7. Laurie

What the fuck had I done? Beck was the best friend I'd ever had. He'd offered me this trip. He wanted to help me, and now I'd lied about who I was and fucked his brother.

You didn't really lie.

I let Worth believe I'd been hired for him. If he'd had any idea I was his little brother's friend he would never have fucked me.

And you would never have had that experience.

It was by far the best sex I'd ever had in my life, and now I absolutely wasn't getting any more, not that I'd thought I would anyway. Worth had a reputation for only being with a partner once, and I'd known he was eventually going to find out who I was. I just hadn't thought it would happen like this.

Beck probably hated me now, and that would leave me with no friends, no home, and no money. What the fuck had I been thinking?

You wanted something for yourself.

But my only friend's brother?

My stomach churned, and my throat felt tight. The room started to spin around me. I was falling apart. I couldn't do this. I couldn't stay here, letting Beck support me on this vacation, after what I'd done. And I sure as hell couldn't stay in this villa with Worth. I stuffed my belongings into my messenger bag, leaving the things I'd bought with the money Beck had given me. He could have them or return them or whatever.

I hated the thought of spending any of the meager funds I'd manage to squirrel away, but I could manage the fee to change my return ticket to get on the earliest flight I could. I'd just stay at the airport until then.

I dressed as fast as I could and grabbed my bag, praying Worth wouldn't come out of his room. I'd heard him shouting at Beck for a while, defending me, even though I didn't understand why the fuck he would want to.

The villa was silent now. Maybe I could reach the door and get out without Worth hearing me. I'd had a lot of practice moving quietly.

I reached the front door and was disengaging the safety lock when Worth came out of his bedroom.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"Home."

"No."

"I'm not staying here. I can't. I won't spend Beck's money, not now, and you…." I turned to the door. My face was on fire, and my heart was racing.

"If anyone is going to leave, it's going to be me."

"No. You belong here; I don't. I have no business in a place like this."

"The hell you don't."

Why was he still defending what I'd done? "You thought I was an escort."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

I turned the knob and pulled open the door. I couldn't talk about it. I couldn't stand to look at him, to know he was judging me, critiquing me.

"Please don't leave."

The anguish in his voice froze me to the spot. "Why?"

"Because it's not safe."

"It's a five-star resort. I think I'll be safe asking for a taxi to the airport on my own."

"It's not safe for you in St. Louis."

So Beck had told him about Tommy. Now he'd just look at me with pity. "Fuck. How much do you know?"

"Enough to know that. I can get another room. You can stay here, but don't leave Aruba until you've had time to make better arrangements for yourself."

"Why would you give me this place after what I did?"

"Because you need someone to protect you."

I'd needed someone to fuck me a few hours ago, and he'd done an amazing job. So amazing I couldn't even look at him. He'd opened me up in more than one way. I wasn't going to be able to stay with him, not unless he truly meant the things he'd said to me. Had he really wanted to keep me for the entire two weeks?

It didn't matter. I couldn't. We couldn't. I wouldn't do anything to hurt Beck more than I already had. "I'll figure something out."

I opened the door, but Worth was suddenly behind me. He smacked his hand against the door, slamming it shut. "Turn around and look at me."

"Just because I played your power games earlier doesn't mean I will now."

I heard him exhale before he stepped back. "Please look at me."

I couldn't ignore him anymore now than I hadn't been able to when he'd asked me to stay. "I don't think I can."

"I'm so sorry. I don't know what I was thinking. I made an assumption and…."

I spun around. He had nothing to feel guilty about. "I enjoyed every minute of it."

His eyes widened. "You're not angry?"

"No. I could've told you who I was, and I knew…." I paused, drawing in a slow breath, wishing my hands weren't shaking.

"Do you need to sit down?"

I shook my head, but I was lying; I was about to pass out. But if I sat down, I would never leave. "I knew you wouldn't hurt me."

"You did?"

"Beck has told me plenty about you."

Worth rolled his eyes. "I'm sure he has. I doubt much of it was complimentary."

"More than you're thinking I'm sure, and just because you're quite the playboy doesn't mean you're dangerous."

"I'm so sorry about what you've been through. You came here to get away, then I come in and make crazy assumptions."

"I wasn't offended. It was actually quite a compliment. I haven't had many of those in a while."

"Tell me where the son of a bitch who hurt you is, and I'll have him eliminated, after he's suffered for a long time."

"Jesus, do you have a hitman on call or something?"

"I have connections. He deserves to be punished for what he's done to you."

"He does, but I know what it's like trying to press charges."

Worth huffed. "The justice system is shit when it comes to men like him. I can take care of him though."

"No, I would never put you at risk like that."

"There's probably a lot less risk than you think."

"Why would you do something like that for me?" I asked.

"Because no one deserves to be hurt like he's hurt you."

Why did Worth care so much about me? I was sure he didn't just offer to kill every man who'd hurt someone he knew. Was there something more? Probably not. I was Beck's friend. That was reason enough. There couldn't be more to it, no matter how much I'd convinced myself of it earlier when he was inside me, looking down at me like I was a treasure.

I reached for the door handle again. "I should go."

"No. Absolutely not. You think Beck is mad now. If I let you run off, he'll kill me."

"I'm not a child."

He smiled. "No, you're certainly not."

Heat rose in my face again.

"Fuck." Worth shook his head.

"What?"

"Seeing you blush like that makes me crazy, but I promised Beck I would stay away from you."

The only thing that made me want to stay in Aruba was the thought of Worth fucking me again like he had earlier. "So we're just going to share this villa and ignore each other?"

"No, I'm going to show you around Aruba and give you the best vacation you've ever had."

"Trust me, I've never had a vacation at all like this, so there's not a lot of competition."

He huffed, "Are you saying I can't make it better?"

"No, I'm not saying that, but you don't think we should fuck again, so…."

"Jesus, do you know what you're doing to me?"

I couldn't help myself. I let my gaze drop to Worth's crotch. The bulge of his hard cock pressed against his shorts. Arguing with me had turned him on. "This is a terrible idea. I can't stay here like this."

"I'm not letting you leave."

My breath caught, and I took a step back. If Tommy had said that I'd be contemplating every means of escape, even if it was just into my own head, but with Worth, I wasn't afraid, I was turned on. That didn't mean I wasn't going to call him on his bullshit. "I can go anywhere I want to."

"Not by yourself. I won't let you take risks. I won't let you put yourself in danger."

"I've been living with danger in my own home for years. I can handle this."

"But you don't have to. Tell me what you need."

It sounded so like the way he'd spoken to me when we were in bed. A shiver ran over me. "You seemed to know exactly what I wanted a little while ago."

Worth ran a hand through his hair, leaving it standing up. "I do. I did, but…."

"I know. You can't break your promise to Beck. And I shouldn't even be thinking about men right now, I need some time on my own."

"What else do you need? Did you eat dinner?"

"I intended to order something after my nap, but then you got here, and…."

He crossed the room to the house phone. "What do you like, or should I just order a sample of everything from the menu?"

"What?"

"I can just order one of everything for you to try, or you can look over the room service menu."

"Order everything? That's crazy."

"Not for me. I can make all your wishes come true."

He sure as hell had earlier, but now I needed to say no. I should've said no to the whole thing. "I'm not going to ask you to do that."

"Let me take care of you. That's what Beck asked me to do."

He was just being nice to me because he wanted to make things right with his brother. What happened before was because he thought I was here especially for him. He found me attractive, but this wasn't anything more. We'd had some great sex, and now he was doing his duty by making sure I was safe.

"I think you should get yourself another room or get another room for me, a smaller one. I don't need all of this."

"You deserve all of this."

This was too much. "You hardly even know me."