Evelyn Vine Be Mine (6 page)

I was obviously on speakerphone because I heard a loud slap and an ‘Oh no! I forgot’ followed by an increase in the volume of Jake’s laughter.

“What are you doing in Sydney?” Mike demanded, “Who are you going with?”

I bit back a sharp retort, knowing that Mike was annoyed I was going somewhere he would consider ‘fun’.

“I’m going to stay with a friend,” I said hurriedly as I noticed we were pulling up outside the airport.

“What friend?” Jake shouted, “A boy friend?”

“No, a female friend,” I corrected, scrambling out of the car after Briar, “I’m at the airport, I have to go. Apologise to Luke for me. Bye!”

I took my suitcase from Donny, pulling out the handle and wheeling it along behind me.

“Another non-boyfriend?” Fredi asked with a grin, after Donny left to buy us drinks.

I blushed and dropped my phone in my haste to shove it back in my bag.

“N-no,” I mumbled, bending to quickly retrieve my phone, “That was my younger brothers, Jake and Mike.”

“Brothers?” Briar asked, looking interested, “Are they hot?”

“Er, I don’t know…I guess,” I said uncomfortably, “They’re still in high school, back home in Darwin. Seniors. They’re only a year younger than me.”

“Twins?” Fredi asked, her eyes lighting up, “I can excuse their age if they’re hot sexy twins!”

“I thought you were a lesbian,” I whispered, my mouth dropping open. Fredi’s mouth clamped shut and she shot a look over at where Donny was lining up at a café.

Briar laughed. “We all known Fredi’s not a lesbian,” she said, rolling her eyes, “Doesn’t stop her from trying to convince us though.”

“I’m not trying to convince you,” Fredi snapped, sending a glare in Donny’s direction.

Briar scowled, sending an entirely different look at Donny. “I know,” she said softly, before turning to me, “So what’s this about sexy twins?”

I sighed as I passed over my suitcase to be checked in. “They’re not twins. They’re triplets. Jake, Mike and Luke.”

“Triplets!” Fredi and Bri squealed together. I rolled my eyes and searched through my phone for a picture. I’d have better ones on my camera or computer, but this would have to do. I found only one picture of the younger triplets on my phone. It was from Christmas last year. Luke and Jake stood on either side of me, each with an arm wrapped around my waist. Mike stood behind me and draped an arm across the front of my shoulders as he rested his chin on top of my head (the triplets were 6’3”). I was wearing a red and white striped dress, and the boys were only wearing denim shorts, with Santa hats on their heads. I looked especially frail surrounded by their muscular Rugby bodies. Withholding a flinch, I passed the phone to Briar.

“Wow,” she breathed, “Yum.”

I wrinkled my nose in disgust. Fredi snatched the phone eagerly, but her face fell in disappointment.

“They’re not identical,” she said with a pout and I couldn’t hold back a small giggle.

“No,” I agreed. None of the multiple births in my family were. My mother’s ovaries just liked throwing out numerous eggs. It didn’t surprise me that her reproductive organs were as unorganised and forgetful as her personality (Mum had a tendency to become lost in whatever book she was writing at the time).

“That one looks a bit like you,” Briar said, pointing at Jake

My eyes widened in surprise and I peeked over Fredi’s shoulder for a look. I’d never noticed before. Jake’s face was always lit with happiness or mischief. His whiskey-coloured eyes, admittedly similar to mine, always sparkled brightly and his hair, similar to mine also, actually looked good with the messy waves. He, like Cooper, wore his hair longer than most of my other brothers (who favoured army-regulation crew cuts) and it had a sort of shaggy-surfer look to it. Luke was blond-haired and blue-eyed like Mum, and Mike was black-haired and brown-eyed like Dad had been.

“Who are they, Evie-baby?” Donny asked from behind us. We all jumped and I let out a high-pitched squeal, before snatching my phone back and clutching my free hand to my pounding heart.

“Aren’t they sexy?” Briar sighed, causing Donny to pout.

“Oh, not nearly as sexy as you though Donny,” Briar purred.

Donny smirked, obviously feeling better now that his ego had been stroked. “So who are they?” he persisted, reaching for his own phone.

I opened my mouth to answer, but Fredi beat me to it. “Oh, just some triplets Evie knows,” she said airily, shooting a smile at Briar.

The airport intercom interrupted our conversation, letting us know that our flight was ready to board. As we walked towards the gate, I noticed Donny rapidly typing away on his phone. Who was he texting? I wondered.

***

We were met at the Sydney airport by a large, black limousine and a horde of journalists that had obviously been waiting for rich kids to return from university. Apparently, Briar and Fredi were big news. They swarmed around us, but Donny pulled us close to him and ushered us toward the limo. I shook slightly, unused to being the centre of attention and having microphones and cameras shoved in my face. Hell, I was always the one behind the camera. Briar laughed at the attention and rolled her eyes, but Fredi scowled. Fredi’s parents were the crème of Sydney society, which probably explained her rebellious fashion sense, choice of life-style and name preference.

“You had to get a limo,” Fredi snapped at Briar, “Very inconspicuous.”

Briar laughed merrily. “Wasn’t me. It’ll be Uncle David being a pompous ass,” she said, “Liam was supposed to pick us up.”

She turned and smiled at me, “Liam is my younger brother. He’s in his last year of high school too.”

She paused and grinned at me, “He looks a lot like my Dad if you’re into younger guys.”

I reddened and shook my head, though I couldn’t deny that the interest was there…anyone who looked like Billy would be hard to resist. We drove out of the city and through the surrounding suburbs, continuing until we reached properties on the outskirts. The properties were large and many housed mansions or farms. We pulled into one of the long driveways and I suddenly lost my breath. We were here. I was here. At Billy Brighton’s house. I started to quietly hyperventilate, hoping no one would notice my anxiety.

Oh man, what do I do?

What should I say?

Holy crap, I’m supposed to interview him!

“You okay?” Briar asked, a look of concern flashing across her usually cheerful features.

I tried to smile convincingly, but gave up. “Just a little nervous,” I whispered.

She rolled her eyes and gave me a hug. “Don’t be. My family is nice.”

I relaxed slightly as the limo came to a stop and the driver opened our door. I was the last to leave the car, but I froze halfway out of the door as Fredi suddenly said, “Oh look, Stone’s here.”

My eyes widened in horror and I dropped back into my seat, my anxiety returning full force.

“GG!” I heard Briar yell with a giggle, “Where’s Wendy?”

“Bri!” I heard a young girl shout. I tried to peak around the door, to see what was going on, but a tall, attractive guy ducked his head in to smile at me.

“You going to come out and join us?” he asked with a grin. Oh my, it was a bloody gorgeous grin. For a moment I nearly fainted, thinking it was Billy himself as I gazed up into familiar emerald-green eyes and strong, Irish features. His short black hair didn’t show any signs of grey though, and his face was much too boyish. Then there were those dimples. Billy didn’t have those sexy, adorable dimples. Liam.

I blushed as I realised I’d been staring and his grin turned wicked. I hurriedly accepted his hand and let him help me from the car. As soon as I was out, I dropped his hand as if it was diseased and backed up. Liam looked amused and for a moment I thought he was going to advance toward me, following my nervous retreat. Something changed in his expression though and I found out why moments later, when I backed right into a wall. No, not a wall. Stone.

I timidly glanced up at him, wondering why he hadn’t let me go, but he wasn’t looking at me. He was looking at Liam, an indefinable expression on his face. I looked back at Liam, who seemed to be staring back at Stone, a serious expression on his own face as his eyes flickered over Stone’s. Suddenly, he grinned, his dimples flashing, but this time it wasn’t cute. It was a blatantly male challenge. Just what the challenge was, I couldn’t decipher. His green eyes dropped to mine and his smile grew even further.

“You must be Evie,” he said slowly, running his eyes over my body. He turned and flashed a grin at Donny, “You’re right. She is too cute for words.”

I got the feeling they weren’t using ‘cute’ like girls used it to describe attractive boys. I fidgeted in my fluffy black boots and hugged my fluffy black hooded jacket closer around my skinny form as I shivered.

“Are you cold dear?” came a soft, feminine voice from beside me. I glanced down to see a small woman with dark-blond hair standing next to me. She was tiny. Maybe 5 foot at best. Fine boned as well. She smiled at me so warmly that I couldn’t help but smile back. I nodded slowly and couldn’t help leaning back slightly into Stone’s heat.

The small woman gave Stone a sound whack on the thigh and my eyes flew wide.

“Grant!” she admonished, very voice still soft and warm despite her reprimand, “Didn’t I teach you better than to let a lady stand out in the cold?”

He scowled down at her, as if affronted she would doubt his chivalry. I glanced between the two of them and my mouth dropped in shock. This must be his mother! I glanced between them again, taking in the twenty inch difference in their height, the massiveness of Stone’s form…and the delicateness of his mother’s. Oh god, you poor woman! I thought with a shudder. The very thought of being that tiny and giving birth to someone like Stone made me want to give up sex for ever…well, almost.

“Don’t you scowl at me young man,” she said, poking him hard in the arm. He didn’t even flinch. His scowl dropped though and he bent nearly in half to drop a kiss on top of her head. He grabbed my hand and started dragging me toward the large, but homey looking house. He barged roughly into Liam as we passed, but Liam just laughed and followed.

I tried to ignore the warmth that spread from his hand to mine…then through my blood to other, more private parts. It didn’t work. His rough, huge hand swallowed mine and held it prisoner. I tried to withdraw my hand, but his grip tightened, not letting go until we’d reached the crowd of people at the front door.

“I’m Amelia Brooks, by the way dear,” his mother said, smiling at me fondly, “I’m Grant’s mother, as you might have guessed.

Grant, I whispered in my head, shooting a glance up at his impassive face. I wouldn’t have picked it myself, but it somehow suited him.

“This is my husband Danny,” she said, indicating to an average height man who was leaning against the wall of the house, “And this is our daughter Wendy.” A small, dark-blonde girl waved at me from Briar’s arms. She looked to be about nine or ten. She was the cutest little girl I’d ever seen and I couldn’t help but grin openly back at her.

“Now there’s a pretty smile,” Donny said with a chuckle, wrapping me in a hug and making me flustered, “Where’s that been hiding?”

I didn’t answer. I pushed away from him and shot a tentative smile at the rest of the crowd. My smile grew stiff when I saw him and my heart began fluttering in its excitement. Billy Brighton stood in the doorway, surveying the scene before him with a heart-stopping smile. His arm was around a small, curvy woman that I knew to be Phillipa, Briar’s mother. She had the same wild, blonde curls as Briar, and when she smiled at me, I could see where Liam and Briar’s dimpled grin came from.

“You must be Evie,” she greeted me happily, “Briar’s told us all about you.”

I gulped nervously, wondering what had been said. I flicked a worried glance at Bri, but she shook her head with a laugh.

“Nothing bad, Evie. I promise,” she said, her wide grin not reassuring me any.

“I’m Billy,” my idol said, extending a hand forward.

I ‘eeped’ quietly, but took a deep breath and shook his hand firmly. “Nice to meet you sir,” I said in a low, deceptively calm voice.

He chuckled and stood back to make room. “Come on inside, Evie,” he said, “It’s cold out.”

Stone pushed me through the door and walked in behind me, the rest of the group following after us as Stone steered me toward the lounge room. As soon as we were settled though, Stone and his step-father (at least, I presumed he was a step-dad) stood up.