Rome could guess what.
“Yeah?” Rome said, wiping his brow. Even though it was cool outside, the shed got stifling fast. They’d have to find a way to keep it cool in the summer, he thought idly. If he was still here at that time.
“You and I need to have a talk,” Grant said, his voice tight.
Here we go. “Shoot.”
“Brenna just texted me and tells me that you’re seeing my sister.”
Ah hell. Rome gave Grant a level gaze, saying nothing.
“Well? Are you?”
Rome considered for a moment. “I don’t know if that’s anyone’s business but mine and Elise’s.”
Grant’s face darkened. “My sister is young, and impressionable, and very fragile—”
“She’s an adult,” Rome said bluntly. Hell, he made Elise sound like she was made of glass. She was human, not fine china. “She can make her own decisions.”
“She doesn’t have a lot of life experience—”
“I know. That’s why she came to me.”
His eyes narrowed. “What do you mean, she came to you?”
Damn it. That had been the wrong thing to say to her overprotective brother. “That’s Elise’s business, I’m sorry to say. Not yours.”
“She’s my sister.”
“She’s an adult.”
“Elise has had a very sheltered upbringing. She’s not very worldly. I don’t want to see anyone take advantage of her.”
“I’m not taking advantage of her,” Rome said, but he knew the words were useless. Grant had already made up his mind about that, hadn’t he?
“No?” Grant crossed his arms over his chest. “I know Brenna likes you because she thinks you’re a rebel like her, but I don’t see a rebel when I look at you. I see a drifter. I see someone who uses people to get ahead, and then when it’s no longer profitable, he dumps them and leaves others to pick up the pieces. And I feel like I hand-delivered my sister into your lap. I hired you, so you must have been trustworthy, right? And instead I let you get close to a sweet, trusting, naive girl who happens to have an enormous bank account. That’s exactly the kind of victim you’re looking for, isn’t it?”
Jesus Christ, the man made him sound like the worst kind of criminal. “I don’t know anything about Elise’s bank account, and I don’t care about it. Your sister came on to me.”
“Oh, stop with the bullshit,” Grant said. “We both know that’s not true.”
“Whatever, man.” Clearly Elise was sainted in his eyes.
“I want you to stay away from my sister from now on,” Grant told him, stabbing a finger in Rome’s direction. It made Rome want to reach over and break it off, he was so coldly furious. “It’s only because we’re shorthanded that I’m not firing you on the spot. Dane’s out there busting his ass, handling double classes while Colt is out. I can’t afford to lose a set of hands right now.”
Rome’s jaw tensed. “And when Dane gets back?”
“I don’t know,” Grant said, his smile tight and bitter. “I guess it depends on when Elise plans on heading back home. I’m tempted to run a background check on you, just to see what comes up. Would I like what I find?”
Rome thought about his four years in prison. His terrible credit. His juvie records that held a wealth of minor offenses. “Most likely not.”
“That’s what I thought. You want to tell me about it?”
“Depends. You gonna tell Elise?”
“Doesn’t she deserve to know?”
He shrugged, feeling tense with anger. “It’s not who I am anymore, so does it matter?”
“It does if it can hurt my sister,” Grant snarled.
Rome said nothing. It wasn’t any of Grant’s damn business.
“That’s what I thought. I’ll leave you with this warning. Stay the hell away from my sister if you want to keep your job. One f**k-up and you’re out of here, understand?”
Rome thought about the paycheck he got on a weekly basis. He’d been so hopeful to use that to start climbing out of the hole he found himself in. Get some repairs done on his old bike, put away for a nest egg. He thought about his cabin, how good it felt to have a home again that he could call his own. How he didn’t have to sleep in shitty roadside motels with black mold on the ceiling, or crash on the couch of one of his parents’ old friends. Or worse, sleep under a bridge. He’d done all of the above, and there was nothing quite like having his own place.
And he thought of Elise. Sweet, gorgeous, shy Elise, who responded to his touch like no one he’d ever met before. Who made him feel like he could do anything when she looked at him with those big, shining eyes.
And then he thought of his family. And how he never, ever wanted to be beholden to them again.
And he thought of prison.
So he sighed, defeated. “I understand. I won’t speak to your sister anymore.”
“Good.” The hardness in Grant’s jaw eased a little. “It’s nothing against you personally, man. It’s just . . .”
“I know,” Rome said in a dead voice. “She’s your sister. I get it. I won’t even look at her. You have my word.”
Grant nodded. “Thank you.”
“Sure,” he said flatly.
• • •
When Elise stopped by the ranch that afternoon, camera in hand, Rome took one of the ATVs out into the woods and headed to the supply cabin to chop wood. He made sure he was gone until sunset, long after Elise would have left.
He was going to have to break that girl’s heart, wasn’t he? She wouldn’t understand why he’d suddenly blown so cold after their steamy sessions. He could tell her that her brother chased him off, but that would be unfair, wouldn’t it? Family was family, and her brother was just looking out for her. Rome had known he was no good for Elise from the start. No sense in dragging down another person with him.
The thing that bothered him the most about the situation was that he knew Elise would blame herself. She was growing in confidence and in her sexuality, and he worried this might crush her.
Never mind what it would do to him to have to let her go. She was the best thing that had happened to him in a long, long time.
Maybe ever.
• • •
Elise stared at her silent phone and tried not to feel hopeless. She’d told Rome to text her when he wanted to get together again, leaving the ball in his court each time they went out. And each time, he always sent her a text message the next day and they’d get together. Every day, without fail, she heard from him. But now she was going onto day three and there was nothing but silence. She thought he might wait another day. Maybe two. And she’d hoped he’d pop up with the charming, funny text messages he often sent throughout the day to let her know he was thinking about her.