Total pages in book: 30
Estimated words: 27808 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 139(@200wpm)___ 111(@250wpm)___ 93(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 27808 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 139(@200wpm)___ 111(@250wpm)___ 93(@300wpm)
I’m tempted to tell them to cancel her service. It’s not worth our time, but I also don’t feel right allowing a woman to feel unsafe in her home.
“All right. I’ll take care of it.” I hang up. “Want to take a ride with me?” I offer to Bell, who has been watching me with curious eyes.
“Is it someplace fun?”
“What constitutes fun in your eyes?”
“Parks, a place that sells funnel cakes. Anything with water.”
“I like water, too.” I grin wolfishly. The thought of her slick and naked ranks high on my fun list.
“Why do I feel like we aren’t talking about a lake or the ocean?” She eyes me suspiciously.
“I’m down for those too.” Her naked tits bouncing in the waves works.
“I have to unpack,” she says by way of an excuse but makes no move to leave.
“I’ll be lonely, and a lonely man does desperate things,” I tell her. “Keeping me company is doing a greater good for all society. Think of it as community service.” Plus, I’m not fully done with getting her home secure. No way am I leaving her in it alone until it is.
I take her hand and lead her over to my truck. “After we do a walk-through of this home, we’ll get something to eat and then I’ll take you to a place with water.”
“It’ll be dark by then.”
I grin. “I know.”
“I don’t know where my bathing suit is.”
“It’s a private pool.”
“You would be there.”
“I wouldn't look.”
“I don’t feel like you’re being entirely truthful.”
“I’d try not to look,” I revise. I open the truck door and lift her inside. My hand lingers on her waist. “I wouldn’t do anything you truly didn’t want, but I think in this case, you wouldn’t mind me looking.” She allows me to slide my hand down to the top of her thigh. I squeeze lightly.
Her breath hitches, and this time, it’s not from fear. I curl my fingers around the soft flesh of her inner thigh. My index finger is only a twitch away from the seam of her jeans that covers her sex. She seems to realize it too and tenses up. I back away without a word. This isn’t the time or place to be feeling her up. It’s enough right now that she’s allowing me to touch her.
The rest of it will come when she’s ready.
On the drive over to Faith’s place, a renovated mansion in the old money part of town, I explain to Marly what we’re doing.
“I wouldn’t bring you if you were going to be in danger. It’s just a little customer service because she’s an old flame of a former mate of mine.”
“Where’s your mate now?”
“No idea. He does a lot of work but under the radar and is usually gone for months at a time. Last I saw of him was in Monaco. He was doing some art recovery work.”
“What’s that mean?”
“He was retrieving art that had been stolen and returning it to their rightful owners.”
“That sounds not entirely legal.”
“You’d be right.”
“Does that bother you? I mean, you were former military and all.”
“Dollface, there isn’t anything legal about the shit that goes on in the military. Don’t let Hollywood fool you. Bing has his own code, and he sticks to it. Part of that code is protecting friends. He’d be there for me, so I’m going to be there for him. That’s how I roll. Once I commit to a person, I’m all in.”
CHAPTER 10
BELL
“This is someone’s second home?” I ask Jackson as we pull through the gates that a giant white mansion sits behind. It’s big, but it’s also rather plain and a bit boring with its perfectly cut square bushes. Nothing about the home stands out except for the fact that it screams I have a lot of money. It might as well be one of those cookie cutter homes.
“You like?” He flicks a glance my way. I only shrug, not wanting to be rude.
Nina always asks me why I never bought a bigger place once my art started selling like crazy. When I couldn’t keep up with the demand, the price of each piece started to go up more and more. The money rolls into my bank account, where it sits.
I could have used a bigger space, something with better lighting, but I always got too overwhelmed with the idea of trying to find a new place, so I stayed put. As for my new home, it was something I could buy quickly and with cash, so it didn’t have to be under my name. It’s supposed to be temporary, but who knows? I think I’m liking not being in a giant city anymore.
“It’s plain,” Jackson says, putting his SUV into park.
“Right?” His lips twitch, and I realize he read me. “So do I stay here or go with you?” I don’t really want to stay in the car alone, but I also don’t want to intrude on his work stuff. I mean, he did invite me, but still.