Escape: A Stepbrother Romance (33 page)

Caiden didn’t really fit in too well with the other students at Oxford. With his tattoos and general laid-back vibe he stood out a mile from the other students who rarely took their noses out of books. Caiden enjoyed what he was studying, but he tended to do the bare minimum.

I heard some of the students joke about him behind his back when they didn’t know I was his girlfriend, so I took great pleasure in watching everyone’s attitude to him change when the first set of grades were released. He came in the top five per cent of the class and suddenly everyone was treating him like some kind of god. I wished they wouldn’t feed his ego quite so much, but it was better than when women used to treat him like a god in bars. At least I knew he didn’t want to sleep with any of these people.

We never officially told Dad that Caiden and I were seeing each other again, but he found out eventually, and I didn’t bother to hide the truth. One day, Dad had asked me if I would be coming home during the summer at all. I told him that
we
would be coming home for a few days in August and he conveniently happened to have a holiday planned for that date. It was fine with me. I was going home to see Gemma, not my father.

As soon as I got home, Gemma insisted on cooking a recipe together one afternoon. She wanted to cook with the world-famous Posh With a Twist. I loved making money the way I did, but I hated the little bit of fame that came with it. I was hardly a national name, but the fans I did have were passionate and occasionally one of them would stop me in public and insist on a photo. Gemma loved teasing me about it and kept taking photos of the two of us together and putting them up on her new Instagram account.

As always, I prepared the kitchen beforehand so that all the utensils and ingredients were laid out ready. My YouTube channel was focused on student meals, so I’d let desserts take a backseat, but they were still my favourite thing to make. I planned for Gemma and I to bake a cake. It wasn’t exactly complicated, but it tasted gorgeous and we could have a bit of fun decorating it.

“I’m always telling people about you,” Gemma said. “You wouldn’t believe how many barristers in the city are envious of your success. They all wish they were earning that kind of money from doing something they enjoy. Some of them can be a bit nasty about it actually, but that’s barristers for you.”

“I still think all this is going to end at some point,” I said. “I save a lot of the money I earn, because I’m sure any day now something is going to go wrong and I’ll lose everything.”

“You’ll be fine,” Gemma insisted. “You have so many fans that all you need to do is keep releasing content and watch the money roll in. Just don’t go copying other people’s recipes. I hear that’s a bad idea. Oh, and try not to say anything racist. People frown on that these days.”

I laughed. “I’ll try to remember that.”

I heard my phone vibrating in the living room and went to answer it. It was just my editor with some questions about my latest video. I didn’t want to miss my self-imposed deadline, so I walked him through what I wanted to see and then went back to the kitchen.  

Caiden was standing by the food, and Gemma was washing her hands as if she were finished.

“Sorry Victoria,” Gemma said, “I just remembered something urgent back home and I need to dash off.”

“Oh, that’s a shame. Well, there’s no rush. I can leave this here and we can finish when you come back.”

“Don’t be silly dear. Caiden will help you finish the dessert.”

“Caiden? He can’t cook toast. Literally. He cannot cook toast.”

“I
am
standing right here you know,” Caiden said. “I’m willing to learn unless you don’t think you’re up to the task of teaching me?”

“Okay,” I agreed. “I suppose it wouldn’t be the first time you’ve surprised me.” I turned to face Gemma. “Come back when you’re done. I have a feeling I might need your help to rectify some mistakes later. Plus we have a few bottles of wine to get through.”

“Oh, don’t worry, I’ll be back later.” Gemma disappeared. She certainly looked like she was in a bit of a rush. I thought I caught her dab the corner of her eye as she left and I hoped she was okay.

“So what do you want me to do?” Caiden asked.

“Shove your hands in that bowl and get the last of the lumps out.”

Caiden picked up the bowl and examined the contents. “Really? That looks kind of messy. How about I tidy up after you a bit.”

“Good Lord,” I muttered. “You’re not going to be much of a cook if you don’t want to get your hands messy.”

I shoved my hands in the bowl and squeezed the ingredients together trying to get rid of all the lumps. My fingers hit something hard. I kept squeezing the mixture until I found it again. This time it was slightly sharp and caused me to flinch as it scratched my skin.

“What the hell is this?” I asked. In all the cooking I’d done, I’d never dropped anything sharp in my food by accident. My fingers found the object and pulled it out of the mixture. I pushed off the stodgy mixture and stared at the diamond ring in my fingers.

I turned around to see Caiden lowering himself to one knee. He cringed as he looked up at the ring covered in sticky batter. “I promise, there
is
a diamond in there somewhere. A really nice one too.”

“I know, it scratched my hand.” I was already crying when I heard a noise from down the hall. Gemma had never left and she stood there watching us. I looked back down at Caiden.

“I guess I’m not much of a cook,” Caiden said. “But in every other way I promise to be the perfect husband. Victoria, will you marry me?”

“Yes,” I yelled. Caiden jumped up and wrapped his arms around me, lifting me into the air.

“Just so you know,” Caiden said, “I didn’t ask your father’s approval. I hope that’s okay?”

I laughed. “Don’t worry, I haven’t asked his approval for much recently.” I beckoned Gemma over so I could hug her as well.

“You’re mum would be really proud of you, dear,” she whispered in my ear. “I’m so happy for you.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” I replied through my tears. “I know traditionally the father of the bride walks her down the aisle, but I think Mum would have done that in my case.” Gemma nodded, unable to talk as she tried to control her tears. “Will you do it instead?” I asked. “Will you walk me down the aisle?”

Gemma’s tears poured from her eyes again. “Yes. Of course I will.”

I washed the ring and slipped it on my finger. “It’s a perfect fit.”

THE END

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Jessica Ashe is a twenty-seven year old British woman currently enjoying the much nicer weather found in Northern California. She enjoys writing about sophisticated and intelligent women and the hot alpha males that lust after them.

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