Trusting Tanner (The Collins Brothers)

by Lexi Lawton

  “All right. Explain this to us.” Xander set his beer on the table and crossed his arms. “What makes you different than every other girl he’s ever dated?”

  “Yeah,” Ryder chimed in. “Why should we believe you’re any different than the others?”

  She jerked her hands out of her pockets and balled them into fists by her sides. “I don’t care about every other girl he’s dated.” Her words were clipped, her jaw clenched so tight, her whole mouth ached, and her stomach revolted.

  She knew absolutely nothing about his previous girlfriends. Not that she really wanted to hear about his exes, but it was sobering to suddenly realize she knew very little about his past relationships. Was he hiding something from her? Her breaths became sharper and painful. What if he wasn’t the man she thought he was? She’d been so horribly wrong about Zach, and she’d known quite a bit about him. More than she currently knew about Tanner.

  “Then explain why you’re different,” Xander pressed.

  They closed in on her, invading her space. The crash of balls into pins echoed, lights flashed, the base from the band pounded through her chest, and she broke out in a sweat. No matter where she looked, everything was out of focus, and she wanted nothing more than to find Tanner and get out of there. Why wouldn’t they leave her alone?

  She shifted uncomfortably on her feet and tucked her hands under her armpits to hide the fact they were shaking. “I don’t care about Tanner’s money, okay? Now can we please drop this?”

  “We’ll drop it as soon as you convince us you’re not a gold digger,” Ryder said.

  Xander’s eyes widened. “Yeah.” He nodded.

  “I don’t have to prove anything to you guys.” She took a deep breath and tried to calm down by reminding herself these were Tanner’s brothers, and it was important she get along with them, but damn! They just didn’t know when to stop.

  “You do if you want to be with our brother.” Ryder’s stare didn’t waver.

  “What are you, the girlfriend police?” She rolled her eyes then laughed, hoping they’d finally back off.

  “Something like that,” Xander said with a one-shoulder, lazy shrug. “It’s our job to watch out for one another. Don’t take it personally.”

  “Well, it’s kind of hard not to when you’re interrogating me.”

  “If you’d answer our question, we’d stop,” Ryder challenged.

  “Fucking Christ!” Juliana threw her hands up in the air. “Because I’m worth more than Tanner. That’s why! I don’t need his damn money when I have more than enough of my own.”

  “What?”

  Juliana spun around at the sound of Tanner’s voice. She could feel the color drain from her face. The room started to spin, but everything seemed to slow to a snail’s pace.

  “Did you just say you’re worth more than me?” Tanner approached her, confusion evident in his stare.

  Shit. Her wealth was something she’d never shared with anyone before, and it was something she never planned to tell anyone but her husband, whenever she finally got married. But now Tanner knew. And so did his brothers. They were all watching her, waiting for an explanation. Ice cold fear spread quickly through her body, freezing her tongue and her ability to speak. No way in fucking hell was she going to stand there and tell them the horrifying story about how she got all her money. Prying off her fingernails with a dull, rusty knife would hurt less. She shoved past them and ran out of the bowling alley.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  “Jules!” Tanner moved to go after her then stopped. He turned back to his brothers. “What the fuck did you say to her?”

  “Nothing.” Ryder shrugged. “We were just confirming she didn’t give a shit.”

  “Yeah, then she freaked out and screamed at us.” Xander grabbed his beer and chugged what was left.

  Tanner clenched his hands into fists, unsure if he should coldcock each of them before going after Jules. He had no idea what was said other than Juliana declaring she had more money than him. “You two need to stay the hell out of this.”

  Spinning on his heel, he shoved his way through the crowd, praying he’d find Jules. As he pushed through the doors and stepped outside, he saw her getting into a cab. “Shit.” He laced his hands on top of his head and blew out a breath.

  He doubted she’d take a cab all the way back to campus, so the only place she could go would be back to the hotel. Digging his keys from his pocket, he ran to his car and peeled out of the parking lot. As soon as he fixed things with Juliana, he was going to kill his brothers. He should’ve known better than to leave them alone with her.

  The drive to the hotel was short, and Tanner rushed toward the elevators. He stabbed the up arrow, but the doors didn’t open. He took a step back then looked around. The stairwell was few feet away. He glanced to the still-closed elevator doors then back to the door leading to the stairs. Which would be faster? Taking a step toward the stairs, he stopped and turned back. Indecision hummed through him.

  “Fuck it.” He made the choice to take the stairs and headed that direction when the elevator dinged and the doors slid open. Turning around, he raced back and dashed inside the elevator before the doors could close on him.

  He took several deep breaths in an attempt to calm his racing heart, but it was useless. He couldn’t get enough air into his lungs, and his hands trembled. He had no idea what happened or what was going on in her mind, and until he did, he wouldn’t be able to relax. He flexed his fingers and stared at the numbers as the elevator climbed too slowly toward his floor.

  The elevator came to a stop, and he was out before the doors were fully open. He raced down the hallway and fumbled with the key card. “Damn it.” He paused and blew out a shaky breath. What if he was too late? What if she’d already left? Finally, he got the door to unlock.

  “Jules?” He entered the room, which looked exactly as it had when they’d left earlier. “Juliana? Are you here?” He went to the bedroom and found her shoving her clothes into her bag. “What’re you doing?”

  She ignored his question and went into the bathroom, returning with her makeup bag, shoving it into her duffel bag, too, and then went to the opposite side of the bed and scooped up the shorts she’d worn last night.

  “Stop packing.” He stood in the doorway, arms crossed.

  Juliana grabbed her shoes and put them in her bag, still ignoring him. This was all so surreal; he couldn’t wrap his mind around what was happening. Two hours ago they’d been in the shower together, touching, kissing, pleasuring each other. And now she was completely ignoring him, packing her bag, planning to leave him. And hell if he knew why. The thought of letting her walk out before he had the chance to tell her how he felt was enough to bring him to his knees. He couldn’t let her leave. Not like this.

  “Jules.” He walked farther into the room. “Damn it. Stop packing and talk to me.”

  She zipped her bag and then turned to him. “There’s nothing to say. Your brothers wanted to know why I didn’t give a shit about your money, so I told them.”

  “If that’s all it was, then why did you run out of the bowling alley? Why are you packing your bag right now?”

  Juliana shrugged. Her eyes were wet with unshed tears. “I’ve called Devon to come get me, so you can stay here and hang out with your brothers.”

  “You called Devon?” Tanner stomped toward her, rage burning hot inside of him. There was so much wrong with this entire situation, the least of which was he had no fucking clue what was going on. He couldn’t make sense of what she’d said at the bowling alley. He couldn’t understand why she’d run or why she was leaving now. But he’d have to be dead on the floor before he willingly let her leave with Devon.

  “Yeah. I figured it would be easier this way.”

  He rubbed his hands over his face, desperate for things to click into place in his brain so he could say something intelligent to fix this mess. But he was at a complete loss.

  “Okay, just…stop for a minute.
” He paced in front of her. “What happened at the bowling alley? What did my brothers say to you?” He was facing her now, pleading. He wouldn’t hesitate to beg if that’s what it took to get her to stay here with him.

  “I told you. Your brothers wanted to know why I didn’t care about your money.”

  “You told them you’re worth more than me. Is that the truth?”

  “Yes,” she whispered. Then, clearing her throat, she met his gaze. “And thanks for thinking I’m a liar.”

  “That’s not what I said, Jules, and I’ve never once thought that about you. But in my defense, it was quite a shock to hear you say that. You can’t demand total honesty from me and then lie to me about something like this. That’s not fair. We had a long talk about money and my trust fund on the way here. Hell, we’ve talked about money multiple times before that, and you never once bothered to mention you were richer than me.”

  She snorted and shook her head. “Is that what’s bothering you? That I’ve got more money? Is this some sort of competition? Is your ego hurt?”

  He ground his teeth, clenching and unclenching his fists. The money didn’t mean a damn thing, but if she wanted to have this argument with him, he was going to give it to her. “How much?”

  “What?”

  “How much are you worth?”

  “Uh-uh.” She shook her head adamantly. “I’m not doing this with you.”

  “I gave you my number. It’s only fair you give me yours.”

  “No!” She pointed at him. “I didn’t ask for your fucking number! I didn’t want to know. You’re the one who insisted I had to know. Don’t you stand there and tell me I owe you the same in return. I don’t owe you a damn thing.” She turned back to her bag, unzipped it, and shoved a few more things inside.

  “Tell me.” For weeks he’d watched her, studied her, learned her moods and mannerisms, memorized everything he could about her, and he knew, without a doubt, there was something much bigger than a dollar amount running through her head right now.

  “Fine. You want a number. I’ll give you numbers.” She spun around, her eyes blazing with an anger and hurt he’d never seen before. Stunned, he took a cautious step back. “Nine. That’s how old I was when both of my parents died in a car accident.” She took a step toward him. “Zero. The number of family members willing to take me in. Seven. The number of foster homes I had. Two. The number of group homes I lived in. Two hundred thousand. The amount of the check I got on my eighteenth birthday. Oh, and a pat on the back from my caseworker with a, ‘You’re free now. Go do great things with your life.’”

  She stood in front of him now, her chest touching his. He wanted nothing more than to reach out and take her into his arms, to comfort her and tell her it would be okay, but he had a feeling that was the very last thing she wanted.

  “So, to answer your question, Tanner. My number is nineteen point two million. That’s what a jury in the state of Kentucky valued my parents’ lives at. And the drunk asshole who hit them? He got five years in prison. So, yeah, I’m worth more than you. And all it cost me were my parents and my childhood. Happy now?”

  She turned away and lifted her hands to her face. Tanner closed his eyes, knowing she was wiping away tears. No wonder she reacted the way she did when Xander and Ryder pushed the issue. And then, like a total ass, he’d pushed her even harder. Shit.

  “I’d give every penny of it back to have them here with me again,” she whispered.

  Tanner blinked in a pathetic attempt to stop the tears forming in his eyes. He stepped around her and grabbed her cell phone from the bed where it had been lying next to her bag. He held it out to her. “Call Devon and tell him you don’t need him to come get you.” He had no idea which shook worse: his hand or his voice.

  Juliana stared at her phone and then up at him. Her eyes were red, her cheeks wet. Her lips trembled. He was trying to give her the space she needed right now, but the sight of her so hurt and broken…his heart seized, and his stomach dropped. How could he have done this to her? He should’ve dropped it like she’d asked. He shouldn’t have pushed her.

  “Jules, please. Call him and tell him you’re staying.” His voice dipped, and a lump formed in his throat. If she didn’t agree, he had no idea what he’d do. But he couldn’t imagine being here without her.

  “Why?”

  “Because I don’t want you to leave,” he whispered. “I know if you walk out that door, we might never have another chance at this, and God, Juliana, I can’t handle that.” Tears pooled in his eyes, and he fought to keep them at bay. “So, please. I’m begging you. Call Devon and tell him not to come here.”

  Slowly, she reached out and took the phone. Tanner held his breath. He stood right there as she made the call. “Hey, Dev. Yeah, I’m fine. I’ve changed my mind. I’m going to stay.” There was a brief pause. “No, he’s not forcing me to say this.” She met and held Tanner’s gaze. “I want to stay here with him. Please understand.” There was another pause. Juliana nodded. “Thank you.” She ended the call and tossed the phone back onto the bed. “There. It’s done. Now what?”

  Now it was time for him to stop being a chickenshit and claim the woman he loved before it was too late. No more putting it off. By the time the night was over, she would know exactly how he felt about her. He took her face in his hands and brought his lips down over hers, tentative at first, unsure if she would push him away, but she parted her lips and welcomed him. He moved his hands, wrapped his arms around her lower back, and pulled her to him, sighing at the feel of their bodies pressed together so completely.

  “I am so sorry. I had no idea.” He held her tight, refusing to ever let her go.

  “You’re the only person I’ve ever told.”

  He took a deep breath and opened his mouth to ask if she’d told Devon but thought better of it. Right now, it needed to be just the two of them. “I won’t tell anyone.”

  “Will you do something for me?”

  His heart hammered in his ears. “Anything.”

  She stepped out of his arms. “This is probably going to sound stupid and girly and needy.”

  “Juliana.” He cupped her cheek, hating how hard it was for her to ask him for a simple favor. “I would do absolutely anything for you, no matter how stupid or girly or needy you think it is.”

  She wiped at a few stray tears. He’d never seen her look as beautiful as she did right then.

  “Tell me what you want.” His voice was a hoarse whisper.

  “I want you to lie in bed with me and…” She lowered her head. “Hold me.”

  Christ, the emotion behind those two words knocked him on his ass. A myriad of thoughts and images bombarded him. Juliana had lost her parents. She didn’t have any close female friends he knew of, except maybe Mariah, and he wasn’t sure Juliana would classify that as a friendship. Sure, she had Devon, but she’d admitted they were just friends. Nothing more. She didn’t have anyone. And to make matters worse, the one guy she had been with was a serial cheater who verbally tore her down. He swallowed hard. He didn’t pity her. She didn’t need that emotion from him, and it was one he wouldn’t give her. She was much too strong for that. But he’d give her him. All of him. Without question.

  “Told you it was stupid.” She gave a sharp, painful laugh. “I shouldn’t have asked. I’m sorry. You don’t have to.”

  “No,” he said much louder than he’d intended. “I want to.” Taking her chin in his hand, he gave her lips a firm kiss. “Get changed into something more comfortable. I’m going to put the DO NOT DISTURB sign on the door.”

  He left the bedroom, his knees weak. After he hung the sign on the outside of the door, he took out his cell phone and sent a text to both of his brothers: If either of you fuckers show up at my room, you’ll need a stretcher to get back downstairs. Leave me alone to fix this. I mean it!

  He’d barely kicked off his shoes when his phone buzzed with a reply. It was Ryder. Sorry we pushed. Hope we didn’t ruin things for you.<
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  Tanner didn’t justify that with a response. When he returned to the bedroom, Juliana’s bag was open and on the floor. He heard water running in the bathroom. He turned off his cell phone. The world could burn down around him for all he cared.

  He stripped down to his boxers and climbed into bed. Juliana emerged from the bathroom wearing a tank top and another pair of short shorts. He pulled back the covers, and she climbed into bed. She rolled onto her side, her back to him. He moved in behind her, cradling her and draping his arm over her waist. She put her hand over his, wiggling closer. It amazed him how perfectly she fit against his body. It was like she was built to fit with him and him alone.

  Cuddling after sex was something he’d always enjoyed. But he could honestly say he’d never gone to bed with a woman when his sole purpose was to hold her.

  He buried his face against her neck. “Thank you for staying.”

  “Thank you for asking me to. And I’m sorry I wasn’t honest with you about all of this.” She dragged her fingers over the back of his hand and up his arm. “I can’t bear to touch the money. It feels like I’m betraying them somehow if I do. The only money I’ve spent is for college because I know it would’ve made them proud. And the apartment. But that was something I had to do.”

  “I’m sure they’d be proud of you regardless of the money.” He moved her hair away from her neck and onto the pillow.

  “Yeah, probably.” She laced her fingers with his and held their hands to her chest, right over her heart, which beat steadily.

  “Jules?”

  “Yeah?”

  “When you go home for summer and holidays, where do you go?”

  “My parents owned a beach house in California. The summer before the accident, we spent it there. My mother and I would lounge on the beach and collect seashells. At night, we’d sit on the back porch while my father made s’mores on the grill. They were absolutely awful.” Her chuckle was strained. “That’s where I go. It’s all I have left of them.”