Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 68538 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 228(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68538 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 228(@300wpm)
Atlas unlocked the doors and we got into his truck.
“I swear to fuckin’ God, bro.” I looked at him as he reset his mirror—he was so fuckin’ OCD.
Literally.
Atlas had what they considered a mild form of OCD.
There were things he had to do, no matter what. It was something he’d worked hard to overcome while he was working. However, when he wasn’t working, it was like his condition made up for having to be repressed.
“I know,” Atlas said as he ran his hands over the steering wheel three times, squeezed it four, and then started the truck. He proceeded out of the parking lot before I’d even buckled my belt.
Finally.
It was fuckin’ hot.
A blistering ninety-five degrees at less than eight in the morning.
“You need to do something about that before it gets out of hand,” I said. “Stop taking her shifts. Stop fuckin’ around with her at all, preferably.”
Atlas didn’t answer, and I knew he wouldn’t.
Sage was a topic he didn’t discuss.
Ever.
He pulled out of the drive of DPD and took the wrong turn.
Instead of taking the road I knew would take us to the lake like we’d planned, he swerved left through a couple of traffic cones, and in the opposite direction.
“Where you going?” I asked my twin, even though I knew damn well where he was going.
Atlas grinned wickedly. “The bakery.”
I rolled my eyes. “Why?”
“Because.” He shrugged as he whipped into a parking spot and got out. “I can.”
I sighed and fell into step beside him. “Are we still going fishing?”
“Yes,” he answered. “But I’m peckish.”
The lying sack of shit.
I didn’t call him on it, though.
Atlas had a thing for the bakery owner, Maven Brumfield. Who just so happened to also be the sister of Scott, and the daughter of Chief Austin.
She was gorgeous, don’t get me wrong.
She was around average height, but that was the only thing average about the woman.
She was curvy—tits, ass, and hips.
She had long, blond hair that was so curly it reminded me of the American Girl dolls that my niece, Addison, loved to play with.
She had full hazel eyes rimmed with gold with the longest lashes I’d ever seen.
She truly looked like a doll given human form.
And today, when we pulled up directly outside of her bakery, she looked even better than usual.
Though, that was likely because she looked like she was fuming.
I could practically see the steam coming out of her ears.
Her arms were crossed over her ample chest.
Today she was wearing black skinny jeans, red Converses, a light blue tank top and a hot pink bra underneath it.
She had her hair in a ponytail, but the mass of wild blond curls couldn’t be contained, and still waved wildly around her face with her sporadic movements as she yelled at someone on the phone.
Her employee, I believe her name was Pepper, was standing next to her looking no less upset, staring at her boss.
We walked up in time to hear the ending of Maven’s phone call.
“You do that, and I’ll sue you so fast and hard that you’ll wish you never fucked with me.” Maven hissed into the phone. “You have until tomorrow to fix this, and don’t think my lawyer won’t find out that you’re harassing me again. A suit will be filed in court by Monday if you don’t fix this.”
She hung up and dropped her hands to her sides, phone still clutched so hard in her right one that her knuckles were white.
I tried not to look at the way her breaths were coming in pants, making her breasts jiggle.
I also tried not to pay attention to the way her eyes instantly came to me.
“Officers, as you can see, we’re closed today.”
“Well, I can see that, darlin’. We just stopped by for some baked treats,” Atlas teased, putting his good ol’ boy charm to use.
The lying bastard.
We may have been born and raised in Texas, but none of us had any charm.
And why did his words make me want to pound him into the dirt beneath my boots? Why the hell did I react like this at all to her?
Pepper said something under her breath that caused Atlas to glare at her.
That one single interaction had me tilting my head, really getting a good look at my brother.
He was standing closer to Pepper than he was Maven. And his body, that was also turned slightly toward Pepper, as if he gravitated to her without realizing it.
Which only made me more confused because before this particular visit when I saw Pepper and him in the same area so close together, I would’ve thought he felt nothing for her.
Was I wrong?
Was the reason he was coming here not because of the owner, but because of the employee?
I wasn’t the most experienced person in the world, but I could see that there was something between them. Something intense.