Page 62 of Hot Damn
And angry.
So fucking angry.
It’s my own fault I’m siting here on a bruised butt. I should have known Kenneth was up to no good when I first spotted him. Instead, I let Whit lead the way outside and when he grabbed her arm…
Fury rose up so hard and fast I choked on it.
Her gasp of shock, the way she wrenched herself away had me acting before thinking. If I’d just taken a second to ground my feet instead of…
No. There had been no time to waste, at least that’s what my instincts told me so I’d shouldered her behind me as she stepped back and put my hand out to shove Kenneth away.
Except I missed the step and my feet got tangled and when my hand landed on Kenneth’s chest, he lost his footing too. Only he grabbed me for stability and because he was a few steps below, gravity took over and I was falling forward with nothing to break my fall.
Especially when that chicken-shit managed to keep upright and took off.
“Hey.” Beckett’s hand cradles my jaw and lifts my face until our eyes connect. “You can’t hunt him down and kill him.”
“Why not?” It doesn’t even enter my head that he’s able to read me. Hell, my murderous thoughts are probably written all over my face.
Beckett chuckles. “Well, for a start, there are at least six people in here, no, make that nine, who want to get in line before you.”
I mentally count heads and realize he’s counted every adult here. The fact he thinks Walker, Bran, Chase, and himself can be included alongside Mom and Dad, and my three best friends brings tears to my eyes. “Oh.”
“So, how about I do as you asked?”
“Huh?” I sniff back the threatening tears.
“I’ll get you out of here to somewhere you can have that hot bath in peace.”
I look over at Mom and Dad. The first thing they said when they got here was they’d take me home with them after dinner. As much as their house has always been home, I don’t want to go there.
I don’t want to go to my apartment either.
“Where are you going to find that bath?” I ask quietly while my eyes remain on my parents.
“My house. Whit is staying here overnight. Chase and Natalie want to give her a distraction from what happened and promise to call if she wakes with a nightmare or can’t sleep or whatever. My house will be empty.” His gaze bores into mine. “Well, except for me.”
An image of his newly fitted whirlpool tub pops into my head. “The tub in your bathroom?”
“Yes. It’s perfect for sore muscles and bruises.”
I see uncertainty, concern, a touch of anger, in his eyes and I know the later isn’t directed at me butforme. The other two, well, he’s obviously worried about me. Everyone is. The uncertainty is either about what my answer will be or having me alone in his house.
There’s a small niggle of worry about being alone with him in my chest. The more I’m around Beckett, the more I like him, and if I let him care for me tonight, if I let him make sure I’ve got what I need, what I want, that like is going to slide deeper.
I don’t know if I want that. I don’t need the complication to our relationship if like tips over into more.
The physical attraction I feel for Beckett has been the abstract kind. He’s hot, I’m not blind, except I think I’ve been in denial because the other men here, including Dad, are attractive and I readily admit that.
But those men don’t have my nerves buzzing. Don’t have my stomach swooping. And they certainly don’t have my ovaries clenching when I see them with their kids or someone else’s.
No. Beckett Higgison is the inspiration of those sensations.
“O-okay.” I lick my lips. Swallow the lump in my throat. “Get me out of here.”
He studies me for a moment, looking for what, I don’t know, but eventually, he says, “Done,” as he stands up straight.
I’m not sure what’s more shocking. The speed in which we’re in Beckett’s car heading to his house or that no one—not even my parents—protested us leaving.
