StepBrother: New Rules (Stepbrother Romance)

by King, Jayna

  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.

  Chapter Two

  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 bac
k 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.

  “I just don’t want to be standing here naked if you still have all your clothes on.” She hooked her fingers through his belt loops and pulled his hips toward hers. “Take me to bed,” she whispered.

  He picked her up, and she wrapped her legs around him, kissing him as he managed to turn off the living room light and take her down the hall to her bedroom.

  ***

  When Evelyn opened her eyes, she was surprised to see the bright sunshine filtering through the curtains in her bedroom. A slow smile crept across her face as she remembered the amazing sex she and William had shared the night before. Thinking a little wake-up sex was just the thing to start the weekend off right, she rolled over, disappointed to discover William was gone. He’d picked up his jeans from her bedroom floor, but his T-shirt was still draped over her desk.

  Realizing she smelled coffee, Evelyn crawled out of bed, pulling on a clean pair of underwear and William’s shirt. By the time she was walking down the hallway toward the kitchen, she could smell bacon cooking.

  “Oh, my God, that smells amazing.” Hand out for a cup of coffee as she walked into the kitchen, Evelyn stopped in her tracks as she found herself face-to-face with her mother and Malcolm. She couldn’t even meet William’s eyes when he handed her a cup of coffee.

  “I was just telling Ella and Dad that I’d fallen asleep on the couch after we watched a movie.” William’s expression was impossible for Evelyn to interpret.

  Ella intercepted the coffee. “Don’t you think you should put some clothes on since we have guests?”

  Evelyn turned, face on fire, and left the room. She returned in time to retrieve her still-hot coffee, attired in much more modest clothing.

  “So, I wasn’t expecting to see you this early, Mom. I figured you’d have big plans for your day off.” Evelyn decided to simply act as if nothing had happened.

  “In fact, I do have big plans,” Ella said, with a sidelong glance at Malcolm. “We both wanted to talk to the two of you, so it’s actually convenient that William just happened to be here.”

  Evelyn decided that Ella was definitely suspicious about William’s presence there, but Evelyn suspected she wouldn’t ask, at least not in front of the two men.

  “What’s up?” William asked. “Anyone hungry?”

  “‘What’s up’ is that Ella and I would like to talk to the both of you, and it’s an important conversation. Why don’t we have a seat.” Malcolm, though he was casually attired for the weekend, still looked like he was all business.

  “The frittata’s nearly ready. I made enough for four.”

  Ella smiled. “I’m starving, and that looks delicious. I’d love a slice.”

  Malcolm’s smile looked tight, forced. “I suppose our conversation will have to wait, then. Tell us about your latest creation in the kitchen.”

  William brightened at his father’s inquiry. “It’s just a simple frittata with eggs, bacon, red peppers, spinach, and a little goat cheese.”

  Ella looked from William to Evelyn and back again. “I know you didn’t find those things in our refrigerator.”

  “Nah, Evelyn wasn’t up yet, so I ran out to the store. I was hungry, and she’d mentioned going to the gym later. You need fuel before a workout.”

  “Is it finished yet?” Malcolm’s impatience was palpable.

  William slid four perfect slices onto the waiting plates. “At your service, master,” he joked.

  His father didn’t respond, but simply picked up his plate, fork, and coffee and headed for the dining room

  Evelyn drank half of her coffee and topped the cup off, trying to catch William’s eye before they all walked into the dining room. William had mentioned several times that he thought they should tell their parents about their clandestine romance, but her effort to change the subject yet again last night had been a little less successful. She hoped he wasn’t really pissed at her, but she knew his father was getting under his skin. Scenes like this one were precisely why she didn’t want to spill her guts to Ella. She knew—from seeing the effects on William—how much a parent’s disapproval could hurt.

  The last to enter the dining room, Evelyn looked at her mother and Malcolm, sitting side-by-side in precisely the same position. They really were two peas in a pod—both with erect posture and hands neatly folded on the table. It looked like both were prepared for an important meeting. Evelyn took her seat, finally making eye contact with William. He shrugged, indicating he was as puzzled as she.

  “You both know that Ella and I have been seeing one another casually for quite some time.” Malcolm’s speech had clearly been rehearsed.

  Ella picked up where he’d left off. “And though we had to conceal our relationship from the hotel’s management while we both worked in the Hillford, now that Malcolm has gotten his well-deserved promotion at the Lakeland, we are able to be together publicly.”

  Malcolm reached for Ella’s hand, and though the conversation certainly seemed scripted, the smile the couple shared certainly looked genuine.

  He took over. “As we’ve spent more time together, we’ve decided the time has come to make things official. I’ve asked Ella to marry me, and she has graciously consented.”

  Evelyn felt her eyes go wide. Her face flushed, and she didn’t hear the rest of what Malcolm was saying. She stared at her coffee cup, afraid to make eye contact with anyone at the table, afraid they’d all be able to read her thoughts. If Malcolm ma
rried her mother, then William would be her… She couldn’t even think the word.

  She snapped out of her thoughts when William touched her on the arm.

  “What?” she asked. “I didn’t hear what you said.”

  “I said that’s wonderful news. Isn’t it?”

  Evelyn forced her turmoil to the back of her mind. “Yes. Congratulations to you both.”

  Ella smiled at her daughter. “Since this isn’t exactly our first wedding, Malcolm and I have decided to keep things small. We want you both to stand up for us, and we’ve decided we’ll get married by Malcolm’s brother and invite just a few close friends and family. Can you both arrange to be there a week from this Friday?”

  “What?” Evelyn felt panicked. “You mean like in less than two weeks?”

  “We see no reason to wait.” Malcolm covered Ella’s hand with his. “I’ve spent long enough waiting to be with your mother. Will, you can certainly get off work, right?”

  “I think we have several big parties that weekend, and I’ll have to make sure they can spare me in the kitchen.”

  “Oh, come on,” Malcolm said, dismissing William’s concern with a wave of his hand. “When you get a real job, this restaurant phase won’t really matter, will it? This is your father’s wedding, after all.”

  William stood up and answered, his rigid posture revealing the depth of his frustration. “I’ll see what I can do, Dad.”

  “If only you’d devote yourself to a real career, you’d have a bright future, Will. You know I only want what’s best for you.”

  William left the room, and Evelyn stared at the table, finding it hard to wrap her head around her mother’s news.

  “Isn’t it exciting?” Ella asked her.

  “I’m just surprised,” Evelyn answered. “Where are you going to live?”

  “We’ve decided that it makes more sense for us to live here. After all, we have an extra bedroom, so William can move in if he wants to, and Malcolm’s place is much further away from the Hillford.”