Five
In his everyday, predictable life, Will wasn’t a second-guesser. Apparently, Alexandria… shit, what was her last name? Probably not actually The Great. He smiled at the thought, straightening his tie in the mirror.
Should he wear a tie? He wore ties every day and to most formal events. What kind of party was this? See? Lexi brought out the second-guesser in him. His phone continued to buzz but he ignored it. As expected, his mother hadn’t been happy with him canceling on dinner. She requested (her word for “demanded”) monthly dinners with several courses meant to have them linger, but it usually just made him feel trapped. She claimed they were a way to reconnect and bond away from “societal pressures.” The Grand siblings found it ironic that she was usually the one putting said pressure on them. Those dinners were often headlined by their mother telling each of her three children ways they could improve their lives and social standings. And hers in the process.
To that end, the last several, his mother had “unexpected” guests join at the last minute. Conveniently, these guests tended to be single, attractive women who ran in the same social circles as his mother and her friends. She’d gone so far as to make a folder in her photos app of “eligible women.” A shudder ran through him at the thought of his mother obsessing over who he spent his time with.
He’d made it abundantly clear that he didn’t need or want help in his dating life. He wanted to make her happy, so at first he’d gone on a few dates. But it quickly became clear that what he wanted and what his mother wanted for him were entirely different things. So he’d asked her to stop. His mom had selective listening when it came to her children, watching her salt intake, and flying economy. Will didn’t want to be rude to any of the women his mother introduced him to; some of them were nice enough. But it all just felt forced, rightly so. Looking good in a photo op together didn’t make a couple compatible. He wasn’t going to marry a woman and settle down because his mother thought she came from a good family. He’d been throwing himself into work more and more as a result and not just because of his desire to add to the company’s success. If he was at the office, his mother tended to leave him alone. Dating could be nice but relationships took effort and right now, or for the past several months, he’d been too busy to make the time. You had no problem making it for Lexi tonight.
Will yanked the knot on the tie, opened the first couple of buttons on his Ralph Lauren dress shirt. He glanced down at his dark-gray dress pants. Huffing out a breath, he grabbed a pair of dark jeans from his hardly-ever-worn drawer. This was more difficult than the last actual executive decision he’d made.
Tonight was an opportunity to think about something else— something that wasn’t wrapped up in his family, his grandfather’s legacy, and his future. Will needed a break from his father’s burning desire to enter into a large-scale partnership with the international chain store Home Needs. Despite having a degree in finance and economics, Jackson Grand held an unofficial role in the company. He paved his own path, considering himself in charge of idea and product development, possible merger and acquisition opportunities, while also dabbling in marketing.
After playing several rounds of golf, and maybe sharing one too many drinks at the nineteenth hole, with Fredrick Banner, the CEO of Home Needs, Jackson decided this was the very thing that Grand Babies needed to really launch themselves into being a household name.
In return for a sizable investment that would allow for the opening of two new Grand Babies stores, Fredrick Banner wanted the prestige that was associated with the Grand family name. The universally respected Grands—who’d once been dubbed Seattle’s royal family—looked a hell of a lot better in the media than Fredrick’s own clan.
With his son making headlines for bad choice after bad choice, Fredrick had stalled discussions and negotiations by demanding a surprising number of social engagements that shone a spotlight on the two families spending time together.
Which meant Will, the CFO and face of Grand Babies, who just happened to be Nolan Banner’s age, was banking a lot more hours outside of the office than he wanted, spending time with someone he didn’t particularly like. This would be a welcome reprieve.
A sharp beeping sound let him know someone had opened his front door. Served him right for giving his sisters keys.
“You home?” his younger sister’s voice called out. Will groaned and yanked on his stiff jeans, hoping like hell they relaxed, and buttoned them quickly. Kyra wasn’t big on privacy. She barged in anywhere she wanted like they were all still kids. Though in her case, she was still a kid. At twenty-two, she was the baby. A bit of a surprise for his mother. Will was in the middle at thirty. Madeline—Maddie—was the oldest at thirty-two.
“Be right out. Why are you here?”
Will nearly tripped over her when he opened his bedroom door. She stopped in front of him, gazing up with a wide grin. She’d changed the star nose stud to a shiny diamond. The tips of her long side bangs were purple while the rest of the short, blunt cut was blacker than a starless night. Her eye makeup made her look older but Will always saw the kid she’d been underneath all of it.
“What if I’d had company?” Will asked, keeping his tone brusque as he shoved his phone and wallet in his back pockets.
Kyra laughed. A full-out, loud belly laugh. “Right. Then I would have alerted the media. All hail, the Grand Babies bachelor is off the market, ladies. Dry your tears on our ultra-absorbent, earth-friendly disposable towels.”
“That’s a long slogan, brat,” he said, nudging her shoulder on his way by. He should eat something. The pastrami sandwich was surprisingly filling but once he got back to the office, he’d worked for hours without a break. His focus was interrupted more than once by thoughts of Lexi. He couldn’t remember the last time a woman had occupied that much space in his brain from just a brief meeting.
“I’m on my way to la parents. Why aren’t you coming? Once-a-month mandatory dinner. Touching base, a civil game of Monopoly, and a thorough review of what we’re doing with our lives,” Kyra said, doing a poor job imitating their mother’s lecture voice. Put like that, it sounded boring as hell. He was definitely in for a better night with Lexi.
“Les parents,” he corrected. “Or mes if you want to call them yours.”
“No way, dude. I’m adopted.”
He laughed. “You wish.” They joked but they loved their parents. Sometimes they just spent a little too much time together.
She trailed after him, making him smile. She’d been doing that since she could crawl. Kyra was 100 percent not adopted. He remembered how fascinated he’d been when his mother was pregnant. And with Kyra as a baby. His sidekick growing up despite their age gap.
“Anyway. I’m busy tonight.” He continued to the kitchen, the familiar pride filling his chest. The house was more than an investment to Will. With three thousand square feet spread over two floors, it was his home . He’d grown up with a proverbial silver spoon in his mouth and knew he was beyond privileged. That didn’t mean there weren’t other challenges. Despite the fact that he wasn’t the oldest, he had an extra layer of duty placed on his shoulders by his parents that included everything from watching out for his siblings to excelling academically. There was an aloofness to his parents’ mansion that meant he’d never been able to relax there even as a child. Will and his sisters were loved but their parents were not affectionate or effusive. The three siblings, despite their age differences, made up for that with one another. They’d always been close.
“ Busy isn’t a synonym for work, just FYI. And work isn’t an excuse to skip dinner.”
Will shot her an amused glance, saying nothing.
“Seriously, if I have to listen to Mads and Rachel talk about their trip again, I’m going to drown myself in my butternut squash soup.”
Will pulled open the fridge and grabbed a couple of bottles of water, passing Kyra one. “That wouldn’t end well. You’re allergic to squash. Though it would give your face a nice rosy glow so you wouldn’t have to wear all that makeup.”
She stuck her tongue out at him because despite being twenty-two, she was his baby sister.
Kyra opened the bottle, took a long drink—their mother wasn’t around so out of the bottle was fine. She set it down and Will knew the second she figured it out.
Her eyes went rounder than dinner plates, her long lashes lifting. “You have a date. Oh my God. Did hell actually freeze over? Did you lose a bet? Did Mom pick her? Does she have good teeth? Strong child-bearing hips and an incredible pedigree?”
Will nearly snorted the water through his nose. “Stop. I don’t have a date . I’m going to a get-together. Speaking of which, I need to get going so you should stop stalling and head to dinner. Give Mads a break. She put off their honeymoon for months. Now that we’re closing this deal, she and Rach deserve to have some time to themselves.”
His oldest sister had married her high school sweetheart just over a year ago. They’d both been born into families who put business first. Rachel even more so. Her family owned a chain of coffee shops that she was heavily involved in. Both of them had understood needing to postpone the honeymoon to work around other things. With Will buried in numbers for a possible merger, the birthday party for the company’s fiftieth, and Kyra still in school, they couldn’t get away right after the wedding. No, it was a perfect time for Maddie and Rachel to travel. Before they all got even busier.
“I know. I just hate that everyone is moving forward, doing exciting things, and I’m not allowed to do anything.” Kyra sulked, leaning against the white marble countertop.
He tapped her nose, set his drink down. Hopefully there would be food at the party. “Don’t pout. You’re starting the way we all did. Interning while finishing college and learning the different areas to figure out which one you want to focus on.”
She straightened, cautious optimism dancing in her blue eyes. “I already know it’ll be product development. I’m telling you, one day all of our products will be completely organic and earth-friendly.”
“You need to do your time in each section to be sure. There’s no rush, Ky. I know it feels like there is, but don’t be in such a rush to grow up.”
She glared at him, her dark brows drawing together. “I am grown up.”
He smiled at her, gave her a side hug. “You’d be surprised how much who you are changes between twenty and thirty.”
Kyra poked him in the belly. “You’re right. I don’t want to rush becoming boring like you.”
He gave her a gentle mock shove toward the doorway. “Time to go.”
“Blah, blah, blah,” Kyra returned, putting the cap back on her water to take with her. “If I end up in the hospital with a butternut squash reaction, I’m blaming you.”
It wouldn’t even be a thought if their mother changed the menu now and then, but she liked consistency and making her husband happy. Kyra grabbed her boots on the way to the door. Will grabbed his keys and a thin leather jacket.
“I’ll take the risk.”
She kissed his cheek and walked down the stairs to his circular driveway where she’d parked her Mercedes.
“Have fun on your date,” she called, closing the door before he could reply.
He chuckled, walked to his own Mercedes, a dark-blue sports model. He didn’t feel the need to rush life forward like Kyra and wasn’t ready for kids like Maddie, and he didn’t really care about image like his parents. Will was content making work his focus, though it occurred to him that maybe he ought to make more time for social outings that had nothing to do with his family or job.
He’d wanted to pick Lexi up, maybe go for a drive, grab something to eat before they went to confront her past. Today had sort of snowballed into an adventure. Maybe he was a little like Kyra. He had no idea where tonight would lead but he’d known, with a certainty he usually only felt for business, that he needed to see Lexi again.
Anticipation hummed in his veins and he knew part of that was basic attraction because she was gorgeous. But there was more. The way she had every intention of getting better at her job but wasn’t willing to admit to old friends she worked there. It made him curious. There was nothing wrong with waitressing, and she seemed to have a strong work ethic, so what was it that made her sit down with him? He didn’t think it was an image thing in the same way his mother liked them all to have a matching color scheme at holiday events. It went deeper. And he wanted to dig into the layers beneath the woman.
She was different from any of the other women he’d dated and certainly not a woman his mother would have set him up with. Will chuckled as he drove. Maybe that was her appeal.