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“I have plans tonight. Would it be okay if I get the invitations in the mail on Monday?”
Her eyes pause on my belly. “Now isn’t the time to be slack about commitments and let yourself go.”
I relent, to avoid a lecture. “Let me get dressed. I can pick them up and still go out with my friends. I’ll tackle the addresses in the morning.”
“There are exactly one thousand invitations. Make sure your handwriting stays pretty.”
Crap.
Turning off the space heater, I grab my belongings and stifle my desire to stomp to my room. It would only give her one more reason to chastise me.
Signing up for the Christmas Cherry Auction was a dumb idea. My father’s right. I’m too lost in daydreams like my mom. I might as well have plucked petals from a flower to ask the universe if my stepbrothers could love me.
Aurora and Cindy’s messages finally come in and offer another perspective. I have to attend…or they’ll kill me.
But Aurora’s last message hits another sore spot. My ex.Don’t let Damon get the best of you. Put on your big girl thong and be outside your building on time.
I wish he was the problem.
I don’t want to be the pawn in some rude game my brothers are playing.
Me:My stepbrothers want to irritate my dad by bidding on me.
Aurora:WTF?
Cindy:They’re idiots. Let’s beat them at their own game.
Me:How
Cindy:We’ll run their bid up and all they’ll get is four hours of holiday prep help, exactly as you signed up to do. Your dad can be proud that so much money will go to charity.
She has a point. I can stay in charge. They’ll have nothing on me, which means… The least I can do is fulfill my responsibility.
The musky scents of my stepbrothers’ colognes linger in the elevator when I enter.
Swoony fantasies about elevator sex—
No. My stepbrothers are a great starting place for this new leaf I’m turning over. No more fantasies. Watch out world, Bianca’s embracing a new reality.
I don’t have a thing for my stepbrothers.
I don’t, not anymore
I stop squeezing my thighs together.
Time to move on…as soon as the elevator stops spinning.
Two
Mark
“Tryflippingthescript,”Sean says.
“Try driving with your mouth shut.” I’m thankful I can see the bar. I need a drink before I blow a gasket. Bianca occupies all of my thoughts. She makes me tingly…and I’m not a tingly kind of guy. She makes me think of houses with white-picket fences and other things that don’t fit into my jet-set lifestyle.
How can I want her so badly when she’s exactly what I don’t want? Mom had a streak of disastrous relationships before meeting Bianca’s dad. I don’t ever want to hurt a woman the way men hurt her.
“Instead of you pulling Bianca out of the auction, what if we let it go on as planned and I win her?”
