Free Too Far 01- Fallen Too Far by Abbi Glines Page A

could go drink some coffee and look at magazines for a few hours. Maybe by then Rush would be done with his fuck fest downstairs.
    If he’d been trying to send me a message I had received it loud and clear. Not that I needed one. I’d already resigned myself to the fact that guys with money were not for me. I liked the idea of finding a good guy with a regular job. One that would appreciate my red dress and silver heels.
    I jumped down out of my truck and started toward the coffee shop when I saw Bethy inside with Jace. They were in a heated discussion at a table in the far back corner but I could see them through the window. At least she had brought him some place public. I would hope for the best with her and leave it alone. I wasn’t the girl’s mother. She was more than likely older than me. At least she looked older. She could make up her own mind who she wanted to waste her time with. The salty sea air tickled my nose. I crossed the street and headed to the public beach instead. I could be alone there.
    The waves crashing against the dark shore was soothing. So I walked. I remembered my mother. I even allowed myself to remember my sister; it was something I rarely did because the pain was too much at times. Tonight, I wanted that distraction. I needed to remember I’d suffered far worse than some stupid attraction to a guy that was absolutely not my type at all. I let memories of better days flood my thoughts… and I walked.

    When I pulled the truck back into Rush’s driveway it was after midnight and there were no cars outside. Whoever had been here was now gone. I closed the door to my truck and headed up the stairs. The front light was on making the house loom large and intimidating in the dark sky. Just like Rush.
    The door opened before I reached it and Rush stood there filling up the entry. He was here to tell me to leave. I was expecting this anyway. I didn’t even flinch. Instead, I looked around for my suitcase.
    “Where have you been?” he asked in a deep husky voice.
    I swung my gaze back to him. “What does it matter?”
    He took a step outside the door closing the small amount of space between us. “Because I was worried.”
    He was worried ? I let out a sigh and tucked the hair that kept blowing in my face behind my ear. “I find that real hard to believe. You were too busy with your company for the night to notice much of anything.” I couldn’t keep the bitterness from dripping off my tongue.
    “You came in earlier than I expected. I didn’t mean for you to witness that.”
    Like that made it better. I nodded and shifted my feet. “I came home the same time I do every night. I think you wanted me to see you. Why, I’m not sure. I’m not harboring feelings for you, Rush. I just need a place to stay for a few more days. I’ll be moving out of your house and life real soon.”
    He muttered a curse then glared up at the sky a moment before looking back at me. “There are things about me you don’t know. I’m not one of those guys you can wrap around your finger. I have baggage. Lots of it. Too much for someone like you. I expected someone so different considering I’ve met your father. You’re nothing like him. You’re everything a guy like me should stay away from. Because I’m not right for you.”
    I let out a hard laugh. That was the worst excuse for his behavior I’d ever heard. “Really? That’s the best you’ve got? I never asked you for anything more than a room. I don’t expect you to want me. I never did. I am aware that you and I are in two different playing fields. Your league is one I will never measure up to. I’m not the right bloodlines. I wear cheap red dresses and I have a fond connection to a pair of silver heels because my mother wore them on her wedding day. I don’t need designer things. And YOU are designer, Rush.”
    Rush reached for my hand and pulled me inside. Without a word, he pushed me up against the wall and caged me in with both his hands