Page 1 of Hale Damage
CHAPTER ONE
Introducing Joe Blow
Remington
I forgot to tell you,but I joined a cult and have to be back to the commune by ten.
My gout is acting up.
I have raging diarrhea.
It’s time to give my cat her glaucoma medication.
These are all excuses I’ve come up with to leave this bar. None of them are actually true. Hell, I don’t even have a cat. Nor do I have diarrhea, raging or otherwise. But I’d rather be at home checking my emails than at this bachelor party.
Looking around at our group of about twenty, I consider sneaking out. They probably wouldn’t even miss me, right? And then my eyes fall on my brother Phoenix. He’s grinning in his gaudy groom T-shirt, looking so damn happy, and the guilt sets in.
Helix, my other brother, catches my gaze, and I can tell he feels the same. This nightclub isn’t either of our scenes. Helix is a scientist in our family’s cosmetics laboratory, the quiet, studious type, while I’m focused on the business side of our company. Some may call me a workaholic, but I find that such an ugly word. I’m simply driven.
Phoenix, the groom, who also happens to be Helix’s twin, works inmarketing for Hale Cosmetics, which suits his personality perfectly. He’s the loud, outgoing brother, and a noisy nightclub is his jam.
So I’ll stay. It’s one night, and your brother only gets married once. Well, hopefully. I think part of my problem tonight is I’m not thrilled about the woman Phoenix is marrying. In my opinion, Beatrice Bettencourt is not the right person for my brother. She’s stodgy, stuck-up, and has no sense of humor, the complete opposite of Phoenix. But maybe that old sayingopposites attractholds true.
I want to support my brother, but this wedding shit has been a lot. Beatrice’s father has turned the entire week into a farce, with multiple parties and events every day, each one more extravagant than the next. The only bright spot was the wedding golf tournament, which I won, thank you very much. Besides that, it’s been exhausting, and I’m ready for it all to be over with tomorrow.
Tuning back in to the conversation, I catch our cousin, Dutton, asking which of us would be next to get married.
Helix kindly nominates me, and I graciously decline with my middle finger before telling the guys, “I’m focused on my career. Maybe I’ll think about marriage later, but it’s too much fun playing the field right now.” I shrug. “They all want to get too serious too quickly, and I’m not ready for that.”
That sparks an in-depth analysis of my love life, and I listen impassively as they theorize that the women I date only want me for my wealth and the status of potentially being married to the future CEO of Hale Cosmetics.
“You’re certainly not getting laid due to your personality,” Phoenix observes, and I tell him to fuck off. Though he’s probably not too far off the mark. I’m not exactly what you’d call a “people person,” but no one cares about my personality anyway. All the women I date seem to be cut from the same designer cloth. Society women and social climbers.
I take in the group of women nearby who are eyeing our group. We’re in the VIP section of this club, so they know we have money. I check out one of the blondes looking me up and down. She’s rail thin, in a tight black dress with sleek hair parted down the middle. Her face is pretty and her smile perfect, almost annoyingly so.
In the past, I probably would have given the bottle blonde who’s now eye-fucking me a subtle lift of my chin, and she would have strutted over, resulting in me taking her back to my hotel room for some one-night-only fun at the end of the evening. But she holds no interest for me tonight. Nor does the cookie-cutter blonde beside her. Or the one beside her.
I sigh inwardly. This has been happening a lot lately, this raw annoyance I feel with the women I meet. They’re all the damn same. The same blueprint looks. The same inane conversations. The same lack of… personality.
I return my attention to our party in time to hear Phoenix say, “Remi, I bet you can’t hook up with a regular girl, someone who’s completely unaware of your net worth.” The smugness and challenge in his tone light something inside me. Hell, I’ve never been able to turn down a bet from Phoenix, which has gotten us in trouble more times than I can count.
So I answer with a confident, “I most certainly could.” After all, I’ve never had trouble in the hook up department.
In fact, none of the Hale brothers have any difficulty with the ladies. There’s definitely a family resemblance as far as having tall, muscular builds and strong jaws that seem to be attractive to women. We all have dark hair, though mine is slightly darker than the twins. And I’ve inherited our mother’s brown eyes, while Helix and Phoenix have blue ones.
“Prove it.”
These fools honestly think women only want me for my money and status, and it irks me that they might be right. So I will prove I can get a girl based on just me. I can be charming… ish. “Fine. What did you have in mind?”
Helix and Dutton follow our exchange, both of them grinning like loons.
“You take a girl from this bar home tonight,” Phoenix challenges.
“No problem,” I retort arrogantly. “This is going to be the easiest bet ever. Hold my scotch.”
Then Phoenix delivers the kill shot. “One of our choosing.”
Shit. I can feel my eyebrows lowering to hood my brown eyes. “Who gets to pick? I don’t mean to sound like an asshole, but I don’t trust you, Phe.”
