“Can’t. I’m not my type.” And then he hung up.
I dropped my phone on the floor, too pissed to do anything else. Ellie was watching me with serious eyes. Finally, when it was clear I wasn’t going to say anything, she prodded in a typically Ellie fashion. Direct but with humor.
“So that was a short conversation,” she said. “Is there a problem?”
“Yes.” I heaved a sigh. I didn’t want to say more, but right now, I was so open to her that words just came spilling out. “My dad’s drunk and needs help.”
“That was your father on the line?”
I could tell she was thinking that I’d just told my father to go fuck himself. She was shocked by that idea, and I hadn’t the heart to tell her that I had said much worse to the man. So I clarified.
“That was my brother, Larry, who is equally sloshed. They need a ride home.”
“Oh.” She looked around for her clothes and started pulling them on. “Okay.”
“No, it’s not okay!” I snapped, but I was also shoving myself upright. I had been planning on snuggling up to a beautiful woman for the rest of the night. Not dragging my father’s sorry ass home.
She touched my cheek, gently pulling my face up to hers. “Don’t worry,” she said as she dropped a kiss to tip of my nose. “We’ll have plenty of time to…um…compare sexual styles after we take care of your family.”
“I don’t want to compare styles, Ellie. I want to find more styles. And do them all with you.” Then I caught her mouth with mine, kissing her as deeply as I could. It was swift and hard, and she accepted it with a hum of delight. But then she cut it off, stepping back with a firm stare.
“Get dressed. I’ll drive.”
I jolted upright. “No,” I said as firmly as I could. “Absolutely not.”
She looked up as she was buttoning her jeans. “It makes sense. I have to drive home anyway. I’ll take you there and help. Then I can drop you back here. Or you can stay there. Whatever you need.”
I shook my head. “You are not going with me.”
“Why not?”
I could hear the hurt in her voice, so I tried to explain. “Look, it’s not about you. It’s about my asshole family. I don’t want you there with them.”
“Because you don’t want me to see them drunk? Jake, I’ve dealt with lots of drunks. I’m a nurse. There’s nothing I can’t handle.”
But I couldn’t handle it. She’d been looking at me with such joy. I didn’t want to think about what her opinion of me would be after she met my alcoholic family. Pity? Disgust? I didn’t want that from anyone, but especially her.
“No, Ellie. Trust me on this. I can handle it alone.”
“But you don’t have to. That’s what girlfriends do, right? They help during family emergencies.”
“This isn’t an emergency.” It was a fucking routine.
She folded her arms, plumping her breasts. But even that couldn’t distract me from the narrow annoyance in her expression. “I can help.”
Damn it. She was hurt and pissed now. This was exactly how Ididn’twant this evening to end. “It’s not about you. It’s about—”
“Them. Yeah, I got that.” She stepped back up into my space and poked me with her finger. “I’m going with you. You’re still hurt. I can help. And—” She spoke louder because I’d opened my mouth to argue. “And I expect you to say yes.”
“No.”
She sucked in a breath. Then she stepped back, her expression shuttered.
“Ellie—”
“I’m going. Even if I have to follow you to the bar, I’m going.”
And damn it, I could see that she meant it. Which meant that I was going to have to let her see more of me than I’d shown anyone in the past decade.
