All the Wrong Reasons: When something so wrong can feel so right! (Destiny's Games Book 1)

by Jerilee Kaye

  “Excuse me?” The guy blinked back at him. “Sir, what is that?”

  “The coffee? Hello?” the guy said looking at the waiter as if he thought he was stupid.

  The waiter stared at the guy blankly, clearly having no idea what he meant.

  “Are you stu…”

  “O-kay!” Adrienne interrupted, before the guy could actually continue what he was about to say. “I think he meant macchiato.”

  “Yeah, that’s what I said. You deaf or something?” the guy asked the waiter.

  The waiter bit his lip to prevent himself from either snapping back or laughing his ass off at this imbecile in front of them.

  “Right away,” he said and gave Adrienne a thankful smile.

  “In your dreams, peasant,” the guy in front of her said under his breath after seeing the waiter smile at Adrienne.

  “Excuse me?” Adrienne turned back at the guy. “Who are you?”

  “You don’t know me?” he asked and he looked genuinely offended that she didn’t recognize him. “Really? Where have you been?”

  Adrienne stared at him blankly. No! She didn’t know him and she wished she hadn’t even laid eyes on him today.

  “I’m… I’m sorry. I… I was confined in a mental institution for the last ten years. I really have no idea who you are,” Adrienne said in her most innocent voice.

  He grinned at her. “Justin.”

  “What?” Adrienne blinked back. The name still makes her heart beat a thousand times faster.

  “My name is Justin. I’m Christine’s son. My mother said I should meet her friend Ariana’s daughter, Andy. Are you the daughter? Because I know the Starcks. And…well…you don’t look half as posh as your brother.”

  Seriously? His name is also Justin? God, kill me now!

  Bile rose to Adrienne’s throat and she balled her hands in front of her. She would have hit the guy and she bet the waiter and the other patrons around them would love to help her gang up on this asshole. But she cannot embarrass her mother.

  “Okay. It’s nice to meet you, Justin, and now I must go.” She started to stand up.

  But she felt a hand on her wrist, grasping it tightly.

  “Sit down, will you?” he asked in a low firm voice that Adrienne actually scared her a little.

  She sat back on her seat and stared at the guy crossly.

  “You know, Andy…a lot of girls would die to be in your shoes right now. Having coffee with me.” He didn’t even get her name right, but Adrienne felt irritated enough with him, she didn’t bother correcting him.

  Adrienne closed her eyes for a second. She didn’t remember why she allowed him to stop her from getting up on her feet and leaving him.

  “But my mother begged me to meet you. Get to know you. Make you head over heels in love, if I didn’t make you fall in love at first sight. She and your mother are hoping we’re a perfect match, you know.”

  “Oh my God! Maybe they’re right! You’re probably the answer to my prayers!” Adrienne said sarcastically.

  The guy grinned. “Oh sweetheart. I think I am.”

  Adrienne groaned. Not only is this guy a total douche, he’s also a moron.

  The waiter reappeared with his macchiato. The way he treated him, she wouldn’t be surprised if the waiter spat in his coffee. She wanted to warn him about it, but she thought, hell! He deserved it! In fact, she wished the waiter did.

  “How did our mothers meet?”

  The guy shrugged. “Old family friends. Then they were roommates in college,” he replied. “Closer than sisters. I think they got it in their heads that they should be family. So they’re hoping we start hooking up.”

  “Seriously?”

  The guy nodded. “You up for it?” he asked and gave her a smoldering look.

  Adrienne resisted the urge to vomit right then and there.

  “I’m sorry…” she said. “But I think…you’re waaay out of my league.” She tried to smile sweetly.

  The guy leaned back on his seat and drank his ‘machito’. When he put his cup down, he had coffee froth all over his mouth that he actually looked like he was sporting a mustache. He didn’t even make an effort to wipe it off. “That’s what I thought,” he said. “I only date models.”

  “Shocking!” Adrienne said under her breath.

  “So, how come I didn’t know about you, Andy? We don’t see you at the Starcks’ events. We knew Ariana had a daughter, but we never saw you before.”

  “I told you, I was in a mental institution, remember?”

  He blinked back at her. “Oh, that wasn’t a joke?” he asked.

  “I don’t have a sense of humor,” she replied flatly.

  She thought that if he really thought she was cuckoo he would tell his mother there is no way in the world they would hook up.

  “Don’t worry. Girls go crazy about me, too.” And he gave her a wink again. Then he stared at her with narrowed eyes, which he probably thought was sexy.

  “Is something wrong with your eyes?” Adrienne asked.

  “Why?” He sounded like he was panicking. “Are they still red? Damn those Visines!” he said.

  “Visine?” Adrienne echoed. “You meant to tell me your eyes were red before you came to meet me? What? Are you on drugs?”

  He laughed. “No. I don’t really consider pot drugs. Duh!”

  Pot? Is he serious?

  Adrienne was interrupted by the ring of her phone. It was her mother.

  “Mama.”

  “Hey, sweetheart,” she said. “So, have you met Justin?”

  “Hmmm…” she simply said.

  “Isn’t he wonderful? I swear if I was only your age…”

  “Mama, I thought Pierre was the love of your life.”

  “Of course, he is!” Her mother laughed. “But I was just saying that Justin is a dreamboat!”

  “Yeah…he is…out of this world.” She didn’t want to be rude in front of this moron.

  “Treat him well. He’s my oldest friend’s son. He’s a very nice guy once you really get to know him. I think the two of you could really become good friends.”

  “You don’t say.” Adrienne tried to put a smile on her voice.

  “Talk to you later.”

  “Thanks, Mom.”

  She turned back to Justin, the moron.

  “Okay so my mother asked me to take you out tonight,” Justin said. “What do you say, meet me at Rendezvous bar at nine?”

  “Is that really necessary?”

  He raised a brow at her. “Hey. I don’t like you, either,” he said. “I’d rather be fucking the lingerie model I brought back to my hotel room a while ago. But as it is, it would make our mothers happy to see that we at least tried, right?”

  Of all the things that came out of his mouth, the last sentence was the only thing that made sense to Adrienne. “After tonight, you could tell your mother what you said to me. That I was way out of your league. I’m pretty high maintenance.”

  “Really? High maintenance would be an understatement!” Adrienne rolled her eyes. “Seriously, lady. When my mother said she’d like me to hook up with Ariana’s daughter, an heiress, I was actually expecting the likes of Paris Hilton or I don’t know… Ivanka. You know. Posh. Sophisticated.”

  “And when my mother told me to try to befriend one of her friends’ sons, I was expecting to meet… I don’t know…Peter Parker, maybe. Smart. Funny. Interesting.” Adrienne said, feigning a smile.

  “Oh, lady. I am interesting—I’m just not interested in you.”

  “Oh, thank God! I’m saved!” Adrienne said, rolling her eyes.

  “Yeah, yeah. Nine p.m., Rendezvous. Here’s my business card,” he said and he handed her a card.

  It was black with silver letters on them. Adrienne read it.

  Justin J.

  Making all other men less attractive since 1989.

  Email: justinsex10xaday@gmail.com.

  Adrienne stared back at the guy. “Seriously? You call this a bus
iness card?”

  He winked at her and gave her another smoldering look. This was probably the first time she encountered a guy who has a pickup business card.

  Is this guy for real?

  He stood up. “See you tonight, Andy.” And he went off. The waiter was about to catch him but he was too fast and Adrienne was left on the table openmouthed. The waiter then gave her the bill.

  “He even made you pay for his coffee?” the waiter asked her.

  She sighed. “Terrible. That was the most despicable human being!”

  “Well, some rich brats are like that,” the waiter said. “I am sorry your date was a douche.”

  “He’s not my date. And I am sorry I met him, too.”

  He handed her the bill. “I just need your signature. Mr. Starck will take care of the bill.”

  Adrienne shook her head. “No. It’s not that much. And I don’t want my brother to hunt that guy down and punch all his teeth down his throat.” In her mind, she smiled. Yes. She actually has a sibling who would do that for her now.

  The waiter smiled. “He’d deserve it.”

  Adrienne placed a couple of bills on the folder he gave her. She doubled the bill for his tip. Then she thanked the waiter and went into the Rolls Royce that her stepfather owned.

  She was going to meet up with that douchebag again tonight. And she just couldn’t help panicking about how she would survive another minute with him.

  32. Chiu đuoc.

  To endure in Vietnamese.

  Her mother was ecstatic when she got back.

  “So, how did it go?”

  Adrienne just smiled. She wanted to be honest, but she didn’t really want to quash her mother’s hopes. Yes, her stepmom still had that effect on her that she couldn’t help. She just couldn’t stop pleasing people.

  “It’s…interesting. I haven’t met a guy like Justin before.” She tried to sound enthusiastic. But it is true. That guy was one of a kind.

  Her mother’s eyes widened. “Oh, sweetheart, I know. He is adorable. His parents are so proud of him. Handsome lad, too. I take it you would be having a date tonight again?”

  “Mom, it’s not a date,” she said.

  “But he asked you?” her mother insisted.

  “Well…yeah, but…”

  “Wonderful!” Her mother beamed.

  “Mom…don’t get your hopes up. I said I will try to make new friends. I’m not really up for finding a new boyfriend.”

  “You’ll never know. Justin is one of a kind.”

  Adrienne laughed humorlessly. “I bet he is!” She didn’t mean that in a good way. However, her mother was so pleased, she just couldn’t break her heart too soon.

  “Mom,” she began. “You know…my boyfriend’s name was Justin, too.”

  Her mother looked at her for a minute. Then she said, “Ex-boyfriend. And I’m sorry, sweetheart. I know you still love him. But I really hope you give yourself a chance to meet other guys. If your boyfriend doesn’t come back to you…I don’t want to see you miserable.”

  “I’m giving myself a chance to make new friends, Mom. That’s all I can promise you now.”

  Her mother smiled. “Okay. I think once you spend more time with Christine’s Justin, you two would hit it off quickly. And you will soon forget about your ex-boyfriend, Justin.”

  Seriously doubt it!

  Then she hugged her mom and went to her room.

  She dialed Jin’s number.

  “Hey, how’s my favorite sister doing?”

  “Jin, I’m your only sister,” she reminded him.

  “Oh! You’ll never know if we have extra siblings lying around, you know,” he teased. “So, what’s up?”

  “I think Mom is trying to set me up with one of her friends’ son.”

  “Good luck with that,” he stated. “She tried with me. Epic fail. She’s a romance novelist. She can’t help the match-making thing.”

  “Now, I met one of her friend’s sons. He’s awful!”

  “Really? Why’d you say that?”

  “He’s egoistic and he’s a moron!” Adrienne groaned. “He even insulted me and made me pay for his coffee.”

  “Wow! Douche!”

  “Anyway, I don’t want to break Mom’s heart. I want to show her that I at least tried. I did promise her that I would try to be friends with her friends’ kids.”

  “Okay, is this guy really that despicable you can’t even be friends with him?”

  “You haven’t met him, Jin. You would make him eat his underwear if you did!”

  Jin laughed. “Well, so what are you going to do?”

  “The guy asked me to meet him at Rendezvous.” Adrienne replied. “He wanted to keep up with the appearances that we’re getting along just fine. Or at least we tried, but it didn’t work out.”

  “Why? Is he blind? Wasn’t he a little bit attracted to you?”

  “It doesn’t matter. Because I am not the least bit attracted to him. I’m not looking for romance. My life is complicated enough as it is now. I promised somebody I’d wait for him. And until I’m sure he’s not coming back, I think I’ll take my chances. And apparently, this guy only goes for supermodels and hot heiresses and I didn’t make the cut.”

  “Freaking crazy! Who’s this guy? I would like him to meet my fist!” Jin said crossly. “Seriously, he said that to you?”

  Adrienne sighed. “Yes. But he’s not worth it. I just need to get through tonight and try not to kill myself.”

  “All right. I’ll tell Tara to meet you there so you will have company.”

  “Hey! That’s a great idea. I seriously can’t be alone with that guy.”

  “It’s done, Yen,” Jin said. “Okay, I got to get back to work.”

  “See you later.”

  That night, in spite of hating Justin J, the male whore, Adrienne refused to make him think she didn’t deserve to be called Ariana Blanc’s daughter. So she dressed up in a classy Christian Dior yellow cocktail dress that ended above her knees to show her flawless long legs. She tied her hair in a bun and left some tendrils flowing around her face. She went for a smoky-eyed look. Then she grabbed her new Hermes purse and slipped into a pair of yellow Jimmy Choos.

  She smiled when she stared back at her reflection in the mirror. She looked classy and posh all right. That morning she wasn’t even wearing any makeup. Now, that moron couldn’t bring her down or ridicule her at her family’s expense. But she swore, she would never see him again. Except during family gatherings where he would be on the guest list and on those occasions, she would try her best to ignore him.

  Her mother was more than pleased with her look when she waved goodbye to her and got inside their chauffeur-driven Rolls Royce.

  Tara met her at Rendezvous.

  “Wow!” She beamed. “You look gorgeous!” She kissed her on the cheek.

  They sat on the VIP lounge that has a view of the dance floor. Mac arrived a few minutes later and joined them.

  “Jin told us you have a predicament,” Mac said.

  Adrienne sighed. “Yep. I’m meeting Neanderthal 1-9-8-9 here in a few minutes.”

  “Seriously? Your mother really thought you should be set up? Like hasn’t she seen her daughter yet?” Tara asked.

  “It’s not just about setting me up with guys. She thought she’s trying to help me get over my breakup with my boyfriend and at the same time hooking me up with somebody whose family is dear to her.”

  “You just broke up with your boyfriend?”

  Adrienne nodded. She was again reminded of the fact that she hasn’t heard from Justin in about ten days and she had no idea what he’d been doing. She hoped he was all right and at least his mother was doing fine. She wanted to hope that he’s managing to convince his family to let him go so he could come back to her. Maybe now, when they find out who she really was, they wouldn’t feel so bad about Justin marrying somebody other than his designated fiancée.

  “It’s complicated,” she said. “He was previously
engaged. I didn’t know.”

  “He didn’t tell you?” Tara asked.

  “Like he cheated on his fiancée?” Mac asked.

  “Not really. He was arranged to be married to some girl he hasn’t met yet and then he met me. He didn’t want to marry her anymore.”

  “So, what happened? He still married her?”

  Adrienne shook her head. “No. But I let him go.”

  “Do you love him?”

  Adrienne heaved a sigh. “Yes. In this life, even up to the next life.”

  “Did he let you go?” Tara asked.

  Adrienne shook her head.

  “Then why didn’t you fight for him?”

  “Sometimes, I wonder the same thing,” she admitted. “But his parents disowned him after he chose me. I couldn’t let him go through that. His family seemed too important to him. I can’t compete with that.”

  “I hate it when parents do that,” Tara said. She intertwined her fingers with Mac’s. “Fortunately for you, my father adores you,” she said to him and kissed his cheek.

  They were interrupted by somebody who sat on the empty chair opposite Adrienne.

  “I hate falling in line,” Justin J. said. “Seriously! This place should have like a barcode for people with face value.”

  Tara and Mac stared at Adrienne with raised brows.

  “Yep. Meet N-1-9-8-9,” she said to them.

  “What does the N stand for?” Justin J. asked. “Noteworthy? Naturally hot?” He grinned at Adrienne. She realized that he was no longer wearing those weird electric blue contacts and his eyes were actually gray.

  “Try the French word, nulle!” Tara said, raising a brow at him. “It means crappy in English!”

  Justin looked at her for a second then at Adrienne. “Seriously, who is this chick?”

  “Careful there, chief,” Adrienne said with a warning on her voice. “She actually owns the place and could have you kicked out and banned for life.”

  Tara smiled at him for a second then she switched it to a look of warning.

  Justin dismissed Tara and looked at Adrienne. “Glad to see you dressed up for me, babe,” he said. “You can be pretty hot if you make an effort, you know.”