Rush Too Far (Rosemary Beach #4)(3)

“If you don’t go after her, I will. And I’m gonna put her sexy ass up at my place. She isn’t what you two assume she is. I talked to her. She hasn’t got a clue. That dumb-ass father of yours told her to come here. No one is that good of a liar,” Grant said as he glared at Nan.

“Dad would never have told her to come to Rush’s. She came here because she’s a mooch. She smelled money. Did you see what she was wearing?” Nan scrunched up her nose in disgust.

Grant chuckled. “Hell, yeah, I saw what she was wearing. Why do you think I want to get her back to my place so bad? She’s smoking hot, Nan. I don’t give a shit what you say. The girl is innocent, lost, and smoking damn hot.”

Grant turned and headed for the door. He was going after her. I couldn’t let him do that. He was easily fooled. I agreed that the girl was easy on the eyes, but he was thinking with his dick.

“Stop. I’ll go after her,” I said, standing up.

“What?” Nan asked in a horrified voice.

Grant stepped back and let me pass him. I didn’t turn back and acknowledge my sister. Grant was right. I needed to see if this was an act or if she really had been told by her douchebag father to come here. Not to mention that I wanted to get a look at her without an audience.

CHAPTER TWO

She was walking up to an old, beat-up truck when I opened the door and stepped outside. I paused a moment, wondering if it was hers or if someone had brought her here. Grant hadn’t mentioned anyone else. I squinted against the dark to see if I could make out someone inside the truck, but I couldn’t tell from this far away.

Blaire jerked open the driver’s-side door and then paused to take a deep breath. It was almost dramatic, or at least it would have been had she known she was being watched. But from the way her shoulders sagged in defeat before she climbed up into the truck, I knew she had no idea that she had an audience.

But then again, maybe she did. I knew nothing about this girl. I only knew that her father was a f**king mooch. He took what my mother and Nan gave him¸ yet he never returned their tokens of affection or love. The man was cold. I had seen it in his eyes. He cared nothing for Nan or my stupid mother. He was using them both.

The girl was beautiful. There was no question about that. But she had also been raised by that man. She could be a master manipulator. Using her beauty to get what she wanted and not caring whom she hurt along the way.

I walked down the steps and toward the truck. She was still sitting there, and I wanted her gone before Grant came out and fell for this act of hers. He’d take her home with him. And she’d use him until she was bored. I wasn’t just protecting my sister; I was protecting my brother from her, too. Grant was an easy target.

She turned, and her eyes collided with mine before she let out a scream. Her red-rimmed eyes sure looked like she’d been crying real tears. No one was out here to see her, so there was the slight possibility that this wasn’t part of an elaborate scam.

I waited for her to do something other than stare at me like I was the stranger when she was on my property. As if she’d read my mind, she swung her gaze back to her steering wheel and made a move to crank the truck.

Nothing.

She started to become frantic in her attempts to get the truck to crank, but from the click I’d heard, I guessed there wasn’t a drop of gas in her tank. Maybe she was desperate. I still didn’t trust her.

The sight of her hitting her steering wheel in frustration was funny. What good was that gonna do if the idiot had run her tank completely empty?

She finally opened the door to the truck and looked up at me. If she wasn’t as damn innocent as she looked, then the girl was a hell of an actress.

“Problems?” I asked.

The look on her face said she didn’t want to tell me that she couldn’t leave. I reminded myself again that this was Abe Wynn’s daughter. The one he had raised. The one he had abandoned Nan for all those years. I would not feel sorry for her.

“I’m out of gas,” she said with a soft voice.

No shit. If I let her go back inside, I was going to have to deal with Nan. If I didn’t, Grant would take care of her. And then she would more than likely take advantage of him.

“How old are you?” I asked. I should have known this already, but damn, I thought she was older than she looked. The big-eyed, scared look on her face made her seem so young. The way she filled out that tank top and jeans was the only sign that she was at least legal.

“Nineteen,” she replied.

“Really?” I asked, not sure I believed her.

“Yes. Really.” The annoyed frown was cute. Dammit. I didn’t want to think she was cute. She was a f**king complication I didn’t need.

“Sorry. You just look younger,” I said with a smirk. Then I let my gaze travel down her body. I didn’t need her thinking I was someone she could trust. I wasn’t. I never would be. “I take that back. Your body looks every bit of nineteen. It’s that face of yours that looks so fresh and young. You don’t wear makeup?”

She didn’t get offended, but her frown grew. Not my desired effect. “I’m out of gas. I have twenty dollars to my name. My father has run off and left me after telling me he’d help me get back on my feet. Trust me, he was the last person I wanted to ask for help. No, I don’t wear makeup. I have bigger problems than looking pretty. Now, are you going to call the police or a tow truck? If I get a choice, I prefer the police.”