Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 143382 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 717(@200wpm)___ 574(@250wpm)___ 478(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 143382 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 717(@200wpm)___ 574(@250wpm)___ 478(@300wpm)
On my part, it was for more than just the fact that she seemed to be an uber famous chick wandering out in the wild without a bodyguard.
I kept my gaze on her as Daisy took a stool at one end of the bar and Stella approached where I was standing at the other end.
She slid onto a stool there and greeted, “Hey, Jess.”
I moved to her and put my hands on the bar. “Hey, Stella. Want a coffee? Or are you here to eat? Lucia’s got an awesome chorizo toad-in-the-hole with cayenne-garlic mashed potatoes and green chile gravy on the menu today. Trust me, it’ll rock your world.”
“Although that sounds fantastic, I already ate.”
She shifted on her stool, and to me, it seemed like it was nervously.
Terrific.
This wasn’t a fun getting-to-know-the-new-girls-visit.
“Listen,” she went on. “I know you’re working, but Mace told me you girls were going to be busy for a while in your off hours, and I just wanted to…”
She didn’t finish that.
I didn’t know her well enough (say, at all) to fill in the blank, so I waited patiently, hoping she wasn’t there to try to talk me out of being an Angel.
Since her Rock Chick Ride was as bumpy as Eric said, I got why she’d be concerned about us.
But I had no problem with what we were doing. And the girls had no problem with it. And Eric had no issue with it.
So, no shade, but I didn’t see why Stella should have a problem with it.
“I just wanted to make sure we got off on the right foot,” she announced.
Now I was confused.
“Do you think we haven’t?” I asked.
She spread her hands out in front of her in supplication, something that was both sweet, coming from a mega-famous person, and weird, considering our conversation didn’t seem to warrant it.
“Eric is a member of my family,” she declared. “And he told me that he told you we had a history. I just wanted you to know that it was, um…history and—”
Ah.
Right.
I held up my hand, and she stopped talking.
I did this because this was about Savannah.
And it made me even more pissed at the bitch because I could see Stella was uncomfortable, which meant Savannah made her feel that way.
I dropped my hand. “I appreciate you coming in. But like you said, it’s history. And that’s the end of that.”
Her shoulders slumped with relief.
“God, was she that bad?” I asked.
“Eric’s told you about her?” Stella asked back.
“Yes,” I answered. “Including the fact she wasn’t a fan of this history.”
“She really wasn’t.” This was uttered in a way I knew it was a vast understatement.
And yep.
I got more pissed.
“What a pill,” I bitched.
“You don’t have to worry,” Stella informed me. “She’ll forget he exists. As shocking as it is with the man he is, she’s good at that. This whole thing with demanding a second chance is about her being unable to admit she failed. The more she pursues him, the longer he resists, in her head, she can say she tried, and he refused to try with her, so the end of the marriage was all his fault.”
“This woman is a fuckin’ trip,” I mumbled irately.
“He deserved a Rock Chick,” she stated.
My attention laser focused on her.
She kept talking.
“He also needed one. He needs a woman who will understand his commitment to his work and the team, who won’t be worried about it and make him feel guilty for doing it. One who’ll understand his training and experience and the men who he does it with means they know what they’re doing. A woman who’ll complement his life, is his partner in it, the way he’ll give the same to her because she has a life of her own, and they fit together that way. And a woman he can’t steamroll, though he’d sniff that out right away and he’d never go there, because that really isn’t his thing.”
She took a breath.
Then finished it.
“But mostly, since he’ll be all about her, she needs to be all about him too. And he needs to know that, be shown it, be told it, and then be allowed to live it.” Her voice lowered when she concluded, “There weren’t any Rock Chicks left. But I’m seeing an Angel will do perfectly.”
Oh my God!
What a nice thing to say!
“I don’t want to overshare,” I told her. “But it hasn’t even been a week, and I’m a little freaked how into him I am.”
“I’m going to repeat something I never thought I’d say in the first place. You need to read those books.”
My eyes wandered to Titto, who was engrossed in what he was reading, then I returned to Stella.
“I think your stories are scarier than ours.”
“Give it time,” she muttered, but even in a mutter, it was authoritative.
It was the authoritative part that made my body give a little shudder.