Rebel Heir (Rush Series Duet #1)(12)

On the ride over to The Heights to pick up Riley at the end of her shift, I couldn’t stop the wheels in my head from spinning. My book started to play out in my imagination like a movie. For the first time, I saw the faces of my characters, felt their movements, and heard their dialogue in my head. It was as if a door that had been locked had magically opened, and I could finally see inside.

I was excited to share my good news with Rush since he’d been the one to suggest stepping away from my work for a day. Only, when I approached the bar, that excitement faded when I found Rush sitting at the bar with a woman. She threw her perfectly coifed head back and laughed at something he said. An unexpected lump formed in my throat. I wanted to turn around, walk back to the car, and send Riley a text to let her know I’d be waiting outside. But before I could do that, Riley yelled my name and waved. Rush’s head turned and his eyes landed right on me. I couldn’t back out the door gracefully now. I wasn’t even sure what the hell was going on with me, why I was feeling the way I did.

I forced a practiced smile and went to the bar.

“Just give me five minutes,” Riley yelled from the cash register. “I need to take my drawer into the back to count out and then I can go.”

Rush shook his head and mumbled as Riley walked away, “She announces that she’s going in the back with a drawer full of cash. I’ll be right back. Let me get Oak to keep an eye on the office so she’s safe.” He stood and looked between me and the woman sitting next to him. “Shakespeare, this is Lauren. Lauren, Shakespeare. She works here when she’s not home procrastinating about writing the next great American porn novel.”

Rush disappeared and awkwardness set in, at least for me it did. I smiled at the woman, and upon getting a closer look I thoroughly regretted my choice of comfy clothes and piling my hair on top of my head. Because Lauren was beautiful. Her thick blonde hair had that beachy, wavy look that she probably paid a fortune for in a salon, and she wore a baby blue, strapless summer dress which accentuated her sun-kissed skin that, unlike mine, didn’t have any tan lines.

She seemed to be studying me. “So...you work here?”

“Yep.”

“And you’re a writer?”

“Yep.”

“Rush mentioned he’d hired a new hostess. In fact, he mentioned you a few times in the hour we’ve been sitting here.”

The woman smiled at me. But it wasn’t in the typical I-want-to-claw-your-eyes-out jealous woman kind of way. Of course, that made me assume that Rush had spent the last hour amusing her with stories about me that made me look like an idiot.

“Don’t believe anything he says about me. I’m really not a bad employee.”

She smiled some more and tilted her head. “He had nothing but nice things to say about you. That’s…unlike Rush.”

“Umm. Okay. Thanks. I guess?”

Rush walked back over. He looked at me. “Your friend is an airhead. Not only did she announce she was taking the drawer to the office. When I went back to check on her, she had the door wide open and her back to it. I’d fire her ass if I didn’t think I’d have to listen to you bitch about it for a month.”

My hands went to my hips. “I don’t bitch at you.”

The woman stood and wrapped her hand around Rush’s bicep. “I should be going. I don’t want my husband to know I was here.”

Rush nodded. “Come on, I’ll walk you out.” He looked at me. “Be back in a few.”

My mouth was still hanging open when he came back to the bar a few minutes later. It wasn’t my place, but I couldn’t help myself.

“You know, I’m really disappointed in you.”

He pulled his head back with the audacity to look surprised. “Me? What the hell did I do?”

“After the way your mother was treated by your father. How could you?”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

“Lauren. She’s married! You can have any woman you want.” I waved my hand up and down in front of him. “You’re gorgeous, got that stupid, hot, bad-boy thing going on that women love, and to top it off, you have money, but don’t act like it. Why in the world do you need to go out with a married woman?”

A sly grin spread across his face. “You think I’m hot.”

“That’s what you took out of what I just said?”

Rush leaned down so he was eye level with me, his nose practically touching mine. “Lauren is definitely a married woman. But she’s my half-brother’s wife, not my fucking date.”

“I don’t…wait…what did you say?”

He scowled. “My brother’s wife.”

“But why would she be here? I thought you and your brother didn’t get along?”

“We don’t. That’s why she stopped in. She’s trying to talk me into coming to some ridiculous thirtieth birthday party she’s throwing for him. I don’t like my brother, but his wife is a nice lady. Although I have no clue why she’s married to that asshole.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah. Oh.” Rush mimicked me.

I had to admit, the relief I felt upon realizing that Rush wasn’t hooking up with her was a little disconcerting.

I thought he was about to go off on me for making assumptions and jumping to the wrong conclusion, but instead he smiled again. “So. You think I’m hot…”