Yours to Keep by Claudia Burgoa
Chapter Fifteen
Vance
The next day,I head to Dr. Sanders’s home. He’s not there, but I spend the first three hours of my morning building his raised garden beds. During that time, I think about two things: the fucking wheel of emotions and Darren Russell. When I finish the second bed, I conclude that the best thing to do is leave the backyard and maybe the town.
That’s why I end up back in Portland. It’s not because I have to pick up the helicopter, but that’s the excuse I use with my brothers. I don’t know how to explain why I’m at the lobby of the Merkel Hotel waiting downstairs for Dare.
When the elevator doors open, he steps out and grins the moment he sees me. “This is a nice surprise.”
“Well, I wasn’t sure if you had clothes and…”
He shakes his head. “I bought a few things, but thank you.”
Okay, so he doesn’t need me. Still, since it’s noon, I ask, “Did you have lunch?”
Wait, why am I stalling? I’m not interested in connecting with him.
“I was about to order room service.” He gives me a playful smile. “You came to deliver?”
“I…”
“I’m kidding.” He chuckles.
“Well, then, since you’re all set, I’m just going to—”
“You want to come upstairs?” he interrupts me. “They put me in the presidential suite.”
I’m glad Sophia set him up in the best room. If I ever have to stay for the night, I want to stay there. Not sure if my brother will allow it. He likes to keep those suites open for Sophia’s parents.
“That’s a pretty cool room.”
“Then join me. I could use some company.”
“Tired of talking to yourself?”
He turns around and calls the elevator. I’m a little surprised that he doesn’t have a comeback.
“Have you been talking so much you’re annoyed?”
“Ha, it would be funny if it were true.”
“So, what happened?”
When we step inside the elevator and the doors close, he says, “Mom called me early this morning. She asked why I’m in Portland. She still tracks my phone as if I were a teenager. Do you know who’s to blame?”
I shake my head.
“My father. He’s an IT guru. He taught her how to find my phone.”
“It’s not hard.”
“Mom’s technologically impaired. She needs us to explain things at least five times before she gets it.”
“Boundaries.”
“There you go, with your one-word answers. I need a better solution.”
“It’s simple,” I insist.
He laughs.
“You haven’t met my mother. The word boundary is almost as bad as fuck. She likes to have an opinion on our lives. I’m waiting for the day that she arrives in Baker’s Creek with her bags and moves in while she finds an eligible bachelor for me.”
I want to believe that he’s not exaggerating, but that sounds too far-fetched for anyone. My mom and I have a strange relationship. I always check in with her because she worries about me. Though, we’re not close enough that she’d want to know who I’m dating. Fuck, she doesn’t even know I sometimes go out with men. I’m not in the closet, but other than my brothers, no one else in my family knows I’m bisexual. I don’t think telling The General would be smart. My grandfather already disowned me for being his daughter’s bastard.
“Hey, are you okay?” Darren asks.
“What?”
The elevator reaches the top floor. We step outside and head to the suite. When we step inside, he finally speaks. “You frequently get inside your head and forget the people around you. I told you about my mom, and you just drifted.”
I shake my head. “I’m sorry, I was trying to remember something.”
He walks toward the dining table and grabs a leather binder. “Here’s the room service menu. Let me know what you want. I’d order a bottle of wine, but you have to fly back home tonight.”
“It’s noon.”
“You’re right, we could drink the bottle, and by the end of the day, you’d be sober. I can sober you up.”
Whoa, is he coming on to me?
“Listen, I like you.”
“Don’t break my heart yet. Let me keep the illusion that you’re gay for a few more hours.”
I chuckle. “Actually, that’s not it. I’m bi, so…in other circumstances, I might be interested, but I—”
“You can’t share a meal with me because you have a jealous boyfriend?”
“No.”
“Then why can’t we share a meal?”
I…I don’t know what to tell him. I feel like an idiot. In truth, I’ve never dated in my life. Not that we’re dating, I just don’t socialize much when I’m attracted to another person. I sleep around. The people I share my bed with don’t ask for much because I don’t have anything to offer. We don’t talk about our parents, where we went to school, or how annoying our siblings can be.
“Why do you get into your head so often? I feel like you have long conversations with yourself, and well, it might be a tad rude when you have company.”
“You don’t have a filter, do you?”
“I’m a neurosurgeon, not a psychologist. Also, I grew up with Debbie Russell. Mom taught us to always say what we think. So, what do you want to order?”
I get back to the menu and go for the obvious. “Gourmet burger, hold the onion.”
“You could order the fish.”
“I need a juicy burger. Leyla, Sophia, and Blaire’s food is rich in plant protein unless we grab something at the diner or the restaurant. I miss Beacon’s cooking. He never cared if he had to cook two different things to appease everyone. Which is weird since he loved to start arguments and watch us fight.”
“Every time someone talks about him, he sounds like a fun guy. Also, a troublemaker.”
“He is, and he’s also a pain in the ass.”
“I think there’s a sacred rule. We shall always annoy thy sibling,” he says before picking up the phone and asking for our food.
As we wait, he tells me about his overbearing mother and how she and his sisters have been setting him up.
“I have an online profile,” he continues. “They made me a fucking online profile. Who does that?”
“Your family?”
He bobs his head a couple of times. “Maybe if I change my name, they won’t be able to track me down.”
“That’s insane. By the way, how much longer do you have to stay?”
“I have to check on my patient tomorrow. Then, it’ll be another week before I can let him go home.”
“Why don’t I pick you up on Saturday and bring you back when you need to discharge him?”
He looks puzzled. The confusion etched on his forehead is endearing. “Really?”
“Yes, it gets me out of Baker’s Creek during the god-awful festival. I don’t even know what we have this week.”
He chuckles. “I think they’re adorable. My sisters would love them. Not that I want them anywhere near Baker’s Creek. I have to take a weekend off to go and visit my family before they surprise me.”
“Would they?”
“I already told you, they are overbearing as fuck.”
There’s a knock on the door. We look at each other. He frowns. “Aren’t they supposed to say room service?”
“Yes,” I say, touching his hand. “Stay here.”
“Is this part of your security services?” He winks at me. “Are you going to search my body?”
There’s another round of knocks that distracts me from his comment. I march toward the door to check who it is. I spot a woman. Is she part of the maintenance crew? I don’t remember her. No, she’s too well dressed for that. Maybe she’s a guest, and she’s lost. I swing the door open. “May I help you?”
She looks startled as she sees me. “You’re not Dare.”
“No. I’m not.”
She pushes her way inside the room. “Dare, sweetie?”
I glance at Darren, who I swear mouths, “God, help me.”
The lady is about fifty, thin, and strong for her delicate frame.
“Do you know her?” I ask.
“Of course, he knows me. I’m his mother. Earlier, when you said you were staying here, I wondered if it looked like the presidential suite in France.” She pauses and glances at the entire room. “It’s different.”
“Are you sure?” I ask because I know Sophia and Henry like to decorate them similarly. Hence, the guests always feel like they just arrived home.
“Of course, I am.” She points at Darren. “He was conceived in the presidential suite of Merkel in Paris.”
“I swear, Mom, just when I think you can’t be more embarrassing, you prove me wrong.”
“Stop with the nonsense.”
The room service arrives at that moment. Mrs. Russell scrunches her nose. “You’re having lunch? I came as soon as I could so we could go out. Remember I told you about Troy Smith?”
I sign the check and close the door behind the bellboy. A part of me feels like I should leave too. This isn’t my show. Not my mother, not my circus.
“Mom.” Darren’s strangled voice convinces me to stick around.
“Troy Smith,” she repeats.
“How could I forget him? You mentioned that he lives here about seven times during our earlier conversation.”
“He’s with me. I mean, you’re here, he’s here. Let’s make this happen today.” I’m waiting for her to start a group cheer or sing. Thankfully, neither one of those things happen.
“You didn’t have to, Mom.”
There’s another knock on the door.
“That must be Troy.” She looks at me. “Do you mind opening the door for him?”
When I open the door, there’s a good-looking man. He’s maybe five-ten, lanky, and Dare can do better than him.
“Is this Dr. Russell’s room?” he asks. I don’t like his voice.
“Oh Troy, sweetie, come over here. Did you find a parking spot?”
“I left it with the valet. How was your flight?”
Seriously? He didn’t pick her up at the airport. That’s the least he could do if he wants to date her son.
“Come over here so I can introduce you to Dare.”
“Dare, meet, Troy.”
“I wish you had called, Mom.” His eyes flare. I swear I see flames inside. He’s raging and frustrated. Now I understand what he means about her being a force. There has to be a way to stop her, though.
“And give you the chance to make up an excuse not to come? Troy might be part of the charity I told you about. You could bid on each other.”
I don’t know what pushes me to speak, but I do. “Babe, I hate to interrupt, but you have to be at the hospital soon.”
Mrs. Russell’s head snaps to me and looks at me with more attention. “And you are?”
An idiot?Why did I call him babe?
“Vance Aldridge,” Darren answers. “My boyfriend.”
“You have a boyfriend?” His mom studies me closely.
I step forward and extend my hand, “Vance Aldridge. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Mrs. Russell. Dare has told me a lot about you.”
“Has he?” She looks at him, almost upset. “And yet, he hasn’t mentioned this small detail. Unless you’re just making this up because I’m here.”
“Making what up?” I ask, feigning ignorance.
“That he’s with you. He’s done that before.”
“Have you?”
“I hired an escort to accompany me to an event.” He shrugs. “It wasn’t my proudest moment.”
I shake my head. This thirty-five-year-old tries anything to avoid being set up by his mother to prevent entanglements. Why? I don’t judge him. We’re not that different, are we?
It feels as if I have to save him from his mother. That’s what I do best, rescue people. So, I get myself deep into this farce. “I hope you’re not making me up, are you?”
He walks up to me, brushing my cheek with his lips. I tilt my face and catch his mouth. I kiss him slowly, resting a hand on the back of his head. The kiss is slow. Possessive. Deep.
I drive the pace, the rhythm. A part of me says that I should let him go. Instead, I enjoy every stroke of his tongue. I want more. A lot more.
After what feels like only seconds, I finally pull back, pressing his forehead to mine.
“I think I’m real.”
He frames my face as our eyes meet. “Very real,” he agrees, catching his breath.
“Well, that’s…” His mom clears her throat. “I don’t understand. Why haven't you mentioned him?”
“Because I don’t want to put any pressure on him.”
She looks at me, studying me. “Where do you live?”
“I live in Baker’s Creek.”
She raises an eyebrow, and observes me for several seconds before saying, “Any relationship with Hayes Aldridge?”
“He’s his younger brother,” Darren answers.
The guy who came here to be set up with Darren finally speaks. “Listen, I have a meeting in thirty minutes. Though I’m sure your son is a great guy, it seems like he’s taken.”
I put my arm around Darren’s shoulder and pull him closer to me, kissing the top of his head. “Not taken, but busy at the moment. He’s his own person, you know.”
His mother looks at us suspiciously. Unlike Beacon, who used to do undercover jobs, I’m the guy who goes in and out without wasting time or having to deal with other people. I don’t know how to fake things. I’m in uncharted territory, searching for an exit before I’m made out by her.
Dare’s phone buzzes. He checks it and flinches. “I have to be at the hospital.”
“Everything okay?”
“I’m not sure.” He looks at me, hopeful. “Will you still be around when I get back?”
“Yeah, I don’t have to leave until four.”
His mom protests. “What am I supposed to do?”
“I never invited you, Mom. I told you I was here due to an emergency.”
“Well, I guess I’ll take an Uber to the airport.”
I shake my head. “Let me take you home, Mrs. Russell.” Then I look at Darren. “I’ll drive you first.”
She gives me a suspicious look. “I live in San Francisco.”
“I’m aware of that,” I say, pulling out my phone.
I don’t wait for Henry to answer before saying, “Hey, I need to fly to SanFran.”
“I’m not Pierce, and you have to ask him because you can’t just fly around the world without permission.”
“I have permission to go wherever the fuck I want as long as I’m back by nine. I’m just giving you a heads-up since I’m using your private jet.”
“Why are you going to SanFran? Is everything okay?”
No. Nothing is okay. I’m losing my fucking mind and doing stupid things. It must’ve been the wine I didn’t drink.
“See you later today,” I say before hanging up.
