CHAPTER 6

CARMEN

He could tell how shaken I was by his presence, and I could tell the amazement in his eyes that he was going to take advantage of my horror and keep me from saying a word.

In a bid to stop me from speaking up, he took my hand and pulled it up to his lips to kiss it.

“No,” I snapped, withdrawing my hand from his grip, causing my mother to gasp.

“Carmen!” She gasped before turning to Jasper’s father. “Excuse her behaviour, Mr Hayes. She’s been in a sour mood for a while.”

“I don’t blame her,” he laughed. “It’s common among people their age. Jasper gets like that sometimes.”

“Father,” Jasper called out to him in a warning tone, glaring at him.

“Why don’t we leave the young ones and give them a chance to get to know each other?” Mom suggested, grabbing Mr Hayes by the hand and leaving.

I didn’t know if she could tell, or if I had gotten too used to reading her expressions a lot lately, but I found it obvious that she was trying to set me up with Jasper.

“So, you’re not one to make friends with strangers easily, I’m guessing,” Jasper spoke, breaking the silence between us first.

I looked at him, grinding my teeth as I pointed out the things on his face that looked like his father’s. They had the same eye shape, lips, and even ears.

The thought that they probably had the same attitude and behaviour towards women made me take a cautious step back. I could see the slight frown on his face when I did that, but I ignored it.

“I’m just tired,” I gave a shitty excuse, but he seemed to buy it.

“Understandable. You’ll be getting to attend more of these parties with time, but you’ll learn to get used to it. 

Also, you’ll be seeing me in a lot of them since my father and Mr Wilmer go way back, so I suggest we get to know each other better so we can stand in a corner and grunt whenever we’re dragged to events like this each time.”

I narrowed my eyes at his words, then I chuckled as I blew a breath of partial relief.

From the way he had just spoken, I figured he was almost nothing like his father. Then again, it could all be an act, just like what his father was putting up as well.

“I’m open to that idea,” I agreed with a nod.

“Why don’t we talk over a drink? Which would you like to have?” He walked forward, waiting for my reply.

“One of those fruity cocktails over there will do,” I answered, pointing towards the table where the cocktails were aligned.

“I’ll be right back,” he informed before he finally walked off.

I scanned the room, looking for any sign of Dave as I hadn’t caught wind of him that evening. I found him standing alone by a table, loosening his tie in discomfort and downing a glass of alcohol.

As if my gaze had called out his name, his eyes looked up and found mine almost instantly. I gave him a faint smile, wanting to look away when he left the table and started to approach me.

I looked around in discomfort as he got closer, wondering if anyone suspected what we had done on the night of our prom – if it showed in our demeanour.

“I’m back. I got a cocktail for myself. You are old enough to drink, right?” Jasper said when he returned, raising his brows and holding the cocktail glass a good enough distance away as he waited for my answer.

“Do you think they care?” I questioned, glancing in Dave’s direction to see that he had stopped walking towards me and had now found himself a place to sit, but his eyes were still on me.

“Don’t get drunk,” Jasper cautioned, finally handing me the cocktail.

I took a sip, revelling in the fresh taste of the fruit blend and debating whether to continue the conversation I was having with Jasper or not.

He seemed to make the decision before I did, speaking up. “So, Carmen. What’s it like being the stepdaughter of one of the big shots around?”

I frowned, not knowing what answer to give. “Well, for one, it was sprung up on me, so I’m obviously still shocked about being here. I don’t know how to feel about it. My dad died recently, you know.”

“I heard. My father used to be his partner before, you know, we got the news of the bankruptcy. It must have been rough, I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine,” I dismissed. “Enough with the depressing topics.”

“What about him? What’s he like?” I couldn’t tell who he was talking about until I turned to see him pointing in Dave’s direction.

I looked at Dave, and – sure enough – he was staring at me and Jasper.

“We don’t talk much. Not even at school,” I lied, subtly stepping away from Jasper.

I hated that I was still conscious of being seen with Jasper by Dave, and I wondered what Dave was thinking as he looked in our direction without caring.

“He already seems to be doing his brotherly duty. He looks like he’s a minute away from walking here and punching me in the face,” Jasper joked, and I laughed – not because of Dave, but because Jasper’s thoughts immediately went to Dave performing his brotherly duties.

If only he knew.

At the scraping sound of a chair, I turned to see Dave heading towards us. His inability to keep his balance told me that he was tipsy, borderline drunk.

Please, turn around, I begged in my head.

When he finally reached us, he nodded in acknowledgement at Jasper.

“Good evening, Hayes.”

“Evening, Wilmer,” Jasper replied just as coldly as Dave had greeted him.

“I would really love to talk to my stepsister in private. Do I have your permission?” Dave questioned, almost in a mocking tone, as if he would still take me with him even if Jasper didn’t give him this permission he sought.

“I’m sure she can make her own decision,” Jasper replied, and they both looked towards me for my response.

“I’ll be back,” I assured Jasper, taking Dave’s hand and leading him away before he drunkenly said something he wasn’t supposed to.

We soon switched, and he started to lead me instead.

“What are you doing, Dave?” I questioned, looking behind us to see if someone had noticed us and was now on our tail. 

“Where are you taking me?”

“Just come with me,” he opened the doors to an unfamiliar hallway which looked like it hadn’t been passed through for quite a while.

At the end of the hallway, Dave pulled me into a room and shut the door. He grabbed me by the waist, and his lips locked with mine instantly.

At first, I kissed back at the realisation that I had been eager for this all along, but I managed to come back to reality and pull away.

“We’re not supposed to be doing this. We can’t.” I shook my head, releasing myself from his grip and stepping back.

“You can’t leave,” he said, a look of worry crossing his eyes as he took my hands and squeezed them. 

“You can’t.”

“Leave? What do you mean? I’m not going anywhere.” 

I frowned at his strange behaviour.

Dave sighed and looked down at the floor as he let go of my hands.

“I overheard my father and your mother talking,” he admitted.

“They’re trying to get you married to Jasper.”