ROMANCE: Mason (Bad Boy Alpha Male Stepbrother Romance Boxset) (New Adult Contemporary Stepbrother Romance Collection) (83 page)

He looked down at his clothes for a moment, wondering if a simple pair of dark-wash jeans and a close-fitting blue V-neck was the appropriate attire for such an event.

Yes, he thought as he looked over as the women all filed in one by one, each in a different version of a short, slinky cocktail dress, he was definitely underdressed.

“Okay everyone,” Karen said, clapping as she did so to get everyone’s attention. “Here’s how tonight’s events will work. As you know, Alpha’s are very busy, so Ethan only has an hour of his time to give you lovely ladies. So, the process will go as follows. It’ll be like a romantic interview of sorts. Ethan, our kind, forgiving,” she emphasized the word forgiving to which Ethan only rolled his eyes, “will sit at the kitchen table, and one by one we will call each of you in to have a seven minute conversation with him, like a mini date. At the end of the mini dates, Ethan will decide who, if anyone, he would like to court, and of course the woman has the option of accepting or declining his proffer of courtship once he asks. Does everyone understand?”

There were nods and murmurs of assent from the women gathered in the home’s entryway and Amanda smiled eagerly.

“Okay,” she said, turning to Ethan and motioning for him to sit at the long, oak kitchen table, which he did reluctantly, “first up, let’s have Courtney.”

Ethan tried to smile politely as a long-legged, spray-tanned, bottle-blonde woman with an overabundance of makeup covering her features approached him, taking a seat opposite of him at the table.

Ruby-red lips spread in a smile, showing off her pearly-white teeth as she shook his hand. Ethan flushed as her dress moved with the motion, giving him a very clear view of what lay underneath.

He looked away out of respect, his eyes meeting her hazel ones.

“So,” he began, unsure of quite what to say in this type of situation, “I’m Ethan.”

Courtney laughed uproariously, as if he had said something utterly hilarious. “Yes, Ethan, I know. I’m Courtney.”

“Well, it’s nice to meet you Courtney,” he said over a strained smile.

“You as well.” She grinned. “So, let’s get down to it shall we?”

“Um, alright?” Ethan said, just a bit puzzled, “Yes, let’s.”

“I am beautiful, obviously, smart, and pretty great in the sack from what I’ve heard. I’ll agree to bear you three pups in the next seven years, more until we get a boy if necessary; I’ll be monogamously faithful and all I require is a $1000 a week allowance.”

“An allowance,” Ethan said slowly, wondering if she were playing some sort of joke on him, “I’m sorry, what?”

“It’s not that unusual really,” Courtney said frankly, all business now, “If I’m renting out my womb to you, an allowance is quite reasonable. In other circumstances I may request more, but you’re quite easy on the eyes so I’ve requested less, since mating with you won’t be entirely unpleasant.”

“Right, well,” Ethan said, glancing up and over her head to send a sharp and pointed look at an anxiously watching Karen to get this woman away from him, “I don’t have much experience in giving out allowances; I provide for my pack, but most of them have their own jobs and careers that they find to be very fulfilling.”

Courtney laughed again, a high pitched, uproarious laugh, as if she genuinely believed Ethan to be joking.

“Oh, look at the time!” Karen exclaimed, walking hurriedly toward them as she put a gentle hand on Courtney’s shoulder. “You two seemed to have a great conversation, both chatterboxes the two of you. But, sadly, your time is up and it’s time for the next girl.” She smiled kindly, flashing an apologetic look at Ethan as Courtney stood and Karen gestured for her to go back into the living room to wait with the others.

“You are so in for it when this is over,” Ethan said lowly.

Karen nodded wearily. “I figured.” Then, she said a bit louder, “Alright, can I have Dianne come in next?”

Ethan put on another smile as Dianne walked into the room. She was nice looking, significantly shorter than Courtney with long, dirty-blonde hair that fell over her shoulders in tight ringlets. She wore a substantially less-revealing red cocktail dress and red stilettos that made her about half a foot taller than she normally would have been.

“Hi, I’m Ethan,” he said, standing to shake her hand as she smiled politely.

“I’m Dianne; it’s nice to finally meet the mysteriously unmated Alpha that I’ve heard so much about.”

Ethan chuckled. “Yes, well, I had no idea I was such a figure of gossip.”

“Oh, it’s just a bit unusual,” Dianne shrugged, “To be honest, most of us have a pretty good idea of why you haven’t mated yet.”

“Oh really?” Ethan asked, curious as to what others thought of him.

Dianne nodded before she spoke matter-of-factly, “You’re impotent.”

Ethan blinked, processing her words before he balked. “Excuse me?” he stuttered, shocked.

“Don’t be embarrassed,” Dianne said gently, placing a hand that was meant to be reassuring on his forearm, “it’s perfectly fine. I can mate with you and bear the child of whichever pack mate you choose, I don’t mind.”

He flushed, unsure if it was out of anger or embarrassment. “I’m not impotent,” he bit out, eyes darkening as he shot a threatening look to Karen.

“Really,” Dianne whispered, seeming to grow impatient, “if we would mate, honesty would be very important. You don’t need to feel threatened or embarrassed around me. Impotency is nothing to be ashamed of.”

“Of course it’s nothing to be ashamed of,” Ethan bit out impatiently as he looked at Karen once more, “but I’m not impotent.”

Dianne opened her mouth as if to say something else when Karen interrupted her, a woman at her side this time.

“Alright, I think that’s all of your time,” she said, to which Dianne frowned, checking the time on her phone. Karen saw that she was going to argue but quickly cut her off, grabbing her arm delicately and helping her up. “Alright, I’m sure Ethan thoroughly enjoyed talking with you, but now its Chloe’s turn.”

Dianne stood reluctantly, clearly upset as Karen led her away, with Chloe taking a seat.

“Hi,” she said, taking Ethan’s hand as Ethan grinned weakly, wondering how he would do this six more times.

“Hello,” he said, not even bothering to introduce himself this time.

“So,” she trailed off, unsure of what to say.

“So,” Ethan said plainly, not quite wanting to put the effort into making conversation.

They sat in silence for a long moment before Chloe finally spoke.

“I apologize for sounding rude, but I have a boyfriend.”

Ethan looked at her in bewilderment. “Excuse me?”

Chloe shrugged. “We’ve been dating for three months, but a girl can hardly turn down the chance of landing an Alpha. But I’d like to cut right to the chase; do you think you’re interested or am I wasting my time here?”

“I need a drink,” Ethan muttered, standing abruptly and walking over to the liquor cabinet and pulling out a bottle of scotch, pouring a little into a glass and downing it quickly, wincing at the burn before he poured another and returned to the table, taking a seat heavily.

“You should go back to your boyfriend,” Ethan said wearily, “but, if you want my opinion, I’m not sure it’s going to last for long.”

Chloe shrugged, saying nothing further as she stood, bypassing Karen entirely and exiting the house, the door shutting behind her quietly.

The next four women Karen sent in were entirely unremarkable, all either wanting a form of allowance or status from Ethan. He couldn’t help wondering just where Amanda and Karen had looked for these women.

He sighed, leaning back in his chair as Amanda took over for Karen and walked into the living room to bring out the next ‘contestant’. At least this was the last one, he thought happily.

He was surprised to see that this woman was not wearing a cocktail dress, and wondered how he had missed spotting her earlier.

She wore a simple pair of dark jeans and a green silk tank top that matched her green eyes. She had dark black hair that fell in loose curls over her shoulders. She had an entirely bored look to her face and shook Ethan’s hand curtly when he stood to greet her.

“I’m Ethan.”

“Jessica,” she said concisely, looking at him plainly.

“So-”

“Listen,” Jessica said, cutting him off. “I’m entirely uninterested in whatever status or groveling respect that you think you’re entitled to as an Alpha. I don’t want your power or your money, and honestly think you’re a bit pathetic for arranging this entire thing, having women come crawling to you.”

“I didn’t-”

“I’m only here because my Alpha forced me to come since I’m the only unmated woman left in our pack and she thinks that it’d be good to strengthen ties with a neighboring pack. Now, I assume you’re not interested, so I intend to leave now.”

“Wait,” Ethan said, reaching out to grab her arm gently as she stood, making to leave. “You haven’t even let me get a word in.”

“You said your name.”

Ethan smirked. “A minute of your time, please?”

She sighed but sat back down, nodding at him to speak.

“Well, to start out with, I’d like to clear something up. I did in no way ask for or plan this. My pack sprung it on me, and trust me, we will have a talk about it. I am not desperate for a mate and I’m sorry your pack leader made you come tonight if you didn’t want to. Even if you were interested in me, I wouldn’t offer you money, power or status, and I don’t feel as though I’m entitled to respect. If I’m going to be respected, I’ll sure as hell earn it.”

Jessica’s expression didn’t change per se, but somehow, she seemed to look just a little less hostile when Ethan finished speaking.

“Now,” Ethan said, attempting a smile, “Can I get you a drink?”

Jessica cocked her head to the side, green eyes glancing down at his empty glass of scotch as she smiled slightly, almost imperceptibly, with just a minute tilting up of the corners of her mouth.

“Sure, vodka on the rocks please.”

Ethan nodded. “Classy,” he said, smiling just a bit as well as he stood, moving to quickly prepare her drink.

“Thank you,” she said politely as he handed her the glass before he sat back down.

“So, I know that you’d prefer to be almost anywhere but here from what you’ve said, but I am interested in getting to know you.”

Jessica shrugged, taking a sip of her drink. “Let’s see, I’m an Aquarius, I like long walks on the beach and I want a pink-colored pony for my birthday,” she said sarcastically.

“I’ll remember that,” Ethan smirked, “but I am interested in getting to actually know you, and not your fake online dating profile.”

Jessica laughed, a light, real laugh that sent an oddly warm feeling to Ethan’s chest.

“Well, I really am an Aquarius, but I don’t actually like long walks on the beach. It’s too hot, too polluted with people and trash because nobody cares about the ocean, and I fell off a horse when I was younger so, naturally, I won’t be wanting a pony for my birthday or any other event.”

He smiled. “Well, I’m sorry to hear that; I used to ride when I was little, I got knocked down a couple of times, but at the end of the day, I always thought it was worth it.”

Jessica smiled over the rim of her glass as she took another drink. “Well, to each their own,” she said lightly.

“Are you from Maryland originally?” Ethan asked, genuinely curious in a way that he couldn’t remember feeling for quite a while.

“Nope,” Jessica said, “I come all the way from Washington. I came out here for school, got turned, and then never really left.”

“What did you study?”

“Law,” Jessica said, “But, naturally, I dropped out after I got turned. It wasn’t much of a loss though; everyone at the school was entirely too competitive for me. I probably wouldn’t have stuck with it.”

“Any regrets then?”

“Not a single one,” she smirked, finishing off her drink as she stood. “That’s seven minutes then; I guess it’s time for you to choose which one of us lowly maidens you want to take for yourself.”

Ethan frowned, about to protest at her wording but she had already swept away from the table and back into the living room.

Amanda hurried over. “Well, that’s all of them. Are you ready?”

Ethan barely processed her words, eyes trained on the wall which he knew Jessica was standing on the other side of.

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Ethan sighed, grabbing the two glasses off of the table and putting them into the dishwasher before following Amanda out of the room.

“Alright ladies,” Amanda said cheerily, all eyes in the room but Jessica’s now focused on hers.

Ethan shifted, uncomfortable under the scrutinizing gaze that Jessica had trained on him.

“I think that Ethan had made his decision and would like to tell you all who he would like to court. Now, keep in mind that all of you are great women and we are all tremendously happy that you were able to come today. Now, without further ado, Ethan will tell us all what he thinks.”

Ethan cleared his throat, glancing out at the room of predatory and eager eyes, before looking back over to Jessica, who was now focusing on a portrait on the wall over the fireplace.