Because It's You (Carolina Rebels 2)

The dam is threatening to break, but I contain the tears and swallow hard to push down the sob waiting to break out. I turn to Marc. “Okay.” Then I face Scott, “Now take me home.”

“I’ll take you,” Marc offers.

“She’d love that,” Sylvia blurts out. I swear, I’m going to kill her!

“He’s been drinking,” I try.

Marc grins. “Haven’t touched it.” He lifts his beer. It doesn’t look like he’s had but a sip.

Crap.

“Fine.”

How did I get myself into this mess?

AS SOON AS the okay leaves her mouth, I throw an arm around her shoulders and tuck her into my side. She glares at me, but I ignore her. “See you guys later,” I tell the table and begin to lead her away.

“Why is your arm around me again?”

“I’m helping you walk.”

“I’m not that drunk,” she retorts.

Maybe not, but she is a little unbalanced on her feet considering she’s leaning into me so much and she nearly fell out of her chair earlier. I don’t say any of that, though. “Just enjoy being able to feel my body next to yours, Elizabeth.” I don’t know what’s come over me, but I keep blurting shit out that seems to piss her off.

“It’s Lizzy,” she grumbles.

I pull my keys from my suit jacket and unlock the doors to my truck as we approach. She can correct me all she wants, but I’m calling her Elizabeth. It suits her better, I think. I open the door for her, but she stares at the seat, unmoving. Taking a step closer, so close that my chest brushes her back and her ass touches the tops of my thighs, I lean down to whisper in her ear, “Need help?”

Whether it’s the proximity of my body to hers or the sound of my voice, Elizabeth sharply sucks in a breath. She goes tense and shakes her head. She grabs the handle along the frame and hauls herself into the truck. I close the door for her and then I’m walking around to get behind the wheel. “So, when do you want to go out with me?” I ask as I back out of my parking space.

Elizabeth groans. “Never.” A second later, she adds in a quieter tone, “Aren’t you too busy traveling to go on dates?”

“Nope, I’m not that busy. Hey, where am I going anyway?” I ask as I pull to a stop at a stoplight. I don’t even know if I’m going in the right direction.

She starts giggling much like she did when Scott called me Marco and she learned of Marco Polo. “I was wondering when you’d ask.” She leans over and pulls up the GPS on the screen of my dash.

“You can’t give directions?” I tease.

“Nope.”

The light turns green, so I keep going straight. Elizabeth leans back in her seat a minute or so later. According to my navigational system, I need to turn around. She couldn’t have told me I was going in the wrong direction? We’re quiet as I make my U-turn and begin heading toward her house.

“There’s something familiar about you,” I say. I can’t put my finger on what, though, and it’s really bugging me. “We haven’t met before, have we?” I would remember if we had. I wasn’t lying when I told her she was the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. From her dirty blonde hair to her hazel eyes to her amazing body, the woman is gorgeous. She’s all but eliminated Ivy from the Halloween party from my mind.

When I glance at Elizabeth, she seems oddly tense. “No, we haven’t,” she replies tersely, throwing me off for a moment.

I figured as much, but I swear, there’s something about her. Something about that mouth and those eyes. But what is it? The thoughts nag me so loudly that I nearly miss what Elizabeth says.

“You don’t have to go out with me just because Sylvia is pushing this. I know how she can be.”

She can’t be serious. “She only told me she wanted me to meet someone. She never said she wanted us to go on a date, even though I knew that was her goal. Sylvia didn’t push me to ask.”

“Oh,” she replies quietly.

Nothing else is said on the drive to her house. I stay silent to give her a break from me. I keep glancing over at her, trying to figure out why she seems familiar. I pull into her driveway, but her hand is already on the handle before I can park.

“Don’t even think about it,” I order before I can think twice about it.