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Roarke
The moment was ruined. Hearing someone knock was plenty to give me a pause from staying in the moment with Heather. But hearing my niece’s voice killed it.
What the fuck? Of all the interruptions that could happen, it had to be her?
“Why is she here?” I asked silently, mouthing it.
Heather shrugged.
“Hey, cabin lady. Heather? Are you there?”
Heather furrowed her brow, staying as still as I did as though she didn’t want to move and make a sound. “Uh, yeah. I’m here,” she called back.
“Do you know where my uncle is?” Nevaeh called out.
“Fuck,” I mouthed. “My truck is parked out front.”
Heather bared her teeth in a cringe. “Um, no,” she lied.
“Well, his truck is out here,” she replied from the other side of the door.
“Yeah, it is,” Heather replied. “He...”
I shrugged, slowly sitting up and flipping her skirt down to cover her deliciousness from my view. The tang of sex hung in the air, but I couldn’t let myself stay in the mood. I couldn’t.
“He parked it here because he thought he saw someone running from my cabin,” Heather lied, cringing again as if she doubted her own made-up story. “And then, he, uh, saw someone dashing into the woods and ran off to find them.”
“What?” Nevaeh said. “He thought he saw someone?”
“Yeah. Like a trespasser or something.” She cleared her throat as she sat up some more. “He knew it wasn’t you because they didn’t have the same hair color as you...”
Hey, that’s actually not a bad lie.
“I don’t trespass,” Nevaeh sassed back hotly.
“You don’t?” Heather asked. “I recall you asking me to help you break into his cabin, so I don’t exactly have a lot of trust in what you say.”
Smart. Sexy. And strong. Heather wasn’t an idiot, and recognizing how Nevaeh couldn’t trick her just made her more attractive.
“But you just saw me. In town.” Nevaeh huffed. “You would know it wasn’t me lurking around here.”
“I’m just...” Heather still looked at me. “I’m just telling it like it is.”
“Why’d you take off like that, anyway? One second you’re pretending to be worried about how I’m doing and offering to buy me a coffee and now you’re running home and not even opening the door to talk to me.”
I blinked, surprised about this news. Heather wasn’t stupid to be conned by my niece, but she still had a good heart to worry about her.
“Come on. It’s cold out here and I just wanna talk,” Nevaeh said.
“Now’s not a good time.” She pressed her legs together and slid to stand. I did, holding her hips to help her down from the high table.
“What do you want to talk about anyway?” Heather asked.
I shrugged at her curious look. It made sense for Nevaeh to look for me. I was her uncle and she relied on me to cave and let her stay on my couch.
“Well, can you loan me some cash?” she called out.
I shook my head. I moved it so vehemently and glared that Heather couldn’t miss my feelings on that request.
Don’t. Don’t you fucking dare give her a cent, gorgeous.
“No.” Heather frowned at me. “If you’re looking for handouts,” she told her sternly, “you’re definitely looking in the wrong place.”
“Wow. You can be such a bitch!” Nevaeh growled and stomped once, then left. The squeaks of that rusty bike were telltale enough that I knew when she was taking off.
Staring at each other, the mood killed, we stayed quiet. For a long couple of minutes, we didn’t move.
“Is she gone?” Heather asked.
I nodded. “I think she biked away.” I walked to the window and pulled back the curtain. There in the distance, I caught sight of her purple and blue hair going further away as she pedaled furiously.
“She’s got the guts to ask you, a stranger, to loan her cash, but she has enough money to somehow have her hair redyed.” I shook my head and rolled my eyes as I let the curtain fall back in place.
“I wasn’t considering—”
“Don’t,” I told her sternly without letting any of my anger and frustration about Nevaeh leak into my tone. I wasn’t mad at her. Minutes ago, I was fucking loving this time with her. “Don’t ever give her money.”
She nodded, crossing her arms. “I don’t make a habit of lowering my guard to begin with, and when it comes to money, I’ve learned to be extra careful.”
This was the first time she’d opened up about herself, but it seemed like a sad, dry admission.
Why are you guarded?
Who hurt you?
Who made you rethink helping others even when deep down it’s your instinct to want to?
She had to be warring with that, pitting her self-defense and guarded nature versus the willingness to assist others. She wouldn’t have made an offer to buy Nevaeh a coffee otherwise. Or run after her when it was cold. Or go along with her to my place, worried about her.
I didn’t need her to tell me another word to understand she still wasn’t in the mood to talk about her past now.
I sighed heavily, hating that I’d had to go from a raging hard-on and enjoying the hottest, most sensual woman I’d met in years, to a flaccid dick now down with a massive turn-off.
“Nevaeh has been a thorn in my side for years now,” I explained.
“But does she need money?” she worried.
“No.” I frowned as I grabbed my shirt where I’d set it on the back of my chair. “Yes. Hell, I don’t know. She’s not forthcoming with answers. She comes and goes as she pleases.”
“Ah.” She bit her lip, still hugging herself. “But if she’s a minor—”
“She’s nineteen. Alone, but like she loves to remind me, an adult.” I hated to have to admit any of this. “I help her when I can. She’ll find me and crash on my couch. I have no clue what she does and sometimes I don’t hear from her for months. But I will never give her money again.”
Heather winced. “Drugs?”
I shook my head but ended up shrugging. “I don’t think so. I never smell them on her. Or booze. But she blows through it on stupid shit. She refuses to get a job. If she’s going so far to ask for money, it probably means she’s hooking up.”
She frowned. “Not on...drugs though?”
I shook my head again as I tugged my shirt on. “No. Whenever she gets this bold about looking for money, I’m concerned she’s hooking up with someone. And that’s never good news. She’s not the best judge of character, and whenever she has a boyfriend, they want to use her for whatever they can—usually money.”
“I see.”
Do you? I hated to think of how Heather could be familiar with such a rocky and unstable situation, but clearly, she had some kind of experiences to make her the guarded, almost hostile woman that she was.
Heather as a victim... I didn’t like that concept one bit.
“I won’t give her money,” she said.
“Thank you,” I said as I straightened my shirt. “It’s not like she’s violent. Or anything like that. Sneaky, yes. Mean, no.”
She huffed. “I don’t know. Calling me a bitch doesn’t make her pleasant.”
I sighed. “Sorry about that. She’s...quick to temper, but she’s not a harm.”
“Okay.”
“And if anything were to harm you,” I added, approaching her, “you can trust me to keep you safe.”
Her chest rose and fell in a deep inhale and exhale. It seemed shaky, as if those specific words could be a weapon to face, a danger to counter.
“No offense, Roarke,” she said, oddly stubborn and doubtful, “but I’m skeptical you can or should keep me safe.”
What a stark difference. Gone was the submissive, sweet, and needy woman in the throes of passion. She was defensive and putting her walls back up, no thanks to the interruption from my niece. Talk about one step forward and two steps back.
She’d definitely been hurt before, and as much as I wanted to rail in fury, I knew that staying calm and patient was the only way to go with her.
“But I will,” I said, closing the distance between us and trying to keep things light before I left. After kissing her one last time, I savored how she leaned into me, trying to follow me as I backed away. “Maybe you can play nurse for me again sometime soon. It’s been a long time since I got taken care of like that.”
Her cheeks turned pink, turning me on again. Dammit, she was something else. Strong, but battered. Sexy, but demure.
“Since you were taken care of?” Her blush deepened as she wrapped her open shirt around her tighter. “I was the one who got off on the table.”
“Then we can keep a tab,” I joked.
Her brow furrowed.
Shit. That was a stupid thing to say. Once the words were out of my mouth, I realized how ridiculous that was. A tab? Like we were making transactions or keeping a fucking score? I wanted to give her pleasure, and I wasn’t doing it just so she would return the favor.
Fuck. I never should’ve said that.
I backed up, holding my hand up and shaking my head. “I’m joking. I didn’t mean...” A deep sigh left me in a whoosh. I didn’t want to fuck this up any further than it already was.
“No tab. I didn’t mean to make it sound like I’m holding you to anything.”
No matter what I said and tried to backtrack, she still looked at me with those guarded, skeptical eyes. That playful, sexy blush was gone.
“Please, Heather, please know that you can count on me—no obligations, no conditions—if you need anything. Especially something related to your safety.”
I didn’t want to come across as domineering or controlling, but I had to reiterated this fact. “Please don’t hesitate to come to me if you need help or security.”
When she didn’t acknowledge me with a nod, a look, anything, I gritted my teeth, hating that I could’ve messed up beyond repair. She did not like the idea of owing me anything.
“Here’s my number,” I said. I grabbed a notepad on her side table and leaned down to scribble my cell number on the surface. “Okay?”
Now she nodded. It was a brief couple of jerks, but she lowered her gaze as I reached for the doorknob.
I left, closing my eyes as I knew without a doubt that I’d screwed up in my goal of avoiding drama.
She was scared of something. She had baggage. Boy, did she have baggage and who knew what kind of skeletons in her closet.
If I was going to pursue her for anything, casual sex or more, I had to figure out what her deal was. Because now that I’d stated my intention to be a good neighbor and look out for her, it’d help to be aware of what kind of shit might be coming this way.
