ROMANCE: Mason (Bad Boy Alpha Male Stepbrother Romance Boxset) (New Adult Contemporary Stepbrother Romance Collection) (264 page)

Jeffrey put his hands in his pockets, peering around at their new surroundings as Stephanie hung her helmet on the handle bars, wordlessly taking his and doing the same, for which Jeffrey gave a nod of appreciation.

“So where are we?” he asked, “Or is knowing going to ruin the surprise too?”

Stephanie smiled, grabbing the sleeve of his jacket and leading him over to the railing at the edge of the hill.

“I call it my secret spot; it’s nothing too special, just my mom and dad would take me up here when I was a little girl and we’d have a picnic and watch the stars or go camping some summers. When they split up, things got really messy, and I would come here to get away from it all and just relax.”

Jeffrey hummed sympathetically, peering over the crest of the hill and looking out at the city down below. “I didn’t know all that about your parents’ divorce; to be honest, I didn’t know anything about it really.”

Stephanie shrugged, “Yeah well, my mom doesn’t really talk about it, and it’s not really polite dinner conversation when you’re trying to start a relationship with someone else.”

Jeffrey glanced at her out of the corner of his eyes, “Do you want to talk about it?”

Stephanie shrugged, shifting her weight as she chewed her bottom lip, somewhat uncomfortable with Jeffrey’s offer to listen. She was used to cocky and arrogant Jeffrey, and even flirty and show-offy Jeffrey, but she didn’t quite know how to deal with sincere Jeffrey. “Thank you, but I think I’m okay. It was just, messy. Things got personal, and they dueled it out in court and took no prisoners. It was just not a good time for us.”

Stephanie shivered a bit. It hadn’t been cold earlier in the evening but now it was getting a bit windy, and her strapless dress was less than warm. Wordlessly, Jeffrey took off his jacket and placed it around her shoulders.

She smiled at the surprisingly sweet gesture. She hadn’t thought Jeffrey was the type of person to offer a girl his jacket. And yet he had.

“Thank you,” she said quietly, putting her arms through the sleeves and pulling it closer around herself.

Jeffrey shrugged, “Don’t worry about it.”

They were quiet for a long moment before Jeffrey finally spoke again. “I guess I lucked out, as horrible as that sounds,” Jeffrey said, tightening his grip on the rails. “My parents didn’t have a messy divorce or anything like that; I know how much they loved each other, always.”

“Then why’d they split?” Stephanie asked, curious; her mother had never told her why Joseph and his ex-wife had divorced.

“They didn’t,” Jeffrey said, not meeting her eyes. “Five years ago my mom passed away. I didn’t think my dad would ever be the same, but, your mom makes him happy, really happy. I hadn’t seen him smile in years before your mother came along. She’s changed everything.”

Stephanie smiled, “Yeah well, you’re dad’s done the same. My mom’s a stubborn one-”

“Well at least we know where you get it from.”

Stephanie smirked, “Before meeting your dad she swore off relationships, swore she’d never remarry, and then your dad waltzes into her life and for once she lets someone change her mind. Joseph did the impossible. In twenty-two years of living with her, I’ve never seen anyone get her to change her mind from something she was certain of. I thought at first she had been drugged; I had half a mind to take her to the hospital and get her checked out when she told me she liked someone. It was like seeing pigs fly.”

Jeffrey chuckled, shaking his head. “Well, she certainly can convince other people of things. She made my dad do a week long juice cleanse, and he’s the most carnivorous person I know.”

“So, what do you think is going on at the fundraiser in our absence?” Stephanie asked, changing the subject.

“Probably playing cat videos or something. I’m pretty sure they’re giving out gift bags of cat toys when it’s over.”

“Aww,” Stephanie cooed, “It almost makes me wish that I had a cat.”

Jeffrey turned to face her, leaning back against the railing as he smiled. “Well, maybe they’ll give out some of those too. God knows everyone in that room could afford to take care of them. Heck, each one of them could probably buy their own chain of pet stores.”

“Well, it’s not like they spend their money on anything better,” Stephanie said bitterly. “Honestly, I don’t know how you can stand being around those people. They walk around oblivious to the rest of the world. I don’t think some of them even know the definition of the word poverty; it’s sickening.”

Jeffrey shrugged, “They’re not all that bad.”

Stephanie scoffed, “Of course you’d say that.”

“What’s that’s supposed to mean?”

She looked at him incredulously. “You’re one of them, almost as bad as the rest of them. You walk around like you’re too cool for the rest of us, have no respect for rules, and can break as many as you want because your name alone lets you get away with anything but murder. You date and then toss girls as often as you change socks, and, while you might not be quite as eccentric as some of them, you’re by no means a saint among the rich.”

Jeffrey rolled his eyes “Oh come on Miss Princess, you’re making me sound like such a villain and you don’t even know me.”

“I know enough.”

“You know what you think, it’s just a bunch of generalizations; if you actually made an effort to have some below-surface-level conversation with me, you’d see that.”

“Oh so it’s my doing?” Stephanie challenged. “Right, and you’re honestly saying the way you present yourself, flaunt your new things at everyone, and act completely self-absorbed has nothing to do with my opinion?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Okay, how about the newest girl you introduce us to every week with a new pair of boobs you helped buy that always shows off the latest three hundred dollar hand bag you buy her before you dump her and move on to the next, repeating the process at least five times a month.”

“First of all,” Jeffrey began, affronted, “I have never paid for anyone’s boob job. I buy my dates gifts occasionally, but usually at their behest. And for the most part they dump me-”

“I wonder why,” Stephanie muttered.

“Well, when they keep asking me to buy clothes, jewelry, limos every day and I say no, they dump me and move on to one of my supposed friends. Believe it or not but I’ve never actually broken up with someone. Now, if I could date someone and actually see where a relationship goes for longer than a week when a woman realizes that I’m not a walking bank, than maybe things will be different.”

Stephanie was silent for a moment, a bit humbled by his words but unwilling to give up the argument due to her inherited stubbornness.

“Fine, perhaps I’m wrong on your dating history, but it doesn’t change the fact that you’re still a bit of a cocky asshole,” she paused for a moment, “no offense.”

Jeffrey smirked, “I thought chicks dig that.”

She rolled her eyes, “Well then you’ve obviously been watching too many made-for-TV movies. I hate to break it to you, but the fastest way to someone’s heart is romance, not arrogance.”

“Duly noted,” Jeffrey hummed, “but you know, for all your grandstanding and bravado against me, I think it’s all nothing more than a ruse to hide your secret.”

“And what secret would that be?” Stephanie asked, also leaning back against the railing to look at him more fully.

“That you like me.”

“Excuse m-”

“No, no, no sweetheart,” Jeffrey smirked, “don’t argue; it’ll only prove my point. Let’s just enjoy the moment for now; we can explore this later,” he said sweetly, taking the keys gently from her hand and beginning a jaunty walk back to the motorbike.

“I hope you know that that’s the most absurd and utterly ridiculous thing that I’ve ever heard,” Stephanie said, flabbergasted, as she followed behind him.

He hummed at her response, “Like I said babe, you’re just proving my point.”

Stephanie’s eyes narrowed as he sat on the front of the bike, extending a helmet out to her for her to take and patting the space on the seat of the bike behind him in an invitation to sit.

Reluctantly, she took it, putting it on and hiking up her dress to take a seat on the back.

“Now don’t worry,” Jeffrey shouted over the roar of the bike as he started it, “it’s only natural to want to feel my abs; trust me they’re amazing. I assure you, I won’t mind.”

Stephanie slapped Jeffrey’s shoulder, only succeeding in making him laugh as he took off, headed back to the hotel.

-x-x-x-

“Where have you been?” Stephanie’s mom hissed as Stephanie and Jeffrey approached the hotel’s entrance.

The stream of people leaving the hotel was thinning, meaning that the fundraiser had finished at least an hour ago, and Joseph and Stephanie's mother were standing on the steps thanking all the people who had attended and wishing them farewell as they left.

“Oh, just, out,” Stephanie said, wincing at her mother’s look.

“Out where?” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Oh, so the scoundrels return at last,” Joseph said, turning from the couple he had just been speaking to in order to join their conversation. “And what is my son’s excuse this time Dianne? The sky was falling?”

Stephanie’s mom smiled, leaning into her new husband. “I haven’t had the chance to ask him yet, right now I’m focused on grilling this one. She’s more likely to talk.”

“Ah, the weakling of the pair,” Joseph smiled, rubbing Dianne’s shoulder and visibly making her relax just a bit. “So, shall we do good cop, bad cop? I always love it when you’re the bad cop.”

Dianne giggled, pecking Joseph on the cheek and seemingly forgetting her previous anger at her hooky-playing daughter.

“Dad, it’s late, how about I drive Stephanie back to her apartment and we’ll see you for our scheduled brunch in the morning?” Jeffrey asked, thankfully giving Stephanie a way out of the increasingly growing uncomfortableness of the conversation.

Joseph looked up from something assuredly naughty that Dianne had been whispering in his ear and nodded absentmindedly. “Yes, yes of course, sounds good son. In the morning. . .”

Stephanie held in a laugh as Joseph trailed off, clearly losing his train of thought as he glanced back down at Dianne.

“Alright let’s go,” Jeffrey whispered conspiratorially in Stephanie’s ear, grabbing her hand and quickly leading her back over to the motorcycle. “I’m glad they found each other; before your mom, I would have got my ear chewed off. The wonders of love.”

Stephanie laughed, “Yes, the wonder of love indeed.”

-x-x-x-

Stephanie didn’t know what to think about the night’s events when she got back to her apartment. They had kept their petty arguments up on the way to her apartment, but instead of Jeffrey making her mad as she had expected, she had found herself smiling in spite of herself.

When they had reached her apartment, he insisted on walking her to her door, for her ‘protection’ as he had said, despite that her mom had had Joseph check to make sure the apartment had the utmost security, and gave her a hug she had not been expecting when she unlocked her door. Before she could fully comprehend what had just happened, Jeffrey was already halfway down the hallway, whistling as he walked.

And so she had walked back into her apartment somewhat in a daze, closing and locking the door quietly behind her before putting her back to it and leaning against it. She had no idea why, but she couldn’t stop smiling.

Annoyed with herself, and convinced that it must have been the champagne from earlier, she walked to her room to change. She was usually what she liked to consider very ‘in control’ of her emotions. Except when it came to Jeffrey. He could always bring out the extremes in her whether it be anger or annoyance or just plain frustration. And now, he was bringing out some other emotion that she couldn’t quite put her finger on. It unnerved her.

She quickly removed her dress and changed into her favorite pair of silk pajamas that never failed to improve her mood before getting in bed, intent on watching some bad television to get her mind off of things.

Just as she was getting settled in the bed, she looked over at the floor by her bedroom door where she had left her clothes, only to see Jeffrey’s jacket laying innocently on top of her dress. She usually discarded her clothes on the floor when it was late at night only to put them up in the morning without a second thought. The jacket, however, was not her ordinary clothing. It bothered her, sitting there on her floor across the room, and she didn’t know why.

She shook her head, trying in vain for the next ten minutes to focus on the TV until she could no longer do it anymore. With a heavy sigh she reluctantly stood up, walking over to her doorway and collecting the jacket. She held it up distastefully in front of her face, peering at it in an attempt to determine why it interested her so much. It was just a normal, ordinary leather jacket. There was nothing extraordinary about it. Well, except for the exorbitant price Jeffrey had surely paid for the fine, tailored material. But other than that, there was nothing particularly intriguing about it to interest her.

Stephanie sniffed the jacket, hoping for some more information and was immediately overwhelmed by the scent of Jeffrey’s cologne mixed with his own unique, natural scent. It smelled of fresh cut grass, vanilla and lavender. Surprising. Stephanie had half expected it to smell like musk, champagne and skanky perfume from his previous girlfriends. She frowned at the thought of them. And then frowned at the thought of why she was frowning at the thought of them. She had no reason to be jealous; Jeffrey was in one of his rare periods of being single. And besides, even if he had been in a relationship, she would still have no reason to be jealous; she didn’t like him. Most of the time she could barely stand him.