Stepbrother Bad Boy's Baby Boxed Set(58)

I sighed and looked at Krystal, who set the shears aside before putting the lock of my hair into an envelope she had lying on the counter from a credit card company. Turning to me, she came over and hugged me, then kissed me on the cheek. "Now, are you going to help with dinner or not?"

"Ow," I replied, wincing at the pain in my cheek. "No kissing the sunburns, please."

"Be glad I don't smack you in the arm with the spatula instead," Kimberly replied. "Since your little stunt also cost two people their jobs as well."





Chapter 25





Krystal





"So that was how I got myself fired," I explained as we sat down at the coffee table, since I wanted the meal to be more relaxed. "And yes, I admit it's not your fault, Julian."

"I'd say he's responsible for at least part of it," Kimberly said as she looked at the large plate of coucous, lamb, and vegetables. "Any particular way I'm supposed to eat this?"

"No, just dive in," I said. "Just remind me in twenty minutes to get the dessert out of the oven."

Julian looked at his plate deeply for a second. "Kim, you said I cost two people their jobs. Who else?"

"Yuki," I replied. "Mom fired her after she stuck up for you when you left. While John wasn't happy about it, he wasn't going to overrule the decision. He did give her until the end of the month to find a new position and she could stay in the manager's house until then."

"Geez, Yuki didn't deserve that," Julian said, setting his spoon aside. "Krystal, please go ahead and eat, but I need to make some phone calls. I'm going to see if there's anything I can do about that."

He got up from the table and went into his bedroom, closing the door behind him. Kim and I watched him go, and she turned back to me. "That's a step in the right direction," she noted. "I wonder what he's going to do when I tell him Gina's baby is most likely not his."

I stopped, my fork halfway to my mouth, and nearly dropped it into my plate. "What?"

"Oh, you hadn't put it together yet?" Kim asked me. "Damn, I thought you chefs were good at math."

"What are you talking about?" I asked, still trying to keep my mind from flipping out.

Kim took a bite of her lamb, nodded in appreciation, and made me wait for what seemed like eons before answering. "Gina said that her due date was somewhere in January, right?"

"Right."

"And your mom got married in June, right?"

"Right."

"And how far after June is January?"

The realization hit me like a truck. "Seven. So if Julian is the father, either...."

"Either Gina's some sort of mutant hybrid that creates babies faster than almost every other woman in the human race, or she screwed up in remembering the date, and it's a March or April baby instead of January, or...."

"Or Julian isn't the father," I finished for her. "But, why would Gina make that claim?"

"Who knows? You'd need to ask her, but given what you've told me about her, she probably doesn't know who the father is, and picked the one most likely to give the best life to the baby. Or maybe she fell for him like you did. She seems to be the type that places good sex high on the importance list of mates, and Julian checks all those boxes."

"How do you know that?" I asked curiously. I felt joy spread through me, and felt like flying. "I've never told you the details."

"Four times your first night?" Kim reminded me. "That's not just good, that's a virtuoso."

We both giggled as I nodded, flushing pink as I thought about it. It took us a few minutes to calm down, and we enjoyed our dinner until Julian came out of the bedroom, a smile on his face as I cleaned the last of the vegetables off my plate. "Sorry it took so long," he said. "And I'll need to talk more with some people tomorrow, but I may have a solution for everyone."

"Oh, what's that?" I asked, warmth in my heart blossoming as he sat down.

"I called my Dad, and I called Dwayne. Dad confirmed for me that Yuki is still on the grounds, and he gave me her phone number. I called her and we talked briefly, and I told her about what my idea is. I then called Dwayne. He's cautiously on board with it, but wants to talk more after he gets to Paris. He had a shareholders meeting today."

"What's the plan?" I asked, excitement joining the warmth in my heart as Julian's face opened up into a smile.

"How would you like to become the executive chef of the newest Forrester Hotels resort, right in Kennebunkport? And Yuki is going to be either the General Manager or Assistant General Manager?"

I felt tears of happiness spring to my eyes as Julian tucked into his food, smiling even though his lamb was now cold. "Hey, what about me?" Kimberly asked in mock indignation. "I've helped out around here too, you know."

"Yep, I know," Julian replied. "Which is why Dwayne wants to talk to you about a contract for you to do IT work for Forrester Hotels, and his sister's law firm. It's not going to be at the Kennebunkport resort, but you'd be definitely moving out of that apartment you have now. Maybe Miami, maybe Chicago, hell, if you work it right, you might be able to telecommute and do it wherever you want."