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She made everything better without even trying.
“No, I want to.” I looked back to the house and heaved out a breath. “Let’s get this over with already. Once it’s done, we can move forward.”
“Exactly.” She smiled brilliantly, and if it was possible, I fell more in love with her. “You can put him out of your head once and for all, and we can start planning our lives together. How’s that sound?”
Like heaven.
“Sounds perfect.” I leaned over, hooking my hand around the back of her neck and pulling her forward so I could press my lips to hers. Just like every time we kissed, I easily got lost in her, forgetting where I was and what I was supposed to be doing. She had that effect on me. “Christ, I can’t wait to get you back home. I want to spend the rest of the day fucking you so hard you’ll feel me between your thighs for a week.”
Her body trembled, her lids lowering to half-mast. “Then I suggest we make this quick.”
She waited in her seat for me to round my SUV and open her door, then, hand in hand, we marched up the front porch steps of my childhood home.
It didn’t take long after I knocked for my mother to answer, and as soon as she pulled the door open, her face lit up at the sight of me. “Beau! What a surprise. It’s so good to see you.”
I leaned in and pressed a kiss to her cheek. “Hi, Mom.”
“Oh, I’m so glad you’re here. I wish I had known you were coming, I could have put something on for dinner.”
“That’s all right. We aren’t staying long.” On that, I pulled Presley up beside me and looped my arm over her shoulder. “You know Presley Fields, right? My girlfriend?”
Some of the excitement drained from my mother’s expression. She knew Presley, all right. Just like she knew the games my father played with us in the past. She caught herself before the concern swallowed her features and pinned her smile back into place, but this time, it wasn’t nearly as bright. “Yes, of course. It’s nice to officially meet you.”
My Bubbles hadn’t exactly hidden the fact that she wasn’t the biggest fan of my mother’s. She didn’t like that my mom didn’t protect me from my father’s bullshit, and was downright pissed at the fact she continued to try and get me to build a relationship with the man, after knowing everything he’d done.
But even with that animosity, Presley was too kindhearted to be outright rude. Smiling politely, she extended her hand to my mom. “Nice to meet you too, Mrs. Wade.”
I didn’t miss the way my mother didn’t insist Presley use her first name like Shirley had for me, but I put that on the back burner for the time being. I had bigger things to deal with at the moment.
“Is Dad here?”
My mother’s eyes widened with surprise at my question. “Oh, um, yes.” She threw a thumb over her shoulder awkwardly. “He’s—he’s in his study.”
“Great, thanks.”
With Presley’s hand held tightly in mine, I guided us through the massive house without taking a single thing in. I didn’t bother to look to see if any changes had been made since I left the place fifteen years ago, because I didn’t care. I’d hated this place back then, and that feeling hadn’t faded over time. Truth was, my skin was beginning to crawl, being back in here. I only wanted to get this over with so we could get the hell out and never have to look back.
“Um, Beau, sweetheart.” My mother trailed behind us, her footsteps a quick shuffle in order to keep up. “I think he’s on a call. Maybe you could come back another time.”
Not fucking likely.
I didn’t slow my pace or look back at her. “That’s all right, this won’t take but a minute. He can call whoever it is back.”
I grabbed the knob as soon as I reached the door to his study and threw the thing open without a single knock. Sure enough, my old mad was sitting behind the desk, his phone to his ear. His head shot up at the interruption, his expression momentarily confused before he registered exactly who was standing in the middle of his private space.
“Leonard, I’ll have to call you back. Something’s come up.” He hung up the phone and tossed it aside before slowly, menacingly, rising to his feet and bracing the pads of his fingers on the top of his desk. “Have you lost your mind, barging in here? That was a business call.” He threw his finger toward Presley, who only lifted her chin higher and narrowed her eyes into vicious slits under his angry gaze. My girl was a fighter and she wasn’t here today to take any shit. “And I thought I made myself clear about bringingthat girlinto my house.”
“Oh, you made yourself perfectly clear,” I said back, my voice low and threatening. “I just don’t give a shit. You came to my place of work to issue your threat the last time, so I figured I’d meet you on your turf to let you know how this is going to go down.”
“Threat?” My mother’s confused voice rang through the room. “Hank? What is he talking about?”
Instead of answering her, my father waved her off, silently telling her to be quiet.
“Your plan to try and buy the Dropped Anchor out from under Presley isn’t going to work,” I informed him, cutting right to the chase. “We know that you called the owner with a ridiculous offer to buy it, and we know that you’ve been going out of your way to prevent her from getting that loan with the bank she’s been trying so hard to obtain.” I couldn’t help but grin when the bastard lost a bit of his bluster. He hadn’t counted on me being able to find out his golfing buddy, who also happened to be the bank manager, had been throwing up roadblocks with Presley’s loan at my father’s request. The fact of it was, she was more than qualified for it, and should have gotten it a long time ago.
“Your old buddy Phil’s in the market for a new job. Turns out, the bank doesn’t take too kindly to their managers taking bribes.Something tells me he’s going to have a hell of a time finding another job.”
He squared his shoulders and folded his arms over his chest in an attempt to look imposing, but it didn’t do him any good. “That doesn’t matter. One way or another, I’ll stop your little whore from getting that bar.”
