“You are wearing sunblock, aren’t you?” I asked.
She nodded and pulled herself into a sitting position on the small bath towel she was using. Her body was distracting as hell.
“Good. I’d hate to see that smooth, creamy skin turn pink,” I replied before I could stop myself.
“I, uh, put some on before I came out here.”
I really should have looked away from her, but that seemed impossible at the moment. The tops of her br**sts were right there, swelling over her bikini top. If she were anyone else, I would have no problem reaching over and tugging the small piece of fabric down until I could see her nipple. Then I’d . . . no! Dammit. I needed to focus on something else.
“You not working today?” I asked.
“It’s my day off.”
“How’s the job going?”
This time, she didn’t reply right away. I watched her as she stared up at me. She wasn’t paying attention to my words so much as she was studying my face. I liked that. Too damn much. “Uh, what?” she asked as her face turned slightly pink.
“How is the job going?” I asked again. I wasn’t able to keep the amusement out of my voice.
She sat up straighter and tried to look less interested in me. “It’s going good. I like it.”
The guys who no doubt flirted with her and gave her ridiculous tips annoyed me. “I bet you do,” I said.
“What is that supposed to mean?” she asked.
I let my gaze travel down her body slowly. “You know what you look like, Blaire. Not to mention that damn sweet smile of yours. The male golfers are paying you well.”
She didn’t get angry or snap at me. Instead, she looked surprised. I turned my attention to the water. I didn’t need to look at her. She distracted me. I forgot about everything else when I was focused on her. Remembering why she was here and that I’d had a hand in her pain should have made it easy enough to stay focused. But she made me forget everything. One bat of her eyelashes, and I was lost.
I had been so damn stupid back then. Asking Abe why he was so willing to leave his family of sixteen years for a daughter he had ignored for even longer would have made sense. But I hadn’t asked him. I had just been thankful when he showed up. But the ass**le had left a broken family behind. A young girl alone to take care of her mother.
“How long ago did your mom pass away?” I asked her. I suddenly needed to know how long she had been struggling alone. It wasn’t like I could fix it now. I just wanted to know.
“Thirty-six days ago,” she murmured.
Fuck. She’d lost her mother a little more than a month ago. She hadn’t even had a chance to mourn. “Did your dad know she was sick?” I asked. I would kill him. Someone needed to make the bastard pay. He hurt everything he touched.
“Yes. He knew. I also called him the day she passed away. He didn’t answer. I left a message.”
I had never hated anyone the way I hated Abe Wynn at that moment. “Do you hate him?” I asked. She should. Hell, I hated him enough for both of us. When I beat his face in, I would do it for her. For her mother. And I wasn’t sure I would be able to stop.
“Sometimes,” she said.
I hadn’t expected the truth. Admitting that you hated your father couldn’t be easy. Unable to stop myself, I reached over and slipped my pinkie around hers. I couldn’t hold her hand. That was too much. Too intimate. But I had to do something. She needed some reassurance that she wasn’t alone. Even if I was the last person on earth who deserved to be there for her, I was going to be the one. I just had to find a way to do it and fix this hell I’d created.
“I’m having a party tonight. It’s Nan, my sister’s, birthday. I always give her a party. It may not be your scene, but you’re invited to attend if you want to.”
“You have a sister?”
I thought she knew that already, but when I thought back to the night Blaire had arrived, I realized that Nan had kept her distance and hadn’t actually met Blaire. “Yeah,” I replied.
“Grant said you were an only child,” she said, watching me carefully.
Grant had talked to her about me. He didn’t need me to explain anything to her. I wanted to protect her from the truth. I moved my hand away from her. “Grant really has no business telling you my business. No matter how damn bad he wants in your panties,” I said, before turning and walking back to the house. Why had I let that get to me? Dammit.
CHAPTER TEN
Nan had hired a party planner. I stood at the top of the stairs and watched as the decorating crew hauled in white roses by the truck-load. Did she think this was her wedding? What the hell?