Chapter Twenty-Eight
GRAY
SHE WIPES her palms down the sides of her legs as she walks from the room. Her slight frame looks tight as a spring, and all I want to do is make her look as comfortable as she felt this morning in my arms.
Well, until we both realized I forgot to put on the condom. All I can say is thank fuck she’s on birth control. I never forget the condom, the last woman I was bareback with was my wife. A whispered what-if crosses my mind, and I shut it down.
Sliding my gaze to Mason, he cocks his eyebrow at me and I jerk my chin to the hallway and walk out. He’s only seconds behind me as I walk down the hall before I turn on him.
“What’s your fucking problem?”
His head jerks back like I hit him. “No, what’s your fucking problem? Why are you coming at me?”
I take a step toward him, my shoulders squared. “’Cause you’re being a dick. You know she’s not the problem, but you’re purposely trying to make her feel like one.”
He looks over my face, and a smile splits his. “You like her.”
Taking a step back, I look away as I slide my fingers through my hair. “This isn’t about me. This is about you acting like an asshole.”
He takes a step back and nearly laughs. “No.” He shakes his head, his tone laced with annoying Mason humor.
“No, this is about you. You’re all defensive about me giving your girl a hard time.
” He looks over his shoulder to see if anyone can hear us and turns back to me, his eyes dancing as he points his finger.
“You were the biggest asshole in the world when she first got here.” The annoying fucking smile is still on his face.
I don’t argue, I was an asshole, and I feel like the biggest cum stain in the world because of it. “She’s not my girl.”
“What’s going on?” Dad’s deep voice makes his presence known behind Mason.
Mason looks at Dad and then back at me. “Gray likes Elly.” His schoolboy singsong voice is making me want to punch him in the nose to make it impossible for him to sing anything.
Dad’s lips twitch and he looks between us. Now I want to punch him, too. “Everybody knows that already, Mason.”
Fucking hell, I thought I was being discrete. I turn my head to the wall, my lips pressed together, and hang my hands on my hips.
Mason has the balls to look hurt. “Well, I didn’t. Did this happen in the few days I was gone?” He swings his hand so the backs of his fingers slap my forearm. “I didn’t take you for a fast mover, Gray.”
My jaw tightens and I swear my molars are going to crack as I turn my head back to him. “Don’t you have anything to do? Outside somewhere? Away from the rest of us?”
“Mason, go. I’ll need your help in the stables, since Gray is going to be in Tulsa for most of the morning.” Dad says and slides his fingers in his pockets.
Just to be a dick, Mason cuts his eyes to me with a shit-eating grin and gives my arm a light, friendly punch.
“Baggin’ the babe they sent to try to take our home.
” He nods and holds his hand up in a high five, but his shit-eating grin falls from his face when I punch his arm twice as hard as he punched mine.
“Ow! Fuck Gray! I was just fucking with you.” He grabs his arm and massages the muscle like I really hurt him. Fucking milker.
“Mason! Go.” Dad barks before things get ugly.
Mason looks at me like I’m the problem and turns while holding his arm where I punched him to go back to the kitchen.
My mind flashes back to the many times as kids this exact scene played out over whatever bullshit thing Mason decided to be a little prick about.
I take a deep breath as I watch him leave because dad’s eyes are on me.
“You okay? Do you want me to take her?” Dad asks, his usually curt voice is quiet so no one can hear him.
Tight, burning in my chest has me rubbing my fist across my sternum. “No, I’ll take her.”
I promised Elly we would talk, and I plan on taking advantage of that while we’re driving. I want to ask her if something long distance is out of the question.
Dad claps his hand on my shoulder. “Okay, but let me know if you need anything.”
I nod and make my way to the stairs, my focus on the little minx who has infiltrated all my thoughts.
The door to the bedroom is open and Elly steps from the bathroom wearing the clothes she arrived in.
Her tight pencil skirt reaches the tops of the suede high-heel boots, which hug the curves of her calves.
It’s a miracle she didn’t fall and break her neck on the ice.
But damn, she looks sexy as hell.
She looks up, and our eyes meet, for several moments we only stare at each other.
Clearing my throat, I ask, “You ready?”
She smiles in that way that doesn’t reach her eyes and nods. “Yeah, I think so.”
Grabbing her big pink bag, she walks past me to the door, and I set my hand on her lower back.
The drive to the highway is long since there are black ice patches on the road. Elly’s watching the landscape pass by out the window, her fingers are linked on her lap. I can feel the tension rolling off her and I’m not sure if it is because of me or just the situation.
I can’t remember the last time I felt so nervous about asking a woman to date me, the first for me is that we have already been intimate. But thinking about dropping her off and never speaking to her again is making my stomach tie in knots.
Reaching over, I set my hand over her linked fingers that are white as paper from clasping them so tight. “I have a question.”
Those beautiful brown eyes turn toward me. “Yeah?”
Even with the heater on high, her fingers are cold under my palm, and I squeeze them a little to warm them. “I was wondering if anything long distance would be out of the question.”
Relief moves across her face, and her shoulders relax. “Really? I would like that.”
My heart springs in my chest and I couldn’t stop the smile on my face if I tried. “It might be difficult, but I want to keep seeing you. I don’t want to let you go.”
The tension that was just billowing off her is gone and her smile is genuine this time. “I know you can’t leave the horses, but we can try to work something out. I don’t want to let you go, either.” She links her fingers with mine and relaxes in the seat.
Once we reach the highway, the roads are clear and the drive is, to my dismay, quicker.
When we get to the hotel parking garage, I have to worry about my rig being so big and end up having to park on the street.
I don’t want to make Elly walk a long distance in her heels, so I drop her off at the front of the hotel and get the room number from her.
I have to drive around the block a few times, but I finally find a spot and walk to the hotel.
Trying to put a label on the way I feel right now is difficult.
I’ve only known her a week, but she has weaseled her way into my heart and I can’t stand the thought of losing her.
We can try long distance and if it doesn’t work, at least we can say we tried.
The mirrored elevator doors open and I don’t have to go far, the suite she’s in is right around the corner, but when I get to the door, I hear a man’s raised voice and something crashing. My heart skips a beat, and I knock on the door. “Elly?”
It’s quiet for a moment and then I hear muffled yelling, and I try the knob, but it’s locked. “Elly.” My voice is louder.
Stepping away from the door, I lift my leg and kick it open. I’m shocked when I step into the room and see a man holding Elly against the wall with his hand over her mouth.
White-hot anger washes over me and I see red as I quickly close the distance between us, the look on the guy’s face switches from anger to fear when he looks into my eyes. As he lets Elly go and turns toward me, I throw a hook and the guy flies backward to land on his back next to the little couch.
Turning around, I ask Elly, “You okay?”
She’s rubbing her jaw as she steps away from the wall. “Yeah.”
Turning back to the shit stain on the floor, I walk up his body to get in a standing straddle over him and grab his shirt to lift him up to hit him again. The second time my arm goes back to hit him a second time, Elly wraps her arms around my bicep and practically hangs off my arm.
“Gray! Stop!” she yells.
Her voice breaks through the haze of rage that’s fueling me, and I step back while taking deep breaths. The guy rolls to his side, holding his nose, and then he kicks the leg of the table next to the chair.
“Fuck! Who the fuck is this?” He yells like he has the right to ask.
Elly is standing at my side, her hands still on my arm. Her voice is combative when she says, “This is Gray Harlow.”
I’m not sure what bothers me most, the fact he’s in her room or that she’s talking to him like it’s okay for him to be in her room. The anger shoots back up my spine and I look down at her. “Who is this, and why is he in your room?”
She looks up at me and her face flushes pink. “This is who I warned you my father would send.”
“But why is he in your room?” I’m trying to keep my voice calm, but the conflicting emotions inside me are making it difficult. I know Elly and I are not together and I have no right being angry about a man in her room, but my head is not listening.
So many questions are swirling in my mind. What was happening when I got to the door? As I look over her face, I can see the red mark from where he was holding his hand over her mouth. What the fuck could have happened between the time I dropped her off and when I got to her door?
The sharp tone makes her drop her hands from my arm and she takes a step away. “He must have bribed someone at the front desk. I didn’t give him my key.”
My eyebrows shoot up my forehead. “He was in here already? Before you came in?”
The contents of my stomach are swirling like they want to come back up and I take a few deep breaths. What do I really know about her?
Before she gets to answer, the guy laughs and we both swing our heads in his direction. He’s pushing himself up from the floor and when he is facing me, he smiles. He fucking smiles. Blood is running down his face and some of it is settling in dark red lines between his teeth.
He looks between me and Elly before his gaze lands on her. “You didn’t tell him about us?”
My hackles go up and my heart drops. Hiding the ache in my chest behind my poker face, I only stare at him. I sure as fuck can’t look at her, I don’t know if I can handle it.
“Harris, stop it.” She barks.
His smile gets even bigger. “I have to admit, I’m a little hurt.” He pulls an expensive-looking handkerchief from his pocked and shakes it out before he holds it over his nose.
His eyes cut back to me. “She’s a cute little thing, isn’t she? But I have to admit when I got ahold of her, she was pretty inexperienced, but now she’s a bit of a firecracker in the sack.” He winks at me.
He fucking winks at me.
My jaw is clenched hard enough my molars could crack, my fingers curling into my palms. The pain squeezing my chest is making it hard to breathe. She is familiar with him, her tone and anger say she’s not surprised to see him at all.
He moves his gaze back to her, humor in his eyes. “You got him to fall for you. Good job. Now, did you get him to sign?” He punctuates the question after each word.
Elly jerks her head in my direction but I can’t look at her, my heart is beating so hard in my chest and the ache burns behind my sternum. She lays her hand on my arm but the muscles pull taunt beneath her touch. “Gray, he’s trying to get under your skin.”
I look down at her. “But is it true?”
Her eyes volley between mine and her face has turned red. When she swallows instead of answering me, I know all I need to know.
“Please, Elly, don’t insult everyone in the room.” He looks at me, all humor gone from his eyes, the handkerchief still pressed to his nose and mouth. “Elly and I have been together since she was in college.”
Something pierces my heart, and I squash the urge to rub my chest with my fist. Looking past the hurt, I let the anger take over. Have I been falling for a fucking snake in the grass?
Have I been falling for her? The pain in my chest confirms I’ve fallen for the person I thought she was. But that’s the crux of it, I let myself get close to someone I don’t know, and I know better.
My eyes jerk to her, guilt and embarrassment flashes in the amber brown depths of her eyes and tells me all I need to know and I take a step away from her.
She starts shaking her head rapidly. “No.” Then she holds her hand up like she wants to pause the whole situation.
“Yes. We were together when I was a stupid girl in college, but…”
“Oh, come, come, Elly.” He laughs and I look back at him. “Did she give you the ‘ol daddy was mean to me spiel? Told you about how she doesn’t like this side of the business?” He chuckles and looks between us.
I take another step away from her.
“No.” Elly interjects, but he cuts her off.
“Actually, Elly is our best acquisition piece, she runs circles around me with her beautiful smile and cute little ass.” He cocks his brow as he smiles at her. “She hits people right in the feels.”
Turning on my heel, I’m done listening to this. I feel like a fucking fool. As I’m walking to the door, her hand grabs my arm and I turn on her. The look on my face must match how I am feeling inside because she lets go of me and takes a step back.
“Gray, please.” Her voice is small, and it makes the burn in my chest even worse. “We broke up over a year ago. There is no-thing between me and Harris.” She draws out the word nothing.
The fear in her eyes turns to sadness as she looks at me. “Please, Gray.”
The air in this room is so heavy it’s hard to breathe. I can’t stay in here any longer. With one last look over her face, I say, “I fucking knew better.” And turn to leave the room.