“You couldn’t have changed shirts before you graced us with your presence?” Grandma asked, raising an eyebrow. “It’s so unhygienic…my goodness!”
Good old Grandma. She’d only just met the guy, but she was already giving him a dressing down for looking so disgusting. And no wonder. Seriously, the guy was hot as hell, as much as I hated to admit it, but showing up at a Michelin-starred restaurant with blood on his shirt was unbelievably gross.#p#分页标题#e#
“I’m sorry…Adelina, was it?” he said. “I was already late, and I didn’t want to be even later, so I rushed straight over here from the bar.”
“You can call me Mrs. Villanueva, young man,” she replied, her voice stiff. “This first name nonsense is far too familiar.”
I stifled a giggle, glad that she was treating the prick exactly how he deserved—like a bad little boy. Ironic, because he obviously tried to present himself as having a bad boy image…just not the kind of bad boy my Grandma saw him as.
Mom and James looked uncomfortable, clearly aware that this was off to a bad start, and James glanced over at me before quickly changing the subject. “Sorry, Rory, what were you saying just before Finn arrived? Something about the security here?”
“Err…nothing,” I mumbled. “It’s okay.”
Truthfully, I would have loved nothing more than to have security drag Finn away so that I wasn’t forced to share a dinner table with him, but I was going to be sharing a lot more than a table with him soon, given that we had to live together, so I bit my tongue and tried to ignore him as he slid into the booth next to me.
My body had already started to betray me. The warmth from his leg next to mine under the table was making my heart race like mad as heat blossomed between my legs, and I kept staring straight ahead, praying he wouldn’t somehow notice.
“So…made the big announcement yet?” Finn asked, glancing around the table.
James nodded. “Yep.”
He looked beyond pleased with himself, and my Mom’s megawatt smile practically lit up the room. I couldn’t help but grin despite my horror at the stepbrother situation, and my grandmother did the same. Even though Mom had selfishly eloped, we couldn’t deny how happy she looked, and that made us happy too.
“I’m so happy to finally meet you, Finn,” Mom simpered, reaching across and touching his hand. He immediately drew it back and slid it under the table, his smile faltering for a second.
“Er…yeah. Me too,” he muttered.
“Rory always wanted a brother, and now she has one. How exciting, right?” she went on.
I couldn’t even pretend to keep smiling at that, so I took a sip of water and nodded, hoping no one would notice my sudden change in expression. Finn’s hand suddenly crept up onto my bare thigh, and I almost spat out my mouthful. He looked straight ahead, pretending that nothing was going on, and I struggled to maintain my composure as I tried to figure out what to do without drawing attention to what was going on. On the one hand, I didn’t want to make things weird for Mom and James while they looked so enraptured, but on the other hand, I didn’t want this sleazy asshole touching me.
I put my own hand on top of his, and he looked momentarily excited until I dug my sharp nails right into him. He took a sharp intake of breath, but to his credit, he didn’t reflexively yank his hand out and make what had happened obvious to everyone else at the table.
“Fun’s over, dirtbag,” I hissed, making sure Grandma and our parents weren’t paying attention. “You can go back to your cage now.”
I pressed my nails down further, and finally, he pulled his hand away, but not before shooting me a dark look. I glared back at him, wishing he could hear my thoughts. Too bad, prick. Dislike me all you want, because I already can’t stand you.
Honestly, what did he expect after the other night? For me to be nice to him? For me to fall over my feet trying to hook up with him? Yeah, right.
A waitress came over and poured the bottle of champagne into our flutes, and James held up his glass before clearing his throat. “To our new family,” he said. “Cheers!”#p#分页标题#e#
“Cheers,” I mumbled before tipping the champagne flute back and emptying the entire contents of it into my mouth. After the last ten minutes, I needed more than a drink…I needed a full-body sedative. Unfortunately, alcohol was all I could have right now.
I decided it had been immature of me to stab Finn with my fingernails and hiss insults at him. I should’ve just ignored his hand on my leg or moved away, but I’d let him get a rise out of me instead. As I sneaked a glance at him again, he smirked at me before winking, and I realized that had been his intention all along—he’d wanted to get a reaction out of me. It was just like what my Grandma had always said about my bully in elementary school. She just wants a reaction, and you’re giving it to her. Ignore her and she’ll start to ignore you.