Total pages in book: 46
Estimated words: 44850 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 224(@200wpm)___ 179(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 44850 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 224(@200wpm)___ 179(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
“Defensive much? There’s no way I would think you are dumb.”
“Come eat.”
“Are you ever going to go out with me?” I ask as we walk back to the house.
“I don’t date men who constantly put their bats in women they don’t know.”
“I don’t.”
“And that’s why you tried to pick me up the first night we met, right Bat-Boy?”
“I wanted you. I got no shame in that.”
“You wanted laid. Don’t get it twisted.”
“Damn you’re good a bustin’ a man’s balls, aren’t you?”
“Oh honey, you haven’t seen anything yet,” she says a devilish smile on her lips.
I discover something about myself right then. I’m a masochist because, if Marigold Lucas keeps calling me honey, I know I’ll keep coming back for more.
CHAPTER 7
Marigold
“Why are you acting so different today, Bat-Boy?”
He stops his spoon a couple of inches from his beautiful lips. Seriously, they are beautiful—full, firm, almost mauve in color with soft pink centers that make my entire body heat when I stare at them. That’s something I’m trying my best not to do right now—and failing.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, you’re like boring.”
“Excuse me?” he responds, one eyebrow cocked up in response at this perfect angle—so much so that it mesmerizes me for a second. Do they do manly eyebrow waxes at the spa? Is that what he does? Perfection like that shouldn’t exist. It just shouldn’t.
“You’re boring me. Like snooze fest, Bat-Boy.”
I see the moment a spark lights up his beautiful, dark, liquid ink eyes. I should stop. I was a Girl Scout for damn it. Rule number one when dealing with the wild—and Slater is most definitely wild—do not poke the bear. Yet, here I am poking like I’ve never poked before. I’m like a damn pogo stick going ninety miles an hour.
“We could slip off in private and I could wake you up, Ace. I do my best work one on one.”
I ignore the sexual innuendo. There’s enough heat between us that I’ve already resigned myself to the fact that it’s going to explode. That doesn’t mean I need to rush matters. Hell, the man has been so cocky that he needs to work for it a little bit. Besides, there’s fun in this game. I stare at him for a second thinking of how I want to word my reply when something hits me. It shocks me, but I know I’m right.
“You’re shy.”
“Say what?” he laughs. His eyes shift away from me, though.
“Oh my God! You really are. You’re shy, Slater.”
He looks around and frowns at me. “You weren’t spanked enough as a child.”
“Jan and I both say that to her all the time. Marigold, you haven’t introduced me to your fella. That’s not very nice of you.”
“Oh, Lord,” I mutter under my breath, pinching my nose, while holding my head down. This is not good. Rule number one in the Lucas Clan Fight Club, stay under Mom’s radar. Rule number two is never talk about rule number one because she has supersonic hearing.
“Yeah, Marigold, how come you haven’t introduced me to your mother?” Slater says, looking so satisfied with himself that I want to laugh. Poor boy, he has no idea what he’s about to unleash.
“She’s always forgetting her poor, saintly mother. You’re one of my boy’s new players, right?” Mom says. I just sit here, waiting for the shoe to drop. I let Slater bury himself. I could probably throw out a lifeline, but I can’t find a reason why I should.
“That’s me. Slater Daniels, at your service.”
“At my service. Did you hear that, Marigold?”
“That I did, Mom, but go easy on the boy. He knows not what he’s doing,” I quip.
Slater looks at me and I wonder if I see a sliver of fear in his expression. It makes me grin.
“He’s not a boy,” she tsks, shaking her head. “Why, look at those muscles. He’s all man.”
I practically giggle because you can’t mistake the fear that lit up his eyes just then.
“Uh…” he says, but Mom being Mom, cuts him off.
“I’ve been looking for someone to help me with a little project down at the barn. It requires some muscle. Somehow, in his infinite reasoning, God seemed to give most of the strength to men. I don’t mean to question the good Lord but at some point, in my afterlife, me and Him are going to have a good long talk.”
“What kind of project?” Slater asks and you can tell he’s trying to be cautious, proving he has brawn and brains.
“You are not installing ceiling fans in your barn, Mom. You try and I will tell Dad,” I warn deceptively. The last time Mom liked the muscles on one of the family’s boyfriends, she had him installing ceiling fans in a hundred-degree weather—while turning off the air conditioning. There’s no doubt in my mine she has similar plans for Slater. The only reason my sisters Petal and Maggie were spared from this behavior is because Mom watched Bryant grow up. With Luka, honestly, until the last couple of years, we all thought Mom hated Luka. Now, we’re pretty sure he might be the favorite. She fawns over him trying to make up for the past. Luka’s a good guy, though. He deserves Mom’s extra care. My Mom can drive you insane, but she has the biggest heart ever made and if she lets you into her tribe, she circles around you like a momma hen protecting her little chicks.