ROMANCE: Mason (Bad Boy Alpha Male Stepbrother Romance Boxset) (New Adult Contemporary Stepbrother Romance Collection) (267 page)

Stephanie scoffed, “He seemed to get along just fine before us. I think he’ll be alright for one night.”

“Stephanie, what has gotten into you?” Dianne scolded, “You could at least feign support.”

“You taught me not to lie.”

“I also taught you manners,” her mother snapped. “Now, you either tell me what’s bothering you and we can talk or you start acting properly and come tonight for Joseph and I. Either way you stop this rudeness and show me some semblance of respect, because I don’t deserve this, alright?”

Stephanie sighed, running a hand over her face and trying to get her wits about her. She hated upsetting her mom; no matter how old she was it always managed to nag at her until she made it right. “Fine, I’m sorry; I’ll be there tonight, but I have to go; I’ll see you later.”

“Alright sweetheart,” Dianne sighed, “Remember, I’m always here to talk; I hope you feel better.”

She smiled, “Thanks mom, I’ll try.”

And with that she hung up, rubbing her forehead and trying not to scream from the stress of it all. The last thing she wanted was to see Jeffrey at a fundraiser that night. But, as it seemed, she didn’t really have a choice.

-x-x-x-

“The best revenge is looking hot,” Jillian said.

Stephanie had her on speaker as she scoured her wardrobe in an attempt to find something suitable to wear for the night.

“Just make sure you don’t wear that green dress,” Jillian added. “With you hair you’ll look like a walking Christmas decoration.”

“Thanks Jill,” Stephanie said dryly, putting down that very same green dress that she had been considering. “Now, do you have any helpful suggestions or are you planning to continue telling me what not to wear.”

“Hey, a true friend tells you when you’re not looking your best; I’m just trying to save you from a fashion fiasco. It’s my duty.”

“Yes well, your packaging of it could use some work,” Stephanie muttered, setting down three of her dresses on her bed.

“What about that red dress, the one with the peekaboo hole in the front.”

“I ripped it two months ago; I haven’t got around to sewing it but I don’t want to do it tonight.”

“Okay, then how about that black dress, the long one. I was with you and your mom when you first bought it with the money Joseph gave you for your new fancy clothing budget, and you haven’t worn it yet.”

Stephanie bit her lip, walking over to the closet and pulling it out skeptically. “I don’t know, don’t you think it’s a bit much?”

“No, I think it looks hot. Just the kind of thing you need to make Jeffrey regret even looking at the bimbo from the other night.”

“I doubt she was a bimbo.”

“Yep, that’s another one of my best friend duties right there,” Jillian said, the smile clear in her voice, “being blunt when you’re too concerned with being nice and giving people the benefit of the doubt.”

“I’m just saying-”

“Nope, not anymore. No just saying. No more Ms. Nice Stephanie. You know, since your mom started seeing this Joseph guy, you’ve lost your edge. But they’re married now; it’s time for you to get it back. Where’s the stubborn Stephanie that tied herself to the tree in the park we used to visit to stop them from tearing it down to build some ridiculous building. Where’s the Stephanie that snuck us into the principal’s office to steal back our phones after Ms. Abernathy took them from us unjustly.”

“She had it out for us,” Stephanie said, smiling at the memory. “We didn’t do anything, she was just being a bitch and showing us she was in control.”

“Exactly; it’s that kind of Robin Hood mentality that I’ve missed. Now, that girl was a bimbo, and Jeffrey is a jackass. It’s time that you show him what he’s missing out on.”

“I don’t know-”

“No, you do know. You know I’m right, I mean, when am I not?”

“Well, there was that time on the road trip to-”

“Okay, okay. So I’ve been wrong a couple of times, so sue me. But I’m definitely not wrong about this. Wear that dress. Go and get all dolled up and make yourself look like the sexy vixen that you are. Better yet, look like Ariel, the R-rated version without the tail.”

“You’re ridiculous,” Stephanie said around a laugh. “But fine, I’ll wear the dress; I just hope that you’re right about this one, alright.”

“Trust me, I’m right,” Jillian said. “Now, go on and have a great night; call me and tell me all the details when you get back. I can’t wait to hear all about Jeffrey’s mouth hitting the floor when he sees you.”

“Okay, I’ll call you later.”

“Alright, talk to you later.”

-x-x-x-

Stephanie was nervous. Joseph’s driver had picked her up at her apartment, and she was on her way to the event. The driver had been a bit stunned when he first saw her. His mouth had hung open just a little and he had been a bit clumsy to open the door, still staring at Stephanie. She had smiled at that, flattered. His reaction had given her a tiny boost of confidence that she was now clinging on to for dear life to ensure that she could walk in there.

The dress she had on was daring, to say the least. It was a floor-length black gown that hugged every inch of her body. There was a plunging leg slit that ran up to her waist which was dangerously close to revealing her undergarments, and was paired with elegant black heels. The dress’ neckline plunged to just above her navel, and the back was cut out so that the fabric rested just above her buttocks. Her hair was curled and pulled over to one shoulder, and her lips were painted a daring red that she hadn’t worn in quite a while. She wore a modest pair of diamond earrings that her father had given her; they were fake, but he had put so much thought into the gift that she was proud to wear them. Besides, they looked brilliant with her outfit and gave her an extra bit of comfort. She would make quite the contrast with Jeffrey if he showed up in his usual jeans and leather jacket. She frowned to herself, she had forgotten to bring it, she’d have to mail it to him.

Finally, the car pulled to a stop outside of a hotel, very similar to the hotel that housed the previous fundraiser. The chauffeur opened the door for Stephanie a few moments later, offering her a hand to help her out of the car. She smiled in thanks, getting out and taking a deep breath of the cool night air as she took in her surroundings.

From the sound of everything, Joseph had arranged for her to arrive fashionably late. She just hoped that she wouldn’t catch anyone’s attention when she entered. To her regret, it was just the opposite. As soon as she stepped into the room, all eyes turned to her. She endured a minute of stares, a few wolf whistles, and some pointed fingers until she spotted her mother and Joseph and walked over to them as quickly as possible.

“Glad you could make it,” Joseph said, kindly pulling her into a light hug, “and might I add, you look lovely. You certainly take after your mother.”

Dianne smiled. “Good to see you baby.”

“Yeah,” Stephanie smiled, as eloquent as ever.

“Oh, and you owe me five bucks,” Dianne added, looking at Joseph.

“A deal’s a deal.” Joseph smiled, kissing his wife on the cheek and reaching into his pocket for his wallet, taking out five dollars and handing it to Stephanie’s mother.

“Five dollars for what?” Stephanie asked, curious.

Joseph rubbed the back of his head, chagrinned. “I bet your mother that Jeffrey would arrive before you. I even sent his driver to pick him up earlier. And still, no Jeffrey.”

Stephanie chuckled, a bit of an edge to it at the mention of Jeffrey. “Mom, I’m surprised at you. You should have bet more money since you knew it was a sure thing.”

Dianne smiled. “True, but, I thought I’d let him keep his dignity. At least now he knows that I don’t make bets unless it’s a sure thing.”

“Lesson learned.” Joseph smiled, putting an arm around his wife and pulling her close. “Ah, now we have the man I’ve been waiting for,” Joseph said, motioning to something behind Stephanie.

She turned, trying to hide her frown of distaste at the sight of an approaching Jeffrey.

“Sorry I’m late father; I couldn’t decide what to wear,” he grinned, hugging his father and kissing Dianne on the cheek.

“Yes, I’m sure it was quite difficult choosing between your three pairs of dark jeans and four black t-shirts. However, I do applaud you on the new leather jacket. The gold buttons are lovely.” Dianne grinned.

“Thank you, but not as lovely as the vision that your daughter is,” Jeffrey said, giving a bright smile to Stephanie.

Stephanie rolled her eyes. “I’m feeling a bit hungry; I think I’m going to go find something to eat,” she said, pushing past Jeffrey and heading over to one of the walking waiters to find something to eat.

A few seconds later she was accepting a flute of champagne and a crab cake from a nice female waiter, taking a sip to calm her nerves before taking a bite of the crab cake. She groaned; it tasted amazing. If she could say anything with certainty about Joseph, it was that he had excellent taste in food. She quickly devoured the rest of it, wondering if she could perhaps sneak away with a plate and ask the driver to take her back to her apartment since she had already made an appearance.

“Stephanie.”

She turned, eyes narrowing as Jeffrey approached her cautiously. She glanced down at her glass, wondering if it would create too big of a scene if she threw her drink on him.

“I told your dad that I’d be here tonight, and I plan on keeping that promise. However, I can’t do that unless you stay away.”

“Steph-”

“What do you want Jeffrey?” she hissed, trying not to raise her voice and attract the attention of the people nearby.

“To talk.”

“We went over this at my apartment; I have nothing to say to you and I certainly don’t want to listen to whatever it is that you think I need to hear.”

“Look,” Jeffrey said, taking a step closer, “can we just go somewhere private and sort this out? Just give me ten minutes, and I promise, if you still hate me then I’ll stop trying and you won’t have to deal with me anymore.”

“Okay,” Stephanie said, “ten minutes. And, if you manage to piss me off, which is likely, and I don’t like what you have to say, which is also likely, I’m donating your leather jacket to charity. I’ll probably have to scrape the scum you left behind off of it but I can always get it dry cleaned.”

“That’s my favorite jacket!” Jeffrey protested.

Stephanie raised an eyebrow, daring him to complain again.

“But-”

“Are you sure you still want to talk to me?”

Jeffrey pursed his lips, clearly still wanting to argue for the fate of his jacket but thinking better of it. “Of course I am,” he said instead, “there’s nothing I’d rather be doing.”

Stephanie rolled her eyes, finishing off the rest of her flute and turning to leave the ballroom. Jeffrey quickly followed, placing a hand on the small of her back only to have it viciously swatted away and his toe violently stomped on in one fluid motion.

“Consider that a warning,” Stephanie said darkly, turning away and quickly walking towards the open doorway.

Grimacing, Jeffrey hobbled after her.

“Where did you want to go for this ‘private’ talk?” Stephanie asked once they had reached the lobby of the hotel.

“This way,” Jeffrey said, nodding down the hallway and motioning for Stephanie to follow him.

After walking for a few feet they came to rest in front of the doors to one of the conference rooms, Jeffrey opening the door and motioning for Stephanie to go in before him.

Stephanie restrained herself from saying anything at his clear attempt to show how chivalrous he could be and walked to the head of the table, sitting down in the large chair and looking at Jeffrey expectantly.

Jeffrey looked to the opposite end of the table, wondering if he should sit there and look across at her, but then decided that that was too far and decided to sit in the much smaller seat next to her.

“Okay,” Stephanie said, pulling out her phone and punching in the passcode, “your ten minutes start now.”

She set her phone on the table, pressing the ‘start’ button on the timer she had pulled up to begin the countdown.

Jeffrey frowned, when he had said ten minutes he didn’t think that Stephanie would have been so strict on the parameters but supposed that he should have known better.

“Okay,” Jeffrey began, nervous, “well, I guess I should start with the other night then, huh?”

“It’s up to you,” Stephanie said, “I don’t think that I could care less.”

“Right,” Jeffrey muttered, “well, it wasn’t what it looked like.”

Stephanie stared at him blankly, causing him to wring his hands in anxiety.

“Okay I know how that sounded, sorry, but it honestly wasn’t. I mean, I know how it looked but it wasn’t like that at all. Chloe, that girl you saw me with, she’s the daughter of one of my father’s business partners overseas. She and her father are in town for a few days for a business deal and my dad asked me if I could show her around for the night while he talked to her father about expanding into more cities in Europe over dinner.”

Stephanie’s eyes narrowed in suspicion, before her face returned to its previous blank expression. She didn’t want it to look like she cared too much. “So you decided that, out of all the places in town, to take her to a mediocre bar.”