When my fingers skim down her side, she withdraws enough it clamps down in my chest. I slide my hand around her waist anyway, daring her to truly pull away from me. But, fuck, I don’t know if I’d let her if she tried.
I learn the answer a second later when her gaze lowers from mine.
“I need to get inside,” she says, backing out of my grasp.
Before I can stop her, she walks around me for the door. I clench my fist, dropping it to my side as I turn around.
“And, Knox.” She pauses with her hand on the door and looks over, biting her lip. “Thanks for your help in there.”
It takes everything in me not to storm over there and seal my mouth over hers, but I manage, nodding.
The door bangs shut behind her, my heart splintering at the same time. And fuck does it hurt.
***
Less than an hour later, the door to my office flies open. For whatever reason, I jerk my head up, thinking it might be Leighton.
Dead fucking wrong on that one.
From the stance he takes, filling up the entire doorway, it’s not my dad paying me a visit, but Brent Cabot, irate owner of Haven Cove Resort and Hotel.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” he snarls, slamming the door shut behind him. It rattles a frame on the wall as I go back to the papers in front of me.
“In case you’ve missed it,” I drawl, “I’m not known as much of a kidder.”
“You put your hands on a guest—no, not a guest. You put your hands on fucking Edwin McGuire?” He marches to my desk and looks ready to clear it in an angry sweep if I don’t answer him properly. “Is your goal to ruin me and your entire future or is it just a goddamn benefit of you not giving a shit?”
I throw down the pen in my hand and rise from my chair, bending over with my hands planted on the desk. “My goal was to stop a man with a proven track record as a fucking predator from putting his hands on Leighton.”
Predator is not an overstatement either. Just in case McGuire isn’t as concerned with his pre-nup as I think he’ll be, I called the guy I used to pay to do shit for me at school. After a little digging, he uncovered more than a few cash settlements over the years, paid to women to keep them quiet about other slips of the bastard’s hand.
My dad’s entire demeanor changes, his face dark and nostrils flaring. “He fucking touched Leighton?”
“Brex has the footage of McGuire pushing under her shorts on a drive,” I continue while he paces, “and I’ve also forwarded you everything else you’ll need to bury him. As for the rest, if you’re more concerned about some sleazy asshole’s threats to ruin you than your future stepdaughter, then—”
My dad holds his hand up to stop me, pulling out his phone. “If you think I need to hear the rest of that sentence, then you really don’t know me at all, son.”
He brings the phone to his ear and waits a beat. “Brex,” he barks into the speaker, turning his back to me. “McGuire might need some help packing. Why don’t you take a few of your guys up to give him a hand…Yes, his car could probably use a quick detailing as well.” He pauses and rotates to glance at me, his lips curving into a smirk. “Let him know exactly how welcome he is at any of my businesses in the future, and tell him he’ll be hearing from me soon.”
I straighten as he lowers the phone, an unspoken apology and thank you in his eyes. I don’t need either of them, though. Nothing I did was for anyone but Leighton.
He tucks the phone in his pocket and runs his fingers through his hair. “I need to go check on Leighton.”
“She’s fine.” I grab my pen, returning to my chair. “The last thing she’ll want is you making a big deal about it in front of the staff.”
He studies me long and hard. “Especially since you already did?”
I nod, and then he bobs his head too.
“Yeah, that probably didn’t help the rumors about you two.”
For possibly the first time in my life, I visibly tense, not even a hint of my usual poker face kicking in as my eyes shoot up to his.
He must sense the internal fuck, fuck, fuck speeding through my head, and he nods like I answered some question. “Millie could have not told me that one.”
“Dad…” I shake my head, my brow furrowing. “Leighton and I…we’re not—”
“Ninety percent sure you are,” he says, cutting me off.
A few seconds of silence pass between us before he checks his watch and glances around, looking about as uncomfortable as I feel.
“Look, son, we can talk this out if you want, and I’ll tell you Leighton’s probably the best thing that will ever happen to you. But then I’ll say there’s no chance in hell I’m letting her settle for a guy without a solid plan in place for his future.”
He tips his head toward the door. “Or we can skip straight to a round of golf, and we’ll have that talk about your options for school this fall. We can discuss what you plan to do with your life.”
I lean back in my chair before I nod. “Yeah, we can do that. I need to finish these up first, though.” I tap the pen on my papers. “Can I meet you in twenty minutes?”
My dad smiles. “I’ll meet you at the clubhouse.”
When he turns for the door, I blow out a breath, not sure what the fuck just happened. But I think he’s letting me know he’s semi-cool with the idea of me and Leighton. Helpful if there were a me and Leighton at the moment.
“And, Knox?” My dad pauses in the doorway, and I look up. “Next time, you break the fucker’s hand.”
I grin. “Yes, sir.”
Chapter Seventeen
Leighton
As if my morning hadn’t sucked enough, Knox stepping in with Mr. McGuire only amplified the rumors of us sleeping together. The newest one is, McGuire was making a play, and Knox needed to stake a claim so I wouldn’t be stretched out before summer’s over.
People really suck sometimes.
And given the pained look on Knox’s face earlier when I walked away from him, I’m one of those people, which is why I’ve been hovering around his office since I finished my lunch shift twenty minutes ago. Not that I know what I’m going to say to him if I ever manage to turn the knob to his office door.
“He’s not in there.”
My heart lurches in my chest, and I spin to Kennedy, sauntering down the hall toward me. I glance between her and the door one more time before she reaches me.
“Oh, hey.” I move aside, out of her way. “I was just going to ask Knox a question about scheduling.”
“Sure you were,” she purrs. She slips her key in the lock and pushes the door open, walking to her side of the office. “Daddy took Knox golfing. They won’t be back for another few hours.”
I smile a little. Brent’s been wanting to connect with him, and even if Knox doesn’t admit it, he’d love his dad’s approval. He just wants it to come without feeling like he sold his soul for it.