Man Bun (The Boyfriend Series Book 2) Page 2

  TATE

  Ross led the way down the dunes to the beach, his board under his arm, the smile on his face telling me he needed this as much as I did. I’d been in the city all week working on the final painting for an exhibit at a local gallery and missed surfing as much as he did.

  The sky was overcast, and the air was cool, but it was California and we had wet suits, so it was all good.

  We caught wave after wave, enjoying the surf, getting a good workout in the process.

  When we took a break, our boards next to each other as we waited for some more waves, he turned to me.

  “How are you going to manage not surfing once you get to Brooklyn?”

  I shrugged and watched the waves break in front of us. “People still surf in New York.”

  “Not all year, I’d imagine.”

  “No, but you can surf off Fire Island. It’s a barrier reef and has some decent waves, especially in September and October during hurricane season. It’s nice out there. Before I decided to go to Stanford, I considered Columbia and checked out the surfing.”

  Ross shrugged like he was unconvinced. “Can’t beat SoCal for surfing.”

  “Maybe not. You can always move to New York and come to Fire Island to surf with me. Lots of demand for architects. Plus, Kelli could always get work there.”

  “We’ll see. I bet you two will be back once you have to face a New York winter. The cold and slush? I couldn’t imagine it after being here for the past six years.”

  “The future is wide open,” I said. “You never know. Brooke and I might want to move to Texas eventually, if Brooklyn gets too cold for us. It’s nice and warm there, and has a great arts community, although Austin is a bit far from the coast for my liking. I want to live near water, wherever we end up.”

  “You could always drive to the coast on the weekends.”

  I nodded. “I want to be in Brooklyn for a few years either way.”

  We caught a few more waves and then left the surf, carrying our boards up to the beach house, where we stowed them and then had quick showers. Inside the house, Brooke and Kelli were getting the grill ready for supper. We had given Louisa the weekend off since we would be spending it alone. We could fend for ourselves, although we liked having Louisa around to take care of the beach house. She was a far better cook than any of us.

  “There you are,” Kelli said when she saw Ross. She was her usual ebullient self, running over to Ross and throwing her arms around him. They kissed like they hadn’t seen each other for a long time, although they practically lived together. I went to Brooke and gave her a kiss for good measure, smiling at her as she watched Kelli and Ross go at it.

  “You’ll miss them,” I said, stroking her hair. “I’ll miss them, for that matter.”

  “I will,” she said with a sigh. Then she turned to me. “But it will be exciting to start our life together in Brooklyn. And to see Dad.”

  “Ahh, yes. Dad. I can’t wait,” I said drolly, and tickled her under her arms. “I’ll get the third-degree from him, I’m certain.”

  “You will, but I warned him to be nice and on his best behaviour. I’m sure you’ll pass muster.”

  “I hope so,” I said with a chuckle. “I’ll make sure to put my hair in a man bun just for him.”

  She smiled at that.

  For the next couple of hours, we ate and drank and listened to good tunes on the sound system, soaking in the SoCal sunset and then the starry night.

  When ten o’clock rolled around, Brooke yawned, and I slipped my arm around her shoulder. “You have an early morning tomorrow with the new guy, so, you better hit the hay, so to speak.”

  “Oh, yeah, the new guy,” Kelli said, her eyebrows raising. She turned to face Brooke. “Isn’t John coming into town for the week to oversee things?”

  Beside me, I could almost feel Brooke shudder. “Unfortunately, yes. He’ll be in all week, sitting in on meetings and taking care of business.” She sighed. “I haven’t seen him since he left other than on Zoom conference calls. I wonder what it will be like to be in the same room with him.”

  “You’ll be fine. He’s still got the fear of the Lord in him,” I said to her.

  She smiled, but I knew she was still apprehensive about it.

  “I hope so,” she replied and leaned in to kiss me. “Thanks for that.”

  We both knew what ‘fear of the Lord’ meant — and it wasn’t the Lord God Almighty. It was the secrets I had that I could easily spill to TATTLETALE or any other news outlet that would savour the chance to expose John McNaughton’s naughty and downright criminal side.

  We cleaned up the kitchen and closed the house.

  Before we could go upstairs to our rooms, the front door opened, and in he walked in all his glory.

  John Fucking McNaughton.

  What the fuck?

  Brooke glanced at me, and I saw the alarm on her face.

  My father, standing in the doorway, dressed in an impeccable suit, his tie loosened, his top shirt button undone, an overnight bag in his hand.

  I went to the front entrance and confronted him.

  “What are you doing here?”

  He placed the overnight bag down and squared his shoulders.

  “Last time I looked, my name was on the title to this property, not yours.”

  I shook my head, angry that he would come to the beach house like that and think he could just say there with Brooke and me.

  “This beach house is Brooke’s for the duration of her term with McNaughton. You signed the papers.”

  “I’m still the owner. Is Brooke going to take me to the rental cops or something?”

  He removed his jacket and hung it in the front closet.

  I could smell liquor on his breath and knew he’d been drinking. Probably got all irate thinking about me being with Brooke out here in his beach house and was drunk enough to come out and confront us, force himself on us to ruin the night.

  “Stop,” I said and held out my hand. “Just turn around and go back to town. You know this isn’t a good idea.”

  Brooke came to my side, her arm on mine. “It’s okay. You’re welcome to stay, John. It’s your place. I’m just thankful that we had it for the past five months.”

  She forced a smile.

  “Thanks,” John said, and slipped off his shoes. “Not that I need your permission, but I wanted to get out of the city for the week. I trust you won’t mind me staying here.”

  “We won’t,” Brooke said and squeezed my arm. “Let’s go up to bed,” she said to me, her eyebrows raised. I knew that she didn’t want a confrontation at that moment, and I took in a deep breath, trying to calm myself.

  “Sure,” I said. “We’ll be gone on Saturday, and you can have the place to yourself if you want.” I took Brooke’s hand and kissed it, and then pulled her towards the stairs. “Goodnight, John.”

  My stepfather didn’t respond. He probably wanted to punch me, but I was willing to follow Brooke’s lead and not give him the chance.

  I saw Ross and Kelli slip up the stairs in front of us and gave Ross a shake of my head when his eyes met mine.

  “Smart choice,” he said as we reached the upper floor. “No need for a fist fight or swords at dawn.”

  “Poor you,” Kelli said and gave Brooke a hug. “What a bastard to come here now.”

  “I know,” Brooke replied, turning to me. “We have to make it work. I don’t want any confrontation while he’s here, okay?”

  I nodded. “I can be a grownup when needed.” I smiled at her, trying to lighten the mood, although what I really wanted to do was go back downstairs and punch my father in the face — correction — my mother’s first husband. He was never a real father to me, either by blood or in terms of care.

  But I didn’t. For Brooke.

  “Thanks,” she said and leaned up to kiss me.

  “That’s what I like to see,” Ross said and put his hands on our shoulders. “Loving couples working together to solve problem
s. It’s gonna be an interesting week. Dealing with your stepfather this week and then the retired firefighter future-father-in-law next week. You got your work cut out for you, Tate. I don’t envy you.”

  He smiled and I shook my head. He always had exactly the right comment for the situation.

  “Thanks for reminding me.”

  We all went to our respective rooms, and when the door was closed behind me, Brooke stood in the bedroom by the bed and looked so forlorn, I had to go to her and take her into my arms.

  “Don’t worry, my love,” I said and kissed her tenderly. “He’ll be a good boy, or I’ll kick his ass out the front door. I have leverage. I would have used it but I knew you wanted peace, so I held back.”

  “Thanks,” she said and leaned her head against my shoulder. “I do want peace, at least while he’s here. I want my last few weeks in the San Francisco office to be a success. I don’t like it that John is here, but I understand the new guy is his hand-picked choice to replace me permanently in the position. He probably wants to make sure everyone accepts him and welcomes him.

  “Who is this guy anyway? You told me he was a Harvard MBA but what else do you know about him?”

  She went to the closet and began undressing. “He’s worked in planning for a while now, but not exactly emergency planning. More like planning laws in different countries.”

  “So, in other words, he’s not as qualified as you,” I said, following her and removing my shirt.

  “He has more work experience,” she replied, “but not exactly in emergency planning. Still, he understands regulations and bylaws, and so it probably won’t take much to bring him up to speed.”

  She smiled, but I could tell she felt unsure.

  “Is my father paying off a friend or something by putting an under-qualified person in the position?”

  She shrugged. “He’s… differently qualified, I guess you could say. There were more qualified candidates for the position. I saw the resumes, but your dad wanted this guy. Theodore “Teddy” Barnes, MBA Harvard. Used to work for a big multinational corporation in computer tech, managing plans for new factories, so he had to know the regs for each different country. He had a big job before, so I guess John went for connections over direct experience. He knows a lot of people around the world. It could be good for McNaughton if we expand our overseas production.”

  “Got it,” I said and when I finished undressing, I followed her into the bathroom so we could brush our teeth side by side. It felt like we were an old couple used to each other.

  I liked it.

  We fit together hand in glove.

  We got into bed and snuggled down into the covers. I pulled her into my arms for a goodnight kiss. I could feel the tension in her body, and I knew her mind was on my father and what he had planned for the week.

  “I know certain techniques for relaxing when you’re under stress,” I whispered, kissing her neck.

  She smiled, her eyes narrowing. “You do, do you? Like a nice neck and back massage?”

  “Maybe an all-over body massage,” I replied, running my hands over her back and down to cup her buttocks.

  She closed her eyes, and I knew she needed the release of a good orgasm to take her mind off John Fucking McNaughton being in the bedroom next to ours, but at the same time, I also knew that she would probably not be able to lose herself.

  I decided to let her lead the way. If she wanted more, I’d give her more. If she wanted to just fall asleep in my arms, so be it. Neither of us were starved for sex since we had already indulged in the morning.

  Right now, I wanted her to fall asleep however she wanted to. Quietly in my arms, or after a slow fuck.

  “I’m so tired,” she whispered, her eyes still closed.

  I kissed her forehead and then her lips. “Don’t worry about my father. I have the heavy ammo and that will keep him in line.”

  Her eyes opened. “That ammo wasn’t big enough to keep him from coming here tonight, half-drunk.”

  “In the morning, I suspect he’ll be a different man, once he takes some Tylenol for his hangover. I’ll casually mention my friend who works at TATTLETALE and that should do the trick. When he’s sober, he’ll realize that I can make things very hard for him and the corporation with very bad publicity. That should convince him to spend the rest of the week at the InterContinental.”

  She exhaled softly, and I could sense doubt in her about John’s willingness to be reasonable and non-confrontational.

  I had my doubts as well. It was going to be a tough week for us both.

  Whatever happened, and however my former father behaved, I needed to be strong for her.

  With that firmly in my mind, I pulled her into my arms more tightly, determined to face the week doing what had to be done.

  3

  BROOKE

  Tate and I went through our morning routine of getting ready for the day, and the whole time, I was nervous about how John would be when we got downstairs.

  Would he be recalcitrant and apologetic for his late-night arrival, drunk?

  Somehow, that didn’t fit with the man I had come to know over the past five years…

  I expected him to be sitting at the island in the kitchen, cup of coffee in his hand, dressed to the nines and a predatory expression on his face.

  What I didn’t expect was what we found — he had already gone by the time we came downstairs.

  Tate went out to the front entrance and checked, but his vehicle was gone. He ran upstairs and the bedroom was empty, the overnight bag gone as well.

  “I guess he got the message,” Tate said to me when he returned to the kitchen, where I was making us a fresh pot of coffee. “He must have come to his senses when he sobered up and realized this was not the way to behave for a CEO and founder of one of the biggest tech companies in the country.”

  I sighed and squeezed his hand. “Maybe,” I said. “Or maybe it’s just because he always gets up extra early and arrives at the office before everyone else.”

  “He does?” Tate asked, surprised. “He was always gone early in the morning when I lived with him and Mom, but I didn’t realize he was first in the office.”

  “Yes, sometimes even before the cleaning staff from the night before have left.”

  I shrugged and put some toast in the toaster. “Poached, fried or scrambled?”

  “Poached,” Tate replied and went to the cupboard to get some plates out. “Whatever the case, I’m glad he’s gone. He took his overnight bag, so maybe he’s decided it’s better to stay in town.”

  “Hopefully.”

  A very perky Kelli showed up with Ross trailing behind her. “I see the Boss is already gone,” Kelli said and came over to where I was poaching eggs.

  “Thankfully,” I said. “I can’t avoid him at work, but at least I don’t have to face him over breakfast. Do you want a poached egg? Ross?”

  “No, just black coffee and toast for me,” Ross called out and sat at the island.

  “I’ll have one, since you’re cooking,” Kelli said. “I can never get them not to break or be too hard or too runny.”

  “It’s all in the wrist action,” I said with a laugh, showing her how I stirred the pot before pouring an already-cracked egg into the water. “Plus, vinegar. You put vinegar into the water to prevent the white from spreading out too much. I saw it on a YouTube video.”

  For the next half hour, we enjoyed our breakfast together on the patio. The sun had risen, and it was warm enough to eat breakfast on the covered porch.

  After cleaning up, we got ready to leave for the city and said our goodbyes. Ross and Kelli went in their vehicle, and Tate and I drove into town in Tate’s Range Rover.

  On the way, he held my hand, like he wanted to give me strength to face the day with John.

  I was thankful for his support.

  However, I had to be my own support while I was at work that morning and afternoon, with John present to oversee everything. I was determined not to
let him get under my skin or overreact to anything he said or did.

  “Don’t worry about me,” I said to Tate when he pulled up in front of the building. “I’m a big girl. John wants this week to go well for his new hire. He won’t screw things up over our past.”

  “You have more faith in him than I do,” Tate replied and leaned over to kiss me goodbye.

  I got out of the vehicle and took in a deep breath, then walked up to the entrance. When I got to the door, I turned and waved at Tate, glad I had him to come home to at night.

  Then, I went inside.

  I arrived on the penthouse floor where the executive offices were located and said hello to our receptionist before going into my own office.

  “How is it going this morning?” I asked my admin assistant, Tanya, when I went into my office.

  “Good,” Tanya replied and held out some slips of paper for me. “These are your messages from the weekend.”

  “Thanks,” I said and took them into my office. I hung up my coat and sat down behind my desk, switching on my computer and placing the messages on my desktop.

  Three from a single number from a first name I didn’t recognize.

  I called the number and waited.

  “Hello, this is Brooke Williams, Director of Emergency Planning at McLaughlin Inc. I received three messages from this number over the weekend.”

  There was a pause on the other end and then a male voice came onto the line. He spoke in hushed tones.

  “You should check on the new hire,” the voice said. “Not everything is as it seems.”

  “Who is this?” I demanded, frowning. “What do you mean, not everything is as it seems?”

  “You need to do a better background check. I can’t say anymore or tell you who I am.”

  Then, the line went dead.

  I put down the phone into the cradle and sat for a moment, trying to understand what on earth that meant.

  He was suggesting that the ‘new hire’ was not what he seemed? That we needed to do a better background check. But John hired the man himself. It was John’s pick, not anyone else’s…