Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 59849 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 299(@200wpm)___ 239(@250wpm)___ 199(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59849 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 299(@200wpm)___ 239(@250wpm)___ 199(@300wpm)
“Damn. You really know how to pick up.”
“Asshole.” I roll my eyes. “But you’re right. After that I took time off from trying to seriously date and just had fun, but it wasn’t all that fun for long. Kinda got boring when we weren’t building anything.”
“The sex must not have been that great then.”
“That’s for me to know,” I tell him. The sex was great actually—the first few times. I think the excitement of doing something out of my norm, of getting to know each other with no pressure made it more enjoyable. But then it started falling flat for me and spending time together started to feel like we were in a relationship. I ended things before I got attached, knowing it would hurt if I let myself fall into a situationship. “You’ve never had a friend with benefits?”
Mason gives me a look of mock innocence. “I don’t kiss and tell.”
I laugh and rest my head against the seat, checking Elsie’s location. She’s almost home, thank goodness. We go a few blocks in silence, but this time it’s not awkward. It’s been nice being able to just talk to Mason about some pretty personal things. He’s not judging, though it is a big part of his job to remain visibly impartial while people tell him pretty much anything.
“I won’t let anything happen to you,” Mason says as he pulls onto my street. “I understand if you don’t want to continue this, but know if you do, I’ll keep you safe.”
His caramel colored eyes meet mine and my heart flutters in my chest. I have the strong urge to blindly trust him, though I promised myself months ago I’d never trust a man with my life ever again. This isn’t quite the same…is it?
“I can take care of myself too, you know.”
“I don’t doubt that.” He pulls over in front of my building and puts the car in park. “You’ve done a pretty good job taking care of yourself so far. What you went through…not many people would have come out of it this unscathed.”
I just smile, not needing to tell him how I still deal with the PTSD flashbacks every once in a while and how repeatedly getting my heart not just broken, but my soul crushed, has left me with crippling trust issues. I believe people are good, but I like to spot the bad in everyone as soon as I can. Because the sooner I find it, the sooner I can avoid it or prepare myself for it.
I’ve made a whole career of teaching people how to find healthy, safe relationships, while teaching about attachment styles and giving some pretty good advice if I do say so myself. But really, if anyone were to ask me honestly the best way to not get your heartbroken, I wouldn’t tell them to take their time, manage their expectations, and have open and clear communication with their partner.
I’d tell them to stay the hell away from anyone and never, ever, trust a man with your heart.
Chapter
Nineteen
MIRA
“This must be serious.” Zara slouches forward, coffee cup still in her hand even though we’re all on our horses.
“I don’t call 911 meetings for nothing,” Elsie says, turning her horse around.
“I think I know what it’s about.” Kat gives up and lets Loki graze even though he has his bit in his mouth and we’re supposed to be walking along the bridle path, warming up the horses before we have a group lesson.
“Fine,” I start, looking around at my little grown up Saddle Club. Taking my feet out of the stirrups, I let Thor grab a few mouthfuls of grass, too. “I’m working with the FBI to try and get some info out of Enzo Moretti that could help link him to the Bow Tie Murders.”
“The fuck?” Zara exclaims. “Since when?”
“Just like the last couple days,” I go on. “And I really shouldn’t tell you any more, but Elsie and I kind of had an incident last night.” We get our lazy horses to go forward, plodding along the path as we talk. “It’s fine. I’m just going to have dinner with him one more time and then I’ll become exactly the type of girl he doesn’t want to date and I’ll get him to break up with me in a sense and then I’ll watch the news and wait for him to get arrested.”
“You really think it’s gonna be that simple?” Zara questions.
“No, because she left out the part where the FBI agent is a total hottie,” Elsie quips. “Think Dean Winchester pretending to be an FBI but he really is in this instance.”
“Okay, but what does the Bow Tie Murderer look like?”
“Not attractive,” I tell Zara and shake my head. “It’s work, guys, that’s all. I go out on fake dates all the time.”