Rebel Heir (Rush Series Duet #1)(57)

Oak stopped by the hostess station while I was slipping the paper with the printed daily specials into the plastic menu jackets. “Five minutes to opening, G.”

“Okay. Thanks.” When he started to walk away, a thought dawned on me. “Oak?”

He turned back. “Hmmm?”

“Where is this chair I’m sitting on supposed to go? You said Rush dropped it off. Does it belong in the office?”

“Nope. He said something about the hostesses needing a place to rest their feet.” He winked. “But I’m pretty sure there’s only one hostess whose feet Rush gives a crap about.”

Despite the sadness I felt from Rush not making contact at all today and taking the night off, which I suspected was to avoid me, I latched on to the fact that he’d taken the time to go out and buy a chair so that I could have a place to rest if I needed it. Not to mention, he’d also fixed my car to make sure I wouldn’t walk home. It was crazy to even think about, but Rush would make a really great father with all his protectiveness.

The restaurant stayed busy for the next few hours, so at least I couldn’t sit around obsessing too much over my situation. Forced smiles and friendly chitchat were basically most of my job. But by ten o’clock when things slowed down, and I’d practically killed my phone battery from constantly checking for a message that never arrived, I had no more fake smiles to give.

Oak noticed and stopped by. “You okay, G?”

“Yeah. Just a bit tired.” It wasn’t a lie. I was exhausted, both emotionally and physically.

Oak raised a single eyebrow. “Mmm-hmm. Boss looked just a bit tired when he stopped in, too.”

“Did he…say anything?”

“If you haven’t noticed, Rush is a thinker, not much of a talker.”

That comment was awarded my first genuine smile of the evening.

Oak looked over my shoulder into the dining room. “Looks like you only have one table left. They all finished?”

“Yeah. Just sipping their coffee. The waitress left them the bill, but they aren’t rushing to pay it so I can run the credit card.”

He nodded his head toward the door. “Go home. I’ll run the card. Get some rest. While you’re at it, call the man and tell him you forgive him for whatever stupid shit he did wrong.”

I wished it were that easy. “You sure you don’t mind?”

“Go home. Bossman would kick my ass if he knew I didn’t send you home when you needed to go.”

“Thanks, Oak.”





I drove home in a fog. It was stupid of me, and in the future, I probably shouldn’t put myself at risk like that if I’m not feeling alert enough to drive. It wasn’t just me anymore I needed to think about. When I pulled up to my house, I killed the ignition and relaxed back into the driver’s seat. For the first time, I put my hand on my stomach. It felt surreal to acknowledge that there was a person growing inside of me.

“Hey. I’m…well, I guess I’m your mom.” I rubbed a gentle circle just below my belly button. “I feel like I should have introduced myself by now. But, I only found out you existed yesterday.” God. Has it really only been one day?

I took a deep breath. “I just wanted you to know that just because you weren’t planned, doesn’t mean that I’ll ever make you feel like you are unwanted. My dad used to say, ‘Life is ten percent of what happens to you and ninety percent what you make of it.’ And you and me, we’re going to make the best of it. Just like my dad and I did.”

Finished with my odd little introduction, I pulled my phone from the car charger, tossed the keys into my purse, and got out of the car. As I walked to the front door, I couldn’t help but check my text messages again. After all, the fifteen-minute drive home was probably the longest stretch I’d gone without checking all day.

But…nothing was there. Again.

Looking down while I wallowed in self-pity, I made it almost to the door when a voice scared the crap out of me. “Gia.”

I jumped, and my hand whipped to my chest. Rush was standing in the dark in front of my door. “Holy crap. How long have you been standing there?”

“A while,” he said. “I was here waiting when you pulled up. It looked like you needed to take a minute in the car, so I didn’t want to walk over.”

“Yeah...I…” I looked over my shoulder behind me. Had I been that unaware of my surroundings that I hadn’t even seen his car when I pulled up? But I still didn’t see it. “Where’s your car?”

“I walked here.”

“That has to be at least a few miles.”

Rush shrugged. “I was drinking earlier, and I needed some time to think anyway. The walk did me good.”

Our gazes locked. “Oh.”

“You feel up to talking?”

“Of course.” I went to step forward to open the front door, and Rush stopped me.

“Would you mind if we sat in the yard? Maybe the lounge chairs to talk?”

“Sure. Can I get you a drink or something?”

Rush shook his head. “No thanks. I’m good.”

He stepped aside and put his hand out for me to walk first. While we made our way to the gate leading to the backyard, I wondered why he didn’t want to come in. Did he not want to be alone with me in my room? Did he think there would be yelling and he wanted privacy? Could I be overthinking it, and he just wanted to enjoy the nice weather tonight?