Chapter 25 Knox #2
Lottie smirks up at me, tightening her hold on my hand.
“Don’t worry. I don’t think less of you for it.
I am a thirty-four-year-old divorcée living in her brother’s garage, after all.
” She means it as a joke, but I know her well-enough to recognize when her self-deprecation is a coverup for how she truly feels about herself.
“So you’re a nomad,” Alejandro says.
“Ah… Yes. I guess so, yeah.”
“Not one for staying in one place.” It’s not a question.
“Uh… By trade. Not so much by choice.”
“What does that mean?” Lottie’s brother barks, raising a questioning brow.
Brandon groans.
“Ah, fuck, man. Come on, drop the protective brother shit and leave him alone,” Daniel begs.
“Alejandro,” Lottie bites back. She looks at me apologetically. “Sorry my brother is such a loser,” she whispers, low enough only I can hear.
I mouth, “I got this.”
I turn back to Alejandro. “It just means that, right now, my job requires me to travel. It’s what I do.”
“So that means you just come and go as you please, then? Like a sailor.” Alejandro looks pointedly at me, and suddenly I get it: he thinks I have a woman in every port.
“Whoa. No. Not like a—”
“Okay, that’s enough,” Bonnie cuts in. “We’ve heard enough about Knox’s boring job. Let’s talk about something else.”
“Right. Because traveling to exotic locations and taking pictures on someone else’s dime is boring?” Lottie mutters in my defense, but no one seems to hear her.
“Baby, she’s just saying that to change the topic,” I whisper, squeezing her hand in mine, letting her know I’m fine. An uncomfortable dinner with a dickish relative is nowhere near my limit of things I would do just to spend time with Lottie.
She nods once in understanding, a hint of a smile on her face.
Daniel clears his throat. “Tell us about the store reno. How’s it going? When can I start sending potential clients your way to check the place out?”
“Not for a couple of weeks. But things are good.” Lottie sits up a little in her seat, genuine smile spreading across her face this time. “Really good, actually. I somehow managed to get Luke to stay ahead of schedule—”
“Through fear, no doubt,” Brandon snorts, but proudly gazes at his sister-in-law.
“Absolutely,” I pipe in. “The other day she threatened to—”
“Excuse me,” she cuts me off. “There are children present.” She nods towards the kids’ table. The table bursts out into laughter, Alejandro included. “But yes. I did tell him I would cut off and feed him certain body parts if he so much as stepped a toe outside my schedule. And it felt good.”
“I bet.”
“Nice! I like to hear my sister’s kicking butt,” Daniel beams at her—just like everyone else at this table. Her siblings and in-laws all look in her direction as if they’re seeing her for the first time again in years.
As we say our goodbyes to everyone at the end of the night, I slip my leather jacket over her shoulders. Leaning in, I take advantage of the situation to breathe in her scent, feel the heat of her body on my fingertips.
“What are you doing?” she asks softly.
“It’s cold out,” I shrug.
She gives me a smile and blushes. “It’s a thirty second commute back to my place, Knox.”
I open my mouth to tell her I don’t care, that it’s more about her wearing it for my sake than hers, when I feel a tap on my shoulder. “Can I talk to you?” Alejandro asks when I turn to face him.
Lottie looks nervously at me, but I plead with my eyes for her not to say anything.
If this is an opportunity to talk to him and convince him that I’m not some guy who’s going to screw over his sister, I want to take it.
I nod and follow him back into the now-empty dining room, but not before placing a comforting kiss on the corner of her lips.
Alejandro grimaces, standing quietly with his arms crossed in front of his chest. “I wanted to apologize for my behavior tonight.”
“It’s cool, I—”
“No, it wasn’t. I was a jerk, and there’s no excuse.
I’m just very protective of my little sister, and it looks like she likes you.
A lot.” I try to control the sudden thrill coursing down my spine at his assessment.
“I know you don’t have siblings, but even as adults, you never lose the sense of protectiveness over each other.
And I’ve seen her go through hell and back and, frankly, I’m a little terrified you’re going to make her go through it again. ”
“What? No. I would never—”
He raises a hand to cut me off. “Listen, you look like a good kid.” Alejandro sighs deeply as I try to suppress my annoyance at the word kid.
“I don’t know you, but you don’t look like the type of asshole that will hurt her or have complete disregard for her feelings like her ex did.
But Lottie is older than you. And she’s lived through a lot.
And you’re still young. I don’t think you’ll want to hurt her, but I do believe that you will eventually—regardless of whether it was intentional or not—for the simple fact that she will never be able to give you the things that you want.
And that reason alone will destroy her the closer she gets to you. ”
I scramble for the right words. On the one hand, I respect the fact that he wants to protect his sister, to make sure she’s okay.
Lottie is amazing, and I wouldn’t want anyone else hurting her either.
On the other, I don’t appreciate the whole intimidation tactic thing going on here—if that is what he’s doing.
I would love nothing more than to tell him to fuck off, to tell him I would never hurt her and that he shouldn’t make assumptions. But I only just got Lottie to agree to see each other, and I don’t want to shit the bed with her. Who knows how she’ll react if I tell him what I really think?
Instead, I say, “I hear you, man. I promise you I have no intentions of hurting her.”
He stares down at me with a frown on his face, silver threaded dark hair a little disheveled. “That’s not the problem,” he sighs. “But it’s useless to try to explain. It isn’t my place.”
“Knox?” I hear her call out my name from the foyer. “Where’d you go?”
“Over here, I call back,” leaving Alejandro standing pensively in the dining room all alone.
“Let’s go.” Her dark eyes widen suggestively, and I struggle to smile, still irritated with her brother.
We say our final goodbyes and walk hand in hand to the loft. It’s only when we get to her front door that something Alejandro says sticks out.
She will never be able to give you the things that you want. And that reason alone will destroy her the closer she gets to you.