Pulse: A Stepbrother Romance (5 page)

There they are.

I hung back a little. It had been two months since I’d last seen Mom—before she met Jerry. She’d been too busy getting wooed and then going on a ‘round the world trip, so I couldn’t blame her. Raising the four of us had taken a lot out of her, and she’d never had a break or even been out of the country before Jerry came on the scene.

She looks so happy.

They were talking to my brother, Ted, and another girl I hadn’t seen before. Mom laughed at something Jerry said, a youthful bit of color rising to her cheeks. I’d never seen her look better.

No one had seen me enter the restaurant yet, so I hung back and took the chance to study Jerry. Their courtship had happened so fast I’d never met him before.

His hair silvered at the temples, long and wavy. His arm was around mom in an easy, familiar way that looked natural.

It’s like they’ve been together for years already.

I picked my way toward them, and it didn’t take long before mom spotted me.

“Christian! There you are. Come here and meet Jerry!”

She rushed to meet me and caught me up in a big hug. Her head was a couple inches below my chin. She looked up at me.

“Did you grow again?”

“No, Mom.”

“Are you sure?”

I smiled. She asked me the same question every time she hadn’t seen me for more than a few days. “I haven’t grown since I was sixteen, just like the last time you asked.” I pretended to be more annoyed than I was.

The little ritual complete, she tugged me over to stand by Jerry.

“I know you’ve heard a lot about each other already, but I’m so excited that you finally have the chance to meet.”

He held out his hand. It was a firm, dry grip.

He nodded. “I’m Jerry.”

“Chris.” I nodded back. “Mom’s talked about you nonstop every time she’s called.”

Jerry looked at his betrothed and smiled. “She’s said quite a bit about you as well, Christian.”

A stab of annoyance struck and I tried to shrug it off. “Just Chris. Mom loves the name, but she’s the only one who calls me that.”

Jerry shifted away from Mom and the others so that our conversation was more private.

“Sorry. Chris. Look, I respect everything you’ve done for your family over the years. It makes for an incredible tale.”

That set me back onto my heels as I searched his face and his tone for any trace of insincerity. I couldn’t find any, but I was on guard. Most people found nothing noble in the sorry state of my life.

“It’s what had to be done.” I didn’t like talking about it. Especially to people like Jerry, who had money and didn’t know what it was like to go through what our family did. They were always good at feigning sympathy and compassion, but the problem was that they couldn’t relate.

“Still, the fact you did means a lot. If it weren’t for you, then Mary might not have been able to hold things together, and we may never have met. I can’t imagine going on without her.”

I shifted feet. This new direction of conversation was even more uncomfortable.

They’ve only known each other for a couple months, and here he is talking like they’re soulmates.

Still, he was well on his way to becoming my stepfather—a title that held much less meaning now I was in my twenties
—and
I didn’t want to make family gatherings awkward for however long they stayed together.

“Well, Jerry, I’m not sure what you want me to say. You’re welcome?”

He laughed. “No, I guess there’s not much to say to that. But I wanted to talk to you and get a sense of who you are. After all, you’re Mary’s son. And I want to make sure you know you have my gratitude for taking care of her ever since your dad passed away.”

I never thought about dad except when I needed someone to blame ill fortune on. He had been a liar, a scoundrel, and a cheat. And then he’d pulled the ultimate cowardly move: killing himself and leaving his eldest son to pick up the pieces and keep the family together.

“I couldn’t do anything else.”

The conversation had started uncomfortable, and at this point my collar was practically itching my neck off. Jerry came across as an overly sentimental person.

Maybe when you grow up in a normal family you’re taught to confront and deal with your feelings. Ugh.

“Mary told me you’re still working the warehouse job you dropped out of school to pick up,” Jerry said. “If you want it, there’s a desk job at my company for you. You would have to move out here, but it would be a hell of a lot more comfortable for you and pay a lot better, to boot.”

“A job?” That was the last thing I expected to come out of Jerry’s mouth. Was he going to speak in tongues next? “Doing what?”

“I won’t lie to you—you don’t have the skills to start off doing more than administrative tasks and errands, but I’ll get you trained up, maybe get you out with the sales team, and you’ll contribute before you know it. What do you say?”

Jerry smiled, no doubt expecting a flood of relief and gratitude coming his way.

“I’ll pass,” I said.

“You’ll… pass?”

I took satisfaction in so thoroughly confusing the poor man.

“An office job just isn’t my type of work.”

He frowned. “You want to work in a warehouse for the rest of your life? You know you can’t just do manual labor forever, Christian. It’ll catch up to you and you’ll need other skills to survive.”

“It’s Chris,” I reminded him. “And I don’t intend to. But the city is where I belong, and it’s the only spot I can make the connections to do what I want to do. I won’t move to the country to sell insurance, or whatever you guys do.”

“They’re financial instruments,” Jerry said. “And they help people invest money in important ways.”

It was all gibberish. “Okay, whatever. Point is, I appreciate the offer, but I’ll pass.”

“If you say so,” Jerry said, bemused. “Just remember that the offer is always open, if you ever need it.”

As I shifted, I saw a face behind him that shouldn’t have been there. My heart pounded. I didn’t think I would ever see her again.

“Sorry, Jerry, but I have to go find my brothers. We’ll talk more later.”

I wasn’t ready to talk to her. Not yet. I needed to think about what to say.

This time, I would not let Leah get away.

“Leah!”

Dad beckoned me. I’d put off coming in for as long as possible, squeezing as much rehearsal time in as I could before dinner.

“Where have you been? Stephanie came in hours ago, and I know you two drove together.”

I hadn’t had time to tell him about the audition, and despite the importance of practice, my face grew hot. His paternal disappointment always cut deep, especially because he’d given up so much for us.

“Sorry,” I said. “I’ll explain later.”

“Leah, it’s so nice to meet you again!” Mary swept me into an embrace, the affection throwing me off. I’d forgotten how free she was with her hugs—it had been the biggest thing I took away from our first meeting a month before.

“Mary, you’re looking well.” It was the truth. The Mediterranean had agreed with her, giving her a dusky tan.

The difference in Dad was even more dramatic, but it wasn’t the trip that had effected the change. It was Mary.

Having a woman to love has helped him.
He’d been alone for far too long.

“And this is Rory, one of your soon-to-be stepbrothers,” Mary said.

He’d been talking with Steph, but they stopped when Mary made her announcement. I placed him in his mid-teens, a few years younger than my sister. Unruly brown curls framed his face, which otherwise looked familiar in a way I couldn’t place.

“Have we met before?” I asked him.

He shook his head. “Doubt it, ‘less you come out to Brooklyn often. I’d remember if I ever saw you.”

There was something about the voice, too. But no, not enough to ring a bell.

“Rory is a good hockey player,” Mary said. “We’re hoping he might have what it takes to play in Canada, maybe make the NHL one day. That would be a dream come true for him. For us.”

“Yes, that would be quite something,” Jerry said. He’d never watched a game of hockey in his life. “I want you to meet Christian, though. He’s in New York around the same area as you are. I’m sure you two could help each other out, if you ever had any troubles. He was just here.”

He and Mary looked around, but this mysterious Christian was nowhere to be found.

“Ah, well. Let’s start dinner, shall we? He’ll turn up when the food gets going. Young men always do.”

There weren’t that many of us—Dad and Mary were having a small wedding. They’d decided not to have a traditional wedding party, so the rehearsal dinner was more of a chance for the two families to meet and mingle for the first time.

Dad sat in the middle, Mary beside him. Two of her boys sat on either side and Rory sat in between Steph and I on the other side. That left one empty chair beside me for Mary’s oldest, Christian.

“I take it this seat is mine?”

That voice!

I whirled.

It can’t be.

My face grew hot, then ice cold as it drained of blood. When the illusion didn’t fade and he remained standing there with that smirk on his face, mine grew flushed again.

“Do you mind?” He sat down and held out his hand. “I’m Chris.”

Those eyes stared into mine. The last time I’d seen them, they’d been locked onto my own while I felt their owner pump his seed deep into my belly, both of us caught in a maelstrom of orgasmic bliss.

Come on, Leah, do something.
I couldn’t move, couldn’t think. Could only remember the way his body had felt pressed against mine as we danced naked to the pulsing music in his apartment.

We sat in our own corner of the world, and time had stopped.

Abruptly, all the sounds of conversation around us caught up to me, and I became painfully conscious of how awkward our interaction would appear to anyone watching. He was trying to make it seem like we’d never met before.

I cleared my throat. “Sorry. I’m Leah. It’s nice to meet you.”

He didn’t let my hand go, held it fast in his own.

“Believe me, the pleasure is all mine.”

Dear God.

That rough voice shook me to the core. Gave me flashbacks. Made me think of things I shouldn’t be thinking while sitting at the table with our families.

Only then did it hit me. “We’ll be stepsiblings?” It came out in a squeak. Nobody else had better be paying attention.

“That’s right,” Dad said. I groaned inwardly. “We’re all going to be one big, happy family, and I’m so glad everyone is getting along already.”

I turned back to the table and buried my face in the dinner menu. There were so many things I wanted to say to the man whose presence was a miniature sun warming my entire left side, but I couldn’t say a single one in front of anyone else from the families. Like how crazy this was.

Like how for all I knew, I might end up pregnant with his child.

The waitress came and took orders. Thankfully, Dad ordered a couple bottles of wine; I knew how much it would irk Steph that she wasn’t old enough to have any. I had already gulped a glass down by the time dad raised his for a toast, and I had to reach for the bottle to refill.

Chris grabbed for it at the same time. My hand closed on it a shade too late, coming to a rest on his.

“Allow me,” he said. It was like he was trying to do everything possible to annoy me.

“Fine.”

He splashed the chardonnay into my glass, then topped up his own.

Dad cleared his throat, giving me a warning look.

“Thanks,” I muttered out of the corner of my mouth.

“We are lucky to have all of us here together for the first time. Some of you I’ve only met today, and I hope this will be the start of a long and mutually respectful relationship. I know my daughters will be ecstatic to have brothers to get annoyed at.” His voice was dry. It was almost enough to make me laugh, but I was too tense. Steph’s titter filled the expectant silence. “Here’s to family.”

We echoed the sentiment and glasses clinked.

“So, Leah, I hear that you are in Manhattan as well, is that right?” Chris asked. “Go out to any bars in the area? I found this interesting place called Swim last night.”

I choked on my wine. He needed a swift kick to the shins underneath the table. That was a thing sisters did, right?

“Is that right?” I said. “You know, now you mention it, I think I’ve heard of it. I may even have been there once or twice, but I doubt anything memorable happened.”

We made it through the dinner without incident, although Chris kept poking and prodding.

It’s almost like he wants me to flip out and lose my cool.

Then, halfway through dessert, I felt it. A hand settled on my thigh underneath the tablecloth, hidden from the eyes of our family.

My eyes fluttered closed and my body grew inflamed, wanting, needing that hand to slide up along my thigh.

Shocked, I came to my senses.

I pushed my chair back, scraping it along the floor. Chris’ hand dropped away as I stood up.

Everyone looked at me.

“I, uh, need to get back to rehearsing. I’ll see everyone in the morning.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay and chat?” Dad asked.

I had already turned and started to walk away. “No, thanks,” I called over my shoulder.

It felt like running away.