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He dug his fingernails into his palms, clutching his hands into fists as he stared out at the property before him. How was he supposed to keep Scarlett away from his brother when she said herself that the kiss hadn’t meant anything?
It wasn’t like he could tell Annabel what was going on. Lucas had likely heard more than he was letting on when he’d snuck up on them. If Luke wanted to get even, he had all the ammunition he needed.
Son of a gun!
Now Elijah had to figure out how to keep Scarlett safe, even if it meant he wasn’t going to be able to have her for himself.
Elijah jumped to his feet and strode away. He couldn’t be here, listening to Lucas talk in soft murmurs. He couldn’t stand seeing Scarlett gaze at Lucas like he was Prince Charming. He couldn’t allow himself to try to come up with solutions that would get her to see him as a possible love interest.
He needed to come up with a way to help her see that Lucas would only bring her heartache—without allowing himself to fall for her completely.
This could very well be impossible.
14
Scarlett
Scarlett watched Elijah storm away, and something strange happened. Her heart seemed to stumble after him—at least that’s what it felt like. Yes, her heart was still very much in her chest at the moment, but her need to follow him and make sure he was okay was almost painful.
She wanted to apologize for kissing him, for being the person who had caused his sister pain. Everything she wanted to do, however, would be in vain because Elijah would never forgive her. That was something she’d figured out very quickly.
Chances of a friendship were practically nil. And based on the way he continued to get angrier with how she was speaking to Lucas, she got the distinct impression he was worried she’d hurt his brother, too.
“How about we plan on Friday night?” Lucas edged closer and his voice dipped huskily.
Scarlett dragged her focus from Elijah to Lucas. Once upon a time she would have been thrilled to have his attention. Despite everything she knew about Lucas and the way he flitted from girl to girl, she’d still wanted to know what it felt like to catch his eye.
Not anymore—at least not in the way she’d wanted it before.
She took a step back, pressing her fingertips to Lucas’s chest. “You haven’t gotten the go-ahead from Anna yet. I’m not agreeing to anything.”
He hung his head, peeking at her from his lowered lashes. “Really? Can’t we just slip out and do our own thing for the night?”
Her fingertips pushed him until he was forced to take a step back. “I’ve been gone for too long. I’m not going to mess up the friendship I’ve surprisingly maintained with Anna.”
“Anna’seasy. She’s not going to be mad.”
She pushed him one final time and then headed down the stairs. Without looking back at him, she called, “Tell Anna I’m not feeling so great. I’ll see her Friday if she wants to go to that club. Or tell her it can be just her and me.”
“Come on, Scarlett…”
Wiggling her fingers, she continued to slip away. Hopefully, Annabel wouldn’t be too upset that she slipped out without saying goodbye. Her whole family was there, after all.
* * *
“You didn’t haveto get me anything!” Annabel took the small white gift bag from Scarlett’s hands. The grin on her face said something entirely different.
They sat on the tailgate of Annabel’s truck outside of the country club and Scarlett bumped her shoulder with Annabel’s. “Yes, I did. I’ve been really… absent lately. I wanted you to know how much I care about you.”
Annabel gave her a flat look. “I know you care about me.”
“Okay, sure. But I need to do better. Especially since I’m going to be sticking around.”
Anna’s eyes flitted to Scarlett and she paused, the tissue paper in her hand hovering over the bag. “You’re still thinking you’re going to stay?”
“Yeah, why wouldn’t I?”
She brought the gift down to her lap. “Because you always go.”
