The Perfect Holiday: A Bad Boy New Year Romance

by Mia Ford

  I smiled and laughed, lifting my glass of champagne into the air. When I turned back around and he couldn’t see me, my face sunk and I shook my head, knowing that I had to be the most awkward woman to ever grace his presence. Either way, he was looking for something that I wasn’t, and it would be best if I just left him alone, no matter how drawn I was to his ice blue eyes.

  I spent the rest of the reception floating around, talking to Caroline and then resorting to just conversing with the older people that I knew through my father. It was definitely better than staying at home for the night, and it kept me off the radar from Blaine who I would see looking around for me every time a slow song came over the speakers. I knew that if I found my way into his arms, I would melt into a puddle, and that was exactly what I didn’t want to happen.

  As the wedding began to mellow out and a lot of the older people decided to call it a night, I took that as my cue to get out of there as well. I wrapped my shawl around my shoulders as I headed out of the building and into the parking lot, trying to remember where I left my car. There were so many people there, it was like parking at a concert.

  “Hey,” I heard a familiar voice calling out as I reached my car. I looked up.

  Across the parking lot, I could see Blaine waving at me and jogging over to my car. I straightened my dress and unlocked the doors, waiting for him to get to me. He was so handsome in his expensive suit and shiny shoes, and I was having a hard time holding onto my resolve.

  “I wanted to see if I could have your number, you know, maybe go out some time,” he said breathlessly.

  For a moment, I thought about it. I pictured him and me drifting off together into a happy place, but I stopped it short, remembering what kind of guy he probably was. Slowly, my smile faded away, and I looked down at the door, pulling the handle and opening it up. He stood there staring at me, a confused look on his face.

  “Look,” I said, sitting down and grabbing the door. “I’m not the girl you’re looking for. But thank you for taking the time to talk to me. Be safe.”

  With that, I closed the door, keeping my eyes glued on the steering wheel as I started the car and pulled out of the space. In the rearview mirror, I could see Blaine still standing there, watching me drive off, his hands shoved in his pockets. Maybe I was making a mistake, but I really didn’t want to take a chance.

  Chapter 5

  Blaine

  Getting up on Sunday morning wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be since I managed to watch what I was drinking. I met up with Caleb for brunch at a restaurant in downtown Philly, and I could tell that he hadn’t practiced the same kind of restraint that I had. His eyes were dark, and his hair was slightly messier than normal.

  “You okay?” I asked.

  “I’m fine,” he grumbled, drinking his water. “Drank way too much last night, but goddamn, the hottie I took back to my place was perfect.”

  “The one in the black dress?” I asked.

  “Yeah, that one,” he said proudly.

  “Nice.” I laughed.

  “What about you? Did you pick up that redhead that was hitting on you?”

  “No,” I sighed. “Sadly, I woke up alone in my bed this morning.”

  “What? The handsomest man in the room went home alone? What’s up with that?”

  “I don’t know,” I said, looking down at my brunch. “I just wasn’t feeling it, and there was this chick on my mind from earlier.”

  “Who?” he asked, scrunching his eyebrows. “I didn’t see you with anyone.”

  “I only talked to her for a few minutes,” I replied. “But she was freaking perfect and absolutely adorable. Her name was Reese. She said she was friends with your sister. I guess they used to keep each other company when they were younger. Your father and hers work together.”

  “Hmm,” he said, lifting his fork to his lips. “I know who you’re talking about, and I do remember seeing you talking to her for a few minutes.”

  “So, tell me about her,” I said with excitement brewing in my belly. “What does she do? Does she have a boyfriend? I know she isn’t married because our conversation led to her saying she didn’t want a big wedding like Caroline’s, though she thought it was beautiful.”

  “Honestly, man, I really don’t know much about her,” he said. “Her father owns a financial firm and travels back and forth to New York where one of his branches is. My father does work for them, but other than that, I really never spent any time with the girl. Why didn’t you just get her number?”

  “That was the weird part,” I said, replaying it over in my head. “I found her before she left and asked her for it, but she blew me off, saying something about her not being the girl I was looking for.”

  “That’s weird,” he said with a mouthful of bacon. “You aren’t really the type to go scaring off women.”

  “I know man,” I said, shaking my head.

  “So why are you looking for her then?”

  “I don’t know,” I said, rubbing my hands over my still-unshaven face. “There was just something about her that I couldn’t turn away from. She was on my mind all night.”

  “Whoa, that’s heavy, bro,” Caleb said with surprise. “It’s not like you to keep thinking about a girl like that.”

  “I know, I just—”

  “Hey, guys,” Caroline said as she pulled out a chair and plopped down. “Ugh, I am starving.”

  “Hey, sissy,” Caleb said fondly. “Where’s Troy?”

  “He’s still sleeping,” she said. “I didn’t want to wake him.”

  “Up all night, huh?” Caleb playfully elbowed his sister.

  “Stop,” she said with blushed cheeks. “That’s gross. I am not joking with my brother about my sex life.”

  “You looked amazing yesterday,” Caleb said. “And everything went off without a hitch. That has to be the first time in wedding history.”

  She smiled. “I know, right?”

  “When are you guys leaving for the Bahamas?” I asked.

  “Not until tomorrow morning,” she said. “We wanted to have a day to relax here in the city before jumping on a plane. Besides, I think Troy knew that he would need a day of rest after like a week straight of celebrating and drinking.”

  “Yeah, I feel like I could use a vacation.” Caleb chuckled, handing Caroline a piece of toast.

  Caleb and Caroline had been very close their whole lives, without much of the normal sibling bickering that usually went on. I assumed that with their family being so business oriented, they leaned on each other for support growing up because their mother and father were just too busy with other things. Sure, it wasn’t your typical family with a comforting mother and strong, leading father, but the two of them seemed to turn out really well. Caleb treated all his friends like family, and his sister as a friend, too. It was nice, and I wished that I had that kind of relationship with my family, but alas, I was left to my own devices.

  “And how are you this morning, Blaine?” Caroline looked over at me and smiled.

  “I’m really good since I watched what I drank last night, unlike some people,” I said, looking over at Caleb.

  “Yeah, my brother has an issue with excess.” She laughed and took a sip of coffee.

  “No, I don’t,” he said bitterly.

  “Oh yeah? What about the time we went to Aunt Eliza’s funeral? You drank so much you passed out, and they almost thought you were another dead body?”

  “I don’t like funerals,” he said. “And it wasn’t my fault. Uncle Bernard was drinking with me.”

  “Oh, okay,” she said sarcastically. “How about the seven of every type of suit you like hanging in the closet?”

  “I work hard so I can have nice things,” he said proudly.

  “Uh huh.” She giggled.

  “Thank you for having me at the wedding,” I said. “It was really beautiful.”

  “You are welcome, and thanks for showing up.” She smiled. “Did you meet any lovely single ladies?�
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  “He sure did, and she totally threw him shade,” Caleb said, ignoring the rolling of my eyes.

  “Oh yeah? Who was it?”

  “I actually wanted to talk to you about that,” I said, ignoring Caleb. “I’d really like to talk to her again. Her name was Reese.”

  “Reese Tenor?” she asked. “Wow, I didn’t see that coming at all. Reese is an interesting girl, very quirky, but all in all, one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met. We grew up running around the club together while Caleb scouted girls and our fathers had ‘business meetings’ on the golf course or tennis court. We kept each other out of our parents’ hair. Her parents are a lot like mine and Caleb’s. They loved us very much but were too business oriented to show it.”

  “What does she do now?” I asked,

  “Honestly, I don’t know,” she said, smiling as the waitress sat her food in front of her. “I think she started some sort of business. She bought one of the buildings from my father’s firm just a year or so ago.”

  “Do you know if she is seeing anyone?”

  “I talked to her last night about that,” she said. “She’s definitely single, but I can assure you, she is not interested in someone like you.”

  “What does that mean?” I chuckled and sipped my orange juice.

  “She may have come from a rich family and everything, but she is a really down to earth girl,” she explained. “She doesn’t do one-night stands or casual encounters, and she isn’t interested in people’s money. She is a genuine person through and through.”

  “I think it’s safe to say Blaine is interested in a little more than a one-night stand,” Caleb said, teasing me. “He couldn’t sleep last night, thinking about this girl, and he turned down a hot chick at the reception last night.”

  “Wow,” Caroline said, sounding impressed. “Well, I don’t have a problem giving you her number as long as you play nice and don’t get your hopes up. I’m telling you, she is not the kind of girl that goes out to parties, bars, and expensive dinners every night. She made her own way in life trying to prove to her dad that she could, and she is very protective of herself. She always has been.”

  “It’s not like he’s planning on stalking her.” Caleb laughed. “He just wants to get to know her.”

  “Thank you.” I laughed. “I promise that I won’t get my hopes up and that I won’t scare her.”

  “Thank you,” Caroline said, pinching her brother’s arm.

  She gave me Reese’s number, and I put it into my phone, feeling nervous all of a sudden about having to actually call her to talk to her. I was not the kind of guy that got nervous over these things. I was the kind of guy that was confident, headstrong, and not afraid to go out on a limb to get what I wanted. This, however, was throwing me for a loop, and I couldn’t figure out why. She was just a girl, right? I had randomly called girls a million times, and I never gave it two seconds of thought. That also could be because every girl I ever decided to chase was more than willing to be caught.

  I had a seriously competitive nature about me, and when I was told I couldn’t do something or have something that I wanted, it just made me try even harder. I was pretty sure that by Caroline telling me that Reese was not going to be interested in a guy like me, my mind instantly went into overdrive, deciding that not getting the girl was not an option. I also had to remember though, that she was a person and not a play thing, especially if I wanted her to take me seriously at all. There was obviously a reason that I was feeling this way about this girl, and even though I was not looking for anything serious whatsoever, she made me want to not rule it out. Her beautiful smile and sexy body were one thing, but the fact that she was as awkward outwardly as I felt on the inside, I knew that we had more in common than she really knew.

  Now, all I had to do was get up the courage to actually call her and find out just what I needed to do to get this girl in front of me again. I knew with my charm and personality, I could keep her engaged long enough to show her there was more to me than just good looks and money. I could show her that we weren’t as different as she really thought in the first place. I had a mission now, and this girl was not going to get away from me again.

  Chapter 6

  Reese

  When I got to work that Monday, I could barely keep my mind off what happened at the wedding. Blaine was so handsome and so strong, but I had completely panicked and driven off without even a word of explanation. It was pretty rude of me to assume that he was just like every other guy, but how could he not be? He was rich, handsome, and he had the whole world in the palm of his hand. He would never be interested in a girl like me for the long-term. I swore, if it weren’t for the fact that one day I wanted to have children, I would just swear off all men and live alone. I didn’t like when someone got into my head like that, and Blaine was right there, burrowed into my skull.

  “Hello there,” Leena said, coming through the side doors. “How are all my animals? That includes you too, Reese.”

  “Gee, thanks.” I giggled. “And everyone is happy and healthy. I’m really glad we hired that weekend care staff. It’s a load off of my shoulders.”

  “I know, I told you,” she said indignantly. “You need a life. I need a life. We need to not always be at work, and luckily, we’ve gotten to a financial point where we could make that decision. Speaking of weekends, how was the wedding?”

  “Man, it was amazing,” I said, shaking my head. “Caroline really went all out with the thing. I don’t know how she did it. It would have been a full-time job to get that thing together like that.”

  “Must be nice having daddy’s purse strings,” Leena commented. “But that is just my raging jealousy talking. If I were in her position, I would have done the same thing.”

  “There were flowers everywhere, at least three hundred guests, and her dress—oh my god—it must have taken hundreds and hundreds of yards of tulle to make,” I said while filling the jars at the cleaning station. “I don’t even know how she fit through the door.”

  “And the men? Did you meet any amazing ones?”

  “Is that all you think about?” I asked.

  She laughed. “No, but it’s important that my best friend starts to break out and have a good time.”

  “Well, it just so happened that I did meet someone,” I said, sticking my tongue out at her.

  “What? Do tell. Everything. Don’t leave anything out.” Leena pulled up a chair.

  “It wasn’t that exciting,” I said, looking down. “He was charming and sweet, but I knew what he wanted, and it wasn’t what I did.”

  “How did you know?”

  “Well, he didn’t exactly come out and say it, but he’s rich, powerful, and very good friends with Caroline’s brother Caleb, who is a notorious playboy,” I replied. “His name was Blaine, and he asked me for my number, but instead of playing games, I just told him the truth.”

  “Which was?”

  “I wasn’t the girl he was looking for,” I replied, shrugging my shoulders and walking over to put away the supplies. “Why string him along and make him think anything was going to come out of it? I wasn’t going to sleep with him, and he wouldn’t be interested in a normal girl like me.”

  “You are unbelievable,” Leena said, shaking her head and putting the chair back.

  “Why?”

  “You had a handsome, rich man hitting on you, and you blew him off before you even found out what he wanted,” she replied. “For all you know, he could have been Prince Charming, but you’ve got this fear, and I don’t know where it came from.”

  “It came from the fact that all men want the same thing,” I replied harshly. “They are all identical. They want to take whatever they can and leave, and to be honest, that is not at all how I want to play things. I would be much better off being alone than being some sad girl weeping into a pint of ice cream and watching chick flicks when I get dumped for something I already knew was coming.”

  “Or you can be miserable
and alone because you never want to take a chance,” she said. “Honestly, Reese, I just want you to be happy. I want you to be well and settled, and I want you to find love. On top of all that, you shouldn’t have to be a virgin forever.”

  “Well, even if I wanted to find him, even if I could find him, he has probably already forgotten about me,” I said, turning back to what I was doing.

  “If you never take the chance, you will never know,” Leena said, walking from the room.

  I waited until she was out of the room and slammed the papers down on the table, lowering my head. I was so terrified of getting hurt, of being on the giving end of unrequited love, and of falling in love with someone that just took my virginity and never wanted to see me again. I didn’t want to be sad and alone on birthdays, holidays, and parties. I didn’t want to be the girl everyone knows is heartbroken, and the best way to avoid that was to not take chances on men I already knew were after something I was not. Still, Blaine’s ice blue eyes would not leave my mind, and I wondered if somehow maybe, Leena might be right.

  I took a deep breath and put the thought out of my mind. I had a lot of work to get done. There were six dogs being picked up, and I wanted to make sure they were dressed, looking good, and smelling wonderful before their owners arrived. After that, there were four new dogs coming to stay with us for at least a week each, so the pens would have to be cleaned and taken care of. I went to work bathing the dogs and talking to them like they were humans. At least twice, Leena stuck her head in the door and shook it at me, realizing I was using the dogs as therapy again.