Love All Out - The Complete Series (A Stepbrother Romance) by Alice Ward Page A

you for coming this evening. I’ve been asked to let you know that the silent auction will close before tonight’s band begins their performance. Be sure to check your bid sheet as soon as you’re finished eating! I’d like to begin my presentation by telling you about some of our success stories…”
    A waiter appeared and sat a plate of grilled salmon and vegetables in front of me. I ordered another drink and asked him to keep them coming. As I ate, I zoned out on the presentation and let images of my night with James fill my head. Before I knew it, the dinner and lecture portion of the evening was over and the band stepped on stage. I turned to Daddy.
    “I’m getting tired… can we go home soon?”
    “Why don’t we stay a little while longer?” he asked. “We got here late. I’d hate to leave early. And I didn’t have a chance to look at the auction tables.”
    I rolled my eyes impatiently. “Daddy, you don’t need anything,” I argued.
    “I know, but it’s all for a good cause, pumpkin. Let’s stay for another hour. Renee and Matt are already planning on covering for you in the morning. I know you’re tired, but you’ll be able to sleep in tomorrow.”
    Daddy, Dale, and Jan left the table. Bradley and I stared at each other awkwardly for a moment and then I turned back to my drink.
    “What’s wrong with you, Willow?” Bradley asked.
    “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m tired, that’s all.”
    He shook his head. “You’re forgetting that I know you well enough to realize when you’re lying. You’ve been distracted all night. You’ve barely said two words since you got here.”
    I turned and stared at him with narrowed eyes. “Maybe you don’t know me as well as you think.”
    The waiter delivered my fourth Jack and Coke and I drank it down in one gulp.
    “See, this is exactly what I’m talking about. You’ve been downing whiskey like its water, you rolled your eyes at your dad… I can’t say that I’m crazy about your new attitude.”
    I nearly sneered, but stopped myself before I jumped over the line of total rudeness. “I apologize. I didn’t realize I had to consider your opinion before ordering a cocktail.”
    I knew I was being unnecessarily hostile, but I was tired of Bradley and everyone else assuming that we’d end up together. I wanted to put an end to it, once and for all. If I had to hurt his feelings in the process, so be it.
    “I don’t think that your new houseguest is a good influence on you,” he insisted. “How long until James Parker and his contagious attitude go back to where they came from?”
    “James isn’t my houseguest. He and Renee are staying in one of the staff cabins. And they can stay as long as they’d like.”
    “I don’t know what your father was thinking, letting trash like that onto the ranch,” Bradley continued. It was if he wasn’t hearing me at all. “I mean, Renee seems nice enough. But if she was really a good person, her son would have turned out better. I know James can be charming... in that slimy, player way. But you’ll see. Once you get away from him for a while, you’ll snap out of this mood you’ve been in. Maybe then we can be happy.”
    I sighed. “Bradley, if I was going to fall in love with you, it would have happened a long time ago. I’m sorry… I really am. But you’ve got to let go of this fantasy that you and I are going to end up together. And you need to get your dad to back off too. Do you have any idea how uncomfortable it makes me when he makes comments about us?”
    Bradley straightened up in his seat and took a sip of his Pinot Grigio. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. That cowboy has gotten into your head, I know he has. But he can’t make you happy, Willow. He can’t give you the kind of life you’re accustomed to. For Christ’s sake, he’s poor. You just don’t know what’s good for you, that’s all. But you’ll realize it soon enough. For your sake, I hope