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“Beau, my dad wrote me a letter, but I’m not supposed to show it to anyone. Mr. Boyd said it was in the envelope with the documents naming me as CEO.” She fiddles with the hem of her dress.
I strum my fingers against the steering wheel. “Do you have it with you?”
“No, it’s at home in my briefcase. I’ve read it ten times, and it confuses me more each time. He knew he was in danger, yet his thoughts were of keeping me safe and wanting me to be happy.” She sighs. “He’s the only person that has loved me unconditionally.”
My heart wants to scream that’s not true, but my head won’t let me. Sneaking a glimpse at her profile, her eyes glitter with water. “May I read it?”
“Yeah.”
I glance over and say, “If you’re tired you can take a nap. I’ll wake you when we get home.”
She nods, leaning her head against the window and pulling her feet up and over the console, laying them in my lap just like she used to do. When she dozes off, my hands skim her calves up and down, over and over again.
How many times have I rubbed these legs?
Hundreds, if not thousands. At my house or hers, while watching movies, my hands were on her legs. Camping,check. Car,check. In the school cafeteria,check. After a game,check. Sundays after church,double check. Her dad was always gone.
What-if we could figure things out between us?
Don’t go there. You can’t have your heart ripped again.
And from what I’ve seen this week, Vanessa hasn’t changed. She thrives on excitement and being daring. Tonight probably made her come in her panties. She better be wearing fucking panties. That asshole had his hands on her skin.
Don’t think about it.
She’s not mine.
She can do anything she wants.
Should I find her another bodyguard? I was so distracted by Rome Lennox and his hands roaming her body that I didn’t notice the woman entering the bathroom with her head down.
I’ll have time to go over the footage when she’s asleep.
The motion detector flashes on the floodlights when we pull into her driveway. Putting the car in park, I gently shake her arm. “We’re back.”
She mumbles, “We’re back?”
“Yeah.” I bend her knees and she repositions herself in the seat, wiping her eyes. “I’m staying here with you.”
“How long?”
“As long as it takes.”
She tugs on the handle, but I have the child locks engaged—just as a safety precaution. When it clicks, she slides down the truck before I can get there. She disarms the security system, and I follow behind her. Once we’re both safely inside, she engages it again.
Good, she’s listening.
She throws her little clutch down after she pulls out the napkin. “I can’t believe he agreed to an AD campaign. Daddy said for me to do it my way. And I’m going to make this the most sought after Bourbon in the world.”
“You’ve never wanted people to think of you as smart, even though you had the third highest GPA in our class.”
She peeps over her shoulder. “Well, I was never first, thanks to my boyfriend…at the time.”
I was valedictorian, but I certainly cared more than Vanessa did. With her it was just natural. She didn’t spend extra time studying or even worrying about it. Her future was set—she was the heir to a bourbon empire. My future wasn’t as clear.
“Do you want something to drink?” she asks.
“Water is fine.”
