Page 46 of Tight Spot

That sounded very much like the original plan I wasn’t sure I wanted to continue with.

“Okay.”

Before I could undo my own belt, Dawson let go of my arm, bent down, released it for me. As he moved back, he opened the back door behind me, reached in, grabbed the small tote bag and was back in front of me as I turned and settled my heels to the cement.

The wobble came back in my knees, until Dawson closed the back door, held out his hand.

As soon as my small, cold hand was in his large, warm and firm grip, that wobble went away.

Crazy.

He guided me out of the car, waited until I closed my door and brushed my hand over the handle to lock it. Once it beeped, he held on tight to my hand and walked me toward his house.

“Your home is gorgeous.”

“Just a house,” he replied, but there was an angle of his jaw that wasn’t quite right.

Didn’t seem all that happy with it which was odd. What was there to be unhappy about when you could afford a home like this while living alone.

“You like all this space for you?”

“I like being alone and I like to have room, so yeah. It works for me.”

“I can only imagine the parties you could have here.”

“Last one didn’t work out so well for me,” he muttered, and dropped my hand only to grasp elbow as we reached the brick stairs leading up to his front door.

“Why not?”

“Crystal.”

It was all he said, but with the trouble he said she tended to cause, it said more than enough.

And then my jaw fell to the floor as we crossed the threshold. “I’m really going to need more than a glass of water.”

CHAPTER13

DAWSON

Iwas trying to keep myself in check. Trying to be a gentleman. Trying was the operative word. The strain it was taking to not toss Hailey up against a wall, slam my mouth to hers and dive my hands beneath her silk dress I was going to murder Josephine for putting her in was more than the amount of work I put into the entirety of our summer training camp. And the energy required for that full week was deadly.

So was Hailey’s dress.

It was either murder Josephine for having her wear it, or risk murdering every single one of my teammates I’d see tonight that let his eyes drop below hers.

I was going to end up in jail. Again. No doubt about it. She wasn’t going to be the woman who saved my image and cemented my next contract with the team.

She was going to be my ruin.

She also went from nervous to normal to shock so damn quickly it was a wonder my head didn’t spin in a full circle from the constant changing of her emotions.

“Wine?”

I’d stocked up on more white for her. Considering it was all Crystal drank, she’d emptied my fridge of it before I kicked her out, or she hid the remainder with her in her suitcases when I did. Every time I saw it, it was a reminder of the hell that swirled around my sister and the destruction she left in her wake.

Done. I was done with her.

“Please. Thank you.”

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