Hooked (Never After Series)

I’ve never been to Massachusetts, but I’ve heard about the lack of heat. So, while the temperature change from Florida is a shock, it isn’t wholly unexpected. Still, as I shiver in my tank top, the light breeze blowing across my arms, I can’t help but wish I had stayed behind, instead of choosing to follow my family to their new home in Bloomsburg.

But I can’t stand the thought of not being a phone call away if they need me. My father is a workaholic—even more so after my mother’s death—and without me around, my sixteen-year-old brother Jonathan would be all alone.

I’ve always been a daddy’s girl, even though he makes it difficult. I’d hoped, after the move, that he’d slow down. Make more time for his family instead of constantly searching for the next big thing to sink his teeth into. But Peter Michaels is never one to settle. His thirst for new ventures overpowers his ache for a family connection. Being named the Forbes top businessman for the fifth year in a row means he has a lot of opportunity in that regard. And being the owner of the biggest airline in the western hemisphere means he has lots of funding for said opportunities.

NevAirLand. If you can dream it, we can fly you there.

“We should go out tonight,” my friend Angie says as she wipes down the counters at The Vanilla Bean; the coffee shop where we both work.

“And do what?” I ask. Honestly, I was hoping to just head home and relax. I’ve only been here for a little over a month, and I’ve been working so much that I haven’t had a night to spend with Jonathan. Although, he’s in the teen stage of “I don’t need anyone or anything” so he may not want me around, anyway.

She shrugs. “I don’t know. A couple of the girls were talking about heading to the Jolly Roger.”

I scrunch my nose. Both at her use of “the girls” and at the name of wherever she’s talking about.

“Oh, come on, Wendy. You’ve been here for almost two months, and you haven’t gone out with me once.” She sticks out her bottom lip, her hands coming together in prayer.

Shaking my head, I sigh. “I don’t think your friends like me.”

“That’s not true,” she insists. “They just don’t know you yet. You have to actually come out with us for that.”

“I don’t know, Angie.” My teeth sink into my bottom lip. “My dad’s out of town, and he doesn’t like it when I go out and draw attention.”

She rolls her eyes. “You’re twenty, girl. Cut the cord.”

I give her a half-hearted smile. She, like most people, can’t understand what it’s like being Peter Michaels’s daughter. Even if I wanted to, there is no cutting the cord. His power and influence reach every corner of the universe, and there isn’t anything or anyone that escapes his control. Or if there is, I’ve never met them.

The bell above the front door chimes, Angie’s friend Maria walking in, her long black hair glinting off the overhead lighting as she saunters to us.

My brows rise as I glance at her, then back to Angie. “What kind of place is gonna let a twenty-year-old in, anyway?”

“Don’t you have a fake ID?” Maria asks as she reaches the front counter.

“I definitely don’t have that.” I’ve never snuck into a bar or a club in my life. “My birthday is in a few weeks, I’ll just go out with you guys next time.” I wave them off.

Maria eyes me up and down. “Angie, don’t you have your sister’s ID? They look… similar.” She reaches out and touches my brown hair. “Just show a little bit of that body and they won’t even look at the face on the card.”

I laugh as I brush off her words, but my insides tighten, heat surging through my veins and lighting up my cheeks. I’m not a rule breaker. Never have been. But the thought of going tonight, of doing something bad, sends a thrill rushing down my spine.

Maria is one of “the girls,” and she hasn’t been anywhere close to welcoming. But as I watch her grin and run her fingers through her hair, I wonder if maybe Angie is right. Maybe it’s all in my head, and I just haven’t given her a chance. I’ve never really had a close group of girlfriends, so I’m not sure how it’s all supposed to work.

“I don’t care if you don’t want to go.” Angie pouts, throwing her damp rag at me. “I’m making the executive decision.”

I laugh, shaking my head as I finish restocking the cups for the morning.

“Hmm.” Maria pops her gum loudly, her dark eyes searing into the side of my face. “You don’t wanna go?”

I shrug. “It’s not that, I just…”

“Probably for the best,” she interrupts. “I don’t think the JR is your kind of place.”

My spine bristles and I stand up straighter. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

She smirks. “I mean… it’s not for children.”

“Maria, come on. Don’t be a bitch,” Angie pipes in.

Maria laughs. “I’m not. I’m just saying. What if he’s there? Can you imagine? She’d be scarred for life from even being in the same building and run home to tell her daddy.”

I lift my chin. “My dad isn’t even in town.”

She cocks her head, her lips thinning. “Your nanny then.”

Irritation spikes through my gut, and a need to prove her wrong clicks my decision into place, pushing the words off my tongue. I look at Angie. “I’m in.”

“Yes!” Angie claps her hands.

Maria’s eyes glint. “Hope you can handle it.”

“Give me a break, Maria. She’ll be fine. It’s a bar, not a sex club,” Angie scoffs before turning toward me. “Don’t listen to her. Besides, we only go there so she can try and get the attention of her mystery man.”

“I will get his attention.”

Angie tilts her head. “He doesn’t even know you exist, girl.”

“My luck is bound to change at some point.” Maria shrugs.

Confusion makes my brows pull in. “Who are you guys even talking about?”

A slow grin creeps across Maria’s face, and a wistful look coasts across Angie’s eyes.

“Hook.”