StepBrother: New Rules (Stepbrother Romance) (2 page)

Ella Caswell, Evelyn’s mother, was the consummate concierge. No matter how unusual, how unexpected a guest’s request might be, Ella never missed a chance to impress visitors with her resourcefulness and her ability to get things done. She managed it all—reservations, theater tickets, exotic flowers—with a calm, professional demeanor that made all the people she served feel like the world revolved around them and their needs, even if it was for just a brief moment.

Ella was a treasure, as far as the Hillford was concerned, and everyone on the staff knew it. She could be trusted with intimate secrets, and she was the person everyone in the hotel turned to when they needed advice. Though the manager was ostensibly in charge, everyone knew it was Ella that held everything together.

Evelyn approached the open door of her mother’s office, walking slowly so she could hear if her mother was with a client. Hearing the usual patter about what restaurant and what time the guest wanted to dine, Evelyn leaned up against the wall, knowing that whatever her needs, they came after the guests were taken care of.

The man left the office with his reservation—neatly written on an elegant card of handmade paper, the details listed in her mother’s perfect cursive script.

“Mom?” Evelyn said, sticking her head inside the door. “Time for coffee? I have to leave for class in about half an hour.”

Ella didn’t look up from her desk planner when she answered. “Yes ma’am. I have Paul to cover concierge for a bit, and I don’t have any appointments until later.” She looked up and met Evelyn’s eyes, precisely the same shade of green as her own. Smoothing her hair to ensure no tendrils had escaped her bun, she stood, radiating calm and poise. “I could use a cup, anyway.”

Though there were times when Ella let her hair down—literally and figuratively—Evelyn had never seen her mother’s composure slip, with the single exception of Evelyn’s father’s funeral. Even then, Ella had grieved with dignity, though the sobs Evelyn had heard late into the night had outed her mother as human, for once.

Ella’s heels—neither too high nor too low—clicked across the polished marble, and Evelyn followed, unconsciously imitating her mother’s perfect posture and measured gait.

“Get your floors done on time?” Ella asked as they headed for the little coffee shop in the corner of the hotel.

“Sure did.” Evelyn thought about her pleasant midday distraction. “It took a little longer than usual, actually. The family on the fourth floor must have given their kids full boxes of Froot Loops and let them go wild. It was a mess.”

Ella looked around, making sure they hadn’t been overheard. “We don’t discuss guests’ private business in public, Evelyn.”

“Mom, nobody’s around to hear.”

Ella kept her voice even. “It doesn’t matter. If we practice good habits, then we’re less likely to slip up and make mistakes. The Hillford’s guests deserve respect and privacy.”

Evelyn forced herself to resist the temptation to roll her eyes. “Understood.”

Mother and daughter ordered their coffee, black for Ella—as if adulterating the beverage would be a sign of weakness—and with a touch of cream for Evelyn.

“Are you ready for your accounting exam?” Ella looked at her daughter over her coffee, testing the temperature with her lips, then blowing to cool it.

“Sure am. I only missed the top score by two points for the last test, and that won’t happen again.”

“That’s my girl.”

“So will you be home tonight?” Evelyn enjoyed living with her mother most days, but she was hoping for a free night—a night that would be much more exciting if she spent it with William.

“No. I’d planned to let you know. I’ll be having dinner with Malcolm tonight, and I will not be home until after work tomorrow.”

“Whoa, Mom! Good for you.”

Ella’s raised, perfectly shaped eyebrows stopped Evelyn before she could say another word.

“We are not going to have a personal conversation in our place of business, Evelyn. Malcolm and I have made some decisions, though, and we would like to sit down with both you and William and have a little talk about the future.”

Evelyn leaned back in her seat. “That sounds kind of serious.”

“Well, Malcolm and I have been able to see one another more openly since he moved up to manage the Lakeland. We enjoy one another’s company, and we just want to keep our children apprised of our relationship status.” Ella straightened the spoon on the napkin next to her coffee. “Have you seen William lately?”

Evelyn froze, wishing for the moment that she was anywhere but facing her mother. She wasn’t quite sure why, but she’d never gotten around to telling her mother that she had been seeing William. Their parents had met while working together at the Hillford, but the strict policy against fraternization among employees had meant that Ella and Malcolm had kept one another at arm’s length … until Malcolm had transferred for a promotion at their sister hotel across town. Ella and Malcolm had introduced their children to one another at a hotel party for the staff, and to Evelyn’s surprise, she and William had hit it off right away. When Evelyn and William were together, Evelyn tried hard to keep her thoughts out of what Ella and Malcolm might be doing at the very same time.

“Um, I saw him at the gym last week, I think.”

“Oh. I wasn’t sure if you’d be seeing him anytime soon. I’ll just have his father set something up so the four of us can sit down together.”

“Mom, what’s going on?” The thought of all four of them in the same room made Evelyn feel both panicked and a little excited, all at once.

“Malcolm and I want to tell you together. I’ll let you know when we’re going to meet.” Ella checked her classic gold watch—the one that coordinated perfectly with the simple gold hoops she wore in her ears. “I need to get back. We’re expecting a large party this afternoon, and I expect I’ll be quite busy.”

She stood, smoothed the skirt that fit just right and fell at the perfect length, always one inch above her knee. Buttoning her suit jacket, Ella looked down at her daughter. “Good luck on your exam, not that you’ll need it. You’ll manage dinner on your own?”

Evelyn laughed. “Mom, I’m twenty years old. I’ll manage.” She thought about the blue-eyed man she’d spent part of the afternoon with. “Maybe I’ll hire my own private chef for the evening.”

Ella favored her with a polite laugh, pecked her on the cheek, and went back to work.

Before Evelyn opened the door to the townhouse she and her mother shared, she knew William was inside. She could smell delicious aromas filtering through the door and enticing her to enter. Buoyed by the confidence she’d aced her exam, she bounced through the door.

“Honey, I’m home,” she called, walking up the stairs toward the kitchen. A saucepan on the stove simmered, and the oven light was on, revealing what looked like stuffed chicken breasts. “Goddamn, that smells good,” Evelyn said to the empty room, wondering where William was.

Two hands snaked around her from behind, reaching up to cover her breasts.

“Welcome home. I’ve slaved over dinner all day.”

Evelyn turned in William’s arms, tilting her head up to press a kiss to his lips. “You were working all day. I’m calling bullshit.”

“Such unladylike language,” he answered. “You should be spanked.”

She smiled at him. “Are you volunteering?”

“Absolutely.” He stirred the sauce. “Actually, I whipped up dinner while I was working today, so all I had to do was heat it up.”

“Clever boy.”

“And there’s a glass of wine in the living room. I recorded that fight you wanted to see. If you open my laptop, you can watch some MMA and sip some pinot grigio.”

“What on earth did I do to deserve you?” Evelyn asked, dropping her bag on the chair and walking into the other room in search of a drink and some entertainment.

“I don’t know that you do deserve me, now that I think about it,” William called from the kitchen.

“Whatever. I’ll blow you later. I want to watch this.”

Evelyn tucked her feet up under her in the big chair in the corner of the room, balanced the laptop on her knee, and reached for the glass of wine William had poured. It felt like no time at all had passed, and she jumped when William touched her shoulder, surprised to see her glass was empty.

“I’d been calling you. Dinner’s ready.”

“Sorry.” She paused the video. “This fight is fucking amazing. I thought Miller was gonna tap out in the first round, but he managed to get out of that hold he was in. That guest instructor at the gym last week was just showing me ways to get out of knee holds. Miller’s a fucking genius, though. I thought it was over.”

William looked at Evelyn with an odd expression on his face.

“What?”

“You should hear yourself.”

“What do you mean?” She narrowed her eyes. “If you’re going to give me a lecture on unladylike language, you can go fuck yourself.”

William laughed. “That’s not it at all. I think it’s hot when you talk like that—especially when you’re naked.” He shook his head, as if to clear his thoughts. “No, what I mean is you should hear how excited you sound.”

Evelyn shrugged. “I can’t help it. I love MMA.”

William took the laptop from her, putting it on the coffee table so they both would be able to see it. “Did you think about what your instructor said? About entering an amateur match?”

“No way. Number one, I’m nowhere near good enough. And number two, if I start coming home with bruises, my mother’s going to know.”

“Would that be the worst thing in the world?” William walked back into the kitchen and brought their plates into the living room. “Really? I don’t understand why you can’t be honest with your mother.”

Evelyn took the plate. “You’re right. You don’t understand.”

“Look, I know you believe she’ll be horrified that her perfect little girl has a tough side, but I think you’re not giving her enough credit. She wants you to be happy, right?”

“She wants me to be happy, sure. But in her all-powerful opinion, the only road to happiness is ‘keeping your head, heels, and standards high.’ You don’t know how many times she’s said that to me. I can’t imagine what she’d think of a girl with bruises from a fight. She thinks girls with muscles are ugly, like they’re trying to be men.”

“But you know that’s not true.” William set his plate down, since he obviously wasn’t going to be able to eat anytime soon. “Evelyn, the muscles you have are the sexiest things I’ve ever seen on a woman. You’re beautiful and strong, and you’re a badass.”

Evelyn shook her head. “Will, I’m not going to spend one of our few evenings together arguing with you. I can’t tell my mother who I really am—what I really like. I just can’t, and you’re going to have to drop it or leave.”

“I just want you to be happy.”

“I get it, but I’m done. I can’t tell her, and that’s that.”

“Well, have you at least told her about us?”

Evelyn stood up, slammed her plate on the table, and walked toward the door. “I can’t deal with this pressure, Will. I’ll tell her when I’m ready. Why can’t you just let me enjoy being with you? Isn’t that enough? If I tell Mom, it’ll make everything complicated. She’ll want to interfere, and it’ll fuck everything up.”

William took a deep breath. “You know, at some point, you’re going to have to grow up and be ready to move out of your mother’s shadow.”

Evelyn studied him, trying to decide if she wanted to blast him for suggesting she grow up or if she wanted to really think about what he’d said. She decided on neither option. “You’re probably right, but today is not that day. I want to eat, and I want you to take me to bed and fuck my brains out. Can you do that, or would you rather argue?”

“Well, given those options, I’d like to eat this delicious dinner and take you to bed and fuck your brains out.”

“Perfect. We agree.”

Evelyn sat back down, and the pair watched the rest of the MMA fight while eating in silence. When the fight was over, Evelyn stood up.

“I’ll clean up since you cooked.”

William didn’t protest, and she realized she’d been far bitchier than he’d deserved. She knew he was right—at least to a certain extent. She should be able to be open and honest with her mother. Her mother should love Evelyn for the person she was, rather than trying to mold her into a younger version of Ella. Evelyn was afraid. It was that simple. She was afraid her mother would be horrified and reject her—politely, of course—if she knew Evelyn wanted to physically fight another woman. And she had no idea how Ella would feel about her daughter dating the son of the man Ella had been spending time with.

She was scared, and she didn’t want to risk her relatively comfortable life. As she loaded the last of the dishes into the dishwasher and hand dried her mother’s good knives, Evelyn made up her mind. William was just going to have to trust her. If he wanted to be with Evelyn, he’d have to let her handle her mother in her own way.

She walked back into the living room to find William running through his emails.

“Can I talk you into bed?” she asked, batting her eyes.

“You don’t even have to try,” he answered.

As he stood up and pressed her against the wall, the warmth of his body against hers wiping any negative thoughts away, she opened her mouth to his insistent kiss. He pulled back, and she opened her eyes, curious why he had stopped.

“What’s wrong?”

William laughed. “So, your mom is out with my dad, and she’s not coming home. Wonder what they’re doing right now.”

“Ugh, quit it. I do not want to think about our parents having sex.”

“I wonder if they’d be doing it if they knew what their kids were up to … together. I wonder if they know I’m going to slide my hand underneath your shirt and caress your perfect tits.” William’s hands did just what his words had described. “Or if they know I’m going to unbutton your jeans, right here in the living room.”

“Oh, stop, Will.”

He paused while lowering her zipper. “Okay, if you really don’t want me to undress you, I guess I’ll stop. That’s going to make it harder for me to get in your pants, though.”

Evelyn couldn’t help but laugh, and as she realized that William’s irreverence was one of the things she liked most about him, all the worries from their disagreement fled from her mind. She reached out and ran her fingers over the beginnings of an erection she could see through his jeans.