Battling Beckett Read online

  “I need to settle in at school and figure out how much time I will have for this new look. Let me figure out my new life first.”

  “Fine,” Jenn grouched, but then lit up. “But at least tell me how wonderful living with hunky Beckett Dawson is!”

  “Ugh, he is pretty much an asshole all the time.”

  “What?” Jenn screeched out her disbelief.

  “I’ll have to tell you guys later. I have to get back to work.”

  Reluctantly Greer slid out of the booth and headed back to work for another hour and a half. Her boss had agreed she could work from 3:00-6:00 every weeknight and whatever hours they needed her on the weekends. Her mom got off work at 5:00, but usually stayed a little later to clear and clean her desk. Picking Greer up at 6:00 worked for both of them.

  As soon as Greer punched out, she went to the parking lot and found her mom waiting for her. She slid into the familiar front seat.

  “Hi, Mom!”

  “Hi, honey. How was your first day of school?” Vivian asked as she merged into traffic.

  Greer shrugged. “Okay. I’m just glad the first day is over.”

  Vivian kept looking out the windshield, but Greer heard the concern creep into her voice. “Okay meaning bad or okay meaning okay?”

  Greer laughed and made sure to keep her voice neutral. “Okay meaning nothing bad happened, just the usual first-day curiosity of everyone.” She didn’t want her mom worrying about her.

  Her mom had never seemed unhappy, but when she started dating David Dawson, she glowed. Greer stuffed the ideas on why that might be deep down in her brain. Greer took it at face value and silently thanked David for it.

  Vivian Smith had gone to a technical school for an Administrative Assistant degree. At the young age of twenty, she was seduced by her first boss. When he found out Vivian was pregnant, he announced that he was married and stated emphatically there was no way he could be the father.

  Vivian’s mom had taken the view that Vivian had gotten herself pregnant, so she could figure out how to manage it. Since she had always wanted to visit the northeast Vivian just decided to move there and make a new start. Greer talked to her grandmother a couple of times a year but had only seen her a handful of times. The conversations she had over the phone were stilted and awkward. Greer marveled that her warm, caring mom seemed to come from someone who was standoffish. She didn’t even know her dad’s name and at this point in her life, she had no desire to know it or him.

  David was a partner in a prestigious law firm and had pursued Vivian right after the meeting she had sat in on to take notes. Her mother had resisted, but eventually, David wore her down. Now they were engaged.

  While they were dating, David had come to their apartment for supper a number of times and Greer liked him more each time she saw him. He treated her mother with respect and tried to spoil her rotten.

  He treated Greer the same way. He didn’t pretend to be her father or her friend. David spoke with her, listened to her, and respected what she had to say. Greer knew David got frustrated with her mom because he wanted to do more for Vivian.

  In fact, it had taken both her and David to convince her mother that it was okay to move in together. Vivian was determined to not take her relationship with David any further until Greer graduated. When Greer had overheard part of a phone conversation between her mom and David, she sat down with her mom and made her feelings known. Her mom had put her first her entire life, and she wanted this for her mom.

  “Greer, you will tell me if you are having problems, right?” Vivian’s concerned tone brought her back to the present and her first day of school.

  She swallowed hard and for the first time, in a long time, lied, “Yes, Mom. I will tell you.”

  Greer was a big girl, she could handle nine months of this school and give her mom peace of mind. Besides, after a few weeks, she would be old news. And with Jenn’s help, she would blend in more, rather than stick out.

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  Chapter 2

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  Greer helped her mom get supper ready, a comfortable silence between as they worked. As soon as Beckett walked through the door the easiness was gone. The tension in the air was palatable and her entire body tensed up.

  He pierced her with a hard look, and she quickly returned her attention to the peppers she had been cutting and pretended she didn’t know he was glaring at her back.

  “Hello, Beckett.”

  Greer was thankful her mom took his attention away from her with the softly spoken, cautious greeting.

  “Hello.”

  Beckett greeted her mom like he would a stranger on the street, impersonal, without an ounce of warmth in it. Beckett strolled to the cabinet where she was at. When he stretched to get a glass down the hair on her arms stood at attention. Her heart calmed to a dull thud when he walked away to the refrigerator and filled his glass with water.

  Vivian broke the uncomfortable silence. “Supper will be ready by 7:00. Your dad is planning on being here. Will you be joining us?”

  “I’ve got plans with friends,” Beckett said, flatly, without even looking at Vivian.

  “Okay, just know I’ll plan on supper every weeknight at 7:00.”

  Beckett finished his glass of water, nodded sharply, and walked out of the room.

  Vivian kept preparing the steak for fajitas, but Greer could see her shoulders slump. A spurt of annoyance ran through her. Vivian had been nothing but nice, and Beckett always answered her mom’s overtures with barely concealed hostility.

  David came home a few minutes later, kissed Vivian on the cheek and murmured something in her ear that had her blushing. Greer quickly turned back to her cutting, concentrating fiercely. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her mom’s smile reappear and David stepped back.

  “Evening, Greer.”

  “Hello.” Greer looked over her shoulder and smiled. She had been told to call him David, but it felt weird. Mr. Dawson seemed too formal, so she tried to avoid calling him anything.

  “Supper is looking good, ladies. I’m going to change and come back down.”

  When David was out of hearing distance, she teased her mom, “Why are your cheeks all red, Mom?”

  Vivian tried to sound stern. “Never you mind, Greer.” But it ended as a laugh.

  “Should I make some sudden plans for supper and disappear?”

  Her mom turned to her and fiercely said. “You will never have to do that, Greer. You will always be welcome.”

  Greer kept the mood light and rolled her eyes. “I know, Mom. I just don’t want you embarrassing my young, innocent eyes!”

  “Oh, just keep cutting!”

  Satisfied her mom’s mood had improved she did as instructed and then set the counter. It didn’t make sense to eat in the formal dining room and the round table in the kitchen was for eight. Not what Greer would classify as an intimate nook.

  By the time everything was cooked, David was back in the kitchen and they all sat down. Vivian and David visited about their days and then David turned to her.

  “How was your first day, Greer?”

  “Good.” She kept on eating hoping David wouldn’t ask any more questions. Of course, she was hoping for the impossible. He was a lawyer.

  “No problems?”

  “No,” Greer assured him.

  David stopped eating and studied her with the same bronze eyes that his son had. His probing caused her to fidget and she knew she needed to elaborate.

  “No problems. I got my schedule and found everything okay.”

  “Did Beckett help you?”

  She paused for a second and then cursed herself for it. David’s eyes narrowed. She quickly reached for the Mexican rice in an attempt to appear nonchalant. “Yes. He got me where I needed to be.”

  It was true, he got me to the point where I could walk.

  “Could you pass the sour cream, please?”

/>   She prayed it was enough of a distraction for David to drop the current uncomfortable subject.

  He passed the sour cream and asked, “He didn’t help you when you got to school?”

  “I didn’t want him to.”

  The probing stare continued, and Greer caved, “Beckett draws a lot of attention, Mr. Dawson, and I don’t like that. I was fine on my own.”

  “Call me David, Greer. Did you sit with him at lunch?”

  Shoot, she thought the Mr. Dawson ‘slip’ would distract him. “I saw him, but I needed some downtime. I ate and listened to my book.”

  David laid his fork down, shot a look at Vivian, and then with far more seriousness than she could handle said, “Greer.”

  She looked at the concern etched on her mom’s face and then forced herself to look steadily at David.

  As soon as her eyes were on him, he said solemnly. “I know Oak High can be a hard school to fit into if you haven’t lived here since elementary school. Beckett can help with the transition. If there are any problems, promise you will tell me or him.”

  “I will, but I didn’t have any problems today.”

  All day she had felt uncomfortable and out of place, but there wasn’t anything David could do about it. She held his gaze and let out an internal breath when he nodded and turned back to eating.

  ««« »»»

  Beckett silently moved toward the front door and felt his tense body relax. Why hadn’t Greer ratted him out? He’d given her the opportunity to try and put a wedge between him and his dad. She could’ve tried, but she wouldn’t have succeeded.

  It had always been him and his dad. His mom had exited his life at an early age, but David had never handed him over to a nanny, unlike most of his friends. His dad had always dated casually, but he had never introduced his dates to Beckett. Now, his fiancée had moved into his house, with her daughter. And Greer was going to his elite, private, expensive school.

  The Smith women had no money. They had moved into their 5000-square-foot home from an apartment. Vivian still worked, but Beckett suspected it was part of some elaborate ploy to somehow get more out of his dad.

  The streets of Manchester flew by as Beckett mindlessly drove to the local pizza joint, where he was meeting his friends. Vivian, and certainly not Greer, were going to hoodwink him as easily as they had his dad. Beckett withheld the growl he felt crawling up his throat at the thought of David Dawson. He was just as frustrating as the Smith women.

  David may not have introduced him to any of his former girlfriends, but Beckett had attended a few benefits with him. It had been nauseating how many women fawned over David, giggled, and acted downright slutty. His dad was one of the top corporate lawyers in the nation, an intelligent man, but Vivian seemed to be pulling the wool over his eyes.

  Beckett had been lectured by David, more than once over the years, to be careful with girls, especially because their family had more money than most. Beckett had had his fair share of batting eyelashes and clinging hands starting in middle school to know his dad was right. He had become adept at figuring out who was after his money and who was genuine.

  The one time he had thought he had found the girl who he thought liked him for him had proven him spectacularly wrong. And he was going to make sure his dad was not being conned, the way he had been. For his dad, he would give Vivian some respect, but she needed to earn the rest of it.

  Greer, on the other hand, had earned no such leeway from him. He saw the curiosity burning in her every time he caught her gawking at him, but she wasn’t any different than the rest of the female population. Sure, she had an innocence radiating from her and she was quiet. He had never known any female to not chat his ear off, even if he was blatantly obvious about not listening.

  He was surprised that she hadn’t ratted him out to his dad, but she wasn’t stupid. There had to be something brewing in her brain. He just had to figure out what it was. His dad was right, he could make her life easier at Oak High. He just didn’t want to. He didn’t owe her anything.

  She had annoyed the hell out of him all day, without even trying. Everyone at Oak High had been asking who the new girl was and why she was there. The amazing fact that she had been a transfer from Public Central High School was all anyone could talk about. A new student was always a big deal. A new student from a public school was something that had never happened. Everyone was determined to figure out her story. Including Beckett.

  The girls didn’t like her, which was an understatement. He could never understand why girls were so bitchy, but it worked out for him. They had a nasty comment for everything, from her hair to her shoes. The cheerleaders were leading the mean girl mantra and didn’t care who heard them.

  The guys’ reactions pissed him off. They bought into her innocent, wholesome girl act, and took it as a challenge. Greer’s conservative uniform had only fueled the curiosity of the guys. They stared hard at her white generic polo, trying to determine if the breasts were the perfect handful they appeared to be. They admired her toned, long legs and said it would be nice to grip her hair without getting stuck in it.

  He had been so sick of them talking smack about who was going to be the first to break down her conservative, introverted personality. If he decided a different strategy was needed to break her, then he would be the one to do it. And it was only because he was looking out for his dad, not because he had any true interest.

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  Chapter 3

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  After studying the bus map, Greer realized the nearest bus stop was two miles away. She could easily afford to ride the bus to school, but it was going to be a long walk to get there. She sighed thinking of how early she was going to have to get up, but it beat the tension-filled, hostile ride she had experienced today.

  With a plan in place, she took a couple of minutes to fortify herself. The trip to Beckett’s room was like gearing herself up to get her wisdom teeth out. She knew she had to do it but dreaded every moment until she was put under. She marched down the hall reminding herself to simply knock, tell him she wouldn’t be riding with him, and leave.

  Her raised fist froze in midair. ‘Just do it’ she mumbled to herself. Irritated with her nervousness she quickly rapped on the door and ordered her feet to stay in place. The door swung open and the plan she had been reciting for the last five minutes tumbled out of her head and out of her slack open mouth.

  Beckett’s sculpted chest was right in front of her face and her wide eyes ate up the sight of the tanned perfection in front of her. Her blood was thumping and she could hear her choppy breathing. Her gaze roamed and her breath hitched at the six-pack. Her fingers itched to reach out and trace every delineation she saw. When she got to his jeans, Greer swore her eyes popped out of her head because, holy smokes, they were unbuttoned.

  “I can take them off, but only if you reciprocate. And the parents are here, so we should probably go into my room instead of the hall.”

  The dry, sarcastic comment made her Beckett bubble burst. Her eyes slammed shut and her chin hit her chest. The blood that had been warming her body with arousal turned cold. She prayed with everything in her that the floor would open up and swallow her whole.

  “No need to be embarrassed, Greer. Plenty of girls come panting my way.”

  Beckett’s cocky drawl crawled under her skin. What the hell had just happened? She had admired good looking guys before but never had she lost her mind.

  She opened her eyes but kept them glued to the floor as she spun around to barricade herself in her room, forever. With each step she took, Beckett’s mocking laugh followed her, increasing her shame and embarrassment. Even when she threw herself on her bed, she could still hear him in her head.

  Why did she become a stupid ‘girl’ whenever Beckett was around? She had been around cute guys before and even managed intelligent conversation without drooling on them. Right from the start, Beckett ha
d caused all kinds of chaos in her.

  After Vivian and David announced their engagement, they wanted their kids to join them for a celebratory supper. When Vivian had told her, Greer had felt the butterflies immediately swarm her stomach. She felt more nervous meeting Beckett than she had David.

  Greer had known who David Dawson’s son was the moment he had said his name. Beckett Dawson had been the subject of hundreds of conversations at Public Central High. It wasn’t very often guys from New Hampshire were talked about being drafted into the NFL.

  The Public Central guys viewed him as a football god. He had broken most of the state quarterback records and Oak High was on track to win its fourth consecutive state title.

  The girls all wanted him and did anything to get him. If the rumors were to be believed, plenty of girls had slept with him, but none more than once.

  Greer didn’t want to acknowledge his looks, but there was no denying them. His ebony hair was short on the sides and faded into longer locks at the top. There was just enough length to run his fingers through it for a quick style, but not long enough to be considered pretty. His whiskey eyes glowed between his black lashes.

  Beckett’s presence always filled a room. He had to be at least 6’3”, and his well-maintained body filled out every outfit Greer had seen him wear. But it was more than his physical presence. The energy spiked when he entered a room, and she had never seen him anything other than confident.

  At their first supper, Greer and Vivian had gotten to the restaurant first and sat at the table waiting for them. David and Beckett walking in together had every head turning. It was as if their energy and vitality leaped from them and you couldn’t help but stop to admire their confidence and aura.

  As soon as she saw Beckett, she had felt distinctly middle class in her department store black dress. He strolled in with an untucked, white button-down shirt with a navy blazer. The whitewash jeans he wore were tight enough to appreciate everything in them, but not obscenely tight.