Tore Up (Mississippi Smoke Series Book 1)
Tore Up: Chapter 27

Linc’s hard stare didn’t bother me. I stood there with my arms crossed over my chest, glaring right back at him. He was asking for something I could not do.

“I can stay with her. I don’t mind sleeping on the floor in her room,” Than offered.

“No!” I snapped, not looking away from Linc.

The thought of Than upstairs in Halo’s room while she slept was making my vision blur. No way in hell was that happening.

“You think she needs you here then?” Linc asked with a challenging glint in his eyes. “It’s Than that I see her with. Never you. She seems to rely on him.”

He needed to shut the fuck up. Thoughts of her and Than were already taunting me. Fury was building inside me. Every morning I walked out of her room, I loathed not being able to stay. I despised knowing she’d be with Than most of the day.

“I’m not leaving her,” I replied through clenched teeth.

Oz cleared his throat. “I’ll take Bane’s place.”

Linc didn’t look away from me. “You were already going, Oz,” he pointed out.

“Yeah, but not to handle the main mark.”

Linc finally shifted his gaze from me to Luther. I didn’t care what either said. They were asking me to leave for three days. I wasn’t doing it.

“It would be dangerous if his head was elsewhere,” Luther said. “Right now, he needs to protect the girl and the baby she is carrying.”

Thank you, Luther.

Linc didn’t seem like he agreed, but he looked to the other side of the room. “Than, Forge, and Ransom, you go in as backup. Oz and Luther will lead. Gathe, for now, Gannon has requested you stay behind. You seem to be the only one who can handle Saylor. I’ll stay to oversee things here, and so will Bane.”

I said nothing as he looked back at me.

“She’s a pregnant woman. They are needy. She will require human interaction. Than spends time with her. Gives her a life outside your house. If you are determined it has to be you who makes sure she’s taken care of, then don’t ignore her for three days.”

There wasn’t one muscle in my body that wasn’t fisted tight. I hadn’t been able to accept leaving her for three days, but doing more than making sure she ate properly and comforting her at night so she slept wasn’t going to be easy. I wasn’t sure getting to know her would be good for either of us.

I nodded.

Linc didn’t seem convinced, but he said nothing more.

“If you care so much about her emotional well-being, then don’t be an ass. She’s sensitive, even if she doesn’t show it. You hurt her feelings almost every fucking time you see her. I am the buffer that eases it over,” Than said angrily.

My eyes shifted to him, and I glowered at him. I didn’t hurt her feelings. I just made sure we had no relationship.

Was he developing an attachment to her? Was that what this was? He had sworn he’d not do that with her because she had been Crosby’s, but was that sweet face getting to him?

“Than.” Ransom’s tone held a warning.

Than shot his brother an annoyed glance. “What? He needs to hear it.”

“This isn’t your business,” Ransom told him.

“Yeah, it fucking is. Because I am the only friend she has here. Me. I’m the only one of us who has spent time with her. So, it’s my business.”

I took a step toward him, my arms falling to my sides as my hands fisted.

Locke stepped in front of me. He was the only fucker here bigger than I was, but right now, his size meant little. The gnarled shit inside me was clawing its way to the surface.

“Bane, you can go,” Linc said in his authoritative tone.

No one said a word. The only sound was my blood roaring in my ears.

“It’s about Crosby,” Locke said, as if I needed a reminder of my brother. “For both of you.”

Hearing his name reined me in enough that I was able to stalk to the door and get the fuck out of there before Than said anything more.

They had all left, and I was still pacing outside by the pool, smoking a cigar. Not ready to go talk to her. She would need to eat soon, and she’d come down to an empty house. All she had was me for the next three days. I’d been unable to leave her, so I would have to spend time with her because of it.

Finishing the cigar, I dropped the head into the ashtray, then made my way to the patio doors. My hand stilled on the handle when she walked into the great room.

I stared at her, my mouth going dry. Her dark bronze hair was piled up on top of her head in a messy bun. She had on a pink bikini, and that sight was one I had never needed to see. I’d had glimpses of her lying out on a lounger, but it had been from a distance. Not like this.

Her tits looked like they were going to pop free from the top struggling to contain them. Smooth, golden skin from her afternoons outside by the pool. Long, shapely legs. Bare feet that I didn’t need to see up close to know they were perfect. The barely there bump of her stomach snapped me out of whatever trance I’d been in.

My eyes lifted to hers, and I realized she had stopped walking and was looking at me. The trepidatious expression, as if she wasn’t sure she should stay or go running back upstairs, only verified what Than had said. I made her nervous. She feared me. That was my fault, and I’d been allowing it because it was for the best.

I had demanded that it be me who stayed here. It was time I did the job I hadn’t been willing to let anyone else do.

Opening the door wide, I held her gaze. “Coming for a swim?”

She licked her lips, and that only reminded me of how sweet they’d tasted when I ran my tongue over them in a moment of weakness last night and the night before. It was becoming something that I had to do. If she didn’t have such enticing pink Cupid bow’s lips, then I’d be able to leave them alone.

“I, uh, thought everyone was gone,” she said.

I shook my head. “Not me. But please, come swim. Don’t let me stop you.”

She’d been here alone since lunch. It was almost six. If I went inside, then she’d be isolated again. I needed a drink if I was going to get through this. Just not too much because I didn’t trust my actions.

“Okay.” Her reply was a soft smile before she dropped her gaze to the ground and began to walk in my direction.

I held the door, not moving.

When she reached it, she whispered, “Thank you,” as her cheeks flushed, then continued outside.

The smell of strawberries made my dick twitch.

Down, boy. She’s not asleep, and this isn’t the time to get fucking hard.

My eyes fell to her ass, and I bit back a groan. I would make small talk. Then go inside and jerk one out before we had dinner. That small, round bottom of hers had the perfect amount of jiggle to it. I could have gone without seeing that, too, because now, it was going to star in my damn spank bank.

Following her, I tore my gaze off her ass and tried to look at anything else. Think about anything else. Something that didn’t involve a part of Halo’s body.

She dropped her towel on the lounger, then glanced at me with a startled look. I was sure she hadn’t expected me to stay with her. Based on her wide-eyed expression, she would rather swim with a rabid animal than have me out here. That irked me even though it was my fault. I still didn’t like it. The girl I held at night wasn’t scared of me. She clung to me. Buried her face in my chest. Even fucking moaned at times.

“Looks like you’ve been enjoying the pool. You’ve gotten a deeper tan,” I said, walking over to the bar.

“Oh, uh, yes. Swimming is good for pregnancy,” she replied. Her tone was a touch defensive, as if I had been accusing her of something.

Taking a glass down, I tried not to get pissed about it. She’d think I was mad at her and likely run inside.

“I’m sure it is. Once the temps drop, I’ll make sure the heater stays on for you. We don’t use it enough, so normally, we just keep it off unless we are having guests over,” I told her while I poured myself a drink.

When I lifted my gaze to look at her, she was frowning. What had I said wrong?

“What heater? In the house?” she asked.

I grinned and took my glass as I walked back over to the lounger beside the one where she had placed her towel. “The pool. It’s a heated pool. You can continue to swim during the fall and winter months.”

Her mouth made a perfect O shape as she turned to look at the water, as if she could see the heater in it. “How … nice,” she replied. “Very convenient.”

If we were going to make it three days with just us, she was going to have to lighten up around me. Right now, she was strung so tight that she looked rigid.

“Halo,” I said, and she swung her eyes back to me. “Relax. I’m not going to hurt you. Just thought since we are here alone, we’d keep each other company. Swim. Do what you would normally do.”

Her alluring eyes went from anxious to bewildered as she blinked. “Okay,” she replied hesitantly.

I took a drink and watched as she turned to walk toward the water. The ass view again. Yep, that was going to fuck with me. It would be best if I didn’t keep her company while she was dressed like that the rest of the time we had together.

She shivered as she stepped into the water, then moved down slowly until it covered her smooth, round cheeks. Thank God. I hadn’t been able to look away. At least I couldn’t see it now. While her back was to me, I adjusted my boner the best I could so that it wasn’t obvious.

Facing the truth that I was attracted to Halo was irritating. I had a mountain of reasons why I shouldn’t be attracted to her stacked up so damn high that even her delectable little body shouldn’t faze me. I had expected to loathe her or at least feel nothing where she was concerned. I’d thought her presence in my life would be a weight I had to bear for Crosby’s sake. His son’s sake.

But, fuck, it had taken less than a month of her living under my roof, and that wasn’t the case. Not even close. I wasn’t sure if I wished it were or not. Because the truth was, at night, when I held her, my soul was at ease. The void and agony that warred in my chest were gone. It was just her.

She took long strokes as she swam back and forth across the deep end.

What was it about her that was so different? Why was she so damn appealing? Other than the fact that she was gorgeous. There had to be more. Gorgeous women weren’t hard to replace. Halo had something else. It had drawn Crosby in so deep that he had been ready to say fuck it to the entire family and move in with her. Than was clearly getting attached. The predatory gleam in his eyes when he talked about her and him using that goddamn nickname were the main reasons I wanted to plant my fist in his face.

Then, there was me. Counting down the hours every day until she was asleep in bed and I could hold her. I’d tried so many times not to go up there. To stay away and let go of whatever it was she was doing to me. Forget it. But the pull was too much. I fucking needed her. The silkiness of her skin, her warm body, the scent of strawberries—she was the only thing I’d found that gave me peace. The urge to destroy, rip through everything in my past, faded away when I was with her.

I’m sorry, little brother. I hope you understand. I’ll just have the nights. I need those. I swear that’s all. Once these three days are up, it’ll go back to the way it was. She is yours. I’m not trying to take her away. She’s just keeping me sane right now.