Worth The Fight (Worth It Series Book 1) Page 5

  “What did I say to upset you?” I asked while rubbing my thumbs under her eyes ready to catch her tears before they fell.

  “Nothing, I just haven’t had anyone actually pretend that they care about me like this, and it makes me feel. . . I don’t know how to explain it.” She looked up to the ceiling and took a deep breath. “Why do I trust you so much, so easily?” she asked on a whisper.

  “I ain’t pretending, baby girl. Apparently, the same reason you feel you can trust me, is the same reason why I feel so murderous right now if we are being honest. Just let me help you, please.”

  “I don’t like to take handouts, though.”

  “It won’t be a handout. What if I charge you rent?” I asked, knowing damn well I wouldn’t take her money.

  “I can pay you rent. I can do that. It will be nice to have a roommate,” she says, almost to herself.

  “Yeah? Well, come on let’s get you out of here.”

  Roommate, that tastes bitter in my mouth.

  “Okay. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart,” she says wrapping her arms around my waist.

  I put my arms around her and hug her back and we just stand like that. I rest my chin on her head and think to myself I can totally get used to this, and that’s dangerous.

  Chapter Nine

  I could hear the thump of his heart, and the warmth of his body against mine -- made me remember what he looked like shirtless. My mind always goes to the gutter when this man is around. Here I am basically fighting for my life, and I’m thinking about a guy shirtless. I don’t know what to think about him offering up his spare room. I usually hated handouts, but I really didn’t want to be alone. And I hated to bring this to Audrey’s doorstep, and take her up on her offer for her couch.

  I tilt my head back and look up into the eyes of this incredible man.

  “Thank you again. I don’t know how I will repay you, other than in rent.”

  His lips twitched a bit when he said, “I can think of an idea.”

  I laughed and hit his arm. “Thank you for that, too. I needed a laugh. Let me go get my stuff and we can head out.”

  I walked away to the bedroom of the tiny two room suit and grabbed my two duffle bags. Sadly, I didn’t have any more than this. What got burnt up in the fire first was my bedroom, so the clothes I had left were in my laundry room hanging up. And I had to wash them about five times to get the smoke smell out. And the rest of the stuff that was salvable I put into storage so I didn’t have to risk it being lost or stolen in the hotel.

  “You know, we can just leave my things in storage, if you don’t have room for it at your house,” I yell to the other room while I dump my bathroom things in my duffle.

  “That’s alright, my house is kinda big. Too big for just me a lot of the times, so your stuff ain’t gonna bother me.”

  “Okay, I’m ready to head out then,” I tell him as I walk out with my two bags.

  “Let me take those for you,” he offers.

  “Nah, that’s okay. I got it,” I smile.

  “Let me have one of them at least,” he says while grabbing my camo bag -- my favorite duffle, off my shoulder. This bag was given to me by my brother and it’s the best duffle I’ve ever had. I can fit a lot of crap in that bag.

  “If you must,” I sigh, rolling my eyes, but flattered at the gesture.

  “Say goodbye to your temporary home,” he says as he holds the door open for me.

  “I actually liked staying here. I could leave and come back and a tiny cleaning fairy came while I was gone and cleaned it up for me.” I snicker as we walk towards the elevator.

  He puts his hand on my lower back and guides me into the elevator while chuckling. His hand on my back reminds me of the warmth of his body against mine. Sometimes I wished I was a slut, so I could have meaningless sex with someone. Because this drought I’m in isn’t cool, especially since I’m standing next to the most gorgeous man I’ve ever seen.

  We walk out of the hotel and he guides me to the valet when his phone rings. He pulls out his phone and answers it while mouthing It’s Hudson, my sister to me.

  My face heats up red at the reminder of my crazy girl moment.

  “No Huds, I’m not busy, what’s up?”

  He’s talking on the phone when the valet pulls up. His truck is a Dodge Ram 2500. It’s all blacked out, lifted, on black rims. This truck is sexy. I wouldn’t mind one in white. I snicker to myself about that. I expect him to continue talking and just get in the truck, but he stops and opens my door for me and winks when I whisper thank you.

  “It’s just a friend Hudson, continue with what you were saying,” he says with exasperation while rolling his eyes.

  I stifle my laughter when he pretends to bang his head on the steering wheel.

  “It’s your call Huds, you are the doctor. If you think the blood tests are necessary, then run them. That’s your baby -- you make the calls okay?”

  He pauses then says, “Yes Hudson.”

  I wish I could hear both sides of the call. His sister is a doctor? Her baby? I’m so confused. This has shown me one thing for certain, I know nothing about the man I’m about to move in with.

  He hangs up the phone and throws it in his cup holder.

  “I’m sorry about that. My sister refuses to take certain matters into her own hands, and thinks if she makes a mistake that I will get mad at her. When she knows that wouldn’t happen,” he says while laying his head back against the headrest.

  “Your sister is a doctor?” I ask looking for some insight on him.

  “She’s a veterinary doctor. She specializes in horses. She loves them so much, and there is one horse in particular that has captured her heart, and she wants to run a blood test on her to measure her protein. The test is a normal test, but for some reason she thought she had to ask me for permission,” he tells me while shifting into drive and leaving the hotel.

  “Why would she have to ask you though?” I ask confused.

  “Oh, it’s a hat of many that I wear,” he says with a smirk.

  “I’m getting ready to move in with a stranger, I’m just trying to get to know you a bit,” I say with a cocked eyebrow.

  “Yeah, that makes sense, okay. I own the ranch she is working at. It was my grandfather’s and I basically grew up there when I was a kid. I loved the animals, so when he passed away, I got it. I still love going there and riding. I try to go once a week, so if you’d like you can go with me sometimes. The best therapy is on the back of a horse.”

  “Oh my gosh! I always wanted to ride a horse! I’ve rode ponies when my mom was alive, but not an actual horse. That sounds amazing!” I had the biggest grin. Horseback riding was only a dream of mine. Yeah, you can go almost anywhere and pay a hundred bucks and ride a horse for a couple hours, but I always wanted to just ride. No guided trails, no poor horse that was misused daily, and no tourist environment. I wanted to ride a horse that loved to just be as free as I did.

  “Well damn, baby girl, if I knew it was that easy to impress you, I would have asked you sooner,” he popped off with a smirk. I love this man’s smirks. They were between a devilish wink and the boy next door smile. He is going to have me swooning all over the damn place. I’m nearly there already. Who am I kidding? I’m there. I swear, I was born there. Hussy.

  “What can I say, I love horses, too. From afar, but nonetheless love them,” I laughed.

  “So tell me a bit about you, sweets. What is your story, besides you have a jackass for an ex-husband?” he asks.

  “Basically, that’s it. I have a twin brother, my mom passed away, my stepdad took off after she died -- and my dad? I don’t know who he is. My mom and him met once, they never shared names, then about a month later my mother wished she would have,” I say shrugging my shoulders. “Not exactly the crazy life, huh?”

  “How old were you when your mom passed?” he asked while turning into a large circle drive

  “I was almost sixteen. Holy man Aaron, this is a huge
house. You said you had a kinda big house. This isn’t kinda big. This is huge.” I’m pretty sure my eyeballs were getting ready to fall out of my head.

  “It’s my first build. I will always have a soft spot for this house. Come on and I’ll introduce you to Frank.”

  He jumps out and jogs around the front of the truck and opens my door. He takes my hand and helps me out and shuts my door before guiding me up to the house. I start to ask him about my bag, but I see a man walking towards us, I’m guessing that’s Frank.

  “Good afternoon, Frank. This is Bridget. She is going to be staying here for a bit, so we will need to get her entered into the security system. Bridget, this is Frank, the head of my security team.”

  “Hello, nice to meet you. I’m Bridget Franklin,” I say while taking his hand in mine for a firm shake.

  “Pleasure to meet you, Miss Franklin. As Mr. Harrison told you, I’m Frank, Frank Mathews. And as he also said, we will need to get you into the system if you are staying. Here is my card, give me a call when you have an extra half hour of time please.” His eyes were soft and kind, but his body build said don’t fuck with me. The way he carried himself and stood told me that I wouldn’t want to be on his bad side.

  “I sure will. Thank you, again. And please, call me Bridget,” I smiled.

  “Of course. Enjoy your stay, Bridget.”

  I gave him a wave and started walking after Aaron. I didn’t walk very fast, because I was enjoying my view. Not to mention he was waiting for me at the door, with that smirk on his face.

  “Welcome to my casa,” he says as he opens the door for me.

  “Well thank you,” I tease as I walk in the door. I have no idea who I am. I don’t tease guys, I don’t kiss them in bars, and I sure as in hell don’t agree to become roommates with one I don’t know! Agh! Get your shit together, girl!

  “Well, looks like our tour will have to wait. We have some company apparently,” Aaron says with exasperation while looking out the window.

  “Oh, okay. Can I go grab a glass of water?” I ask since I could see the kitchen from the foyer.

  “It’s your house too now, baby girl, you don’t have to ask,” he replied while nodding to the kitchen. “I’m just going to step outside and wait for the car to pull around.”

  “Alrighty,” I told him as I walked into the kitchen.

  The kitchen was an open floor plan and it had everything a chef could dream of: sparkling stainless steel appliances, marble countertops, and an island in the middle that held the stove. The stove was surrounded in wood rather than the marble, and when I got closer I noticed it was actually a cutting board. Well how fucking smart is that? I would have died to have this kitchen in my house. Maybe we can arrange for my stove to be this way. This is beautiful. The sink has the deep bucket style bowls, with a reverse osmosis watering system. I think I’ve died and gone to heaven.

  The table was a long wooden table with high top chairs. I could see myself sitting there with my laptop creating the poetry I love to write. Woah, where did that thought come from? I haven’t written in a very long time. Maybe I should start up again. It was always an awesome outlet for me. There was a TV on the wall at the end of the table. I imagine for when Aaron works on his floor plans he has some background noise.

  “Hey Bridget?” I hear Aaron call me from the other room, and its then I realize I heard a female voice in the other room with him. My heart drops and I hate that I feel this way about a man who isn’t anything to me.

  “Yeah?” I call out still looking at the TV that’s playing the news on mute.

  “Hey, would you come in here for a sec? I have someone I want to introduce to you.” He’s in the kitchen now and any thought I just had gone out the window. How can anyone look this fucking amazing?

  “Sure thing, roomie,” I say like a smart ass.

  Just as I was walking towards the doorway to the living room Aaron grabs me by the arm and pulls me back before I made it out. He brings his other arm around my body to my waist, and pulls my body to him. My back is to his front as he brings his head down to whisper in my ear, “Do you know the best part about roommates?” My whole body shivered and I can feel the scrape of his facial hair on my exposed shoulder. He runs his hand along my jaw and whispers, “Do you, baby girl?”

  I couldn’t speak, so I just shook my head no.

  “You get to know each other. Very. Well,” he says while running his lips down my shoulder.

  I let out a sigh, and lean back into him a little more. I can feel his smirk on my skin.

  “Come on. Let’s go see our company,” he says with a cocky grin. Asshole gets me flustered on purpose. He pats my ass as he walks by, fucker.

  I follow him out to the living area, and this room is even more beautiful than that stunning kitchen. This room is all hard wood floors. It has a huge earth tone rug in the middle of the floor. The sectional couch takes up the whole wall and then comes out half way to the next wall. The couch is a dark brown microfiber, with throw pillows all over it. The seats are those big, one and a half seat type of couches. I could lay on that all damn day long and watch the ER shows I like on the huge TV mounted on the wall. Holy man, this is the most relaxing room I’ve seen in a while.

  “Hudson, this is Bridget. Bridget, my sister Hudson,” he says with amusement in his eyes.

  Holy fucking hell, he could have told me the “company” he had was his fucking sister. I wouldn’t have let him get me so flustered. Gah!

  “Hi Bridget! So nice to meet you! Aaron said you were gonna be roommates for a while. How cool! I live right down the street, although I’m only there a few days of the week. I’m usually at the ranch. Oh my gosh! I’m rambling. I’m so sorry!” she giggles at the end.

  My heart warms towards her immediately. She does not seem like the stuck-up sister that most men have at all. Her eyes are kind and she is so damn beautiful, I could get intimidated by her by that alone.

  “Hi Hudson, it’s no nice to meet you! Your brother talks fondly of you. You like the horses, right? What a cool job. And I don’t mind the rambling. I do it too,” I shot her a wink.

  “Yay, I’m so glad I’m not the only rambler here,” she winks back. “And yes, I love the horses. You must come out to Savannah and ride with me sometime. It is so relaxing!”

  I see her look up at her brother and something passes between the two with their eyes. Aaron is looking at her like she just gave him the best gift in the world, and she looks like she just climbed the highest mountain. I’m clearly missing something here, but I won’t pry. This looks like something that’s been waited for. I’ll have to ask him about that when she leaves.

  “I have always wanted to ride. My brother says he found the best escape on the back of a horse, but I never really had a chance to find that freedom. I can’t wait to visit the stables sometime.” I smiled warmly at her.

  “Oh you have a brother? How cool. Then you know how annoying they can be,” she says with mock annoyance, nodding her head towards Aaron.

  “It’s her twin brother, so I’m sure they get along better than we do, brat,” Aaron says with the same mock annoyance.

  I love his smile, too. It’s clear that these two are pretty close. I’m actually learning a lot just watching them interact. I wonder how he treats his mother. My friend Erica, back home, says that you can tell a lot about a man on how he treats his mother.

  “Twins, that’s so neat! But anyway, I just was leaving to head to the ranch, and thought I’d stop in. It’s Sunday bub, you going?” she asked Aaron.

  What was Sunday?

  “Nah, I have something that just came up, but I will be there next weekend. Tell Ma that I’m sorry, but I’ll try and get down there sometime during the week if I can.”

  “Alrighty! I’ll tell her. You already know she’s gonna call you, right? It’s not often that you miss Sunday dinner, bub,” she replies in a sisterly taunting tone.

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah,” he says while rolling his eyes.
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br />   “Well, y’all have a good evening, and I hope to see you soon down at the ranch,” Hudson says while she’s walking to the foyer.

  We follow behind her to send her off and we exchange hugs with her.

  “See ya, Huds,” Aaron says as she walks out.

  “Bye Hudson!” I say while waving

  “See ya. It was so nice to meet you, Bridget. I really hope we can hang!”

  “We will, don’t worry! I’ll let you know what my work schedule looks like.”

  She gives me the thumbs up as she’s getting into her pink bug. I smile huge, knowing that I just made a new friend. And she drives a freaking pink bug. I snicker while shaking my head.

  Chapter Ten

  Bridget’s phone rang right after Hudson left, so she excused herself to go answer it. Said something about a guy named Doug from work. I poured myself a drink and sat on the couch thinking about how fucking well she and my sister got along.

  Hudson has always been close to me. Since we were kids. We told each other more shit than we did anyone else. So to see those two women hit it off right away, man. I shouldn’t pursue her. I shouldn’t. I just can’t seem to let her walk away though. So right here, right now, I will vow to protect her with everything I am. Her life will be protected more than my own. I need to call Chris and have him put her under their protection as well.

  Just as I had these thoughts, she walked out looking a little pale.

  “What’s up, baby girl?” I asked her as I walked towards her.

  She walked over and put her arms right around me, and buried her face in my chest. I just let her have her moment. As I rubbed her back, I walked backwards and pulled her on top of me as I sat on the couch. She finally pulled away a little to look at me in the eyes.

  “I hate that I’m going to say this. But, Leroy is getting riskier. He somehow came into the hospital today and slipped another note for me into the nurses station in the ER. So Doug just called me to say that he’s putting me off work for a while. Because apparently, it’s not safe to go in there anymore either.” She looks away, but this time not in shame. The way she’s clenching her teeth, I can tell it’s in anger. I get the feeling she doesn’t need any words from me yet, so I just sit there rubbing my thumbs on her thighs. When she looks back at me, I see the anger, the misery, and the helplessness, all at the same time in her eyes.