Abbi Glines - Rush Too Far

“That doesn’t make her mine,” I replied. She needed to take the hint and leave.

Grant cleared his throat. “You’re kidding, right?”

I took a swig of my beer, then leveled my gaze at Grant. I wasn’t in the mood for his and Nan’s drama. This was taking it too far. Even for him. The girl had to go.

She appeared to be ready to run. This wasn’t what she’d been expecting. Had she really thought her dear ol’ dad would be here, waiting for her? That story sounded like bullshit. She’d lived with the man for fourteen years. I had known him for three years, and I knew he was a piece of shit.

“I got a house full of guests tonight, and my bed’s already full,” I informed her, then looked back at my brother. “I think it’s best if we let her go find a hotel until I can get in touch with her daddy.”

Blaire reached for the suitcase that Grant was holding. “He’s right. I should go. This was a very bad idea,” she said with a hitch in her voice. Grant didn’t let the suitcase go easily. She tugged hard to get it out of his grasp. I could see the unshed tears in her eyes, and it tugged at my conscience. Was there something I was missing here? Did she really expect us to open our arms wide for her?

Blaire hurried to the exit. I watched the gleeful look stretch over Nan’s face as Blaire walked past her.

“Leaving so soon?” Nan asked her. Blaire didn’t respond.

“You ’re a heartless fuck. You know that?” Grant snarled beside me.

I wasn’t in the mood to deal with him. Nan strutted over to us with a triumphant grin. She’d enjoyed that. I understood why. Blaire was a reminder of all that Nan had missed out on while growing up.

“She looks exactly like I remember her. Pale and plain,” Nan purred, sinking down beside me on the couch.

Grant snorted. “You’re as blind as you are mean. You may hate her, but she’s mouthwatering.”

“Don’t start,” I warned Grant. Nan might appear happy, but I knew that if she dwelled on it too much, she’d break down.

“If you don’t go after her, I will. And I’m gonna put her sexy ass up at my place. She isn’t what you two assume she is. I talked to her. She hasn’t got a clue. That dumb-ass father of yours told her to come here. No one is that good of a liar,” Grant said as he glared at Nan.

“Dad would never have told her to come to Rush’s. She came here because she’s a mooch. She smelled money. Did you see what she was wearing?” Nan scrunched up her nose in disgust.

Grant chuckled. “Hell, yeah, I saw what she was wearing. Why do you think I want to get her back to my place so bad? She’s smoking hot, Nan. I don’t give a shit what you say. The girl is innocent, lost, and smoking damn hot.”

Grant turned and headed for the door. He was going after her. I couldn’t let him do that. He was easily fooled. I agreed that the girl was easy on the eyes, but he was thinking with his dick.

“Stop. I’ll go after her,” I said, standing up.

“What?” Nan asked in a horrified voice.

Grant stepped back and let me pass him. I didn’t turn back and acknowledge my sister. Grant was right. I needed to see if this was an act or if she really had been told by her douchebag father to come here. Not to mention that I wanted to get a look at her without an audience.

She was walking up to an old, beat-up truck when I opened the door and stepped outside. I paused a moment, wondering if it was hers or if someone had brought her here. Grant hadn’t mentioned anyone else. I squinted against the dark to see if I could make out someone inside the truck, but I couldn’t tell from this far away.

Blaire jerked open the driver’s-side door and then paused to take a deep breath. It was almost dramatic, or at least it would have been had she known she was being watched. But from the way her shoulders sagged in defeat before she climbed up into the truck, I knew she had no idea that she had an audience.

But then again, maybe she did. I knew nothing about this girl. I only knew that her father was a fucking mooch. He took what my mother and Nan gave him, yet he never returned their tokens of affection or love. The man was cold. I had seen it in his eyes. He cared nothing for Nan or my stupid mother. He was using them both.

The girl was beautiful. There was no question about that. But she had also been raised by that man. She could be a master manipulator. Using her beauty to get what she wanted and not caring whom she hurt along the way.

I walked down the steps and toward the truck. She was still sitting there, and I wanted her gone before Grant came out and fell for this act of hers. He’d take her home with him. And she’d use him until she was bored. I wasn’t just protecting my sister; I was protecting my brother from her, too. Grant was an easy target.

She turned, and her eyes collided with mine before she let out a scream. Her red-rimmed eyes sure looked like she’d been crying real tears. No one was out here to see her, so there was the slight possibility that this wasn’t part of an elaborate scam.

I waited for her to do something other than stare at me like I was the stranger when she was on my property. As if she’d read my mind, she swung her gaze back to her steering wheel and made a move to crank the truck.

Nothing.

She started to become frantic in her attempts to get the truck to crank, but from the click I’d heard, I guessed there wasn’t a drop of gas in her tank. Maybe she was desperate. I still didn’t trust her.

The sight of her hitting her steering wheel in frustration was funny. What good was that gonna do if the idiot had run her tank completely empty?

She finally opened the door to the truck and looked up at me. If she wasn’t as damn innocent as she looked, then the girl was a hell of an actress.

“Problems?” I asked.

The look on her face said she didn’t want to tell me that she couldn’t leave. I reminded myself again that this was Abe Wynn’s daughter. The one he had raised. The one he had abandoned Nan for all those years. I would not feel sorry for her.

“I’m out of gas,” she said with a soft voice.

No shit. If I let her go back inside, I was going to have to deal with Nan. If I didn’t, Grant would take care of her. And then she would more than likely take advantage of him.

“How old are you?” I asked. I should have known this already, but damn, I thought she was older than she looked. The big-eyed, scared look on her face made her seem so young. The way she filled out that tank top and jeans was the only sign that she was at least legal.

“Nineteen,” she replied.

“Really?” I asked, not sure I believed her.

“Yes. Really.” The annoyed frown was cute. Dammit. I didn’t want to think she was cute. She was a fucking complication I didn’t need.

“Sorry. You just look younger,” I said with a smirk. Then I let my gaze travel down her body. I didn’t need her thinking I was someone she could trust. I wasn’t. I never would be. “I take that back. Your body looks every bit of nineteen. It’s that face of yours that looks so fresh and young. You don’t wear makeup?”

She didn’t get offended, but her frown grew. Not my desired effect. “I’m out of gas. I have twenty dollars to my name. My father has run off and left me after telling me he’d help me get back on my feet. Trust me, he was the last person I wanted to ask for help. No, I don’t wear makeup. I have bigger problems than looking pretty. Now, are you going to call the police or a tow truck? If I get a choice, I prefer the police.”

Had she really just suggested I call the police? And was that disdain for her dear ol’ dad that I heard in her voice? I was pretty damn sure it was. Maybe he hadn’t been the model father that Nan had imagined in her head from the one short visit she’d made to that house when she was a kid. Sounded like Abe was on her shit list.

“I don’t like your father, and judging from the tone in your voice, neither do you,” I said, letting the idea that maybe she was another casualty of Abe Wynn sink in. He’d abandoned Nan, and it sure as hell sounded like he had abandoned this daughter, too. I was about to do something I would regret. “There is one room that is empty tonight. It will be until my mom gets home. I don’t keep her maid around when she isn’t here—Henrietta only stops by to clean once a week while Mom is on vacation. You can have her bedroom under the stairs. It’s small, but it’s got a bed.”

The look of disbelief and relief on her face almost made the idea of facing Nan worth it. Even though I was pretty damn sure Blaire and Nan had father-abandonment issues in common, I knew Nan would never accept that. She was determined to hate someone, and Blaire was going to take the brunt of her anger.

“My only other option is this truck. I can assure you that what you’re offering is much better. Thank you,” she said tightly.

Fuck. Had I really been about to leave this girl in a truck? That was dangerous. “Where’s your suitcase?” I asked, wanting to get this over with and talk to Nan.

Blaire closed the truck door and walked back to get her suitcase. There was no way her little body was picking that up and lifting it over the bed of the truck. I reached behind her and grabbed it.

She spun around, and the astonished look on her face made me grin. I winked at her. “I can carry your bag. I’m not that big of an ass.”

“Thank you a-again,” she said with a stutter, as those big, innocent-looking eyes locked with mine.

Damn, her eyelashes were long. I didn’t see girls without their makeup often. Blaire’s natural beauty was startling. I would have to remind myself that she was nothing but trouble. That and keep my fucking distance. Maybe I should have let her get her own bag. At least if she thought I was an asshole, she’d stay away.