RICH BOY BRIT (A Bad Boy Stepbrother Romance)(53)

“Me too,” Claire added. “As long as it doesn’t involve walking.”

They all laughed when she spoke and agreed to shower and return to the beach.

***

The bonfire was just what Claire needed to get closer to Chance. She enjoyed his embrace as they watched the locals play games and dance around the fire, yanking the tourists from their perches to join them in several line dances. Towards the end of the party, she snuggled next to Chance, and he wrapped his arms around her as the air grew chilly.

“Would you care for a walk?” he asked her.

“Sure.”

He held her hand as they walked along the seashore, saying nothing and doing nothing other than enjoying each other’s company and feeling the splash of the waves on their skin. Chance brought her to a stop, turned her to him, and planted a hot, wet kiss on her lips. He pulled her to him and drank her in, and she could feel the need in his kiss. As he held her, Claire felt a sudden confidence that he wouldn’t let her go, and she clung to him and received him like never before.

“I’ve wanted to do that all day,” he told her.

“I’ve wanted you to,” she smiled back.

He put his arm around her waist and led her back to the others. Amy was just about ready to leave; she held Mario’s hand as the four of them returned to the hotel.

At the elevator, Claire heard someone calling to her excitedly. “That’s my mom,” Claire said as she stopped and waited, planting a smile on her face as her mother approached them. A man walked behind her, and for the first time Claire officially met her mother’s mysterious man.

“Claire, I’d like you to meet Bryan,” Willow said.

“I’ve met him before. Though not officially,” she smiled. “Back on the island.”

“Okay, that’s good. It will make this a whole lot easier,” Willow said, glowing when she turned to the man.

“Make what easier?” Claire asked, looking at her mother suspiciously. She didn’t like the tone of her voice.

“Bryan and I got married this afternoon,” she glowed.

“You what?” Claire asked, looking from her mother to Bryan and then Chance. Amy and Mario slipped away.

“Dad?” Chance asked. “You did what?”

Willow turned to Bryan. “This is Chance?”

“Yes,” Bryan said. “This is Chance, my son. And this must be Claire.”

“Yes,” Willow said simply. “This is my daughter.”

Claire looked at her mother, unable to formulate the words she needed to express her feelings. She wanted her mom to be happy and finding a man who made her happy like Bryan was her dream for her mother. But Bryan was Chance’s dad, and she had just given her virginity to Chance. What are the odds that the one man who made her forget Trent had just become her stepbrother? No one had even bothered consulting her.

“Mom, you know Chance and I are seeing each other, right?”

Willow’s eyes flew open and Bryan looked at the younger kids and then to Willow.

“Way to go, Dad. I’m happy for you, truly I am. But it would have be nice to consult us before you guys ran off and got married like teenagers,” Chance said and turned to Claire. They needed to get out of there, and soon.

“Chance,” Bryan said. “It was so impromptu and felt right.”

“Good day, Father,” Chance said. He looked at Claire, who shook her head at both of the older adults and held onto Chance’s arms as they walked away. From lovers to stepsiblings in one week!





CHAPTER 13


“Chance, come back,” Bryan called after his son.

“Claire, I can explain,” her mother called.

“Chance,” Claire whispered as they kept walking. “Maybe we should go back and congratulate them.”

“Do you know what that means for us?” he asked. “That means we are now a family.”

“I know, but it might not be so bad. We might be able to work things out.”

He raked his hand through his hair and paced the floor. “I can’t be any part of this.”

“But Chance, let’s think rationally,” Claire said, but Chance was already gone.

Claire stood alone with the grown-ups; all she could do was walk back to them and congratulate them. She hugged her mother and smiled; she shook Bryan’s hand, and as soon as she could, she dragged herself up the stairs and went to her room. Amy and Mario were nowhere to be found.

When she stepped onto the balcony, Chance wasn’t there. She knew he was stewing somewhere. Granted she didn’t know him that well to reasonably assume what he was doing, but she knew how he felt. She personally felt like the rug had been pulled out from under her, and she was nursing bruised ribs and shattered bones.

***

Chance sat on his bed pondering the situation until a knock on his door interrupted him. He opened the door to let his father into his room, then turned and walked back inside without saying hello to the older man.

“That’s not the usual response you get when you make a wedding announcement,” he said as he closed the door behind him.

“That’s not the usual time frame it takes normal people to get married,” Chance fired back. “Dad, you met her, what, a week ago?”

“And what does that matter? I love her.”