Never Too Far (Rosemary Beach #2)(9)

He'd take care of me? What was he talking about? I wasn't going to let him take care of me. "Where are you exactly?" I asked.

"Some hotel just outside of Rosemary. They think their shit don't stink in that town. Everything there costs five times too much."

"Okay. Stay in bed and I'll see you tomorrow." I replied then hung up.

Bethy stepped into the room. She cocked one of her dark eyebrows as she stared at me waiting. She'd been listening. I'dknown she would.

"I need a ride to Rosemary," I told her standing up. I couldn't let Cain lay hurt in a hotel room and I couldn't chance that he'd go back and try to talk to Rush again. If Bethy could drive me there I could check on him and then drive him home.

Bethy nodded and a small smile tugged on her lips. I could tell she didn't want me to see how happy she was to hear this. I wasn't staying. She didn't need to get her hopes up. "This is just about Cain. I'm not... I can't stay there."

She didn't appear to believe me. "Sure. I know."

I wasn't in the mood to convince her. I handed her the phone and headed back to my temporary bedroom to pack some things.

Chapter 7

Rush

Grant had finally given up on me and gone to dance with one of the girls who had been flirting with us since we walked into the club. He'd come here for some fun and I'd needed the distraction but now that I was here I just wanted to leave. Taking a drink of my beer I tried not to make eye contact with anyone. I kept my head down and a scowl on my face. It wasn't hard to do.

Jace's words kept replaying in my head. I was scared... No; I was terrified to let myself believe that she'd come back here. I'd seen her face that night in the hotel room. She was empty. The emotion in her eyes was gone. She had been finished- with me, with her father, with everything. Love was cruel. So f**king cruel.

The bar stool beside me scraped across the floor as it was moved back. I didn't look over at it. I didn't want anyone to talk to me.

"Please tell me that ugly scowl on your pretty face isn't over a girl. You might break my heart." The smooth female voice was familiar.

I tilted my head to the side just enough to see her face. Although she was older now I recognized her immediately. There are some things a guy doesn't forget in life and the girl who takes his virginity is one of them. Meg Carter. She'd been three years older than me and visiting her grandmother the summer I turned fourteen. It hadn't been a love connection. More like a life lesson.

"Meg," I replied, relieved it wasn't another unknown female here to throw herself at me.

"And he remembers my name. I'm impressed," she replied then looked up at the bartender and smiled. "Jack and Coke please."

"Guy doesn't forget his first."

She shifted on her stool, crossing her legs and tilting her head to look at me causing her long dark hair to fall over one shoulder. She still wore it long. I'd been fascinated with it back then.

"Most guys don't but you've led a different life compared to most guys. The fame has to have changed you over the years."

"My dad's famous not me," I snapped, hating it when females wanted to talk about something they knew nothing about. Meg and I had f**ked a few times but she didn't really know much about me back then.

"Hmmm, whatever. So, why you so glum?"

I wasn't glum. I was a broken mess. But she wasn't someone I intended to unload on. "I'm good," I replied and glanced back at the dance floor hoping to catch Grant's attention. I was ready to go.

"You look like you've got a broken heart from hell and don't know what to do with it," she said reaching for her Jack and Coke.

"I'm not gonna talk to you about my personal life, Meg." I let the warning edge in my voice ring through loud and clear.

"Whoa there, handsome. I wasn't trying to piss you off. Just making small talk."

My personal life wasn't small talk. "Then ask me about the f**king weather," I said with a snarl.

She didn't respond and I was glad. Maybe she'd move on. Leave me alone.

"I'm in town taking care of my Grans. She's sick and I needed something new to do with my life. I just went through a messy divorce. A change of scenery from Chicago was what I needed. I'll be here for at least six months. Do you think you'll be ornery the entire time I'm here or are you gonna get nicer anytime in the near future?"

She wanted to see me. No. I wasn't ready for that. I started to reply when my phone alerted me of a text message. Relieved to have an interruption so I could think about how I was going to respond to her I pulled it out of my pocket.

The number wasn't one I recognized. But the "Hey It's Bethy" caught my attention and I stopped breathing as I opened the text to read the entire thing.

Hey it's Bethy. If you aren't a stupid f**k then you'll wake up and get with the program.

What the hell did that mean? What was I missing? Was Blaire in Rosemary? Is that what this meant?I stood up and put enough money on the bar to cover my beer and Meg's drink. "I gotta go. It was nice to see you. Take care," I said as an after thought as I stalked through the crowd until I found Grant having dry humping on the dance floor with some redhead.

His eyes met mine and I nodded at the door. "Now," I said and turned to head outside. I was leaving him here if he hadn't caught up with me by the time I reached my Range Rover. She could be here. I was going to find out. Asking Bethy what she meant by that jacked up text was pointless.