not work. Christ, I don’t know how to say this.’ Jeffrey stared at Dean with undisguised pity and his stomach took a nose dive.
There was only one other time his brother had looked at him this way – the day Dean had been jilted at his own wedding. But that was ten years ago, he was only a teenager and was so not about to rehash a past he’d long since buried. If Jeffrey wanted to bring up his personal life, Dean wasn’t having any of it – his dates were his business.
Not that he actually dated, it was more a string of flings throughout the year. Nothing serious, just a bit of fun here and there and the women were into it, so why not? It hadn’t been a problem until his brother had met Alana a few years ago, then he’d lost his wingman and gained a giant pain in the arse.
‘That’s not what I was going to say either! I was going to work up to this better but since you’re apparently incapable of patience, here goes. I’m going to ask Alana to marry me.’
Dean’s chin dropped, he couldn’t help it. His brother had seen first-hand how badly a wedding could turn out. In fact, after he was dumped on his special day, his family had blamed him. Jeffrey was the only relative who still spoke to him without contempt.
Jeffrey sighed. ‘Shit, Dean. Nobody died.’
‘Not yet,’ Dean said, then ran his hands through his hair. ‘What brought this on? I mean, after what happened to me, I thought you’d have learned the same lesson I did.’
That women were never what they seemed. They told you they loved you one minute, then ran away at the thought of spending the rest of their lives with you. Of course, now he could see that he’d dodged a bullet, but it had taken him a long time to realize that. And Jeffrey wasn’t made of the same steel he was. His brother had chased Alana around the city for months like a puppy before she’d agreed to date him.
Jeffrey rolled his eyes. ‘Love. You might want to hang around long enough to try it some time. You know, Alana’s friend is single and—’
‘I’m not interested. Now back to this proposal, are you insane? Did Mum drop you on your head as a baby? Have you forgotten everything that happened?’ He hated dragging up the past, but a reminder of his own ridicule might knock some sense into his brother.
‘Alana isn’t her. If she doesn’t want to marry me, she’ll say no.’ Jeffrey started pacing again and the wild look was back in his eyes. ‘Shit, what if she says no?’
If Dean had ever worried that he was missing out on something by refusing to commit to a relationship, he didn’t now. Over the two years Jeffrey had been dating Alana, his balls had shrunk to pips and now it finally looked like they’d disintegrated.
‘Then why bother asking?’
The look Jeffrey threw his way made him feel like an arse, but he wasn’t about to apologise. Not when his brother was being an idiot.
‘I knew you’d be a knob about this. I don’t know why I bothered coming to you first.’
‘Because you knew I’d tell you what a complete tool you’re being and talk some sense into you,’ Dean said, getting tired of this fight already.
‘Fuck you, Dean. Seriously.’ Jeffrey headed for the door and threw it open. He didn’t walk through it, not until he said, ‘While you’re out tonight with a woman you’ll have forgotten the name of next week, I’ll be home with someone I love and want to spend the rest of my life with. Whether you’re terrified of having that again or just going for the world record title of sluttiest man alive, one day you’re going to realize life’s passed you by in a blur of anonymous sex. I don’t want that for you.’
Jeffrey slammed the door, so he could have the last word, as usual. Dean clenched his teeth. What the hell did his brother know anyway? One serious girlfriend and he was now a relationship guru?
Yeah, right.
Dean closed his laptop, grabbed his keys and headed for the door. He was perfectly happy passing through life on his own terms – it had nothing to do with fear – and tonight he was going to do exactly that.
***
The party tonight had a guest list but he wasn’t worried, instead he strolled right up to the bouncer manning the door to the hottest bar in Soho and used the name he’d planted there earlier.
Having their own IT company who supplied the booking software to most of London’s hotels, restaurants and bars did more than just make them money. Jeffrey had come up with the idea of using it to get into all these swanky events a few years ago when they were just getting off the ground and what had turned into a few cheap nights out ended as a great way to score those anonymous flings his brother had recently started to frown upon.
But he really wasn’t in the mood for thinking about his brother at all, so he headed straight for the bar to take advantage of the flowing champagne. When he wound his way through the tightly packed crowd he changed his mind and ordered a scotch. Bubbly just wasn’t going to cut it tonight.
He’d missed the wine and dine portion of the evening thanks to Jeffrey and his stupid arsed ideas. On the plus side, every woman there was already half-inebriated. As he downed the scotch in one go, he welcomed the burn before taking an interested glance round the crowd.
Most of the women looked like they were from the cast of TOWIE, with boobs spilling over low necklines, unnaturally long lashes and wearing more make-up than you’d find at the Mac counter at Selfridges.
And to add insult to his already shitty mood, the same words kept playing on a loop in his head.
Whether you’re terrified of having that again or just going for the world record title of sluttiest man alive, one day you’re going to realize life’s passed you by in a blur of anonymous sex. I don’t want that for you.
Fucking Jeffrey. Until tonight, he hadn’t thought twice about what he was doing. And until Alana came on the scene, neither had his brother.
In fact, December was their favourite month for crashing parties. The venues were always packed with women looking to have some anonymous festive fun. He usually enjoyed the atmosphere and he was not about to let his brother ruin this for him. So he ordered another scotch and got serious about his surveying.
Until he saw a familiar blonde food thief. She wasn’t in that slinky short dress tonight, but a pale gold one that hugged her hips and chest even more. And she was staring at him too, with something close to rage burning in her pretty blue eyes.
He couldn’t help the way his lips curved when he remembered what happened the last time they met. It only made her eyes burn hotter and her cheekbones score pink.
But then it hit him. How could she be at two Christmas parties for totally different firms? Unless she had organised the parties. Although he doubted she’d be stealing the food if she had.
So she must be crashing too, just like him. But what his little thief didn’t know was that this was his turf, and two independent crashers in a place this small was going to draw attention, then the jig would be up.
Dean knocked back the scotch and headed her way. It was about time for a proper introduction.
***
Just as Natalie
