by J. L. Leslie
“You do realize how much you had to drink, right?” I ask.
“I’m a big girl, Brady.”
“Sit. Let me make you a sandwich first. Have the bread soak up some of the alcohol, and then I’ll follow you.”
I watch her sit before I head to the kitchen. I throw together a ham sandwich and grab a soda from the fridge. When I emerge, she’s taken her shoes off, and she’s rubbing her feet.
I put the food and drink in front of her, pulling up a chair. I grab one of her ankles and pull her foot into my lap. She lets out a moan as I start massaging her foot.
“Keep making those sounds, and I can’t be held responsible for my actions.”
Her cheeks heat red, but she stops the moaning. I’m only slightly disappointed. All she has to do is say the word, and I will bend her ass over this table and sink inside her.
“You are a playboy, aren’t you, Brady?”
If she only knew.
Chapter Six
Lillian
I hop out of the shower in the bathroom of my small room and head out to grab some clothes, ignoring the way the dolls on the shelves all seem to be staring at me. I quickly get dressed, and despite how much my feet were hurting last night, I slip on the heels.
I wonder if Brady offers nightly foot massages? I giggle out loud at the thought. A nightly foot massage from him would no doubt turn into something more, and I have no intention of winding up barefoot and pregnant in Hollis.
I may not have any idea of what I’m going to do with my life, but that is not it. When I dropped out of medical school, I moved right back in with my parents. I was so grateful to my parents for letting me move back in without lecturing me and making me feel like a failure for leaving school. They have always been supportive, incredible parents to me.
Unfortunately, my grandmother is in failing health, and my father told me she would be moving in, too. It’s not that our house isn’t large enough. We do have the space, but my grandmother isn’t well enough to stay in one of our upstairs bedrooms.
I was cleaning out my father’s den to make room for my grandmother, and I found adoption papers along with a returned letter my mother sent to Elizabeth Steele. They never said a word to me. All these years, I had no idea I was adopted. That my real parents were Stanton and Elizabeth Steele. That I had three brothers.
I had known the Steeles for most of my life. They are my biological parents. I’d been to their house, been to their hosted events. Neither of them said a word to me either. Neither of them behaved as though I was their daughter.
Instead of confronting my parents immediately, I decided to sit with it for a bit. I needed to clear my head and really try to process it. I was adopted. After a few days, I realized that they didn’t tell me because it didn’t matter to them. I was their daughter in their eyes, and that’s all that mattered.
The curious side of me is dying to know every detail. Why adopt in the first place? Did they try for years only to be denied having a child of their own? What if adopting me was their miracle? I don’t want to bring up a painful past to two people who have done nothing but be there for me and care for me.
My anger and confusion actually lies with the Steeles. Why would they give me up when they have other children? Everything has run through my head, but I have no clue. I do know that I was in Keegan’s class in school. We are the same age. That leaves me to believe the only logical answer is that he’s my twin. I don’t see the similarities other than our hair and eye color. I do favor Elizabeth Stanton, though.
It’s still hard for me to process that I have brothers that I’ve known of but never really gotten to know. I was barely around Madden last night, but he seems so much more laid back than the picture I had of him in my mind.
I’m still not sure how I’m going to tell them about any of this. How do you tell three adult men that you’re their biological sister? That you were given up at birth and neither of our parents thought it would be a good idea to tell any of us?
A week after I found out the truth, I saw a news article about the Steele brothers opening up a hardware store in a tiny little town south of Dallas. It was the talk all over Dallas because it’s their business venture outside of Steele Industries. I had to take the chance to get to know my brothers without our parents around.
As far as I know, we were all left in the dark by them. I had some strange fantasy about us working together to discover the whole truth. Now, they just think I’m a drifter passing through town. I’ll tell them eventually.
I put in a pair of diamond earrings that my father gave me for my eighteenth birthday and stare at them in the mirror. Maybe they aren’t the best statement. I look down at the outfit I chose to wear. A silk blouse paired with a black knee-length skirt. I really stick out here. I should have bought some more sensible clothes for this trip. Maybe Jade can point me in the right direction.
Since all of my clothes are like this, I grab my keys and leave the motel before driving to the bar, hating that I’m stuck in these heels yet again.
When I get there, it’s almost five, and I see a lot of cars and trucks parked out front. Not as many as there was yesterday, but it’s still pretty busy. I walk inside and see Jade talking to a woman our age with dark red hair behind the bar.
I walk over to them, and Jade beams over at me. “You came back!”
I can’t help but laugh at her excitement. “Of course. I figured I could shadow you again. Get a little more experience in until I’m officially on the clock, if that’s all right.”
“Absolutely.” She gestures to the woman next to her. “This is Casey, the other waitress I was telling you about. Casey, this is Lillian.”
The girl smiles over at me, studying me. “It’s about time Jack hired someone else, but, honey, those heels just won’t do.”
“I was going to ask if there’s anywhere I can get some clothes around here.”
“Unfortunately, no,” Jade answers. “But I don’t live far from here, and you look about my size. We can run and grab you a few things before we get busy.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“Let her,” Casey says. “She’s pulling a double shift and just using this as an excuse to take a break.”
Jade grins and wraps her arm in mine, pulling me toward the door. She hollers over to Casey that we’ll be right back. She points to her car, and I get in the passenger side.
“Is she going to be all right alone?”
“Oh yeah. She can handle the place just fine. Supper crowd won’t be there for another hour. We definitely have to be back by then, though.”
“It sounds like there’s a particular reason for that.”
“Her ex, Caleb, will be there. I always do my best to keep them apart. Sometimes, it’s impossible, but if I’m working, no point in making her serve him.”
“Understood.”
“I do have good news, though. Jack gave Brady the go-ahead on refurbishing the apartment above the bar. He started on it this afternoon, and it should be ready in no time.”
“That’s great! I can get away from those creepy dolls at the B&B.”
“Don’t you mean, Mrs. Warner’s children?” she teases, and I shudder.
It only takes a few minutes for us to arrive at her place. She unlocks the door and welcomes me inside. It’s a small place, but it’s comfortable. Pictures of Jade and Madden adorn the wall and entertainment center.
“Brady said you and Madden live here together.”
“He did? Well, I mean we do.”
I follow her back to their bedroom, only feeling a little strange to be in my brother’s house while still keeping this secret from him. Jade starts rummaging in her closet, tossing a few things out onto the bed.
“Look, Brady’s a great guy, but I can tell you from experience, he’ll break your heart if you aren’t careful.”
“Oh, um, I’m not interested in Brady.”
She hands me a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, giving me this lo
ok like she absolutely does not believe a word I just said.
“Yeah, and neither is any other woman in this town.”
Chapter Seven
Brady
I’m mid-bite on my burger when Lilly and Jade walk into Jack’s. She’s different, so fucking different. I have to say; I like the new look on her. The jeans she’s wearing have a rip in the knee, and the T-shirt makes her tits appear twice as big compared to the way they looked in that expensive blouse she had on yesterday.
She catches me staring and arches a perfect eyebrow at me, her fucking red lips curving into a smile. I call that flirting 101.
“What happened to you last night?”
I cough a little, my burger going down the wrong pipe. I drink some tea and swallow it down.
Kelly Harden. My somewhat girlfriend. Okay...she’s not my girlfriend, but we have been fucking for quite some time. She likes to consider herself my girlfriend, despite how often I tell her it’s not serious and not to call me her boyfriend. If it wasn’t for her, things with Jade and I might have turned out differently. Who am I kidding? She wasn’t the only female to get in the way of what Jade and I had going.
I take another bite of my burger and cock my eyebrow up at her. She looks angry, but I know that won’t last. It never does. She can’t stay mad at me.
“You were supposed to come over. I waited up for you,” she complains.
“I got busy,” I answer, although I feel absolutely no need to explain to her why I didn’t show.
Kelly pulls up an empty chair from the table beside us and nudges Tate so he’ll make room. She sits so close, I barely have room to eat. I hear Tate grumble that she’s “crowding” him, but she doesn’t pay him any mind. Instead, she grabs a French fry off my plate, slathers it in ketchup, and eats it.
“What about tonight?” Told you. Her anger is already gone.
“He’s busy tonight,” Caleb interrupts, and Kelly glares in his direction. “You need to give him some damn breathing room, Kells. The man can’t fart without you being there to smell it.”
I laugh at Caleb’s crude remark, but Kelly doesn’t find it funny at all. She throws a fry at him across the table. He throws one back, and I think for a minute that they’re going to have an all-out food fight. I wouldn’t put it past Caleb.
“Enough!” I stop them. “Fucking childish bullshit,” I grumble and then feel guilty when I see tears well in Kelly’s eyes.
One thing I can’t handle is seeing a woman cry. I saw my mom do that enough in the past to last me a lifetime.
“I’ll try to come see you later,” I concede, and Kelly shoots Caleb a triumphant smirk.
“Refills?”
I look up, and Lilly leans behind Kelly to refill my tea. There’s no room between the two of us for her to squeeze in. If she’s bothered by mine and Kelly’s closeness, she doesn’t show it. Then again, why would she be jealous?
“Thanks, Lilly, and can you bring me one to go?”
“Sure,” she smiles, letting me call her Lilly, and everyone else asks for the same. I’m ready to get out of here and try to find out from Caleb exactly what my plans for the night are. I see Casey glaring at him from behind the bar where she is picking up an order. Caleb’s eyes are on her. I wish they would just make up before they kill each other. Since I don’t see that happening anytime soon, I have to get him the hell out of here and away from the bar. He’s actually sober right now.
Jade and Lilly bring our to-go drinks, and I stand up to take mine from Lilly. As if staking her claim, Kelly pulls my head toward her and smashes her lips against mine.
“I’ll see you later,” she grins and saunters past Lilly.
I glance back at Lilly and hope to see some kind of reaction. I’m not sure why, but I want her to be bothered. Want her to be jealous.
She appears completely unaffected, and damn it, this bothers me. I want her to be jealous. Want her to be annoyed.
Fuck, I want her to be affected by me the way I am by her.
Chapter Eight
Lillian
I peek out from beneath the sheets and groan at the eyes on me. Those damn dolls. Jade said it wouldn’t be long before Brady has the apartment above the bar finished. The sooner I can move in there, the better.
I get up, shower, and get dressed in some of the clothes Jade loaned me. We are close to being the same size, but I’m a bit thicker than Jade. Her jeans are a tad snug on me but more comfortable than what I was wearing, especially the cowgirl boots.
Once dressed, I head into town. I stop at the hardware store first, using the excuse that I want to check out the jewelry display when I really want to see if any of my brothers are around. No such luck.
I figure I might find them at Jack’s since that seems to be a popular place in Hollis. The place is pretty empty when I get there. I don’t even see Jade or Casey there. I call out for them and hear a voice yell from upstairs. I climb the steps and find Brady. He has his shirt off, music playing quietly from a nearby radio, and is painting the walls.
“Sorry, I’ll head back down.”
“You’re good. It’s going to be your apartment, from what I hear. This color all right with you?” he asks, turning to face me.
I swallow at the sight of his bare chest, rippled abs. He has a light sheen of sweat on him and uses the back of his hand to wipe his forehead.
“No air conditioning up here, but I’ll fix that. You should be able to move in tomorrow. Maybe this afternoon.”
“Really?”
He shrugs like it’s no big deal. “Yep.”
“That is amazing! No more dolls!”
I’m so overwhelmed with excitement that I cross the room and give him a hug. He seems stunned, shocked, but his free arm goes around my waist. I start to back away, but his hand stays at my hips.
The only indication he gives that he’s about to kiss me is this slight digging of his fingertips into my side. Then, his lips are on mine. The paint roller bangs to the floor as his other arm goes around me, tugging my body against him. My head spins, the heat from the kiss making me lightheaded. I put my hands on his chest and push him away.
“Wait, wait, wait. You have a girlfriend.”
“No, I don’t.”
He leans in again, but I disentangle myself and step away. “I saw you with her.”
“Well, I’m sorry you had to see me with Kelly like that, but she isn’t my girlfriend.”
Kelly? That poor thing clearly wanted me to know that he was hers. She wanted everyone in the bar to know that he’s hers, most of all Brady.
“Brady, it’s really not my business, but I’m not into messing up relationships.”
Now he cocks an eyebrow at me, studying me closely. Of course, there is a small part of me that envies her, getting to explore that rock-hard body all the time. Another part of me pities her since her boyfriend clearly isn’t as devoted to her as she is to him.
“Right. Relationships.” Brady looks slightly irritated when he says that.
I give him another sweet smile. “But your girlfriend seems really sweet, although clearly starved for attention.”
He scoffs at that. “She is not my girlfriend.”
I roll my eyes. “You don’t have to lie to me.”
“I’m not lying, Lilly. We fool around, but that’s as far as it goes. There is no relationship, and I’ve made that very clear. I don’t fucking do relationships.”
And there it is. What I knew about him all along. His major red flag. I hear the ding of the bell on the door from downstairs and assume either Jade or Casey have arrived.
“Well, thanks for working on the apartment. It looks great.”
He nods his head at me, picking up that we’re done talking about this. That we’re done, period.
“No problem, Lilly. Let me know if you need any help moving in.”
“Thank you, but I won’t need any help.”
I head down the stairs and see both Jade and Casey look up at me. They give me a
suspicious look, probably wondering why I was upstairs with Brady.
“I was checking out the apartment,” I explain.
“Just glad you haven’t quit already,” Casey mumbles.
“Everyone jokes about that quite a bit. What exactly happened to the waitresses before me?”
Casey and Jade share a look before Casey answers. “Well, it’s just been Jade and me for quite a while working the night shift. When we decided to take college courses in Redbud, Jack knew he needed to hire a new waitress to help cover. One was still in high school and decided she didn’t want to work nights or weekends. Kind of eliminated any shift she would be able to actually work.”
Jade laughs, nodding. “That girl did nothing but play with her phone and bitch that we didn’t have Wi-Fi at the bar. I mean, it’s Hollis. We barely have Wi-Fi at all.”
I smile at that because I’ve experienced the lagging Wi-Fi at the B&B and had to resort to watching re-runs of old black and white television shows.
“So, no one wants to work here?” I ask. “It seems like a pretty fun place to work, actually.”
Casey rolls her eyes. “It’s not bad, but when you shit where you eat...” she says, her voice trailing off. “Well, after that one, Jack hired a chick that had just graduated from high school. She was all right, but my asshole ex-boyfriend decided he just had to bang her. Pretty sure the construction crew has a bet going to screw any new meat in town. ”
Jade stiffens. “I don’t know, Casey. You know Caleb is kind of hooking up with everyone right now.”
“And that’s the problem. Anyway, Lillian, steer clear of that group of guys. They’re bad news.”
I give her a nod, wondering if this is why that particular group has been overly nice to me, almost flirty. They’re honestly all hot as hell, even though I have to admit I find Brady the most attractive.
I don’t know that I buy the whole bet they have going or if Casey is just jealous that her ex hooked up with someone else. But it would definitely explain their behavior, which is kind of frustrating. If it’s true, I don’t know if Brady is flirting with me because he likes me or if he’s simply trying to win some bet against his friends.