Page 49 of Hardcore Vanilla
"Who is that?" Jake asked, nudging her with his elbow.
"Butler. His name is Thomas, he's here on weekends."
"A butler?" Now he really felt out of his depth.
"He'll help with the bags and take the car around to the garage," Sharon explained. Which wasn't really an explanation. Seriously though, Jake was feeling intimidated now. She blew out a long breath. "Come on. They know we're here so no sense in delaying the inevitable. Just leave the car running so he can move it."
Feeling more like he was at a hotel than a house, Jake did as she directed. Well, except that a hotel would have allowed him to take his own bags in. Sharon just told Thomas to bring them in and then took Jake's hand to lead him up the stairs and into the house where her parents were waiting for them.
The grand foyer - he couldn't think of it any other way because it really was grand - stretched up all three levels of the house and there was an honest-to-God chandelier hanging down in the center of it. A gold one, with what looked like thousands of crystals shimmering from it, like something out of a movie. The floor was marble, the double staircase boasted delicate filigree rails and wide banisters ending in two marble columns.
In the center of the room was a large plinth topped with a blue and white china vase holding an elaborate bouquet of flowers. Not roses or anything like that, but flowers Jake had never seen before and could definitely not identify. His first thought was that his mom would have loved it.
His second thought was that the two people standing in front of the arrangement might look like Sharon, physically, but beyond that he didn't see the resemblance at all. Both of them were shorter than him but taller than her, although her mother only topped her by a couple of inches - then he realized that was just the heels she was wearing.
Both of them had black hair without a hint of grey, their ages only showing on their faces, and both of them looked younger than he knew they were. They didn't look as though they'd had plastic surgery though. Not that he was an expert, but if they had had work done, he couldn't tell. They were both standing rather stiffly, several inches apart, with small, polite smiles on their faces.
The smile on Mrs. Bianchi's face dipped a bit when she looked down at his and Sharon's joined hands, but only for a moment. For his part, Mr. Bianchi seemed to be studying Jake... and Jake couldn't help but feel that the other man found him lacking.
"Hey Mom and Pops," Sharon said, cheerfully leading Jake forward. If he hadn't just spent an entire car ride with her and seen her anxiety first hand, he wouldn't have guessed she was at all nervous from the way she was acting now. "What's shaking?"
Mrs. Bianchi's smile disappeared entirely, her lips pursing inward as if she'd just sucked on a lemon while Sharon's father sighed, and his expression turned to one of disappointed resignation.
"Sharon," Mrs. Bianchi said, her tone clipped. "Must you be so vulgar? I’ve told you to call me ‘Mother’ a million times."
"Good to see you too, Mom." The cheerfulness in Sharon's voice wasn't even the tiniest bit strained, but Jake had felt her fingers tighten around his slightly. He had to admit, he was a little bit confused as he and Sharon came to a halt in front of her parents.
Granted, there had been plenty of times that he'd thought Sharon was being vulgar. This was not one of them.
Sighing, Mrs. Bianchi stepped forward and Sharon let go of Jake's hand to clasp forearms with her mom and exchange air kisses. It looked extremely uncomfortable, as if they were holding each other at arm's length rather than hugging. Considering what a tactile person he knew Sharon to be, it made Jake feel even more ill at ease to witness.
"Sharon," her dad said, stepping forward to give a kiss on the cheek before stepping back and resuming his study of Jake.
"Mom, Pops, this is my friend Jake," she said, retaking Jake's hand. Mrs. Bianchi eyed the movement with distaste, although she quickly cleared it from her expression as Jake held out his right hand to shake Mr. Bianchi's.
"Sergeant Jake Standish," Mr. Bianchi said, just a hint of question in his voice as he took Jake's hand with a cool, firm grip.
"Yes, sir." Jake hesitated for just a moment. "Honorable discharge."
“Yes, yes,” Mr. Bianchi said, nodding his head as if confirming Jake’s words. Jake blinked as the other man continued to frown up at him. “Now you work, ah… at a remodeling company?”
“He’s a very good builder,” Sharon interjected, her hand tightening around his. Jake realized she had either told her parents a lot more than she’d told him she had, or they really had run a background check on him. He’d thought she was joking about that.
But hey, their daughter was bringing a man they’d never met as her date to a family wedding, and they were obviously wealthy enough to have concerns overanyoneshe brought home. He supposed he couldn’t fault them for being protective. At least, that’s what he told himself.
******
Seeing the blank-eyed expression on Jake’s face, Sharonreallywanted to shout, ‘I told you so!’ at him, but she refrained. Barely.
Reminding her parents that she and Jake needed to freshen up before the rehearsal dinner – which sent them off to their wing in a hurry as they needed to do the same – Sharon inwardly congratulated herself on her timing as she showed Jake to her wing. Her parents hadn’t had time to start harping on her before they had to get ready to leave.
One point for the home team!
“You have your own wing.” He muttered the words under his breath, full of disbelief. Sharon looked up at him as he glanced over his shoulder, that expression deepening. “Why aren’t you in the same wing as your parents?”
She shrugged, as if it didn’t matter to her. And it mostly didn’t, not anymore. She’d liked her nannies better anyway.Yup, that’s me, the poor little rich girl.
“I was a noisy kid. Here we are. This is you. My room is there.” She pointed at the door across the hall. Jake nodded, apparently not surprised by them having separate rooms under her parents’ roof.
