Page 90 of Mr. Aster
I’d always prided myself in being a stellar golfer, but not today. Today, my brain was so consumed by Darcy that a drunk panda would’ve beaten me. The distraction and my horrible golf game were only welcome because it proved to the guys that Darcy and I weren’t faking anything.
The men stopped giving me shit about my relationship after noticing that I couldn’t put the ball in a hole if I’d picked it up with my hand and placed it there myself. That’s when they conceded that the West Coast beauty—as Jake referred to Darcy—had indeed stolen the heart of an East Coast asshole, also Jake’s words.
I enjoyed all these feelings I was experiencing, and I was wholeheartedly embracing them instead of running away. I felt like a man with a new lease on life, and now all I wanted was to be with Darcy alone to get to know her better. I loved our banter, the witty arguments, and obviously the sex, but I wanted more. I wanted more of what started all this in the first place, whichwas seeing therealDarcy, like when she showed me her love for the simple things in life, right down to the bugs and fungus she made me sample.
“So,” Jake said while I sat with the men at the bar, leaving the women to enjoy themselves at a table on the sand, watching the sunset, “I won’t lie. Before watching you golf today, looking like you’d never touched a golf club, I was certain this relationship between you and Darcy was a complete sham.”
“Why would you come to that conclusion?” I questioned the always-forward doctor.
He sipped his scotch, “How else would you get out of being auctioned off to all those crazy women who have more money than sense?”
“He’s got a point, Aster,” Spencer added, turning his attention from his conversation with Jim. “I thought the same thing.”
“You’re all full of shit,” I grinned, shocked they’d seen through my charade. “I would never do that to her.” My words were true now, even though they weren’t when I made the heartless proposal. I wished I could take it back, but we wouldn’t be where we are today if I did.
“Are we?” Jim arched an eyebrow at me. “Trust me, after our double date, whenyouinsisted that Avery and I meet you in Napa Valley, I knew something was up.”
“I didn’t realize you assumed I would fake a relationship or whatever the hell you’re all driving at.”
“Well, knowing you and your family as I do,” Jim said, “I know you don’t gloat. Furthermore, you seemed extremely passionate about Avery and me joining you two for dinner, almost as if you had to show us it was true. It was all veryunlike you, Seb,” he said with a laugh. “However, after coming on this trip and watching your horrendous golf game, I can tell your mind is elsewhere. I can also relate to the frustrating distractionof having a beautiful woman on the brain. I’m just saying it’s easy to see you’re not pulling anything over on us.”
“Well, aren’t you all sorely mistaken?” I grinned, happy I’d satisfied their curiosity. I began to wonder if my parents felt the same, knowing it was unlike me to pull a stunt like announcing a random engagement. If I had any luck, maybe that would be the case and they wouldn’t be as upset as I expected. “At least you know the truth.”
“It wasn’t easy to believe,” Jake added, “mainly because I could see the fire of repulsion in Darcy’s eyes when she talked about you on the yacht.”
“She sure played it off well, didn’t she?” I said, amused at what she must’ve said about me. She must’ve been seething about what a complete asshole I was to everyone on the boat.
“Played it off well?” Jake said, lighting up with humor. “The vigor with which she devised the plan to auction off all you eligible chumps was enough to make me think she was enacting the perfect revenge for the way you insulted her family.”
I was still perplexed that she took offense to me wanting that shit hole updated. “I was doing them a favor by using the best designers to update their home, and I wasn’t even using their business funds to do it,” I said, then looked at Jim. “Let’s change the subject from me and my relationship, so you can tell me the real reason why you and my father went into business together on that dump?”
Jim grinned. “Wouldn’t you like to know,” he said playfully.
“Don’t worry, he hasn’t informed me about it either,” Spencer responded. I was surprised that Jim’s VP wasn’t even up to speed. “I thought investing in that silly winery was a complete waste of time and money.”
“My wife loved that damn winery,” Jim said. “After she found out at a subsequent event that it was going under, I did some investigating because she wouldn’t stop going on about it. Iwon’t lie when I say we had some of the best sex of our marriage when I told her I was planning to invest in the place.”
“So, you bought the place because Avery was sad it would go under?” I asked, confused by Jim’s response.
It made zero fucking sense to me to make a business decision based on emotions.
Jim pursed his lips and nodded. “Allow me to give you some excellent pre-marital advice,” he said, eyeing everyone staring at him as if he’d lost his mind. “The smallest things that can be done to put a smile on your wife’s face should be done. That’s the thing about women. They need to know they’re the reason you’re happy to be alive, that they’re always on your mind, and that they’re the most special person on the planet. The little things we might think would mean nothing to them,” he looked at me and arched an eyebrow, “typically mean the most. That’s why I did what I did. It was for Avery. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for her.”
“Well, shit,” Jake said with a laugh. “Leave it to Mr. Loverman to educate all of us with his wisdom while making us look like lousy pieces of shit in the process.”
Jim looked at his brother, sipped his bourbon, and smiled. “It doesn’t take my flawless skills in the romance department to make you look like a lousy piece of shit, Jacob,” he teased.
“All I know is that if I don’t do thoselittlethings with Nat, she’ll just cut my dick off and move on with her life with no remorse,” he laughed with the rest of us.
“I know a thing or two about that particular threat,” I added, rolling my eyes at the memory of how Melissa treated me when things didn’t go her way. “I’m sure I know it better than you because Nat isn’t evencloseto my late wife in the vindictiveness department.”
The words probably came out so quickly because they were true. Still, it surprised me that I could speak so candidly about Melissa, be it good or bad. It must’ve been the tequila.
“Forgive me if I’m out of line,” Spencer said, “but I’m surprised to hear you refer to your late wife in such a way. I didn’t mean to bring up?—”
“No, no. I’m a bit shocked, too,” I said. “I rarely mention her at all, so I didn’t expect something negative to be on the forefront.”
“You think she’ll haunt you for speaking ill of the dead?” Jake questioned with a chuckle.
