“How’s Allison doing?” She’d read all about the events that had transpired in Virginia and she couldn’t imagine what Derek’s twin sister must be going through.
He took a long swig from the can before he answered her. “Better. She’s all settled in at Rock’s place, and her town house is on the market. She even went in to work this week for a couple of days. I think she’s going to be fine.”
Brooklyn was glad to hear it. She knew how close Derek and his sister were. Actually, she knew firsthand how close the entire Sherbrooke clan was, and more than once she’d envied him. Her own family was nothing like Derek’s. While her two older sisters were extremely close and got along well with their parents, she’d always been the odd man out. That wasn’t to say they didn’t love her, because in their own way she realized they did. However, none of them understood her or made an effort to. The only two relatives she was close to were her Aunt Felicia and her cousin Cheyenne, her other best friend.
“So what are you doing here tonight?” Brooklyn asked. Part of her wanted more details about what had actually happened down in Alexandria. Every media outlet in the country had covered the story for days, but she knew it didn’t mean they’d gotten all the facts correct. However, she wouldn’t pry. Enough people poked their big noses into Derek and his family’s lives, and because of that, she’d always gone out of her way not to.
Derek gave a little shrug before he dropped down on the couch, his favorite place to sit in her living room. “I stopped upstairs to visit my nephew. Then I decided to see if you were back yet.” Derek’s eldest brother and his wife lived in the penthouse, which occupied the top two floors of the building. Even his second-oldest brother lived in the building now with his fiancée. “Weren’t you due back this morning?”
Her original travel plans had her coming home this morning. She’d changed them the previous Wednesday, unable to take any more quality family time. “I was, but then I changed my mind. It seemed acceptable to leave right after the wedding on Friday afternoon.” She hadn’t even waited for the reception to end. Once the bride and groom had made their exit, she’d headed for the airport herself.
“I’ll have to stop upstairs and congratulate Trent and Addie. How is the baby doing? He was really early wasn’t he?” The birth of Derek’s nephew had lit up the Internet, so even though she’d been in California when it happened, she’d known about it.
“About a month, but he’s doing great,” Derek said, sounding quite proud. She knew he’d been looking forward to the birth of his first niece or nephew. As a general rule, family was important to all the members of the Sherbrooke clan, as she liked to think of them.
“Does he look like your brother or more like Addie?”
“Definitely Trent. There’s no mistaking Kendrick is a Sherbrooke.”
She couldn’t keep from shaking her head. “I still can’t believe he’s married with a baby. He’s the last person I ever saw as a family man. Your cousin, too.”
“Never seen either of them happier.”
“I’m not sure the world is ready for another generation of Sherbrooke men,” she said with a chuckle. “Three in less than a year. Is that some kind of record for your family?”
Derek considered her question. All his cousins were around his age, but Brooklyn didn’t think any were as close as the babies born recently.
“Might be,” he said.
“Do you think anyone else will be adding to the family tree soon?”
He shrugged and took another swig from his soda can. “Don’t think so. Sara’s wedding is this month, but I don’t think she’s ready for children. And Gray and Kiera don’t plan on getting married until next year. But who knows? My family has been full of surprises lately.” Stretching out his long legs, he said, “So how was your sister’s wedding?”
Brooklyn couldn’t contain her eye roll. “It fit Paris and Seth to a tee.” The entire affair had been elaborate and over the top, much like her supermodel older sister.
Derek grimaced, an indication he understood her comment. “That bad, huh?”
“I don’t think you’d call it bad, but not anything I would ever want. Paris looked radiant though. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen her so emotional. It might have been a trick of the light, but I think I saw her shed a few tears as my dad walked her down the aisle. And Seth couldn’t keep his eyes off her. They’re a perfect couple.” She spoke the truth. Paris was the second-oldest daughter of Scarlet Knight, now Scarlet Novak, the supermodel of the late seventies and early eighties. A beautiful model herself, she’d recently started to dabble in acting. Seth Vallencourt was a Hollywood hunk and the son of former actor Cal Vallencourt. Today Cal directed some of the best movies out of Hollywood. It was a match made in heaven.
He broke the tab off his soda can before he spoke again. “And you hated every minute of being out there. That’s why you came home early.”
Derek knew her well.
“What did your family do this time?”
She heard the annoyance in his voice. Her family was not on the top of his favorite people list. And the feeling was mutual. At least it was as far as her dad was concerned. He didn’t care for any of the Sherbrookes, especially Derek’s father. The fact that she and Derek were such good friends irked him to no end. Her mom never said much about their friendship. Then again, she never said much about any of Brooklyn’s friends. Brooklyn considered it a positive thing.
“They were just themselves.” Since she’d graduated college, her mom and sisters had been constantly trying to set her up with men. Men they would never even give the time of day to. Brooklyn suspected they figured, since she wasn’t as drop-dead gorgeous as them, she’d never land a man herself and needed all the help she could get. Even worse than assuming she needed help was insisting she needed an unattractive man since she’d inherited her father’s looks, rather than her mom’s like both Paris and Milan had. No Hollywood hunks for her; at least that’s what she’d surmised, based on the men her family set her up with. Not that she needed a Hollywood heartthrob. She’d rather be with the ugliest man on Earth if they shared similar interests and he treated her well, instead of a self-absorbed jerk who looked hot in jeans. However, her mom and sisters routinely set her up with not only unattractive men, but men who turned out to be creeps as well.
“At least it’s over and you don’t have to worry about them anymore.”
She wished. Her date—no, she wasn’t going to think of it like that—her dinner out with Trevor Jones on Friday proved Derek’s statement wrong.
“It’s good to be home. I’m actually looking forward to going in to the office tomorrow. I did a lot of work while I was away, but it’s not the same. Anything new and exciting happen there while I was gone?” Hale and Associates had hired them both, following their graduation from Harvard.
“Max announced he’s retiring at the end of the summer. Otherwise, same old stuff.”
Brooklyn’s eyes almost rolled onto the floor. “No way. He can’t retire.” Max Hale was the oldest attorney in the firm his grandfather and great-uncle had started ages ago. Despite his ruthlessness in the courtroom, the man was as friendly as a puppy in the office. She’d miss seeing him around every day.
“He keeps insisting the end of August is it for him. I think the heart attack he had in the fall scared him. Maybe it made him realize he isn’t going to live forever and that he needs to start enjoying himself,” Derek said, standing. “I’m starving. Do you mind if I grab something to eat?”
“Help yourself. But there’s not much here right now.”
Derek strolled into the kitchen, and she couldn’t help but watch him. Even when he walked you could detect his confidence. In fact, it all but oozed out of the guy. No doubt about it, he was comfortable and happy in his own skin, and his family accepted him just the way he was. Too bad you couldn’t somehow absorb some of another person’s confidence by simply being around them. Then again, if you could, she’d have oodles of confidence b
y now, considering all the time they’d spent together over the past ten years.
“You weren’t kidding. You don’t have much in there.” He returned carrying an unopened bag of pretzels and another can of cream soda. Sitting, he tore into the bag, offering her some before taking any himself.
“All set.” She’d indulged enough while out in California, something her mom had pointed out more than once. She needed to get back to eating healthy again, which meant more salads and less turkey clubs with extra mayo. “Next time you stop by, the kitchen will be fully stocked again.” It wasn’t unusual for Derek to stop by after work during the week.
He popped a handful of honey wheat pretzels, her favorite kind, in his mouth and chewed before he spoke again. “I have a big favor to ask.”
Okay, he had her absolute attention now. Derek almost never asked for a favor. In fact, she’d known him for a decade and could probably count on one hand the number of times he’d asked her for any type of help. She suspected it was a good thing she was sitting down already.
“I’m all ears.”
Derek cleared his throat. Somehow what he’d considered a fabulous plan a few weeks ago when his aunt sat across from him now didn’t seem so wonderful. What other choice did he have? Backing out on Aunt Marilyn was out of the question. That left him with two options: either he asked Brooklyn for her help or he left things to chance and prayed to every possible god Tasha Marshall didn’t win him at the auction. Of those two choices, begging Brooklyn for her help was the less painful. Although he didn’t suspect he’d have to do much begging. Brooklyn was the nicest, most caring individual he knew. He couldn’t think of a single time he’d seen someone ask her for help and she hadn’t complied.
“You’ve heard about the upcoming bachelor auction the Helping Hands Foundation is holding this month.” He’d seen her name on the list, so it was a stupid question, but it was a good way to ease into the topic and make his request.
Brooklyn nodded as she changed her mind and snagged a handful of pretzels from the bag he held. “Mom bought tickets for all of us. She said something about it being good PR for the agency.”
While Brooklyn’s father was the CEO and President of Dimension Marketing, one of the top marketing firms in New York City, her mom lorded over the top-notch talent agency she’d established once her modeling days officially ended. The talent agency, which represented some of the biggest names in movies and modeling, was only a tiny piece of Scarlet Novak’s empire. She also had a whole clothing line, as well as a line of makeup and beauty products.
“Milan is looking forward to it. I know, big surprise,” she said, referring to her oldest sister. The one he’d always liked the least. While there was no denying the woman was beautiful, she had a nasty side to her. “Paris too, but only so she can gloat about her recent marriage to Seth, I think.”
As always, it amazed him how different Brooklyn was from her two sisters.
“Anyway, what about it?”
He took another swig from his cream soda, grateful she always kept several cans on hand. He knew she did it for him. She hated the stuff. Actually, she rarely drank any soda. “Aunt Marilyn roped me in to participating.”
Brooklyn’s eyebrows all but touched her hairline, and her eyes got as big as dinner plates. “Stop. It. She did not.”
He still couldn’t believe he’d agreed either, so his friend’s astonishment made sense. “She did. She nabbed my cousin Scott too, which was inevitable. And that’s why I need your help.”
She grew serious as she reached for more pretzels, but pulled back at the last minute and folded her hands together. “Yeah, sure, of course. But what do you need my help with? Do you need someone to dress you or something?” Her lips inched up into a smile. “I’m sure you could find plenty of other women to volunteer for the job.”
Most nights he’d appreciate her humor and would even have a great comeback. “I need you….” Man, he hadn’t expected this to be so hard. “I….” He stopped again. What if she’d planned to bid on someone else during the auction? There were a lot of men participating. He gave himself a mental shake. Brooklyn wouldn’t participate in such an event. She was only going because her mom had purchased her a ticket. With the unpleasant thought pushed aside, he returned to his original purpose. “I was hoping you’d bid and win the romantic dates with me.”
“Excuse me?” Brooklyn asked, her voice several octaves higher than normal.
“There are some guests on the list I’d rather not get saddled with. So I thought you could help me out and bid on me.”
“Ah, Tasha’s on the guest list, isn’t she?”
At least she understood his reluctance. “As well as a few others I’d rather not spend any evenings alone with.”
“Let me make sure I’ve got this right. You want me to win so you don’t have to back out and disappoint your aunt or go out with anyone else who might win.”
“Correct. I’ll give you the money. You don’t actually have to use your own and you can bid as high as you need to. You’d have a blank check, so to speak. The only thing is, my aunt can’t know. It can’t look like we staged everything. I think she’d be furious.” Although he didn’t understand why, because in the end, the foundation would still get the money.
This time when she reached forward, she did pull a handful of pretzels from the bag. Pointing one of them at him, she said, “She’ll find out at some point. Like when we don’t go on the four dates I won with you. The media is going to try to document the heck out of this whole affair, especially when it comes to you and your cousin. They’ll notice when you and I don’t show up at some super romantic places together.” Brooklyn popped her makeshift pointer in her mouth and chewed it. “Besides, everyone in your family knows we’re friends. I don’t think she’ll buy it.”
He’d already considered that and decided not to worry about it, so he focused on her first objection instead. “Who said we wouldn’t go on the dates? And we’d have fun too. Unlike some of the other women who might win me, I enjoy spending time with you.” Odd as it might seem to some, Brooklyn was one of his closest friends despite the fact she was a woman. He couldn’t think of a single topic they hadn’t discussed at some point in their long friendship. He trusted her as much as he did any of his relatives.
She went to push up her glasses, but her finger landed on her nose instead. From the time he’d met her until a year ago, she’d worn glasses. Then about a year ago, she’d given in and had corrective laser eye surgery done. Even so, she still wore a pair of fashion eyeglasses much of the time. When he’d asked why, she’d said people didn’t recognize her without glasses. On the rare occasion, like now, when she didn’t have them on, she often still went through the motion of pushing them up on her nose.
“Anything else and I’d say yes, Derek. You know I would. But this? I don’t know.” She stood and paced a little then sat again. “I hate to deceive your Aunt Marilyn. I like her. Besides, I kind of promised my dad I’d give Trevor Jones a chance. We’re going out to dinner this weekend. How would it look if I go out with him and then bid on you at a bachelor auction?”
Anger flared and he slammed his hand down on the arm of the couch, the auction gone from his thoughts. “Christ, Brooklyn, he’s old enough to be your father.”
“Knock it off. Trevor’s not anywhere near that old. He’s twelve years older than us. Besides, I already gave Dad my word.”
His anger toward her father grew because, even before he asked, he had a fairly good idea of what Donovan Novak was up to. "Jones is still too old for you and divorced with a kid. Why is it so important to your father, anyway?” Derek clenched his teeth to keep from saying something he shouldn’t about her father.
“A couple of reasons. You know Trevor’s grandfather is CEO of Atlantic Coast Marketing, right. Dad’s always wanted to take them over. Combine their marketing power with Dimension’s and they’ll be the biggest marketing firm in the United States. Dad and Trevor’s grandfather, La
wrence, play golf together at the same country club. Lawrence mentioned Trevor’s ready to start dating again and he wants more children. Believe it or not, my parents are itching for a grandchild.” She didn’t sound happy about the plan, but rather resigned. “You can figure out the rest.”
Ah yes, marriage, a time-honored way to merge two companies. Despite being the twenty-first century, it did still happen. Damn her jackass of a father. He had another unmarried daughter Trevor could take for a test drive. In terms of having grandchildren, Brooklyn’s older sister had just gotten married. Shouldn’t the man be expecting Paris to pop out a grandchild soon?
“Why can’t Milan be the sacrificial lamb? She’s a little closer to him in age. Why does it have to be you? And won’t Paris be giving them a grandchild in the near future?”
Brooklyn gave him a “get serious” look. “Paris ruin her perfect figure, heck no. She and Seth are waiting until she hits forty or so to start a family. Even then she’s considering adopting. And as for Milan, come on, she’s a female gigolo. She’d never settle for someone like Trevor.”
The only negative remark he’d ever heard about Trevor Jones was what a boring man he was. A history professor at Brown University, the man preferred to be surrounded with his old books than spend time with others. Derek guessed, as far as negative comments went, being boring wasn’t the worst one. And he agreed, Milan would never settle for someone like Trevor.
However, the fact that in her father’s eyes Brooklyn had to, made him dislike the man even more than he already did. He’d admit Brooklyn didn’t have the drop-dead gorgeous looks that landed women like her sisters on the covers of magazines and on the electronic billboards filling Times Square. Instead, she had the whole “hot curvy librarian” look locked in tight. He’d tried telling her so once. All it had earned him was a punch in the arm and her accusation that he thought her fat. He’d never mentioned it again.
Bidding On The Billionaire (The Sherbrookes of Newport Book 8) Page 2
