CHAPTER 14
GRANT

Fucking hell. She moved like a miracle. Full of grace and coursing with sexual energy. I wanted nothing more than to stride over there, throw that woman over my shoulder, slap her ass, and take her the fuck home. What the hell was she doing, grinding on all those men? They were pawing at her like dogs in fucking heat. Touching her all wrong and missing all the best parts of her. The guy in front of Theresa couldn't pull his eyes from her tits and the guy behind her was ready to shove his small dick up her ass. And the look in her eye—that mischievous little stare.

I wanted to see it as she looked up at me with my cock between those crimson red lips.

But, I couldn't. I was with Jim and Hollis, and I needed to keep myself in check. I’d run into Jim at the hardware store as I was picking up the last few things I needed to finish Hollis’ back porch. I’d decided to rip up the topical foundation and replace all that shit so no one would fall through the damn slats and kill themselves.

It’d been good to see Jim, and it seemed like a no-brainer to ask him to come out with us tonight.

After Theresa had stalked out of the woods that day, I’d told myself that I didn’t need to stay anymore. She was going to be okay on her own, and she didn’t want me sticking around. But I had started a project with Hollis’ porch and I wasn’t going to abandon it when it was half done. That’s not how I ran my business, and not how I treated a friend. But as soon as the porch was completed to my satisfaction, I would head back to Boston.

At least, that was what I was telling myself. I wasn’t still here because of the girl on the dance floor, with her soft tits and her thick ass and her luscious thighs that trembled with her orgasms. It wasn’t because of her. That meant she had me by the nuts. And women didn’t have me by the nuts.

Women didn’t get under my skin.

I got under theirs.

“So how long you in town for?” Jim asked.

“Until I finish Hollis’ back porch. That thing was a shithole,” I said, finally pulling my eyes away from the scene on the dancefloor.

“It wasn’t that bad,” Hollis said.

“No, that thing’s pretty rickety,” Jim said. “I’m glad someone’s finally tackling it.”

“Because we all know you can’t,” I said with a grin.

“Won’t. Not can’t. I built that porch myself the first time,” Hollis said.

“And that’s why it wasn’t sanded or finished or primed or generally sturdy,” I said.

“I’d listen to the construction guru if I were you,” Jim said.

The two of them started talking about old times and reminiscing about our shitty high school days. But I was focused on Theresa. The guy in front of her was getting a little too grabby, in my opinion, and it fueled my need to go over there and break up the sexual heat gathering on the damn dance floor.

“Holy shit, Hollis. Is that Theresa?” Jim asked.

“What? Huh?” Hollis asked.

“Too busy staring at Jane, I see,” I said with a grin.

“She’s got like five men dancing on her,” Hollis said.

“You talking about Jane or your sister?” Jim asked.

“To answer your question, Jim, yes. The girl in the red dress is Theresa,” I said.

“What the fuck? What the hell’s my sister doing?” Hollis asked.

“It looks to me like she’s getting groped,” Jim said.

I eyed Hollis carefully, trying to get a glimpse into what Theresa was talking about that night at the creek. The controlling, impulsive side to her brother that tried to dictate her actions. But Jim’s statement forced my gaze back to the dance floor, and he was right. The guy behind her was reaching around and blatantly grabbing her tits.

And none of that shit was going down tonight.

Instinct taking over completely, I set my beer down on the bar and went striding to the dance floor. I grabbed the back of the guy’s shirt and yanked him away from Theresa. I heard Jane calling out to me and telling me to stop, but I was in a blind rage. No one touched Theresa that way, and she was too drunk to tell what was happening to her.

I stepped in front of the guy still hanging onto her and glared down at him. He was a measly little punk compared to me, and the moment he saw our size difference he backed off. I heard Theresa’s heels stumbling behind me, clicking along the ground before her hands planted onto my back.

I whipped around and glared down at her, taking in her drunken state.

“What the hell?” she asked. “What was that for?”

“Come on,” I said as I slipped my arm around her waist. “You’re making a fool of yourself.”

I scooted her off the dance floor as Jane continued to entertain the guys around her. I saw Hollis eye me carefully before he went to save Jane from the same damn fate. Jim was pulling guys off her as Hollis helped her off to the side, and I watched as he craned his gaze back to check on his sister.

I gave him a thumbs up and yelled at Jim that I’d catch up with him later. He waved me off before his attention turned back to Hollis, and I sighed with relief when he dragged Jane off into a corner to sober up. People were staring, and not in a good way. And the guys that were dancing on the floor were getting restless because we’d broken up their fun. They were all standing around with blue balls and it was about to get ugly. I pulled Theresa out of the bar and dragged her to my car, then helped her stumbling body fall into the passenger seat.

She was sulking as I slammed the door, her head falling into the glass.

“What the fuck were you thinking?” I asked as I got into the car.

“I was having fun,” Theresa said.

“Yeah, because assault is fun. You were real close in there, and you didn’t even know it.”

“Not assault if you enjoy the attention,” she said.

“Seriously, Theresa? This is your idea of taking care of yourself?”

“I had the situation under control, Bigfoot.”

“Name-calling. Real grown-up.”

“Hey, I didn’t ask you to intervene in the situation. I was enjoying the attention. I was out having a good time. Having some drinks with my best friend.”

“And what was your end goal, huh? Taking one of those assholes home?”

“As a matter of fact, yes!”

I whipped my head around to her and found her eyes hooked onto mine. She was fucking serious. She was going to take one of those pathetic idiots back to her place and do what? Fuck them? Give herself over to them? Is that what she meant by reckless? Inviting some stranger into her home and let him have his way with her or worse?

What the hell was she thinking?

“I’m taking you home,” I said as I cranked up the car.

“You gonna just drop me off or are you gonna fuck me this time, too?” Theresa asked.

My nostrils flared at the angry heat of her words. What was the actual issue here?

“You were two seconds away from one of those men dragging you off that floor and raping you in the damn bathroom,” I said. “And you clearly aren’t sober enough to protect yourself.”

“I’m just fine by myself,” she said. “I don’t need you or anyone else worrying about me.”

“Well, if you and your best friend are going to do dumb shit like this, then yes you do.”

“No, I don’t. I hate the fact that you worry. I hate that everyone fucking worries about poor feeble little Theresa. I’m not feeble. I’m a strong, independent woman. I always have been. But none of you assholes will give me a chance to spread my damn wings and fly like I know I can.”

“I don’t think you’re feeble, Theresa, I never have. I just haven’t seen you make the best choices lately,” I said.

She curled herself as tightly against the door as she could and watched as the world passed us by. The rest of the car ride back to her place was silent. Her breathing was evening out, and I could tell the rhythmic cruising of my Jaguar was forcing her to fall asleep. Good. She needed to sleep the damn alcohol off in her system. But fuck, she looked incredible in her outfit.

Too incredible.

Theresa was passed out by the time we got back to her place. I dug through her purse and found her keys, then gathered her up in my arms. I walked up the steps and unlocked her door, then proceeded to duck my head into rooms until I found hers. I laid her down on her bed and slipped her heels off, tossing the red-bottomed stilettos into the corner.

I didn’t even know she owned shoes like that.

I slid her underneath the covers, and her eyes fluttered open. I pulled the comforter up to her chin, but she moved with lightning speed. She grabbed my arm and pulled me down toward her, knocking me off balance so that I landed on top of her. Our lips crashed together, and her tongue forced its way between my lips, and I faltered.

For a second, I groaned, allowing myself to taste the sweetness of her body.

The veins in my groin were pulsing, and my hands were sparking with fire. As her tongue massaged the roof of my mouth and ran over my teeth, I groaned heavily into her. I wanted to fall into bed with her, to strip the tight fabric from her and watch her curves spill over the edges of my body.

But she was drunk, and she would probably regret it.

Like last time.

I didn’t want to be her mistake. And worse, I didn’t want her to feel she had to apologize for how she felt. I pulled away from her kiss and looked into her eyes, memorizing the hazy way she looked up at me. There was admiration and confusion and so much want. I memorized how it looked in her beautiful doe orbs. I reached up and unwound her arm from my neck and settled her back into bed, watching the white-hot disappointment fill her eyes with tears.

She curled up onto her side as I stepped away, and hearing her sniffle made my heart drop.

I walked over to her door and stopped. I turned back toward her and saw her shoulders shaking. She was crying, and every part of me wanted to kiss her tears away. I didn’t want her crying over me. I wanted her begging, moaning, and calling out my name.

“Please stay, Grant.”

It was the faintest of whispers. Like the trailing of a prayer on the edge of an oncoming storm. My stomach fell to the floor as I reached out for the doorknob. If only I could.

If only she meant it.

I stepped out into the hallway and shut the door before I made my way down the hall. I locked the doorknob on her front door before hanging her keys on a key rack on the wall. I closed the door behind me and made my way down to the car as my hands balled into fists.

Fuck all of this.

I needed to get the hell out of this fucking town.