34. The Gentlemanly Thing To Do
THE GENTLEMANLY THING TO DO
Lorelei
Luckily, I’d spent my entire life perfecting the mask, the fake smile, the automatic polished responses, because tonight beneath the tranquil surface, I was a hot mess. The entirety of Axel’s family sat around the table, a steady rush of conversation and occasional laughter filling the dining room.
If I wasn’t so damned nervous about sharing a bed with my fake boyfriend, the whole night would’ve been lovely.
The Vanderharts were nothing like the Battenbergs.
All my life, I’d told myself that my crappy upbringing was normal for rich people.
Father ignored me because he was so busy building his lucrative political career, and Mother drowned her loneliness in a bottle of gin which left me in the far more capable hands of our housekeeper, Gisella.
It must have been how all wealthy families lived. It made sense at the time.
But it couldn’t have been farther from the truth.
Despite having staff to cook and clean up the enormous Cape Cod style beach house, the Vanderharts seemed to genuinely enjoy spending time with their children.
And Ax’s grandparents, Gigi and Grandpa, were no different.
After fussing over me and showering me with compliments, they’d already invited me to join them for Labor Day at their summer home in The Hamptons.
Stranger still, Conrad and Deb insisted on helping the staff and went out of their way to be kind to them. Mariela, the cook, and Gertrude, the housekeeper, were treated more like family than I was in my own home.
I watched the pleasant family banter in disbelief. Only Ax’s steady hold on my knee beneath the table anchored me in the surreal scene.
“You okay, blondie?” he whispered as Deb passed the homemade apple pie around the table. The one she’d personally baked from scratch. “You’ve been uncharacteristically quiet.”
“Yeah, I’m just taking it all in,” I muttered.
“They are a lot, I know.” He grinned as he scanned the table of mostly boisterous men.
Only his eldest brother, Jackson, was married, but apparently Aaron also had a girlfriend, who’d be joining us tomorrow. Then of course there was Gigi and Deborah, the ever-gracious matriarchs of the family.
“They’re great.” I cataloged all the names and faces around the table.
I had no problem schmoozing. I was a bitch when I needed to be, but I could turn on the charm like no other when necessary. By the end of the night, I’d have all the Vanderharts eating out of my palm.
What had me hesitating was the guilt.
This warm, loving family didn’t deserve to be lied to. That’s what had my stomach in knots, right along with the prospect of sharing a bed with Axel.
“Relax, you’re doing great, Lore,” he whispered, his breath tickling the shell of my ear.
His fingers tightened around my knee, then drifted further up my thigh. I jumped, and my knee smashed into the underside of the table.
A pair of mischievous eyes whirled to me before pivoting toward his brother. “No funny stuff at the table, little bro.” Jeremy shot Axel a wink, and heat surged up my neck.
Gigi tossed a balled-up napkin at her grandson. “Oh, you leave them alone, Jer. They’re young and in love, as you should be by now. Where’s your girlfriend?”
“Ah, Geeg, you know I’m not the relationship type.”
Grandpa ticked his head at Jackson, smirking. “That’s what your older brother said too until he met Everly.”
“He didn’t make it easy, Grandpa.” The pretty brunette stared adoringly at the eldest Vanderhart brother. “But it was worth it.”
“It sure was.” Jackson laced his arm around his new wife, tucking her into his side.
“Aw, you guys are nauseatingly cute,” Ax crooned.
“You and Lore are coming in for a close second.” Aaron pointed a fork in our direction. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so goo-goo eyed over a girl. What have you done to my little bro, Lorelei?”
That damned heat flared in my cheeks, and I was sure they were coated in crimson.
“All right, that’s enough all of you, you’re making Lorelei blush.” Deb clapped her hands forcing everyone’s attention to her, thank God. “Let’s help Gertie clean the table, and we can meet out back at the firepit for s’mores in fifteen minutes.”
The table became a flutter of bodies and clanging china and glasses. I reached for my half-empty plate, I’d been too nervous to eat, but Axel pulled it right out of my grasp.
“Please, allow me.” With a wink, he took the plate and stacked it on top of his own. I stared completely in awe as the men cleared the table and the women sat like the queens we were meant to be.
Damn, clearly, Cordi had never seen Axel in action, or she never would’ve been stupid enough to let him go. Money, manners, gorgeous, a winning personality and a faint dark side?
Axel couldn’t be more perfect. For me.
Ignoring the dark voice, I watched the men shuffle around the dining room, and a yawn squeezed out despite my best efforts.
“Lorelei, dear, if you’re tired, don’t feel obligated to stay up with the rest of us,” Deb said from across the table. “I’m sure you two had a long day. We’ve been doing nothing but relaxing since yesterday. Besides, you’re probably not used to this chaos. You’re an only child, right?”
I nodded, about to respond, before Jackson’s wife cut in.
“I sure wasn’t.” Everly tossed me a sympathetic smile. “But you’ll be surprised how quickly you get used to it.” She glanced across the room at her husband balancing a tower of plates, and chuckled under her breath.
“No, it’s fine, really. I’m enjoying all the energy.” I waved a nonchalant hand. If I was being perfectly honest, I was pretty damned tired, but anything to avoid being alone in Ax’s bedroom for as long as possible. “Plus, I love s’mores.”
“Conrad was right.” Deb beamed. “You’re going to fit in perfectly.”
As hard as I tried to delay the inevitable, by midnight, Ax and I were the only ones around the firepit, and I could barely keep my eyes open. Still, I clutched the wine glass like it was my last lifeline, slowly sipping the sparkling rosé.
Axel raised his big arms in the air, showcasing those bulging biceps through his tight Polo shirt. “I’m beat, blondie. I gotta get my beauty sleep if we’re going to win the epic family flag football game tomorrow.”
“Right, sure.” I swallowed hard, then downed the anxiety with a huge gulp of the remaining wine.
Axel, too, had been nursing the same beer for the last hour.
If I didn’t know better, I could have sworn he was nervous about the sleeping arrangements, too.
But maybe he was just worried about betraying Cordelia or some chivalrous shit.
We still hadn’t talked about the other night, and the more time that passed, the less likely it seemed we ever would.
Which I was perfectly okay with.
I’d rather just pretend it never happened than face the embarrassing truth about my growing feelings for my fake boyfriend.
Axel rose and offered me his hand, despite there being no one around to watch. I curled my fingers around his big palm because apparently, I was a masochist and was happy living in this delusion. I took a step and stumbled, my beachy wedges getting caught on a thick root.
Ax caught me in his massive chest, arms easily weaving around my waist. “Are you drunk, blondie?”
I was actually far from it, but maybe I could use that for now.
“Maybe a little. Those bubbles must have gone straight to my head.” I grinned as I straightened, and he released me only to tighten his hold around my hand.
The walk through the quiet mansion had my pulse ratcheting up with every step closer to Axel’s bedroom.
I still hadn’t been inside his room, though he’d pointed it out earlier when he gave me the grand tour of the ten-bedroom mansion along the white sand beach.
Despite its tremendous size, it held a warmth I’d never experienced in any of my homes growing up.
“Well, here we are.” Axel stopped in front of a pale gray oak door, and with one hand on the knob, cocked his head back to look at me. “Now, you have to promise not to laugh when we go in there.”
“Laugh?” I choked out. Somehow, Axel’s shy smile dissipated the building tension.
“Yeah, well, I kind of had a thing for Hannah Montana back in the day…” He scrubbed the back of his neck. “And my parents never updated my room so—”
I barreled past Axel, pushing the door open, and a wild cackle erupted from my lips. I spun in a circle, gawking at the posters of a young Miley Cyrus that plastered every inch of wall space.
“Oh, my, gawd!” I laughed so hard, I folded over, bracing my hands on my knees.
A rosy hue blanketed his cheeks, only intensifying that boyish charm. “Hey, you promised you wouldn’t laugh…”
“Actually, I never did.” I scanned the room one more time before my gaze landed on the bed, and the laughter died in my throat.
It was tiny.
A small part of me had held onto the hope that he’d have a massive bed which would allow us to keep our distance, but Ax was so big I’d barely fit beside him on the full-sized mattress.
“Aw, come on, blondie, give me a break. I was a kid in love.” His gaze drifted around the room at the posters wallpapering every nook. “I’m nothing if not dedicated.”
“Clearly. Cordelia’s a lucky girl.” I snapped my mouth closed around the last syllable, but it was too late. Damned loose lips. Maybe I was slightly tipsy.
Axel’s easy smile evaporated, leaving a faint scowl in its place and eyebrows furrowed. “Umhmm.” An impossibly long moment of silence stretched between us before he threw his thumb over his shoulder to a door behind us. “I’m going to jump into the shower real quick. I stink of smoke and ash.”
“Oh, sure.”
He stopped mid-stride. “Unless you want to shower?”
“Nah, it’s okay. Unless you think I need to?” I sniffed at my hair. “You’ll have to share a bed with me, and I wouldn’t want the smell to chase you away.” I attempted an easy grin, but even to me, it felt forced.
He shrugged, his broad shoulders lifting. “Actually… I was thinking I’d take the floor. You can have the bed.”
“Oh.” That would be the safer choice.
Then why was every nerve in my body screaming for me to say something?
“That would be the gentlemanly thing to do, right?” His eyes searched mine, the blue deeper than they had any right to be. And all I wanted was to get lost in them.
No, stop it, Lorelei! Instead, I pressed my traitorous lips together, and my head dipped.
I watched him, biting my tongue, as he slowly turned and disappeared into the bathroom. When the door slammed closed behind him, I released a frustrated breath and slumped onto the foot of the bed.
“You did the right thing,” I whispered to myself.
Then why did I feel like absolute shit?