“Shit!” I stuck my right pointer finger in my mouth. “You did that on purpose!” I stepped back and she closed the door and redid the lock.
“Good night, Blake.” She laughed as she sauntered away. And damn it, I still stared, even though I was seriously considering tackling her and finishing what she had started. Okay, I started it, but I still wanted to finish it. She looked over her shoulder once and I could see that she was laughing. She knew exactly what she had done and thought it was funny.
As I mounted my motorcycle and headed for home, I couldn’t help but laugh. I had never looked forward to a day of work like I looked forward to tomorrow. Unfortunately, my good humor didn’t last very long. When I pulled up to the house, the first thing I saw was Dad’s car out front.
“Fuck.” I parked my bike next to the garage and pulled my helmet off. He stayed at one of the resorts most of the time, but it looked like he had company, which meant he needed to impress them with a family home.
I went through the back of the house, hoping to avoid any confrontations. We had never really gotten along, but things had been much worse since the whole shit-storm at school.
Vincent was standing in the doorway to the kitchen and motioned for me to go in. He was wearing slacks, which wasn’t all that unusual for him, but the button-up shirt and bland tie meant Dad expected us to make an appearance. I groaned, but my brother made hushing motions and I rolled my eyes. I hated this part of being in the family. Yeah, we had money. Loads of money, but we spent so much time pretending to be the ideal family to people on the outside it was a joke.
“Investors.” Vince made a motion like he was going to shoot himself.
“What are we in for?” I set the helmet down and dodged one of the cooks.
“You’re late, so they already ate.” His expression was screaming that I could go eat shit for leaving him to deal with them alone. “But they’re having cocktails right now. Dad’s asking for you.”
“Great.” I headed for the door to go shower and change. I’d have to hurry.
“There’s a girl.” Vincent’s voice was irritated, so I already knew whatever was going to follow would be bad. “I’m too young for her, so you get to play.”
I closed my eyes and shook my head. “I’m not in the mood, Vince.”
“Not my call, dude. You know Dad is going to expect you to make nice.” He pulled at his tie and ran a hand over his hair. “And you’re already on his shit-list.”
“Fuck. Fine. I’ll be down in a few minutes.”
I ran upstairs and showered quickly. I threw on some khaki slacks and a green button-up shirt. I wasn’t wearing a damn tie, though. I hated those things. They should be outlawed in the islands. My hair was still wet, but I didn’t care. I’m sure Dad had come up with a story to explain me being late. Something close to the truth so it wouldn’t be hard to keep up with.
There was music coming from the parlor, and I could see the back of Dad’s head from where he was sitting in the wingback chair. There was a balding man sitting across from him with a blond woman too young for him draped across his lap. Vince was standing next to the fireplace, talking to a slim brunette. She wasn’t dressed as provocatively as the blonde, but her clothing didn’t leave much to the imagination, either. I tried to not roll my eyes when she smiled at me over her shoulder. Sometimes my reputation was a pain in the ass. I thought people would leave me alone the worse I was, but turns out girls really do like the bad boy.
“Blake.” Dad’s voice cut through the room and I turned to smile at him. It was hard and I knew it didn’t reach my eyes. It wasn’t that he was cruel to us, but he might as well be a stranger. We were only tools to seal a deal.
“Father, sorry I’m late.” I smiled at the couple on the couch. “My apologies.”
“Kids will be kids! Out having fun?” The old man smiled while the blonde leered. It was a disgusting show. The Texan accent made me smile, though. I’d put my money on oil.
“I was working, sir, and didn’t realize how much time had passed.”
“Ah, can’t hold that against him, can you, Marshall?” The fat man smiled at Dad as if they were long-lost buddies.
“Certainly not. Blake, meet Mr. Jordan and his wife, Lyla.” I shook their hands and tried to not grimace. “And this is Mr. Jordan’s daughter, Kimberly.”
Taking a deep breath, I turned and smiled at the brunette. She held her hand out and I shook it. “Lovely to meet you.”
I couldn’t help it when my eyes strayed to the clock above the fireplace. A completely useless fireplace. It was half past nine o’clock, so I had to make nice for a half hour before I could claim exhaustion. Kimberly sat down on the loveseat next to the wall and patted a cushion next to her. I sat down, knowing how this was supposed to go. I could feel Dad’s eyes on me as I smiled at the girl. If you could win over the whole family, you could land the deal easily.
“So, Blake Weathering. I’ve heard a lot about you.” She smiled, showing her orthodontist-perfect teeth.
“Is that so?” I smiled at her while I mentally counted down the seconds until I could escape.
She leaned forward to show off her enhanced cl**vage and put her hand on my knee. “Lots. I was excited to get to meet you. My friend Meghan said that you were a lot of fun.”
Vince snorted into his drink and I felt my jaw clench. Meghan had been a giant headache. We’d had a fling a year ago, but it was short-lived. There were songs about her type of crazy. She had been fun for a little while but eventually turned into one of those scary, crying in public messes when I forgot to open a door for her. It had been ugly.
“I hope she’s doing well.”
“Oh, she’s fine. Shacking up with some ski instructor last I heard. What about you?” Her hand was still on my knee. I looked down at it and picked it up gently before placing it back in her own lap.
“Do you mean how am I doing? Or do you want to know who I’m shacking up with?” I knew that this wasn’t how I was supposed to play the game. I was supposed to lead her on a little, flirt a bit, then call it a night. But every time she opened her mouth, a pair of teasing teal eyes fluttered through my mind and I couldn’t stomach wasting my life like this.
She took a sip of her drink and smiled at me. “Both.”
“Well, you just cut to the chase, don’t you?” Vince piped in from where he was perched next to the long table that housed Dad’s bottles of scotch.
“I’m only here for a week.” Kimberly darted an annoyed look at Vincent. It was apparent now that I was here, she wanted nothing to do with him.
“I’m busy. Very busy.” I took the drink out of Vincent’s hand and downed the rest of it. He was too young to be drinking anyway.
“There are ways around work, Blake.” She ran a hand up and down her leg. It was a nice leg, but I just didn’t give a rat’s ass.
“True, but I’m seeing someone and I don’t play games.” I stood up and held my hand out to her. “It was lovely to meet you, but I’m going to have to excuse myself. I’m exhausted and have a long day tomorrow.”
“Oh.” She stood up and tried to give me an awkward hug. Vince’s mouth was pulled into a tight line as he fought to not laugh.
I left the room quickly. I didn’t care who I offended, I was done with this shit. There was a sharp tap on my bedroom door and I grunted. When Dad opened the door, I wasn’t surprised. He closed it quickly behind him and sat down in the desk chair.
“Want to tell me what the problem is?” His voice was low and quiet. If I didn’t know better I might think he actually cared, but that wasn’t it. He had spent years perfecting his voice for negotiations. That’s all this was for him.
“I’m tired of the fake shit.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “I’m not doing it anymore. I’m not wasting my life with these people.”
“It seemed like Kimberly wasn’t dealing fake shit. Sounded very straightforward.” He narrowed his eyes at me. “She’s attractive. I would think you wouldn’t mind spending time with her. Or are you really seeing someone?”
“It’s none of your business.” I ran my hands through my hair. “Shit. Are you trying to pimp Vince and me out?”
“Don’t be an idiot.” There was the dad I knew. “I would never expect you to sleep with a client’s daughter. I do want you to be civil and friendly. That’s never hurt anyone.”
“No.”
“No?” He stood up and put his hands in his pockets.
“No. I’m not going to kiss the ass of people I despise.” I pulled my hands out of my pockets, bothered that I had adopted his stance without meaning to.
“This is your family, too, Blake. You need to help make sure it stays where it is.” His eyebrows pulled together. “Your older sister ran off to be an artist in New York. Vince is a pushover. He would be eaten alive in this business. You’re the only one that can keep us afloat.” He took a couple of steps toward me. “I’ve already had to pay off a judge to keep you out of jail. Did you think they were just going to slap you on the wrist? This family is the reason you’re walking free right now and you will do your part.”
“You paid off the judge.” I said the words slowly. It was my fault that those criminals had ended up at Flukes. I was the reason Ben was worried about Meena.
“Not just the judge, Blake. That kids’ family and lawyers, too.” He walked to the door. “I’ve made excuses for you tonight, but don’t let it happen again.”
Chapter Eight
- Meena -
My skin was still tingling from my brush with Blake, but right now I had something even more important to deal with. I had seen mermaids. In all the years that I had lived here, I had never seen another mermaid. There had been times when I thought that I was the only one.
I kicked my shoes off and slammed the screen door open. “Mom! Dad!”
They were nestled into the corner of the couch, watching one of Mom’s favorite shows. They both looked at me in concern, so I tried to calm down and act a little more like my age.
“Is Jallia birthing?” Dad shifted Mom out of his lap so he could stand up.
“No.” I plopped down on the other end of the couch and tried to pick my words carefully. “I went for a swim with Mitch tonight, but something happened.”
“Are you okay? Is Mitch okay?” Mom leaned forward, her eyes doing that quick scan all parents can do.
“We’re fine.” I waved my hand to let them know it was all okay. “I saw another mermaid.”
Silence filled the room and my parents just stared at me. It was my mom who finally spoke first. “You saw another mermaid. You’re sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure! And actually, there were two of them. Well, a mermaid and a merman. I guess that’s what you would call a male mermaid. Right?”
Mom nodded her head, but didn’t say anything else. Why weren’t they excited? All these years and now I know I’m not alone.