RUSH
I was watching as Blaire danced with her dad when I saw Grant stalk into the ballroom like a man running from a demon. What the hell was wrong with him? I glanced back over at Blaire and she was smiling happily up at her dad. So I left our table to go check on Grant. He was normally an even keel kind of guy. This behavior wasn’t normal.
I found him as he picked up the straight shot of whiskey that the bartender set down in front of him. He slung it back then handed the cup to the bartender and demanded another. Something had definitely crawled up his ass. “Why didn’t you fucking tell me?” Grant growled without looking at me.
“What are you talking about?” I asked, watching him down another drink and ask for more.
He turned his glare toward me. “Harlow. I met fucking Harlow. You could have mentioned that Nan’s sister is a walking goddess. Mentally prepared me not to mind fuck her every way imaginable and convince my dick it was going to get some of that action before it finds out that it’s impossible.” He took another swig and slammed the glass down on the bar. “That’s better,” he sighed.
“So you met Harlow?” I asked, still not following him. Why was he so pissed? I’d told him about Harlow.
“Yeah, I met Harlow. Jesus, Rush, you need to warn a man first.”
I was still completely confused. He had yet to make sense. “I’m gonna be honest. I don’t know what the hell you’re upset about.”
Grant let out a hard laugh. “Fuck, you really are tied up tight by the balls,” he muttered. “Since you can’t seem to remove your Blaire-colored glasses and see other females anymore, let me clue you in. Harlow is fucking perfection. Damn Rush, her mouth,” he shivered and shook his head. “God, what she could do with that mouth. And her eyes. I swear I’ve never seen anything like them.”
So he was going on and on about how Harlow looked? “Okay. And this has you pissed off why?” I asked, thinking that maybe I needed a drink for this conversation.
“Because I can’t touch her and fuck me. I want to touch her so bad. In so many, many ways. I’ve never been that turned on, that damn fast in my life. And then to find out I can’t ever touch that. Fucking sucks,” he growled again.
Ah. So Harlow was the toy Grant couldn’t play with. Great. I was glad she was going home in two days. I didn’t need this drama. Harlow was not Grant material. She was too innocent for the likes of my brother. “Yeah, well that’s a good thing because Harlow isn’t your speed. You’d break her.”
Grant scowled at me. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means that she’s quiet and shy. She doesn’t date. She doesn’t do anything but go to school. Nothing from Kiro’s world has touched her. She’s polite and never wants to ruffle feathers. Even with Nan screaming at her and calling her names that aren’t true she quietly takes it and walks away. She just isn’t your type. You might have a thing for her mouth but dude she wouldn’t know how to use it the way you want her to. Nor would she ever want to. She just isn’t like that.”
Blaire finished her dance with her dad and her eyes instantly went to my empty seat. She was looking for me. I had to go. I slapped Grant on the back. “Go find some pussy here tonight that isn’t more virginal than a nun,” I ordered and headed back to Blaire.
She spotted me and smiled while I made my way to her. The music changed and Bruno Mars’ song “I Will Wait For You” started playing over the speakers. I pulled her to me and grinned. I loved this song. I understood every word of it because it was exactly how I felt. I’d never sung for Blaire before and I was tempted to sing along in her ear but I wanted to wait. Not yet. I’d sing to her... but not yet.
“Did you enjoy dancing with your dad?” I asked her, just so I could hear her voice.
“Yes. We talked about Momma. She’d have loved to be here. She’d have loved you. She always told me that Cain wasn’t the one for me. He was too weak. That one day someone would fight for me and he’d want me more than anything else. You would have made her very happy.”
My chest felt tight. I’d never been told by a female that their mother would love me. To know that Blaire felt like her mother would approve of me meant more than she knew. I remembered her mom. Not clearly but I did remember her. I remembered her smile and her laugh. She used to make me feel happy as a little boy. The smell of her pancakes made me feel safe. Knowing my son was gonna have a mother like that brought tears to my eyes. He’d have what I didn’t. Something I’d only had a taste of.
“What did I say?” Blaire asked pausing as she noticed the unshed tears in my eyes I couldn’t seem to control. Dammit.
“I was just thinking that my son was going to have the mother that I never got a chance to have. Your mom was special enough that her memory stuck with me,” I admitted.
Blaire’s eyes filled up with tears and she grabbed my face and kissed me. Her soft lips opened and her tongue slid into my mouth hungrily. Right here in front of everyone. This wasn’t like her but I would take it. I started to kiss her back just as passionately when she pulled back enough so that she could look at me. Her hands still held my face. “I love you, Rush Finlay. You are going to be the best husband and father the world has ever known. One day our son’s wife will be thankful that her husband will have had you for a role model. She’ll be lucky because of you. Because you will have raised our son to be the man that you are. He’ll love her completely because he’ll know how.” She choked on a sob and pressed her lips to mine again and I cradled her in my arms as I enjoyed having her so determined to reassure me that I was a good man. Nothing in life was as precious as this woman. It never would be. I’d found my happiness.
