Chapter 6
“You failed to mention the dickhead property developer was a she,” my younger brother Riley mutters to me, “or that she’s fucking hot as hell.”
“First of all, I said asshole, not dickhead.” I shrug.
“And what’s it matter if she’s got a penis or not?
She thinks she can come in here, write us a check, and take our land,” I snap, keeping my voice as low as I can because we’re in the kitchen, grabbing another drink, and she’s only in the next room with my parents.
I don’t know how, but they’ve somehow managed to be nice to her through the entire dinner. Of course, so far, she really hasn’t brought up any master plans for the property, and instead, she’s just been making small talk.
It’s fucking weird.
“Yeah, but you didn’t let me know that I might want to take her back to my place after you tell her to fuck off.” He nudges me, taking a sip from his drink and stretching his neck back to look into the dining room. “She is fucking drop-dead gorgeous.”
“Thank God Mom and Dad put me in charge of most of the decisions if they die.” I look at him in disbelief. “Jesus, all she’d have to do is rub up against you, and you’d be signing our shit away.”
“Among other things,” he drawls. “Even though she was looking at you most of dinner, I’m not going to let that stop me from shooting my shot.”
My brother struts off, making his way toward the dining room—probably right to Stella.
Riley loves women. Lots of women. He’s not a player, but he likes to pass the love along more than the rest of us Adams boys do.
Five years ago, I definitely got around more than I care to these days. Now, I’m looking at my friends and seeing that a lot of them are getting married or even having kids, and I can’t help but wonder if I’m doing everything wrong.
I have a big, beautiful house on the ocean. I work my ass off to have nice things. And yet I come home to an empty home every night.
The fact that Stella is here to make some stupid fucking offer on a priceless piece of land irks me and makes me hate her. But that doesn’t explain why the hell I fucked my hand last night, imagining I was hate-fucking her.
It’s been months since I’ve been laid. That’s got to be the only reason why I’m even thinking about her in that way.
Because even right now, looking out into the dining room and seeing her sitting at my parents’ table?
It annoys me. She has no right to be here, and I don’t know why I fucking agreed to this.
Bringing my beer to my lips, I chug it down before tossing the bottle into the recyclable.
Enough small talk, Fireball. Let’s fucking talk about why you’re really here.
Here I sit, at the head of the table, surrounded by some of the hottest men I’ve ever seen. And unlike Ridge, they’re not assholes.
Riley is a flirt. He could charm the skin off a snake, no doubt. Easton is a bit cockier than the other two, and he keeps looking down at his phone like he’s checking the time. And then there’s Tucker, who seems to be the shyest.
That leaves Ridge. The man who can say a million words in one short sentence because his words pack such a punch. His eyes may be bright blue, but there’s a darkness inside of them that I find as terrifying as I do sexy. His boat is named Eastern Outlaw, and I guess that kind of fits.
In fact, I think I can tell a lot by their boat names, which I looked at this morning.
Riley’s is Gold Digger, and next to it is a drawing of a woman in booty shorts and a crop top, holding a shovel. Easton’s is Risky Business. Sweet, shy Tucker’s boat is named after his mother, Katherine Grace.
Tucker is the oldest of the four boys, and just knowing he named his boat after his mother proves he’s the nicest one in the bunch too. It all checks out because every time I look his way, he smiles and turns beet red.
“Stella, would you like another glass of wine?” Katherine says kindly as she gets out of her seat to refill her own glass.
I look at the glass and then back at her, knowing I shouldn’t because I need to have a clear head if I’m going to talk business with them.
And by someone, I mostly mean Ridge. Or Riley, who comes on to me for the twentieth time.
“Uh, sure.” I nod before I stand up. “You know what? I’ll go with you.”
A flash of concern crosses her face, but being the polite woman she obviously is, she covers it quickly with a smile and heads toward the kitchen.
Once we’re alone, she fills both of our glasses up. “So, is this your first trip to Maine?” she asks, setting the bottle of wine down.
“It is,” I answer, sipping from my glass.
This wine is really good, and I don’t know why that surprises me, but it does. Then again, I was surprised when I drove in and saw how gorgeous Mr. and Mrs. Adams’ house is. Whatever idea I had for the fishermen around here, I guess I was wrong.
“I hope you are enjoying it so far,” she says sweetly. “I know it’s been chilly out, but at least the whole town is decorated for the holidays, so that’s nice.”
“It sure is,” I say as I almost choke on my wine.
She’s not kidding there. This place looks like the North Pole. Even the grocery store was decorated with Christmas lights and holiday music blaring. For most people, that would be charming. For me, it makes me despise it.
Just like their house and all the decorations inside of it. Or the huge-ass Christmas tree in the living room, set in front of the windows that take up the whole front of the house, overlooking the water. This family loves Christmas—that’s for sure.
“Well, shall we go back in and rejoin dinner?” I ask, turning toward the dining room, but her hand touches me.
“Hang on a second.” She stops me in my tracks, coming in front of me.
“Look, you seem like a really nice woman. And obviously smart too.” She smiles.
“I don’t want to come off as rude, so I hope you don’t take this the wrong way.
” She pauses. “I understand you’re here with one thing in mind.
Getting this land. And while I appreciate a hardworking woman, I need you to understand something.
Our land is priceless. And those men in there are never going to budge on it.
And besides, even if they were … you’d still have to go through me. ”
I stare at her, but before I come up with something to say, she carries on.
“You are beautiful, but don’t think for a second you are going to charm your way into the heart of any of my boys and get them to sign over something that’s been in their family for decades. It will never happen, Stella.”
During dinner, she seemed like the sweetest lady. In fact, when Ridge made little digs at me, she’d defend me in her own way by changing the subject or shooting him a warning glance. I guess she’s not so different from her son after all.
“Ma’am,” I whisper, “with all due respect, that’s not really how I do my job.
” I’m mad now, but I also see where she’s coming from.
If I were a mom, I’d protect my children too.
But I can’t exactly tell her I was sent here to charm her sons into selling their land.
That sounds … icky. “I promise you, I am very professional.”
So professional, in fact, that I fingered myself, thinking about your son earlier.
“I’m sure it isn’t, but you aren’t the first person to come in here and try to take what’s theirs, and you won’t be the last. So, I’m sorry that you’ve wasted your time coming here, but at the very least, let’s enjoy the rest of the evening before you go back to the city.
” Her words are sharp, but she follows them up with a sympathetic smile before patting my arm.
“Let’s go back and join the group. Yeah? ”
I eye her over, as if we’re in a standoff. Finally, I nod. “All right.”
Just like I said, the women are the smart ones. Every. Single. Time.
It’s the end of dinner. Katherine stuffed us all with one of the best home-cooked meals I’d ever had and polished it off with chocolate chip bread pudding and vanilla ice cream, and I think the button on my pants might be on the verge of popping off.
I drank one too many glasses of wine, and I didn’t even get to fully pitch Ironbound’s offer because every single time it was brought up, Ridge or one of the other brothers would steer the conversation elsewhere or somehow change the subject.
And now my head is buzzing, and I’m going to call it a night.
“Well, I should get going,” I say, keeping my voice from slurring as best as I can. “Dinner was delicious. Thank you so much for having me.” I sound much friendlier with a buzz on. Maybe I should use this to my advantage more often to be more … people-y.
I need to go back to the house and regroup on where I go from here because this is going to be harder than I thought, and when I drink wine, I get flirty. And the last person I need to be flirting with is the one whose eyes have been on me the whole night.
Ridge “Banana Man” Adams.
When I stand, Riley and Ridge both push up from their seats. Easton left before dessert was served, and obviously, Tucker isn’t going to do much talking.
“I’ll give you a ride home,” Ridge says, keeping his voice flat and unimpressed. Makes me wonder if he even has a personality.
“Hey, I’m going that way anyway,” Riley adds in, his eyes twinkling with amusement. “I don’t mind dropping her off, big brother.”
Ridge’s eyes cut to Riley’s, narrowing slightly, as if sending a silent message. “I said I’d do it,” he utters, almost more of a growl. His gaze shifts to me. “Ready?”
Looking from Ridge to Riley and finally Katherine, I grimace nervously because I took her words earlier as a warning to stay away from her boys. Instead of casting me a glare though, she smiles and nods subtly toward Ridge. Following her eyes, I glance at her son.
“Uh … sure,” I squeak, moving toward Ridge. “Ready.”
I’m sure she knows out of the two of her sons, Ridge is the least likely to let me close to him. She must really think I would use sex to get closer to her boys, but I would never. I’m a damn professional.
Never mind the alone time I had earlier …
I turn toward everyone and smile. I’m a little buzzed but doing my best to keep it together and not show it.
“Thank you for inviting me to dinner.” My gaze sweeps from face to face.
“But FYI, don’t think I missed the fact that you all shut me down every time I tried to talk business. So, we still have lots to discuss.”
Mr. Adams grins, standing up and walking behind his wife’s chair. Planting his palms on her shoulders, he shrugs. “Stella, you’re welcome to stop in for dinner anytime.” He pauses, his eyes narrowing. “But as for deals? We’ve got nothing to discuss with you.”
For a second, I freeze. But then I realize I’m not surprised—not really anyway. But that doesn’t mean I’m giving up.
Sighing, I tilt my head to the side. “Well, a girl can still hope, right?”
“Good night, Stella,” Mrs. Adams says almost teasingly while smiling warmly at me. “Thanks for joining us.”
And then it’s time to follow Ridge outside to his truck, which means one thing …
We’re going to be alone.
No. It means I’m going to be alone with a man I can’t stand, who is also the man I fantasized about just yesterday. All after watching something as stupid as him lifting lobster crates.
Now, that’s embarrassing.