Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen

I need to put a fucking bell on this woman. My little runaway did it again. Ran away. Okay, she didn’t run away exactly but she left the office early and didn’t tell a soul where she was going. I really wanted to take her home, cook her dinner, and have dessert with her. Or have her with dessert. Now I’m driving across the city to hunt her down at a fucking student bar. I haven’t stepped foot in that particular bar since I was a student myself. Which was a long fucking time ago.

“You might want to slow down, unless you want to add speeding fines to your list of fuckups today,” Alistair says from the passenger seat.

“I haven’t fucked up today.”

“You lost your girlfriend. That’s a bit of a fuckup.” He laughs.

“I didn’t lose her. She went to meet her sister.”

“Right,” he says.

“Why are you even coming with me?” I ask him. He followed me out of the office and jumped into my car right as I was about to take off.

“Xavier and I agreed that you need babysitting.”

“Fuck off. He’s the one being sued. Maybe you both should be more focused on that, instead of me and my girlfriend.”

“Well, if you pulled your head out of your own ass, you’d know that the case against Xav was dropped.”

“What? When did that happen?”

“Last night. Shardonnay saved the day.”

“How?” I ask.

“She went out with Lucy, found the chick who made the allegations, and recorded her admitting that the claims were false.”

“Shardonnay’s a fucking genius. Why the fuck didn’t we think of that?”

“She got her drunk first, and it’s not exactly a legal way to gain evidence. We work within the law.”

I shake my head. “Sometimes I think rules need to be bent.”

“Sometimes.” He sighs. “However, it’s just a bit of dumb luck that nothing actually happened to them. They went to some seedy biker bar, alone.”

“Shit, Xavier must have had a coronary.”

“Apparently, some guy who’s way too into Lucy tracked them down there.”

“Do we know him?” I ask. Lucy may be Xavier’s little sister, but we’ve watched her grow up, so she’s kind of like our little sister now too. I’m not sure how I feel about any guy being into her.

“Dominic McKinley,” Alistair says.

“Fuck no. Lucy is not dating a McKinley.” As I say the words, I’m already coming up with ideas on how to keep them apart. Preferably a way to send her somewhere over on the other side of the world, out of the reach of Dominic fucking McKinley.

“I don’t think we get much of a say in that, mate,” Alistair replies.

“Watch me,” I tell him.

I pull up outside the student bar and look around. We’re surrounded by hordes of college idiots. Guys way closer to Bentley’s age than I am. My blood boils at the thought of her being hit on by the countless assholes in here.

Alistair’s gaze locks on something across the way. “Ah, I’ll catch up with you later. I just remembered I had shit to do,” he says and then proceeds to cross the street.

I don’t have time to worry about what or who caught his attention. He’s a big boy. He can look out for himself. My concern right now is that my girlfriend is drunk somewhere in this bar. I walk inside and scan the crowd. I can’t see her anywhere, so I head towards the bar. I hear her before I see her. Pivoting on my heel, I find her standing on a booth with a shot glass in the air.

“To hot bosses who offer O benefits,” she calls out before downing the shot.

“Having fun, baby girl?” I ask her before wrapping my arms around her waist and pulling her down.

“Hey, it’s my hot boss!” she exclaims. “Look, Jules, it’s him.” Bentley turns towards the girl still seated at the booth. Her sister, or so I was told over the phone. Thankfully, Jules doesn’t look anywhere near as drunk as Bentley does.

“So it is.” Her sister smiles at me. “Hi, I’m Jules.” She holds out a hand.

I shake it. “How many has she had?” I ask.

“She is right here and can speak for herself,” Bentley slurs. I guide her into the booth before sliding in beside her.

“ That was full,” Jules replies, pointing at a half-empty bottle of tequila.

“Bentley, I think it’s time I took you home,” I tell her.

“Nope, it’s early and there’s still tequila.” She shakes her head, appearing to make herself dizzy as she reaches out and grabs for the bottle.

Thankfully Jules snatches it first. “I’ll pour. You’re just going to spill it all.”

Bentley looks at me. “You really are too hot for your own good, you know that, Nathan Miller?”

I smirk at her, “I do now.”

“And I really like your O benefits program,” she adds.

“Good to know,” I say. I have no idea how I’m going to convince her to come home with me. I need to get her out of this bar. She’s wasted.

“What if it’s true? What if I’m nothing but an easy girl who opens her legs way too wide. And what if my dad is ashamed of me?” she questions after a moment of silence. I can hear the hint of sadness in her voice. “But I really like opening my legs wide for you, Mr Miller. This is your fault, you know. Yours and that magic cock you have.”

I laugh. I know I shouldn’t but she’s not making any sense. I turn to her sister for some guidance, help, anything. And all I get from her is a shrug. “Bentley, look at me.” I take hold of her face. I can see her eyes fighting to stay focused on me. “Good girl.” I lean in and kiss her forehead. “What you and I have is real. It’s not a passing fad, and you’re not one of those easy girls. I didn’t know your father, but if any of our children—when we have them—turn out to be half as great as you are, I’ll be fucking proud as shit that they’re mine. Ours.”

“You want me to get fat and ugly?” She screws up her face.

“You could never be anything but beautiful to me, Bentley,” I tell her.

“You say that now, but wait until I have leaky boobs and my vagina is ten times the size it was, because I had to push an actual human out of it,” she says.

“We’re adopting.” I’m not risking that pussy of hers getting destroyed. Fuck that. I happen to love that pussy. I have dreams about that pussy. Thoughts of her pussy fill ninety percent of my day. It’s amazing I actually get any real work done.

“I think it’s way too early for you two to even be discussing kids. Seriously, the only thing coming out of you, sis, is going to be vomit in roughly…” Jules glances at her watch. “…seven hours.”

“Why seven hours?” I ask.

“It’s seven o’clock now. And whenever she drinks, she wakes up sometime between midnight and three a.m. to vomit. Without fail. So I’m really freaking glad she has you to hold her hair back, and I can retire from that job.” Jules smiles.

“What, no. Jules. No. He can’t see me vomit. We are not there yet. You have to take me home.” Bentley’s voice is panicked.

“Bentley, I don’t care. If I have to hold your hair back all night, I will,” I tell her. “Come on, let’s go home.”

“No, I don’t want you to see me all gross and yuck.” She shakes her head.

“I’ve licked your ass, Bentley. Trust me when I say we are as close as two people can be,” I whisper into her ear. When I pull back again, I can see the redness creeping up her cheeks. “Besides, if you let me take you home, I can give you some of those O benefits that you’re so fond of.”

“Why didn’t you open with that?” she says, pushing me out of the booth. I slide out, catching her as she stumbles after me. Then she turns to her sister. “Thanks for the tequila. I’ll call you.”

“Want a ride home?” I offer Jules.

“Aw, you’re going to make the best big brother ever. But, no, I’m fine, I actually have a late class I have to get to,” she says as she follows us outside the bar.

“You sure?” I ask.

“Yep. Look after my sister. She’s seems to be fond of your dick, so I’d hate to have to cut it off because you hurt her.” With that, the girl turns around and walks off.

“Don’t worry, I’d never let her cut that off. A toe maybe, but not that. It’s way too useful,” Bentley assures me.

“Ah, thanks,” I reply as I practically carry her to the car. She’s a mess. Tucking her into the passenger seat, I buckle her in before I walk around and climb into the driver’s seat. Not even five minutes into the drive, she’s passed out, with little snores parting her mouth. I look over at her sleeping face. She’s fucking perfect.

Her insecurities really came out tonight. Drinking has a tendency to do that. She works so hard at appearing like she can take on the world, that nothing affects her. But I know the truth. She’s terrified of being judged like her father.

I manage to pick her up, carry her up to the apartment, and lay her in bed without waking her. Carefully, I remove her clothes and pull the covers up to her chin. After placing a bottle of water next to her on the bedside table, I climb into bed.

I’m drifting off when Bentley bolts upright and runs for the bathroom. I look at the alarm clock. 12:30 a.m. Guess Jules was right. I walk into the bathroom and squat down next to Bentley, who is currently bent over and emptying the contents of her stomach into the toilet. I grab her hair and hold it back from her face.

“Argh, you’re not meant to see me like this,” she says.

“I’m the one person who can see you in any state and not judge you, Bentley. We are that person for each other,” I tell her, kissing the top of her head. I wait until her body sags against me before adding, “Come on, I’ll make you a tea.” I pick her up, carry her back to the bedroom, and lay her on the bed. “I’ll be right back,” I say, then make my way to the kitchen.