Her Brother, Her Mate

Hadley POV

Knocking on the door to Vivian’s office, I heard hushed muttering on the other side. I’m about to turn around, thinking she must have had an unexpected visitor, then she calls out for me to come in anyway.

Pushing open the door, Mark’s note in hand, I hesitate when I see she really isn’t alone. Mitchel is in her office with her, and he’s looking at me like I’m sure I’m looking at him; with confusion and wonder.

He’s dressed in a loose, v-neck white shirt, tattoos visible through the thin fabric. His jean shorts cut off mid-thigh, giving me a good view of the bulky muscles that were hidden under his pants the other night. I love a good pair of muscular legs on a man. His disheveled hair looked like he had just crawled out of bed, in a sexy kind of way.

Those eyes. His stormy eyes are trained on me, pulling me into a trance. How come he has this much of an effect on me?

“Hadley, my dear,” Vivian Meyers walked toward me, pulling me into a hug and kissing both of my cheeks. “Come in and meet my darling son.”

“We’ve met,” I told her, feeling heat building in my cheeks. What the hell is wrong with me? Why am I acting like this? Ralph just told me Mitchel was bad news, just like his brother. I shouldn’t feel attracted to a guy like him…..

“Oh?” Vivian lifted a perfectly arched eyebrow at me, a slight twinkle in her eye, “Mitch, my darling, I hope you’ve been making our new event coordinator feel at home and welcomed?”

I expect some smooth line or suave moves from the man, but instead he looks embarrassed by his mother’s actions and remarks. “Mom,” he murmurs, then offers me an apologetic smile. “Sorry, Hadley. I didn’t know you had a meeting with my mom. I can excuse myself.”

“No, no, child,” Vivian pulled me further into the room, bringing me closer to her son, “This is perfect timing. When Ralph told me Hadley was planning on stopping by before lunch, I had planned on taking her out to lunch, but your father just informed me of an urgent matter that needs my attention. You can take her in my place.”

What? Ralph didn’t mention anything about me having lunch with her. I came here to tell her I didn’t want to deal with one of her sons, not go to lunch with the other.

“What urgent matter?” he narrowed his eyes at her. My heart contracts. Does he not want to spend time alone with me again? Wait….why does that make me upset?

“Oh, work stuff. It needs to be dealt with immediately. Here,” she pulls her American Express card from her wallet in the top drawer of her desk, “Take her to that bistro on the ocean. The one we held Lilly’s last baby shower. They have the best ceviche in Miami. Hadley is new here. Do your duty and help her get more acquainted with the area. Hadley,” she turns to give me a brilliant smile, “Go ahead and take the rest of the day to get familiar with the area. Mitch here will show you some of the hidden gems so you can use them as a point of reference when referring guests to attractions.”

Mitch is scowling at his mother, “I have my own money, mom. I don’t need your credit card.”

She waves off his concern, “It’s for work. It’s considered a work expense. You two should get going. I need to hurry and meet your father.”

Vivian showed us to the door, quite forcefully, “Drive safe, my dears. Have fun,” she says, winking at her son.

“But, Vivian, I needed to-” I try to get a word in, but she pushes us through the open door, then shuts it firmly, leaving us awkwardly in the hall alone together. “Crap,” I mutter. I really wanted to at least tell her about Mark.

“Sorry,” Mitchel gives me a crooked smile that leaves me weak in the knees. “She can be a bit domineering.”

“I got that,” I huff, blowing a strand of hair out of my face from the frenzied exit from her office. It fell right back in front of my eyes. When I start to move my hand to get it out of the way, Mitch beats me to it, tucking the strand behind my ear. His fingers brushing my ear sent that same electric shock over my skin, and for some reason I blushed.

Mitch sighs, tapping his mother’s card in his hand, then walks over to Ralph’s desk. He opens the drawers until he finds a stack of envelopes. He grabs one, gets a pen from Ralph’s holder, then writes ‘for Vivian’ on the front. He tucks the card inside and seals it, setting it on Ralph’s keyboard.

“She still treats me like a baby,” he tells me with an embarrassed smile, “I don’t need my parent’s money. I have a good job.”

He must not want to seem like a freeloading deadbeat, still depending on mommy’s credit cards. A small smile graces my lips.

“Where do you work?”

He rubs his chin, scratching at his stubble in a nervous gesture. “La Flor B***d Bank. I have an administrative job working under the, uh, CEO.”

“Oh. That sounds….fun?” I don’t know what an administrative job at a b***d bank would entail, and he seemed hesitant to tell me more.

“It is sometimes, but my boss scares the s**t out of me,” he laughs, “I was working with my brother at the, uh, security firm, but this job offer was too good to turn down. I’ve been working for the b***d bank for almost 7 years now.”

“How do you go from a job working in security to working at a b***d bank?” I asked with genuine curiosity.

He shrugs, “I can tell you over lunch?”

I chewed on my bottom l*p, thinking over the offer. His mother did basically order me to go around with him and see all of Miami. It’s not like a date. It would be work. I can eat lunch with him if it’s for work.

“Okay,” I agree with a hesitant smile. Mitch’s entire face lights up, making my heart flutter uncontrollably in my chest. Geez. I’m no better than Jenny right now. I don’t understand why I can’t get control of my body when I’m around Mitch.

He leads me to the front of the resort, stopping by my office first so I can grab my handbag. I tucked the note from Mark into my bag so I can remember to show Vivian later when she isn’t busy.

The valet brings Mitchel’s Tesla to the front just seconds after we exit the building. It’s like they were ready for us.

“Do you mind if I open the door for you?” Mitchel asks, instead of just doing it. I appreciate that. He’s giving me a choice instead of pushing chivalry on me. He doesn’t want to make me uncomfortable. I smile warmly, nodding that I don’t mind.

He opens the door, waits for me to situate myself, then gently closes the door. Before he starts driving, he asks if I mind listening to music, then asks if I’m alright with 80s classics. I actually love 80s music. I don’t mind in the least.

“So, what have you seen so far in Miami?” he asks as we set off.

“Not much. Mostly just the resort. I have only been here for about a week and a half.”

“Where we’re going is beautiful,” he smiles at me, then focuses back on the road, “It’s a local spot. Not many tourists. The beach across the street is a lot less crowded than here in Miami Beach.”

“Do you go there a lot?”

He shrugs, “My brother and sister-in-law bring my nephews to this beach a lot, and my friends like the restaurants on the strip.”

“Girlfriends?” I asked, lifting a brow at him.

He laughs and shakes his head. “No, no girlfriends. Lilly and Carli call me or Mark to do uncle duty so they can shop or eat in peace when their husbands are busy with work. My oldest brother is a little overprotective, so he doesn’t like the kids or Lilly out by themselves.”

I smile at the fondness in his voice when he talks about his family. “You sound like you don’t mind.”

“Not at all,” he smiles deviously over at me, “I’m the fun uncle. I like to play a game called ‘how much sugar can I feed them before I send them home to dad’.”

I giggle uncontrollably at that, “That’s not very nice,” I sputter out.ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

“My nephews think it is,” he shrugs. “Last weekend when Lilly called to see if we could help her and her friends juggle all the brats so they could relax, Mark and I bought out the snow cone truck and taught them how to play beer pong with snow cones. It was fun.”

“Corrupting them while they’re young?”

“I think beer pong is an essential life skill,” he laughs, “My nephews will be the coolest kids at every party they go to in the future.”

Mitch continues telling me stories about his nephews the whole way to the restaurant. He may be the bad boy type, but he was an adorable bad boy. He sounded like an overgrown kid. I’m sure he will be a fun dad one day.

When we get to the bistro, Mitchel parks along the beach and we walk to the quaint restaurant. “This is adorable,” I say, looking around the antique-styled restaurant.

“It’s Lilly’s favorite. That’s probably why mom told me to bring you here. I’m sure Lilly will get a hold of you and drag you here with her soon too.”

“You seem to get along well with your sister-in-law,” I commented.

“She’s like my sister. She and Matt have been together for most of their lives. We were all in the same circle of friends in high school too.”

I can see he really loves his family and friends. The warmth in his voice as he talks about them is spreading to me, making me long to meet the extended family that he cherishes so much.

We take our seats at a table by the window facing the ocean. The hostess bats her eyelashes at Mitchel, sending a pang of annoyance through me unexpectedly. He isn’t paying any attention to her, though. He is staring at me with a smile on his face.

We order drinks, and she flints away with a huff when Mitchel doesn’t look up at her once. It shouldn’t make me feel as happy as it does that he’s not giving her the time of day.

“So, where are you from, Hadley Hart?” he asks.

“New York,” I told him.

“City or state?”

“City,” I laughed. “I lived in the West Village.”

He nods, “I went to New York City once with my dad. He had a conference for work. We went during Christmas time.”

“Did you like it?”

He shrugs, tossing an arm over the back of the chair next to him. “It was kind of dirty. Even the nicer parts. Trash everywhere. It was cold too. It’s never cold here so I wasn’t prepared for it.”

I smiled, knowing what he meant. “I much prefer the weather here,” I admitted.

His smile makes my heart flutter, “Good to know.”

“So, you never told me how you got the job at the b***d bank….”