Reason and Romance (River Valley Book 1) Read online

  “Well, we’re home!” Karen said. “What do you guys think?”

  Adrian couldn’t answer. She just couldn’t. The packing and the goodbyes had been bad enough, but now that she stood in this house, it had finally dawned upon her that she wasn’t going to wake up in her own bedroom anymore, one that had become so familiar that she could draw every detail.

  “It’s big,” Nicky said. Oddly, she’d rallied the best, but probably because she’d cried so much already. “So where are we sleeping?”

  “Well … there are five bedrooms,” Karen said. “Before you girls came, we decided that Isaac and Owen would share a bedroom.”

  Adrian saw the glance between the younger Montgomery boys. Oh yes, that was further fuel there. They’d given up their individual rooms, and they didn’t look too pleased about it. Good. At least the Blake girls weren’t the only ones suffering here.

  Karen was still speaking. “So we’ve decided Alex will take the bedroom this floor, and Adrian will have the office as her room. Is that okay, Adrian?”

  Adrian stepped backwards, glancing down the hallway. The office Karen had pointed out was right next to Alex’s bedroom. She opened her mouth to complain, but her father’s pleading expression stopped her.

  She swallowed. “That’s very thoughtful of you, Karen. Nicky and I can always share a room, or maybe Meg and Nicky can …”

  Karen shook her head. “Girls need more privacy.” She clapped her hands. “All right, the moving van came yesterday, so you can just unpack whenever you like. Dinner’s in an hour, so you can rest or even swim. We have a swimming pool in the backyard.”

  Another time, another place, Adrian might have welcomed hearing that piece of information. Back in Chicago, you went only to the public pool. Only the rich had private ones, and even then, they were useless during winter time unless they were heated.

  She managed to hold it together until she got to her new room. The closet took up an entire wall, but there was a built-in L-shaped desk bolted to the wall and a few office cabinets that she couldn’t move. No space for her furniture other than her bed. What was she going to do with her things? The movers had thrown them around in a haphazard heap.

  When she yanked open the blinds, she saw a dusty and brown section of the backyard. That was the garbage and recycling bins, wasn’t it? That was her grand view?

  A fist closed around her heart. If she stood here any longer, she’d absolutely lose it, so she backed out of the room with haste, only to bump into Alex standing in the hallway. His room was right next to hers, she remembered with a fresh annoyance. How was she supposed to have some privacy?

  Alex leaned his shoulder against the wall. “Looks like we’re neighbors. If that bothers you, I can always ask my brothers to move down here, so you can move upstairs.”

  “No thanks,” she said coolly. “I’m fine.”

  “Suit yourself. You might want to invest in a pair of earplugs, though.”

  “Why?”

  Alex rapped on his door. “I have a busy social life.”

  Her face burned. Or at least it would have, but she had never blushed easily. She hadn’t even considered that aspect of living next to him.

  “Feel free to listen in, anytime.”

  “Listen to what? Some pathetic drunken groping in the dark? Please.” But she mentally resolved to buy some earplugs anyway.

  Dinner was indeed served in an hour. Her father and Alex grilled the steaks, both of them making small talk, while Karen concentrated on her and her sisters. The cynical part of Adrian wondered if the adults had planned it that way.

  “I know you girls will have to face a period of adjustment, but I will do everything to make it easier on you,” Karen was saying.

  By then, Adrian was so numb that she just nodded.

  “Alex will show you around, Adrian. He has a lot of friends, and they’ll all make you feel welcome. Everything’s going to be all right, you’ll see.”

  Yeah right, Adrian thought. She’d vaguely hoped for new friends, when she’d first heard of her would-be stepbrothers, but two minutes with Alex had trashed that hope. So that was yet another loss. She’d lived in Chicago for seventeen years, always growing up with the same group of kids, and of course she’d had Jason.

  Her thoughts turned to school. Karen had enrolled her and Nicky at Alex’s high school and even picked up their schedules. Adrian would have to check out the list of school activities—find some promising clubs. She’d been a cheerleader back home, but the tryouts here had probably concluded. It didn’t matter, really. She only had to last one year until graduation.

  The only highlight of the long night was when Karen asked Meg if she liked Arizona.

  “This is a fascist podunkville,” Meg said. “And I reject your propaganda.”

  Karen blinked. “Oh.”

  That night, when Adrian slept in her awkwardly positioned bed, she expected the tears to come, but they never did. Her chest was tight and her throat swollen, but even when her eyes landed on Jason’s picture she’d put up on the L-shaped desk, still nothing. She curled up into a tight little ball and willed herself to sleep.

  It had to get better; it had to.

  CHAPTER TWO

  It was getting harder to smile. For the last few days, she’d prayed for a miracle: her father and Karen calling off the engagement, Karen getting kidnapped by the Mafia, or something. But no, the days marched on, and she was still stuck in Arizona.

  The party was the last straw. Karen had insisted on throwing a little gathering to welcome them to Arizona, but she’d neglected to mention she’d invited over one hundred people. Strangers mingled in the house and the backyard.

  Adrian watched as her father smiled and nodded at the strangers. She was nursing a cold drink because it gave her something to do with her hands. Otherwise she’d have bolted from this nightmare. Even as she thought of it, she knew she would never run. She was Adrian Blake, and Adrian Blake did not run.

  So she did the only thing she could do: stand there in her summer dress and smile until her cheeks hurt.

  Against her will, her gaze found Alex sprawled in the backyard. He filled out every inch of that T-shirt. She really didn’t think she was misinterpreting the glimmer of interest she saw in the eyes of many females. Some of them were older than her grandmother!

  “This is nice, isn’t it?” Nicky said. Her woebegone expression said it was anything but, and Adrian put an arm around her sister’s thin shoulders. Nicky had alternated between smiles and tears for the most part.

  “This is boring,” Meg groused. She tugged at her dress, so she could kick off her sandals. “Why do we have to be here anyway? Ten bucks say they won’t get married.”

  It was just their bad luck that Isaac happened to be standing by. “They will. It’s true love.”

  “I wasn’t talking to you, Four Eyes.”

  Adrian physically stepped between them before Isaac could lecture Meg about manners and philosophical matters again. The last time he’d tried, Meg had threatened to set his books on fire. Suffice to say, Meg and the two younger Montgomery boys weren’t friendly.

  “Have you seen Jason?” Adrian asked her sisters.

  Her boyfriend had flown out from Chicago for a short visit, but he’d gotten in so late last night that they’d barely had time to talk and eat a hurried dinner before he passed out on the couch in the family room.

  Her attention diverted, Meg shrugged. “Don’t know, don’t care. I don’t know why you like that pansy anyway. He has a weak chin.”

  Half-amused, Adrian shook her head. Well, at least Meg was constant in her dislike. She’d despised Jason from the first day she’d met him.

  Nicky provided the answer. “I saw him out in the front yard talking on his cell.”

  Adrian’s brow furrowed before she could smooth it out. She’d hoped to have more time with Jason, but maybe that had been unrealistic. Despite the fact she really didn’t know anyone in Arizona, she’d been busy, unpacking he
r things and getting ready for school.

  She would just have to catch up with Jason later tonight. Oh, there he was.

  “Hey,” she said, smiling. She slipped her hand through the crook of his arm and led him away from her sisters. “I didn’t see you earlier.”

  He tucked his cell into his pocket. “I saw you, though. Every time I tried to get to you, you were always surrounded by people. Your stepmother invited a lot of people.”

  “She’s not my stepmother.”

  “Well, yeah, but soon, she will be.”

  Lips tight, Adrian nodded. “I want this to be over.”

  She pushed her limp hair away from her neck. Her feet were crying because she’d stupidly put on four-inch heels.

  He drew her close. “Listen to me,” he whispered, his breath brushing her cheekbone. “I’ll come visit you for Thanksgiving. We have Christmas break too. Then we just have to hang on until spring break and summer. Baby, it’s just a few months. We can do it.”

  His words buoyed her sagging confidence. This was exactly what she needed to hear. She wrapped her arms around his waist and looked up at him. Physical affection had never quite come easy for her—a personality quirk, an innate reserve, whatever it was—but Jason was her boyfriend.

  “Sure you can handle the pressure?” she teased.

  “Baby, you know it. We’re not gonna break up just because you’re in the desert.”

  “If you say so. I know Stephanie Frost has a crush on you.”

  She didn’t even know why she’d said that. Maybe it was because he’d delayed his flight a couple times. He would leave almost immediately after the party, and she would drive him to the airport. Or maybe it boiled down to the hungry and triumphant expression on Stephanie Frost’s face whenever she’d looked at Jason back in Chicago.

  “Adrian!”

  “What? You didn’t know Stephanie likes you?”

  “Uh …” He stepped back, and in that moment her heart sank. “Adrian, listen to me. I don’t know what you’re thinking, but Stephanie has nothing to do with us. Okay?”

  She angled her head. She’d never been one of those girls obsessing over their boyfriends’ every move, and she didn’t intend to start, but …

  “Adrian, listen. I came here for you.”

  “Yes,” she acknowledged. Left unsaid was that she’d practically begged him to stay longer. She’d even offered to pay for his plane ticket. “Yes, you came.”

  He exhaled sharply. “I’m not gonna fight with you. Let’s eat.”

  She didn’t take his hand again, and he didn’t offer his arm. They went through the line for food and when they saw her father and Karen, she nudged Jason away. Nothing in the last few days had made her like Alex’s mother any better. She knew she was being unfair, but the truth was that if her father hadn’t met Karen, they wouldn’t be here.

  “Let’s join Nicky,” Jason was saying.

  She glanced in the direction he’d indicated. Nicky was sitting at a table, all right, but she was sitting with Alex and a few others. They hadn’t seen Adrian yet, so there was still time to slip away and find a better spot.

  “Let’s not,” she said.

  “Why? What’s wrong?”

  “Adrian! Jason! Come over,” Nicky called out. She waved and beckoned at them from the table. “These are Alex’s friends!”

  Resigned, Adrian plastered a smile on her face. “Hi,” she said to the group. “I’m Adrian.”

  Alex was lounging in his chair. “She’s a senior like us. We’ll see her in most of our classes,” he said to his friends.

  One of the guys let out a low whistle. “Shit, she’s hot,” he said to Alex, in a supposedly confidential undertone. “You didn’t tell me that.”

  “You’re such a dork,” the girl sitting at his elbow said. She slapped the back of his head. “We all can hear you.”

  He flashed Adrian an apologetic smile. “Sorry. I’m Justin Latimer. Alex and I go way back to kindergarten.”

  Adrian nodded coolly. He was cute with an open, friendly face, but she didn’t relish the idea of him discussing her with Alex behind her back. He was on the slender side, not quite as muscular as Alex, but he had a toned and lean-muscled appearance. When he ran a hand through his hair in embarrassment, she saw glints of red in his chestnut brown hair.

  The girl turned to Adrian. She had long cinnamon curls swept up in a casual braid, one that complemented her sporty tank top and denim shorts. A little too thin, but her muscles had that lean, defined look of an athlete.

  “I’m Justin’s twin sister,” the girl said. “Bri Latimer.”

  One of Alex’s friends leaned back in his chair, almost slouching down. He had a mouth to die for. It was perfectly sculpted with the lower lip a little fuller. A mouth made for smiling or kissing, but as of now, it was currently leering at her. He wasn’t quite pretty or handsome—Adrian couldn’t decide which category he was in—but his smile was irresistibly wicked. You looked at him and you knew exactly what he was thinking.

  “You mind if I have her?” he said to Alex. “First dibs.”

  Wow, that fast. Whoever this guy was, he probably had broken the Guinness World Record for hitting on a girl. Adrian didn’t know which was more insulting: the fact that he’d asked Alex for permission or the fact he didn’t even bother introducing himself.

  “She’s mine,” Jason said shortly. She’d almost forgotten him, but he was there at her side, gripping her hand. “And you can go to hell.”

  She stifled a groan. Did he have to act all possessive now? Of all the times he’d picked … well, it was too late. Alex’s friends had all snapped to attention. They’d been relaxed, but Jason’s curt tone put them on guard.

  “Like he says, I’m taken,” she said. “Sorry.”

  A small smile played with Alex’s mouth. “You heard her, Quentin. I think you’ve just hurt her boyfriend’s feelings. Apologize to him, will you?”

  “Why bother? The boyfriend’s going back to Chicago anyway, and I’ll still be here.” Quentin flashed a quicksilver smile. “So whenever you feel bored, give me a call, huh? Quentin Maxwell love you long time.”

  Alex cut in smoothly before Jason could open his mouth. “That’s not what I heard from the girl you dated last month.”

  Everyone but Adrian and Jason chuckled. And to her surprise, Quentin was grinning. Apparently he could take a joke, even if it was at his expense.

  Bri Latimer finally ended it. “God, Quentin. Give your hormones a rest.” She jerked her head at the last guy. “That’s Grant Darlington. Just don’t call him a darling.”

  Grant nodded briefly. He was the only blond guy sitting at the table, so he was easy to remember. His eyes were a pale blue and when he sipped from his water bottle, Adrian saw that his knuckles were bruised. He had a truly impressive body, one that shouldn’t have belonged to an eighteen-year-old guy. Even though he didn’t stand up, she knew he would be taller than Alex by a few inches. Bigger too, and that was a terrifying image.

  “Noted,” Adrian said. She had her hand locked on Jason’s arm, and she could feel the corded muscles. Better get him out of here before anything further happened. “It’s nice to meet your friends, Alex.”

  Alex nodded at the table. “You’re welcome to sit here with us. You and your boyfriend. We don’t usually bite.”

  “Thanks for the invitation, but no. Jason and I don’t have much time before he leaves for the airport.” She tugged on Jason’s arm. “Let’s sit over there, okay?”

  He went reluctantly, but at least he was moving away from Alex and his stupid friends.

  “Boyfriend or no,” Quentin drawled before she’d gone a couple steps, “I’d bang her like a screen door.”

  “Shut up,” Bri said.

  Heat crept into Adrian’s cheeks. She wasn’t even out of the range, so she knew Quentin had meant for her to hear that. In that moment, she made up her mind she never would hang out with Alex or his friends at school.

  “What did y
ou just say?” Jason hissed. He spun toward Quentin.

  Quentin’s smile was killer. “I said I wanted to bang your girlfriend like a screen door.”

  “Show my girlfriend some fucking respect.”

  “Stop it!” Adrian snapped at him. “He’s not worth it, Jason. None of them are.”

  Quentin waggled his eyebrows. “Aw, that hurts.”

  “As if you have any feelings. Are you always this disgusting?”

  Alex’s eyes met hers. “Don’t mind my friends, Adrian. We don’t usually let Quentin out of his cage. You sure you don’t want to sit with us?”

  “I’m sure,” Adrian said curtly. “I think you can do without us tonight.”

  Alex inclined his head. “We’ll see if you can do without us.”

  Now that was interesting. Just when she would have probed further, Jason stalked away. She had no choice but to follow him. All around her were happy people, but for her, it was perhaps the angriest meal she’d had lately. Jason didn’t say a word as he ate. His silence said he wasn’t too thrilled she’d pulled him away from Alex and the others. Well, she wasn’t too thrilled with him either.

  Resentment built in her as she stabbed at her food. Even from here, she could hear Alex and his friends laughing over at their table. And what was worse, her sister was there too. Nicky hadn’t stood up for her or Jason during that debacle. No, she’d just chosen to duck her head and pretend she didn’t know her older sister.

  Oh yeah, Adrian loved it here.

  Jason got up to get another drink, and that was when Alex came over. “Your boyfriend seems unhappy,” Alex said.

  She lifted a shoulder. “Your friends were pretty rude to him.”

  He acknowledged that with a slight curl of his mouth. “All the same, it wouldn’t hurt you to be polite to my friends. Quentin’s the richest guy in our school. His parties are unparalleled.” He glanced over at his table where his friends were. “Justin is very, very well-liked. If he likes you, everyone else will. Bri has a significant in with other girls because she’s Justin’s sister. And only a fool gets on Grant’s bad side. So, if I were you, I’d get over that chip on your shoulder.”