Page 17 of Heir

I sat at the back of the bar, a computer in front of me, and waited for the waitress to bring me my beer.

I tried not to drink too much.

I was only one moment away from letting a bottle control my life, and that was the last fucking thing I wanted—to hand over my control to anything or anyone.

But once in a while, it wasn’t too bad, and it was especially needed when I was looking at the same numbers over and over, unable to get the math right.

The doors opened, and Blue sauntered in, his signature smile on his face.

His blue eyes found me right away, and he walked up to me and pulled out a chair.

“Rough night?” the fucker said, his smile widening.

I shot him a dark look that would have most men backing away from me. I must be getting too soft where Blue was concerned because he only leaned back in the chair and crossed his arms casually over his chest.

“Why didn’t you stop me from taking that girl home?”

“And stop a brother from having a good time?” He wiggled his eyebrows. “How was she?”

“Forgettable.”

He shook his head and laughed.

I kicked the back leg of his chair. “Don’t you have a job to do? I must not be giving you enough if you have time to come here and shoot the shit with me.”

He rolled his eyes. “You give me plenty. I’m on top of my shit, and you know it.”

I did.

“But I’m here to meet someone,” he said.

I closed my laptop. I wouldn’t be getting any work done here now. Strange, but the bar used to be my sanctuary away from home. Now, it seemed no place would do. I was running out of venues where I could get some work done.

“The girl from last night?” I asked, remembering Blue taking a cute little redhead home with him. That would be a first for him. Usually, he was a fuck-’em-and-leave-’em kind of man. Not unlike me.

He shook his head. “Nah, I cooked Marisol some breakfast and sent her cute ass through the door.”

Unlike me, he bothered to learn the names of the women he brought home. I didn’t see a point to that, considering I never planned on seeing any of them again.

“I’m meeting my childhood best friend,” Blue said. “She hit me up last night and said she needs a place to stay for a while.”

“You mean I’m not your best friend?” I deadpanned.

He burst out laughing. “You won’t let anyone close enough to you to have a best friend. Don’t even know why I put up with your grumpy ass most of the time.”

“Because I’m a fucking catch,” I said.

Blue shook his head, his grin widening. Blue was great, and I was probably closer to him than any of the brothers in the club—aside from Roman and Micah—but to say someone was mybest friend?

Yeah, that sounded too juvenile for me to even get into.

His face turned serious. “She sounded panicked when she called me. Something’s up. I think she might be in trouble.”

I raised one eyebrow at that. “And you’re going to play white knight to her? Are you sure she’s just a friend?”

He shook his head. “I ain’t nobody’s white knight. But I will protect her. And no, there’s nothing going on between us. Gemma’s not the kind of girl you fuck and leave. She’s a forever kind of girl, and I don’t feel anything for her besides brotherly love. I just… I feel very protective of her. You’ll know what I mean once you meet her.”

I didn’t say anything, but I didn’t believe him.

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