Because It's You (Carolina Rebels 2)

That’s all I have!

That’s practically nothing compared to what he knows about me!

My body slides to the passenger seat and I buckle up as I see him returning with our food. I’m not even hungry anymore. Roger never had any problems telling me things. Then again, I didn’t have any trouble opening up to him either. My biggest problem back then was convincing my parents to come to our wedding.

The cab of the truck is exploding with silence. I don’t like it. I

can’t decide if I’m still pissed or now worried and annoyed because I’m worried. By the time he pulls into my driveway, I decide I’m pissed. It’s been so fucking hard to give him a chance, and he’s going to clam up like he has?

“Well, it was nice to see you,” I start before he can put the truck in park. “But I’m tired and have a kitchen to clean and an early start tomorrow, so I’ll just see you later.” I hop out of the truck, run inside, and lean against the door—waiting for something.

The moment I hear his truck pull away is the moment I realize that I didn’t want him to leave and I was waiting for him to come inside.

“Sir, I can wait on you,” I hear my co-worker, Darlene, say while I focus on finishing the transaction for my own customer.

“That’s okay.”

My head snaps up because there is only one person in this world with a voice like that. There Marc is, stepping aside so the woman next in line can go ahead of him. What is he doing here? How did he even know which bank I work at? My customer turns his head and says, “Hey, you’re Marc Polinski!”

I tune out as they talk about hockey and try to hurry up to get Marc’s fan out of here. “Sir, you’re all finished,” I say a bit too loudly to garner his attention. The second he steps away, Marc is in front of me. “What are you doing here?” I hiss.

“You’re wearing lipstick.”

What? What does that have to do with anything? “I’m at work.” Which is the only reason I’ll put on lipstick. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m sorry.” He starts to say something else, but I interrupt him.

“While I appreciate the sentiment, why couldn’t this have waited? I’m at work, Marc. Imagine me surprising you in the middle of practice and forcing you to talk to me over something that isn’t an emergency.” When his brows pinch together, I know he’s understanding what I’m saying.

“Lizzy?”

My back straightens as I turn in my chair to face my boss, Mr. Walker.

“Is Mr. Polinski giving you trouble?”

Everyone who works here would know if Marc had an account here, and since he’s made a point to speak to me, then obviously something more is happening. What irks me is that apparently everyone knows Marc!

“Not at all,” I answer. “He just...” Damn it, I don’t have a good excuse for him being here.

“I forgot something at her house and just stopped by to get her key.”

What in the hell did he just say?

Mr. Walker’s eyes widen. Everyone in this branch knows I stick to myself. They speculate about me becoming an old cat lady. They know I don’t date. They don’t think I have any family because I have zero pictures at my desk unlike the rest of them. They don’t realize I’m tied to Scott Boyd of the Carolina Rebels. Now, Marc is in here and has basically told my boss that not only are we an item, but he was recently at my house, left something there, and needs to pick it up!

What in the hell? Now, they’re going to think I’m dating Marc Polinski and start wondering how in the hell I pulled that off because what in the world would a guy like him see in the old cat lady in training? They really get to me sometimes, like today, especially since I don’t even like cats!

“Would you mind if I spoke to Elizabeth privately for a moment?” Marc asks Mr. Walker.

Mr. Walker looks to me as if asking me for permission, but he’s the boss. “Sure. Take your time.”

Really? This is the same man who is a stickler if we’re late from lunch but he’s telling Marc to take his time talking to me? It takes all of my adult-like characteristics not to grumble as I stand and meet Marc around front. He takes my hand to lead me outside to his truck. He leans against it and pulls me to lean against him. I try to remember my anger and hurt from last night. I definitely keep in mind what he just said inside. Therefore, my body is stiff and my arms are folded over my chest.

“I’m sorry,” he repeats. “You have that look in your eyes like you’re panicking and you’re pissed. I didn’t think about the implications of coming here, only that I didn’t want to wait all damn day to see you and tell you what I needed to say. I’m sorry for coming and for leaving last night. I knew I’d have to open up to you at some point, but I wasn’t expecting the intro to happen like that or so soon. I wasn’t prepared. Things with my dad have been on a need-to-know basis, Elizabeth, and I don’t like talking about it. That’s pretty much all I can say right now. Want to come over tonight? I can tell you a little more, but I won’t tell you everything. I’m not comfortable with that yet.” He flexes his fingers on my hips when I don’t answer right away. “Will you?”

“Yeah,” I sigh. He doesn’t need to know that I gave in the moment he apologized because I can’t seem to help myself where he’s concerned. “Be sure to cook me something good. What time?”

“Whenever you want to come over.” He leans down and kisses me. This one seems different than the rest we’ve had. The softness and slowness isn’t unusual, but there’s an added tenderness and it’s like I can feel his regret over last night in his kiss. “You forgive me?” he murmurs against my mouth.