House Rules (25 page)

The guys joined us and Ashton held the door open. Elena made Miller promise to give me her number so we could set up a coffee date before Ashton whisked her off in the direction of their car.

“Thank you,” I said when Miller opened the car door for me. “I had a lot of fun. It was nice to feel welcomed by a family for once.”

“You know how you can thank me?”

“Don’t even say by letting you buy me a car.”

“I was going to say on your knees, but your way works just as well.”

I smacked him on the shoulder. “Really?”

He shrugged. “What can I say? You already know I’m an asshole. No point in pretending otherwise, right?”

I decided to reward him on my knees anyway.

CHAPTER 23

Miller

“I can’t believe you dragged me here,” I said, wondering what the hell I was doing in a grocery store.

“Where did you expect us to get everything we need to make dinner. You wanted to cook at home, but you have no food in the house.” She pushed the cart in my direction. “Now push while I find what we need.”

What the hell happened to my life?

I glanced over at the sexy brunette by my side, a slight smile curving her lips. That was what happened to my life. I’d give anything to see that smile, even if it meant pushing a shopping cart through the store. But I wouldn’t let her know that.

“Fine, but I better get dinner
and
a good fuck tonight.”

We turned the corner and our cart ran into another.

“Miller?” I looked up to see my mom and dad standing there staring at us.

“Mom? Dad? Umm . . . what are you guys doing here?” I still hadn’t told them about Tess. A part of me was still worried Dad would think I couldn’t do the job when I was juggling a relationship too.

Dad glanced back and forth between me and Tess. His brows pinched together. Shit, he would definitely have something to say about this. He wrapped his arm around my mom’s waist, pulling her tight to him, almost as if he was protecting her from something. Except, there was no danger. “I was about to ask you the same thing?”

I cleared my throat, hoping that this whole meeting didn’t go to shit. “Grabbing a few things for dinner.” I took Tess’s hand and pulled her to stand next to me. “Mom, Dad, this is Tess. Tess these are my parents—”

“Mr. and Mrs. Hawes.”

Fuck
.

Mom looked over at Dad for a second, but he kept his head forward and extended his hand to Tess. This was not the reaction I was hoping for. Dad’s reaction to Elena was more heartfelt and genuine; this felt stiff and forced. Not telling my dad about Tess was going to bite me in the ass.

Tess took Dad’s hand. “It’s nice to meet you.” She fidgeted from foot to foot. It was rare that Tess was unsure, but she could obviously sense the same odd vibes coming from my father that I did.

He didn’t respond, giving her a simple nod and returned his attention to me. “Miller, we’ll talk later.”

Unsure what to say at the moment without pissing him off and unwilling to cause a scene, I said, “Yeah.”

He used the arm around Mom’s waist to turn her in the other direction. Tess watched them frozen to her spot. Her eyes were wide, moisture pooling in them.

“He hates me.”

I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her into an embrace. This was my fault. I should have told him. Dad usually wasn’t cold to women, but there was something simmering just below the surface, and I had a feeling I would find out just what when I talked to him.

“No he doesn’t. He’s probably got a lot on his mind right now with handing the dealership over to me.”

Her head moved back and forth against my chest. “No, he was smiling until he saw me next to you.”

I leaned back and tilted her chin up with my finger. “You’re absolutely amazing, how could anyone hate you.” The words were out of my mouth before I thought about them.

Her eyes held an emptiness I saw every time she talked about her parents. “Trust me, it’s more than possible.”

“No, your parents are fucked up assholes. I’ll call him when we get back to the house and prove it to you.”

She sighed and wiped her eyes with the backs of her hands. It hurt to see her like that. Tess usually portrayed such strength, it was easy to forget how badly her family had hurt her.

“Okay. Let’s get the last few things and get out of here.”

We collected everything and paid at the counter. Once we got home, I left Tess alone in the kitchen to start dinner and went upstairs to my office. I needed to hear what Dad had to say so I could explain and make him see reason. Although that wasn’t always something easily accomplished. He picked up on the third ring.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“Me?” I snarled. “You’re the one who was rude as fuck to Tess.” I wanted to shout, but I didn’t want to take the chance that she’d hear the conversation.

“And what the hell does that matter? She’s just another piece of pussy you’ll keep around for a few days before you throw her away.” I opened my mouth to protest, but Dad kept speaking. “I’ve had it with this bullshit. You want to fuck half the city that’s up to you, but I’m sick and tired of you introducing these women to your mother and getting her hopes up. Keep that shit at the club or in your house. Plus, you letting an easy piece of ass screw with my business is not what I expect of you. Get it together, Miller. We can’t have this shit if you’re going to run things.”

And there it was. The thing I feared the most: Dad thinking I couldn’t handle both. I wasn’t afraid of many things, but losing the family business was one of them. I’d called to explain who Tess was and it all got shot to hell.

I’d need to wait until things were running smoothly again. To a point where I could prove that having Tess in my life wouldn’t interfere with anything.

“I’ll get it together.”

I bit the inside of my cheek to stop myself from telling him to fuck off; that Tess wasn’t going anywhere.

“You also better get your ass over here in the next day or two and make it up to your mother.”

I flopped down onto the couch and leaned my head back, closing my eyes. “I will.”

“Good. Your mother’s almost done with dinner. Don’t forget what I said.”

He hung up the phone. I’d pull it all together, then introduce them to Tess again. Hopefully, then they’d accept her with open arms. Until then I had to continue to keep secrets.

He had nothing to worry about, though. I more than understood what I needed to do. With everything my dad had said, I needed to know my idea wouldn’t push him over the edge. I dialed Ashton’s number.

He answered on the second ring. “Don’t tell me you screwed up again.”

“Not exactly.” I rubbed the muscles at the back of my neck. “We just ran into Mom and dad in the grocery store.”

“Please tell me you finally told them about Tess.” It wasn’t hard to miss the exasperation in his tone.

“Well, I introduced her to them, but Dad was rude as hell. Basically pulled Mom away from us as soon as he could.”

“I’m guessing he thought she was just another piece of ass.”

I sighed. “He said he’s sick and tired of me introducing women to Mom, getting her hopes up, only to let her down days later.

“Why the hell didn’t you correct him?”

“He already thinks I can’t handle the business. He’ll really be thrilled that I’m distracted by a woman.”

“You’re a complete moron. That is exactly why he’ll understand.”

We were quiet for a moment.

“I was thinking of asking her to live with me. Then she wouldn’t have to worry about rent anymore and could stop working. Plus, she’d be in my bed every night when I go home from work.”

“Good luck with that one.” The sarcasm rolled off his tongue.

“What would I need luck for?”

I could imagine him shaking his head, the corner of his eyes crinkled in laughter. “Word of advice, don’t start with the rent part, you’ll just piss her off. Make her feel like she’s been bought. Go with the part where you want her in your bed every night and she’s way more likely to agree. And tell Mom and Dad.”

I hung up with my brother and thought about what he’d said. Before I told my parents, I needed to make sure living with me would be something Tess wanted. Up until now, she’d put her foot down every time I tried to give her something. I was shocked when she hadn’t fought me over the dress and the necklace.

Whatever I decided could wait a few days. I had a feeling Tess wouldn’t be up to a conversation about living with me after what happened with Dad. It would give me time to plan what I was going to say to her. Maybe asking her to live with me wasn’t the only thing she needed to hear.

CHAPTER 24

Theresa

Miller picked me up earlier than normal for the nights we went dancing at Orbit. I’d finally convinced him to drop the issue of the car by letting him replace my tires. But even though I had my car back, he was determined that he needed to pick me up. I didn’t need a bag because I’d started keeping some extra clothes and toiletries at his house.

My best guess was that he had something planned in the back he needed to oversee before he was free to spend it with me. It was his job, his business. I understood it and was more than willing to be ready early. It was surprising to see how many cars were already parked out front for such an early hour. People didn’t really start showing up until at least ten, it was a few hours before that and there were already twice as many cars as usual.

“What’s going on?” I asked stepping out of the car when Miller opened my door.

He linked his arm with mine and walked me into the building. “We have a tournament tonight.”

My stomach soured at the thought. Miller had done his best to keep me away from the club at those times. I knew Miller would never bet me, but the thought of walking in there, all eyes on me, knowing exactly how Miller and I met, was a bit much.

“I know you need to be here, but do I? I’m sure I could get a ride back to my apartment. I’ll study for the night and you can come to me when everything is done.”

He shook his head and continued leading me forward to the door I knew led to the back rooms. I thought about backing away for a brief moment—the desire to get away from the place overwhelming—but Miller wasn’t giving up that easily. I knew he cared about me, but I couldn’t figure out why in the world he would do this.

When we reached the door, I put the breaks on. “Miller, I really don’t want to go in there.”

He turned to face me. “I know, but you need to.”

He gestured around the space. “This is my life. I want you to be a part of it, but that means you need to be a part of all of it. And some of it isn’t pretty. It’s a downright fucking mess. But the woman I’m going to be with needs to be there through all of it. You need to walk through those doors like you own the fucking place. You do that, no one will question a damn thing.”

My heart melted a little when he said he wants me to be a part of his life. I was falling. Damn it. Something I swore I would never do, but I was falling hard for the man standing in front of me. Was I ready to tell him that? I doubted it, but I needed to walk through those doors, exactly like he said, even if it made me feel uncomfortable as hell.

“Okay.” I held my head high as Miller opened the door and we walked in.

The room was already full with people, some I remembered from that disastrous night. I saw them watching me and did my best to ignore them.

Easier said than done.

Miller led me to a table near the center of the room. Now that I knew what table he was playing at, once he took his seat my plan was to hit the bar and drink enough to take the edge off. Make things easier to deal with.

Imagine my surprise when Miller pulled out the chair, but didn’t take a seat. He looked at me and gestured toward the seat.

“I don’t understand,” I whispered to him.

He leaned in. Lips brushing my ear, sending a shiver down my spine. “It’s simple. Tonight you’re playing. I have a feeling you know how to play. I saw the look on your face when the cards were turned last time.”

“I do, but I can’t afford the buy in for a game like this.”

“You don’t have to. The money on the table is for you to play with. I want you to enjoy the night and to show you there is nothing to fear in this room.”

“I can’t—”

His finger covered my lips. “You can and you will. Sit down. Play. I’ll be at a table a few over from here. I didn’t want to give you an unfair advantage with me playing here.”

In a daze I took the seat. I was afraid to look at the money in front of me—the dollar amount would probably give me a stroke—but I had a feeling there was no arguing with him about this.

I glanced around the men seated at the table. Not one of them had been sat at Ray’s table that fateful night. Two of them were there in the crowd, though.

Be strong.

The best way to show my strength to these men would be to take their money, something I was determined to do.

“This is Tess,” Miller said, addressing the group. “If I hear about anyone hitting on her while she plays, I won’t bother with Dean or Charlie. Do I make myself clear?”

A few of the guys’ eyes went wide and they nodded in unison.

“Good.”

He bent down and placed a soft kiss on my lips. “Have fun.”

Still in shock, I watched him walk to his table and turned back to mine. The dealer looked at me, waiting. I had no idea what he was waiting for until he spoke up.

“Miss Carner, the buy-in for this hand is five hundred dollars.”

I almost freaking choked. Five hundred dollars. Miller must have been out of his mind to suggest it. I turned to face him and started to get up from my seat, when a waiter blocked my way. He placed a glass of white wine in front of me.

“Mr. Hawes says this is your favorite, and to tell you relax and just play.”

The waiter left and I saw Miller raise his glass to me. I returned the gesture and took a sip of the wine. The flavor settled on my taste buds, calming my nerves.