Bossy (37 page)

I almost throw my phone across the bar. The tears come before I can stop them. I don’t know if I’m sad or just angry. Probably both, or maybe there’s just a limit to how much anyone can be expected to take in a twenty-four hour period and I just passed it. Resting my arms on my elbows and my face in my hands, I sob right there at the table. Crap, I don’t want to do this in public.

“Come here.” His voice is unusually gentle as Gavin takes my hand and pulls me toward him, around the table. I don’t know why I let him. He’s my asshole stepbrother, but right now I just want comfort, and he’s offering it. Drawing me right into his lap, he wraps his arms around me and holds me close. No teasing. No bullying. Just holding.

“I’m still mad at you, you know,” I tell him between sniffles. Wait a minute. I look up at him through itchy, watery eyes. “Why were you even there? Why’d you beat him up?”

Gavin laughs, and I can feel the rumble in his chest. “I know Paul. I know what kind of shit he’s up to. I just didn’t know he was
your
Paul until the other night.” He wrinkles his nose. “You have shitty taste in guys, babe.”

That’s totally what I want to hear. I push off him. “Thanks for reminding me. You’re so right.”

“You little brat,” he laughs. Instead of letting me go, he pulls me closer. I try to get away, but he’s too strong.

I drop back into his lap with grunt. “Let me up, you bully.”

He only laughs at me. “Guilty as charged. I could punch guys in the face for you all night long. Just line them up for me.”

I don’t even know if that’s sweet or just disturbing. “You’re a psycho.”

“I do what’s necessary. I only meant to tell him to back off. He’s the one who jumped me when I asked about you. No idea what he was thinking.” He arches an eyebrow. “Must’ve been the fucking coke.”

Jesus. “You didn’t consider something crazy, like calling the cops? Or telling me? Rather than beating the shit out of him? Sorry, that’s psycho reasoning.”

“Told ya, he threw the first punch. I was just gonna warn him.” He shrugs. “And tell him not to bother showing up, of course.”

“Of course.” Part of me really enjoys sitting here in his lap, much as I hate to admit it. He’s nice and warm, his strong arms wrapped protectively around me. On the other hand, he’s Gavin. “Are you going to let me up?”

“Nah.”

“Excuse me?” I look at him incredulously, daring him to repeat that.

“Nope. For once we aren’t arguing, and I like you right here. Your sexy little body rubbing against me, your sexy round ass grinding against my cock.” Even as he says it, I feel his bulge swelling under me. “The fact that I can look right down your shirt.”

Pulling the top of my shirt close to my body, I struggle against him. “Let. Me. Go!”

Surprisingly, he lets me up. “Fine. But you’re missing out.”

“I’m sure you can find someone to take care of you. That’s what guys do, isn’t it?” I glare at him. “You know, fuck around.”

“We aren’t all Paul, babe.” For a second his face softens. “Look, I’m sorry if something I said pissed you off, but I’m not sorry for fucking up Paul, and I’m not sorry he isn’t the one here right now.”

That was a sideways sort of non-apology, but it was more than I’d expected, and given the situation, I’d take it. “Yeah, well. I’m sorry if
maybe
I might have overreacted. You might not be quite as vile as I implied.”

“Oh, Sis, I knew you cared. Just save some of that love for dinner tonight. ‘Cause we’re gonna have to be all romantic and lovey dovey and shit. Unless you want to get put on land at the nearest port for sneaking aboard.”

He shrugs, like he couldn’t care less what happens. Which he probably doesn’t, because he could charter a jet to go home and leave me to hitchhike if he wanted. But he wouldn’t. I want to hate him, but I can’t, not anymore. ‘Like’ might be too strong a word, but... tingles.

I sigh. “Yeah, I’ll be there. I’ll even pretend to not be repulsed by you.”

“Aww, I can’t wait.” Leaning back with his hands behind his head, he smiles broadly at me. “I expect a lot of making out, babe.”

“I’m sure you do,” I say sweetly. “But you know, with my chastity vows and all, we’re going to have to keep things decent until we’re actually married.” I blink at him innocently. “I’d hate to go back on my vows now that we’re so close.”

He actually laughs out loud. “We’ll see, babe. We’ll see.”

I turn to leave, then stop again. “Thanks.”

Sitting up, he give me a confused look. “For what?”

“For kicking Paul’s ass. You’re a Neanderthal, but nobody’s ever done something like that for me, so... thanks.” I shrug. “You’re almost acting like a real big brother, or something.”

He grins mischievously. “Does that mean we’ll fuck tonight?”

“I think you missed the ‘big brother’ part, perv.” This time I do walk off, calling over my shoulder, “See you at dinner.”

I
’ve just returned to our suite when the punchy beat of Momma Said Knock You Out bursts out of my phone. Great, now I have to explain where I am. I tap the phone and put it to my ear. “Hey, Mom.”

“Angela! Where have you been? I haven’t seen you since yesterday morning. I’ve been worried sick.” Her normally calm voice quavers, which seems over the top. It’s not like I haven’t been gone overnight before.

I keep my voice steady. “I’m fine. I’ve been over at Cassie’s. Paul and I broke up. I just needed some girl time, ya know? Is everything alright? You could’ve called if you were worried.” It feels cheap using something that just happened as emotional leverage, but she’ll never question a brokenhearted sleepover.

“Oh, honey...” She sounds sad for me, and I feel guilty for misleading her. “Take all the time you need. Things have been so busy lately. I’m sorry I haven’t been paying more attention. I just wanted to know you’re alright.”

“Yeah, Mom, I’m fine, promise.” It’s at that moment the ship’s horn blasts loudly, scaring the crap out of me.

“Honey, what was that? Are you down at the docks?”

“Uh... no, we’re just watching Titanic. You know. Chick movies, popcorn, PJs, the whole thing.” I think we did that once. That’s believable, right?

“Alright, you know that’s not a very good neighborhood.” She sounds suspicious, but not for the right reasons. “I don’t want to spoiler or anything, but the ship goes down.” We groan together.

“Thanks a lot, Mom. Now we’ll have to watch something else.” We laugh together too. “So anyway, I’m safe and sound, watching movies so old DiCaprio looks young, and everything’s okay. Was that it?”

“Actually, there is something else.” She sounds excited. “You know business has been rough lately, right? I mean, it’s been turning around, but I’m behind on my loan payments for the shop.”

“Yeah.” It would be impossible not to notice, even though she tries to shield me from the money side of things. Mom’s spent almost every waking moment keeping that shop going. It makes us money, sort of, but never quite enough to keep our heads above water. I’ve grown up watching every nickle and dime, even when she didn’t ask me to. “Why? Don’t tell me you finally have to close?” Mom’s world will crumble if that’s the case.

“No! The opposite. Someone’s invested in us. We’re up to date on the payments again. We’re in the black, Angela!” She laughs happily, and I can almost picture her dancing around with her phone.

“Seriously? That’s awesome! What happened? Who is it? I didn’t even know you were looking for investors.”

“I wasn’t.” I can hear the smile in her voice. “And, he’s anonymous.”

“Anonymous?” It sounds like she knows more than she’s letting on.

“Well, he was. Your ol’ mom can be a bit of a sleuth when she wants to be.” Remembering her finding cigarettes in my drawers when I was fifteen, or finding out that I’d been sneaking sips out of our liquor bottles by measuring the content levels with a ruler when I was sixteen, I believe it. If she suspects something, she’s good at uncovering it. She continues happily. “Well, I did some Googling and found out that the company that invested is actually owned by Caldwell Industries.”

Whoa. Seriously? Gavin wasn’t wrong when he said my mother won the lottery. “You mean Herbert—”

“Of course! Who else could it be? He hasn’t said a word, but it came from this little company I’d never heard of. When I looked them up online, the website said they’re a subsidiary of Herbie’s company. It has to be him. He’s so modest. I bet he didn’t want me to feel like I owed him something. Now that’s true love.” Mom’s practically bubbling over with excitement.

“God, you’re acting like you’re fifteen, Mom.” I laugh with her. “What’s next? You going to tear petals off flowers or carve your initials into the tree in the backyard?”

“Oh, come on. Let your mother have her giddy moments every once in a while, huh? This is huge. He’s saved my business. Now I suddenly have the financial backing to promote and get our name out there. Maybe improve the shop a little. Get better quality inventory. All sorts of things.” She gets quiet for a second. “I’m sorry, baby. I know you’re hurting. I just had to get that off my chest.”

“It’s okay. Honest. He ended up being a real jerk.” Massive understatement. “I’m really happy for you. You deserve a break.” I smile. It’s nice to get some good news today. It was rough learning about why Paul ended up black, blue and Violet. I giggle at my own joke, but quietly so I don’t have to explain.

“I’m supposed to meet Herbie, so I’m just getting ready. Are you coming home tonight?”

Yeah, probably not. “Nah, I’m going to hang with Cassie a couple of more nights, I think. It’s been a while since we’ve had some just us time, you know? And with college coming up and everything...” I hate lying to Mom, but she’ll kill me if she finds out where I really am. I’ll probably have to tell her sooner or later, a two week sleepover isn’t very believable, but I can stall for a couple of days at least.

“Of course. I understand completely. In fact, that gives me the perfect opportunity to thank Herbie properly, if you know what I—”

“Stop! There are some things I don’t need to know, Mom.” I wrinkle my nose at the thought, but I can’t help laughing either. It’s really funny to hear her acting like a teenager. Puppy love at forty-seven. Who’d have thought?

She laughs too. “Alright, I get it. I’m just excited.” She draws a breath, reining in the giggles. “Listen, I’m going to go, but let me know when you know when you’re coming home. I want some girl time with my girl too, alright? ”

“I know, Mom. Me too. Just, you know... hang a sock on the front door in case I forget to knock. There’s only so much trauma I can take.”

She laughs. “Will do. Love you, Honey.”

“Love you, Mom.”

I hang up, thinking about Mom’s new love and what that means for me. I’m stuck with Gavin. He might not be such a bad guy underneath it all, but I’m not convinced I can really trust him. Still, just because I don’t hate him doesn’t mean I can’t give him a hard time. That’s what little sisters are all about, aren’t they? Even if they’re stepsisters?

And I can’t think of a better place to start than dinner. He won’t know what hit him.

W
hen Angie walks in, my hors d’oeuvre almost gets stuck in my throat. Wouldn’t that be hilarious? Death by a pig in a fucking blanket. A near porked-to-death experience. Goddamn, she looks fantastic. I saw the dress in the store, but all made up? She fucking owns the place.

The bright red fabric waves like a flag, taunting all the bulls in the room. Bet they’d love a go, but she’s here for me. She’s put her hair up in a naughty librarian bun, pinned in place with some fancy stick thing, and I’m already fantasizing about tugging it out and watching her hair come loose as I push her onto our bed.

Sashaying across the room, putting one foot right in front of the other as she struts in her new black stilettos, her hips sway in a way that’s fucking hypnotic. Hips I want to grab. That I want to hold onto while I have her bent over the bed, while I pound into her. She sees me from across the room, and from her knowing smile, I’m guessing my jaw’s currently scraping the floor. I don’t give a fuck.

Jesus H. Christ.

I mean, yeah, obviously I know she’s fucking hot, but damn. As she gets closer, I see she’s put on bright red lipstick that matches the dress. I want that lipstick smeared down my cock. If she doesn’t tone it down, I might just pick her up and carry her right up to the room, and she can scream all she wants about chastity vows on the way, because we both know it’s not a question of yes or no, only when.

She laughs quietly as she closes in. “You’re going to catch flies like that.” She’s trying to keep cool, but her voice is a little husky. I love it. Still, I close my mouth.

I’m not the only one staring. Almost every eye in the restaurant is on her, and on a cruise that’s basically packed with the rich and attractive, that’s saying something. I should grab her and carry her off before someone she doesn’t think is an asshole decides he needs to trade in his trophy wife for a younger model.

But Angie? She hasn’t noticed a thing. She’s got one of those cherry red lips caught between her teeth, and she only has eyes for me. Waiting for me to say something, like she cares what I think. What I think, is that no matter what I said earlier that day, she’s the one with class.

“You look fucking fantastic, babe.” I offer my arm to her. “Every single guy in the room is jealous of me right now, knowing it’s me and not them who’s going to take you up to the room and bang you tonight.”

She blinks a couple of times before she takes my arm and laughs. “In your dreams, asshole.” Her tone is friendly and happy, but low enough that no one can hear the actual words.

A smile spreads on my face as I take us to our table. Yesterday she would’ve stormed off after a comment like that, but now she laughs and throws it right back.

The captain stands when we get to the table. He’s tall. Taller than me, even, which doesn’t happen often. He’s older, short hair peppered with grey. He stands like he’s got a rod up his ass and I bet he’s ex-Navy. His beard’s neatly trimmed, not a hair is out of place. He doesn’t need his white dress uniform to show he’s the captain, but I’m sure the ladies love it.