Read Online Carter's Treasure by Amy Gregory - Free Book Online Page B

she whispered.
    “So…” he replied just as quietly, “Don’t. Tell me I’m worth it, that you’ll do long distance. Please.”
    She reached up to kiss him gently. “You’re worth everything.”

Chapter Five
     
    “He should have been back by now. I’m going to go check on them.” Brody started to stand, but Erin reached out to stop him.
    “Brody…don’t. Let them be. She’s fine.”
    “Erin. You don’t understand.”
    “Excuse me? I don’t understand what ? That she’s a twenty-six-year-old woman? That she has a drop dead beautiful man following her around like a puppy dog. That he’s probably kissing her goodnight. I get it Brody.” She rubbed his leg. “I also get that she’s a grown woman, one that deserves this. You have to let her be. If not now, when?”
    “But Erin.”
    “She’s lonely, Brody.”
    “She has us. She has Mom and Dad.”
    “You’re forgetting I’ve been around the last twelve years. I know why you and your parents are so protective. But she talks to me . I know she’s lonely because she’s told me . I know she wants what we have because she’s told me . And she can’t find it because you won’t let her.”
    He didn’t need to stick around and listen to this shit. He was going to go check on his sister. Probably kissing goodnight . Hell. He’d watched Sterling all night. There was no probably to it. Just the thought of that had his blood starting to boil. He stood up.
    “Fine, Brody…go. But that guy has sat here all damned afternoon and evening, putting up with your shit, without even one nasty remark. We could all see and feel it…you’ve been a jackass to him. The closer he got to her, the bigger ass you became. Add to it that he defended her honor and risked getting in trouble without so much as a second thought. He deserves some respect. You need to cut the guy some slack.”
    He stood holding the back of the chair, his knuckles turning white from gripping it so hard. He narrowed his eyes at his girlfriend, took a breath in, and gritted his teeth even harder. Erin was right. But it didn’t make it any easier and Molly was still his to protect, whether Erin or Molly liked it.
    “You’re suffocating her. You have to let her go. She needs space.”
    “She needs me ,” he slapped back.
    Erin stood and walked around to face him. He loved and hated the way she stood up to him. She never backed down from a fight, but as much as he loved her, he wished she wouldn’t square off with him, not here. Not on this subject.
    “Brody, she’ll always need you.” Her voice was calmer, but he still heard the force behind it. “Just not the same way as she did when she was younger. She’s made a lot of progress today. The fact she’s even giving Carter a chance, that’s a good thing. We’re here. Nothing’s going to happen to her. I promise. If he hurts her, I’ll kill him myself. In the meantime…space. You have to give her space.”
    She tried to wrap her arms around him. He held stiff for half a minute and finally cracked. Pulling her to him, he took a deep breath. He knew he could trust Erin’s judgment. If she was so adamantly defending this…whatever this thing between Carter and his sister was, then he should listen. It was just a damn shame that his sanity went right out the window wherever Molly was concerned. What could he say—he’d learned from the best. He pulled away and patted Erin’s arm.
    “I’ll be back.”
    “Don’t you embarrass her, Brody Noland, or pull the bully treatment on him. I have no problem killing you, either.”
    He nodded at the threat and turned to walk toward his motorhome. He chuckled nervously to himself. He wasn’t scared of Erin killing him, he was more nervous of what she’d do prior to the long, tortuous death. She didn’t fight like a girl, she went straight for his balls and squeezed until she got what she wanted. It was too bad they didn’t see eye-to-eye on this subject.
    He rolled his shoulders, trying