Page 13 of The Fear
The irritation in Grady's chest grew. Why was she defending Luis so hard? Had she really liked that doofus that much? He'd known Luis since they were no older than Ryan and Calvin. He liked him just fine, they were friends—but that didn’t mean he wanted Luis dating one of his own sisters—or their friends. He knew Luis—the guy wasn’t ready to be serious. He’d told Grady that himself less than a year ago, after a relationship seriously gone wrong.
“Your brother should look out for you better. Especially with guys.”
“Are you serious?”
Of course he was. The last thing he would ever want was for someone to hurt this woman in front of him. Grady just didn’t know how to show her that at all.
Women were so damned confusing. Especiallythisone.
8
Maybe this wasone man she would never be able to figure out.
“I’m not a child.” Why did he insist on treating her as if she was? Communication was such a big deal to her, was it any wonder that she just let the questions out? "You have to stop acting like I need my big brother to take care of me forever. I’m not a kid any longer, Grady. And I haven’t been in a long time. What is it any business of yours what I choose to do with Luis Sandoval or anyone else?"
He just stared at her out of those hazel eyes that every one of the Hiller siblings had inherited from their mother. He shrugged. "I don't know. Guess I just feel protective. Like I do with Greer. And I don't want some asshole to hurt you the way… I just don't want you to end up the way Greer has. Hurt like this. I should've been keeping a better eye on her, I guess. If we’d kept a better eye on her, this wouldn’t have happened.”
Oh. He was hurting because his sister was. That was what it was. Her heart twinged. Just a little. He was worried about his baby sister. Just like Hudson would have been about her in the same situation. Hala sighed internally. Of course.
Grady could be a bit of a softy under that old cranky exterior of his.
"You can't be serious. Greer is twenty-three years old, almost twenty-four. She's been involved with men before." Of course, this was the first man Greer had ever slept with, but Hala wasn't about to tell Grady that. There were some things the man just didn't need to know about his sister. “What happened was just bad luck, and a broken condom. Greer will be okay. She’ll be an excellent mother; she already loves the baby so much. Besides, it's not like she doesn't have the entire Hiller clan to help her. And me, Ayla, Aubrey, and Chantal. She doesn't have to do this alone. She’s not. Everyone can see that."
"I wish I could kick his ass." Grady said, temper flaring in those eyes. It had Hala stepping back immediately. A big man, angry over anything, would always be one of the ghosts that haunted her. She understood that. And she knew Grady would never hurt her. It just…bad memories.
But she was safe with him. Forever.
She had no doubt about that.
She had known him since she was all of four or five years old, after all. She did the math quickly. There were nine years between them. He would've been around fourteen. The twins had been so tall and skinny back then. Hillers had been a part of her life for as long as she could remember.
After she lost her parents, Greer's parents had been there to help her and Hudson through the funerals. Even though Hudson and Grady hadn't gotten along all that well. Hudson had been four years older than the twins; he'd been in the same year as Gene. But the Hillers had always been there in her life, as long as she could remember.
She adored them. She couldn’t say the same for their fourth son though. He…irritated her. No denying that.
He was just so clueless where his sisters were concerned sometimes.
She didn't think he was that obtuse because he didn't care, really. From what she had observed, Grady adored his younger sisters. He just seemed to be caught up in his own head, and a little unaware, whenever they were around. He always seemed…busy and distracted. She understood, though—running a ranch this size took time and attention. His sisters had been busy building their own lives, too.
He wasn’t a bad guy, or anything. Just…a little clueless, honestly. In an almost adorable kind of way.
Not like her own brother, who knew practically every move she made, and had since the day they had buried their parents. Well, Hudson had just gotten worse when she had been twenty and her boyfriend had tried to assault her. Hudson had taken overprotective to the extreme after that. Not that she minded. Hudson, Ryan, and their cousin Micah who now lived in St. Louis, and worked for the FBI, were all the family she had.
"What are you sighing for?" he asked. "Did I say something stupid again?"
She looked into his eyes. There was a clear challenge there when he looked back. He wanted her to snip and snarl at him for some reason, she realized. Well, Hala wasn’t going to play games with Grady Hiller. She was far too exhausted for that.
"I was just thinking. Of how lucky Greer is, all of you really, to have each other. Hudson, Ryan, and Micah are really all the family I have. I have my friends, Greer and Gia and Ayla top that list. But family? Shared history, traditions, knowing where you come from? I just hope you know how lucky you are."
"Hey, you know my parents consider you to be almost one of the family."
"Almost. I know. And I adore your parents. Nothing will ever change that."
"I didn't mean it like that. They consider you family."
"And that's why you think your mother was trying to arrange things so that you thought I would?—"
“It was just something she said, just got me to thinking. I know now that I was probably being stupid. It's just…I thought you were too young for me. But I didn't want you getting your hopes up. Genny had a friend in high school that did that. With Gunn. All she ever did was moon over him and it was embarrassing for him, and for her when she outgrew it.”
