Rebellious Hearts (Blackwood Billionaires (Blackwood Legacy) #2)

1. BEN

1

BEN

“ W hat are we drinking?” I asked when we sat down on the deep blue velvet couches at Jester.

“We’re celebrating, man,” Luke said, clapping me on the back before he turned to the server with his immaculate vest and crisp shirt. “Vintage champagne for the table.”

“Yeah, good call,” I said.

The server nodded and looked at Amy so the lady could answer first. Amy ran her fingers through her beach-blonde hair, thinking about it.

“Champagne cocktail with a twist,” she said. “Elderflower liqueur and a few drops of bitters, if the bartender can spare it.” She smiled cheekily at the server, who smiled at her. Everyone smiled at Amy. She was the kind of girl who turned heads, had men drool over her, and women were either jealous or they worshipped her.

To me, Amy was the sister I had never had. I didn’t see her as someone I could ever date. I’d known her since my college days, and she was the one woman who understood that my heart was as fucked up as my mind.

Love… that just wasn’t something that could work for me, no matter how hard I wished it could. No, it was easier to find bodies to warm my sheet for a night rather than have to put up with a girlfriend and always pretend it was an act.

I glanced around the room, checking out the talent that was present for the night.

Not much to work with. Except, maybe, the two girls who’d just come in.

In fact, one of them turned around and her gray eyes locked on mine.

It was just a second, but my heart skipped a beat. She looked away again, and I didn’t think she even noticed that she’d looked at me. It had just been a glance around.

“Yamazaki, 50-Year-Old,” Luke said to the server, pulling my attention back to the table.

“Old Fashioned,” I said. “But with aged rum.”

“What rum, sir?”

I thought about it. “Ron Zacapa Centenario 23.”

“Jesus, bro.” Luke laughed. “Going all out, huh?”

“Shut up, Yamazaki 50,” I clapped back, and Luke snorted.

Amy rolled her eyes at us. “You’re both so dramatic, measuring dicks with expensive alcohol. You know, in the old days men used to duel.”

I barked a laugh. “This is safer.”

“And we both get to live in the end,” Luke pointed out.

“I don’t know if that’s such a bonus,” Amy said gravely to her brother, who playfully shoved her, and they both laughed.

Luke and Amy had the kind of sibling relationship I wished I could have with my brothers.

The four of us had all been adopted into the Blackwood family at different stages of our lives, and our dad, Thomas Blackwood, had given us that second lease at life that almost everyone dreamed about—a shit ton of money, an elite name, and a legacy that we could be proud of.

The four of us all owned a part of Blackwood Inc., a business empire that manufactured private luxury yachts and planes.

Alex was the CEO, Chris designed yachts, I was in charge of private plane sales, and Daniel was the one who flew all over and did shit that no one really understood but he was a part of the whole picture, anyway.

Alex and Chris were close that way, but I always felt a little like a third wheel when I was with them. They used to go off, having little adventures just the two of them, and I was on my own.

Daniel, my third brother, was always out of town, so we weren’t that close, although we got along just fine.

It was weird to say I felt like the odd one out when there were an even four brothers, but there it was.

I was the oldest of us all at thirty-three, but I’d been adopted last and it showed.

I was the fucking black sheep. There was no doubt.

I just wasn’t like the other Blackwoods.

The server disappeared, and we sat back against the modern velvet seats. Jester was a nice place. Mahogany panels against the walls, old nautical-themed art, the lighting always turned down low, and the bar—Jester’s main attraction—was bright and glowing in the center with all its backlit shelves and exclusive bottles of alcohol that each cost hundreds if not thousands of dollars.

I glanced in the direction of the two women. They’d taken a seat at the bar, and they were deep in conversation, so I could stare as long as I wanted without being a total creep.

The one with the gray eyes had her back turned to me, but her tan leather jacket and jeans, so tight they looked painted on, showed off beautiful curves on a body that she clearly made a point of keeping in shape. Dark brown hair and olive skin—the lights behind the bar illuminated her like an angel… God, she was fucking divine .

“Hello?” Amy called out. “Earth to Ben.”

“What?” I looked at her.

“I was asking about the project. You know, the one we came here to celebrate.”

“Right,” I said. “Yeah, it’s pretty cool, I guess. It’s this little coastal town just south of Savannah in Georgia. Harborview, it’s called, and this town has gone to shit. I mean poverty like you hear about in the news, with broken buildings and shit. Alex wants me to spearhead fixing up the place and then eventually we’ll build another Blackwood Inc. factory there.”

“Job creation and breathing life into the town,” Luke said. “You guys are saints.”

I shrugged. “I guess so. I mean, it’s not like I was planning to do this but Alex suggested it’s the best place for me to be right now.”

“That’s what you want, right?” Amy asked, studying me. Her icy-blue eyes missed nothing, and I fought the urge to squirm under her scrutiny. “You want a change to get out of dodge and stretch your legs?”

“Well, yeah,” I said. “Besides, if we pull it off it will look good on my résumé and it will be good for the company.”

“And you don’t have to hang around your brothers all the time,” Luke said with a grin.

“Right,” I said.

Amy was still staring at me.

“I’ll be right back,” Luke said and got up, heading toward the restrooms.

“What is it?” Amy asked.

“What’s what?”

“What’s bugging you?”

I shook my head, but Amy swatted my arm.

“Don’t you dare lie to me.”

I sighed heavily. “Okay, okay. This is a big deal, and I get it—bringing Harborview back to its former glory and creating so many jobs with another factory is all well and good, but I can’t help but feel like Alex is just sending me away.”

Amy frowned. “Why would he do that?”

I shrugged. “We don’t get along. You know that.”

“Yeah, but he doesn’t hate you, Ben. This sounds like a positive thing for your career, not a negative thing.”

I shrugged again. I understood what she was saying and I guess I could have looked at it that way, but it just felt weird. Maybe I was being too touchy-feely about it, getting worked up over something that wasn’t there. But Alex had chosen me in particular, even though I oversaw a huge sales department. It just didn’t make sense that I would be the one best for the job of expanding the company as a whole.

“This is a celebration,” Amy said, putting her hand on my arm. “We’re here to celebrate you because you’re fantastic. Okay? Don’t be so negative. A lot of people love you and you don’t even know it.”

“Thanks, Aims,” I said to her and put my hand over hers for a second.

Luke came back the same time the server arrived with the champagne and drinks. He poured us each a glass of Dom Perignon Vintage champagne before he left.

Luke lifted the glass and his light blue eyes—just a shade darker than Amy’s—were filled with pride.

“To you,” he said, looking me in the eye. “You’re going to conquer the world.”

“Hear, hear,” Amy said, and we clinked our glasses together.

“Thanks, guys,” I said, and we took a sip of the champagne.

“Smooth,” Luke said, looking into the glass. He rubbed his stubbled chin with his other hand and sat back in his seat. “This is the way to go.”

I glanced at the bar again. She sat with her friend, and they sipped drinks. “I’ll be back.”

“Where are you going?”

“We need more ice.”

“I can ask the server—” Luke started, but I waved him off.

“I’ll go to the bar, it’s all good.”

Luke glanced at the bar, spotted the two women, and grinned.

“Yeah, man. You go get that ice.”

Amy groaned and rolled her eyes. “Fine, leave me here with my evil twin.”

Luke laughed. “You love me.”

“Yeah, I do. But I shouldn’t,” Amy said and she pulled her tongue at Luke, who in turn tried to mess up her hair.

I left the twins to it and walked to the bar, standing next to the dark-haired beauty. I leaned on the bar, pretending to get Zane’s attention.

“What are you drinking?” I asked the brunette.

She turned those steely eyes to mine. “Excuse me?”

“I was just wondering what you’re drinking.”

She studied me for a second, her eyes narrowing just a little, before she said, “Negroni.”

I raised my eyebrows. “I can suggest something better.”

“Excuse me,” the other one said. “It’s a Mezcal Negroni.”

“Yeah… I’m still going to buy you something that’ll suit you much better.”

The brunette raised one perfectly manicured eyebrow. “You don’t know what will suit me.”

“No?” I turned to her. “You’re a firecracker, taking what you deserve, you don’t ask and hope for an answer.”

A smile played around her mouth. “Is that wishful thinking?”

I shook my head. “No, I can read people.”

“So, you think I’m just demanding, huh?”

“Only in the office,” I said. “In your personal life you’re kind and caring, there for others when they need you. Maybe even at your own expense.”

Both brows raised a little this time before she narrowed her eyes. “And you think you can pinpoint all of that in one drink?”

“Let me prove it to you,” I challenged.

“Fine.”

I glanced at her friend; she leaned on the bar and looked intrigued.

“I’m Sofia, by the way,” the brunette said. “And this is Elena.”

The woman leaning on the bar lifted a hand in a small wave.

“Ben,” I said, and instead of waving at Elena, I waved at Zane, who came to us immediately.

“French 75 with elderflower.”

Zane nodded and started preparing the cocktail.

Sofia tilted her head; she was so fucking gorgeous when she did that.

“French 75?”

“I have good taste,” I said, and my eyes bore into hers.

“Is that so?” That smile tugged at the corner of her mouth again. I wanted to be the one to make that smile appear all the way.

Zane didn’t waste his time preparing the drink, and Sofia’s cocktail appeared on the bar. She took it and took a sip.

“This is good.”

My grin broadened. “Accurate?”

“Yeah, mostly.”

“What part did I miss?”

“Well, surely you can’t tell every part of my personality and capture it in a drink.”

“No, you’re right. Why don’t you and your friend join my party, and we’ll get to know each other a little better?” I leaned on the bar and did the triangle thing Daniel told me about.

I looked at her right eye, then down at her lips, and moved eye contact back to her left eye. Even though I wanted to stare at her lips so badly.

It was almost proven that the triangle-method would make someone fall in love. Or lust.

That was what my brother had told me, at least.

Sofia leaned in a little, and her cheeks pinkened. It wasn’t a lot, but it was there.

Yeah, she was into me.

Thank fuck, because I was so into her. She was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen.

And I’d seen a lot of women.

“Let me check with Elena. We’re supposed to have a girls’ night, you know?”

I nodded, and she turned to her friend.

Elena was just as attractive, with wavy black hair cut into a bob that rested on her shoulders and sharp features. She had honey-brown eyes, and when she looked at Sofia, she nodded, hearing her friend out.

I just wanted her okay to join us so that I could get closer to Sofia.

Not just to get in her pants—but God, that would be a treat—I really wanted to know more about her. She was so intriguing, smiling a beat after I said something so that I knew her smile was meant for just me and it wasn’t a mask. Looking me in the eye when I talked. And that smile playing around her lips that made me want to kiss her every time she said it… fuck.

What was with me? I was never this attracted to a woman.

But I’d never come across a woman like her.

I would have remembered.

She finally turned to me, her dark hair framing that angelic face, and her eyes were the color of mercury, an exotic contrast to her olive skin.

“Yeah, sure. We can join you for a while.”

I smiled broadly.

“Let me introduce you,” I said, nodding toward my table where Luke was watching me with narrowed eyes, and Amy rolled hers.

“This is Sofia and Elena,” I said, introducing the girls. “My best friends, Luke and Amy.”

Sofia sat down next to me, and Elena took a seat next to Luke. They started chatting right away—a good sign. Maybe I’d inadvertently set him up for a good night, too.

Amy glanced at me and then at Sofia, tilting her head while she did.

She was sizing Sofia up.

I knew what she would find—someone intriguing and mysterious, just like I did. Although… maybe with less chemistry than what I was feeling.

I chuckled inwardly at my really dumb observation.

“So, what do you do?” I asked Sofia.

“I work in business development, to summarize,” she said.

“To summarize?”

She grinned and took a sip of her cocktail. “Yeah, the full explanation is boring and we can’t have that on a night out.”

“Of course not,” I said and rolled my eyes before I grinned at her.

“How about you?”

“Sales,” I said. “To summarize.”

“You catch on quick.”

I shrugged. “I’m smarter than I look.”

That smile placed around her lips again, and fuck, I really wanted to kiss her.

Sofia turned to Amy, clearly not wanting to exclude her.

“What about you?” she asked. “How do you and Ben know each other?”

“Oh, my brother and Ben met in college, and since Luke is a package deal… here I am.”

“You’re married?”

Amy burst out laughing. “To that asshole? No way. I’m his twin sister.”

Sofia’s eyes widened, and then she laughed. “Oh, that would explain it.”

“What?”

“Why you sit so far from each other and you keep glaring at him when he looks like he wants to pull a move on Elena.”

Amy snorted. “That transparent, huh?”

“I’m a sister, too,” Sofia said with a wink. “I don’t go out with my brother for exactly that reason. If he’s going to make a mistake, it won’t be on my watch.”

Amy laughed. “That’s backward, but sure.”

Sofia giggled and turned back to me. I’d been staring at her whole exchange with Amy. She was so comfortable in her own skin, so quick-witted. She really was the complete package—gorgeous, funny, witty…

Stop it , I told myself. You don’t date, you fuck around .

But she was someone I really wanted to get closer to. Even if it was just physically because, as the little voice in the back of my mind so diligently reminded me, I didn’t date.

I only fucked around.

It was safer that way. Rather that, with the idea that we were going to leave it at that, than whoever I was with figured out the truth about me and then someone—usually me—got hurt.

No, sir, I wasn’t going to get that close to this one. No matter how much I wanted to. She had the uncanny ability to make me completely drawn to her in one evening. How much more would it hurt when I was actually involved with her?

Yeah, definitely get it together.

She turned to me. “So, now that you’ve decided the drink isn’t enough to get to know me, do you think you’re on the right track?”

“Better,” I said. “Although, there’s still a lot I don’t know about you, and a quick chat and a drink can’t tell me about it.”

“What’s that?” Sofia asked.

I leaned a little closer. “Some things are way better explained in the bedroom.”

She gasped, but that smile that played around the corners of her mouth and her sparkling eyes… “Excuse me?”

“I can’t tell what you’re like in bed, so that’s just something you’ll have to show me.”

I was pushing the boundaries, but something about the way she looked at me made me fearless. For a moment, it looked like she was battling herself, trying to decide which way to go—give in or hand my ass to me for being way too forward.

“You’re right,” she said a moment later, and I swear she pushed her breasts out a little. “Some things are better proven in bed.”

A shiver ran down my spine, and my cock hardened in my pants.

“Is your friend going to be okay alone?” I murmured.

“She looks like she’s in good hands.” Sofia glanced at Elena, who was sitting a lot closer to Luke than before. Amy was starting to look irritated but she was a big girl. We could all take care of ourselves.

Sofia pulled Elena away from Luke and they had a whispered conversation. Elena nodded, and Sofia turned back to me.

“She’ll be fine. I trust you’ll cover our bill?”

“Of course,” I said.

She slid her hand into mine, her fingers slim, her hand small, and I wanted it wrapped around my cock.

“What are we waiting for?”