We’re going to need a plan…”

  We dig into our burgers, discussing how I’m going to get him back, and that night, I’m the happiest I’ve been ever since I left Adam in Chicago.

  20 - ADAM

  It’s another long fucking day, but at least today, I like what I’m doing. I’m sitting in a circle surrounded by kids, passing around different veggies and fruits as we discuss how we can cook them. There’s a huge blackboard behind me and I’m helping my little students spell the names of the vegetables.

  We’re nearing the end of our lesson when my assistant pops her head through the door. She’s a relatively new addition, a wiry woman in her fifties. Her name is Rina, and she’s been a real godsend, helping me get my business off the ground.

  “Adam?” she calls out to me softly, and I raise my head to attention. “You have a visitor.”

  “Can it wait until I finish her?” I ask, and Rina looks over her shoulder nervously, shaking her head like she doesn’t know.

  “Tell them to wait, we’re almost done here,” I reply with a charming smile. I’m not about to cut my lesson short just because someone decided to pay me a visit. After all, these sessions are the only way I can stop thinking about her…

  So I spend the next twenty minutes with the kids, taking my damn time to wrap up the session. They’re just gearing up to leave when a little girl, I think her name is Rosa, approaches me and tugs on my shirtsleeve.

  “Mr. Adam?” she asks shyly and I turn around, giving her an encouraging smile.

  “Yeah, honey, what’s up?”

  She hesitates for a moment before going on. “I was wondering if I could have some of those vegetables you showed me today?” she wants to know.

  I look at the discarded carrots, potatoes, broccoli and other stuff we’ve been using in today’s lesson. I’ve no idea what she’d want them for, but I decide to tread carefully.

  “Sure, you can have some of them, will you be able to carry them?” I ask her worriedly. She gives me a small nod, and I kneel down next to her, looking into her eyes.

  “Why do you need those vegetables, Rosa?”

  She looks at the ground and I can see tears glistening in her eyes as she speaks up again. “Mommy isn’t feeling too good, and her boyfriend is not around, so…I thought I’d bring home some food and help her get better.”

  I just stare at this brave little girl, the request she’s made making my heart thump angrily in my chest. She’s probably hungry to have made such a request.

  “Where’s your mom now?” I ask, trying to keep my tone in check. “Is she waiting for you somewhere close by?”

  She nods shyly, pointing towards the waiting room outside.

  I take Rosa’s hand firmly in my own and lead her outside. Indeed, there’s a woman that looks similar to her in the room, short with dark hair and looking like I’m about to slap her across the cheek. I give her an encouraging smile as I pass her daughter’s hand to her.

  “Hear you’ve been having some trouble?” I ask her softly, and she gives me a doe-in-the-headlights look. I raise my hands, trying to signal that I don’t mean any harm. “I’m not going to get you in more, I promise. I just thought you might want to get a warm meal tonight?”

  The woman gives me a suspicious look. “Why?” she asks, with a heavy accent.

  “Well, she seemed to be especially interested in broccoli, and we have it on the menu today,” I say, flashing both of the ladies
a smile. The mother seems to warm up, realizing I’m really not trying to hurt either of them. Slowly, she gives me a curt nod and I grin at them both, kneeling next to Rosa and taking her hand. I unscrew a pen with my teeth and scribble a number on her little palm.

  “Ask for this guy, Alec. That’s his number right there, if you have any trouble. He’ll get you taken care of. Oh, and try the Veal Parmesan as well. It’s something all right.”

  I give them another warm smile and the mother stares at me hard, before suddenly dropping Rosa’s hand and giving me a long hug. She has to stand on her tiptoes to reach me, being probably half my height…but it fucking warms my heart, and for the first time in months, I feel like maybe it will thaw eventually.

  I wave them off, both with huge smiles on their faces, as they promise they’ll head straight for the restaurant. My heart is still heavy with emotion as I turn towards the reception desk, and then I nearly lose it on the spot.

  Standing proud and tall, in her tallest heels…there’s my beautiful girl.

  It’s Tessa all right, even though she looks different. She’s lost some weight again, and she’s dressed in a business outfit. The biggest change is her face, strong and determined. Such a big fucking change from the broken girl who showed up on my doorstep only a few months ago.

  “Nice thing you did there,” she says in a calm voice, coming towards me. She’s clutching a briefcase and wearing a pencil skirt, her tits straining against the buttons of her shirt. Fuck me, I’m already horny, wanting to make her lie down on my receptionist’s desk and hold her down as she begs for me to fuck her.

  “Tessa,” I growl, coming forward, and stopping only inches away from her. This is harder than I fucking thought. I’d always known I’d have to face her again…but having her so close to me is making my heart ache even worse than when she was in a different country.

  “How can I help you?” I ask her, trying to pretend like I’m keeping it together even though I feel like I’m going to throw her over my shoulder and run out of the door.

  “I’m your 4:30,” she says with a pointed look at the clock. “Seeing as it’s now 5:05, do you think you could steal some time for me?”

  Her eyes are sparkling with mischief, and I find myself nodding robotically as I ask Rina to give us some privacy. The older woman is giving me meaningful looks. She knows all about Tessa, because I spilt all my secrets after a drunken binge at the office.

  Ever the professional.

  Finally, I walk Tessa into my office, making her go in front of me and not even hiding the fact that I’m checking out her amazing ass. I close the door behind us and motion for her to sit down in front of my desk.

  I take my own seat in the new offices, my hands shaking so badly I’m forced to hide them in my lap. This is a strange game we’re playing, and I’m not sure what she’s even doing here, but I’m fucking glad she’s showed up.

  Tessa sits down, crossing her legs, which almost slays me on the spot. She opens her briefcase and produces a thick folder labeled Adam’s Project. She hands it over to me and I give her a questioning look as I take the folder in my hands.

  “It’s something I’ve been working on,” she starts explaining and I cautiously open the thick folder, filled with text. There are typed notes, post-its with Tessa’s crawly handwriting, and even some cutouts from magazines.

  “It’s a project I’ve had in mind for a while now, ever since I first came to Chicago.” Her voice is soft and I let her dream envelop me as I listen to her story, going through the thick pages of her folder.

  “I know you like working with children, and you were only just starting out when I first came here…but I thought you’d love to dedicate more time to it, if only you had a good project to deal with. So I had this idea…”

  My eyes fly upwards in time to see Tess tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear, and that motion alone almost gets me hard. She’s so beautiful, and I’ve missed her so. Fucking. Badly.

  “I thought of all these kids who are eating crap at school, and you’re doing wonders about that,” Tessa said. “But the next step…I thought we could help them in another way, give the kids from impoverished families a way to eat healthy, and make sort of a circle. So the kids with money, their parents would pay for the lunch, and of every dollar spent, half would get invested in a fund for the impoverished families, and it would make a lunch eventually. So you’d have this circle, a helping hand, if you will. You feed two kids at once.”

  I look up at her again, away from the folder she spent so much time on. Her idea is amazing, something I’m jealous I haven’t thought of myself. And she’s so beautiful, glowing with ideas and pride as she presents the project to me.

  “It’s an amazing idea, Tessa,” I tell her softly. “I love it.”

  “I thought you would,” she responds, and I can see the elation my comment leaves on her face. She looks so happy, the best I’ve seen her. Yet there’s a hesitation behind her façade and she gives me a nervous look before she goes on.

  “I have some more ideas as well,” she finally admits. “I thought I could tell you more about them. Do you want to come over to my place tonight? I’ll make dinner.”

  I’m totally shocked by her whole little speech. She has a place here now? And she’s making me dinner? What the hell is going on here?

  But Tessa’s already picking up her stuff, scrawling something on a piece of paper. She slides it over to me as I stare at her in surprise. Her skirt’s riding up a little and I have to hold back so fucking hard, because all I want to do is strip it off her and fuck her right here in my office.

  “Be there at seven,” she says with a smile, and then she struts her stuff out of my office, and I’m left staring at that pert ass like a jackass.

  ***

  At seven P.M. sharp, I find myself standing in front of a small house. The doorbell says ‘Campbell’ and I find myself ringing it, twitching nervously at the shrill sound. It’s almost dark outside, and I’m feeling pretty damn nervous.

  It all stops when the door opens and an inviting fragrance wafts out of it…and there’s my beautiful girl, my gorgeous Tessa. She’s wearing a tight knitted dress that emphasizes her gorgeous body, and heels to match. Over that, she’s wearing a printed apron that says ‘Kiss the chef’.

  Well, don’t mind if I do.

  I flash her a grin and she does the same, stepping aside so I can walk inside the house.

  “Welcome,” she starts chattering. “I’m staying at a friend’s place while she’s out of town. I’m sure you remember her, she used to work at the restaurant. Katelyn?”

  I do remember her. I almost blush – fucking blush – when I remember the crazy night of Katelyn’s birthday party. The girl packed her bags and left a month or so ago, chasing some boy band member or something on a tour. I know Bex mentioned she sent her texts with a pic of her with the guy and then some rather inappropriate sexts with him as well. Better I don’t know.

  As she leads me inside, Tessa explains she’s housesitting for Katelyn, who is supposed to come back in a few days.

  What will you do then, sweet Tessa? I want to ask her, but I hold my tongue, not daring to break this spell we seem to be under.

  She leads me through the living room and into the dining area, where she sits me down at a kitchen table. I give her a strange look.

  “Can’t I sit on the couch?” I ask nervously. What’s going on here?

  “You can’t very well have dinner on the couch, can you?” Tessa asks with mock horror, giving me a winning smile as she disappears inside the kitchen. I’m grinning like an idiot, thankful she left, because there’s a faint smell of something burning in the air and I’m a little worried the place might burn down.

  But I’d be happy to go down in flames with Tessa. What a way to go.

  In a few minutes, she proudly presents me with a meal. It’s pumpkin soup, the kind we made at the restaurant, and it looks damn near perfect. Tessa ladles it into a bowl and sits down
on the opposite end of the table.

  “Sorry if it isn’t perfect,” she says apologetically. “I tried my best.”

  I can’t begin to tell her how much the gesture means to me, so I just give her a curt nod as we start eating. The soup is really good, even though there are some chunks still left in it (and I’m pretty sure there are a few potato peels as well). I brave it and eat them all, and lick my spoon for good measure.

  Tessa’s fucking beaming.

  Next, she presents me with mashed potatoes and steak. Something so simple, but delicious. The steak’s burnt to a crisp, and the potatoes are salty as fuck.

  It’s the best fucking meal of my life.

  “I love this,” I admit quietly, looking into Tessa’s eyes. After our long chattering session and a few laughs, I’m feeling surprisingly serious as I talk to her. “I really appreciate you doing this, Tessa.”

  “Thank you,” she says shyly, not moving her eyes away. And there are the sparks, jumping between us like we’re going to burst into fire at any given moment. The kitchen’s not an issue any more, our bodies are the problem now. “You really like it?”

  I look her right in the eyes and tell her the goddamned truth.

  “Best meal of my life.”

  She beams, and the rest of the world pales in comparison to her smile.

  21 - TESSA

  I’m probably grinning like a fool throughout dinner. Adam keeps stealing glances at me, and it’s making the butterflies dance fiercely in my body. I’m happy. I’m so freaking happy.

  After he compliments me on my horrible cooking, I start to explain the project I’ve imagined in more detail. He seems intrigued by the logistics and the general idea of A Helping Hand, which we agree is a perfect name for the project. He seems genuinely interested, not just because I’m the one who thought of it, but because we both know it’s a damn good idea. It could be good press for the restaurant, too.

  “Well, that’s it, in a nutshell,” I say with a nervous smile, my heart almost bursting out of my chest. It’s because I know we need to talk about other stuff, too…we need to talk about us eventually. I can see Adam looking at me, and I feel so hot and flushed I look at the table instead, mumbling something about doing the dishes.