Steven: A Billionaire Stepbrother Romance Novel (22 page)

Steven nodded slowly and looked me over. I immediately got lost in his eyes, hypnotized by the exotic color.

“You’re very pretty. I really like that dress,” Steven replied.

I cocked my head to the side and smiled coyly.

“Thank you. The groom bought it for me,” I explained. “Speaking of which, who are you here with? Do you know the bride, also known as my mom, or do you know William?”

Steven smiled and chuckled quietly, shaking his head.

“Of course,” he said. “Of course. This is the way things always work out, isn’t it? I meet the most beautiful girl and I’m lucky enough to get to sit next to her. Then I find out that she’s the daughter of the woman that’s marrying my dad.”

“Babe!!” Steven said loudly, immediately shaking me from the memory.

I opened my eyes. The sun was still sinking over the horizon. I looked toward Steven who was sitting on the opposite side of the picnic basket. He was holding a glass of sparkling water.

“What are you thinking about?” he asked. “I said your name three times before you opened your eyes.”

A smile crossed my face as I took the glass from him. I brought it to my lips, taking a quick sip. Then I responded, “I was just thinking about how I met you. I remember when you first walked up and took that seat next to me. I also remember how upset you were when you found out that it was
my
mom that your dad was marrying.”

Steven smiled as he scooted closer to me, wrapping an arm around my waist.

“Well, I liked you from the first moment that we met,” he said. “So when I found out that you were going to be my little sister, I was immediately disappointed. I didn’t think it could ever work out between us for that very reason. It turns out, though, that I was wrong.”

I leaned my head onto Steven’s shoulder, closing my eyes and breathing in the sweet scent of his cologne.

“You know, it’s kind of crazy, isn’t it?” I said. “I’ve said it before, but it always blows my mind how things work out in life. It seems like just yesterday we were sitting here, watching my mom and William get married. I feel like I’ve changed so much in such a short amount of time. I’m not the same person that I was back then.”

Steven kissed me on the top of the head, then said, “I don’t think either of us are the same. So much has changed in the past year. But I can safely say that all of it has been for the better, wouldn’t you agree?”

I looked toward him, smiling.

“Of course,” I said. “I can’t imagine a life without you now. I didn’t even know what happiness was until I met you.”

Steven sipped his sparkling water and then set it down on the grass next to the blanket.

“I couldn’t agree more,” he responded. “I used to really believe that I knew what happiness was. I thought that my money could buy me everything that I needed or wanted in life. I was convinced that money was the end and the beginning of happiness.”

He paused as he shook his head. After a moment, he continued.

“Money
can’t
buy you anything that really matters in this world, though,” he said. “Anything that money
can
buy will eventually fall apart. The mansion, the grand piano, my car...all of these things will crumble to the ground some day. And for most of my life, these material things were all that mattered to me. If only I had known that the only thing I needed in my life was you, Kelsey. You’re all that I ever needed. Everything else was just filling a hole in my life.”

I hung onto every word as he spoke. He had opened up to me before, but not like this. His sincerity was pure, each word striking another chord in my heart.

“You’ve taught me more about life in the past year than in all of the rest of my years on this earth,” Steven continued. “You showed me how it feels to love someone. You taught me patience and treated me with a warmth that I hadn’t felt before. You gave my soul a home.”

Tears began to well up in my eyes as I watched him speak. His words were so beautiful, almost poetic. I didn’t want him to stop.

Steven looked into my eyes and then leaned toward me, kissing me gently on the lips. My entire body tingled and the sensation took my breath away. Everything he did caused me to fall deeper in love with him. As he pulled away, he took a long sigh, gazing into my eyes at the same time.

“Life’s crazy, isn’t it?” he asked.

“So crazy,” I responded. “But wouldn’t it be boring if it wasn’t?”

Steven smiled and looked around the park.

“So, do you know the exact spot that we sat when your parents got married?” he asked.

I took a look around and then shook my head.

“No, not exactly,” I said. “We are currently sitting where my mom and William said their vows. So, if I remember correctly, we sat right over there, in the front row.”

I pointed to an area in the grass. There weren’t any chairs set up like there were on our parent’s wedding, but I was pretty sure the location was about right.

Steven nodded his head.

“Ah, yes,” he said. “How could I forget? I think you’re right. We first met right over here.”

Then he stood up from the blanket, grabbing my hand.

“Come on, let’s go to the exact spot that we first met,” he said, as he helped me up to my feet.

He led me the short distance to the area on the grass where we had been seated during our parent’s wedding. The memory was so clear that it felt like it was yesterday.

“I have one other thing that I wanted to surprise you with,” Steven said, as we stood there on the grass, looking into each other’s eyes.

I smiled coyly then responded, “Steven, you’ve already done so much to set up this romantic evening. You don’t have to do anything else.”

Steven kept his eyes locked with mine.

“Yes, I do,” he said.

I watched as he drew in a long breath and then slowly exhaled.

“Kelsey,” he continued. “In the past year, you’ve become my entire world. You’re everything to me and I wouldn’t trade a single thing for the time that we’ve spent together. I love you more than life itself.”

I placed my hands onto Steven’s forearms as he spoke.

“I love you, too, baby,” I said. “You’re my world.”

Steven looked at the ground, then back up to me. He suddenly seemed nervous as he spoke. I could hear the change in his tone almost immediately.

“Oh, God,” he said. “I just can’t even put it into words, Kelsey. I could stand here and tell you how much I love you all night, or remind you how happy you’ve made me and how much better my life is because of you. But none of that would fully express the way that I feel.”

I stayed silent, listening intently as Steven spoke.

“Kelsey...” he said.

Then he paused. There was silence all around us as I waited for him to continue. The only noise was coming from the crickets and the stream nearby.

“What is it, baby?” I asked.

Steven looked at me with those beautiful, baby blue eyes of his. A second later, he dropped to one knee on the ground in front of me. At the same time, he reached into his front pocket and pulled out a small, black box.

My jaw dropped and a wave of emotion coursed through me, rendering me speechless.

Oh, my God. Oh, my God.

“Baby,” Steven said, as he opened the box, exposing the most beautiful diamond ring I had ever seen in my life. “Will you marry me?”

Oh, my God...Steven...yes...yes
...I thought

Tears of joy burst from my eyes in an instant. I didn’t even know what to say. I brought my hand to my mouth in shock as I began to nod my head eagerly. The emotion inside of me was overwhelming.

I can’t believe this. He’s proposing to me!

After a few seconds of me standing there, trying to come to my senses, I managed to speak.

“Yes,” I said, in between sobs. “Yes, of course, I’ll marry you, baby.”

Tear slid down my cheeks as Steven gently took my left hand. He then slid the diamond ring over my ring finger, holding my hand for a moment as he looked at me. There was a smile on his face unlike any I had seen up that that point. And tears began to fill his eyes as well.

“She said yes!” Steven screamed suddenly, his joyous voice echoing throughout the park. “She said yes!!!”

Then he stood up from the ground, grabbing me by the waist and lifting me up into the air, twirling me around.

“My baby girl said yes!” he cried.

His energy was contagious and I smiled through the tears. Steven held me in the air, his powerful arms carrying me with ease. After a moment, he set me back on the ground. Then he brought his hands to my waist, pulling my body into his.

“She said yes,” he whispered, as he looked deep into my eyes.

Then he leaned forward, kissing me passionately. I placed my hands on his face, dragging my fingers over his trimmed beard. We kissed for along time, standing there on the grass with the stream in the background and the sun setting in the horizon.

After a while, I gently pulled away, looking him over.

“Oh, my God, baby,” I said. “We’re getting married!”

I was still in shock. It didn’t seem real.

“Yes!” Steven said, pulling me in for a hug. “God, I’m so happy you didn’t say no.”

I laughed as I wrapped my arms around his neck.

“How could I have said no?”

Steven kissed my cheek and then walked me back over to the blanket where we laid down. He crawled next to me, wrapping his arm over me and placing his hand on my belly.

“I love you, Kelsey,” he said. “And I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you.”

I closed my eyes, just soaking up the moment. I placed my hand over his, holding it close to my stomach, where our child was growing inside.

“I can’t wait either,” I said. “And I love you too, Steven. Thank you for everything. This has been the best day of my entire life.”

And it was true. It was the best day of my life. My entire world was there on that blanket in the park. Everything I needed was there underneath those orange clouds on top of that grassy hill.

I was still in total shock that Steven had proposed to me. Once again, he had caught me by surprise. But I couldn’t have been happier. I was going to marry the man of my dreams!

And sure, we would end up running into some controversy with friends and family about the marriage. I mean I was positive that some members of society would wonder how stepsiblings could marry. But to be honest, I didn’t care about that stuff any longer. I had spent the majority of my life trying to fit in, trying to appease people that I didn’t even know or care about. And I was done with all of that. I knew that the only thing I needed in this world was Steven and our baby. That was it. And nothing, and I mean nothing, could ever stand in the way of us being together.

You know, life has a funny way of working out. Sometimes it’s the smallest things that have the biggest impact. And as we laid there underneath the sky, I began to feel so utterly grateful for everything. I felt grateful for my parent’s divorce and for my mom meeting William and for William having the most amazing son in this world. But most of all, I felt grateful that Steven had decided to take that seat next to me at our parent’s wedding on that fateful day. I didn’t know it at the time, but that little moment was the real beginning of my life. Because it was in that moment when everything changed for the better. It was in that moment when my whole life turned around. And it was in that infinitely delicate and precious space in time when Steven and I began to fall deeply in love with each other. And that was something that nobody could ever take away from us.

––––––––

...A
nd Steven and Kelsey lived happily ever after. Sure, they met a little bit of resistance from some friends and family who thought it was strange that a stepbrother and stepsister had fallen in love. But neither Steven nor Kelsey let it get to them. Not even close. Their love was hard earned and therefore, hard to take away. In fact, some might say, that their love was invincible.

––––––––

T
he end.