Rush Too Far

CHAPTER NINE

My bedroom door slammed, and I sat up in bed, rubbing my face and trying to block out the sunlight.

“He’s back home,” Grant announced.

“Thanks,” I muttered. I had texted Grant last night about Will’s appearance and asked if he’d take Will home before he went to work that morning.

“Little shit is a handful. He tried to take Blaire home with him.” Grant chuckled.

At the sound of her name, I dropped my hand and looked at him. “She still here?” I asked.

Grant nodded his head toward the windows. “Out there. In a fucking bikini. I may stay here all day instead of going to work, if you don’t mind. Besides, you owe me one for taking Will home and dealing with the evil witch.”

I grabbed my discarded sweats and yanked them on quickly before walking over to the window.

Miles and miles of empty beach stretched just beyond my front yard. Blaire was lying out there with her eyes closed and her face tilted toward the sunshine. Yeah . . . Grant’s ass was going to work. He wasn’t staying here to sit around and stare at her all day.

“She’s gonna burn,” Grant said in a hushed whisper, and I tore my gaze off Blaire to see him staring down at her just as reverently as I was. Fuck that.

“Don’t look,” I snapped, and moved back from the window.

Grant let out a laugh. “What the hell does that mean, ‘Don’t look’?”

It meant not to fucking look. “I don’t . . . just . . . you remember who she is. She’ll hate us, and she’ll leave soon. So don’t.” I wasn’t sure what I was saying. I just wanted him to stop looking at her. She was barely covered up, and all her smooth skin was right there for anyone to see. I didn’t want anyone to see it.

“She won’t hate us, just you. And Nan. And her father. But I didn’t do shit,” Grant said.

My hands clenched into fists at my sides, and I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. He was doing this on purpose. He wanted to see if I reacted to her. He was trying to piss me off. “Don’t you have work to do?” I asked calmly.

Grant glanced back at the window and shrugged. “Dude, I work for my dad. I’m the boss. I can take off when an emergency comes up. Besides, aren’t we celebrating Nan’s birthday tonight?”

He was baiting me. Reminding myself of that, I walked over to the closet and found a pair of board shorts. I was going out there. She might not be wearing sunblock, and she needed it. Her skin would burn. I would hate for her to burn her skin.

“You going for a swim?” Grant asked teasingly.

I didn’t look back at him. “Go to work, Grant. Nan’s party is tonight,” I replied, and slammed the bathroom door behind me. I had forgotten that I was giving Nan a party for her birthday tonight. Blaire was making me forget everything.

“You’re playing with fire, man. Like massive flames that will eat you up! Should’ve let me have her. This ain’t gonna be pretty,” he called out loudly enough that I could hear him through the door.

“You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about. No one gets her. She’ll be leaving soon,” I yelled back.

Grant’s laugh faded away as he left my room. He was right. This was fire, and I couldn’t seem to get away from it. I kept moving closer, knowing it was going to consume me if I wasn’t careful.

I didn’t think about what I was doing. I just changed and headed outside to check on her. “Please tell me you have sunblock on,” I said as I sank down onto the sand beside her.

She covered her eyes from the sun before opening them and looking over at me. She didn’t respond. Had I woken her up?

“You are wearing sunblock, aren’t you?” I asked.

She nodded and pulled herself into a sitting position on the small bath towel she was using. Her body was distracting as hell.

“Good. I’d hate to see that smooth, creamy skin turn pink,” I replied before I could stop myself.

“I, uh, put some on before I came out here.”

I really should have looked away from her, but that seemed impossible at the moment. The tops of her breasts were right there, swelling over her bikini top. If she were anyone else, I would have no problem reaching over and tugging the small piece of fabric down until I could see her nipple. Then I’d . . . no! Dammit. I needed to focus on something else.

“You not working today?” I asked.

“It’s my day off.”

“How’s the job going?”

This time, she didn’t reply right away. I watched her as she stared up at me. She wasn’t paying attention to my words so much as she was studying my face. I liked that. Too damn much. “Uh, what?” she asked as her face turned slightly pink.

“How is the job going?” I asked again. I wasn’t able to keep the amusement out of my voice.

She sat up straighter and tried to look less interested in me. “It’s going good. I like it.”

The guys who no doubt flirted with her and gave her ridiculous tips annoyed me. “I bet you do,” I said.

“What is that supposed to mean?” she asked.

I let my gaze travel down her body slowly. “You know what you look like, Blaire. Not to mention that damn sweet smile of yours. The male golfers are paying you well.”

She didn’t get angry or snap at me. Instead, she looked surprised. I turned my attention to the water. I didn’t need to look at her. She distracted me. I forgot about everything else when I was focused on her. Remembering why she was here and that I’d had a hand in her pain should have made it easy enough to stay focused. But she made me forget everything. One bat of her eyelashes, and I was lost.

I had been so damn stupid back then. Asking Abe why he was so willing to leave his family of sixteen years for a daughter he had ignored for even longer would have made sense. But I hadn’t asked him. I had just been thankful when he showed up. But the asshole had left a broken family behind. A young girl alone to take care of her mother.

“How long ago did your mom pass away?” I asked her. I suddenly needed to know how long she had been struggling alone. It wasn’t like I could fix it now. I just wanted to know.

“Thirty-six days ago,” she murmured.

Fuck. She’d lost her mother a little more than a month ago. She hadn’t even had a chance to mourn. “Did your dad know she was sick?” I asked. I would kill him. Someone needed to make the bastard pay. He hurt everything he touched.

“Yes. He knew. I also called him the day she passed away. He didn’t answer. I left a message.”

I had never hated anyone the way I hated Abe Wynn at that moment. “Do you hate him?” I asked. She should. Hell, I hated him enough for both of us. When I beat his face in, I would do it for her. For her mother. And I wasn’t sure I would be able to stop.

“Sometimes,” she said.

I hadn’t expected the truth. Admitting that you hated your father couldn’t be easy. Unable to stop myself, I reached over and slipped my pinkie around hers. I couldn’t hold her hand. That was too much. Too intimate. But I had to do something. She needed some reassurance that she wasn’t alone. Even if I was the last person on earth who deserved to be there for her, I was going to be the one. I just had to find a way to do it and fix this hell I’d created.

“I’m having a party tonight. It’s Nan, my sister’s, birthday. I always give her a party. It may not be your scene, but you’re invited to attend if you want to.”

“You have a sister?”

I thought she knew that already, but when I thought back to the night Blaire had arrived, I realized that Nan had kept her distance and hadn’t actually met Blaire. “Yeah,” I replied.

“Grant said you were an only child,” she said, watching me carefully.

Grant had talked to her about me. He didn’t need me to explain anything to her. I wanted to protect her from the truth. I moved my hand away from her. “Grant really has no business telling you my business. No matter how damn bad he wants in your panties,” I said, before turning and walking back to the house. Why had I let that get to me? Dammit.