Tempting the Billionaire: Falling for my brother's best friend (The Hartford Brothers Book 1)

by JA Low

  Still, does she not miss me?

  26

  Audrey

  “We miss you, Nell!” Rainn and I shout down the phone.

  “I miss you too.” Nell pouts.

  “I can’t believe you’re staying on.” Nell’s living her best life in Paris, why would she come back.

  “I’m learning so much, guys.” She sounds great and I’m not jealous at all. “How’s things going back home?”

  “Nothing much has changed. I still live at home. We have the ball in the next couple of days so I’ve been working hard on that,” I explain to her.

  “Can’t believe I’m missing it. This is the first ball I think I’ve missed since we were ten.” Our parents are all good friends, so every year they would bring the three of us together to the ball, get dressed up, drink soft drinks and go crazy with all the other rich kids. We used to idolize all the women with their couture gowns, fur coats, dripping in diamonds.

  “Least Rainn came home after the summer,” I say, giving her some side eye. I’m pretty upset that she upped and left me. I know it was for a job, who the hell is going to knock back an all-expenses paid trip through Asia to explore the best yoga retreats.

  “I feel invigorated,” Rainn muses.

  “And tanned. You are so tanned.” Which has us all cracking up.

  “So, how’s things going with Stirling?” Nell asks. Eventually I filled my girls in when I couldn’t hold it all inside anymore, after a couple minutes of them cursing me out they eventually calmed down and listened to my drama.

  “We’re still friends. Nothing more.” I can feel their judgy eyes on me. “No. I haven’t strayed from that path not since Rhys has come home.”

  “Rhys is such a cock block.” Nell groans.

  “It’s for the best. Stirling is ten years older than me. He has his shit together and me.” I thump my chest. “I still live at home. I live off a trust fund. I work in the family business. He deserves someone more.”

  “Hey, you know I don’t allow you to talk about yourself like that.” Rainn grumbles beside me. “You are both at different stages of your lives and now isn’t the time for the two of you to be together,” Rainn explains.

  “A man like Stirling isn’t waiting around for me to get my shit together.” I explain to my friends.

  “You do realize all of those things on your list are achievable. They aren’t barriers,” Nell chimes in like some kind of relationship guru.

  “But my brother is.” The girls fall silent for a moment before agreeing with me.

  “Rhys will come around eventually.” Rainn tries to the see the positive in the situation.

  “Enough about me.” I change the subject. “Have you spoken to Remi since you were away?” I ask Nell.

  “No. He’s ghosted me. I don’t know what happened between us. I mean he was over here playing a couple of exhibition games and I got nothing other than a hello as if I was a stranger. I haven’t heard from him at all.” Rainn and I look at each other. “I’m fine. Think it’s weird. But his loss as I’m having so much fun with all these French guys.” She giggles. “Their accents are so sexy. Everything they say drips with sex.” Nope not jealous at all. We say our goodbyes to Nell.

  “She sounds like she’s having the best time over there,” Rainn pouts.

  “Come on then, let’s go out. New York is as fun as Paris,” I tell her.

  “Hell, yeah it is.”

  Rainn and I have met up with some friends and have come to some club downtown. This is exactly what I’ve needed to let my hair down, have fun, chat with cute guys, and not think about Stirling.

  “I’m going to head to the bar,” I tell Rainn, who’s lost in conversation with some fedora wearing guy. The music is pumping, and I lose myself to the beat as I make my way to the bar. I’m not watching what I’m doing and walk straight into a guy carrying drinks.

  “Shit,” the velvety deep voice curses.

  “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry. I didn’t see you there.” I try and flick off melted ice that has stuck to my now ruined clothes.

  “Audrey?”

  “Stirling?”

  Of all the people to run into and I mean I’ve literally run into him; Stirling Hartford was not on my list of people I was thinking of meeting on a night out in downtown. Then I notice the brown stains dripping down the front of his white business shirt.

  “I don’t think anything is going to get those stains out.” I point to his shirt. You’re such a brilliant conversationalist, Audrey. He looks down and tries to flick away the excess water, but it clings to his hard chest, accentuating every muscle.

  “Least this gives me a reason to go home early.” He gives me a genuine smile and it melts my panties in an instant. No. Stay strong, Audrey.

  “What are you doing here?” Weird seeing him out during the week at a club in downtown.

  “Remi came back in town and wanted to go out.” He looks over to where he was walking over to with all his drinks. A booth filled with beautiful women, wearing next to nothing with Remi and Miles sitting center stage enjoying their attention. Not going to lie that’s a sucker punch to me, but it’s for the best. Now I know where I stand, we are well and truly friends. Now I can go back to Rainn and her friends and not feel for guilty flirting with some random guy.

  “Cool. Well. I see you around.” I’m getting the hell out of here.

  “Audrey, wait,” Stirling calls out after me, but I ignore him and lose him in the crowd of people. I find the nearest bathroom, head in and thankfully there’s a toilet free and I grab it. I then proceed to bang my head against the stall door hoping it will knock some sense into me.

  A little while later I walk out of the bathroom and see Stirling lazily standing out the front of the bathroom with his arms folded across his body. Damn him for being so handsome. When he sees me, he stalks over to where I am and grabs my hand.

  “We need to talk.” His voice sounds serious as he drags me past the bathrooms and down around a corner where the club hasn’t opened a second bar area which is filled with empty booths. “Just so you know, I wasn’t with any of those women.” He paces around angrily.

  “You’re single, you can if you want.” Shrugging my shoulders at him.

  “That’s the thing, Audrey. I don’t want to.” Oh. He runs his fingers through his hair, and he looks like he’s in pain. “I can’t stop thinking about you, Audrey.” Oh, my heart. “I miss you,” he confesses.

  “I miss you too.”

  “You do?” He suddenly becomes still as if he’s too scared to spook me and I might vanish.

  “Of course, I do. We’ve spent so much time together and now you’ve disappeared out of my life. This sucks. All of it sucks.” I’m feeling a little defeated by the whole thing.

  “Look I better go; Rainn will be looking for me soon.” Stirling’s shoulders slump as he shoves his hands into his pockets. “Come to pre-dinner drinks before the ball at Mom’s place.”

  “Won’t that be weird?” he questions me.

  “Nope. We can say we ran into each other, and I asked.” He doesn’t look convinced. “We can talk more at the ball. About us. I promise” I reassure him.

  “Fine.” He smirks. “You look good by the way.”

  “So do you.” I walk backwards back into the club.

  27

  Stirling

  Why am I nervous walking into the Davenports? I’ve done this so many times in my life, why now?

  “Stirling, it’s so nice to see you again, sweetheart.” Marjorie kisses my cheeks. “You’re looking very handsome.” She gives me a grin.

  “You’re looking beautiful yourself,” I say, complementing her. She waves me away with a chuckle.

  “You and Audrey have gotten close recently?” she muses as we walk through her apartment toward the living room.

  “Yeah. She’s a good girl.” Marjorie tilts her head, and her eyes narrow on me.

  “You don’t have to be diplomatic with me, Stirling. Rh
ys isn’t here. I’ve seen the way you look at her. There’s something there between the two of you.” Um. Okay. We’re going to dive right in, are we?

  “I can assure you we’re just friends.” Am I sweating? Feels like a spotlight is on me as I loosen up the collar of my tuxedo.

  “Well all I’m going to say on the matter is I think it’s great that you two have gotten close without the interference of Rhys.” She pats me on the arm. “Now, let’s have a drink. You look like you need one.”

  Moments later Audrey walks in looking like a vision. It takes me a couple of beats to start breathing again. She’s wearing a lavender blue ball gown with silver feathers scatter around as if they have fallen upon her like snow. The craziest image flutters through my mind of Audrey walking towards me in a wedding gown. What the hell was that? No. Nope. Where did that come from? I take an unsteady sip of my whiskey as Audrey greets her mother.

  “Sweetie you look a vision.” Her mother’s makes her do a twirl. Audrey’s blonde hair is pulled up and she’s dripping in the family’s diamonds. “Don’t you think she looks like an angel, Stirling?” Marjorie asks none to subtly.

  “She looks breathtaking.” I’m unable to take my eyes off her. Marjorie chuckles beside her.

  “I’m going to go check on Patrice see what’s taking her so long.” Marjorie scatters from the room.

  “My mother is as subtle as a sledgehammer, isn’t she?” Audrey smirks. “I hope she hasn’t been giving you the third degree.

  “No. She’s been fine,” I reassure her. “You do look beautiful tonight though.” I walk over to her and kiss her cheek.

  “You look rather handsome in your tuxedo, too.” I give her a twirl which has her laughing.

  “Rhys is coming by soon. So be prepared,” she warns me.

  “This isn’t weird me being here, is it? I mean I’ve spent my teenage years coming and going from your home.”

  “Rhys is in a weird headspace with the whole Madison thing. I think he’s going to be weird only because I don’t think he can process any more shocks thanks to his ex.” That does make a whole lot of sense.

  “He did meet someone though.” The words fall from my lips before I realize that might have been best friend information that I’ve spilled. Audrey’s eyes widen at my slip up. “Please, do not say anything,” I warn her. She pretends to zip her lips together. “He’ll know it was me who blabbed.”

  “Have you met her?” I shake my head.

  “I don’t think it was anything serious. From what I’ve hear it was a series of misfortunate events and not in his favor.” Shut up, Stirling. Why are you spilling your friend’s secrets? “Please, don’t mention anything.”

  “I promise I won’t.” Audrey chuckles placing a reassuring hand on my chest. Electricity flows from her touch all over my body and all I want to do is pull her to me and kiss her. She must feel the same as her body sways toward mine. I place my hand over hers and she sucks in a shaky breath.

  “I miss being able to touch you,” I confess on a whisper.

  “I miss your touch too.” We grow closer together till there isn’t any space between us.

  “Rhys has just pulled up.” Marjorie rushes past where we are standing and toward the entry foyer, excited to see her son. Audrey and I jump away from each other breaking the spell.

  “It’s good to see you, sweetheart.” I hear Marjorie greeting Rhys. “You look good. You’ve been working out.” I chuckle at his mother’s comments. He’s been working out because he was a little sexually frustrated in London.

  “It’s good to be home.”

  “I’ve got to go.” Audrey gives me a sad smile and turns on her heels and disappears from the room.

  “Reecy. I’ve missed you.”

  My heart is thundering out of my chest. I’m going to have to put on the performance of a lifetime on. And under no circumstances check Audrey out.

  “I’ve missed you too.” Rhys kisses his sister on the forehead.

  “Hey, buddy.” Walking out of the room and greeting him. Rhys eyes widen as if he can’t quite believe I’m standing in front of him. Then a frown falls across his face.

  “I ran into Audrey. She invited me to pre-fundraising drinks.” There is some truth in that, somewhere.

  “Of course, it would have been rude not to,” Audrey reassures her brother. Rhys looks between Audrey and I and I can seance the protectiveness begin to kick in. He’s trying to put two and two together and for his sake I hope he doesn’t.

  “We should head to the event. Would look bad if the hostess was not there on time.” Marjorie changes the subject swiftly.

  Rhys helps his mother out of the car and along the red carpet, posing for the cameras together. I do the same for Audrey which causes a little bit of a scene with paparazzi screaming at us asking if we are dating? Asking Audrey if this is her new man. Like a consummate professional, Audrey smiles and ignores all the comments thrown her way. Especially ones asking her for a statement about David and Dior.

  “Why won’t they leave me alone about them?” Audrey seethes as we continue up the carpet.

  “They’re a pack of vultures. They want you to react so they can get the shot,” I say, placing a protective hand at the small of her back.

  We step into the luxurious hall filled with New York’s crème de la crème. Marjorie gives us a wave and disappears into the crowd. This is her night and everyone wants to greet the Grand Dame.

  “Drinks?” Rhys asks as we step into the ball.

  “Yeah, I could do with one,” I answer him. He then looks over to Audrey who looks a little shaken by the reporter’s questions.

  “I’ve got friends to catch up with.” She throws her brother a megawatt smile before disappearing into the ball. Rhys and I walk over to the bar and order a couple of drinks.

  “Please tell me nothing is going on between my sister and you?” Rhys comes right out and questions me. Damn, choking on my scotch. We’re going there straight away. This must have been brewing on his mind since we left their apartment.

  “What? Why would you think that?” My voice raises. Deny. Deny. Deny. Rhys’s eyes narrow on me as if he is trying to work out if I’m telling him the truth or not. We have known each other all our lives he will see through my bullshit in an instant if I don’t watch myself.

  “Just making sure, that’s all.” Rhys eyes me cautiously as he takes a sip of his drink. He’s totally warning me. For as long as we’ve known each other, I can read between the lines easily too.

  “Your sister is a wonderful person, but there’s nothing going on,” I explain to him.

  “Good,” Rhys states angrily. I don’t like his tone.

  “Do you think I’m not good enough?” Narrowing my eyes on him. It’s one thing to be overprotective of your sister it’s another thing to think your best friends isn’t good enough for her. You may not like it, but I’d assume you would want someone who you know has good character. Someone who would protect her, be faithful to her, cherish her.

  “No.” Rhys shakes his head, and I can see he is eyeing me suspiciously wondering why the hell am I pushing this subject. I don’t understand why I am letting his thoughts of me not being good enough rile me up. “But it’s my sister, man.” I get it. And maybe if I had a sister instead of brothers, I would understand his way of thinking more but I don’t. “You have a reputation. And don’t forget the obvious…I know you.” I’m a little taken aback that he would throw a year’s worth of us being stupid together back in my face like that. He had a reputation before he settled down. He was no saint either.

  “I would never hurt her,” I tell him through gritted teeth. Rhys spins around and stares at me.

  “You like her?” He raises a questioning brow in my direction.

  “Of course. She’s a good girl.” You should have kept your mouth shut, Stirling. You’ve piqued Rhys’s interest in your relationship with Audrey now. And he’s not going to let that go. You’re going to be under a microscope all t
he time now. Damn ego getting in my way. I take a large gulp of scotch to steady myself. But Rhys keeps staring at me waiting for more from me.

  “We’ve hung out a bit since you’ve been away. That’s all. I was simply a replacement for you.” Shrugging my shoulders, hoping he understands that’s where our relationship is now. Don’t need to dig into the past at all. “But I can assure you nothing is going on, other than I enjoy her company…as a friend.” Because I don’t want Audrey and I to feel uncomfortable around Rhys so I want him to know that I will continue seeing Audrey the way that I have been. Obviously minus the other bits unless… nope. Shut it down. Now is not the time to be thinking about this.

  “So, you’re asking my permission to be friends with my sister?” Rhys stares at me strangely.

  “Yeah, in essence. We like going to Sunday markets, among other things.” That’s the tamest, friendliest thing I could think of that we do. Rhys looks like I’ve slapped him across the face, he’s stunned.

  “And you seriously like hanging out with her?” I think he’s questioning my mental state now.

  “You know I don’t have female friends as such, but Audrey’s different, and we like hanging out.”

  “You’re both adults. I can’t stop you.” Rhys looks at me weirdly. Okay least he hasn’t punched me in the face, so I call that a win.

  “Just don’t break her heart if something happens, okay?” There’s his brotherly warning as he slaps me on the shoulder.

  “Nothing will happen. She sees me as a friend,” I reassure him. Rhys nods and I can see he’s feeling rather uncomfortable about the conversation now.

  “Come on, let’s walk into the lions’ den,” I say as we join the ball.

  28

  Audrey

  “Emma, Anderson…” I call out to them. “It’s so good to see you two.” Anderson is rather generous with his money and donates large sums to my mother’s foundation. Emma donates the most gorgeous dresses from her clients. They are two of my favorite people.