The Perfect Stroke (Lucas Brothers #1)(73)

“C’mon, CC. Talk to me. What’s upsetting you the most?”

“You need more besides what we just talked about?”

“I can’t help feeling like there’s something more. You need to talk to me.”

He’s right. I know he is. I take a deep breath. Is this where I push him away? Is this where I lose him?

“There’s things you don’t know,” I tell him.

He pulls up, turning so he can face me, and I see the worry and maybe even hurt in his face. Guilt swamps me and I try to push it behind me so I can concentrate on what I need to tell him.

“Talk to me, CC.”

“Gray, when Banger got sick, things just got… really bad. It was just me and him. There wasn’t anyone else to depend on.”

“I’m sorry, honey. I’m sorry I wasn’t here to help you.”

My next words stop, and I feel like I’m choking on them. He’s completely serious. I want to believe him, and I think most of me does. There’s still this small voice in my head telling me not to believe him—not to trust him. I have this war going on inside of me. Will he let me down like others have? Will he leave me? Am I being unfair? Why do I insist on making Gray pay for the sins of others?

“Okay, fine!” I tell him, more upset with myself than him and deciding just to lay it out for him. “Gray, I’m in trouble. I made a huge mistake…” I start, when a knock at the door stops me.

Both of us look at the door and Gray huffs in frustration.

“Stay right here and don’t move.” I don’t respond, my eyes still glued to the door. I have a bad feeling. “Do you hear me, CC?” he prompts, and I tear my eyes from the door to look at him.

“Okay,” I say weakly, sitting up.

“I love my family, but I swear they have the most horrible timing,” Gray mutters, walking to the door.

I just keep staring at the door like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming car. He might think it is family, but something inside of me tells me different, and I know once that door opens, my world is never going to be the same.





Son of a bitch, I can’t believe I was just about to get CC to talk and my family interrupts me. I’m tempted to just ignore the knock, but I know CC won’t let me by with that. My only option is to get rid of them quickly and hope that she doesn’t backpedal. CC’s been better the last few days, but I know something has been bothering her since she left Florida and I had to follow her to Kentucky. I can’t let her weasel out of telling me. I need to know. More than that, I’m tired of dancing around how I feel about her. We’ve been together long enough; she should know that I’m here for the long haul. I should be able to tell my woman I love her without worrying it will make her run for the hills.

“Mom, I appreciate you being worried about—Oh, Riverton. What are you doing here?” I ask once I open the door and discover it’s him there.

“I’ll tell you what the f*ck I’m doing here. Would you like to explain to me why the spokesman for my new line of golf merchandise was caught buck-naked running across the golf course during the most important match of the season?” he growls.

He probably has good reason for being upset. He has a lot of money tied up in this new venture. I sigh and hold my head down, knowing that this isn’t going to be over soon. I’m about to shut the door after him when his daughter walks in.

Just what I needed to make today an extra special shit pile.

“Listen, I know you’re upset and you have every reason to be, but it’s not as bad as you’re letting on. I already have my men on it to stop the media attention. We’ll contain this, and…”

“Contain this? You and that woman are already plastered across every tabloid rag out there,” he growls, shoving a couple folded newspapers into my gut. I put them on the table, grabbing the top one and opening it up. Fuck me running, it’s worse than I imagined. It’s a picture of me and CC running across the golf course in nothing but our birthday suits. The butts have been blurred out, but it clearly shows that we’re naked. The headline reads: “Golf’s bad boy caught once again with his pants down.”

“Fuck!” I growl.

“They get worse. Look at the next one,” Cammie says just as CC comes to my side looking broken. She leans in and reads the picture. She gives a soft cry that rips through me. Her hand covers her mouth when she sees the picture.

I’m almost afraid to read the next one, but I do. I have to because CC is already reaching for it. That’s when I discover that Cammie has a knack for understating. The headline on the inside is not only worse; it rocks my entire world: “Golf pro Grayson Lucas caught cheating on fiancé with her father’s secret love child.”

“What the f*ck? We’ll sue the bastards. By the time I get done with them, they won’t own a paper to print their vicious lies in anymore,” I growl. “CC, you have to believe me, I will handle this,” I tell her, holding her shoulders and forcing her to look at me. When her face slowly lifts, I see those big tears in them I’ve come to hate. Her face has gone white. Fuck! I’ve got to find a way to fix this.

“Gray,” she whispers, but I just pull her close. I need to deal with Riverton and get them away from CC. She has too much to deal with; she doesn’t need them here, too.