Down for Her by Melissa Chambers (best e books to read txt) 📗

relationship. I’ve got way too much going on in my personal life, and I can’t bring another girl into it.”

I frown. “Another girl?”

He shakes his head. “I don’t have any other girls right now. But I did have one a while back. I got distracted from what was important…my family. When the newness wore off and I put my focus back on where I was needed, she couldn’t hack it, and things ended badly. I can’t lose focus again, not while we’re trying to get through my grandmother’s illness.”

“What does your grandmother have?”

“Alzheimer’s. She can’t be left alone even for a half hour. One of us has to be with her all the time.”

“I’m sorry,” I say, rubbing his knee, taking all this in.

He clasps my hand. “I really like you, Kylie. I feel like I’m in purgatory here. I want to move things forward with you, but I can’t do that right now.”

“What can you do then?”

He considers this. “I can tell you that I’m not looking for a quick hookup and then onto the next girl. I think about you when I wake up, when I’m walking to work, when I’m in between patients, when I’m going to lunch… You’re pretty much on my mind every moment. I don’t know if that makes me sound like a stalker or what. But it’s true. I’ve never been like this before. It’s freaking me out a little.”

I giggle out of nervousness, I guess. I want to believe him, but my defense mechanisms are firmly in place thanks to the years of lies and hurt.

He takes my hand. “I don’t know why I’m telling you this. I know I’m talking out of both sides of my mouth. I don’t know what I’m trying to convince you of. I’m just saying how I feel, I guess.”

I nod, meeting his gaze. “Mmm-hmm.” I don’t know what else to say or do other than to hear him out and see where he’s going with this.

He stands up and paces. “Look. I’m not gonna lie. I’ve never thought I was a jealous guy. But I get jealous with you. I hate that Jack Massey’s helping you find a better job and that he offered you to stay with him.” He spits out the last part of his sentence. “I know guys are interested in you, and I know they’re gonna be asking you out. It makes me nuts to think about you going out with them. But I also can’t promise you anything with me. I know none of this is fair, and I’m not asking you for anything, I just…” He glances around the room like he’s looking for answers.

My heart races through my chest, because I’ve never known this kind of passion from a guy. I stand up and walk to him. He meets my gaze, his eyes intense.

I run my hands over his shoulders. “I can’t promise you anything either. But we can feel our way through this, if there is a this here?”

He stares at me. “I’m sorry I’m all over the place. I’ve never been this way.”

I smile at him. “I don’t know what the heck I’m doing either.”

He wraps his arms around me and brings me in for a hug, and we stand there like that, our hearts beating together for the longest time. We rock from side to side, almost like we’re dancing, but there’s no music playing except for the distant hum of the band.

The sound of footsteps on the dock outside, then a rattling on the door handle has us both looking that way.

“I think it’s unlocked,” comes a female voice I recognize, and I freeze as the door flies open and Bailey stands in the entryway.

“If there’s someone in there, kick their ass, Bailey!” comes a guy’s voice from behind her.

Brett’s stance tightens and he folds his arms over his chest. “What the—” he starts, but he cuts his own words off as Jack Massey appears in the doorway.

“Holy shit,” the guy I don’t know says through a laugh. “It’s Hargrove. How you doin’, man?”

Brett blinks the guy into recognition, then his posture drops. “Hey,” he says, holding his hand out to the guy, who ignores it and pulls Brett in for one of those guy hugs that approaches near-violent with hard slaps on the back.

“Fuck, what’s it been, two years?” the guy asks, looking Brett up and down.

“At least that. What are you doing here?”

“Vacation.” He backhands Brett on the chest. “I told Massey to call you but he gave me some bullshit story about thinking you were out of town for the weekend.” The guy tosses up his hands. “Fuck, this is awesome. Let’s have a beer.” He seems to notice me for the first time. “Oh, shit. I’m sorry. We interrupted.”

“No,” Brett says, shaking his head, seeming to reorient himself. “This is Kylie. Kylie, this is Asher. He worked at the resort with us a few years back.”

Asher takes my hand and sort of bows down to me, kissing it. “Hello, lovely Kylie.” Damn. This guy’s got game.

The girl I don’t know smiles at Brett. “Hey, there.”

The two of them hug, and then he pulls back from her, inspecting her. “You decided to keep him around?”

She slides her arm around Asher’s waist. “He’s hard to shake once he weasels his way in.” She holds out her hand to me. “I’m Corinne. It’s so good to meet you.”

“Yes, same,” I say, her smile catching on. These two seem like newlyweds. I glance down at her left hand and see a rock. Memories of my own engagement ring flood in, making me feel like a phony. These two clearly have the real thing.

I catch Bailey’s gaze for the first time, and she’s smiling, but it’s not reaching her eyes. “Hey,” she says, giving me a loose hug. She pulls away, staring at me like she’s a mouse caught in a trap.

Jack meets Brett’s hard gaze. “Sure we’re not interrupting?” Jack asks, sounding sincere as