Mind Play (Bennett Sisters Book 3) (32 page)

Butch kissed the top of her head. “I’ll come check on you in a bit. Go get some rest, baby.”

Claire padded down the hall to her old room
. She’d done little to update it since she
’d
stayed here as a teen. Her cheerleading posters still hung on the walls along with her favorite boy band. Fluff, fur, and pink colored the room. It was almost enough to make her want to vomit again. Claire shook her head and closed the door behind her. She turned off the light and kicked off her shoes before climbing into bed, to
o
tired to change out of her clothes, if she’d brought any to change in to. Claire released a heavy sigh, threw the covers
over her
,
and snuggled into the familiar
mattress
.

****

Butch stared down the hall, long after he heard Claire shut the door. He
could feel his brow creased with worry
;
this was all starting to take a toll on her. She was a strong woman, but sometime
s
even
strong women had
their breaking point. Abby walked over to
him, linked her arm through his,
and leaned on his shoulder
.
“You really like her, don’t you
,
big guy
?”

Butch glanced down at his best friend and then back down the hall
.
“Yep, and I’m worried this is all too much for her.”

Abby tugged on his arm
.
“Come take a walk with me on the beach before dinner is done.”

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea with everything going on.”

Abby tugged harder
.
“Oh
,
come on, there’s enough people here to watch her for thirty minutes. Besides you know I’m packing
,
and I know you have your piece. If anyone is stupid enough to start something with us, then they
’ll
get what they deserve.”

Butch smiled and gave in to the little brunette. Butch saw the concern on Sam and John’s
,
face as she walked by, but she just shook her head. It was apparent the little lady had an agenda
all her own
,
and he could only imagine it was concerning his fiancé
e
asleep in the next room. Butch gave a slight nod to both men, acknowledging he was in charge of keeping Abby safe. She might be a little
spitfire
,
even
more than the rest of her sisters, but she still managed to get in her fair share of trouble.

Abby pulled him down the stairs into the soft sand. “Kick off your socks and shoes
. W
e’ll head down to
the waterline where the sand isn’t so soft
.”

Butch did as she asked and watched as she tossed her flip
-
flops back onto the porch. She linked their arms again and gui
ded him toward the crashing waves
.

It was
beautiful
here. The sun was setting on the horizon
,
and the
y
were alone on the beach
—
just the sand, waves, an occasional seagull
,
and his best friend. The only thing that would have made it better
would be
Claire by his side.

“Okay
,
spill. I want to know what your intentions are with my sister.”

Butch threw his head back and laughed. “I’d expect that from Mike, or even the rest of the guys, but not from you.”

“Butch
,
get real. You and I both know that you’re a flirt. You portray this bad boy image to the rest of the world, but don’t forget that I know you. I know that you’re lonely, you never go out, and that you’ve had your eye on my sister from day one.”

Butch stopped walking and looked down at Abby.

Abby shrugged.
“What
? T
ell me that isn’t the truth and I’ll leave you alone.”

Butch shook his head. “Damn
,
Abby. You do pay attention to details.”

“It’s all a
part of the job description. So tell me
,
Butch… what’s up with you and my sister? When this started, I could understand the lie about being engaged to stay close to her, maybe even scare off any would
-
be threats, but now, you’re around family and you haven’t dropped the charade.”

Butch let his head fall back on his shoulde
rs and spotted the brightest star in the night sky. He pointed to it. “Abby, you see that star up there? The brightest one in the sky?”

Abby looked up
.
“Yeah.”

“That’s your sister to me. She’s beautiful and sexy and strong and stubborn and has a heart of gold, but like that star…it’s so far out of
my reach
. We are two completely different people.”

“Opposites
attract
,
stupid.” Abby pulled him down to walk in the shallow water. “Do I have to teach you everything about women?”

“You don’t get it. She said she loves me.”

Abby pulled Butch to a stop. “This is huge.”

“No…no
,
it’s not. When this is all over with and she doesn’t see me as her
k
night in shining
armor
,
her feelings are going to change. She’s going to see me different
ly
, and if I tell her I love her back, I don’t want her to feel obligated when she realizes that her f
ixation on me wasn’t real
.”

Abby put her hands on her hips as if offended on Claire’s behalf. “Butch, my sister is
not
stupid. She’s not some dreamy teenager that’s going to wake up one day and realize she’s made a mistake.
Claire is a thinker. She thinks about things long and hard just like you. She’s nothing like me where I go off without thoughts
for
the consequences. You two have more in common th
a
n you think.
”

“Abby
—
”

“No, let me finish
.
” Abby put her arm through his and started walking again. “Claire has always
,
and I mean always, been there for me and Emma. When our parents died, she took care of us like a mother would. She made sure we ate our
vegetables
, brushed our teeth
,
and did our homework. At any given time, she could have thrown in the towel and
gone
in search of what she’d missed growing up, but she didn’t, and do you know why?”

Butch remained silent, knowing that Abby
was going to tell him regardless if he knew the answer.

“Because when Claire love
s
, she loves with all of her heart
. Butch
,
she has a big beautiful heart
,
and you can see it in everything
she
does and everything that she is. That’s why she does her fundraisers, that’s why she took care of me and Emma when we were younger
,
and that’s why she isn’t going to change her mind.”

A tear slid down Abby’s cheek.

Butch lifted a hand to
s
wipe it away.

“Abby, I know.”

Abby batted his hand away. “Good, then don’t be a schmuck
. T
ell her how you feel already.”

“I have
.
I told her that I’d be here when this is all over with, that I wasn’t leaving her
,
and I care about her.”

Abby’s fists rested on her hips
,
and she raised her brow. “Quit pussyfooting around and just tell her you love her already. It’s cut and dr
y
. Y
ou love her
,
and she loves you
.
N
ow grow up and be a man already.”

Abby turned around and left him standing there. She wasn’t going to wait around on him. Butch caught up to her
and grinned down at her as she kept talking,
“And for the record, she is stronger than she appears. She could kick my ass up and down the street
,
and she turns feral when someone hurts the ones she loves.” Abby glanced over at him but kept walking. “You need to keep your eye on her. She’s been known to take matters into her own hands
. S
o far it has always ended up okay, bu
t this time, I’m not taking any chances
.”

Butch’s phone rang
,
interrupting their conversation.

“Edwards
,
”
h
e barked into the phone.

“Hey
,
Butch, it’s me
,
Regina
,
”
t
he woman purred through the line.

He hadn’t checked the caller ID before flipping it open, and now he wished he had.

“Regina,
I know that we need to talk, and we will. It’s just that Claire and I have some things going on that we’re dealing with. When this is all over, we’ll start the paternity testing
.
”

Butch was silent listening to Regina, but Abby had stopped walking with him and put her hands on her hips. “
I
’m
in love with
Claire, and even a baby isn’t going to change that
.
I’ll do what’s right, I always do, but you’ve got to understand that a kid isn’t going to change how I feel about her.
”