Stepbrother Bad Boy's Baby Boxed Set(40)

"Oh, all of that crap," he said with a smile. "I don't need hundred dollar t-shirts or five hundred dollar sneakers. I have something far more valuable right here, and she doesn't care if I wear Jean Paul Gautier or Costco."

"That's true," I said. "Come on then, let's get home. I did some furniture rearranging, I hope you like it."

"Oh, like what?" he asked me as we left the terminal, and he followed me to the parking garage. "I didn't know you brought your car."

"Like I said, I thought you'd have suitcases," I replied. We got in, and I fired up the engine on my Nissan. I'd had it for a few years, but the compact SUV got good mileage, and I didn't drive it often. "I'll know better next time."

"I will," Julian said. We left the parking lot and got back on the freeway towards downtown. "By the way, while I was in Los Angeles, I thought of something we really need to do."

"What's that?" I asked, changing lanes to go around a slow driver. "And don't tell me take a shower, that's already on my agenda."

Julian reached over and patted my thigh, shaking his head. "No, but I like that idea too. What I thought of was, going up to Castelbon Manor. Krystal, we really should tell our parents about us, and it's not the sort of thing you tell over the phone or over Skype."

I nodded, and looked over at him. "You sure about this?"

"Dead sure. In fact, there is nothing in my life I'm more sure of than that I want to be with you for as long as I can, and that I want my father and Sandra to know that I am in love with you."

I nodded, and turned my attention back to the freeway. "Alright then. I'll talk with Horst at Alinea tomorrow, and as soon as I can get the time off, we go up to Castelbon Manor."

"Now, in the meantime," Julian nonchalantly commented now that the matter was settled, "what's this about new furniture, and what's this about a shower as soon as we get home?"

I raised an eyebrow, but kept my eyes on the freeway. "I may have gotten a king sized mattress delivered for our bedroom while you were gone," I said, "and as for the shower, well, that's something we'll just have to find out when we get home now, isn't it?"





Chapter 18 - Part 3





Krystal





It was rare for me to get two vacations from work at Alinea so close together, but after the performance on Iron Chef, Horst was willing to give me a long weekend, which meant four days off in a row. Monday to Thursday. Because of that, Julian and I took the earliest flight out of O'Hare that we could to Boston, and from there, we rented a car that we drove up to the Manor. In a nod to my more modest tastes, Julian had passed on the luxury sports car and we took a compact Toyota. He fidgeted with the seat constantly until I reached over and put my hand on top of his. "You keep doing that, and I'm going to crash," I said with a smile.

"Yeah well, next time I'm also thinking we can drive our own car, something not designed by a bunch of people who are five seven and top out at a hundred and sixty pounds," he grumbled. "I mean, even the stereo sucks."

"It gets us where we need to go," I said, setting the cruise control. "We should be there in just over an hour and a half, traffic is pretty good. Don't worry, we'll be there by noon."

Julian snorted and looked out the window. "I know it was my idea to tell them so quickly, but I have to admit, I'm not exactly looking forward to it."

"Kimberly warned me along the same lines when we talked about it, about being so quick to tell them that is. She's worried that a lot of people won't understand or accept it."

Julian looked over at me, his blue eyes burning with intensity. "Krystal, I'm kind of used to it, people not accepting me and being on the outside, regardless of it being my fault or not. But you, can you handle it?"

"I think so, and if I need, I have you and Kim," I replied. "What else do I need?"

"Well I know I could use a cheeseburger," Julian joked in reply, lightening the mood. "So are we there yet?"

"Smart ass."

The drive was beautiful, especially as we left the urban areas around Boston and headed north into the countryside. Living in Chicago was great, and working at Alinea was a dream come true for me, but there is something about New England that just resonated with me. Maybe it was the memories of visiting my grandfather at the Hepburn estate near Bretton Woods, or maybe an overabundant love of pancakes and maple syrup helped. Regardless of the reason, I loved the drive. Even Julian seemed to relax as concrete was replaced by pine trees as we got closer.

It wasn't until I turned up the long driveway to the Castelbon Manor that I started to feel nervous. What if Julian was right? What if Mom and John didn't understand? In the short time that Julian and I had been together, it was more than just sexual with us. There was a connection we'd formed, even before that first kiss, and the days afterwards had just deepened it. Of course, being sexually satisfied to the point that I spent my nights almost delirious was a great benefit too.

Parking the car, I shut off the engine and looked over at Julian. "Well, we're here."

"Yep. You know, if you turn on the engine and hit the gas now, I don't think they'll know we came," he semi-joked, before the front door opened and Yuki came out. "Damn. Too late. Listen, it's not that I don't want to tell them, but how about we hold off on the public affection until we do? I mean, it might be a little less shocking that way."