Romance: Yes, Stepbrother!

by Annie Valentine

  Chapter 2

  Monday morning broke with the chirping of the birds outside her window like a prelude to one of Bob Marley's greatest songs. Sad thing was if she wasn't out of her little cooped up apartment in the next half an hour she was going to be late.

  It was what they called the Monday curse, once you were late on a Monday you were doomed to be late for the rest of the week. And seeing as she had just managed to land her dream job at the couture magazine Shimmer, she was not about to screw it up.

  In twenty minutes she was out the door and in her car trying her best not to break the speed limits as she made her way to the office. Laura greeted her as per usual with a cup of coffee and a huge grin across her face.

  "What are you so please about?" Ashley asked with a raised eyebrow. Laura only ever grinned like that when she was up to no good or had been busy getting it on all night.

  "Nothing," she said sipping on her coffee and winking at Ashley over the top of the cup.

  Yup, it was the latter. While she had been home thinking about her utter hopelessness and lack of action on the acting front, which will likely result in her becoming the cat lady Laura had been pulling some Marvin Gaye type stunts.

  "I hate you," she said to her best friend of more than seventeen years.

  Laura only laughed at her. They got to the worker bees cubicles they called home most of the day. She glared at Laura who desk was right behind hers and tried to ignore the pleased grin on her face.

  "Jackson and Moraz!" Their editor hollered at them. "No lollygagging today, I need those articles!"

  That was the timer for the morning, but the job they had to work on did not make things any easier for her. All these sexy football players were making her long for something more out of life. As they worked on articles profiling the hottest football players in Dallas she was transported back to her high school days when jocks and cheerleaders were always hooking up.

  "Maybe I will become a Dallas cheerleader," she said to Laura over her shoulder

  “Ok, that is an all-time low,” Laura swiveled in her chair to throw a reprimanding glance at the thought of such hopelessness.

  Ashley would not be defeated. “Come on cheerleaders are humans they need some good tender loving too.”

  “Oh yes I agree. You just won’t be one so forget it.”

  Ashley sighed. “Well something has just got to give, because I really do not like cats.” She turned to see Laura grinning at her all over again, the kind of grin that said she had gone and done something that would likely get them both killed or something.

  “Spit it out. Now!” she ordered the same time thinking about where she would get the bail money from for whatever crazy Laura had gone and done. Had it been Ava who was sitting across from her grinning she would have figured they won the lotto or something, but when Laura smiled Hades got a headache.

  “Okay so you have to go. You cannot say no, because I think this guy is exactly what you would like.”

  Ashley knew instantly what that meant. “Nope! No. no, no!”

  “Come on Ash!”

  This time Ashley turned to look her right in the face. “That is exactly what you said the last three times when you sent me out with brain cell killing Duds. I am not interested.”

  “The third time will be the charm,” Laura smiled.

  “You forgot how to count, this will be the fourth time and I am not going.” She turned back to her work.

  “Okay, fine creepy cat lady.”

  Ashley chuckled. “Okay, what’s so nice about this guy and if he is so good why don’t you date him?”

  “I am otherwise occupied at the moment and I think he is more your speed. So are you going to go?”

  She had to think about it for a moment. She wanted to, but she was not interested in wasting her time yet again. Then again this was dating and though she was okay being single she didn’t plan to remain that way until she was old and grey. Maybe his time would be different, if it wasn’t then she was going to make Laura pay.

  “What does he do for a living?” she asked. It wasn’t an overly important question but she just wanted to get a sense of the guy. Depending on the profession you could know if you were signing on for self-absorbed and over- confident, still trying to figure life out or the ever-annoying childish types.

  “Think of this as the ultimate adventure,” Laura said, “He will give you all the answers you crave. Just call him.”

  “Okay great oracle,” Ashley threw at her friend who quickly wrote his number down.

  “All I will tell you is that his name is Ryan. Call him up and be open he might surprise you.”

  She doubted that but she took Laura’s word for it. The rest of her day went by in a bit of a humdrum, she finished her articles and started the following days’ work. The only interruptions were for lunch and the occasional bursts of irrational anxiety every time she saw the post it with Ryan’s number. Ashley had no idea why she was so anxious about meeting him and to be honest she didn’t know whether that was a good or a bad sign.

  Hours later as duck fell over the bustling city, she made her way out the door with Laura at her side.

  “Make sure you call him,” Laura reminded her and she promised she would, despite the annoying gut feeling she had. Though they lived in the same direction, they took separate cabs as Laura had other plan for the night. It was something that drove home the fact that she was going home to nothing but her empty apartment yet again. She had all she had wanted at this point in life. A writing job for a prominent magazine –Shimmer- she had an apartment on the side of town she had always wanted to live, albeit a small apartment but her own nonetheless and she was making a decent salary. The only thing that was missing was someone to share it with and for every night that Laura and Ava were about enjoying their love lives she was reminded of what she lacked.

  Okay fine! I will call him.

  She took her own little time getting around to it, but after a long shower and two hours spent making dinner she ran out of reasons not to make the call of fate.

  When she finally did he picked up on the second ring.

  “Goodnight. Jake here,” he answered and she nearly swooned over herself at the relaxed eloquence of the deep voice on the other end.

  She lost her ability to speak for a moment.

  “Hello?” he questioned.

  “Ahh, hi,” she finally answered knowing she sounded like a complete idiot but unable to do anything about it.

  “Yes? How can I help you?” he asked. She could hear the annoyance in his voice but it was subtle enough to be respectful while being clear that she had better identify herself and her cause quickly or she might be introduced to Mr. Dial Tone.

  “Sorry for calling so late. I got your number from Laura,” she said not sure how to tell him she was the lost cause her friend was trying desperately to save and he was to be her life jacket.

  “Oh yes!” he piped up and she could hear the enthusiasm in his voice that sent relief washing over her. “Ashley is it?” he asked.

  “Yes, that would be me.”

  “It is nice to meet the vocal you,” he said with a little chuckle. “I am sorry she hadn’t given me a number for you so I didn’t know who it was on the line.”

  “Oh okay,” she said unsure of where to go from there. She really was not good at this blind date thing.

  “So I am guessing I must give you a brief synopsis of my repertoire for you to decide whether I am worth meeting or not?” he asked.

  She couldn’t help but smile at that. “That would be nice but for the love of whatever you love, do not recite the same rubbish you might have had on a dating profile.”

  “Damn it!!! There went my game right out the window!”

  She laughed at the sarcasm in his statement and was instantly put to ease.

  “Don’t worry,” he continued, “I feel the same way, so I will tell you this much. I am a gynecologist, native to Maine but I wanted a change of scenery so I move u
p here last August and feel in love with the place. I am mostly a stay in guy, half the time I would rather be in the gym working up a sweat then home watching Netflix or cooking.”

  “You cook?” she asked interrupting his introduction. She had always wanted a man who would put on an apron and charm her through her stomach, but had never met such a man before.

  “Yes! Does that mean you will go out with me now?”

  “Depends on whether or not anyone has yet died from having one of your dishes,” she teased.

  “Well there was the case of explosive diarrhea my grandmother suffered after my casserole, and the hour of vomiting my mother did once she was done tasting my pepper pot soup and my cat up and ran away after I fed him my specially prepared tuna a few days ago, but no, death has yet to visit any of my patrons. So I would say you are safe.”

  “Or I could be the first,” she interjected.

  “Well, you will never know unless you go out with me so how about Friday?”

  She smiled. It was so easy to banter with him and he had not bothered to attempt to kill her with the mundane, so yes, she figured he was worth a shot. Maybe Laura wasn’t such a bad matchmaker after all, but it was early days yet.

  Chapter 3

  She did not speak to Ryan again until Friday morning when he called to double check that they were still on for the date Laura had arranged for them.

  “Yes, we are,” she said smiling and turning to face Laura whose eager ears drooled to be let in on the action.

  “Do you want me to pick you up?” he asked. She was definitely not up for that; he couldn’t know where she lived until she was certain he wasn’t going to go all Ted Bundy or Hannibal on her.

  “No, I will meet you there,” she responded before they agreed on a time and hung up.

  “You are going to love him,” Laura said in an excited squeal rubbing her hands together as she did.

  Ashley went back to her work trying to get ahead of the week she knew she would have coming, but even while she worked her mind kept wandering to the sexy voice of the man she was to spend the nice getting to know. She tried not to be too expectant, that was always like setting herself up to be disappointed.

  At the end of the day, Laura came home with her to help her choose her outfit.

  “What kind of a man is he?” Ashley asked, but Laura drew her fingers across her lips, turned the imaginary key at the corner of her mouth and then tossed it behind her. Ashley knew this was all fun for her and she was not about to let on even the slightest bit of information, she was enjoying the mystery of it all a little too much.

  Two hours later and twelve minutes late, Ashley pulled up outside the famed Cirque du Soleil grounds in the parking spot that had been reserved for her. As she stepped out she felt a pair of eyes on her from across the parking lot and she turned her eyes to the entrance and had her breath stolen away.

  In front of her stood a face she was vaguely familiar with, not because she had met him before, but because she had seen him on TV several times. Her second thought was to hightail it out of there because he was a man that came with the media as a package and she much preferred a discrete lifestyle. But as much as her common sense told her to do that she could no sooner walk away from the gorgeous man with the lean and define arms that waved at her, than she could have walked away from a plate of garlic shrimp, her favorite meal. It was not until then that she realized that she knew him, or at least his face. He was that doctor who wrote some award-winning book about the ecosystem of a woman’s vagina, tips and tricks to get your girl going. She hadn’t yet read the book, but Laura had, and she had been raving about it for days. She pushed that aside for later conversation and instead focused on what she needed to be doing.

  She slowly strode over to him, reminding herself to breath and as he smiled at her, his lips curling away from his teeth in a relaxing warm welcome, she lost herself in the smoky blue eyes that whisked her away from reality. She was already hooked.

  “Hi, I am Ryan. You look gorgeous,” he said as he offered her his hand and they stepped beneath the opening of the tent without need for another word. Laura had spared none of her connections to make this night memorable for them both, and up ahead an escort waited to seat them in the VIP gallery with prime viewing of the action beneath them. Ryan’s walked behind her up the stairs, and when they made it to the landing he splayed a protective five fingers across her back. She could feel the heat of his palm beneath the thin summer shirt she wore and the electricity that sent butterflies flittering in her stomach was undeniable. She knew then and there that there was no way this night was going to end without a follow up.

  “I have never been to something like this before,” she said in awe moments later as they were served glasses of chilled wine while men and women did blood curdling stunts on thin wires in the air.

  “Me either, so it’s a first for us both,” as he spoke he kept his eye on the show and one pant clad leg lightly rested against hers. It was a nice subtle way of telling her he had his attention on her presence but he also wanted to watch the show. A refreshing difference to the other blind dates she had had, who thought they always needed to be talking.

  The only comments they exchanged throughout the show were of mutual admiration or awe for something being show cased and Ashley was smitten. For the first time in a long time she felt like she was having a conversation of great depth without needing to say a single word. The chemistry and clarity of the couple hours was intense an as the show came to an end she felt completely satisfied.

  He took her hand hesitantly as he walked her to her car a few minutes later and opened her door for her before walking around to the passenger side and sliding in.

  “Thanks for actually coming,” he said. “I actually thought that when I hadn’t heard from you all week that you might have changed your mind.”

  Her response was delayed as she was swept up and distracted by his lips, they were pink and perky begging to be kissed. “No, I just didn’t want to seem like I was the clingy type and I know we are both busy people. Thanks for not being a total tool,” she added.

  “Yeah, well that is my Wednesday night persona so Laura picked the perfect day, seeing as she has insider info and all.”

  She chuckled. “How did you meet Laura?”

  “She was covering an award I won a year ago and after calling me a buffoon for not taking the guy down earlier, she did an excellent write up and remained in touch.”

  Yes, Ashley did remember the article come to think of it. It was a feature opinion piece that had won her the ire of his opponent’s management team and a hefty bonus for the attention it had brought. Ashley remember being very happy for her, but whereas Laura’s interest was in sports, politics and all other things controversial. Hers was more along the fashion and travel lines. It was a niche she had carved out for herself at Shimmer and she did well in it.

  “Yes, Laura’s mouth often fires faster than the filter that goes with it,” she finally admitted.

  Ryan laughed, a melodious deep vibration that made her heart palpitate. “Well, at least we know she is honest and that matters most.”

  He did have a very good point, but even as the word left his lips the truth of them faded from her reality. A gust of wind blew in through her window and her unruly curl blew into her eyes. His hand shot up the same time her did to move the worrisome strands back in place, and as their fingers collide she looked at him in surprise. It was an expression he mirrored as if finding it hard to believe that he had done what he had just done. It was a small action, but one that spoke to deeper sentiments not yet expressed.

  His palm rested gently on her cheek and she again felt the heat of him. His presence was a strong masculine eroticism that beckoned her to the darker side of pleasure. He was firm yet not bulky and strong but soft- a mix of perfection. The question written on his face was answered as she couldn’t help but to move her lips towards his as his long fingers slipped hind her head and wound their way thro
ugh the strands at the nape of her neck.

  Stop! You just met him! Her common sense tried to get her to think straight, but there was absolutely nothing sensible about this moment. She moved towards him as their eyes closed in anticipation of the sweet release, but it was not to be.

  Bright lights flashed on both sides of her car, breaking the reverie. Those darn tabloid photographers and their high-speed cameras! By the time she got her car started and the windows up, she knew she would be the subject of a celebrity news cycle come morning.

  “I am so sorry,” Ryan said as the photographers continued to snap pictures on the outside of her dark tinted car. “I should have seen that one coming.”

  “Comes with the turf. They will get tired of it soon, just be prepared for the media storm come morning,” she said. She was annoyed but more over the fact that they had interrupted what was to be a really sensual kiss, and not the pictures they took. She worked for a high profile magazine; she knew exactly how this would be worded for the public.

  They sat in silence for a while longer, fingers interlaced and playing with each other. No words were needed and she felt the kind of ease that was unnatural on a first blind date. She felt like they had known each other all their lives and this was a regular hang out for them. Amazing, she couldn’t wait to tell Laura about it.

  It was a few minutes later before the annoying paparazzi got bored or ran out of film roll and left, when they did she was a tad bit sorry the night was about to end.

  “I should probably let you go now,” he said and it was a statement laced with regret.

  “Dinner tomorrow?” she asked unable to stop herself.

  “Sure, I will cook at my place.” It was an offer she would not refuse and when he kissed her on the cheek and hopped out of her car moment later, she felt a could sweep in at his absence. She ignored it as he made her promise to tell him when she had gotten home. She couldn’t wait to tell Laura how it had gone, and less than an hour later when Laura picked up her call on the first ring, she burst open with joy.