The Suite Life (The Family Stone Book 1)

by Brooke St. James

  "That I'm not," I said shyly.

  "You're not what?" he asked.

  "Not sorry."

  "Not sorry for what?"

  "That you did that, kissed me," I said, my voice sounding vulnerable, even to my own ears.

  "In that case," he said.

  Kiss.

  "Just one more, and I promise…"

  Kiss.

  "I'll let you go."

  Kiss.

  "Goodness, Blue," he said, pulling back again. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" He stepped away, and I felt empty.

  I gave him a nod. "Goodnight, Taylor."

  "Goodnight."

  And just like that, he was gone.

  I was left standing there, feeling like my life was a movie. What kind of crazy world was I living in that I just walked into the stairwell and just so happened to meet up with the one guy I really wanted to meet up with?

  Over the years, I had imagined different things like that happening—different, dream-come-true, best-case-scenario moments. But never did they actually happen.

  I stared at the gray wall, wondering how in all of heaven and earth had I just experienced that.

  Blankly, I began walking up the stairs.

  I climbed methodically, stair after stair until I reached the door on the penthouse level.

  I might as well have been floating. My feet felt like they weren't even touching the floor. It vaguely registered that I could have taken the elevator instead of walking all the way up the stairs, but I hadn't been thinking straight. I hardly remembered getting from point A to point B, anyway.

  My dad was sitting at the bar when I walked into the suite. I thought Karen or Nick might be around since they often hung out in my dad's room, but they had already gone to their own rooms.

  "Did you get some exercise?" Dad asked.

  His question made me think of the whole exchange in the stairwell, which in turn, made a huge smile spread across my face. I knew better than to let it happen, but it was uncontrollable. I took off my shoes and bent down to pick them up just to give myself something to do besides smile goofily at my dad.

  "Whatcha smiling at?" Dad asked.

  Thankfully, he was preoccupied with something on his tablet, so he wasn't that interested and was just asking to be nice. He was staring mostly at the device as he glanced at me from over his reading glasses.

  It was because of his preoccupation that I got by with saying, "Nothing," and he believed me.

  "You know where the remote is, if you want to stay out here and watch some TV," he said. "I can turn the stereo off."

  I shook my head at him when he glanced at me again. "Thanks, but I think I'm gonna go to my room," I said. "I'll probably read and stuff.

  "If you talk to your mom, tell her I said 'hi'."

  "I will," I promised.

  "Hey, Blue-Bug."

  "Yeah?"

  "You looked beautiful tonight," he said. "And you're smart and funny. I was proud of you over there."

  I wanted to start gushing—stating all my insecurities about different moments of the night and asking what he thought Taylor thought of me. But I didn't. "Thank you," I said.

  "Really," he said. "Mitch and Rhonda are both really smart, and obviously so is that kid, Taylor, too, and you were just right in there with them. Saying stuff your old man didn't even understand. I don't think I tell you enough, but I'm proud of all the things you know. You're a good girl."

  I tilted my head to the side. "Aw, thanks, Dad. I was second guessing everything that came out of my mouth tonight. I know they're smart. I got nervous around them."

  "You didn't used to get nervous around them," Dad said.

  I shrugged. "I did tonight," I said. I lifted up my arm, sniffing and feeling thankful that it still smelled like deodorant. "I was sweating."

  "I don't think it was Mitch and Rhonda making you sweat," Dad said, grinning.

  I rolled my eyes at him, but another smile crept onto my face because the thought of Taylor instantly brought to mind the things that had just happened.

  "See?" he said. "Look at you, grinning."

  "I'm laughing at you," I lied, turning to walk to my room.

  "I love you," he called.

  "Love you too!" I yelled back. "See you in the morning."

  "Hey, we're leaving at nine-thirty, so whatever time you need to set an alarm…"

  Chapter 10

  I had a difficult time falling asleep that night. I didn't drift off until after 2am, so 8:30 came really early. I wasn't necessarily a morning person, and my body was still moving slow from the traveling hoopla I had endured the day before.

  I was out-of-it and stiff-feeling until the events of the evening before flashed through my mind.

  Dinner at Mitch's, and then back at the hotel.

  The staircase.

  The goodness-gracious-glorious staircase.

  I squeezed my eyes shut and curled into a ball when I remembered everything. I wanted to squeal. It normally took me about twenty minutes to get out of bed every morning, but that wasn't the case today.

  I sat up right away, hanging my feet off the side of the bed.

  I dug in my bags for a very specific outfit. It was my new favorite thing to wear. A simple but sophisticated black romper. The pants were full and the top was short-sleeved with a double-breasted, buttoned front. I got it off the rack at a store in Chicago last year, but it looked like it was made for me. It was just one of those outfits that fit my body right. It made me feel comfortable and confident. It was made of thick fabric, and when paired with a little denim jacket, was perfect for a fall football game in New England.

  I freshened up my hair by adding a few curls with a large-barrel curling iron, and I pinned it back on one side like it had been the night before, only this time I didn’t put a flower there. I had a small clip with some crystal gemstones attached to the end. They were all shades of blue, and it matched my denim jacket, so I carefully pinned it in the place above my ear.

  I was somewhat of a girlie-girl (otherwise I wouldn't have had these types of accessories) but I normally didn't pay this much attention to detail where my appearance was concerned. I was flat-out trying to look my best for Taylor. There was no other way to describe what I was doing.

  I ate a few bites of breakfast in the kitchen with my dad, Karen, and Nick, but I knew there would be plenty of food at the field, so I didn't stuff myself. I was too nervous to eat much, anyway. I was preoccupied with wondering if I'd see Taylor in the lobby.

  I had this whole scenario worked up in my mind where we would run into him and he would remember everything that happened last night and would not be able to resist coming to the field with us. I figured if a dream-scenario happened to me in the stairwell the night before, it was worth hoping that it might happen again that morning.

  It did not happen. Taylor was nowhere in sight when we went to the lobby. Karen and I went downstairs a couple of minutes before my dad and Nick. She had something to take care of at the front desk, and I volunteered to go with her, thus giving myself a better chance of running into Taylor.

  Karen and I went through the lobby and to the desk, but he wasn't there.

  I glanced into the café, but he wasn’t there either.

  I couldn’t help but feel disappointed. I knew he was aware of what time we were leaving, so I hoped he would make an effort to see me.

  Maybe I was feeling something more than he was, but after everything that happened between us the night before, I really thought he would've been down here.

  I stood with Karen at the desk for a minute, but soon, I caught sight of Josh and I headed in his direction. He began walking toward me as soon as he saw me coming.

  "Well, you look like you're all rested up," he said with a smile.

  "Much better than yesterday morning," I said. I glanced at my watch and slapped a hand to my forehead. "Was that just yesterday?" I asked. "It doesn't even sound right coming out of my mouth. Seems like days ago."

&n
bsp; "It was indeed yesterday," Josh said. He pulled back, smiling at me with a teasing grin as he nudged his chin my way. "I heard Taylor Patterson went with you and your dad to dinner." He spoke quietly, looking around as if making sure nobody overheard.

  "How'd you hear that?" I asked. "You weren't even working when we left."

  He let out a little laugh. "News travels fast around here. Especially when every woman on staff wants to go out with him."

  "Who? Taylor? Who wants to go out with him?" I tried to sound casual in spite of the fact that my heart was racing. My blood pressure was through the roof, I could feel it. We were standing close enough to the door that I gave silent thanks for the cool draft that came in when it opened. I smiled at Garret, who was cause of the draft and was now walking by with a hotel guest.

  "I can't say as I blame them," Josh said.

  I shot him a questioning glance.

  "Taylor. I can't say I blame all the ladies for trying to talk to him."

  He shrugged. "As far as I'm concerned, if I was a girl, I'd want to date him, too. He's, hands-down, the best boss we've ever had. He's real, you know. He's only been here two or three days, and he treats us all like we're his family." Josh looked around again, making sure no one could hear him. "He called me into his office and gave me money out of his own pocket." He paused and stared absentmindedly. "It couldn’t have been better timing, either. I'm not struggling or anything, but my mom has some medical stuff going on, and with my little girl starting school and everything, I…" He sighed and shook his head, giving me a sweet, regretful smile. "Either way, I really like the guy, and so does the rest of the staff."

  I nodded. I was having about ten thoughts all at once—wanting to both help Josh and see Taylor were at the forefront of them. I had seen a picture of his little girl—I knew he was a single dad, but I didn't know anything about his mom being sick.

  "He's a good guy," I agreed, not quite knowing what else to say. "He had dinner with us last night." I glanced around, looking for him again. "It was good company," I added.

  "How was the food?"

  "It was good. We ate at Dad's friend's house, but they had a chef make food, so it was like we were at a restaurant. We bowled, too." I added that last part because I knew Josh would get a kick out of the Applegate's having a bowling alley in their house.

  "You bowled?" he asked.

  I nodded. "In their house."

  "They were set up for that?"

  I kept nodding. "Can you believe it? They had two full-size, regulation bowling lanes with the mechanical pin-putter-upper and everything."

  "They even had the pin-putter-upper?" Josh asked, smiling as he made fun of me.

  "Yep, they did."

  "I'm not asking you to tell me what capacity you went out with Mr. Patterson last night… whether it was a date, or just business or whatever, but I will say, for what it's worth, that he would be a lucky guy. If you two ever did, you know… he would be the one getting the catch, Miss Blue."

  Josh's words sounded so sweet, humble and sincere that I tilted my head at him. "You are seriously the best, Josh."

  I glanced back to find that Dad and Nick had already met up with Karen in the lobby and they were headed our way. Josh reached out to grab the door handle to let us all out.

  "Josh is the best," my dad agreed, hearing me say that as they approached. "He walked over to Joe's to get me a hamburger for lunch yesterday. Thank you for doing that, by the way," my dad added, talking directly to Josh. "Someone else brought it up, so I didn't get to thank you personally, but they told me it was you who went and got it."

  "My pleasure," he said. "I enjoyed the walk. Besides, the people at Joe's treated me like a king because they knew that burger was for you. I'd been in there ten times before, and they never smiled at me and talked to me like they did yesterday. I might have to tell 'em it's for you every time."

  We all laughed at Josh's statement as we made our way onto the driveway.

  Within a minute, we had said goodbye to Josh, greeted Harry, and gotten into the limo.

  "I think you should really give him a good tip," I said to my dad once we were settled in our seats.

  "I always leave good gratuity," Dad said. "I think they all split it up."

  "Yeah, but this time I think you should leave a big tip—and specifically to him."

  "Who?"

  "Josh," I said.

  "I thought, after last night, you would tell me I should tip Taylor."

  I squinted playfully at my dad, and my cheeks turned pink at the fact that he said 'after last night'. I had to remind myself that my dad knew nothing of the stairwell and was just referring to our time at dinner.

  "Not Taylor. Josh," I said. "Taylor doesn't need money."

  "And Josh does?" Dad asked, wondering what I knew that he didn't.

  "I would just like to see to it that he got a nice tip, that's all. I don't mind paying for it. I just don't think he'd take it from me if I tried to hand it to him. Maybe if you add it to the room, he could just get it when we're gone. I don’t want him to know it's from me, so I'd rather do it that way." I looked at Karen. "Could you do that for me, please? Just put it on Dad's room for now, and I'll give him cash when we get home?"

  "I'll pay for it," Dad said. "I don't mind. I like the guy. How much?"

  "A thousand," I said.

  Without flinching, Dad nodded and then he looked at Karen with a nod, giving her the okay to go ahead and take care of it. "Just tell him it was for getting me that burger," Dad said.

  Karen laughed. "That's one expensive burger. Hope it tasted good."

  "Tasted like making somebody's day, which is better than a burger." He winked at me.

  I knew it was more than he expected. He probably thought I would say a couple hundred. He was rich, but he didn't just throw money around left and right.

  "Thank you," I said. I worried for a minute that Josh would take it the wrong way or be embarrassed or offended, and I considered asking dad to make it a hundred dollars instead of a thousand.

  I held my tongue, though, knowing I could always change my mind later. I wanted Josh to have the thousand. I was happy we were able to do that for him—with the medical expenses and school starting and everything. I could imagine his smiling face, and I felt honored and thankful to be able to take a little weight off his shoulders.

  "Josh said everybody at the hotel really likes Taylor," I said since my thoughts inevitably turned that direction.

  Dad laughed, making me wrinkle my nose at him. "Now it comes out why you want to tip him so big," he said. "He speaks highly of your man."

  "Taylor's not my man, and even if he was, I… that's not why… that has nothing to do with…" I paused taking a slow, deep breath before continuing. "He's not my man," I said calmly.

  Dad just shook his head wearing a half-smile and staring at me like he was analyzing what he saw. "I have never seen you like this," he said.

  "Me neither," Nick chimed in.

  I looked at Nick, but he stared straight ahead, pretending not to notice me.

  "I like Taylor," Karen said. "I think he's nice."

  "He is nice," Dad said.

  "He has to be," Nick said. "Because you normally don't want Blue dating anybody."

  Dad shrugged. "Well, if she's gonna date someone, she could do a lot worse than this guy, Taylor."

  Karen turned to look at me with a disbelieving expression, wide-eyed like she was really impressed.

  "What?" I asked, since she was staring straight at me.

  "Your father," she said. "He must really love this guy if he's saying 'you could do worse'. That's basically a marriage proposal coming from him."

  I laughed. "Everybody loves him," I said, thinking about what Josh had told me.

  "Including you?" Karen asked.

  I shrugged, trying to act casual.

  I didn't want to let on too much.

  I was having doubts about Taylor feeling anything toward me since he hadn't been in
the lobby when we left.

  "He's nice, if that's what you mean," I said. I shrugged. "He's a cool guy. There's nothing not to like."

  Chapter 11

  The morning passed quickly.

  We ate an early lunch with the team's general manager and some of the other members of their organization before finding our places in the suite where we would watch the game.

  The suite had twenty or so stadium seats that were in the open air and looked out at the game. They were roomy and padded, and we were on our own level, blocked off in such a way where we didn't encounter anyone who wasn't also in a suite. It was definitely the high-roller's version of stadium life. Attached to the stadium seats, on the other side of a glass door, was a private living area with a huge kitchen and living room with couches. There were several TV's throughout the room, all of which were broadcasting the game.

  The televisions were currently tuned to the pre-game show, which had a little clock counting down to kick-off time. There was only eight minutes until game time, so I knew my dad would be singing the anthem soon.

  I hadn't asked anybody about Taylor's whereabouts, but I knew he had been given a pass to come to our suite. My dad had invited several other people as well (Mitch and Rhonda among a few other people he knew through music).

  Nick was down on the field with my dad, but everyone else was in the suite with Karen and me. Everyone was hanging out and talking, eating and drinking, and waiting for the game to begin. I didn't obsess about wondering where Taylor was, but it was a thought that crossed my mind on a fairly regular basis. The closer it got to game time, the more I started to doubt that he was coming at all.

  And then, there he was.

  I was on the far side of the kitchen, looking out of the glass windows that overlooked the field when I spotted him.

  I had been looking for my dad at the time.

  I knew where Dad would be standing in preparation to go onto the field and sing. I had been down there with him a few times myself. I expected to see my dad and Nick along with a few other Patriots staff members as usual, but there was someone else there, too. Taylor was on the field with my father and his crew. I couldn't see them perfectly, but I knew it was him.