Chapter 33
THIRTY-THREE
THURSDAY.
She’d pushed the dinner, back and back every day until Thursday. This was as far as anyone allowed her to go. Next Thursday? The week after? No. This one. It had to be now.
No matter how many times she tried to cancel, no one got the hint that this was a bad idea.
Bastian didn’t help. He actually seemed eager to spend time with her family.
How nice it must be to go through life oblivious to the perils hurtling toward you.
Other families weren’t quite as tolerant of each other as his, Bastian was in for a treat.
Didn’t matter now. Not while riding along in Carnell’s car with Adara on the way to the restaurant.
Her sister chattered about her nuptials.
Weddings were so… pointless. Each to their own, but why were flowers so important?
More to the point, why were they so expensive?
Still, she’d forgive Adara’s excitement if she could be equally excused for her lack of it.
One tiny reprieve? Damon and Charissa were travelling with her parents.
Short lived though it may be, she appreciated the breathing space.
When they stopped, a valet was there ready to take Carnell’s keys.
Azame, what kind of name was that for a restaurant? Wait, was this the place in… Shit. A salad in this place cost three figures. Wow, talk about eager to please. How did her father get a reservation at an exclusive place like this?
Her party congregated, straightening skirts and cuffs, exchanging mumbles about the journey.
Okay, maybe not mumbles, but she had no interest in listening to Damon more than was absolutely necessary.
Blah, blah, blah. Her father could shoulder that burden.
Charissa and Adara were clearly excited about the exclusive location, and her mother wasn’t far behind in joining their glee.
And she was—whoa, brother.
Forget the family.
There was the yummiest prize she’d ever seen: Bastian. He emerged from inside and she went to meet him halfway.
Her eyes drifted shut when he kissed her and traced a fingertip down her temple.
“You’re here,” she whispered. He looked amazing. So him, so cool, so exactly what she needed. “I didn’t know you’d be here waiting. You’re a nice surprise.”
“I had to be early,” he said. “No need for you to enter alone.”
“Bastian,” Davis announced from their side. Where had he appeared from? Almost petulant, she resented her father shattering their private moment. “I must introduce you to the family. This is my wife Bea, my daughter Adara and her fiancé Carnell.”
“We’ve met before,” Adara said. “Let’s get inside, it’s freezing out here.”
So inside they went. Table, seats, order, all went like clockwork.
The staff were more attentive and informative than she’d ever known.
And she knew exactly why. Her father would like to think it was for his benefit.
It wasn’t. Bastian was the one they fell over themselves for.
“Yes, Mr. Hunt.” “No, Mr. Hunt.” “Whatever you want, Mr. Hunt.” She couldn’t blame them, pleasing him gave her a buzz too.
As her father explained something to Adara and Charissa, Harper leaned in closer to Bastian, locking their fingers together on the table.
“I’m coming home with you tonight,” she whispered, grazing her lips on his jaw. “Will you let me come home with you?”
When their eyes met, his shimmered with a carnal heat she wanted to bathe in. His fingers slid beneath the table to rest on her thigh for a single heartbeat before they snuck under the hem of her dress.
“If I made the rules, you’d spend all your nights in my bed.”
Boosting up, she touched her lips to his. “Who makes the rules?”
“It’s all you, baby,” he answered. “All you.”
Her laugh silenced the table. Was she that interesting? Her head fell to his shoulder and he kissed her hair, joining their hands beneath the table again.
“I’m glad we have this opportunity to get together,” Davis said. “I suppose we’ll have many chances now that you and Harper are an item.”
“You’re very handsome,” Charissa said. “Do you carry a lot of cash?”
Adara and Carnell laughed like it was a joke.
Damon frowned. “Do you always buy your way into people’s lives, Mr. Hunt?”
“We’re family. This is family,” Davis said on a gruff laugh. For the first time, her father would want Damon to shut the hell up. Welcome to the club, Daddio. “We would be very interested to hear about your recent partnership with Sporta.”
Bastian shook his head while sipping water. “It’s not a partnership,” he said. “We’ve got them treading water, so now we can bail them out.”
“It’s a takeover?” Damon asked.
“That’s what they wanted in the beginning,” Bastian said. “They approached us about the acquisition fourteen months ago.”
“You refused?”
“Grand Holdings isn’t a charity,” he said. “Fourteen months gave our finance division time to carry out a complete historical audit. I know what I’m doing. And this is small potatoes. Sporta only blipped on my radar because my aunt knows their CFO.”
“You didn’t take it on faith?” Bea asked.
Bastian smiled. “Faith doesn’t have much of a place in business.
Trust is precarious enough in personal situations.
You play at my level, facts and figures are the only faith we have.
Even they can lie sometimes. This deal is eight figures.
Peanuts in the bigger picture, but you look after the pennies… ”
“This from the guy with nine cars,” Adara said.
How did her sister know that?
“There’s nine at the house,” Bastian said but didn’t add a qualifier.
“Is it true you own a theme park?” Charissa asked.
“Sold it,” he said. “Didn’t fit my portfolio.”
“How many hotels do you own?”
“There are five twenty-five in the chain worldwide,” he said. “Give or take, we offer franchise options if you’re interested.”
“Harper must have told you what we do,” Davis said.
No way she’d let that axe drop.
“We shouldn’t monopolize the meal with business,” Harper said. “You boys can talk shop another time,” or never as far as she was concerned.
“Where did you two meet?” Bea asked. “This is a very unusual situation, isn’t it?”
“Sure is,” Bastian said. “I can’t believe I was so lucky as to meet the most incredible woman in the world. How I got her interest, I’ll never know. Still not sure how I swung that.”
“You can be difficult,” Harper said, following her words with a faux sigh.
Bastian kissed her temple. “I’m a lucky guy.”
“You must have women knocking down your door,” Charissa said.
“It’s double locked,” Bastian replied. “There’s only one girl for me.”
Her date smiled at her and, damn, she believed it. This guy was a helluva salesman. Talk about hyperbole. She shouldn’t laugh. Wouldn’t. He was being sweet again.
Trust Damon to ruin the mood with his scoff.
Bastian’s smile fell in the second he turned to the sound. “Do you have a problem, Twaddle?”
“No,” Davis said. “He has no problem.”
“It’s OTT,” Damon said, him and Bastian locking eyes. “Harper’s not the type of woman guys shoot their load for like that.”
“Damon,” Charissa chastised him. “Your mom is right there.”
Bastian’s next words were cool, measured. “I assure you, Twaddle, mine shoots just fine. For Harper, and only for Harper.”
A laugh busted out of Adara. “Sorry…” Her sister’s eyes watered in their hilarity.
“That was a good comeback. Guess some men work a little better than others. Carnell’s healthy as a horse and he has no trouble with me.
” Adara wrinkled her nose to patronize Damon, just as he deserved. “Maybe you should go to a doctor.”
The way Damon’s scowl flipped to Charissa led her to believe, huh, there could be something in that. Had the friends been talking?
But, typically, Damon dug his heels in when drawing his eyes off Charissa. “Men like blondes,” he asserted. “Sophisticated and cultured. Not too much work. You’ve got to admit, Harpy, one thing you are is hard work.”
Lovely. Wasn’t that nice. It wouldn’t be a family get-together without a dose of Harper bashing, next time she’d wear a helmet.
“Not all men want the same thing,” Adara said.
“Not all women want the same thing either. You want a quiet little trophy wife to trail along behind you and do as she’s told.
Maybe Bastian doesn’t want that. There are four couples at the table, do you think if we mixed and matched our qualities that we would be as happy? ”
Four couples. Harper was used to being the singleton. For the first time, she was actually happy and it was all down to the man at her side.
The food arrived and the conversation moved on but the contentment remained. Unfamiliar, but not unwelcome, she’d never be able to repay his kindness.